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Ugh! This stinks!
Remember the last time you moved to a new home? Fun, right? Try organizing six hormonal daughters and getting them to pack.
I scored two car loads of boxes from the hospital in the last two days so that's a plus.
We have acquired a few cars (5) in the past year so I have to figure out how to get them and the Orange Jeep Dad trailer up to Idaho. We have the family van and the reliable daily commuter Jeep. Then there's the old pickup truck I bought to help move stuff around. An older Volvo was given to us after the house fire and it became Sister's first car. Then there's the Suburban that we kept from the fire. The insurance company totaled it but I bought it back from them for $400. It only need some rear light covers to be street legal again. Soon I'll need to take it to the DMV to get it inspected and re-registered for the road.
We move in less than 30 days so I have begun cleaning out the vehicles to make room for boxes. The more we can store in the cars, the less I'll get charged for in the moving truck. The OJD trailer alone is going to hold a ton of stuff.
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| Wifey and Old Blue |
I also began driving the vehicles around town as a test of their road-readiness. Today, the trusty 1981 Chevy pickup (Old Blue) died on me. There is a problem getting gas to the carburetor. I verified gas in the tank by siphoning gasoline out of the gas line by mouth (yum!). I used carburetor starter and was able to start the truck only to watch it stop running once the starter wore off so the engine runs. It actually purrs once I get it going...I just can't keep it going. I also testing the fuel filter and it flows just fine. So, it is sitting in the mechanic's parking lot as we speak. Hopefully it won't take too much dinero to get her running smoothly. I'd like to use Old Blue to pull another vehicle up to Idaho.
As luck would have it, the heater is out in the family van. There's no way THAT is going over well in Idaho so it will need to visit the mechanic next week too. The Suburban is still due to go BACK to the mechanic for the rear door handle. It was melted off from the heat of the house fire but was taking so long to be delivered that I took the Burb home for a good cleaning until it's arrival. So, the Suburban will also be returning to the mechanic this week.
The Jeep has a tail light out that I can't figure out. I replaced the bulb and the doohicky that the bulb goes into but it still won't work. I've been pulled over once already for lack of a tail light (got a warning.) So, the Jeep will probably ALSO be going to the mechanic next week.
On top of the cars and the packing, there's still the chickens. To keep or not to keep, that is the question. I really don't want to start all over again but what a huge stress off my shoulders if I don't have to haul their butts 12 hours north in the back of Old Blue. Not to mention that there is no coop or pen established at our new homestead. They'd have to stay cooped up in the back of Old Blue until I threw something together.
We are moving via U-Pack pod this time. The "pod" will be dropped off in our front yard on December 23rd. We'll have until December 30th to pack it up. That should be plenty of time but the logistics are going to be a nightmare. Once picked up, they (the moving company) have six BUSINESS DAYS to deliver it. We will potentially be without our "stuff" for up to nine days. We'll pack necessities in our vehicles and probably end up camping in our new home for a week. Worst of all will be sleeping on the floor until our beds arrive.
Perhaps now would be a good time to ask my good Doctor for a muscle relaxing prescription...or two...or five...
~OJD
Everyday Essentials
Posts like this always remind me to keep the essentials on hand. A few things worth having around: a set of storage bins, a daily planner, and a durable tote bag.
