Moving

Moving!

I just want to throw everything away!

yes it is not fun to move, this is true!

Moving!

To where?

Echo Park --> Highland Park

Nice.

So is there a descriptive word for the specific anxiety that occurs between dropping off a rental application and the phone call that tells you if you got the place?

pied-a-terror

Is it the fear that you'll get it, that you won't get it, or just the general creeping anxious feeling that accompanies the prospects of the unknown?

Is it the fear that you'll get it, that you won't get it, or just the general creeping anxious feeling that accompanies the prospects of the unknown?

25% not getting it (what do you mean I didn't get it? Fuck, what does that mean for my future chances?)
25% getting it (aaahhh! no furniture but I've got books and a mp3 of Iggy Pop's "Eggs On Plate" on my phone)
50% Creeping anxiety of the unknown.

that's a pretty succinct rundown of my teenage years, barring iggy.

I got it! Effective now, I am now a resident of Glendale.

(and on third glass of wine too, hence the double "now")

Jesus Christ, I am doing this again. 7th time in 6 years

Why do I ever buy a bed

Bought a bed today. Finally feels like I'm living in my house now instead of camping in it.

Moving. Moving on September 1. In Boston. Also: working the entire day (can't take it off...). Can't find movers for under $800 to move a 2 bedroom apartment 2 miles away. Ugh. How did I acquire so many books? I'm packing my twenty third book box right now, and I haven't even made it through fiction. Not to mention the reference and cookbooks, or – oh god – the young adult pile.

:( :(

Remy that is RIDICULOUS cost. Get two guys from craigslist, you can find movers for like $70 per hour for two people and their truck!! Or is the problem that they have to do it when you're not there and etc???

At least in NYC the cost of movers is minimal, if by minimal you mean "between 200-300 dollars." Maybe it's not the same in other cities, but I say try it!

I feel you with the books -- I went to a moving supply warehouse some years back and bought like 25 extra-sturdy book boxes and have used them for 3-4 moves and now all books are in storage in them and they're still working fine. Very stackable up to like 6 or 7 high.

http://moverssupplies.com/

Those guys are actually located in Brooklyn so I just showed up there with a car service to pick up a bunch of stuff. They were surprised but I'll be damned if I was gonna pay shipping from some place in Gowanus.

Big big props to the plastic wrap, fyi. It's better than tape for securing furniture, anything with movable parts or drawers, wrapping cords and remotes to the electronic devices they go with, protecting things from scratches. When you pull it off, it doesn't take the varnish with it or leave sticky residue.

If your box sizes are uniform and stackable and the movers have dollies, they can stack that shit, plastic wrap it together, and move 8 or 12 boxes at once. Won't work for stairs obv but for ramps, hallways, elevators, etc it will.

I think I am being gouged b/c of the date... landlords are being intractable w/r/t leases, so we've got to be out of one place no later than the 31st and into the other no earlier than the 1st.

I have a bunch of old double-walled magazine boxes from the days I worked at Borders. They're good, but they're so... many. We're moving from a second floor to a first floor and probably wouldn't be using movers if it weren't for the fact we (Ms. Remy & I) both have to work the entire week of the move.

Dude just get a man with a van!! Even if he has to do three trips

No way you can move the day before or something..?

Do it in three days, in the evening?? Actually that might cost more than just doing it all in one day or something but if you HAVE to, you can...right?

SOME moving companies do jack their rates around the first of the month which I think is usurious and despicable because when else are you SUPPOSED to move?!? But you should be able to find a fair deal if you call enough places and get their details and write them down and compare notes after like 8 or 10 phone calls. They might say, "On the first of the month, we have a 3-hour minimum charge" or "...we only send out 3-man teams" which might have a higher hourly rate than you wanted, but things will get done correspondingly faster too.

Oh sorry forget the 3-day thing, I just actually processed what you wrote.

Can't do anything before. Tenant in future apartment won't be leaving until the evening of the 31st, and landlord in the current apartment (who are forcing us out so they can remodel) won't let us move a day later. I'll be teaching class all day, and girlfriend has to work, so....

I'd be happy to do the move myself, but I'm not strong enough to lift our couches and bookcases on my own.

man. with. van. if you start at 6pm you'll finish in time for bed.

This place from c-list Boston is offering to move people FROM BOSTON TO NYC for $800 so I'm pretty sure their cost to move you TWO MILES will be more reasonable.

Also, what Tracer said, although I personally have too much stuff to get anywhere near a van and have found that my last two or three moves have been all-day affairs even with movers so I wouldn't put too much stock in that "done by bedtime" thing.

To be fair, I had multiple stops last time and one of them was a 6th-floor walk-up so that really put a kink in the schedule. You won't have this problem!

laurel livin large!

Oh god that was awful. The men were trucking along pretty well except for the fact that the THIRD guy, who I didn't want anyway (I only wanted two people but when they showed up they had 3 and said that they only allow 3-man crews on the 1st of the month etc) did nothing but stay with the truck and secure the things inside. I mean this doesn't take a whole other person to do so it was kind of a scam/waste.

But anyway they were hustling until they hit the walk-up and then WHAM by the time we got to our final dest, it was like the air was jello and everyone had slowed to a crawl.

The Third Man, however, was some kind of cheerful middle-aged but hard-bitten Russian biker who complimented me on my Frye boots and my hustle and when he tried to charge me some kind of extra fee at the end of the day I was like, "NO, IGOR. ABSOLUTELY NO FEE." and he laughed and didn't press the point. So basically they would have scammed me if I let them.

Oh my god. Can I just vent about something for a minute? We found a new apartment, got approved, and were set to move in Sept 1st. But the current tenants, who claimed they'd be out by Sept 1st at the latest, are now threatening to stay until October 1st, and their management refuses to do anything about it. Meanwhile our current lease expires Sept 1st. If they were definitely staying till Oct 1st, we'd be like, "Ok," call our landlord and tell him we're not renewing our lease but we're staying for another month. But the current tenants won't say if they're actually gonna leave Sept or Oct, and their landlord is like, "Well, if they leave Sept 1st, we don't want to have a month of no rent on that apartment," so they won't just put us down for Oct 1st. I guess they want to wait until the last possible minute before deciding when to move us in, but this is obviously incredibly inconvenient and now I have to tell my landlord, "Oh hey, maybe we'll be here next month but maybe we won't," all because it's basically children living in our future apartment who can't figure out when they're moving. ARGHFUCKFUCKFUCK.

[/vent]

ridiculous. sorry to hear that, dude

Oh GROSS. So you basically have to call now and make an appt for movers and get READY to pack yr stuff but don't actually DO it, and act like you have to be 100% prepared to move in two weeks and then potentially call it all off.

Otoh, if you don't end up moving until October, at least you'll have everything on hand already...?

YUCK

Yeah, and luckily we can keep our books + winter clothing + stuff packed, and hopefully just leave the kitchen and current clothing until a few days before we move. But still, these people are such immature worthless fucks. Not to mention they refuse to return our phone calls or our email messages and then when we finally do get ahold of them, they're indignant that we dare ask them when they're moving out. (It's actually even worse. Apparently the wife is too cowed to deal with stuff like logistics and, "being a mensch," so now she won't even answer her phone and has her husband answer it for her -- not to paint all 20 year old married couples with the same brush, but seriously, try to act a little adult please? We're not mean people, we just want to know what your plans are for moving so that we know where we're living in two weeks.)

er your new landlord is the one who should be dealing with that shit

Yeah, I don't understand why they don't just get kicked out since you've agreed your lease so surely they have agreed to end theirs? Their (and soon to be your) landlord sounds like a dick, tbh.

