Moving Part 1: A deprived childhood results in some life lessons being missed

Categories: books, annoyance

Tags: moving, Books

Date: 28 July 2006 12:04:19

My colleagues have been asking me for the last month if I have started packing for the move. I haven't, mainly due to a lack of information on various points, but also because I WAS CLEARLY NOT TAKING IT SERIOUSLY ENOUGH. I discover that this is not meant to be easy or fun, but a challenge to sanity and stress levels.

I have never moved house properly. I contrived to be out of the country both times my parents moved (not intentionally out of the country you understand, just conveniently) and I have always shoved stuff in the back of a car or van (driven by a parent). I now own a sofa, among other items of furniture, and so much random stuff that this approach will not work. I need complicated things like removal men and boxes. This scares me. Mr Farli is on holiday, so is excused from assisting at the moment. I am in charge.
[quantum leap] Oh boy. [/quantum leap]

My future employers are paying for the move, (hurrah!), but require multiple quotes to be sure they are getting a good deal. It took them a while to get their act together and tell me how to sort the paperwork, so I am left with only just over 2 weeks to organise. This is not enough time for removal men to come and look round to give a quote, so last night I found myself sitting an exam on my furniture and belongings.

Questions 1 through 3000(*): How many of X item of furniture do you have?

I had already made a list of furniture, so this was not too bad, but of 40 things I ticked, I had to item 10 of them separately, since they weren't on the list. What is a "tallboy, normal" and, more worryingly, what is an abnormal one? Does it matter that I don't possess one?

Question 3001: If a box for books holds 2 feet of shelving, how many do you need? Add in extra boxes for food and other small, heavy items.

Answer 3001, obtained after an hour of wandering around finding all the books and small heavy stuff (NB, maybe I should have paid attention in applied maths classes - this taxed me more than it should): 45.

45? Forty five? FORTY FIVE? I never thought I would say this, but I may have too many books. The trouble is that a lot of the shelves are double stacked, so I had to count them twice, and then there are the shelves where the books are stacked vertically. Then there was my current reading pile, which will require a special box all to itself.

Note to future self (1): Buy bookcases with shelves that are 1 or 2 feet wide, not 15 inches. Multiples of 15 inches are difficult when you are hot and tired.

Note to future self (2): You weren't ever planning to move the bulk of your book collection out of Parents' house were you?

I have been cunning: when the next exam paper arrives, I will cheat and use the answers from this one.

I can do this, no problem.

(*) An exaggeration? Maybe a little bit.