Closer

So, the much awaited......and hated....day arrived. I woke up bright and early this morning to finish gathering my crap before the movers came. The day before I had taken all the stuff I am gonna carry with me and set it aside, this morning I put it on the bed. I took a good look at the pile and I thought "How the f... am I gonna fit all that in two suitcases and two backpacks???" So....I trimmed it down a bit. I am still not sure I can carry it all.

The movers arrived at about 8:20 am, just after I had my breakfast.....well, my Atkins breakfast bar cause I didn't have time to make anything else. They walked in and just stood there with their mouths wide open. I can only assume they were in shock to see how much junk a single person can accumulate in such a small room. I apologized for having to much junk and they got to working. I kinda felt bad but if you think about it, this is just one room, I'm sure it's cake compared to actual houses, and they do those too. First they packed the wine.....all 42 bottles of it. They just wrapped them in paper and put them in boxes so their destiny is a bit uncertain if you ask me, chances are they'll arrive in pieces but that's just a chance I gotta take. I explained to the leader that everything except what was on the bed had to go......time and time again. Despite of that, they kept asking....this? this? this? YES THAT!

I couldn't just sit around and watch them work.....not enough room...lol.....so I chipped in. I went through the kitchen pantry and cabinets handing the one guy the things I wanted him to pack. That got old pretty quick so I went back in the room to supervise the operation. At one point I looked in the closet and realized I had forgotten to take my uniform and put it on the bed....I muttered "Shit!!!" and the guy asked what was wrong and we started searching through the box until I found it. Lucky catch, otherwise I would have been screwed.

The leader (and the only one who could half speak English) meticulously wrote down the brand, model and serial number of all my electric stuff, my cameras (the old ones), strobes, etc. They wrapped all my perfume bottles very carefully and boxed them up. I was talking to one of the guys, or trying to anyway, about my great grand mother, whose picture he has just wrapped up, when I look over and see one of the other guys putting my passports and travel documents in a box. I yelled "No, no, no, no!!!" and the guy jumped. I retrieved them and put them in a safe place. Once again, VERY lucky catch.

Once everything was boxed up here in the room, we went to the basement where I have yet more junk. That as easy though as most things were already in boxes. I also had a shopping cart full of books and other stuff. They took that upstairs to put it in boxes. I was a little scared about the telescope but they wrapped it really well and in its own box. Once everything was done and put in the crates, I signed tons of papers, shook hands with the main guy and walked away, feeling very satisfied.

I went to the hospital to check my mail and check in. Talked to my boss for a while (out of sheer politeness) and walked back to my room. As I approach the elevator, I see this big box just sitting there. My first thought was "Crap, they forgot a box!" and that they did. I tried to pick it up and put it in the shopping cart that was still sitting next to it but it was just too heavy. I figured if no one had taken it in the past half hour, I could leave it there for a few more minutes while I got a hold of the company. Once I did, I went downstairs and put the box in the cart with the help of a coworker, 40 minutes later the moving guys came back to pick the box up. They didn't even apologize.

So, now that that is done, I am one step closer to getting the heck out of here. Even though they took all my things, I am still left with a room full of junk....how did that happen??? I always knew I had a lot of things, but I never quite realized the full extent of it. Right now I am tired and sleepy. I didn't do much and I feel like I ran marathon, I can only imagine what it must be like for those guys that do it every day. This is another reason I am getting out of the military, there is no way I can do this every 2 years, absolutely no way. Now if I could only get a massage.....