Maybe call Social Services in your area and ask if they have any suggestions?
They may know people in need of furniture; or may have some idea of other people you could call.
It isn’t much, but I believe that you, like most of us at one point or another, can keep on faking it until you make it over that hump. 
And if you can’t, well, we’ll all do our best to pick you up and help you over said hump via the cold, unfeeling text of the internet!
And when all is said and done, remember, we do it for the cats! Or at least, that’s what mine tell me…
I think half my son’s possessions are things given to him by other people who were moving out of his apartment complex. You might ask your neighbors if they’ve got any use for some of the stuff. I hope they do and you can at least get some warm fuzzy feelings from that.
The antenna might give you local stations - but I’d bet those are covered under the included basic cable. I suspect you will not need the antenna.
The Roku presumably operates via wi-fi, if your signal is good enough. Depending on how the internet service is delivered to the apartment (i.e. if it’s brought in through coax or ethernet), you may also be able to hard-connect the Roku: we had a coax-to-ethernet adapter that our Roku was plugged into, before we upgraded our home internet recently.
The move sounds great, all in all. Yes, you’re losing a yard etc. - but you won’t have to TAKE CARE OF one. My MIL moved to an assisted living place a couple months ago and it’s been great for her. I don’t think she realized how much of a struggle daily living had become for her and FIL - it’s such a slow decline that you don’t notice it. Her place does offer more services than yours - it’s not quite an independent living place. And her place is a 300+ square foot efficiency - they don’t really expect you to do much meal prep at all (she has a microwave, mini-fridge, and toaster oven).
Is there a step-up facility associated, should that become necessary in the future?A friend’s mother was in such a community - she had a 1BR apartment with full kitchen, though she always had the option to take meals in the dining room. When she declined (quite suddenly) she was moved to a much more intensive part of the community - basically full-on nursing home care.
This is actually one of our biggest unknowns so far. We don’t know if it’s a provided utility, and if so Coax, ethernet, or building wifi, or if ThelmaLou will need to secure her own service (her current 5G gateway by choice so far).
There’s really nothing wrong with taking the stuff to Goodwill and Salvation Army. Better than it going into a landfill. The thing is, I’m not getting rid of furniture. I’m taking all of my furniture with me. It’s just random crap. Now that I’ve made peace (within myself) about leaving the appliances in the house for the benefit of my heartless bastard landlord, that was where any revenue from a sale would have come from.
No question about it. Tikva has spent virtually all day in my bedroom closet. I’m leaving the bedroom door shut. When I’m settled in for the evening and all the doors are locked, then I’ll open the door and she can come out if she wants to.
None of my furniture is new. There are two chairs that I bought new about 40 years ago and have had recovered a few times. My sofa was given to me by a friend. The “desk” that I use is an old farm dining table that is too big to fit in the dining room here so I use it for a desk. I bought it from Mary Lou, my adopted mother, about 30 years ago. My current dining table was bought by me and Mary Lou’s son when we were a live-in couple in 1978. New stuff? Never heard of it!
Actually it is a provided utility and included in my rental cost. But I don’t know exactly what the setup looks like. My Roku TVs do operate on wifi. When I had an AT&T router, I connected the one TV I had then with an ethernet cable. However, the T-Mobile Gateway is wireless, and so far that’s been fine.
And frankly I won’t know what the connections are in the apartment until I get there. This is not the kind of question I could ask any of the residents, because most people don’t know what they have or why it works. They just turn on the TV and pictures appear. I’m taking my Gateway with me when I move (it’s only $50/month, cause I’m old). I’ve gotten kind of attached to the little Dark Gnome (even though it did kick me off the internet a few minutes ago).
When I get the key tomorrow, I will get the wifi password. I’ll have my kindle with me. And also, I’ll be able to look at the connections in the wall and take pictures and send them to y’all to 'splain to me!
Well, tonight at The Home they’re having a luau, one of the activities designed to entertain the Old People (that’d be me). I wonder if the Hawaiian theme has anything to do with the Maui fires-- that could be in really bad taste… so to speak. They probably planned it months ago and this is just an unhappy coincidence.
More later!
This will be a big help! If you have a chance, when you’re connected to wifi, go to https://www.speedtest.net/ (you can use their app, Speedtest by Ookla) and get an idea of the wifi speeds. It will likely not be the same as wired, but if it’s good enough for your needs…
Well, it’ll get us moving right along!
Do you have a branch of Habitat for Humanity near you? They are usually happy to accept appliances in good working order. According to their webpage, they can come pick them up. They also take household items and tools, so this might be a good option for you.
As to the cats, as others have said they may well adjust easily to being indoor-only. However, if one or both still after several weeks seem to be “pining for the fjords” you could try getting a harness and leash and take Kitty for a walk.
Sorry to hear that, but I like your idea about people coming to take what they want. When my friend’s mother died, her family asked everyone at our church to come and take whatever they wanted from her house, including furniture, etc. She also didn’t have enough to make it worth selling, but it was nice stuff and made a lot of people very happy to get for free, and the family was happy they didn’t have to have it hauled away.
I’m in a condo building, lager always makes a run out the door. My main concern with him is an elevator incident if he gets startled. Gives me the shivers thinking about it.
My neighbours all know him.
