Since I'm gonna worry about it anyway...

[reprobayt]

Tell me your moving/packing horror stories...

Let your pain be my learning experience.  :)

Comments

[tidesong.livejournal.com]

*shows you something you've never seen before*

[eicnan.livejournal.com]

Mine's not too bad but I can tell you don't bother renting a u-haul online because apparently that means shit and they often send you to a place much further then the closest one, just go pick it up when you're ready.

Besides a few things breaking in transport probably the worst experience was the u-haul...it was frustrating at the time and the emergency break was stuck and wouldn't go down. I gave up arguing with the reps and just drove it with the break on going about 40 mph down 400 on a Saturday morning.

Oh yeah and those Public Storage boxes....if you use them don't put anything you want right away in them. I used one to move from California to Georgia. The box came something like 6 days after it was supposed to arrive. My furniture was in that box so I slept on hardwood floors while waking up early the next day for interviews.

[nyssimi.livejournal.com]

When I went to MO to help Leraje's mom move down here, the movers that showed up reaked of alcohol. You could smell the whiskey from 4 feet away from the one guy. We immediately fired them on the spot and after a few hours of loading the U-Haul ourselves (we had hired them to help us load the truck only), I suggested that we look in the phone book and call othe rmoving companies to see if they had anyone available and for what cost per hour. We were able to get a bunch of college kids to help out for the same rate as the previous people - it worked out much better.

[john666.livejournal.com]

When packing books use lots of SMALL boxes, big boxes just get heavy! A few friends go a long way in moving, they are usually cheaper in the long run.

Good Luck! and HUGZ!

[bheansidhe.livejournal.com]

I have a big box of packing materials for you - peanuts, bubble wrap, and paper wrap. It will at least do a shelf of breakables and maybe some china.

Class 4 and rising

[vernard.livejournal.com]

I have so many moving horror stories that I won't even bother trying to scare you with them. instead I will tell you what I (and the rest of my crew) have learned about moving over the last 10 years.

1) If you can write the check and have someone else move you then do this. We are much too old and intelligent to be throwing out our backs moving large and heavy crap around. If money is tight then suck it up and ask for help EARLY. notify your friends at least 2 weeks in advance or they can't move their schedule around for you.

2) pack a bag for 4 days worth of clothing and set it aside. Put the essentials in there including a shower curtain because you will not be able to find the shower curtain when its time to take a shower. Be prepared to eat fast food for 4 days as well. Either that or pack a cooler with 4 days worth of cold cuts becaue you will still not have your kitchen ready in 4 days to use it properly. Oh yeah, put your contact lense cleaner in there, your meds and anything other thing that you cannot live without for 4 days.

3) Make a list of all the utilities and have them turned on as EARLY AS POSSIBLE. That way you can VERIFY that they are on at the next place before you get there. Schedule a time to have your other utilities turned off. Call 2 days after they have been turned off to VERIFY that they were turned off. Make note of who you talked to and what time you talked to them both times you called. This information can save you tons of time at a later date.

4) Pack everything and I do mean EVERYTHING.

5) Do not bother to take this as an opportunity to sort you life. You can do that when you are unpacking later in the week. Or 20 years from now for all the good it will do.

6) If you haven't opened a box since 2 moves ago, just throw it away. It ceased being lifethreateningly important 2 moves ago.

7) Pack everything. The worst thing you can ever have on moving day is stuff that is not packed. pack everything. once again, pack everything.

8) There is no such thing as "just the heavy stuff". Its all heavy. There is stuff that you don't trust them to move but that is diffierent. Pack Everything in boxes and have them move it.

9) If you simply must have your friend move you then make sure you rent a truck that is NOT U-haul. There are more horror stories about U-Haul trucks than Snopes can keep track of. Use Ryder or some other company that tends to have newer trucks.

10) When you rent your truck, get it as early in the day as possible. That way if they can't get the truck then you can at least know it and have 3 hours before your friends show up to move you to geta new ones.

11) Start early. And provide breakfast. Then provide lunch and beer.

12) Do not have more than 8 people helping you move. If you need that many then you have Too Much Shit.

12) have water onhand no matter what temperature it is. People need water cause they sweat. Even when its not hot, they sweat.

