Home | Posts RSS | Comments RSS | Login

Jun 3, 2009

Questions for You

Now that we are again vertical, have kept food in our bellies for over 12 hours, and have run through two rolls of packing tape this morning alone, I have some questions for you, my beloved and talented and experienced Readers. I have planned the bejeezus out of this move, right down to the minute, but now that I'm actually putting things in boxes I realize that I have no idea what I'm doing. Help me.

First, how ever does one move with plants? We have big ones and little ones and I am stumped. How do you keep them from falling over? How do you keep them from dying? When do you stop watering them? Any tricks you care to share?

Second, and you may laugh at me for this one, but how do you pack a lamp? We hired movers to help us load the truck and they sent papers in advance with tips and rules. One little bullet point said, "Movers will not move any lamp which is not properly packed" so now I'm worried that I'm going to have to carry the things up to Indy on foot and I've already packed my hiking shoes.

Lastly, I ask your opinion. Patrick and I are arguing over light bulbs. Do we take them or leave them? They are the energy saving kind, which are apparently too expensive to leave and re-buy in Indy so Patrick went out and bought some of the regular kind. This is incomprehensible to my poor brain. How does it sit with yours? He uses the excuse that, were we in Germany, we would even take the toilet paper, but we won't do that because we are generous people. I reply that we are not in Germany so that argument means nothing but by this point in the conversation he has moved on to how he went through the trash and rescued some precious piece of junk and how could I get rid of THIS!, at which point my head explodes. What I'm really asking for is some backup here. We don't need to move lightbulbs, right? RIGHT?

Today marks 4 years that Patrick and I have been married. He let me sleep in this morning and woke me up with a cupcake and a sweet card, but other than that we plan to go out to celebrate once we get up to Indy and find our shampoo and toothbrushes.

6 Readers rock!:

ABC said...

I just moved last week and I totally took all the light bulbs (the energy-saving kind). I wrapped them with cloth (dishrags, etc) and made an entire box of light bulbs. When I moved in last year I took out all the regular bulbs, put them in a box, and now I just put those back in. Energy-saving light bulbs definitely too expensive to re-buy if you have them in every lamp.

Light fixtures are harder. If you have big (or small) chandeliers, definitely take the glass shades off and wrap and pack them separately. The rest is just metal/wood or whatever and should do pretty well with some cushioning (read: towels, blankets). Smaller, flush-mount fixtures just need some cushioning, but be sure to remove the glass/cover portion from the part that's flush-mounted to the ceiling, and wrap them up separately.
Floor lamps should come apart into a few separate (or attached by the chord) pieces that should fit into a box.

Plants are hard. I just moved across town, so I threw them in my car and that was that. How long will your stuff be in the moving van? Will you be able to unload the truck right after it arrives at its final destination? Most plants should be OK for 3-4 days without any attention.
The only way I've moved plants is to put them in a box and not close the top, or simply put the larger ones right into the truck. The movers you are hiring should know how to pack plants into the truck. We tried to move a GIANT cactus once (7ft tall, 5 ft wide), and the movers refused, saying they would be afraid to get the 3-inch spikes stuck in their eyes/hands/faces...

Good Luck!

PS: the best thing I did when I moved last week was pack up everything I would need for the next 2 weeks or so in s suitcase. It's really made life much easier knowing that most things like clothes, toiletries, I use on a daily basis are all right there. I've only had one mad dash through the boxes to find something so far (seeing as I haven't unpacked yet) Plus, it feels a little bit like going on vacation...

~Ashley said...

so this is just me talking out of my you know what...because i've not had a major move, yet...(that comes in early September)...but i'd say for the lamps, it would be smart to take out the bulbs and remove the lampshades--then you can put the lampshades in one another, if you will, like stacked up cups (if they fit). that's what makes sense to me, but who knows. i think that way, you minimize the risk of light bulb glass shattering all over everything and having your lamp shades smushed to pieces.

Alykat said...

-I have managed to kill all of my plants this spring, and they have not had to move anywhere, so my advice on plants is WORTHLESS.
-I stacked all of my lamps shades together and either carried them in the car or wrapped the bases... I don't remember.
-Much as I wish I could back you up, I also took the energy-saving lightbulbs and replaced them with el cheapos. Sorry!
- You didn't ask, but here are my "moving with 10,000 animals tips." I didn't feed the cats for 12 hours before departure, then loaded them in the carriers thirty minutes after giving Meclazine and Ace. Luna got Cerenia (vomiting) and Ace, but that was only because she'd crashed on me during the last trip, and I was kidding myself that it was from carsickness and not an underlying medical issue. It was a peaceful trip until I remembered that Ace makes Kody hyper and he spun in circles for four hours....

Good luck on the move!!!

Alykat said...

P.S. Happy Anniversary!

barrie said...

Everything everyone else says sounds right on target to me although I've never had to move cities so what do I know! I would seriously think about Valium as opposed to Ace though since Valium is anti-anxiety/muscle relaxant and Ace is in the thorazine family and has an unpleasant tendancy to freak animals out ultimately.

Isn't it going to be impossible to buy the non-energy efficient bulbs after next year? Hopefully that means that everyone will leave their light bulbs and people won't have to move w/ them anymore!

Good luck and Godspeed! Hugs and kisses to Myra and Sally!!!!

Tiff said...

First of all happy anniversary! Four years have flown by. It will be five for Ryan and me on the 19th.

I cannot give advice about the lamp packing because on my one and only move I broke a lamp from packing it incorrectly. I'll take advice from you when you find out how to do it.

Second, I would probably take the light bulbs. In fact, Ryan and I kept the old ones in a bag in our garage just for that reason. Call us cheap, yes.