Young Life in an Old Town: The Procrastinator’s Guide to Moving

We are moving a whopping 12 blocks this weekend and we haven’t packed a single box. Between busy schedules and, well, talking about packing quite a bit, we haven’t actually gotten around to putting things into boxes and cleaning out the attic. However, we have made lots of phone calls and arrangements for the big day and, I thought I would share what I have learned about who to call and what to do if you are preparing for a move to or within Old Town.

Hire Movers
Based on several glowing references, we hired Reputation Movers. So far it has been a very personal process. The owner and founder of the company, Patrick Carr, came to our house to give me an estimate and he put my mind at ease about how we are going to fit our king bed and oversized Pottery Barn furniture through the narrow hallways and staircases our new place. It would seem as if they have done this kind of thing a few zillion times in Old Town.

Don’t forget to make arrangements though the city to block off parking spaces (typically two) in Old Town for the moving truck on the day of your move. The cost is $20 per space, and you can call the Permit Office at 703-746-4035 to make arrangements.

Utility Setup
After a characteristically frustrating experience trying to transfer our cable service with Comcast, I believe we have finally arranged to have cable, Internet and phone service the day after we close on our house. It was a bit complicated because the current homeowners had not yet cancelled their service when I called about the transfer, which led to lots of transferred calls and missteps. I recommend waiting until the last minute to make this call. In the end, I am not even sure what phone number to list here for a transfer of service because I was transferred around so many times! I am pretty sure I was speaking to a call center in India at one point who told me definitively that it was not possible to transfer our service. We are transferring our service.
The other utilities were quick and easy to establish:
Dominion Power – Call 888-667-3000
Washington Gas – Call 703-750-1000
American Water – Call 800-452-6863

Parking
We will be parking on the street at our new house and so we need to procure parking decals. Since we are required to show proof of residency, we won’t be able to take care of this until the day we close on the house. Go to the Treasury Division of the Finance Department, , Room 1510 (301 King Street),  between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. to pay for parking decals and don’t forget to bring the appropriate documentation.

Packing
I have shamelessly begged my in-laws to help with this endeavor and thankfully they have arrived on the scene with tools and good humor. With four days to go, we will be doing lots of boxing, taping and heavy lifting, probably culminating in an all-nighter at the end of the week. Why didn’t we start earlier? Right now we are puzzling over what to do with the large bulky items that we do not wish to move, are not fit for donation, and are too large for regular garbage collection. Our plan is to make arrangements with 123junk. They are inexpensive and, best of all, they can come this Friday!

I am certain that there are numerous things we have overlooked as we prepare for the big move, but I hope this information will be helpful to other scattered and busy parents who are staring down a Move With Kids. See you on the other side!