Moving Our Baby to a Boston 'Burb...

So... If you follow me elsewhere you know that we took a trek cross-country starting on Sun Feb 14 to move our youngest to the Boston area. NO - We didn't visit Cheers, nor was this a place where everybody knows your name - I wish!...

So we were not only moving our baby, but also this adorable Grand-Dog Louis. Does he really look like a killer canine?! Save that thought for later...

Our trip entailed loading our son's enclosed trailer with all of the prized belongings of our said baby who had just completed 2 degrees in 5.5 years from Purdue and was taking her first full-time job in the 'real world'. We used the only available weekend we had as she needed to get out there and settle before actually reporting to the office the 1st week of March (working remote prior). We drove straight through with me driving a 1-ton Ford dually pulling the trailer and this guy with our daughter following behind.

We had a VERY uneventful drive and arrived at a hotel near her appartment around 11:00PM Monday evening after 14+ hours and 1,000+ miles. We were wiped-out to say the least... The next morning we began the adventure of unloading a trailer into a turn-of-the-century textile plant  - see below (5th floor apartment). THIS proved to be beyond fun with only me, my wife (who badly sprained an ankle the prior Saturday) our daughter and of course, Louis...

We ended up taking things into the building into waves and marshalling loads into an entryway and then to an elevator and to a hallway. This alone would have been enough to kill me, let alone my bride who ended up doing much of the work with me as a result of Louis needing his Momma.

Have I mentioned yet that Louis had never been more than an hour from home to-date or done much traveling? Well, he did AMAZING on the trip with only minor anxiety when Momma would walk out of his sight at a travel stop. He had the biggest change of his near 3 year life ahead and all things considered was doing VERY well. He stayed in the apartment most of the day except for the needed breaks all dogs must take. Did I also mention that this is a HUGE building and VERY dog-friendly with dogs at nearly every turn in the building. These new 'friends' are something that he will learn to adjust to, but hey it's only Day 1 right?!

Before the day is out and trailer empty, we run into a 'typical Bostonian (read angry Patriot fan dude with what looked like a breed that is banned by the building) type' in the hallway. Both dogs exchanged words in the hall, but were both under full control by their owners. The guy then quite angrily says, "What the F_ _ _ is wrong with that DOG today?!" and storms off down the hall. Happy Boston person #1 met right?!

Later this first day our daughter gets a rather insistent knock on the door (which of course sends Louis ballistic as it's a new place and knocking on a door with a doggo is no beuno). This 'neighbor' proceeds to explain that she was on a Zoom call, and this dog was disrupting her (he had barked VERY little and there were other doggos also talking - most likely due to a 'new' friend). Our daughter kindly exchanged cell #'s with her and asked that she text if there were further 'issues'.

Over the course of the next day or so, this lady which I will refer to as Marge texted, harassed and threatened to have her evicted due to her dog's 'disruptions'. To say the least our daughter was terribly upset and beside herself over Marge and her harassment as well as her comments that she has spoken to dude #1 (now referred to as Richard) who said her dog "attacked him' - NO to that; I was there and it was 2 dogs talking at each other and one NOT liking the other dogs' human.

Day #3 our daughter is working FEVERISHLY to make certain Louis is quiet and supremely well-behaved at every turn inside and out of the building. She discussed with her employer she is 'dealing with some apartment issues' and they kindly tell her to get them worked out and get back to them.

First thing this morning our daughter meets with the leasing office and takes Louis along. As she begins to explain the neighbor issue, the girl in the office asks, "Is this Marge?!" She is well-known by them, makes issues with nearly every dog in her dog-friendly unit and has been asked to move-out if she can't work through these issues. Possibly another straw here, eh? They also discussed dude #1 and THEY referred to him as 'Richard' or some form of that name and also said he is well-known and trouble as well.

Needless to say, our daughter felt SEVERLY vindicated by this convo with the leasing office and they told her she was doing ALL the right things. 

My take on all of this - What 2 VERY selfish folks intended as evil, turned out for the good as Louis got some special attention and before the end of the week was going in and out of the building, around other dogs and people and NOT a peep from this boy.

So I must also tell you that during the move-in we met some exceedingly kind folks in this massive building, some of which went out of their way to be kind. Our daughter also apologized to a worker in the building who had been startled by Louis on possibly his first hour in the building. She met and made friends with him and will now likely be a kind face when they encounter each other.

So as the song went from Cheers, "Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name"... Well Marge and Richard's names are known and they are NOT on the list of HAPPY-HAPPY friends, but Louis and our daughter ended this week MUCH better than they started and we are certain that MUCH was learned in the process.

Cheers!