My Retirement Journal: Day -3

Yesterday I signed all the closing documents. Tomorrow I move out of my house. Today I don't have a lot to do. I'm mostly packed, though I'm realizing it's going to be tricky fitting the last few things into my luggage.

Packing is complicated because I have so much stuff that I don't need access to until I'm in my new house on June 10th. Between now and then, I need clothes and personal items, so I have to pack so that those things are accessible. And the weather forecast in Seattle has cooler temperatures and rain in the middle of next week, while it will be much warmer in Ajijic next weekend. So I'm going to need long pants and shorts and maybe a jacket. I guess I can repack some things on Thursday before I leave, but I'm trying to avoid having to access my two biggest suitcases while I'm staying at my friend's house. If I can keep them downstairs in her garage, that will be ideal, because the bedroom is up two flights of stairs.

The buyers had their walkthrough on Thursday, and when I saw Michael at the signing meeting yesterday, he said there were a few questions. Two of them were simple. And the last one was a request that I replace two burned out lightbulbs. One was in the backyard and one was in the ceiling fan over the front stairs. 

The light in the ceiling fan burned out about five years ago and I never bothered to replace it because it required climbing up on a precarious ledge and even then it's hard to reach. And the ceiling fan has three separate lamps, and the other two were more than adequate to light the front stairs. But last night I went and got new bulbs and replaced the backyard one; no problem.

I climbed up and managed to get the new lightbulb in the ceiling fan, but when I turned it on, it didn't light up.

Uh oh.

So I emailed Michael and told him, and I got this reply.

Ugh! That isn’t what you want to happen!!

Your responsibility as the seller is to turn the property over to the buyer in the same condition as when the wrote the offer. Did the light work before? If so, it should work when they take possession. I expect finding an electrician that can come in before Monday will be tough. If you aren’t able to have the light functioning by Monday I think we should let the buyers know and offer to make the repair after closing.

I was hopeful this was going to continue to go smoothly and close without any hiccups!!

I emailed him back:

The light has been burnt out for years. I never bothered to replace it because there are two other working light bulbs in the ceiling fan, and I didn't need the extra light. I had no idea there was a defect. So I guess you could say it's in the same condition as when they wrote the offer.

But I would still prefer to make this right. I'm willing to agree to pay for the repair, or I could leave them some money to put toward the repair.

He responded:

Thank you! I think that is a very nice way to handle this. Good karma!

He's going to talk to the buyer's agent and see what they want me to do.

Thursday night I had dinner with Amy (my former student) and her son Seamus (who is going to get my car). We ate at Place Pigalle, and it was fabulous and a lot of fun reconnecting with Amy. Lots of nostalgia and filling each other in on how we got from Eureka College in 1991 (when she graduated) to today.

Last night I had a great dinner with my friend Melissa at Junebaby. This is a restaurant that opened last year and won the James Beard award for the best new restaurant in the United States. It was very good, but I am not sure it deserved that award based on what I ate.

This morning my friend Joy made me brunch and I brought a bunch of things over there to store in her basement. Tonight I have a final dinner with my friend Mary, and tomorrow morning a final breakfast with Margot. Then Cathy is coming over to help me finish packing and loading my car (and maybe hers if we can't fit everything in mine).

It's still not quite hitting me. I feel kind of dispassionate about the fact that I'm about to leave behind my entire life, my job, my home, my friends, and moving to a new house in a new country where I don't speak the language.

I'm excited. And scared.