Sorry for the delay in posting. I'm really busy at work and evenings have been taken up with moving boxes around and tending to the dogs. Since I get up at 4am during the week, I go to bed by 9pm most nights (I read in bed and almost always whack myself briefly awake with my book around 10pm, just awake enough to turn off the light). I really only have luxury of time on the weekends.
Yes, indeed, in reply to comments from the previous post, we have been drowning in packing paper and boxes. I gave up on photos. It's just been chaos. 800 square feet now contains what I formerly spread out over 2700 square feet (more or less--I didn't ship any furniture over here). When I started unpacking, I piled and repiled boxes so I could find a few key items (like closed shoes--I only brought sandals and my feet have been freezing!). I was able to move into the second phase last night and today and started opening every single box based on which one was closest to me.
The necessary shuffle of Aramco furniture out and my stuff in was a bit of a pain but it is now done. I can't tell you what a luxury it is for me and the dogs to stretch out on a queen-sized bed again. I know they are much happier with the extra space.
My brand new fridge fit into its allotted space--that is, the height and width were okay. Depth, not so much. Couldn't open the door to the closet housing the dollhouse-sized washer and dryer. Instead, the new fridge has to be tucked into a corner of the living room. Since the dollhouse cabinetry will only hold food or dishes but not both, I'll have some shelves built in the former fridge space to make an open pantry. The dishes remain in boxes because there is no place to put them. I did pull out my good pots and pans and left the Aramco offerings outside in a bag for the gardeners and other workers to fight over.
Speaking of washer and dryer, my lovely LG front loaders remain swathed in packing material, stored in a corner of my office room until I can move into a bigger place. I stacked all of my suitcases on top of them. Not the most fabulous decorating theme but it will have to do for now.
I am going to see if I can get a gas cylinder for the grill tomorrow night. I'll take a shopping bus in to Khobar and try the Dhahran Mall. I haven't been to that one yet so I don't know if the right store is in it but it's worth a trip down to find out. I've got two pork chops that I bought in Bahrain that I plan to grill for the first meal.
I haven't unpacked any of my pictures yet. I assume most of them made it here in good condition. I've only found two items broken so far, neither of which were valuable in the least.
I thought that I did a pretty thorough job on the ship/store/sell/give away/throw away process but I have unpacked a few items that I now know that I have no use for whatsoever. I've been putting those things out for the workers too.
Now I can say that I'm in the third phase of unpacking. I've still got a lot of clothing to deal with, and of course all of those pictures to unwrap and hang. And I have to get all of my technical books to work and into my office. Still, those are details--I've worked out all of the big issues like how to fit all of my stuff into this small space.
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Saturday, October 10, 2009
The Dogs Say: Whatever Is Going On, We Don't Like It
Dogs generally don't like changes to their routines. While I make a strong effort to stick to their regular feeding schedule, all of the activity going on at Circus K9 right now is throwing the concept of routine right out of the window.
Strangers coming by the house to look at things to buy, maybe even coming into the house for the furniture, realtors and their clients walking around opening cabinets and closets, packages being delivered several times a week, doorbell ringing, phone ringing constantly. All of this activity is taking place with a constant background of packing. I have at least four separate staging areas so I might be carrying items from one room to another (and sometimes back again), taping up boxes, wrapping small items in paper. Constant commotion.
Plus I sold my bed so we are all sleeping on the floor. This isn't as terrible as it seems as I've built quite a comfy nest out of sleeping bags and blankets, but it simply isn't the normal state of affairs.
The dogs do not like any of this at all.
They are all slightly on edge, jumpy and prone to react to the slightest sound, real or imagined. Jack and Dyna stick to me like burrs, never more than a few feet from me even when I'm moving around. Mimi and Harry have become particularly needy, an emotional state that I don't like nor do I encourage in my dogs. But I can't just ignore them--they are all worried and anxious.
The loading and carting and boxing and packing and moving frenzy is accelerating. Moving day is scheduled for next Friday and I've still got quite a bit to do. I hope the dogs can hold themselves together for a few more days.
Strangers coming by the house to look at things to buy, maybe even coming into the house for the furniture, realtors and their clients walking around opening cabinets and closets, packages being delivered several times a week, doorbell ringing, phone ringing constantly. All of this activity is taking place with a constant background of packing. I have at least four separate staging areas so I might be carrying items from one room to another (and sometimes back again), taping up boxes, wrapping small items in paper. Constant commotion.
Plus I sold my bed so we are all sleeping on the floor. This isn't as terrible as it seems as I've built quite a comfy nest out of sleeping bags and blankets, but it simply isn't the normal state of affairs.
The dogs do not like any of this at all.
They are all slightly on edge, jumpy and prone to react to the slightest sound, real or imagined. Jack and Dyna stick to me like burrs, never more than a few feet from me even when I'm moving around. Mimi and Harry have become particularly needy, an emotional state that I don't like nor do I encourage in my dogs. But I can't just ignore them--they are all worried and anxious.
The loading and carting and boxing and packing and moving frenzy is accelerating. Moving day is scheduled for next Friday and I've still got quite a bit to do. I hope the dogs can hold themselves together for a few more days.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Ship? Store? Sell? Give Away? Throw Away?
