I spent most of today waiting around for a grad student, Flakey McFlakerson, to come and buy some of my cheap-ass furniture. This is after a standup and three reschedulings in the last four days. And now some of my furniture is gone, but McFlakerson ended up not wanting the stuff I really wanted to get rid of, instead taking stuff that I kinda wanted to keep around and make myself comfortable with till the end of the month. But this person wanted to load up the car right then and there and I agreed, deciding that cash money in my hand and getting it all over with now would be worth it, especially considering all the flaking out that has gone on.
To top it all off, McFlakerson has optioned my final bookcase, but not definitively agreed to buy it. I have just cleared off the whole thing, leaving piles and stacks of stuff all over the living room, but since this person has not made up hir mind nor had room in the car, I don't know if zie will actually come get it, leaving me with piles that I should not lump back onto the bookcase.
*** News Flash: I fucking hate hir and zie. These words annoy the fuck out of me for some reason. It may be because my brain automatically corrects them to her and she but then goes, "wait, what?" I think we should just go to using "it" for all third person singular pronouns; fuck gender. This ends this News Flash. ***
I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be here --- I haven't given notice for my place yet as there's the teeniest snag we are waiting on up at the homestead for Operation Basement, and I want to make sure I don't leave myself sleeping on someone's floor with the cats in the kennel if things get messy. But, I can't pack any further. We have gotten down to the stuff I use regularly and it would be pointless to pack up. There's also the closets, but I don't want to bring more piles and clutter out into my living space. And most importantly, there's my living space, which was not bothering me when there were a few untidy piles of boxes but very soon I'm going to feel unsettled and unhappy in here.
I haven't packed any of my pictures and wall decor. How the hell does one pack that? Advice?
Oh, I did laundry today while waiting around. And I forced myself to go through my clothes and managed to cull a bag worth of stuff. I'll need to make myself do a couple more passes. I have this thing where my beloved favorite clothes I won't toss even after they get too worn out to really wear, and then I have all these clothes I don't like or that don't fit me well or that aren't comfortable (button-down shirts are a big one in this category. See my post about the potbelly) but I feel way too guilty to toss things I've only worn a couple times. As you can see, this means I'll need to make multiple attempts at culling. Remind me to clean the crap out of my trunk and put the donation pile in there.
And I haven't made moving-method plans yet. (Basically, packing boxes of books and cleaning stuff out makes me happy. It was like a tetris puzzle and I got to play with tape. All the stuff about moving that makes me (even more) anxious, I'm just not dealing with. Phone calls? Counting my money? Not even dealing with these yet.) I foresee moving company frustrations in my future.
My friend Cool Scientist Friend used abf-upack for moving to her postdoc. She loved it and said it was cheapest, and she got to fly to the new place and buy a used car instead of drive a uhaul across country. My friend who got the cute SLAC prof job and moved across the country used PODS and was very unhappy because the walls of the boxes are thin and her furniture got all banged up. I did some poking around the internets and guess what? Upack doesn't ship within states. Not even their little self-storage containers. Argh!
If I'd gotten those nice little permanent comp jobs, it would be no problem, nosirree. But moving across the state to my parents' means that I'll have to use PODS (pricey) or rent a truck/storage in Parent City, which was not my ideal. My dad has conceived the idea that he must drive down here and drive the uhaul truck for me back to Parent City. Have I mentioned that I am currently fighting him to have his driver's license revoked? He should not be tootling around town even; I am terrified of the thought of him behind the wheel of a big crazy truck. Upack or PODS means that I'm covered and can tell him I'm not even driving anything.
Eventually I'm going to look back into pricing stuff again. No rush. And once all my furniture is gone I wonder if I'll even have enough stuff to go in a POD or a truck. I probably have enough boxes of books that I could not use the trailer option. But I am not sure. Eh. *shrugs*
That's about all the news that's fit to print here, and some that's unfit besides.
6 comments:
Well, this seems like a lovely way to procrastinate. Some thoughts:
1. I COMPLETELY agree about hir and zie. Ick.
2. In the past I have packed picture frames and wall art wrapped in newspaper, bubble wrap, or (my personal favorite) linens. A good way to pack both wash clothes and frames!
3. Culling clothes. My grandmother took a bunch of t-shirts I couldn't part with and made them into a quilt. Do you have a friend who might fit into some of those things you haven't worn much? Or, could you sell some to a place like Plato's Closet?
4. For moving methods I have no idea, except that if you have to tow a car on the back of a U-haul, DO NOT back up. Just don't.
Here's another vote for U-Pack. We had a really good experience with them, and they were definitely the cheapest option, including PODS. You just have to make sure that you pack your boxes etc. securely within the container, because things do shift around in transit a bit. (U-Pack also does storage. If you need to move out of your current place before you can move in elsewhere, they'll hold the container for you.)
Heh. No, the problem is that U-pack *will not* make an in-state move, even with the storage containers, and I am moving within California. Thanks for rubbing it in!
I have found a place called door-to-door storage and I have to call them to see if they will do an in-state move.
The crummy thing about Upack not doing in-state moves is that they most certainly should make an exception for California. It's a freaking gigantic state. Stupid heads.
When we moved from Wisconsin to California, we used a service called Movex. It was the absolute cheapest method of moving back then. (Five years ago) I'm not sure if they do in-state moves, either, since they specialize in long distance moves. But maybe they make exceptions for CA. I don't know. Couldn't hurt to call. The website is basically useless because you have to talk to someone for pricing, but here's the link, regardless: http://www.movex.com/#qanda. You do have to load and unload the stuff yourself, but if you don't have tons of stuff, maybe that's okay with you.
I have a ton of art on my walls. I collect Shakespeare art. So when we move, that is always a pain to pack. Last time, we used bubble wrap. You can get big boxes of the stuff. We wrapped all the things that had glass in the frames and put all of it together in a large wardrobe box. That fit a lot of it, but not all of it. The rest, we wrapped with bubble wrap and then stuffed it into a large box with linens. Nothing broke, thank Shakespeare.
And I refuse to use gender-neutral pronouns. I find them idiotic.
I just don't know how prices compare, but have you looked at actual long-haul mover companies (Allied, Mayflower, etc.)? This is my second cross-continent move as a VAP (and yet I still realize I have no reason to complain) and I think it actually works out financially. I find my own boxes, do my own packing, and I think for the cost of gas, motels, dealing with my cat, and so forth, it has to be worth it. I do not know, however, if they do in-state, but I have to imagine there are at least similar companies who do.
Hmm, actual moving companies? Hmm.
This is complicated by the fact that I have almost no furniture, and will have even less shortly, so I wonder if I even have enough stuff that big moving companies would bother.
I mean, I'm looking at the POD sizes and thinking that I really only need half of one.
My friend is going to a postdoc with no furniture and is just shipping all her books media mail, but I have more books than hir (zie did a big a big purge recently) and I don't want to jettison absolutely everything in the kitchen, which zie is also doing.
Yeah, moving is a suck-fest whatever way you contemplate it!
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