Kicking out tenants isn't such a simple thing in NYC.

moving all this week, just bringing stuff the 300 yards to the new place, where i can store it all week. sorry for everyone else's hassle :(

fucking hell kill me now. ran out of boxes and movers are here in six hours. I suppose this isn't really a problem I just wanted to complain to someone other than my wife who is *this close* to breaking my neck.

get thee to a tesco for the boxes, other than that yeah moving's the worst

I am in the US, so Tesco is out. I did scrounge four boxes from a deli last night at midnight but they smell like frozen hashbrowns; the other part of this that was disturbing was learning that the deli buys frozen hashbrowns.

movers will bring some boxes but I can also move shit in the volvo tonight, which I'm sure I will do, multiple times.

i don't understand the 'but' in the first paragraph. the smell of frozen hashbrowns is always a plus

Liquor store if at all possib, they have great sized boxes for books & heavy things. Or somewhere like OfficeMax -- what do you think all those padded envelopes they sell COME in? Giant (clean!) cardboard boxen!

Or any UHaul or moving company office -- and probably personal storage facility offices too -- will sell brand new boxes for not too much.

the post office has free boxes

the post office charges us for boxes but has them

they are kind of small but they are free and you can just tell the post office person if he gives you trouble that you are a ebay powerseller

Plus all clothes, curtains, and soft furnishings can go in garbage bags, obv, saving the boxes for all non-textile things.

I did scrounge four boxes from a deli last night at midnight but they smell like frozen hashbrowns

I had a similar experience but with frozen octopus.

get thee to a tesco

missing lj tbh ;_;

In my experience, liquor stores are the only ones that will actually give you a box without any hassle; the others are like, "Well, we had some but we just broke them down/put them in the recycler/our manager won't let me give you a box." Dude, I'm not planning to live in this thing behind your store, I just need a box for packing.

I feel yr pain akm - day we moved back in April was easily most stressed I've been all year, included having to get an emergency electrician to uncouple our old cooker (easiest £60 he made all day) and then it still had to be hefted from old house to new.

Even with removers (2 men + van), myself, my brother and his van and my wife with the car it was still hours of backbreaking toil. I look at the boxes of books *still* piled and awaiting unpacking in the spare bedroom and feel a cold chill.

Good luck!

rly need to unpack my room tbh

missing lj tbh ;_;

Just a quick thread derail: I checked with him on his FB page and he says he's feeling better than he did last night, so hopefully he'll be back soon. Now back to the thread.

what a nightmare this was. it is all over but the unpacking now. and I'll have to do it again next summer. maybe by then we will have gotten rid of everything we own. it would be wise.

Packing now for a move this week. Not totally sure about my move-in date (a bunch of moving complicated pieces have made moving in a challenge) but I'm trying to pack as much as I can before the big day (which will probably be either next Monday, Tuesday or the following Sunday). I was bitching about moving at lunch with friends yesterday and someone mentioned that moving is considered the most stressful thing in a person's life next to divorce (!!!). Feels pretty accurate atm. Packed all my boxes, most of my dishes, and now I'm surveying all the shit we've accumulated in 4 years of living in this apartment and can't even wrap my mind around where it came from. I can't even invent categorical boxes to put stuff in. I'm getting to the point where it's gonna be like: Mrs Mordy's fencing trophy in the box with my xbox controllers, some knitting stuff, and candlesticks.

Moving this month after 4+ years at the same location. Am a bit paranoid about looking for moving boxes on craigslist because (1) you don't know what has been inside (2) it could contain a super strain of mutant bed bugs (3) it has been peed on whilst curbside. Therefore, I've concluded that getting rid of everything is the only reasonable answer to stranger pee and blood sucking parasites.

Also to anyone who has moved recently: any suggestions, tips, or advice?

in my state the liquor store has free boxes, just take em and no worries.
you could buy boxes from u-haul or staples or whoever, if you're worried

hey, not on my thread!

cant believe this dude is spamming everything except official Move It Like Bernie thread.

I know! get a clue SPAMY!

well that was annoying. think i got them all tho

...but oddly enough I'll be moving in two weeks' time myself so it all worked, in a way.

but will you be moving to the inescapable beat of WEEKEND'S AT BERNIES

I think the question is, will you be moving, or moving in?

you know that mmovie taught me allot about life

xpost -- moving in to a new place...but yes, moving in in the way you mean it. :-)

Moving like kate bush?

Like Suede.

ugh, I have to do this soon.

that's very moving.

http://kdk12.tumblr.com/post/6069938340/a-kubrick-guide-to-moving

xxxxp Awesome news, Nedderly!

I am also moving. On Monday morning. Hypothetically. But I haven't packed a lick, I haven't made an appointment with movers yet, and I'm terrified my building's elevator, which breaks down about three times a week, will be OUT on the day and they'll have to bring everything down from the 6th floor.

just push everything down the stairs - well packed of course with marshmallows

I have thrown bags of clothes down several flights of stairs before, but I don't recommend it without reservation.

it must be funny if someone is coming up and doesn't see it until too late

Hilaaaarious.

"how humourous - how HIGHLY HIGHLY HUMOUROUS"
Roger Ebert pans Lenoard Part 6

Hooray, as they say.

sweet fencing imo

It's a nice touch, really.

so jealous! i want a porch ;_;

It's a hell of a benefit when it comes to summer dinners. Had similar at the old place but I rather like this one more.

nice freakin toaster oven! does it make good english muffin pizzas!?

Looks great Ned! Very exciting. I'm really hoping the market turns around soon so we can sell our house and move.

i must be out of the loop, ned are you moving in with a lady friend?

Looks like a great place, Ned! I'm also moving, this weekend. All the stuff is packed up. Exciting features include an actual backyard (already created a huge garden back there :) :) :), a front porch (not as nice as Ned's, but still functional!), a washer/dryer that's in the basement instead of down the street, and is free, and...a rain barrel that's full of mosquitoes. At least 300-400, maybe more, and larvae. Working on that.

Thought about punching the mosquitoes in the face until they flew away, but eventually decided to drain the rain barrel and start from scratch. And purchase/wear a beekeeper's suit in the meantime.

WDYLL punching mosquitoes in the face

where are you moving, z_s?!

Silver Spring, about 4 blocks away frimthe metro, but somehow isolated from noise and traffic by huge gardens all around. And the people in the house behind us have this awesome aviary with national geographic-esque birds inside! It's a good spot, I think. Still would rather live closer to downtown DC, but we have to live in MD for another couple years (in-state tuition for E)

cool. my sis just moved there. i am scared of all that traffic but if you don't drive i guess it's not a huge deal!

i must be out of the loop, ned are you moving in with a lady friend?

That I am. Photo of us at the start of the WDYLL thread for this month.

:D

Ned wins all!

Thanks!

yaya ned!

Toaster oven comment is killing me.

Congrats Ned!

Looks like a lovely place - congrats on the move, Ned.

Thanks all!

It looks as though I will be moving in two weeks or so. Haven't done this for many years and would appreciate protips!

you're gonna need a LOT of alcohol

Honestly, my pro-tip more than all the others is: Put like things with like. I have classifications of things: "books", "folded clothes", "hanging clothes", "toiletries", "linens", "kitchen", "kitchen - fragile", and so on. Pack and label the boxes and BE SPECIFIC. Not until the frantic very very end should you be contemplating putting a bunch of hangers in a box with two cookbooks, the extra guest bedding, and a lamp without its shade.

Pro tip #2: Have enough boxes, by which I mean "Have an entire world's worth of boxes because otherwise you'll never know what's enough." I had about 35 of varying sizes when I moved last month and I really needed at least 40, maybe 45.

Other favorite tips involve Saran wrap, and having decided where EVERYTHING is going in the new place so you can tell movers where to leave furniture.

All the aforementioned is correct.

a bunch of hangers in a box with two cookbooks, the extra guest bedding, and a lamp without its shade.

ahahaha, this is such a perfect characterization of the final box

ugh the worst part of moving is the endless miscellany - you keep thinking you've packed/moved everything, but there is ALWAYS at least several boxes of small, annoying shit leftover.

Yay Ned!

I'll be moving a week from yesterday and didn't think to find a moving thread till just now. So just kinda jumping in here w/out reading everything.

I'm moving about 1/2 block from where I live now.

1. Definitely nice toaster oven. The thing I'm MOST excited about w/r/t the new place is that I will have counter space for a toaster oven! I bought one off Amazon a week ago and can't wait to unpack it. Also, sweet looking place, Ned!