13) when moving stuff from the apartment to the truck, Do it one room at a time. That way when that room is completely done you don't have to go back in there and check. This means that you can do a sweep of your house easily and nothing gets left behind.

14) LArge heavy appliances get moved onto the truck LAST so that they are the FIRST thing to come out.

15) Pack things as tightly as possible. Do not be afraid to use the veritcle space in a truck. Going up is just as good as going out. You want things packed tightly so that they won't move around.

16) Have smoeone that can drive a stick available if you have to drive the truck yourself. Many of the bigger trucks (24 foot or more) do NOT come in an automatic. And most folks dont know how to drive a manual transmission.

There is probably more but that is all for now.

[missakins.livejournal.com]

I am DOT certified to drive anything smaller than a semi. I'll be glad to drive for you and help you load if my schedule allows. I've also had people I know say good things about getting a PODS storage thinger.

Make sure you get an appliance dolly. They make moving washer/dryers and anything else big (even dressers) a breeze.

Kinko's will let you have copy paper boxes for free. Go and ask them to save them a few days in advance. Liquor stores will usually have good boxes too, Not too big, good for books.

I did not have a bad experience with uhaul online. What I did was to reserve a one-way rental from the closest uhaul to my old place, then returned it to the closest one to the new place. Only like $20 more, but I saved at least that much on mileage (norcross to marietta at 69 cents a mile adds up). Also, you can usually do better if you pickup and return in the same day. Never get anything smaller than a 14 foot, because the smaller ones don't have the ramps (they are crucial, less stress on your back).

[missakins.livejournal.com]

Oh, when we moved we got boxes from a place in lawrenceville, they ended up being like half the price of the uhaul ones. we got a bundle (for moving like a 2 bedroom apartment or something) for like $25 I think.

[nyssimi.livejournal.com]

Oh, and if you are renting a U-Haul, Ryder, Penske truck etc? Just be very creful to not pack it in such a way making it very top heavy and unstable. Bouncing around on I-75 from 2 wheels to the other and nearly tipping over is NOT fun. Trust me.

[stormkitty.livejournal.com]

I was in the middle of packing when my (now ex)in-laws decided to "help". I was at work. When I arrived at my new home, I found that she had packed up all the "loose" stuff in the rooms and threw it into one box for each room. Yeah, nice, except the stuff that was still in the rooms in piles was trash that I was going to take out before we left (2 days later than they moved us). So I had to unpack and throw away about 5 boxes of stuff. And she managed to mix all the trash in with stuff I needed to keep so I had to sort everything again.

Moral of the story: Free help isn't always help.

[stigmatic.livejournal.com]

Always set up the bed 1ST THING when you arrive. That way it's ready to fall into when you can't go any further. We almost killed Swede-boy on our last move. He was moving a box of paints/basement type stuff. A spray paint can got mashed and prayed the entire contents into the box it was packed in. Not much paint problem, but the fumes were unbelieveable in his car. But did he pull over - NO! LOL - gotta love him. At least he helped us.

[dark-blade.livejournal.com]

USE SMALL BOXES FOR BOOKS AND NON-PLASTIC DISHES! Really. Kinko's size box or smaller. So not effing kidding. Speaking of which, yes, hit up Kinko's for their boxes.

If you intend to transport furniture WITH the drawers and parts in it, get some of that heavy duty saran wrap stuff and use that to keep 'em closed.

Have to disassemble something? Put the loose screws, handles, etc in a ziplock bag with a lable. One bag per item! You don't want to be sorting out hardware later. Put all of these inside a bigger bag, and either tape it inside a drawer, or put it in your overnight bag.

Weed trash. Purge stuff BEFORE you haul it. I moved up here a year ago, I still have random crap in boxes. Hell, I still have random crap in boxes from when I moved out of Joe's house five years ago. Try not to simply have boxes of random crap.

If you plan to move things like clothes or such in trash bags, make SURE that they are different from the trash trash bags! And make sure anyone helping you move knows which is which.

If your blankets and such are nice and you don't want to use them to pad the furniture in the truck, check out Goodwill and the Salvation Army. It doesn't matter if it's a bit tattered or an ugly color, getting blankets from them is cheaper than paying for the furniture pads, which from what I've seen aren't thicker than most blankets.

