5 Weeks and 1 Day Later...

Today is five weeks and one day since our moving truck pulled away with our household goods. Today is also the day that we received our final delivery of our household goods. If you count the days that the movers were packing us up, we actually went five weeks and three days before finally receiving all of our stuff. Oh wait. We have some missing things so I guess I should say most of our stuff. To say that I am a dissatisfied customer would be a massive understatement. Let me tell you how today went.

I got up at 7:30 am because we were told the local movers (they called last night to set up a delivery time) would be here between 8 am and noon. No biggie. Then I get a call at 10:36 am (I checked my caller ID thankyouverymuch) from our moving coordinator, Tonya. She's calling to ask how the offload is going. This is part of her job. She calls during packing, loading, and delivery. So I tell her, "It's going great seeing as how nobody is here." Insert awkward pause. "Nobody's there? I'll give the local company a call to see where they're at." Yeah. You do that. I don't bother to tell her we'd already gotten notification of when they'd be here and they weren't late. As a coordinator, she should have already had this information. She calls back a couple minutes later to tell me they'll be here by noon. Yup. I knew that.

So, the local moving company gets here about 15 or 20 minutes after noon. I've already waited over five weeks. Being a little late isn't something that even hits my radar but the driver explained that they went to the wrong house. I actually tell him that I've been waiting for five weeks so don't sweat the extra few minutes. Then he's all, "Is this an overseas move?" Despite the fact that our stuff is in wooden crates (Overseas moves always involve crates. Domestic moves usually don't.) and we've been waiting FIVE FREAKING WEEKS!!!! No, this isn't an overseas move. I don't say that in an all caps tone of voice. This poor schmuck has very little to do with the end results of this move. He just had the misfortune of being the third party company that was called to deliver our overflow. Seriously, our stuff was in storage so long that it had dirt and cobwebs on it. Not.Kidding.  >:|

At this point, we coordinate our lists, go over some paper work, and then the main guy and his helper dude start prying open the crates. We had two with a little over 1,000 pounds total. The first things that get in the house are our two bookcases. Out of all of our furniture and with the exception of the beds, the bookcases were the things that I was looking forward to getting and the things that I missed the most. My books are still in boxes lining the wall of our sitting area. As he unwraps the shelves, I immediately see damage. They're pine bookcases but they have that thin backing on them if you know what I mean. The backing on one has been torn completely off and there's a gigantic gouge on the back. The other has two scuff marks, a huge gouge on the front, and the backing is loosened. They both had drawers that go into the bottom that we use to keep DVDs in. Only one drawer was delivered. The other drawer has a chunk missing out of it too. I don't think the damage that has been done can be repaired. Structurally, the one can't even hold books in the condition that it's currently in. Cosmetically, they both look like crap now. I don't even want them in my living room. I'm so upset. I really loved these book cases.

Zoomed out view of bookcase 1

Up close pic of damage to bookcase 1

More upclose damage to bookcase 1

Damage to bookcase 2

Damage to bookcase 2

This is the same damage to bookcase 2 but how it looks from the inside. It's a hole.
It was really hard to get a good angle for pictures. Just so ya know.

We also had a mystery box delivered. On the inventory, it was listed as "pots and pans". We have the kitchen completely unpacked and couldn't, for the life of us, figure out what was missing that would be in this box. I open it up, and it has a really old griddle pan in it...to be fair. But then the rest of the contents was old soap making stuff:  the stick blender, kelp, rosemary, lavendar, and other colorants and additives. Yeah. Pots and pans. Sheesh.

So far, we're filing claims on two book shelves, the sofa, the Youngest Child's bike (it was delivered today minus a brake line), a broken computer monitor, a scrape on my bed, a box of missing DVDs, some missing bedding, and something else that I can't think of right now. Also thinking that an espresso finish on wooden furniture might be a bad idea if you're a military family. It shows every scratch and scrape. Then again, I don't treat my furniture like crap and it was in perfect condition before Stevens got a hold of it.

I'm happy that I can now turn on a lamp instead of using the overhead ceiling fan lights. They delivered our lamps in the first load but not the shades. But I still can't unpack my books. :(

This move has been a nightmare. NIGHTMARE. And it's not even over because we have to go through the whole claims process. I never want to move again. DO NOT HIRE STEVENS WORLDWIDE VAN LINES. PLEASE!! Not once, not one single time in the last five weeks have we gotten an apology or explanation for anything. It's shameful and I fervently hope they lose their military contract.

Our Move: The Ongoing Saga

Our packers arrived in San Diego on June 10th. We drove into Pensacola on June 15th. We got the keys to our house on June 17th. Our movers arrived on June 24th...with the first load of our household goods. That's right! They couldn't fit all of our stuff on one truck so we have to have two freaking deliveries. I said in my previous moving post that this is probably our #1 worst move. There is no longer any probably about it.