2. The frustration w/ miscellany is OTM. It seems like at the end it starts procreating and does so faster and faster the closer you get to the end.

3. Not until the frantic very very end should you be contemplating putting a bunch of hangers in a box with two cookbooks, the extra guest bedding, and a lamp without its shade.

Agreed, but for some reason, this move I'm handling differently. My first couple boxes were strictly books, strictly winter clothes, strictly whatever. Then after a day I was like, Fuck it, and I went around throwing anything that would fit into a box, seal it up, and label it "DVD PLAYER, UNDERSHIRTS, MISC."

So, we moved today, mostly. We're splitting a 2-story place with another couple, and we're taking the top level. Unfortunately, the staircase is tight and has a 90 degree angle. Things that we just realized won't fit up the stairs:

Dresser
Record shelves
Bookshelves
Boxspring for mattress

sigh. Decision to take the upstairs seeming pretty stupid now tbh

Boxspring for mattress

this is how we ended up with a "platform" bed, 6 moves back. And the dresser that wouldn't break down into anything smaller ended up being cd storage in the downstairs room.

If there are hand rails in the staircase, taking them off can sometimes give you just enough extra room to squeeze around the corner.

It makes no sense to have stairs or doorways that normal furniture can't fit through. Infuriating. I've never lived in such a place, but my ex-bf and some interns I was supervising moved into places like this. Just awful.

yeah the bed thing is what i'm fearing with my next move. gf and i bought a bed together and it was supposed to be at my place until we moved in together. long story short she has it and i'm sleeping on the floor at my pad.

Hmmm.... I wrote and thought I posted something earlier re the magic of outsourcing.... Basically, I read a thing in Esquire when I was about 26 called "Dos and Don'ts for 30-somethings" and the Don't that stuck with me was "Don't rope your friends into helping you move. You're a grown-up now, so hire movers." While this is way too pat, it makes complete sense to me now.

One friend who is 34 and a considerably higher earner than me still gets her friends to help her move, which is very strange, IMO. When I told her that I spent $400 on movers (3 man crew, 3 hours total, including tip!), and was going to do so again, she was horrified. She insisted that I should let her help me instead because she SWEARS that she loves helping friends move. I said no fucking way - these guys strapped 3 or 4 boxes to their backs w/ canvas bands and RAN down my three flights of stairs. It was some of the best money I've ever spent.

This year I'm hiring cleaners, too b/c I have only until 3 p.m. to vacate, and while I doubt that if I did it myself I'd fuck up so badly I'd get hit with the clean-up fee that my property mgmt. company assesses ($50/hr), I'd rather have it done right.

Has anyone else experienced the demise of the security deposit?

Many (or most?) property management companies in Chicago are forgoing security deposits in favor of "move-in fees" which are usually $250-300 (non-refundable, as they are fees). But if you fuck up, instead of just keeping your deposit, the management company charges clean-up or repair fees on top of the $250-300 you already lost.

i move in 2.5 weeks. i've started the process this weekend. this is wise, yes?

Unquestionably. Whatever you can do to prepare in advance, the better.

A nice discovery I made is that I no longer have to go to the post office to set up change of address forwarding:

https://moversguide.usps.com/icoa/icoa-main-flow.do?execution=e1s1

Extremely simple, worked like a charm.

I did that when I moved and it was very convenient but I was disproportionately angry that it cost me a dollar!

Jesse OTM, hiring movers and end-of-lease cleaners means saving one's sanity. I only didnt need a mover last move as I moved three doors down, so we could to it all with 2 mates and a trolley but this time, no way,every last item is going into a box, and someone else is doing it. My move in 2008 was so traumatic (ever tried to pack and clean up EIGHT YEARS of pack-ratty endless mess? Ugh) and I never wanna do that again.

One good thing is the place I am in now is so bereft of storage (apart from one room with a small wardrobe there is none), most of my shit is still IN boxes haha.

Me too, Abbott. At least the first time. Now I'm not sure why it bothered me.

I did that when I moved and it was very convenient but I was disproportionately angry that it cost me a dollar!

I did this just a few days ago. Turns out the first google search result for "post office online change of address" is NOT an official USPS site, although it looks like it is, and at the end they charge you $5.99 fee.

buttheads!

Because it costs a dollar to do on the online something that is FREE off the online! Gets to me because I'm a cheap bastard! Why pay for something you can do for free???

xp

Waiting in the post office costs a chunk of your soul ;_;

So I accidentally found a place that rents out boxes and other moving supplies! It is called rentourboxes.com! You order online and they drop the stuff off at your place whenever you like, then come collect them from the new place. Cheaper than buying and very convenient. And eco-friendly(er).

I know I could be scavenging boxes from the liquor store dumpster or trawling Craigslist, but so much shit is going on right now that this seems worth some dough.

Not that our home seller's agent is threatening to "sue everyone" at this point because we need to close two days later than expected, so I could be living in said boxes if things fall through.

Hmm, nice! Will have to keep that in mind next time (hopefully not for a long while).

Wow. Great news!

Oh. I typed that only after reading the part about the boxes, so, addendum: Terrible news!

On this move I got really lucky that a pet supply store opened 1 block away 3 weeks ago. I got there on opening day and scored 20-25 perfectly-sized boxes. Additionally, my current building has about 200 units and lots of people moving in, so the trash room is full of boxes.

Last time I bought a lot of them. Not that expensive, but it really bugged me! Like the Abbott and the $1 address change charge.

I bought a bunch of flat-packed admin style boxes from Officeworks, they come in packs of 10, 30 was enough for my stuff. Most of its still in them. NO idea what is where. LOL.

Completely packed and waiting for the movers who are running 10 minutes late. The weatherman said yesterday that it was going to be 98 today, but Forecastfox says 90. Our weather guy is a drama/ratings queen, so I trust FF.

Screw forecastfox!

under two weeks now. bought some b0xes yesterday. i'm chillin for the most part. #idiocy

Moved. $30 over budget, but they had to carry a behemoth bed base up 6 flights bc it wouldn't fit in either elevator ;__; felt bad for them! That fucker is well over 200 lbs.

were they like "couldnt you have a lighter fecking bed base you arse!?"

New neighbours were moving in this morning as I slept one off. Groan.

Were they that loud? How loud does moving have to be?

I'll tell you one thing - if* I ever move again, I'm taking that bed apart and throwing it away (I don't think I can disassemble and reassemble it) b/c no one needs to go through that again.

It's this kind of bed base, by the way, that's why it weighs so much. Amazing storage!

http://x-land.org/_cache/Chauffage%20Piscine/img/gn_articles_Malm%20Ikea_0_1.jpg

Also, the lid is spring-loaded, so it kept popping open on them! Gah.

I am not yet a real grown up but when I become one I am not going to buy any furniture that cannot be disassembled and/or set on fire.

oh it can all be set on fire

Hahaha.

I think that the usual thing that goes with being "grownup" is having furniture that CAN'T be disassembled. Ikea is pretty 20-something-ish.

after a brief interregnum i once again own nothing that i cannot, in theory, move by myself.

in theory, this is cool, but maybe less so in practice

xp I'm so not real a grown up I just graduated from college and am living at home from my parents, a studio full of untreated pine Ikea furniture is my current aspiration.

*with my parents, typing is hard

a. and i are doing a 2-mile move (technically, 1.7 miles!) mid-month. we've been writing around for moving company estimates but no responses yet. we actually have very little furniture, and some of the more fragile/meaningful items we'll bring over ourselves. we used u-haul last time, and that ended up costing $100 and being a pain in the butt. i'm ready to be an adult and hire a fucking mover.

