Closure

It's done!
I have finally managed to get all the things out of my old apartment that had to get out! This is a much bigger deal than I would have initially thought.

One thing is, that it always takes longer to clear out an apartment than you think. And even in the last hours, when you think this should be quick, there is always something that gives you trouble. And in my case these were the lamps on the ceiling, namely the one in the living room and the one in the dining area.

The one in the living was installed by an electrician when I moved in and soon after it didn't work anymore. Due to the wicked wiring (it actually has to get electricity through a connection with the wires of the lamp in the dining area), I never bothered to check what was really wrong with it. Until tonight when I learned that the thing that was wrong with it was simply a burnt-through cable. Quite a straight forward reason, but I also do admit that discovering this black cable in the lamp enclosure was a bit creepy.
Even worse, however, was getting that fricking thing off the ceiling. The electrician had done a solid job but two of the three screws in the ceiling were missing their profile. It took me nearly 1 1/2 hours and lots of cursing like a sailor to bring the bloody thing down.

And once I was done with this one, I worked the one in the dining area, which is simply a darn bitch to remove when you are on your own. You need basically three hands: one to unscrew, one to hold the enclosure with the three lamps and the three counterweights (heavy!) and one to hold the plate that is connected to the ceiling.

Don't ask me how I made it.

The rest of the work was easier, but it still took me until past 10 pm and I had to call Lamia to bring her car for the very last transport of items (not to mention unloading at the new place).

This is how the living room looks now:



The stuff under the plastic cover will go to a charity organization which will hopefully pick everything up in a week. The hifi furniture sold for a pittance on ebay tonight.

Then you have the dining area:



As reported already, the speakers were picked up tonight. The rest of the things went to the new apartment to be sold later.

Here the kitchen, ...



... the study...



... and the sleeping room.



Phew!
The thing is: though I have to take the red-eye to Geneva tomorrow morning and will thus sleep less than 4 hours tonight, I feel like a massive load has been taken off my shoulders.
Yes, I will still have to go back to the old apartment for the remaining ebay sales and the stuff for the charity. I also have no idea whether Edouard will be happy with the state I left the apartmen in or not. But after all, these should be all small fish compared to drawing the line under a previous life.

It's a big step and this won't change.
But somehow things feel a little easier now than before...