All that packing and boxing stuff up we did recently was so we could put shtuff in storage. We ended up with 184 boxes and some furniture. We kept a list of the boxes, with a tag of the general contents, and a number on the box.
This was way more than I could move myself so we got a moving company to haul the stuff to the storage unit. We watched them load all the boxes on the truck and everything was fine.
I couldn’t be there when the boxes were unloaded at the storage unit, but the wife was there. A friend of ours also helped unload the truck (thanks dude!) so we’re fairly certain everything got unloaded from the truck.
Over the weekend we did a thorough inventory of all the boxes and things in the storgae unit. Again, we had friends come over to help move boxes (thanks folks!) and go through the inventory. As we ended up the inventory, we were missing 16 boxes. We were tired so we waited until the next day to sort things out. At least as we were putting boxes back in the storage unit I tried to put all the boxes of books together.
I know one of the boxes that was missing had my books. That is a cardinal sin, losing my books. The previous moving company from a few years ago, when we got married and merged houses, damaged my furniture and lost a box of my books. The current moving company had a very low bar to exceed my expectations. At the moment, I’d have to say they failed.
We went over the list the next day and did find some of the missing boxes. I went back to the storage unit and went through the boxes of books. I collected a little over two boxes worth of my books, scattered through all the boxes. I brought them back to the house.
I did not find the specific box of books I was looking for, nor another book I wanted. I did find one that I was after, but due to bad packing on our part, ended up getting bent into a ‘Z’ shape. I brought it back to the house and put it under one of the boxes of books in an effort to get it to flatten out.
Going over the list of missing boxes I was able to cross off several more than I had found among the boxes of books I went through. I’m not entirely sure what box number the books I’m after were in but I think I narrowed it down to the right box after going through the inventory list again.
I called the moving company today to let them know about the missing boxes and asked what we could do about them. The lady on the phone said the guy I needed to talk to wasn’t in today, but I could send him an email with a list of the missing things. She was also going to call the driver and check with him to see what might have happened.
From this experience I think I have learned two things. 1) I don’t plan to ever move again. 2) If I do move, NO ONE is going to touch my books unless it is under specific directions FROM ME. I will run a checklist and make sure they are all loaded onto the truck. I will drive the truck to wherever the boxes will be unloaded. I will check off each box on a list when it comes off the truck.
In the meantime, to avoided stressing too much over this situation, I’ve been contemplating the sage words of AC/DC when they said “It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.”
Take care of your books, my little Hordeling, and don’t let anyone ever move them for you.
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