There is nothing fun about moving. We've moved 7 different houses in our marriage, and it just is a huge hassle each and every time! This time our move was short--a mere 1/4 mile from the previous house we leased here in Malaysia. But it really doesn't matter how close or how far you move, you still have to pack everything up and unpack when you arrive. We really didn't bring much furniture over here, only our bedroom suite and a chair/ottoman. Of course, I did bring all my kitchen stuff and we had bought new appliances when we arrived a year ago. And of course all our clothes and ALL my shoes (which I never wear and only put on flip-flops). Our driver and I would haul boxes back and forth the week we moved in, but by the weekend we hired a truck and two "off-duty" movers to take our bed apart and move the bedroom suite and chair over.
They were to arrive at 3 on Saturday, but we received a call and they got "stuck" in Singapore and would not be able to make it until the next day. When they showed up they began to move the small pieces to the truck. Everything going well--this won't take long at all! Wrong.
Just a little background info: I am convinced that one of them was an actual "mover". I think the other must have been his brother-in-law and told him "hey, want to make an easy 50 ringgit?". This 2nd mover just couldn't carry much of anything. They started through our house with the dresser (mirror already removed), and this one guy put down his side about every 10 steps. Of course they were talking in Bahasa, so I'm not sure what they were saying, but it was clear he was struggling holding up his end (literally). I'm not exaggerating when I say it took them 20 minutes to make it from our bedroom to the truck. Of course the truck has no "lift" on the back, so they begin the process of lifting it up to get it into the back--it just wasn't going to happen! Finally Jeff realized the problem and helped them out. He said that when he lifted the other guy basically stopped helping.
Our mattresses had to be loaded next. Granted, we have a California king bed, so that top mattress is large and unwieldy. The REAL mover guy only brought a small amount of the plastic wrap you put on stuff to keep furniture from getting dirty, so by the time they got it into the new house it had been dropped repeatedly (see comments above) and it had dirty, greasy hand prints on it. Nothing like that to put you in a good mood! I asked them to wash their hands before they started loading the mattress on the frame, even if it was a little too late.
We are now moved in and we love our new house. Still waiting on phone and Internet service, but that's ANOTHER blog.