Today was an end to an extremely long and tedious process, one that has lasted most of the summer. Today I had my estate/yard sale.
Ever since Aramco first approached me about the job, I realized that I needed to do some pruning of my household goods. As a single female, I will always and only be allotted one-bedroom housing in Dhahran. One bedroom and perhaps not even a very spacious one.
So back in June, I started walking through my house, looking at every single thing that I own, and asking myself a series of questions: Do I want this thing with me in Dhahran? Do I need it there? Would I have room for it? If the thing was valuable in some way, was it worth paying years of storage unit fees to keep it? Did it have sentimental value or only economic value? Would someone else buy this thing? Could I replace it later? If nobody would buy it from me directly, was it worth donating? Or did I just need to quit messing around and toss it out?
There were additional complications. Of course. If I wanted to have the thing with me in Dhahran, could I let Aramco move it on the slow boat? It would be up to 3 months before it arrived. Would the thing fit in my allotted air freight box? The so-called E box usually arrives a couple of weeks after I do but it has limits on size and weight. Could I carry it with me in my luggage on the flight over? I'm planning on taking four suitcases (and paying the airline overage fees with no protest) to ensure I have immediate access to critical items for me and the dogs. Plus getting unusual things through customs is often easier if they are in checked bags. But those suitcases are only going to hold just so much stuff.
If the item was to be stored, it had to be securely packed and labeled. Actually, once I made the pile of "store" items, getting that stuff packed was straightforward. But there's now the little matter of how to get all those boxes to Virginia.
I posted ads for things to be sold to my dog sport yahoo group lists and Craig's List. So far, I have had tremendous success with this subset of my things. My former things. I posted my CL ad and had the estate/yard sale this morning. In a giant, five-hour push of effort (with the help of two friends), we sold nearly everything that was left. The pile of stuff to take to Goodwill will fit in a couple of boxes. It's really amazing what people will buy at a yard sale. A nice antique wardrobe that we thought would be gone right away is still here while opened, partly used boxes of nails sold in the first hour. The process of putting prices on things for sale was very helpful in pushing some things right into the trash.
My house is not entirely empty. One room is full of boxes (ship and store). There's still the odd bit of furniture (my dining room table and chairs)--but no beds. I sold all of them on Craig's List, usually within hours of listing them. I'll dispose of the remaining bits of furniture the same way. All of my clothes are in suitcases or boxes--ask me to find a specific item and I simply could not do it. One room is a chaos of towels, blankets, sheets, and sweaters. I'm still sorting that mess out.
Although much work remains to be done, I feel like today was a significant milepost. I've pared my house full of things down to the essentials. I feel lighter.
Ever since Aramco first approached me about the job, I realized that I needed to do some pruning of my household goods. As a single female, I will always and only be allotted one-bedroom housing in Dhahran. One bedroom and perhaps not even a very spacious one.
So back in June, I started walking through my house, looking at every single thing that I own, and asking myself a series of questions: Do I want this thing with me in Dhahran? Do I need it there? Would I have room for it? If the thing was valuable in some way, was it worth paying years of storage unit fees to keep it? Did it have sentimental value or only economic value? Would someone else buy this thing? Could I replace it later? If nobody would buy it from me directly, was it worth donating? Or did I just need to quit messing around and toss it out?
There were additional complications. Of course. If I wanted to have the thing with me in Dhahran, could I let Aramco move it on the slow boat? It would be up to 3 months before it arrived. Would the thing fit in my allotted air freight box? The so-called E box usually arrives a couple of weeks after I do but it has limits on size and weight. Could I carry it with me in my luggage on the flight over? I'm planning on taking four suitcases (and paying the airline overage fees with no protest) to ensure I have immediate access to critical items for me and the dogs. Plus getting unusual things through customs is often easier if they are in checked bags. But those suitcases are only going to hold just so much stuff.
If the item was to be stored, it had to be securely packed and labeled. Actually, once I made the pile of "store" items, getting that stuff packed was straightforward. But there's now the little matter of how to get all those boxes to Virginia.
I posted ads for things to be sold to my dog sport yahoo group lists and Craig's List. So far, I have had tremendous success with this subset of my things. My former things. I posted my CL ad and had the estate/yard sale this morning. In a giant, five-hour push of effort (with the help of two friends), we sold nearly everything that was left. The pile of stuff to take to Goodwill will fit in a couple of boxes. It's really amazing what people will buy at a yard sale. A nice antique wardrobe that we thought would be gone right away is still here while opened, partly used boxes of nails sold in the first hour. The process of putting prices on things for sale was very helpful in pushing some things right into the trash.
My house is not entirely empty. One room is full of boxes (ship and store). There's still the odd bit of furniture (my dining room table and chairs)--but no beds. I sold all of them on Craig's List, usually within hours of listing them. I'll dispose of the remaining bits of furniture the same way. All of my clothes are in suitcases or boxes--ask me to find a specific item and I simply could not do it. One room is a chaos of towels, blankets, sheets, and sweaters. I'm still sorting that mess out.
Although much work remains to be done, I feel like today was a significant milepost. I've pared my house full of things down to the essentials. I feel lighter.
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