It's That Time of Year Again; Part 2
When you read part 1 of this series, I hope you understand I was NOT at all saying Pcs-ing/relocating/moving isn’t stressful, because honestly even though I’ve moved at least 20+ times in my lifetime and NO I am not exaggerating sadly! It is a stressful time, but there are some things I’ve found if I do ahead of time, do make it less stressful. Whether it be personal move, relocation, partial ditty, or PCS, it can be a crazy and stressful time, when it’s across the country or out of country then it’s even more stressful.
If you relocate a bit for your work or you PCS, I’ve found keeping a journal with my lists of things to do, things to pack, things to get copies of before you move, what utility accounts to shut off or have moved, plus a note to remind me to put a change of address in with the postal service as well as all bank and credit accounts. Plus, in this journal I log if a utility required any type of deposit, some do, depending on area or state, even when you have good credit! So if you make note of that right when you start the account, you’ll remember to contact them to request any deposit or money they may owe you.
Now there have been several people say to me, oh moving for you all (military families) is easy they do everything for you. Well…. It’s not true and honestly, it can be even more stressful than a personal move and I’ve done both, so I do know. Sure, they usually move you, however, we’ve often had very short orders, like we’re talking a week!! Well, sometimes, crap goes wrong and I mean WRONG, lol… There have been times the moving estimator doesn’t show up, we’ve had packers not show up or show up a day or two late! We’ve had items that were poorly packed, thrown around, dropped, heck we’ve had one small item packed in a dish pack box with a freaking ton of dish pack wrap, just so they could add to the weight of the load! I’ve had packers that I kid you not, went through all my stuff, took pictures of things she liked and texted them to her friends and sadly several of those items never made it into the box and never seen again! We’ve had packers or unloaders show up hungover, just wreaking from booze and spends the entire time in your bathroom sick! We’ve had people say, well you can always file a complaint or a claim. Well, that process is so bad, it’s easier to often just let it go!
Sure if your move is all done by your job or the military, most moves will go smoothly, but you have to know something may get broken lost or even stolen.
One of the best pieces of advice I can offer is if you are able, be home the entire time your household goods are being packed up, if at all possible have a family member or two with you so you can casually check on the progress or situation.
If you have little children, you may want to have a sitter handy or have your children stay with a trusted sitter, for safety, plus let’s be honest, it’s not only going to be a long day but a fairly boring day, especially for the little ones!
If you have pets, you defiantly want to have them safely in a yard, a room that is off limits to movers, for their safety as well as the safety of the movers and packers. Remember this is a stressful time for pets as well. What we do is have the cats in a room with all the stuff we have set aside that we are taking with us and not having the movers pack. The dogs we set them up in our yard or if you can take your dog to a trusted friends or doggie day care or a trusted kennel. Believe me, we’ve had the movers let our dogs out of the yard before, so whatever you can do to keep your pets safer, you may want to do.
If you have movers moving you, even if you don’t have pets, you still most likely have items you’d rather the movers not pack, whether it be for personal reasons like sentimental value or maybe it’s something you’ll need during your move or need right away as soon as you get to your next location. The best thing I’ve found is have a closet or room with a sign clearly marked DO NOT ENTER, DO NOT PACK, etc. This has worked out really well for us. Because I’ll be honest, at least for me even when I fully trust our movers, packers etc. It still feels like a bit of a violation, after all they are rifling through all yours and your families’ belongings! So this makes it a bit easier all around.
Though it’s not required, I do find that it helps productivity of you provide things like water, sodas and sandwiches or a pizza for lunch, even if it’s on the last day, it seems to always be appreciated. Even if you simply make sandwiches yourself with a bag of chips!
Another thing I do to make our moves easier, is try and keep things in your refrigerator that you can make easy meals or snacks out of. It’s a great way to eat healthier, plus it makes it so much easier at the end of a long day to have that quick meal, instead of worrying about what to have for dinner when that long day is over. Plus, if you have items that are easily stored or can be easily packed up in an ice chest you can always take the rest with you as a part of your road food!
Well, thank you for stopping in to check out part 2 of this on moving and PCS-ing.
Take care and have a safe and wonderful weekend,
Missy
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