Moving

Ugh. Moving is a pain. The packers came today. I discovered (as I have for the past week) that I have not planned for everything. Even though my nephew packed his pickup bed full and my niece took away a bunch, I still find things that they wanted but didn’t take. So tomorrow afternoon I will load my tiny rental car and visit them.We had packing materials galore, but the professional packers would only use the material that they brought. So the house is left with two rolls of bubble wrap, paper, some boxes, tape, etc. At least I packed several boxes, though I don’t think my boxes are on the moving company inventory (yet).

As a system analyst and long-term nerd I am appalled at the low tech inventory. They are only now starting to use bar codes (at federal prodding), and only use them as an afterthought. Were I to computerize this industry the packers would type the content of each box into the (tablet) computer and print a label for each box, with job name, destination city and room, and contents, along with bar code for the job and room.

The truck does not come to load until Monday, and today was Saturday. So I need to sleep and eat for two days and three nights. Another advantage of renting the house ‘partially furnished’ is that I left a bed, bedding, night stand, reading lamp as a minimum. (I actually left leather sofa, dining table and chairs, plus bookcases and a desk.) So I have what it takes to sleep. I also stashed some food, one plastic bowl, a plastic cup, and a camping utensil set hidden in the refrigerator (so they would not pack them).

Even though I spent six months clearing out the house a year ago, I still find stuff that has accumulated over 38 years in the same house. I hate to throw it away, but I don’t have time for more than one trip to the thrift store (generously run by an old friend). I also don’t have space for much garbage, even though a neighbor has given me space in their garbage (and yard waste) while they are out of town.

The net result means that the rental agency will have to hire someone to clear out after me. And fix a number of small things that I missed while not living here for six months. Sigh.

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