1. How old are you? ("you" = plural, stupid English)

2. Where do you live?

Also, my move was .10 mile

http://i.imgur.com/T4Lsr.png

(freebie for my stalker(s))

4 = house I've been renting for the last 5 years
2 = house I'm buying, to move into at the beginning of September

Distance between the two doorbells = 110 cm (43 inches)

But still, everything's got to be packed, all papers & formalities have to be changed - pretty ridiculous, but anyway.

http://i51.tinypic.com/rvvt40.jpg

I guess I needed a bigger mailbox.

ha. just smash the shared wall down and shove everything through. i once considered moving next door but it seemed too inherently ridiculous to bother with even though it was a better house than my own. now instead i'm moving 400 miles come september, no idea how i'm going to work out the logistics of that one. \o/

Good idea, but I can't, I don't own the house on the left! (would you believe I even asked the owner? :-) )

1. How old are you? ("you" = plural, stupid English)

2. Where do you live?

the bf and i are mid/late thirties and live in los angeles -- we're moving from north hollywood just down the road into studio city, a 5-to-10 minute drive.

A walking distance move is not easier to the extent one might think. The only advantage is that it saves the step of loading and unloading the truck. Which is huge, of course, but there are other huge steps, too. Also saves the driving time.

Currently about 50% packed. The main problem with the remaining 50% is that it is not yet clear if we move on Wednesday (two days away)or Sunday (6 days away). If it is Wednesday, I can continue to live in my pajamas and eat take out until set up in the new place. If it is Sunday, I have to be organized enough have work clothes and other daily living stuff set aside. I suppose I should just pack a suitcase and pretend I am living out of a hotel on a business trip?

A hotel full of boxes and little else, that is.

That is a sensible thing to do.

the company we're going with wants $285 for a 16-ft. van, 2 guys, and a 3-hour minimum, gratuity not included. we don't need all 3 hours, probably half that, but i guess it's good to over-budget for unforeseen problems. they're coming on a monday in the middle of the month, so there's probably not much negotiating beyond the quoted rate at this point.

That seems reasonable. The company I used charged $85/hr for a 3-person crew, 3 hr minimum, +$42 for the truck and equipment, which comes to $297 + grat. Research showed that $10 per person per hour is the standard base gratuity. It took 3.5 hours, due to the new place being on the 6th floor.

Jesus, I hired two guys who charged $60 an hour, no additional fees for their travel or the use of the truck, and they were done in 3 hours INCLUDING driving time. Wtf people? NB: my old apt was also on the 6th floor but it was an elevator building; also, I did a lot of prep for them thanks to said elevator, which allowed me to push stacks of boxes into it and deposit them in the lobby, ready to be loaded up. I figure I had 9/10ths of the boxes already downstairs when they got there, so they mostly just moved furniture.

Hahah Stan I thought I was the only nutter who did things like move 2 feet away (I have moved across the rd, and 2 doors down, in the past)

My new building has an elevator (no fucking way I'm living in a 6th floor walk-up!) and I was on the ground level at the old place, but due to a scheduling problem, I had to move in while the former tenant was moving out, which slowed us down.

Trayce, I moved across the hall once, and this time 1/2 block (.10 mile). It seems like for all the hassle I should have some distance to show for it, but I like my hood and the new places were considerably better.

Loving the new place - they kept most of the vintage structure and fixtures (nice stained wooden door and window frames, cool plaster walls, marble lobby) but added dishwasher, new windows and whatnot.

are there any "nude moving companies"?

Not everything you see in porn movies is true, Latham Green.

Finally closed the real estate deal from hell! Result is house we love at a fair market price, though from her demeanor it seems the seller thinks we stole her damn house from her.

Moving happens Monday and will involve consolidation of BOTH the mister's and my places. It will be a long week, but at least we'll have it over with in one fell swoop.

Finally closed the real estate deal from hell! Result is house we love at a fair market price, though from her demeanor it seems the seller thinks we stole her damn house from her.

Moving happens Monday and will involve consolidation of BOTH the mister's and my places. It will be a long week, but at least we'll have it over with in one fell swoop.

oops sorry for the double post.

I moved on Friday and it was so frigging hot in Missouri I thought I was going to puke.
Got it all done, though. Feeling good in the new place.

the company we're going with wants $285 for a 16-ft. van, 2 guys, and a 3-hour minimum, gratuity not included. we don't need all 3 hours, probably half that, but i guess it's good to over-budget for unforeseen problems. they're coming on a monday in the middle of the month, so there's probably not much negotiating beyond the quoted rate at this point.

― don't believe the HYP (get bent), Sunday, July 3, 2011 6:52 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

That seems reasonable. The company I used charged $85/hr for a 3-person crew, 3 hr minimum, +$42 for the truck and equipment, which comes to $297 + grat. Research showed that $10 per person per hour is the standard base gratuity. It took 3.5 hours, due to the new place being on the 6th floor.

― Jesse, Sunday, July 3, 2011 9:24 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Jesus, I hired two guys who charged $60 an hour, no additional fees for their travel or the use of the truck, and they were done in 3 hours INCLUDING driving time. Wtf people? NB: my old apt was also on the 6th floor but it was an elevator building; also, I did a lot of prep for them thanks to said elevator, which allowed me to push stacks of boxes into it and deposit them in the lobby, ready to be loaded up. I figure I had 9/10ths of the boxes already downstairs when they got there, so they mostly just moved furniture.

― you're in the club and the light hits your ass like pow (Laurel), Monday, July 4, 2011 1:20 AM Bookmark

These are all better than quotes I've gotten -- anyone want to let me in on the names (assuming NYC)?

No name, I just a couple of pages'-worth of ads on CL and then call the lowest ones and get them to confirm/deny the exact terms, then agree on a time for them to show up. Honestly.

* I just scan a couple of pages'-worth of ads

CL has a lot of sketch on it though, and those guys aren't necessarily insured. Plus I already had a pretty bad experience with non-mover movers (one guy didn't show up, other showed up drunk).

Hahahah "insurance".

Hey, I don't begrudge anyone their cost-cutting measures, but I prefer to have an insured mover.

Sure but then I don't have any numbers you want.

the "licensed and bonded" thing is crucial if i'm gonna trust anyone else with the contents of my entire life.

Have hired cheap bad movers before. Never again.

What do "bad" movers do that's bad besides not show up? Which is bad enough! But like, do they break things? Drop things? Do you have them pack anything for you, or do you do all the packing and have piles of boxes ready when they get there?

I'm cheap, obv.

i used quotes from cheap movers to get the quotes from brand name movers down. got them from 850 to 500. cheap guys were 400 i think. expensive guys did all my packing for me. good use of £100 imo.

for single person loads with international moves, there are "movers" that basically call a courier for you and have them collect boxes you have packed, and then another courier delivers them at the other end. basically you're paying for the courier to hold your stuff for a week or two while you move to the other country yourself.

and then there are proper removal guys who will pack your stuff, put it on a lorry, drive it to their own warehouse, then put it on a lorry a couple of days later with stuff from other people headed in the same direction, and then unload, unpack, and take away the packing materials.

"Bad" movers can certainly break stuff -- obviously the amount you care about this depends on what you own. We don't really have any non-Ikea or non-secondhand furniture, but we are having the movers pick up a really nice couch and chair from the inlaws nearby, so we want to be a little more careful with that stuff. But presumably you don't want your dishes all cracked, your mattress torn, etc. no matter how cheap it is. I guess there's also more extreme but unlikely stuff -- theft, dangerous driving on the way, someone who's just going to be a dick. Last time the guy who showed up late and smelling of alcohol also was rather physically weak and took lots of breaks. In the end we wound up having to (1) hire another two guys from a nearby warehouse and (2) return the truck very late. Plus I was sick during all of this and moving shit anyway. It was a bad enough experience that I will never again hire someone I don't have some kind of vouching for and preferably a license.

Bad movers drop things, break things, and seem to have a general disregard for your belongings. They may also not have a proper truck (or know how to pack it safely), no hand trucks, no padding blankets, etc.

There is also the whole issue of liability if a mover gets hurt.

a guy i dated about 10 years ago called a cheapo man-with-van to do an apartment move from lower manhattan to western queens. we were ready to go on the day, but he never showed up. we had no car, so we had to move most of the stuff in taxis, and his brother-in-law arranged a u-haul (which we ended up waiting a long time for) for the bigger stuff.

and for all of the money that day cost, we could have just hired a professional mover.

