The packout went smoothly after all
So I didn’t have to worry after all. The transport company got back to me (after I gave them a reminder phone call), and arranged for the moving company to come and pack up my stuff.
The moving guys arrived on time this morning, and got all my UAB (unaccompanied air baggage) packed up. I had an “allowance” of 250 pounds. Most people pack clothes and household necessities. I had a pile of clothes, books, and my desktop computer.
We are given strict instructions not to pack up our stuff, to let the movers do it. I guess that’s for security reasons.
I didn’t have a lot of stuff to pack, so they finished in about an hour. The total weight: 123 pounds. They fit it all into a big box and loaded it onto their truck.
The package will be shipped by air to my hotel in DC. We are told that it could take anywhere from 3 days to a month for the package to arrive. One person didn’t get his UAB until his initial training was almost over (six weeks). I didn’t ship any of my work wardrobe, and kept back some casual clothes, just in case the package doesn’t arrive until later. I would hate to have to wear suits on the weekends.
My desk looks empty without my computer on it, and there is a shelf and another half empty.
I took some old clothes to the Goodwill this afternoon.
I’m trying not to feel morbid about this process. I keep thinking about what this feels like. I keep reminding myself what Thoreau wrote about simplifying your life, and tell myself that I’m getting rid of stuff that I don’t need.
“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.”
Less stuff = a simpler life.
I’m also reminded of this classic George Carlin bit about a place for your stuff:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JLoge6QzcGY&app=m