We had a local moving team scheduled for Tuesday, they were to arrive, dismantle furniture, wrap furniture and get our boxes staged, so that when the container arrived, everything went in smoothly. When they arrived, we were still packing boxes, there seemed to be an explosion of odds and ends on the only flat surface ( the coffee table we are not taking) but we had 2 hours before the container arrived. Mike did a walk thru with the guys, showed them what was going, and they started taking table and chairs out, we got back to packing boxes. I'm doing this from the wheelchair, mind you. Fast forward about 10 minutes, I get a call from the container port in Charlotte, they aren't allowed to load the container on the truck because the driver doesn't have a release...phonecalls are made, messages are left, we keep packing.
Fast forward another 10 minutes, the moving teams boss shows up, and pulls them off the job! Says they will come back when the container arrives, and they leave...and they leave my furniture unwrapped in the YARD!!! We keep packing, we keep waiting for the movers to come back, we're almost done, just gotta take shelves off the wall. Fast forward 3 hours and the phone rings, it's our shipping guy, the one who puts all the pieces in place, he starts out with, " in all my years, this has never happened...blah blah blah." The movers QUIT!
The shipper had gotten the voicemail from the container yard, called, and got the release. The truck had the container loaded, and was DRIVING to us, that's when the movers called the shipper and said we weren't ready, the place was a mess, the job too big and they were going to bow out. WHAT??!! So, the shipper had to call the truck driver and have him turn around, back to the container yard. So now, not only have we packed everything, but Mike had to move the stuff the movers moved into the garage!! We have to wait for the shipper to find a new moving team, one out of Chatlotte that he's used before, and coordinate another container and truck...all this for tomorrow??!!?? Still don't have a final answer on when that's happening. MUST be before the 28th, that's when we meet with Ecuadorean Consulate with Health certificate for dogs ( in Atlanta 5 hrs away) And remember, we fly out on the 29th.
We had planned to take a mini vacation, down the coast, have hotels booked in Savannah, GA for Sunday and Monday, but if I have to cancel that, well...what ya gonna do?! We have to physically be here to see the container loaded, have to sign off for customs that nothing undocumented was put in the container. Blah blah blah
We were waiting til the end to pack the tv, movers said they had boxes and padding to help. We left out some blankets, so at least we have had blankets (since the sheets off the bed were packed) and Mike hooked the tv back up, but WHAT A MESS! All we have is the overhead lights, because of course all the lamps are packed, it's kinda like camping. I'm remembering to be "flexible" all over again.
But, even thru this hiccup, we continue to move forward. Today we have power washers come and gutter cleaners, and we go to Raleigh (1 hr away) to the USDA certified vet to have him sign off on the Health Certificates. Then we get those translated into spanish, have that notarized, so we can take it to our appt in Atlanta on the 28th. It had been suggested that I fax a copy to the Consulate so I know they'll accept it before we leave the area, but I don't think I have time. The Consulate is not horribly quick at responding, translation will take overnight, and if I don't hear from them Friday afternoon, then Monday is a holiday, we can't just wait around. In this instance, I'v gotta trust that between my due diligence and the vets, we will be good.
Im certainly glad that Mike had the where-with-all to schedule the container early, I originally had it for the 24th, but he insisted that it would be better to sleep on the couch, and have it gone early, than have a hiccup, at the last minute. What a good team. He really needs a vacation, bless his heart! With my broken ankle, he's REALLY doing double duty!
Here's to hoping the next post will be from the road, container loaded, and hiccups over. We'll keep you posted, the adventure continues!
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