moving: all done!

Well… almost. As I stepped out of the shower today, I realized that I didn’t have my bathrobe… which is still hanging on the 3M hook on the back of the bathroom door at my old apartment. Hello, after-work errand!*

Not to bring up the lingering issues of my single-hood, but after one has a certain amount of stuff moving becomes like large piece of IKEA furniture: needs (at least) two people to assemble. I was doing pretty well on my own, but at times I just shut down and couldn’t do anything. It’s not that I needed help packing, more help staying focused. Five years is a long-ass time of one’s life to pack up into boxes and move around. But I did manage to get nearly everything packed by the time the movers came.

The movers were pros, very fast and courteous and even dealing with another resident’s moving company without incident.** I was checking in with the office and chatting with people and before my eyes, all my stuff just started to vanish. The movers pointed and asked “You taking this too?” and if I said yes, it was carted away. I admit that I started getting a little perturbed when they were pointing at taped cardboard boxes clearly marked “Kitchen” or “Living Room” and still asked if they were supposed to move them, but after a while–and some struggling with the couch–they said “All done!” I grabbed a zipcar and followed them to my new place.

Once again, very fast in getting items into the new place, though a lot of asking “Where do you want this?” and my resisting responding, “The box marked ‘Kitchen’? Yeah, put that in the kitchen.” and so on. And it turns out that when they said they were done, they weren’t quite done having left an item of mine on the loading dock. And after a while of unpacking the kitchen and trying to eat my first meal, I noticed that I had yet to open the box containing my silverware… I’m missing a box.

After wishing that I hadn’t tipped the movers quite so well, I e-mailed the company and got a response the next morning saying they didn’t see any stray boxes when checking the truck. I’m trying to hold out hope, but I suspect that it’s gone. The real issue with that, aside from it being kitchen items, is that I wasn’t meticulously keeping track of what was in each box. I just know a few of the items that were in that box, some random, some not, and nothing that can’t be replaced, but I didn’t look forward to swiping plastic cutlery from the office cafeteria my first week in the new place.

It bummed me out a lot more than I thought it would. After all, these were professionals and they couldn’t keep track of a large box? All the times I’ve moved with the help of friends, never has a single thing gone missing, but this company–who came so highly recommended–can’t manage the same feat? Doesn’t seem very fair. It does open the door to do some shopping, but not really what I was expecting to shop for upon move-in. Still, it’s only one box… I guess. 😥

I’m back in the office and slowly getting used to my new digs. I still need a proper grocery store trip and will likely get that in this weekend. I haven’t decided what my first “grand meal” will be in the new place, but my money’s on a nice roast chicken.

TGIF, y’all!