And we’re ba-a-a-a-a-ack!
My move from California to Georgia was completed successfully and I am functional and operational…at least, I believe I am.
There were so many things that could have gone wrong on this move and didn’t. And there were some minor things that should not have gone wrong and did. But the bottom line is that I moved 21,000 pounds (that’s right, 10.5 tons) of books, paper and furniture 2200 miles and nothing was damaged and nothing was lost. I cannot take credit for that feat. The credit belongs entirely to the Mayflower Moving Company and specifically, The Moving Company of Chula Vista, California. They were a delight to work with and made what was clearly a stressful situation into ‘a business as usual’ event. The driver (Ken Battle), the packers (whose names I didn’t get), the admin support (Lisa & Romeo) – everyone did their job as true professionals and I was very happy with the results.
The folks at my former job gave me a wonderful send-off into retirement. I had a well attended luncheon and received some very nice going away presents to included: the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service award, a beautiful desk set, a stunning DC comics ‘Year by Year’ anthology and a plaque from the organization (not pictured), along with a farewell card signed by the senior leadership of the Directorate. The next day, I got a retired baseball cap from my fellow Branch Head which I treasure and wore every single day for the next two weeks. In fact, it is my favorite cap and I wear it whenever I can. Which brings me to the move itself.
Let me say up this up front: nothing will test a marriage, regardless of how old it is, like moving. People you think you know; people you’ve slept with for 40 years become unrecognizable animals with the stress of moving. While it should be clear that I am referring to my wife in this instance; in fairness and in hindsight, I’m sure she felt EXACTLY the same way about me at the time, too.
My self-imposed timeline for getting from California to Georgia was short and very compressed. I officially retired on Wednesday, 29 February. The Mayflower packers were there on Thursday, the 1st of March and the moving truck pulled up to my front door at 7:30 AM on the 2nd of March. You’ll note that I said I moved 21,000 pounds to Georgia. The problem was that my original estimate for this move was for 18,000 pounds and they sent a truck appropriately sized to accommodate that move. Since we were unable to cram 21,000 pounds into a truck meant for 18,000, the movers had to send a second truck the next day to get what the first truck couldn’t take. That meant, what I had thought would be a leisurely Saturday afternoon driving around and saying “goodbye” to neighbors I’d known for 25 years turned into a “goat rope” of stress as we packed the car with stuff that should have gone on the truck, but now had to go in the car because she who must be obeyed decided items had to go to Georgia after the second truck had already left. The upside to this situation was that since I had a binding quote from Mayflower, there was no additional cost to move the added weight. So finally, Saturday night, after my wife was satisfied that everything was as she wanted it to be, we left our Oceanside home and headed for the hotel.
We left California the next morning, the 4th of March. We ate lunch in Yuma, Arizona (In-N-Out Burgers for the last time) and ended our first day’s travels in Tucson. We had a quiet and delicious dinner at the Marriott Starr Pass Hotel and Resort. We also had an interesting experience at dinner. Service was slow. In fact, it was so slow that the woman who was dining at the table next to us felt compelled to come to our table and tell my wife and me (the only non-white people in the restaurant) that we weren’t being ignored or discriminated against, but rather that the restaurant was severely understaffed and everyone’s service was unreasonably slow. She encouraged us to stay because the food was very good. We smiled and thanked her for the information. About ten minutes later, our waiter took our order. Little did I realize while I was enjoying my salmon, that old man Murphy would join me at the end of the next day’s travels and do his best to trip me up. (To Be Continued)
What a place to keep us hanging! Glad to hear the move is over at least.
Congrats on your retirement btw!
Hey, you know me…I’m a wannabe writer/blogger…cliffhangers is what I do. 🙂 Thanks for the kind thoughts…
Well let me say glad you made it there and everything is well. Now I will comment, that was some funny stuff! I could imagine your facial expressions as i read the story…
I assure you I probably made all the expressions you think I made. 🙂 Thanks for reading…
Flashbacks to “Airplane!”: you ordered the fish! *peril*
(The hat looks cool!)
It was the “Chef’s Special.” I didn’t think it was as special as the Chef thought it was, but it was good. (I love that hat!)
Bill, I’m glad you all made it safe and sound…
Let me see if my calculations are correct: 20,999 pounds (of wife’s clothing and other misc. items) + 1 pound (Bill’s stuff , basically, clothing on your back) = 21,000 pounds of stuff moved… Am I close?
What ever will you do with your time now that you have Jose and I to “boss” around? LOL!!
LOL! You got the weight calculations exactly right. Glad to hear from you. As to what I’ll do with all my free time? Don’t worry. In the past few weeks, I’ve come to believe that my MSO has every minute planned out for me. 🙂 Thanks for reading…
Note to self for some point in the next 10 years–don’t move immediately after retiring. 🙂
Sorry I’m so late in reading/commenting–been a bit crazy of late.
No excuse is necessary. I competely understand and really appreciate you reading…. 🙂