(no subject)
The good thing about moving for the government is that I don't actually have to pack anything - the movers come in and do it for me. However, in some ways, it's actually sort of worse, because I do have to have everything organized before the movers get here, which means there are huge piles of clothes, DVDs, dishes, and all the random flotsam and jetsam that make up a house, piled up in various corners of the room, which makes the house look much more disorganized than not. I don't like clutter, so not being able to pack anything and thus get it out of my sight kind of makes me nuts.
The reason the organizing is important is because packout happens fast. There are stories about packers not only packing the garbage in the garbage cans, but there's an urban legend that they packed someone's cat. At least, I hope it's an urban legend. I've seen the movers in action, it's entirely possible that such a thing actually happened. I have to be able to point and say, "That pile is storage", and trust that there is nothing in that pile that should not go into storage, because everything in that pile is going into storage once I've pointed at it. There are three floors in our townhouse, and one me, and one toddler who likes to moves stuff around. This is a recipe for disaster.
The big thing, which is the only thing left with a time-stamp, is mailing out the package with Cleo's paperwork to Richmond for verification from the Head Vet Honcho. That'll happen on Monday, FedEx Overnight Express with all appropriate tracking numbers and such. (I have to wait until Monday because there's a specific time frame involved.) I might even slap insurance on the package. It'll come back the same way, via a pre-paid overnight express envelope. The office in Richmond assures me this will work, they do this ALL the time, and if I don't get the papers back by Friday next, I can drive down on Monday and do it all in one day. Which would suck, which is why I don't want to drive to Richmond, but it can be done.
Things to do before Packout, or at Least Before We Fly Out
--Party. With cake.
--Finish figuring out what goes in Air (which theoretically takes 2-3 weeks to arrive) and what goes in Surface (which theoretically takes up to 4 months). Sort as necessary. In reality, for our particular destination, these designations mean nothing. Bill got his air and surface shipments the same week, 5 months after he mailed them. Which therefore means...
--Figure out what of Andrew's toys/movies/books are going with us on the plane, because five months with only the three trucks waiting for him are going to be an extremely long five months.
--Organize the kitchen into storage and surface; include the stuff in the china cabinet.
--Backup all other files on laptop, either with Carbonite or on DVDroms.
--Scan rest of O.S. notes into computer. You know, with the theory that I'll have time to write again once overseas.
--Print maps for places Mom can take Andrew while we're bumming around homeless for a week.
--After printing/scanning/etc, pack up printer, because I don't entirely trust the packers, and I have the original box.
--Sell the car. Anybody want a car?
--Change of address/phone number with everyone.
--Deal with electric company, internet/phone company, house insurance, other random address changes
--Change Netflix subscription from streaming to DVD
--copy of Andrew's medical records/immunizations
--Finish reading library book. Return library book.
Already done:
--cancelled newspaper
--contacted HOA
--changed address for magazines
--gotten phone number for Skype
--New tag for Cleo, since the one with our local phone numbers obviously will not work.
--Burn extra photos on laptop to DVDs for long-term storage in Storage.
The reason the organizing is important is because packout happens fast. There are stories about packers not only packing the garbage in the garbage cans, but there's an urban legend that they packed someone's cat. At least, I hope it's an urban legend. I've seen the movers in action, it's entirely possible that such a thing actually happened. I have to be able to point and say, "That pile is storage", and trust that there is nothing in that pile that should not go into storage, because everything in that pile is going into storage once I've pointed at it. There are three floors in our townhouse, and one me, and one toddler who likes to moves stuff around. This is a recipe for disaster.
The big thing, which is the only thing left with a time-stamp, is mailing out the package with Cleo's paperwork to Richmond for verification from the Head Vet Honcho. That'll happen on Monday, FedEx Overnight Express with all appropriate tracking numbers and such. (I have to wait until Monday because there's a specific time frame involved.) I might even slap insurance on the package. It'll come back the same way, via a pre-paid overnight express envelope. The office in Richmond assures me this will work, they do this ALL the time, and if I don't get the papers back by Friday next, I can drive down on Monday and do it all in one day. Which would suck, which is why I don't want to drive to Richmond, but it can be done.
Things to do before Packout, or at Least Before We Fly Out
--Party. With cake.
--Finish figuring out what goes in Air (which theoretically takes 2-3 weeks to arrive) and what goes in Surface (which theoretically takes up to 4 months). Sort as necessary. In reality, for our particular destination, these designations mean nothing. Bill got his air and surface shipments the same week, 5 months after he mailed them. Which therefore means...
--Figure out what of Andrew's toys/movies/books are going with us on the plane, because five months with only the three trucks waiting for him are going to be an extremely long five months.
--Organize the kitchen into storage and surface; include the stuff in the china cabinet.
--Backup all other files on laptop, either with Carbonite or on DVDroms.
--Scan rest of O.S. notes into computer. You know, with the theory that I'll have time to write again once overseas.
--Print maps for places Mom can take Andrew while we're bumming around homeless for a week.
--After printing/scanning/etc, pack up printer, because I don't entirely trust the packers, and I have the original box.
--Sell the car. Anybody want a car?
--Change of address/phone number with everyone.
--Deal with electric company, internet/phone company, house insurance, other random address changes
--Change Netflix subscription from streaming to DVD
--copy of Andrew's medical records/immunizations
--Finish reading library book. Return library book.
Already done:
--cancelled newspaper
--contacted HOA
--changed address for magazines
--gotten phone number for Skype
--New tag for Cleo, since the one with our local phone numbers obviously will not work.
--Burn extra photos on laptop to DVDs for long-term storage in Storage.