The Move!

Yep---it was a HUGE truck!

The movers arrived Tuesday afternoon on the 26th. I had done hours of online research concerning choosing a mover. And even after the research, I also interviewed and got bids from four different companies. In the end, I went with Garrett Transportation out of Fort Worth; Garrett is an Atlas Van Lines company. And my research definitely paid off!

Sheila---my move coordinator---kept in contact with me throughout the process. She called to arrange the guy who came and packed my kitchen, called to check on his progress, and stayed in contact with me on loading day, in between, and on delivery day. And with each stage, she also called to check on the progress during the loading and unloading. I don't have a lot of experience with interstate moves, but with the horror stories I read about and that told to me as experienced by my good friend Jenny, I am pleases as can be!

Part of my research revealed that the key in a smooth move is all about the driver. See, the driver is in charge of his crew. And the driver is the one person who will have all your belongings the whole time. My driver was Emerson, whose home company is Morton Moving and Storage out of Jackson Tennessee. And folks, if you ever find yourself moving out of state, I recommend you ask for Emerson.

He was wonderfully professional. But know also that the customer has some responsibilities too. When they arrived at the house in Fort Worth, it was about 2:30. I had a case of chilled bottles of water, a lot of cold Gatorade (I read online that you'll be considered golden if you provide Gatorade for a moving crew), and some deli sandwiches I'd picked up at Albertson's. It wasn't a huge expense for me, and the crew was so very appreciative. And yes, I tipped everyone generously at the end of the day.

And the Fort Worth crew got a bonus tip. As had been the norm for North Texas, about half way through loading the truck, it began to rain. And rain. And rain. Egads!! But these men worked through it all, never complaining (within earshot of me, at least.) So, once I found out my baseball game for that night had been called due to the rain, I divided the tickets among the local guys. They'll be able to take them to the Cats box office and exhange for any available seats for a future game of the season. They were all excited, but oe more so than the others. He couldn't wait to take his son to a Cats game. :-)

And so, everything was loaded! Emerson originally suggested that he could be in Memphis to deliver all of my things on the 2nd, but then I realized that to do that, I'd have to drive in on Sunday, forcing me---and Howard and Sophie---into a hotel that night. Yep, I couldn't pick up keys until Monday! Emerson said that because I'd been so nice, he'd be more than willing to wait until Tuesday for delivery.

And as scheduled, I got the call from Sheila with the final total (less than the "not-to-exceed" estimate), and I got a call from Emerson confirming delivery. And he was fabulously prompt! He had another great crew with him---this time, a crew he brought with him from Jackson. And they were great! (It being scheduled in the morning, I again had water and Gatorade waiting along with a dozen donuts. And of course, I had several sanwiches for 'em all too.)

The crew put each box where indicated, carried things up to the attic (it has stairs), without charge---hooked up my washer and dryer (as a favor; that's typically extra), and made sure everything that had been disassembled was reassembled. I had a grid of numbers to check off each and every thing that came off the truck (it'd been inventoried back in the house in Fort Worth), and in the end, when about seven things weren't checked off, Emerson had his crew search high and low for each and every single box that we'd missed in the check-off process. And we found them all.

So, now that I've unpacked, the question is---was there any damage? Well, yes. But minor. The handle of my big cooler is gone, broken off I assume, and my smiley-face tray---the one that was a gift to me at the seventies party and the one that's ideal for passing out jell-o shots (my party role, but of course!), well, it broke in the box the packer packed. Maybe one or two other minor things, and that's really it. Well, almost. Granted, I cannot find my wireless router, my Aggie shorts, or my copper sassy shoes, but those are things I lost. I'm hoping the shoes are in a suitcase upstaires. Alas, I fear the router was accidentally thrown out with garbage last week. Sigh. But with this big of a move, I'd say, things went fabulously!

Again, if you ever find yourself with an interstate move ahead of you, I highly recommend you request Emerson out of Jackson TN to take care of your goods. And if you're in Fort Worth, the folks at Garrett were charms. But don't forget to reat your crew fabulously! Have food, drinks, and tip well. :-)