When you have professional movers, you get two teams of people. The first team consists of packers and loaders. The second team consists of drivers and unloaders. Every move we've had, these two teams have always been different people. So, Team One is responsible for wrapping your stuff up, packing it into boxes, and inventorying everything including the large items that don't fit into boxes like bicycles and sofas. As far as we can tell, Team One was full of illiterate idiots possessing no common sense whatsoever. Our things were packed in ways that made no sense. We opened one box labled "spices" that had one pepper grinder in it and the rest was all plastic storage food containers. Another box was labeled "lines" which I had to interpret as meaning linens. We open the box and the top actually had linens in it but underneath was all miscellaneous junk out of the office. And it goes on and on. Honestly, mislabeled boxes aren't that big a deal except when your things are being delivered in two shipments.

Team Two captain told us upon arrival that he didn't have all of our stuff. That's right. Our moving coordinator who calls with updates and schedules pickup and delivery couldn't even be bothered to tell me this when she called to set up delivery. Her name is Tonya and she sucks at her job. Anyway, Team Two captain apologizes and said that he tried to bring everything that he thought we'd need right away, leaving behind items that he thought could wait a week or more. It's a nice thought and makes sense unless you have a Team One that doesn't know how to pack and label boxes in ways that make freaking sense!!! Oh. And in his infinite wisdom, he didn't think a lawnmower was necessary to a family living in Florida where it rains everyday and the lawn needs to be mown at least once a week. Mmkaythanks.

Also, thanks to the lack of foresight and terrible scheduling of our moving company, our stuff sat in storage in San Diego and then again here in Florida before they finally delivered...most of our stuff. That means that our belongings were loaded and unloaded a minimum of five times that we know of. We've never had that happen before. Usually, the company gives you a tentative date for delivery until you give them a destination address. Then the driver arranges to be there around the same time that you are. When we moved from NC to CA, the driver got to our house minutes after we pulled up with the keys. Minutes, not days.

Some of our boxes were in such bad shape that they were entirely crushed and open and things that were just wrapped in packing paper had the paper completely ripped away. This is the first time we'll be filing damage claims with any of our moves. We've had damaged stuff in the past but didn't think it was worth the hassle of filing a claim. This company, Stevens Worldwide Van Line, will not be getting off so lightly. A computer monitor is broken. We're missing glass shelf clamps that were specific to the furniture the glass goes in and can't be replaced. One of my bookcase drawers has a huge chunk broken off of it. One of the recliners on my sofa appears to be broken as well. It functions, but looking at it, you can see that it's sitting out of line with the rest of the sofa. They also broke a piece off of my Dyson. It's not essential to how it functions either except that now when I have it in the upright position, my hair gets sucked down the wand thingy. And on and on.

To top it all off, I have a fling flangging cold and I feel miserable. This move definitely takes the top, #1 spot in our list of bad moves. One time when I moved, I was pregnant and outrunning a hurricane. This move is still worse than that one. And it's not even over yet. I still haven't heard from the moving company on when they'll be delivering the rest of our stuff. Please. If you ever hire your own moving company, do not choose Stevens Worldwide Van Line. This is our fourth professional move and we've had different moving companies for each one. Stevens is unprofessional, their employees are incompetent, and they have horrible customer service. Just read their reviews on Yelp and you'll see I'm not the only one dissatisfied with this company. I wish there was a way to ensure that they lose their contract with the military.

Having Finally Arrived in Florida

This move is probably at the #1 spot for bad moves. It has been the most unorganized, ill-prepared, rocky, full-of-surprises move we've made in 16 years.

On the California side:

Our movers were idiots. They showed up to our house 1 1/2 hours late and with only one guy to pack. Every other move we've made with movers, they were able to pack us up in one day because they bring at least three people. This took two entire days.

Then, they were told that we were estimated to have close to 12,000 pounds of household goods. We ended up with just over 9400 pounds and they still didn't bring a truck big enough to hold everything. 1/4 of our stuff was hanging out the back of the truck, strapped in and open to the elements. I can only assume (and fervently hope) that they loaded our stuff onto a bigger truck before they left for Florida. But this means that our stuff went from our CA house, to a small truck, to a big truck, and eventually, to the FL house. Ideally, you want your belongings loaded and unloaded as few times as possible to avoid damage.

They were done packing and loading on Wednesday, June 12, but still haven't called to let us know our delivery date and time. They were supposed to have (and told me they would) call on Thursday. This has me worried.

