Moving again

[Koz]

With the death of my father last month I've decided that the best course of action is to move back to the SC Lowcountry so I can be there to help my stepmother. The timing works out because the lease on the house I am renting is up at the end of this month.

 

But moving is such a pain and I can't afford to hire movers so I'm doing it myself. Maybe I'll hire some labor to load the truck. But I need a big 26' truck and I'm not comfortable towing my car behind it so that means load, drive, unpack, and either drive the truck back or fly back to get my car. Or I could sell my car.

 

So many decisions I need to make in the next few days. I hate moving. I just need to remind myself there's great bass fishing where I'm going.

[Basseditor]

I hate moving too. A neighbor who moved went down to where the day workers mill about and he hired two to help load the truck. It was cheap labor. He bought pizza for lunch too.

 

The hardest part is boxing stuff and protecting furniture with blankets. If you can, get some large rolls of plastic cling wrap to hold blankets in place.

[J Francho]

I don't envy your situation.  How about a PODS?  We did that when my fiancé sold her house.  It was less than movers, and allowed us to pack and unpack in a much less stressful timeframe.

[CountryboyinDC]

I'd second the POD idea, especially if you aren't comfortable driving the truck pulling your car.  I've never moved without a tight deadline, so I've never used one.  While driving a box truck with a vehicle on a trailer doesn't bother me, the fact that the POD is on the ground rather than above a truck chassis would make loading/unloading easier.  I'm not sure about the cost difference, but the one- way (or roundtrip) moving truck rentals, etc. can add up.

[Bluebasser86]

I've moved several times in the last 10 years. Hoping the house we're in is where we stay for a long time now. Moving sucks and there's no way to sugarcoat it.

[MN Fisher]

I feel for you Koz about the moving. From 1980 to 1986 I lived in 6 different places - 5 of those in the same metro area, but different addresses.

 

I've been in my current home since May of 1986 - probably stay until I can't take care of myself anymore.

[Nelson Wormefeller]

I recently had to move also due to job furlough, and took the opportunity to throw a lot of stuff away so that's one bright spot in the situation.

[gim]

It’s a necessary evil in the journey called life. No one ever said “I enjoy moving!” so you’re in the same boat as everyone else.

[Koz]

On 11/18/2020 at 3:27 PM, J Francho said:

I don't envy your situation.  How about a PODS?  We did that when my fiancé sold her house.  It was less than movers, and allowed us to pack and unpack in a much less stressful timeframe.

 

I looked into PODS but they wanted way too much money for a 230 mile move. I could see doing it for a longer move, though.

 

I did decide to rent the truck, deliver my goods to storage, and drive back to get my car. If I could have fit everything in the 20' truck I would have towed my car, but the math didn't work out. There's a ton of traffic on the route I take and I just don't like the risk in towing a full car trailer with a 26' truck. Since my car is rear wheel drive I can't use a car dolly. And with COVID blowing up again I decided not to fly back to get my car.

 

I have a LOT of experience with moving. I used to be a troubleshooter GM in turning around failing hotels. So I'd move and be somewhere from 12-18 months and then move to the next destination. But most of the time my company would just send someone to pack my house or apartment and load my car while I flew to the next destination.

 

It's going to be a very busy 2 or 3 days. The worst part is I start loading the truck on Monday - and that's my birthday. So instead of giving myself the gift of fishing for the day I gave myself the gift of packing a truck. I clearly did not think that through ?

[Guitarfish]

Well Happy Birthday anyway!  I'll be moving in the spring. Will try to sell as much as possible before then.  30 years of stuff needs to come out of the attic.  I'll be hoping to travel lighter.

Both my brothers moved in the last couple of years.  Both of them expressed wonderment at all the crap they moved but didn't need.

Good luck on the move.

[J Francho]

Happy birthday!  Good luck and safe moving!

[Koz]

9 hours ago, J Francho said:

Happy birthday!  Good luck and safe moving!

When I was younger I looked forward to my birthdays. Now they are a countdown clock ?

[J Francho]

Yeah, I'm fast approaching that half century mark. Kids' birthdays are more fun now. 

[Bird]

What's worse than moving yourself ?

Is owning a truck and trailer and having friends and family that like to move a lot.

Hope it works out for ya'.

[detroit1]

On 11/19/2020 at 10:15 AM, gimruis said:

It’s a necessary evil in the journey called life. No one ever said “I enjoy moving!” so you’re in the same boat as everyone else.

I disagree..i LOVED moving out of Detroit to my current (and last) house.

[Way north bass guy]

I can remember my wife and I “moving” all our stuff into our house when we bought it almost 20 years ago. We were both young, had almost nothing to our names, and got the entire “move” done in one shot with my truck and a 5x8 trailer. Boy, we sure couldn’t do that now, it’d take probably two semis to move all our crap somewhere. We’re not even hoarders, it’s just amazing how much someone accumulates over the course of a bunch of years. Our house was like a gymnasium compared to now with some actual furniture in it ?. 

[Bankbeater]

I’ve been moving people for 30 years. Few things I’ve learned over the years. 
Hand carry breakable items, don’t pack them. 
Label all boxes with the contents. 
Don’t put the heavy boxes on top of the light boxes. 
Good luck on your move. 

[Koz]

3 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

I’ve been moving people for 30 years. Few things I’ve learned over the years. 
Hand carry breakable items, don’t pack them. 
Label all boxes with the contents. 
Don’t put the heavy boxes on top of the light boxes. 
Good luck on your move. 

I've had things stolen by unscrupulous movers and there's not much you can do about it because they play the "insurance by weight of item" game. One time when my company moved me my stuff was in their storage for about 3 weeks. It was a move from Wyoming to Louisiana so I flew and my car was part of the transport. When I got my stuff delivered, boxes had been rifled through and my autographed photo of Joe DiMaggio was missing.

 

Years ago my girlfriend followed me in a move and the movers held her stuff hostage for more money by saying the underestimated the wight of her belongings by hundreds of pounds.

 

If possible, I prefer to move myself although now that I'm older it's not quite as easy.

 

Good news though. I found loose change everywhere will packing this weekend and wrapped $104 worth of coins!

[Koz]

It took me five hours to load the 26 foot Uhaul by myself yesterday and then about a four and a half hour drive.

 

The interstates are so bad here in SC the entire trip felt like I was trapped in a washing machine on the agitate cycle. It was bone rattling brutal.

 

Today I’m paying people to unload the truck. I am just too tired and sore. Then driving back to my old place to get my car and drive back here in the morning.

 

The good news is I will be fishing all weekend once I am back.

[Guitarfish]

Well now you can recover and no better place than on the water.

 

I spent 4 hours yesterday going thru yard tools and old landscape lights from jobs over the years.  I'm taking the move serious and clearing house.  Back at it today.

 

Enjoy the fishing.