We actually spend weeks prior to our moves de-cluttering, purging and organizing. Before the movers actually come, we stage everything... all pictures are put together, all of our electronics are hand packed in their original boxes, things that shouldn't be packed are placed in a room labeled 'DO NOT PACK', etc., etc. We do that so that we can have an easy un-pack on the other end. And it usually works... until this move.
We thought that we had the greatest packers when we were in CA. We were so impressed with their speed and the supervisor came out to pack our plasma and he told us that we had his 'A team' packing us. We should have had an idea when one guy actually packed the cat litter box, food and water... and yes, they were all full. Common sense would tell you that if we wanted the litter box to be packed, we would have emptied the poop, but who are we to judge?
Anyway, so it is now 8 days since we have received our household goods and we are still not completely unpacked... mostly, but not completely. Some would say that's pretty good, but for us... not so much. Our last move, we unpacked in 2 days.
Enough rambling... lets take a look at what we unearthed, shall we?
Here is a wardrobe from KK's room.
Underneath the toys and books are E's uniforms, including his Choker Whites... nice.What the... ?
If you can't tell, it's a box of laundry detergent packed with Woolite, stain spray, dryer sheets... all neatly taped inside the box. Problem is, they packed it in the same box with the turkey roaster and rack which punctured the boxes (yep, there were two of these babies) and powdered detergent was everywhere.Oooh... another wardrobe. What's in this one? It doesn't seem very full.
Oh... OK... yep, two leather jackets DO provide the right amount of padding for a semi-precious stone globe that E so lovingly lugged around Hong Kong to bring it home to me.
And one last thing for the record books. This box was in our garage... empty. Why not use it to pack in? What should we pack in it? 
Good, pack the glass fish tank in the All-Clad box. It is the right size. Make sure you write 'Fragile' on it somewhere so that it's OK.
Oops... you forgot to put any sort of packing material in with it to keep it safe. Did you really forget?There are so many more things that are just not right but that's just part of military moving. We should be used to it by now, but I don't think you can ever get used to absolute disregard for your things.
Next move, I swear we are doing it ourselves.
9 comments:
Oh my. I can't get over the fish tank...that's just irresponsible. We just completed another move this past fall. It's never easy. While I love our life...I hate our moves :) Chin up :)
oh wow... you guys really had it bad. i was considering moving ourselves next time, too - but that was mostly because i found a used plunger packed at the bottom of the wardrobe box with all of LH's dress shirts. unfortunately, i pulled it out of the box in disgust too quickly to get a picture. darn it...
seriously, i hope you guys are settling in and starting to enjoy your new house and new surroundings!
Sooo sorry to see the mayhem. I absolutely know the feeling. Especially for those of us who have a wee bit of control freak in us anyway. I would definitely be out of sorts. It took me a couple of weeks to recover from the foul mood when we had a very similar experience in Ok. Don't forget, they crushed the hardwood frame of a brand new, still with the tags attached, leather sectional. Hoping your overall $ damages are low.
Are you sure Dewitt from Guam didn't pack you? I really thought only us airline people were treated that way. Better make sure the Christmas decorations are not wrapped up with the dining room chairs. On the bright side, "You guys are in a house!" Glad everyone arrived safely and expect a box in the next few days. Hope the girls enjoy!
no fun, my friends. we'll pack you next time. =) at least you found some humor in it. what will you buy with the claims money?
Can't stop shaking! Having flashbacks! Rick said, "you don't have to do ANYTHING, they move it all for you." Cuts to me: 1. walking in on them dumping contents of desk junk drawer into top of wardrobe box. 2. Being pulled aside to be told that I probably shouldn't have the Navy move my pot (aka lavender satchel from underwear drawer.) 3. Unpacking a box of my shoes on the other end only to find a large live fern plant with dirt, in a pot at the bottom. I feel your pain. I probably will suffer the Military move one last time though. I'm cheap like that.
Wow, looks like the amazing pack job I got when leaving there. Maybe the folks in Monterey have a hard time with the basics. Out of curiosity, who did your move on the Monterey end? I wrote the PPO there to tell them of similar complaints (especially that same great work with the uniforms and nice clothes), so I'm wondering if they're still giving that company jobs.
Also, it was great to see that others got to enjoy that amazing snow storm in MN! I was very happy to see snow for the first time in 2 years, but my father was less than impressed.
Awww, man! I feel for you guys! We've been there. NONE of our moves have been "good," but the two moves we had LEAVING California were the two WORST. The first one was from Monterey, the second one was from San Diego. It sounds like it's just the packers there in Monterey that do such a horrible job.
I would not say we "like" moving, but we have, like you, started to pack up stuff before the movers come - like electronics in the boxes, etc. On one of our moves, the realtor told us we had too much shhhtuff. She said nobody cares what your garage looks like, just that you HAVE a garage, so start packing our excess shtuff into boxes and put them in the garage. My wife got a bunch of plastic bins at Target and I think it actually helped speed up the packing process since they could just throw the bin in the truck.
I'm rambling. This is a topic I could write my own very long post on. Maybe I shall...
Oh dear Lord...thats just absurd! We had similar issues with our move to MI. I'm dreading the upcoming 2. *shakes head*
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