Rantings on Moving

Originally published Oct 05 on Rant & Rave


Well you would think I have hired the Three Stooges or a pack of monkeys as movers. We picked up the rental truck yesterday morning at 9am and the craziness started there.

I had ordered a 16 ft truck and they had it set up as a 25 ft. There was nothing else available so I took it. Yikes, just driving the 4 miles to the house on winding narrow mountain roads nearly killed my arthritic shoulders. I could barely turn the wheels!!!!! I was on 9-1-1 speed dial with God all the way home as I terrorized small animals, trees, hanging limbs and the stray car daring to pass by.

Barreling along at 20MPH I decided the only way I could drive this monster was with a couple of packs of Depends and a supply of heart pills handy. My son used to work for 2 Men & a Truck moving company so he will drive but we will have to wait until this morning to get him signed onto the insurance policy.

When we got home there was no place to park the truck, even though I had asked my son to move our cars up to the field above the house Sat night. He chose to visit friends and play video games so we spent 2 hours hunting for the keys to the old Ventura he is restoring. (This is the rusted out piece of junk that is only aesthetically pleasing if you enjoy the artful design of the rust patterns adorning it and who's only function for the past 4 years is storage and annoying the landlady.)

Just as he got the truck in place around 1230p, his four friends showed up to "help". This of course meant they all had to sit and gab for another hour to plan out how they would attack the problem.They are of the new school that says nothing can be done without a meeting or conference *eyes rolling*.

Moving is simple, stack the heavy stuff 4-5 ft high and then put lightweight stuff on top of that, heaviest at the wall by the cab, then finish off with the bulky & light furniture angled in to brace it all. I had stacked all the heavy boxes about 4-5 ft high ready to go on the dolly and be stacked in first. I'm paying $15 for a dolly but they were grabbing boxes by hand (strong young'uns) and mixing the sizes up, putting the stacks 6 inches apart, packing heavy stuff over their heads and just making a general mess of it.

After an hour, hunger set in. I offered to cook some hot dogs and sausage dogs but Greasy Mac's was the general consensus. Of course, it took 3 people to go and pick up the food (one to order, one to tote and one to handle the finances????) The other two stood hovering, watching me pack and waiting since it is a rule you can only work in groups now. Split up the pack and all work ceases. After dinner and another conference, it was decided to load the furniture because the helpers had to leave by 4pm. Within half an hour the furniture was on (in the middle where it doesn't belong) so now it was time for a beer break (don't even get me started). A few more minutes of putting odd boxes on and everyone was gone.

Darling son decided he need to pack his car even though he could have done it this evening. Finally at 830p he went to a friend's store and picked up more boxes because we had run out around 5pm. Of course his car was so full now he could only pick up a few and they had to be broken down. *sigh* This means I will be waving the tape gun again and will prob have several more bald patches on my body by morning.

The truck is over 2/3 full and I have a crafting room full of metal bookcases and lightweight boxes to pack and there will be nothing to brace them so they will probably be spilled all over the place when we get there. The good news, it will be a mess but most of it is nonbreakable so I am just going to close my eyes and toss it on.

Right now it is 4 am. I scrounged some painkillers from the next door neighbor last night. One helped with a good night's sleep on my nice inflatable single bed which the cat and dog think they should be sharing. I am waiting for more drugs to kick in and then I have to finish up loading the truck so we can head out at 2pm when James gets here. After we unload it all and return the truck I still have to work tonight so it may be a few days before I can start the cleaning or actually bend or move any essential body parts. Oh well, back to work :)

hugs from Moron Land