New Home

I am now in DC.  I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so I don't have much time to write, but I wanted to post so you knew I made it.  I posted about my move, but will add pictures later.  I will also add pictures of my new place.  It is the nicest place I have ever lived in.  But it doesn't feel like home yet.  Maybe it will after I get some food in my kitchen.  Until then, I think it will feel more like a hotel.

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Bathroom

Bedroom

Moving Wisdom

Final packing of HHE

The movers have just finished.  All in all it took about 6 ½ hours to pack my little trailer.  The driver told me he was surprised how much I had.  He thought it wasn’t going to take very long to load.  I sure surprised him!

My place feels very empty.  And now I have errands I need to run while the day is young.  But first I wanted to write some important and useful tidbits of moving wisdom that I have learned over the past 6 ½ hours.

•  Don’t assume that your UAB shipment is within weight.  Step on a scale with each individual piece to ensure you are ok if you have to: 55 + 55 + 50 + 30 + 25 + 15 + shipping container of 25? = 255 (Hopefully the scales were off in my favor . . . meaning that it all actually weighs less than that!)  In the future I will make sure this gets packed FIRST.  (They didn’t get packed in my order of priority, either).
•   Liquids = bad.  They cannot be stored, so fit them into your luggage/your UAB, or get rid of them (unless the HHE is shipping to post, then I imagine it would be ok).
• Forget lighters, too (flammable).
• Be prepared for flies to enter your house during the time that your doors are wide open, and lots of them.
• Be prepared to repeat yourself over and over again about what goes where.
• Keep like things together as otherwise they will end up in random boxes.
• Watch the movers like a hawk or while you aren’t watching, they will pack something you didn’t intend them to pack.
• Before the last box is sealed, make sure to check for any small items that were missed.
• Simplify, simplify, simplify!  The less you own, the easier the pack out will be!

The truck that took away my UAB

That’s all I can think of for now.  I think future moves will be easier, not just because I have now experienced a professional move, but also because I think I will be less often shipping so much of my stuff to storage.

Well, I suppose I should go find a productive use for the rest of my day.

Pack Out

The large moving truck brought to haul my stuff.

The movers are here packing my stuff and loading the truck.  It is weird because I’m not used to sitting around (standing in this case because they’ve already taken the couch and chair and a half out of my place) and doing nothing while other people work.  At the same time, I don’t want to be in the way.  There are three men here: two doing the packing, and one driver (who is also loading the truck).  They seem to be very efficient. One of the packers is new (today is his very first day . . . aka I am his first move), but he is doing all the easy stuff . . . aka not breakable.  I don’t feel too concerned about how they’re packing my effects, so that is good.

The start of packing

There was a little snag when they first got here; they didn’t know about my air shipment.  I guess usually air shipments are sent overseas, not within the US.  The State Department must be an exception to that, and I doubt many people from the State Department get packed out up here.

Gizmo is handling everything very well.  I’m surprised.  When the couch was still here, he sat quietly by my side while the men packed boxes around us.  Now he is sitting quietly in the bottom of one of my bookshelves.  As long as he is not exposed/out in the open, he does fine.  I was afraid that he would try to run outside, but that hasn’t been a problem.

They are packing things a lot faster than I anticipated.  I guess they go to lunch about 12:30 and at that time they will bring a scale to weigh my UAB shipment.  Hopefully I can take everything I have separated out.  At least I have developed an order of preference: Food, Gizmo’s things, clothing, toiletries, books, guitar, and then Christmas decorations.  I think that is all I have set aside for my UAB. 

Gizmo hiding in my book shelf.  Though he has his leash on, he's not tied to anything.

It is weird to see my stuff slowly disappear from around me . . . while I do nothing . . .

Moving Day!

Gizmo hiding under my bed.

It is finally pack out day for me.  The movers should be here any minute now.  I’m starting to feel more and more nervous as time goes on.  I have this nagging feeling that I am forgetting something . . . which is weird because I’ve packed and repacked my suitcases about 3 times now.  I finally got it figured out where I can have all the things I need (though less clothes) and be within my 50lbs/70lbs luggage restrictions (I decided to make one of my suitcases 70lbs because there is no way I could fit everything I need for Gizmo and everything I need for me in only 100lbs.  I even got more pairs of shoes into my suitcases!

Gizmo's partially eaten food . . . unheard of!

I have a feeling that this day is going to be an experience.  I think Gizmo realizes something is up because he is busy hiding.  He even left food in his dish!