It is mid-afternoon and the moving guys we hired show up and assess the situation. The lead guy takes command and starts giving instructions to his two minions. Boxes, containers, tubs, bins, furniture and loose items begin flying out of the front and back doors and into the truck. They are meticulous and use every square inch of space within the truck.

I watch my office/studio get packed into the truck. Boxes labeled “Ted’s Office” and “Studio Gear” and handled gingerly and wedged into nooks and cranny’s within the confines of the large box on wheels. My guitars and bicycles will be going in my Jeep with my step-daughter and her boyfriend. All of my riding gear has been packed in various containers and clearly labeled “Helmets and gear” with the word “Garage” written on blue painters tape. I wonder how much of this stuff is going to get damaged by the move, I suspect none of it since I packed it in the boxes and tubs, but I can’t hold any confidence for their condition during the trek to North Carolina.

By 6 p.m., three rooms are empty and there are skeletal remains in the other two. Surprisingly, the truck is only a quarter full. But there is still the large bedroom furniture and the entire deck to load. The deck is full of contents from our basement and our two yard sheds. I have my doubts but the movers seem confident as they knock off for the day. For us, it’s take out dinner and the planning of the next day and night is laid out.

Tuesday morning, bright and early. We “slept” on our mattress on the floor. The dogs are wandering around confused, the cats are freaked out and hiding. Bagels from the local shop make it to the kitchen counter and we are surrounded by boxes and Rubbermaid-ish tubs of all shapes and sizes. It’s 7:45 a.m. and we don’t know what to do that can move the process along until the mover dudes get here at 8. I elect to drink my tea and eat my bagel while I open the moving truck consuming my driveway.

With the dogs and cats fed I have them outside to do their business and then brought them back in. The bedroom furniture has to go out through the sliding door in the room and past the large mount of stuff on the deck. The guys show up on time and continue the packing. By noon the truck is more than 3/4 full and there is still half of the stuff on the deck left as well as some things from the Ted Shed, like the motorcycle lift. Lead mover dude, says he can’t stay all day, but leaves two lack-luster cohorts who’s names I don’t know, who have physical issues and an obviously faulted work ethic. I was now the lead packer and the two remaining useless packers “helped” put the last few items into the truck. It was full, save for the gaps in between the odd shaped items and other cavities, which would be filled by whatever was within hands reach.

“Bring me what ever small items you find on the deck” I would tell the slackers. Slowly the cavities filled and I searched for places to put more things. It was nearly 3 p.m. and slacker with the physical disability, said he had to leave. I thanked him for his “help” and he drove off. Drove off mind you without a drivers license or insurance that he lost in a DWI incident and, with some pride, announced earlier that day. Slacker #2 stayed and continued to “help”. When I say “help”, I mean chain smoked cigarettes, talked and told me tales of his life all the while handing me things and bringing me items that would not fit in the truck. While I had his “help”, I couldn’t wait until he left and promptly at 5 p.m. he announced he was going to knock off and proceeded to tell me some forgettable story about who he was going to meet, where and why. We paid him and off he went. Thank you.

The truck was full to the roof, front to back. Small cavities were left and what couldn’t fit in the cars or cab of the truck would be shoved in these spaces.

The deck was still loaded with items and earlier, I told my wife that we had better get a storage unit because it wasn’t all going in the truck. She was able to score a 10×10 storage unit that was free for 30-days with an obvious initial rental fee. I moved the truck out of the driveway and backed in my Jeep and my wife’s Pilot. I hooked up the trailer to the Jeep and we began loading both cars and the trailer with what we could from the deck. We made two trips that night to the storage unit and filled it. The deck was empty. The only left was my beloved Harley. Originally, it was going to be towed behind me in the Jeep down to the new house. That plan got flushed yesterday. Now we have a new plan. My wife and I loaded the Harley on my trailer, secured it down and I towed it over to my brother-in-laws house where it would sit in his driveway until I came back to get it.

We stopped at a local diner and had a late dinner, uninterested in eating and exhausted, and when we arrived back home we prepared our vehicles for the morning plan that would take us to our new home.

Next: Departure