Hm yes. I pack my fragile stuff in bubble-wrap and crumpled paper, label it fragile, separate it from the other stuff and either carry it myself or sort of hover a little over whomever carries it. Never had a single problem but maybe I've been lucky. Furniture-wise, the things I'm particular about, I have them wrap in moving blankets and tape so no part is exposed.

I guess if I'd ever paid $1000 for a sofa and stuff like real grown-ups have, I might worry more.

My management company requires hiring insured movers.

Also, I'm in Chicago, not NYC. I heard of my movers by word of mouth.

Never thought about liability issues if someone got injured, though! Would you really be liable in that sitch?

addendum to my posts: the manhattan place was a 4th floor walkup, and the queens place was a 2nd floor walkup. not easy for out-of-shape hipsters to do on their own.

My friend's super cheap movers were a no show. She was moving from NC to Chicago. Luckily it was November and she was able to book others same day.

Xp ugh - so many stairs!!

i am (not) looking forward to dealing with all of this in a few weeks! although luckily i don't have any furniture to schlep around

Never thought about liability issues if someone got injured, though! Would you really be liable in that sitch?

― manager expects you to work past 6PM but won't allow you to change into (Laurel), Tuesday, July 5, 2011 6:26 PM Bookmark

It depends. But I think part of it is just that some random craigslist dude is a more likely to file a lawsuit against you and/or your landlord, whether or not you'd win in the end (although, if you don't have much money you're probably not the biggest target for lawsuits). One advantage of a licensed, insured mover is that there are just systems in place to deal with that sort of thing -- employee gets hurt he presumably goes to the workers' comp board and/or his employer and doesn't even BOTHER with you unless you had, like, a snakepit on your property or made him carry radioactive waste or something.

Another thing is also that if the mover were to injur, say, ME, I would have someone to sue who could actually pay a judgment. Again, most of this stuff is outside risks so it's all about how much peace of mind you want to pay for, I guess. **THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE**

is there any liability if the movers break your heart?

Lol Craigslist movers. We had to move from a hotel in the East Bay over to SF, didn't have much stuff except a few suitcases but there was zero furniture in the new SF apartment. So we arranged to buy a sofabed off Craigslist but didn't have a car so emailed this sofa mover guy on CL. Arranged it all beforehand by email, I brought a few suitcases over on the BART and picked up the keys, and my partner waited there with the rest of the stuff to get picked up by the mover and get the sofa on the way, so we'd have something to sleep on. Going to meet some friends later for a Welcome-to-SF meal. The guy never shows up, we try calling every 10 mins but his voice mailbox is full. After about 2 hours he eventually picks up the phone, says he hadn't realised it was definitely arranged and we should've called him again to remind him, and he can't make it for at least an hour because 'Obama's in town' and the traffic sucks. They eventually show up with my husband's face like thunder, the moving guy cheerfully making conversation (possibly pretty stoned) and us having missed our meal and despairing that this is what America is going to be like for ever.

whew, almost there. brought about 80 percent of the kitchen stuff and 90 percent of my clothing to the new place today. tomorrow, the movers come and get the boxes and bigger pieces of furniture. we also have an e-waste recycler coming to pick up some old electronics and lightbulbs.

Wow never thought of light bulbs as e-waste.

It's been 2.5 weeks since my move and it's finally starting to feel like home. Got the broad setup in place, and now hanging pictures, curtains, various hooks; setting up closets; over the next few days I will tidy up and it should be a home.

It's such a money suck from boxes to movers through incidentals like curtain rods.

One week post move. Settling in is going to take a LOT longer than I anticipated. We barely have the downstairs unpacked, and there is a whole other floor full of boxes to deal with yet!

Kinda sucks, kinda awesome.

have about two weeks to move to new place about five minutes' walk away -- except an old friend's suddenly in town and i've said he can stay in the spare room at the new place for the next week, so the whole schedule's moved up to... today and tomorrow. hm.

would also help if today i had actually kept packing, rather than moving over one load of stuff and then getting distracted by dancing around my room/reading every hacking scandal liveblog i could find.

While packing, I thought "ugh god packing is the worst."

While unpacking, I thought "ugh god unpacking is the worst."

I move a half mile away, and honestly it might have been easier moving across the country, 'cause then I wouldn't have been all cavalier about "oh well I can just move that later in my car."

Today this middle-aged Indian guy stopped me on the street in BK Heights and asked if I could help him move "a box" into his apartment. I agreed for some reason. It turned out "a box" was the heaviest fucking piece of furniture i have ever fucking touched, and his apartment was his daughter's apartment which was up a very narrow staircase. The idiot insisted I go first, even though in my experience you generally want the strong guy on the bottom. We hit the top of the staircase, get stuck, and the thing is so heavy I'm afraid I'm going to drop it and he's going to fall backwards with it and die. I try to insist that we have to lift it over the bannister and he won't believe me. Finally his wife comes out and backs me up, and we just barely get the thing over the bannister. Fucking hell, I had a virtual anxiety attack for the next hour thinking about how the thing could have fallen on this guy.

He did give me $20, fwiw.

The other prob with cheap movers is on the day you might find them confronted with your (totally normal) furniture and refused to shift somethng for being too heavy. I mean wtf guys, you're REMOVALISTS. One time I had a 2-man crew hauling my (admittedly very very heavy, old) fridge up 2 flights and one of the guys had to be well into his 60s and I swear I thought he'd started having a heart attack at one point, he was red faced and gasping for breath.

Yes, moving is indeed less simple than it seems and benefits from training. My experience today is a pretty good example of that.

Yep. Theyre supposed to wear hernia belts and all kinds of special stuff with v heavy items.

And like, afaik I am hiring pros to move anythign and everything because *I can't*. Thats the whole idea. If I can pay people to box everything up, to move it, to unload it, to clean my old house, etc etc you better believe I'm spending that money. Who needs the stress?

currently avoiding packing. really dumb.

the only thing left to do at the old place is give it a thorough cleaning. i was over there doing laundry today and while the cycles were running, i cleaned most of the kitchen and part of the living room.

Hurting, is this your subtle way of telling us you are a strongman? I too will give you $20 if you help me move a "box" aka my entire apartment.

Haha. I do lift a bit but I don't exactly look imposing. I honestly can't figure out why this guy chose me other than being the first guy who came along.

It is a potentially awkward time for me and my friends right now b/c some of us are solidly in the hiring professional movers camp and others solidly in the DIY one. We pro-movers folks have a mutual pledge and understanding that as long as we are earning a salary, no one needs to feel obliged to help with a self-move. I mean the main event on *moving day* - we've still been doing each other little favors like helping pack a couple boxes or arrange furniture after the move. We are all busy people in our adulthood and it just makes sense and is appropriate to have movers. Plus, chances are 5 to 2 in favor of moving day falling on a weekday, which would mean taking a day off work.

But then there are the DIYers who ask friends for help. So far it's only happened once that a friend asked for help moving. That particular time it was not overly weird since some of the pro-movers had preached the joys of pro movers and said it was great not to have to ask friends anymore. Still, I felt a little uncomfortable about the possibility of being asked. If it fit my schedule, I probably would help, but frankly, it would feel like a bit of an imposition.

There is another friend who I would enthusiastically volunteer to help b/c they (no genders in this post) had a hard time finding good work, but the other friend is financially quite solidly in a position to afford movers, and they admitted that they was only self-moving because they were being cheap. I mean, you are OK splurging on a handbag or an impromptu plane ticket for a weekend out of town, but you expect your friends to lug boxes and furniture into down from a 4th floor walk-up and into 2nd floor walk-up b/c it feels indulgent to pay movers?

And b/c I feel like a dick now, I just want to say that if someone reading this needs my help for reasons other than cheapness or feeling like it's bougie or extravagant to hire movers, I'm there for you!

Yeah the line between helping out of decency and just feeling like you're being asked to subsidize your perfectly capable friend's need to prove something about bougieness is a tough one, and extends to things beyond moving. And yes, it is often same friends that don't consider traveling to Europe twice a year bougie.

Plus the moving thing annoys me more as I get older because I become more prone to, and more aware of my risk of injury. In practice I don't think I've ever said no to a friend on this though.

