Not sure why I was thinking about this today, but I was.

I have lived in a LOT of places in my life.  My childhood, teen-aged and young adult years were stable.  I lived at the same place from the time I was born until I moved out when I was nearly done with school and moved out on my own.  So, that was 24+ years in the same location.  I sort of doubt that I will ever match that record for some reason.

Move #1 – I rented a room for a year or so, wasn’t bad, wasn’t great.  I was going through school during this time, working part time.  This would have been back in 1993/94 I think

Move #2 – My friend rented a place near downtown St. Catharines on Russell Avenue.  Was a pretty cool place and was fairly cheap – all inclusive it was $500 per month.  It had two levels, carpeting in the kitchen (rather odd) and a bedroom door that you had to duck to get through.  I left after a year because the landlady’s husband was quite the whack job.

Move #3 – I moved into a co-workers house that she was renting.  As I remember, she tried to sell the house but the market was down at the time.  It was a big jump from $500 per month, it was $650 + utilities.  I had a room mate with me for the first bit but he had trouble making up his part of the rent.  So, after only a short time, I had to move out – it was immediately rented, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.

Move #4 – I moved in with my sister and brother-in-law.  Worked out fairly well.

Move #5 – I rented a small apartment in a 4-plex building on Elizabeth Street in downtown St. Catharines.  Lived there for a year.  Was close to a grocery store, close to work as well.

Move #6 – Moved to Haynes Avenue, further away from the downtown, closer to my job of the time, Vaxxine Computer Systems.

Move #7 – Got a new job and a new place – in Fonthill, Ontario living beside a restaurant, Keith’s.  Lived there for a year, or just about a year and for some odd reason, had insomnia most of the time that I was there.  I had a room mate here as well – his rent was paid regularly (by his parents, his mom was a co-worker of mine) but he was weird.  Very weird.  I actually moved out to be rid of him since he wouldn’t take the hint that I wanted him to move.

Move #8 – Back in with my sister and brother-in-law.  Just a stop-over really but I was able to save some $$$

Move #9 – Into the basement suite in a nice place on Niagara Street in North St. Catharines.  Was a nice place, everything was included.  As I remember, it was around $875 per month.  Lived there for a year.  The landlady was a good person but she got married to quite an “interesting” guy who made it tough to stay.

Move #10 – I lived with my friend BS in Fonhill for a month or so while I waited for my new place to be ready for me to move in.

Move #11 – I moved into a cute little cottage, a former large garage that was converted into a nice little house.  It was small but it was perfect for what I needed.  Lived there for 2 years or so.

Move #12 – I had to move out of the cottage because I needed more room.  My Dad had recently passed away and I needed a place to put all of the stuff that I had stored at his place.  I rented my first actual apartment in a building.  It was pretty good, lots of room, everything included.

Move #13 – I got Zeus and quickly decided that living in an apartment with a dog wasn’t the best thing for him.  I found a house on Welland Avenue on the buy/sell board at work.  On my own, this is my record, I stayed there for 5 years.  It was a nice place, big driveway, nice backyard, gas stove, laundry in the basement, fireplace and a great landlord.  I decided, for some reason to move after 5 years – not exactly sure why.

Move #14 – We moved closer to the QEW highway in a large executive house owned by a co-worker.  It had a full in-law suite that I rented to a young guy.  I lived there for a year and this is where Blondie came into our lives.  It didn’t have much of a backyard but it was a good place.  I had to give notice as I didn’t have a job and was getting ready for stint number 3 with my sister and brother-in-law.  Good thing I got another job, this time, a few provinces away.

Move #15 – The BIG move.  This time it was to Calgary, Alberta.  I had no place to move to when I left and was lucky to find a place in a short time.  Lived in the townhouse for about 18 months.  It was huge, 3 bedrooms.  No yard.  I had two room mates here.  One was normal, the other, I had to have arrested.  Glad to be out of there.  Made some good friends though – that was good.

Move #16 – This was only a few weeks ago, have been here for less than a month.  Loving it.  Hardwood floors.  Room for my washer/dryer.  It has a dishwasher, large driveway and a 2 level backyard.  The dogs and I are happy here.  It is close to work as well.

So, in total, presuming that I have not forgotten any, 16 moves.  16 moves in 42 years.  That sounds like a lot.  Have you moved more?