We also decided to have my car shipped rather than drive two cars in tandem. This company, too, has been incommunicado. The Mister sent them an e-mail on June 10 and we still haven't gotten a reply. At this point, I'm figuring my car is in Mexico at a chop shop. Oh. And the Mister accidentally left his keys in my car. Not that big a deal since I have copies.......except for the key to the cartop carrier. We only had one of those. Luckily, I was able to find a place that could make us a duplicate key for only $35 versus the $200 it would have cost to buy another one.

Lastly, the military housing people forgot about our moveout inspection. When you live in base housing, you have to have one of their people walk through and make sure you cleaned and didn't leave anything damaged. This caused us to get on the road 1 1/2 hours later than we had planned which caused us to get to our first stop in El Paso, Texas pretty late. Asshats.

And to top it all off...The Oldest child came down with this really weird rash on her leg. People on Facebook thought it was my rash because she was embarrassed for people to think she had ringworm. It def isn't ringworm. Anyway, a couple days after the rash, she got a really inflamed throat. It's absolutely disgusting. I've had tonsillitis a few times but my throat never came close to her grossness. I managed to get her into the doctor on June 12th, the day before we left San Diego. The doctor wasn't sure what was going on but guessed it was viral and that whatever was causing the rash was also causing the sore throat. He took throat cultures just to be sure. He called me today, SUNDAY, to let me know she actually has strep throat. Can you believe he called me on a Sunday? AND, he called in a prescription to a nearby pharmacy here in Florida. I so love him and am going to miss having such a great doctor. :(

On the Drive East...

The car drive east was relatively uneventful considering the 1977 miles we covered. We ran into some weather in New Mexico which spurned dust storms. The Youngest child now hates New Mexico. Then we ran into some rain in San Antonio. Then some really bad traffic in Alabama. The traffic added about an hour to our last day of driving. And wow! Louisiana drivers are rude asshats and that's saying something from someone who is used to California drivers. It's like they sent people from Louisiana to LA to learn how to drive like an idiot.

Now that we're here, things are going pretty good. Kinda got a shock at the hotel when they told us the price for the pet fee. As a result, we snuck the cat in. So, I'd feel bad about that if the pet fee wasn't MORE than the room fee. Plus, our pets are trained and do their business where they should. We're staying in a brand new Hyatt Place. It's really nice. After three days in the car, we appreciate having a living room area in addition to the bedroom area. The bathroom door has a tricksy lock though. Tricksy, tricksy lock. The Oldest child called me this morning (the Mister and I were getting lunch) asking me, "How do I get out of the bathroom?" I laughed so hard that it was a minute or so before I could answer her.

Navarre Beach at sunset

Last night, we drove out to Navarre to see the new house. It's in a great, private neighborhood. It's so quiet and all the houses are well maintained. The yard has flowers and plants in it that I'm sure I'll kill in the next month or so but they look nice for now. From what we could see from peeking in the windows, the inside is clean and nice too. Oh. And there's a whole stack of firewood in the backyard so we'll be set for when it gets colder. Right now, it's in the high 80's with tons of humidity. I love it.

We drove along the coast back to Pensacola (which was a really long drive because much of it was in 20 mph zones for nesting birds, heheh) and ended up getting dinner in Pensacola Beach. I had forgotten how crazy Pensacola Beach is in the summer with all the tourists. C R A Z Y!!! We ate at a really neat restaurant that backs up to the beach. Our table was literally right next to the sand. I could put my foot in the sand from my seat. When we were done eating (and we had awesome food) we just stood up and walked out to the water. You know. After paying the bill. It was so cool!!

So, assuming that our household goods haven't fallen of the back of the truck and my car isn't in pieces in Mexico, things are good on this end of the trip. We're hanging in the hotel until tomorrow morning when the rental manager guy will finally let us in the house. (Apparently, they don't work weekends.) Even if everything is lost, we're insured. We only own a handful of things that are irreplaceable so it won't be total devastation. Even so, my next blog post might be from jail after I do violence to some people if this turns out bad. We've never had our shipments be so up in the air before. It's disconcerting.

Bottom line, I'm thrilled to be here. I've never lived so close to the beach before. Maybe I won't be saying this should a storm roll through, but for now, I love where our house is located. The dog and cat we most excellent travelers. Better pets don't exist. The kids were good. No flat tires this time. Life is good.

Guess Where I Stand

The Navy has cancelled all the rest of the Blue Angels' appearances for the rest of the year. Even though we won't be here to not see it, this includes MCAS Miramar's 2013 Air Show.

Read the story for yourself.

