The container that contains a lot of stale are from the UK, a few boxes with my belongings and three motorbikes was supposed to turn up a 7am this morning.
At 6:45am I'm getting a call that the driver is about 2 hours out from here, on more or less the wrong road (the shipping line told me they'd go up US-50, he's on I-80 which makes the trip noticeably longer) and I only have a 'pass' from work to come in an hour or two late instead of half a day late.
Of course it also means that the few people who were supposed to help me unload the container have to go to work, so I get to do the box shuffle all by myself...
Did I mention that I supposedly have two hours to unload before they start charging me extra for keeping the driver?
I think some words will be said to the driver's management around 8am 'cos I'm already massively hacked off and the day hasn't even started yet.
Thanks for letting me vent.
You're just lucky it showed up at all and isn't at the bottom of the Atlantic. I'd negotiate on that 2 hour thing. Like "screw you, you're late."
Well, they said they have 'a' container for me, they didn't say where they fished it out of the drink or if it's the right one.
I'll definitely try to negotiate the 2 hour limit, and I'll probably try to negotiate some of the storage fees for keeping the container at their facility - if I have to take most of the day off then that's going to cost me a lot more than the storage fees...
Well, it turned up, everybody was super-friendly when I called them and explained the situation and the driver was kind enough to help me unload the container, so in the end we were about 1/2 hour behind the original 'maximum' time.
It's amazing how quickly one can unload a container full of air (mostly) when you put your mind to it.
Moving the boxes and big stuff is generally the easy part (the part that I'll happily volunteer to help with). It's how the stuff gets into and out of the boxes that SUCKS!
Tip for folks who are moving. Arrange help to MOVE...not pack. One way to loose friends is to have them show up thinking they'll be loading boxes onto a truck and then back off, only to find out that the stuff hasn't been put into the boxes yet.
I'm glad it worked out for you alright Boxhead! These sorts of logistical things give me headaches because it's a GIVEN that something will be screwed up...and it's out of my control.
Clem
