People not associated with the military (called "civilians" by militarians) often ask me "how can you pack up your entire house every two years?"
"It's easy," I reply. "I don't pack. The movers do it all."
I usually say this with a smile and it's usually during one of the years in between the moving years.
Days like today when I'm watching three men pack up every single household item in my beach bungalow is when I wonder "why the heck am I moving again?" This is crazy. "Why did I say that I enjoy moving?" This is awful.
It should be easy, right. Stressfree. The packers do all the hard work. I just have to devote two days to supervising them. Make sure that they don't break, steal or forget anything.
In theory, this is a latte-sipping dream. In reality, it's a caffeine-free nightmare.
It's a case of "now you see it, now you don't."
From the moment the moving company employees enter your home, you've lost all control of your prized possessions. Expect everything, and I mean everything, to be boxed in a matter of minutes.
I've heard horror stories of garbage, wet and dirty towels and a loaf of bread being packed for an overseas move. Today I want to avoid living any horror stories.
So you try to plan and organize as best you can prior to their entrance. At a minimum you label everything. Ideally you move everything you don't want packed into a closet or office and you lock the door. The movers are advised not to enter this room and therefore you aren't subject to cleaning your empty house without a mop.
I've learned to be prepared for questions such as "is this going?" and giving rapid fire responses, otherwise if I think about it too long and it's already in a box when I answer. There is one thing that movers don't like to do and that is unpack.
As you answer these questions you are watching the mover who isn't talking to you. You need to watch him so you can pull stuff out of his hand just as it is heading into a box. It is at this moment that you realized you need that item for the next week, but forgot to put it in the "safe" room. And it won't happen once. This scenario will occur several times in the course of the two-day packing experience.
Today's near emergency was catching a mover as he started to place two travel coffee mugs filled with freshly brewed coffee into a cardboard box. And an hour later, it was my car keys. I caught the mover as he was putting my car keys into a box. Can you imagine if I hadn't stopped him? Or worse yet, if I hadn't seen him pick up the keys?
Those were the success stories for today.
My misses for the day: our electric toothbrush charger. That was packed and gone before we noticed in the evening. Without it, our electric toothbrushes are worthless.
Why do I enjoy moving again?
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