Man, I'm feeling weird about posting that.

Haha I don't have any nice handbags or trips to Europe and I hate spending even $130 on an air conditioner, but I haven't asked my friends to help me move since 2003.

Priorities, people!

Man, I'm feeling weird about posting that.

― Je55e, Sunday, July 24, 2011 3:27 PM Bookmark

Same.

I sort of wish I hadn't. I just want to be clear to anyone who might tell that friend of my thinking aloud online: my intention is not to talk shit or be judgmental. And that person is not throwing money around like crazy, but the admitted cheapness w/r/t movers is not exactly in character. I guess it's an undervaluing of their services.

Also, I don't think that friend necessarily has something to prove, but they (singular) are a pretty adamantly self-reliant type. Though in this case, self-reliance means self-friends-and-family-reliant. They had family come from 12 hours away to help with the move, which they were happy to do, but man, it's almost incomprehensible for me.

Don't feel weird! The only people I would expect to help with moving are significant others and/or family. If friends offered, I would accept (if I could use their help) but I would never ask for their help. It's pretty cheap to hire movers anyway. I think it's a super nice thing to do if you want to help someone out, but not something you should ever feel obligated to do.

Friends of ours had a "packing party" -- this I much prefer because it's social and not as physically demanding, and also it seems like the kind of thing where you can expect friends to return the favor.

Huh. All I can tell you is that I asked friends to help me move and bless their hearts, they did so -- but perhaps more to the point, in almost every case I'd helped them move over the past few years in turn, and none of it felt weird or strange. Maybe it's a SoCal thing?

Oh god no, the idea of a packing party sounds horrible to me. Firstly, I don't want to pack someone else's stuff. Secondly, I would hate for random acquaintances to be going through my stuff.

nyc moving involves more stairs

Hmm, I can see that. (Stairs were an issue in my move, admittedly; then again, this is also why I just went ahead and bought both a new fridge and TV and had those guys do the moving...)

I think it depends. NYC moves can also be insanely tricky and stressful -- narrow, winding staircases, double parking in busy areas, short time windows, etc. It feels like much more of an ordeal here than when I lived in Jersey.

E.g. my experience above with a stranger -- would be REALLY careful about offering to help anyone carry furniture up stairs after that.

Moving in Chicago is definitely much more of a hassle than a rural or smaller city move. It's pretty all-business, chop chop, especially when you have to contend with scheduling loading zones and elevators. No way three friends and I would have gotten the job done in the allotted time. That is if I could have even gotten three friends to take the day off work to help.

And BTW, I mostly feel weird b/c I have friends on ILX who know that friend and I don't want them to tell him that I was posting about him, even though I wasn't saying anything bad.

DO YOU HEAR THAT PEOPLE WHO KNOW THAT FRIEND? I WAS SAYING ONLY GOOD THINGS.

If someone asked me to help them move I would flat out tell them no. And not feel bad about it.

I moved 17 times in the 22 years I lived in Austin and could never bring myself to ask or accept help. The bulk of what I own was procured in the past ten years. This past Spring I packed up and moved all my possessions to storage in a Hyundai Accent, making a bazillion trips to storage but thankfully it was only a few blocks away. There was no bed or kitchen table to move (lost them in the divorce as well as the help I had moving my stuff into the place) but otherwise can furnish an 800 sqft home or apt quite nicely. I have never wanted to put my friends through the moving thing and have moved alone unless I was married or living with someone. The next time I unpack I would love for it to be at a forever home.

I sort of wish I hadn't. I just want to be clear to anyone who might tell that friend of my thinking aloud online: my intention is not to talk shit or be judgmental. And that person is not throwing money around like crazy, but the admitted cheapness w/r/t movers is not exactly in character. I guess it's an undervaluing of their services.

It sounds to me like he grew up in a family where no one ever used professional movers, actually.

In my family, if the house or apartment is small enough, we have a moving party. Everyone who helps gets a pizza party, music, beer and cake. I wouldn't ask that if a three-bedroom house was involved, of course.

I personally am more than happy to help a friend or family member move, I am happy they found a new place and it is good exercise. No one has ever stiffed me out of a pizza party after a move. Then you get to hang out in the new place afterward.

To be honest some professional movers balk at having to move some apartment type person's stuff, which is usually a bunch of books and records and CDs, often not packed brilliantly.

If I had family in town that would be how I'd do it!

To be honest some professional movers balk at having to move some apartment type person's stuff, which is usually a bunch of books and records and CDs, often not packed brilliantly.

This is a weird statement. What kinds of people do you/they think LIVE in apartments?

Some of the professional movers I have dealt with require a packing process that can take a week or two (boxes perfectly sealed, everything wrapped perfectly and ready to go when they arrive).

I had at least one mover tell me I didn't have enough stuff to move...that I was better off renting a truck or hiring an amateur.

I do wrap everything perfectly, starting at least a few days ahead of time, and have it ready to go when they arrive, because I'm an adult who understands that this is part of "moving." Like other people, of any age, who also understand this and don't want to pay their movers $70 an hour to watch them throw assorted things into boxes and sob helplessly.

It was such a relief when we started using movers. After semi-killing ourselves a few times and wearing out our kids a few other times, we paid some friends of our kids (who were all "we work for UPS, we know how to load a truck, etc" braggadoccio) as much as we would have paid pros. And all they did was bitch and moan about how heavy our shit was and why the hell did we have so many damn boxes of books and records etc. I will happily pay movers to not have to listen to whining and griping tbf.

In my experience, records have to go in boxes not record crates. Or the mover will balk at moving them. So you have to hunt down the right boxes and seal those records up. I did this once, though and found it satisfying and superior to just using those damned crates.

when i moved they packed the records separately and wrote "warning: 12" vinyl" on the boxes. records are the neutron stars of home removal.

We order special boxes to move the vinyl in. They have usually lasted through 2 moves. They are only 6 or 7" deep, so end up not so heavy (still like 25 lbs apiece though). It panics me to see them stacked 7 or 8 high, though it bothers Mr. Jaq less (and they are his records). I just imagine the bottom ones getting crushed to gritty black powder. Having 80+ of those things full is a damn lot of records.

when we moved in here the refrigerator that came with the place had a foul bacterial smell that wouldn't go away -- a week and a couple phone calls later, we have a brand new fridge! that we can put food in! and not die!

good vibes from the property management team so far.

I'm in the midst of moving, hopefully into a house I bought, although it hasn't closed yet, and I need to be out of our rental this weekend. So several days of homelessness inbetween, where we are going out of town. It is the biggest hassle. We moved less than a year ago and thought that packing wouldn't be so bad this time since we got rid of so much stuff, but, alas, it is still a giant pain in the ass that makes me wonder why we have any possessions at all.

yeah, be sure to knock on wood any time you say "this is gonna be the easiest move EVER!" bleah, i'm drained.

I didn't want to store my records in boxes so I just moved them to a shelf in climate control storage. I paid months in advance for the unit. Ever since I saw an episode of storage wars it was the only way to kill the nightmares.

I moved July 1 and if it hadn't been for a severe thunderstorm causing a major leak in my bathroom this weekend (at 2:00 a.m.!) I would be officially out of moving-in stage and into "a bit messy but all put together" stage. Evacuating the bathroom, cleaning, and putting shit back took up picture hanging time.

Not blaming the building for the total indoor deluge (emptied a Rubbermaid tote and buckets 3 times in about an hour (saw the tote at Home Depot - 20 gallon capacity)) since at least 5 other people I know got flooded in some way.

Totally have that one-more-box-fever raging. Apt is mostly packed but keep thinking of another thing. Have til monday morning so not terrible.

not me. I'm so close to finishing packing but I want to die. could be because I do NOT have until monday!

need to pack... this computer! :-o

Moving is such a monumental pain in the ass, made more so when you can't take time off work during the week and have to travel (for work!) on weekends. I have come to the realization that there are at least two rooms that are not going to be painted/furniture set up/upacked for a long, long time. Months, not weeks.

Hey y'all how'd it go?

