The Great Northern Route = 21 pts

Packing

Our packing adventure was based upon the fallacy that it is easier to only pack the things that you need. That is, to prune down your possessions to a manageable size will facilitate the packing process. Instead, it leads to a kind of paralysis, where you put off difficult decisions until the time of the move. In our case, this effect was exacerbated by Jill’s insane schedule, Elaine’s understandable neediness, and my keen ability to procrastinate, which combined to prevent our boxing up of our possessions until the week before the move.

We used ABF, or U-Pack. This outstanding company, which I unreservedly recommend, drops off a trailer one day, and picks it up a few days later. We used about 13 feet of this truck for our belongings. The truck arrived on Friday. I got up early on Saturday, and made sure that I was ready to go. My dad and brother showed up to help with the loading. We had loaded the heavy furniture and most of the boxes in a few hours. Of course, I had not yet packed up the kitchen, bathrooms, clothes, nursery, or basement. So we stayed up all night Saturday packing the various rooms. By morning, it was clear that we had only just made a dent. Also, there was a bit of a blizzard going on outside. The latter detail meant that my dad and mom couldn’t make it, so Elaine was without a sitter. We did the best we could over the course of the day and night, and by pre-dawn Monday, I felt that we were ready to get the truck packed up.

Unfortunately, the lack of sleep had taken its toll. I carried quite a few things out to the truck, but I couldn’t see how to pack it efficiently. Total brain lock. So I called my parents and brother for assistance. Jim stood in the truck calling out what he needed. “Big boxes. Flat boxes. Anything shaped like the letter K.” I carried everything out to him, and we had the truck packed, using a 13.5 x 8 x 9 volume, by 3pm, with the bulkhead rammed in tight. After verifying that the paperwork was in order and the truck on its way, I got some much-needed sleep.

Early the next morning, we rented a 14’ U-Haul truck to dispose of the rest of the stuff in the house. This process turned out to be much more of a chore than expected. We had three stops to make: First, the Food Gatherers to drop off our unopened non-perishables; second, the Salvation Army to donate our furniture, kitchen goods, etc.; and third, the Ann Arbor ReUse/Recycle Center. It took several hours to load the truck, and I made a poor job of it again, such that a second trip would be necessary. The Salvation Army was decidedly picky about the donations, and I ended up with much more of a load to take to the Recycling center.

At the Recycling center, I encountered a very special group of people, starting with Cathy (I think). Here’s the setup: I’m pulling into the center with a U-Haul about half-full of a wide variety of stuff. Cathy was working the guard/payment booth. I pulled in and told her that she’d probably want to take a look, since there are charges for a variety of items. Ann Arbor only allows a certain amount of free garbage pickup at your home each week, so any excess needs to be saved for the next week or taken to the center for disposal. They charge about $2 per large black bag, plus fees for large items like TVs or computers. Many people are taken aback by the charges, but I like the idea of actually paying for the service. Seems more sustainable than having the center be subject to the whims of city/county/state budgets.

So Cathy was pleased that I knew the drill, and was pleasant about it. I got out and opened the back of the truck and bantered a bit while she ogled my disposable goods. She ended up snagging a few items and taking them to her car before giving me directions on where to take things. I headed into the recycling part, where a long-haired fellow explained to me about the difference between cardboard and greyboard. I quickly learned to separate all of the different types of paper goods, and I disposed of several boxes of bottles. Cathy took another look at the truck and found another gem or two for her collection. It’s not like I was throwing away crap—we just didn’t have room on the truck. I had to double back through the gate to go up to the refuse bins, and Cathy stopped me to say that I had made her day by being pleasant and positive. I returned the sentiment and headed for the tip-in area. As I was lugging my 20 or so heavy trash bags to the bin, one by one, a gentleman driving a mini-dozer pulled right up to the back of the truck and raised the scoop up to floor level. All I had to do was pitch the bags off the back of the truck. I suspect Cathy sent him over to help me out.

Since the center would be closing in an hour, I returned the truck to U-Haul, where I reserved a cargo van for the next morning. That evening, we went to Mustafa and Kathy’s for a nice going away dinner. Joanna, Jonathan and Emilie were all there, and great merriment ensued. It is really tough to leave people.

The next day, Mustafa had to come by the house to pick up the famous Johnsen family sourdough starter, and ended up with a few other things that we were “donating” or “foisting upon” them. He jumped in and helped me to load the van, and then volunteered to ride along. Thus, he got to experience firsthand the friendly and scavengy nature of the kind Recycle center folks. This time, Cathy and a few other workers there ended up with our ex-household items. Cathy fairly filled her car with loot. After bidding farewell to Mustafa, I made one more trip with the van, and then turned it in. Several hours and many trash bags later, we had finally reached the point where we could pack the car. It was 5:30pm on Thursday.

To be continued