A neighbour moved in and within one week their cat snuck out the door. I got a knock on my door asking if it was one of mine. I hosted the cat until his person woke up, realized she was missing, and saw the “ found cat “ sign in the hallway.
A few random thoughts. I fully concur with all those that have congratulated you on how well you’re managing this. I’ll also add that you’re very very lucky that just the right apartment was available in a complex that you know well and like. A big change like this is always going to be a shock to the system but as you well know in the long term it’s a change for the better.
You were asking about the stove in the new place. I’m pretty sure that it would be just a so-called glass top stove and not an induction stove. I think most stoves made today are like that (glass top). I have one and it’s just fine, and looks much nicer than the kind with the circular burners.
I was chatting with the ex the other day and told her about your situation. She said her older sister recently moved to an independent living facility and she really likes it. Her only slight complaint is that on nice evenings when she’d like to have the windows open, she often has to close them because of all the oldsters congregating in the courtyard and toking up on weed! 
(We’re in Canada where it’s completely legal.) There’s something about a group of septuagenarians getting totally stoned that is pleasantly endearing – they haven’t forgotten how to have fun!
Report on the Old People’s Luau: It was really nice! I stayed for a couple of hours. I already know a few people there and met a few more. Very lively crowd. Savvy, talkative, engaging, extremely friendly and welcoming. It’s funny-- in a way it reminded me of the high school cafeteria in that the “rich kids” congregated together–hehe. There are two buildings, I’m in the lower-rent one. There are only 60-ish people in the whole facility so everyone knows everyone. I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe the community setting will break through some of my curmudgeon-ish tendencies.
The buffet was delicious and abundant-- teriyaki chicken kabobs, pulled pork sliders, cole slaw, coconut fried shrimp, fruit & cream cheese bruschetta, coconut/macadamia nut cookies, cupcakes, mango punch, iced tea, beer.
The theme had been planned for months, so the coincidence with the Maui fires was just that. 
That would be really interesting!
That’s very sweet.
THAT gave me the shivers! I’m going to be very very careful and make sure that doesn’t happen.
Yeah, it’s not an induction top, just a glass top. It’s encouraging to know you like yours.
That is absolutely hilarious! We septuagenarians are, after all, children of the 60s. Peace & love, baby. 
Unless you were out partying and got in at very dark in the morning, and didn’t fully close the door, I believe you will be fine.
The Move (Update): A New Hope
I got the key (fob) today. The key fob opens public doors and tallies your meals. The apt front door key didn’t actually work. Oh well. But the apt was unlocked. Took some stuff over there. It is a really nice apt-- serene atmosphere. I love the eastern and southern exposures from my three [sniff 
] windows. Ate in the dining room. The idea of having meals available every day and not needing to think about what to shop for and cook… very appealing. The food is very good, too. And people are so friendly-- very different from an ordinary apartment complex. A table full of people invited me to join them, but I was too antsy and stressed. They all understood. I think the community aspect (which part of me resisted) will be very good. There are a few couples, but most of the people are single. Mostly women, but a few men.
When I get it all fixed up, I will definitely post some pictures.
Tikva behaved quite normally last night and this morning. Then she went and sat by the back door and whined so pitifully. 
Sigh. When she figured out I was not going to let her out, she buried herself in the bathroom closet behind a pile of blankets and she’s been there ever since.
I guess it’s really going to happen…
Yaay! Sending supporting thoughts your way.
It won’t be perfect. What you had before wasn’t perfect either. You’d just gotten used to, then accepted, all the things that were less-than-perfect. You’ve probably forgotten what most of them are.
The new imperfections will loom large. For awhile. Don’t fasten on those like a drowning person grabs a branch.
I won’t. I promise…
I can feel my allegiance beginning to shift to the new place. Today I took over the concrete statue of St. Francis that stood in my yard in the country for 20 years-- actually, he was the marker for my kitties’ graveyard. Then I brought him here to this house and he stood in the back yard to be sat on by birds and scampered over by squirrels. My new apartment looks down into a courtyard between two wings of the building. There are some chairs and someone has put a big terra cotta dish to serve as a birdbath. I put ol’ Frank down there where I can see him from my living room and bedroom windows. I’ve looked out at him every day for the last 30 years and it makes me content to see him in my new home. (I know I’m Jewish, but Francis crosses all denominational and religious lines IMHO.)
If you are concerned about someone going in the apartment without you knowing, it might be worth looking into something like a Ring camera that will send an alert to your phone when it detects a person and you are away. Do note that based on the placement, the kitties might set it off occasionally. I rather enjoy it as I can pull up the video feed and watch them chasing each other around for a while. Or things like this adorable little camera bomb occur.
Poor Tikva!
But she’s safe. And she loves you.
(And she’s hoping that if she’s out of sight you’ll forget where she is and open the door – )
I can see it in some of your posts. This is going to work.
I do have two Wyze cameras, one of them I got for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on Tikva when she hides under the house for days at a time. As in this one:
Of course, now she is in side permanently.
The idea of a doorbell camera is a good one, although my front door is in a hallway so 99.9% of the time nothing will show up. I have ordered a door chain and will install it promptly.
Yeah, I think so. 
Maybe when I get settled, we can have an online BYOB housewarming party!