Move was smooth but cost more than we thought. Really like the apt but have remorse about location. Managed to get the whole kitchen and a lot of clothing unpacked. Painting tomorrow I think.

still not done unpacking, but most of what i have to unpack are odds and ends. i haven't figured out where they're gonna go.

Bother, I'm as unpacked as I'm going to get without twice as many bookshelves, and I haven't painted a lick. Have to move everything into the middle of the rooms in the fall and do all that, once the heat drops.

put extra books in kitchen cupboards

You people are lucky you get to paint. Not sure I would if I could, but my property management is super hard line against painting. If they find out you painted, they come in and paint it all white again and charge you for the painters' time.

If it were all white, I wouldn't paint!

Someone did up my room in sponge-painted yellow, with an oranger yellow picture-hanging rail above it. Then the back of my bedroom door is an institutional mauve/skintone color, and the other side of it is burgundy. All the woodwork in the kitchen is fluorescent orange, a theme that continues into the bathroom and meets the fluorescent orange and yellow-painted steampipe, which has been styled like a giraffe: yellow with orange spots.

My girlfriend moved in over the weekend as planned -- offloaded the truck in an hour and a half and got the basic furniture in place by the end of the day. No complaints there! She's been working away at unpacking and sorting everything since, under the theory (happily confirmed by her) that my attempting to do so with her stuff would not wash.

OK, gross.

The tenant code in Chicago says that landlords have to paint between tenants, and my landlords have complied, so I've never had to deal with that crap. xp

We wound up deciding to paint. We have kind of an open layout and everything was white so it felt a bit cold. Did the living area in kind of an ado wish color today, and going to do the dining area in a light slightly greenish blue. I think painting is psychologically helpful with moving stress.

This is by far the most adult apt I've ever lived in. It has non slanted hardwood floors and there's a dishwasher, and we even have some nice furniture ( from inlaws mostly).

Sorry that was supposed to say adobeish. - autocorect

Autocorrect

Gah, dining chairs are too short for the table (saw off the legs?), bedroom paint job came out looking like a bed and breakfast (somehow color looks way brighter than it does on the swatch -- anything to do about this?) and somehow we don't have enough of a certain kind of piece for the modular shelves even though we had no problem setting them up at the old place. Clock is running down before I have to start work and so fucking much to do.

Is the missing modular shelf piece still attached to its mating part? We get that a lot with the pegs for ours.

No it's more complicated -- we have these plastic modular shelves that we had arranged at the old house, and then we found more of the same ones on the street. Now we're trying a new, larger arrangement but I think that (1) the ones we found on the street didn't have enough of those parts and/or (2) some parts got lost in the move.

I feel you on the painting. We're cool with the color for the spare bedroom, but when removing the radiator cover to paint behind it, a 3X4' chunk of plaster crumbled. So now there is a drywall patch job in progress.

Still haven't unpacked the bathroom. We have been sharing the single towel I have managed to unearth.

This is too late for most people itt, but it's a good idea to pack a "necessities" box that you keep with you and open first. Whatever you must have the very first day, and then the second day, and etc. It wouldn't even be a bad idea, when yr moving a whole household, to pack a "first day" and a "first week" box, or something. The whole one towel thing is nuts!

(2) some parts got lost in the move.

This is why you put all the parts in a ziploc baggie and packing-tape it to the side of the shelving unit. Did you do this?

Or Saran-wrap it, either way.

It's been a good week of my sweetie unpacking and arranging everything and I can honestly say that, maybe for the first time since I left home for college, I live in a place that actually feels like a comfortable home in its own right instead of more of an assemblage of stuff that's okay enough. No complaints!

making an offer on a new house today hopefully

Laurel if you ever decide to leave publishing, you totally have a future as a move coordinator for the rich and famous! And even the not rich and famous (i.e., us).

My major error was totally underestimating the time it would take to unpack, and for not taking off any time from work. I really thought I would have everything unpacked over one weekend. Clearly I am an idiot.

Good luck LG!

I've moved. A lot. You just get better at it after a while. Also, one weekend is not much time when things need to be washed out, organized, etc! You only get once chance to clean your house while it's empty, you have to take it.

thanks q!

(2) some parts got lost in the move.

This is why you put all the parts in a ziploc baggie and packing-tape it to the side of the shelving unit. Did you do this?

― it's not that print journalists don't have a sense of humour, it's just (Laurel), Friday, August 5, 2011 11:50 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

YES!! I felt like such a fucking rocket scientist when it occurred to me to do this a few years ago. I can't really remember what I was doing before. Probably throwing all hardware into my toolbox with other fasteners and misc.?

This is why you put all the parts in a ziploc baggie and packing-tape it to the side of the shelving unit. Did you do this?

― it's not that print journalists don't have a sense of humour, it's just (Laurel), Friday, 5 August 2011 16:50 (1 hour ago)

We did! However, rather than break down the set entirely into all of its component parts, we just broke it down into easier-to-carry sections. I think a thing or two may have fallen off the sections in the move.

I just finished a move, which by my count is my 14th change of address since 1991. So I'm averaging, what, a move every 1.5 years. You'd think I'd be better at it, but it still always comes down to a certain amount of last-minute frenzy. This one seems like I might be here a while, I hope so. The good thing is that I've had plenty of opportunity to get rid of stuff in all those pre-moving purges. The possibly bad thing is that this house has more storage space than I've ever had before, so if we stay here a while, we might pack it full to the rafters. But I guess that would be one more reason not to move.

i count 16 moves between 2002 and 2012. possibly forgetting one or two. now, i just leave my stuff in a rolly suitcase, hang a few shirts up. when i move, i end up leaving a box of books on the front doorstep. or just leave it in the apartment. if it doesn't fit in the rolly suitcase, it isn't coming with me. one bag.

i have single box caches of stuff at the homes of friends and family in three cities and two countries but i've mostly forgotten what's there.

in cases of job loss, nuclear events, pogroms, urge to leave the country, whatever, anything, i'm ready to go in half an hour.

Yeah, a friend reminded me the other week that I still have a cedar chest and a possibly-functioning bicycle at his house, which I left there about 10 years ago when I left town. But this move has actually put me back in his neighborhood, so I think maybe I'll go get them. (I also have some stuff in boxes in the basement of my ex-mother-in-law's house. I suppose I should go get that at some point, too.)

Estate agent measuring up and taking photos right now. Have viewed 4 houses so far and had our first large difference of opinion on one. Three more to see tomorrow.

Had two people come and see the house now - one couple love it but need to work out how they can afford it.

We have seen two houses - one we absolutely love but is right on the limits of our search area, and might mean a couple of days away from home in any given week. The other ticks all the boxes for what we want (seriously, every single one) but we're not in love with it, we just like it a lot.

Has anyone had experience moving long-distance in the US with those pod things? I'll likely be doing so but would like my stuff to go into storage on the other side while I look for a house. How does it work exactly-do most moving companies provide pods and have access to storage?

tmmrw god willing

i am moving in less than a month and have no kitchen stuff, no furniture, nothing

i have the opposite situation. too much of everything.

treesh, we gonna chill when you're in philly? you should come visit me on the other side of city line ave

definitely! i signed a lease on an apartment in west philly, like a block or two from campus. totally stoked.

treesh just sit on the middle of the floor in an unfurnished room with a macbook and yr thoughts and live off delivery food

how i imagine markers lives tbh

inshallah

unpacking

also putting off unpacking until tmmrw bc ffs tired

just need to figure out where my ___ is and i can go to sleep

Fuck moving.

It's only a half-mile move and everything's going fine, but still, fuck moving.

i feel you man. i am moving 1300 miles like two weeks from now. right now i think i hate packing most? but soon surely it will be whatever step comes next.

We're at that stage where there's still a bunch of stuff that isn't packed but it's all stuff that we need access to so I just worry about having to frantically pack everything at the last minute.

Final day of moving is today.

is there like a secular lefty organization that will take all my shit, like books and clothes and all that?