Carefully pack and clearly mark fragile items. If you have a box or two of treasured keepsakes or very fragile collectibles, take them yourself in your own car.

When transporting pantry items, particularly opened ones, such as oil, liquid soap, vinegar, etc, line the box with a trash bag FIRST. Put this stuff in the bag in the box, and tie off the bag before closing up the box.

Keep half an eye on the gimps. Beware stupid amounts of heavy lifting on their part.

Keep at least one dose of your medications on your person. Make sure you have one day's worth in the bathroom at your old place until the LAST stuff goes. Also make sure you have at least one day's worth in the bathroom at your new place as soon as you set foot inside.

It's a good idea to have ice for drinks and for possible "ohshitthathurtmovedwrong" occurances. Immediate icing of turned ankles and the like sseeeeeriously helps.

Conversely, if it's cold, make sure the coffee maker goes separate in the car so it can be set up easily, or grab a carton from Starbucks or something. And make sure the coffee maker is EMPTY and DRY before transport...

Don't wear a white shirt if you happen to really like that shirt. For that matter, don't wear anything you'd be distressed over being stained, torn, etc.

Hm. More if I think of anything. Yeah yeah, you said stories, but I'm condensing down the advice cause otherwise we'd be here all day.

[dark-blade.livejournal.com]

Addendum to the note regarding the hardware for disassemebled pieces: stick a screwdriver, allen wrench, whatever it is you'll need to put the things back together in that main bag too.

[teague.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about horror stories per se, or at least wisdom to impart. My best advice is to hide in a closet until it all blows over. Make them pack you in a box with some cans of tuna, and emerge about 2 weeks after the move.

My story, though, is about moving to Texas from Michigan with three unhappy kitties in carriers. One was particularly vocal. She also peed. She was very unhappy kitty. If you ever have to move a pet long distance, my advise is drugs. Drugs for the pet, and drugs for yourself if possible. Also, family bathrooms in rest areas, while they are supposed to be forbidden to pets, is a pretty good place for setting up an impromptu litter box. Indoor kitties sometimes cannot relax enough to go outside at the pet runs.

[curvedmetal.livejournal.com]

The suggestions/advice I'd have for you have already been listed *points above* so... :)

Sadly, this -is- the short version.

[i-descend.livejournal.com]

My worst moving nightmare was when I helped my friend Kari move from Colorado to Minnesota about 5 years ago.

1. She was not packed when I got there. I had to help her get everything boxed up. All her stuff, plus the stuff of her two small daughters. In two days, while she was having last minute dates with her boyfriend and moping around about having to leave him. She was a ton of help, let me tell you!

2. She had only gotten two friends to help load the truck, so there were two women and two men. That might not have been such a big deal if she weren't such a weakling and if I hadn't been suffering so badly from altitude sickness that passed out while carrying a couple of boxes down the stairs.

3. We were supposed to leave for MN around noon but we didn't get on the road till 6pm. We drove till about 1am, stopped at a little motel, smuggled the pets in and got about 6-7 hours sleep. THEN she had to do her hair and makeup before we could get back on the road. That took about an extra hour of driving time *gah!!!*

4. Drove all day and into the night with a 7 year old in my back seat threatening to be car sick about every 15 minutes.

5. In Iowa we got caught in an ice storm, but decided to drive through. It was bad enough that all the semi trucks had pulled off into rest stop to wait out the storm. I drove down the highway, car filled ditches on either side, white knuckling it because if I rolled the car the 5 year old in my back seat (I'd traded kids) would be crushed under the stereo equipment in the seat next to her.

6. We got a motel room at 3am, after digging out my car from where it got stuck while trying to get up the drive way.

7. Got up first thing in the morning and tried to push through for home. As we drove down the road I look up just in time to see Kari drive the truck into the ditch. Staying as calm as I could so as not to freak out the kid, I called my mom and asked what to do. In moments of extreme stress, I guess I still want my mom. She told me to call 911 to summon a highway helper. I was so tired and burned out from the 4 day ordeal that I actually wrote down 911, like I'd forget the number or something. To this day, I have that slip of paper in my memories box to remind me to never help Kari move again!!!!! Oh, and her car ate 5 of my favorite cds! She knew it was an issue but forgot to tell me about it.