Stop...get out! Now!

These are pictures from the ad for the house. I don't have any yet to put up of my own with my own things.

The stress of having one's belongings handled by others got to be a bit much this week. I have had professional moves before. I have moved my own things more than I want to admit. Either way, there is a "way" to go about moving boxes, unpacking boxes, etc. The HHG (household goods for all you non military folks) delivery was scheduled for Monday. I was so excited to have my belongings delivered to the house I found to rent. I was starting to get antsy in the Northern Lights Inn hotel. I wanted my "things".

So bright and early on Monday morning I drove out to the house. The mover's arrived by 8:10 so fairly punctual. The driver came in the house and was an arrogant prick from the moment he stepped in the door. He started making comments about how much stuff I had for a single person. Then he made comments about how small this house was. There were three other crew members and they were very polite, "good morning", yada yada yada. Around 10 am my friend Tawnya came to keep me company. The moving of items from outside to inside seemed to be going well. She brought fresh warm banana bread so I had a snack.

Just before noon all items were off the truck. Time to begin unpacking. I wanted an unpack because I'm alone. It's hard to tackle all the cardboard and packing materials when it's just you. I have had professional mover's unpack before and I have had friends help me unpack before. Three mover's began methodically going through box by box in three different areas. They unwrapped any wrapped items and set them on flat surfaces. Clothes had been folded in boxes so they were left in stacked piles. Fine. I don't expect strangers to know where to put my things.

I had been keeping an eye on Mr. Driver. He started in my most important room. My Stampin' Up room. Picture lots and lots of paper, stamps, ink, ribbon, etc. Items which are not easy to pack or unpack. I watched him take the very first box from the top of the pile. cut open the tape and TIP IT OVER and DUMP it out! Yes, DUMPED it out! Grabbed the second box and started with the same thing. I calmy asked if that was how he unpacked all boxes. I was rudely informed, "Company policy, dump it where it's at." Well, do you know the pain it would have been to do a claim for hundreds of dollars worth of paper? So I asked him to kindly leave the craft room alone. He claimed kitchen items were unwrapped and set on flat surfaces. Fine, you can go do the kitchen stuff.

Tawnya and I watched him open ONE box. Same technique...cut, tip, and dump. I watched and heard all my pots and pans crash to the floor. Another mover was standing behind me and I heard him gasp and turned around to see this look of "What the hell is he doing?" on his face. I looked at Tawnya, she gave me the nod and I told the driver to get his hands off my belongings if he could have no respect for them. I told him I didn't care what else he did the rest of the day but he was not to touch a single box with my belongings in it. He got deligated to taking empty boxes out to the truck. That was a good job for him...taking out the trash!

The three remaining crew members finished my unpack. I have some damaged items. My antique lamp from Grandma Oliver has a hole in the glass of the bottom globe. My dryer has a huge dent in the top where they set my Sony Wega TV on top of it. A 14 x 17 mirror is broke. My large couch is missing a cushion. Yeah, just one cushion. I haven't gotten to all my art work in frames. There were a few things that I let them leave for me to unpack. I just wanted the majority of the boxes and packing material gone before I started.

Mr. Driver did go through all the paperwork with me but I refused to fill out the customer satisfaction sheet with him here. The inspector from the Army's Transportation came out as planned and agreed that I didn't have to fill it out. Mr. Driver was pissed about that. He walked out the door and the inspector got ALL the details from myself and Tawnya. A call to a manager was made. I filled out the paperwork AFTER he left and let his company know how inappropriate and disrespectful the lead of the crew had been. The whole thing left a very sour taste in my mouth.

So now it's Saturday evening and I'm still struggling to face the clutter which is me. Seeing my things spread out all over without a "place" has been rough. It definitely doesn't feel like home yet. It will. It's just not there yet. I don't have to be back at work until Wednesday so I'll see what I can get accomplished. I usually jump all over things like this (use to stay up in college the first night until the whole dorm room was put together) but for some reason this time it's a bit harder.

Anyone want to fly up and help?