Convoy Part 1: The Beginning

Wednesday, June 20th
Hamilton, OH
5:00PM EST

In the midst of all of this packing, we found a few minutes to rest and surf the web. On a lark, I looked up some reviews of the moving company we're going to use. It turns out this company doesn't come highly recommended. The incredibly long list of complaints sent into the Better Businessman's Bureau has us both concerned. There are several written reports by users of the moving service about items missing, boxing being rummaged through, and expensive home-theater equipment simply disappearing. The paltry insurance the company provides pays claims based on weight: The more something weighs, the more you get for it. We figured if someone walked off with our 42' LCD TV, we could (after fighting) be compensated to the tune of $60.00

Ugh. Just canceled the service. Looking into alternatives.

Wednesday, June 20th
Hamilton, OH
8:00PM EST

Just canceled our reservation with the moving company. We decided to go at it ourselves. We've reserved a truck through U-Haul and asked Mandy's parents if they wouldn't mind helping us with the packing. I think this is a good solution because A) We will know where our stuff is at all times and B) When we're done with the move, we can actually relax when we get back to Grand Rapids.

Mandy's parents will be arriving tomorrow night around 8:00. We've got a ton of packing to get through between now and then.

Thursday, June 21st
Hamilton, OH
9:00PM EST

Though we're not done packing by a long shot, we have moved lots of our stuff around and that's kind of like packing. Mandy's parents arrived an hour ago and we're all discussing the details of the moving process over a burrito we picked up at the amazing Taquero Mercado Mexican restaurant not far from our home. It was a bitter-sweet dinner since we were saying goodbye to people we have become good friends with during our stay in the 'nasti. All will be missed, though our paths will cross again (and not to far in the future actually).

We're going to pick up the U-Haul truck tomorrow morning at 8:30AM, and hopefully be done packing by noon or 1. The weather's been great these past few days, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Friday, June 22nd
Hamilton, OH
10:00AM EST

We picked up the U-Haul truck this morning. It's a piece of shit. Since we reserved a 17" truck, you can imagine my surprise when they told me to pull a 24" truck out of the lot. I politely asked the service lady, who's hang-over was quite apparent, "What the hell is this?"

"It's your truck."
"We reserved a 17-foot truck. This is not a 17-foot truck. Ergo, not my truck."
"Oh. You were upgraded."
"Upgraded?"
"At no extra cost." She attempted to smile, but quickly turned to hang-over nausea. She started to sway back and forth.
"Except the hundreds more we'll spend on gas, it's free, right?"
"Right." Again, the smile.
"Ok, then."

I drove the monster to the apartment. On the way back, it began to downpour. At least the temperature has dropped off a little and we can get some of the stuff down to the truck.

It begins.

Friday, June 22nd
Hamilton, OH
5:00PM EST

Nearly everything is packed. The freak thunderstorms have been good to us. The temp has dropped to a much more reasonable temperature and we've made steady progress. Casey and I headed out into the city to return the cable modem, stop by our bank, and pick up some pottery we painted with the aforementioned friends a couple weeks back. With the cable modem gone, there's no way I can post anymore of these updates, but since I'm writing this after-the-fact, that shouldn't be a problem.

Her parents have generously agreed to stay on another night and help with the final load and cleaning tomorrow. We hope to be on the road by 7:00AM and make it all the way to Salina, KS. That's a 12 hour trek by Google's reckoning, but I'm more than a little leery about the ability of the U-Haul truck (henceforth dubbed: "The Suck") to make very good time. Oh, I am hoping the gas mileage isn't as bad as I hope. Off to sleep. 'Till the marrow.