I think we have successfully avoided moving for the time being, which let me tell you is a huge relief. Although since my roommate and I are still going to swap areas of the apartment, that requires HALFWAY packing and moving, but not hiring any, like, actual people.

I need to get boxes today and the winds are going to be 15mph+ all day long.
fuck you weather jesus

had the biggest move of my life earlier this year. i know it's a privilege to say it's probably the hardest day's manual labour i've ever done. could barely manage a beer after it.

and that's moving one man's stuff - god knows what house load would be like

We got a very broad range of produce and wine boxes from our local TJs + organic grocer. The ones I'm afraid of are the three cases of premade bellini, which you can see reviewed here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=634MylRpQjY

We're in the midst of moving from the countryside into Paris, having needed initially to live a long way away because of housing prices in the city. but we got approved very quickly for social housing in the city because I work for the government and we lived so far away, despite working in the very center of the city, and they take that into consideration (most people wait 10+ years for social housing in Paris). so my kids had to change schools mid-year, but you can't control the timing of when you get social housing, and it's a ridiculously good deal, like 1/3 the price of regular Paris housing, with an indefinite contract, so we'll stay here a long time. we're paying a company to move us (work subsidizes it somewhat) because, having moved like 4 times in the last 4 years, we really don't want to mess with dismantling furniture, lifting boxes, etc., again. we packed ourselves of course but we don't have much stuff to pack b/c when we moved overseas we sold most everything we'd owned, and we haven't yet bought much of anything over here.

Wow Euler that is fantastic. Well done!!!!

re moving boxes there came a moment in my life when I decided I would rather pay for sturdy, standardized cardboard boxes than ever again schlep around my neighborhood looking for cast-offs

thanks!

evidently in France the boxes and tape are included when you hire a moving company, which hasn't been my experience in the USA. I know it's not a big deal, but since we don't have a car getting boxes home would have been a hassle.

We've only ended up using about half of the boxes they gave us, which makes me think they overestimated how much stuff we have, and thus we're paying more than we should, but I don't really care, moving is busy enough already to worry about a couple hundred euros extra.

nice!

Moving companies are slow teleportation systems. It's the best. Ours are coming tomorrow. Today we took down the network and moved all the AV gear to the new house so I'm posting this from an iPad tethered to my phone and it is not fast. Like movers are having to walk my web pages up and down stairs. Covered in blankets.

The poor FiOS guy took *forever* today, not his fault though, none of the coax and cat5 ends had been crimped, just wires hanging out in the box, like WTF punch list much?

The evo system, 9:49 AM:
http://i.imgur.com/htq6ECL.jpg
10:59 AM:
http://i.imgur.com/MRIKBhJ.jpg

I feel bad that this is the only night he gets to spend in this arrangement.

http://i.imgur.com/aCcTEiA.jpg

nice! xp aww

i'm doing my first round tomorrow with 2 check-on bags. i threw out some clothes to get the bags to what felt like under 50 lbs. fingers crossed.

i have basically a box-worth of other stuff left. i'll figure that out in a week. this is easily the most minimal i've ever been in a move, like one step up from a backpack and a suitcase. no furniture. i feel proud somehow, even though it just means i threw out a lot of crap (again, for the third time in three years).

the boxes, my god the boxes. they just kept coming off the truck.

tomorrow is hang everything on the walls day. going to be searching for studs a lot.

rare earth magnets are totally the best way to find studs behind drywall btw

you just blew my mind

I'll be moving for the 3rd time this year in a couple of weeks hopefully. When we moved in here 2.5 months ago the lift was out of order and we're on the 4th/5th floor (5th/6th for Americans). It's been working since then but sod's law means it will likely break down again the day we move out. I am so sick of moving but the curse of 2016 won't let us find anywhere that isn't a total shithole.

The truck just left with our stuff. I'm on the train to meet them in the city. There was so much crap under things! The movers were probably horrified but at least it's easy to sweep now that everything is gone.

also the mover boss guy looks like the ice cream man from the Bangarang video

The unpacking and re-organizing process is always terrible. This week though we also had bonus in-laws hanging around to add stress and get in the way, and then on top of that we're getting to discover all the shit that's wrong and annoying with our new house. I'm ashamed of how much money the Container Store has made off of us this week.

today I installed

• new dishwasher
• medicine cabinet in main floor 1/2 bath
• bigger medicine cabinet, in the top floor master bath
• the big home entertainment thing, as seen above (SO MANY CABLES UGGGH)
• bigass magnetic whiteboard in the kitchen
• more Elfa shit

We move on Wednesday. Why are we doing this to ourselves?

dishwasher! no flies on tombot

i always hate the inevitable mail forwarding delay or snafu with the new post office when moving in.

and yeah, finding the new flaws, no matter how small, with your new place. Your roof could be falling apart in your old place but you've gotten accustomed to it, one crack or wobbly door in the new place is a NEW problem and "WHAT OTHER HORRORS WILL I DISCOVER??!!!"

re: unpacking, just do what I do and leave the shit sealed in boxes until your next move to where you go "what the fuck is INSIDE this thing?"

i got rid of so much junk that my last move took an hour. I mean loading and unloading.

Congrats Scik & family

Phew. Just got email from lettings agents we passed reference checks and will be moving out of our smack den in 2 weeks (assuming I can book removal men for that day).

I helped my friend move a bunch of stuff down and then up several flights of stairs. I always get this strange sense of melancholy when I move house. Going through a bit of a rough patch in my personal life at the moment and was surprised to find that even though it wasn't me who was moving house, I got that same odd empty feeling.
That first night when all your stuff's still packed away and you're sleeping on a blow-up bed or something and you're physically and mentally exhausted. It takes a while to pass..

. we're paying a company to move us (work subsidizes it somewhat) because, having moved like 4 times in the last 4 years, we really don't want to mess with dismantling furniture, lifting boxes, etc., again.

yea we when moved across several states this summer my new employer paid for movers. it was a goddamn miracle to see these dudes come in and dissemble everything and protect it all with furniture pads and load into a truck in a day. i still did the box-packing myself which wasn't too bad really -- having enough boxes is the key. you can't figure out how to shit unless you have enough boxes. fuck having to strategically pack shit because you don't have enough boxes. just get a ton even if you have to buy new ones.

btw libraries are fantastic sources for good sturdy standard boxes. we had to do craiglist for only a few boxes, and i was able to completely avoid bouncing around to liquor stores and all that bullshit

we're looking to buy a house soon so we'll be moving again some time next year. professional movers are expensive but at this point it think it is worth it.

That first night when all your stuff's still packed away and you're sleeping on a blow-up bed or something and you're physically and mentally exhausted. It takes a while to pass..

yea it is such a weird feeling

i felt kind of a buzz when i moved this year. i had been in my old place for like 8 years - i dreaded the day the landlord would sell even tho i knew it was coming, but then it came and i was lucky i guess to find a place with a friend really quickly. it was a hot summer weekend and the new place was bright and sunny - even with the boxes etc i was surprised how easy it felt, maybe not owning a place means it doesn't really dig its hooks in as much as you might imagine.

where did you move to lg

I love moving, so much novelty and promise, and it gives purpose to usual daily hassles like dishes and taking out the trash, because you slowly pack your stuff as you deal with these.

Movers packed our house today. Just bed, cot, and tv left pretty much. Tomorrow we move across town...

Moved! Reasonably settled. Despite being december it was 16 degrees on Wednesday so we had the massive doors to the garden open all afternoon, which was awesome. Shut forever now the cats are back from my parents, though...

And oh god I'd pay to be packed every time.

Congratulations. Please log all complaints here.

Strange items the movers packed:

1. Empty jar of sundried tomato paste that hadn't made it to the recycling centre.
2. Jar full of cat fur that I combed off the cats last summer, made a joke about, and then forgot existed.
3. Weird ventilation brick I put on a radiator once to dry out and then forhgot about.

My turn again. I had two flooding polls on ILM when I moved the last time, about a year and a half ago. That time I just moved apartments in the same complex, this time I'm moving to a whole new life. Doing it differently then the usual all in one day approach. I'm moving over three days and have no choice but to be ready on Monday.

Good luck!!