On April 1, 2013, Tricare West transitioned to United Healthcare. Health benefits didn't change under the new contractor, which is great. However, we've been a military family long enough, 16 years this September to be more specific, that I have been able to observe changes in our health coverage. For instance, I remember a time when we paid a $6.00 copay for prescriptions. This week, we paid over $100 for allergy medications. I realize that a lot of people with different health insurances pay a lot more than that. I have to shake my head at how military families are being taken care of while our military risk their lives in war zones across the world and their families are left at home to worry and to deal with the Murphy's Law of deployments. But I guess that doesn't matter.

From what I've heard through the grapevine, military healthcare will eventually resemble that of the free healthcare given to no or low income families. So my husband is giving 20 years of his life, the best 20 years of his working life, to the military only to be treated like a welfare case when he retires??

I just read a story about multiple stabbings at a college in Texas. Wow. Gun control laws really worked to prevent that tragedy, now didn't they???

Military Wife Meme

I found this blog hopping the other day. I thought it made good filler.

How did you and your spouse meet?
We met in 1995 after being set up by my ex-sister-in-law. She and the Mister used to work together.

How old were you when you two met?
We were both 17.

How long have you been together?
We officially started dating April of 1995. We'll be celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary in May.

Where are you and your spouse originally from?
We're both from Ohio. Not the same town though.

How did you feel about him joining the military?
At first I was against it. I didn't like the thought of him going off for 13 weeks for very tough training. We had a 14 month old at the time. It was tough. Eventually, I came around. Looking back, it was the best choice for us.

Where did your spouse go to Basic Training?
Parris Island, SC

Has your spouse ever been deployed?
Yeah. He's been to Japan and Afghanistan.

Ever been to his promotion ceremony?
Umm. I'm trying to think. I've been to several ceremonies over the years but I honestly can't remember if one of them was for a promotion.

How long have you been a military wife?
This September, it will be 15 years. Geez.

Did you marry him before or after he joined?
Before.

How did your husband propose?
He simply asked and I said yes.

Where did you get married?
The courthouse in Marion, Ohio.

How old were you two when you got married?
We were both 18. Young'uns.

Did he wear his uniform on your wedding day?
He wasn't a Marine yet, so no. We probably wouldn't have done the whole military wedding anyway.

Where are you and your spouse currently stationed?
MCAS Miramar in San Diego, CA.

Do you live on base?
We live in military housing but it's not on base. We've actually never lived on any base.

How long were you married when you had to go through your first separation?
Well, if we're going to count boot camp, we would have been married for two years by that time. If we're going to go by his first deployment, that would be after six years of marriage. He's been gone for so many different types of training over 15 years that I can't remember it all.

What is your favorite base so far?
My all time favorite base is MCB Camp Lejeune. It is the epitome of a Marine Corps base in my opinion. One time, I was driving along and all the sudden I start hearing explosions and I'm trying not to freak out. Then I see a sign for the grenade practice area, lol. We've only been stationed at two different bases over the years:  Miramar and Cherry Point. I liked them both for different reasons.

Does your spouse look good in his uniform?
Lol. Yes. I feel fortunate to be married to a man in uniform.

Do you think military life is more advanced than civilian life?
No. Just because we maybe experience more things or different things or live more places doesn't mean that military life is more advanced. I think the mere fact that the military is steeped in tradition and are usually the very last group of people to give up antiquated ideals makes us behind the times if anything. Military life may be tougher in some regards, that's for sure.

Do you like the benefits you receive as a military dependent?
I liked them a lot better 15 years ago before the DoD started whittling away at them. But yes, I like shopping at the commissary and being able to buy discounted tickets on base. I like going to Sea World once a year for free. I like having free movers. Tricare is, sadly, better than most other health insurance. It's better than my sister's who is a nurse. Explain that one. I suppose base housing is a benefit but I have a love/hate relationship with housing. So, yes.

Do you have a lot of military wife friends?
Not so much anymore. I have one neighbor that I'm friendly with but we're not confidants. Most of my friends are former military spouses. I have 2 or 3 military wives that I call friends. I don't get out much anymore, lol.

What is the hardest part of being a military wife?
Boy! This answer sure has changed a lot over the years. Recruiting duty would be at the top of the list by and far. That's only three years though. For the entire 15, being taken for granted as a built in babysitter is probably what I'm most resentful about.

Do you own any military wife stuff?
What's this supposed to mean? I don't have any stickers on my car. The only t-shirts I have are leftovers from recruiting duty and I consider them my "grubby day" t-shirts. I do have my Marine Corps jacket and sweatpants that I bought at Parris Island when the Mister graduated. The jacket still looks like new even though it survived three extremely harsh Vermont winters. The sweatpants have seen better days, lol. I have a D-ring keychain. OH! And I have a sign on my front door that says, "Home is where the Marine Corps Sends Us". I think that probably counts as "military wife stuff".

Do you support your spouse as a member of the military?
This is a dumb question. Then again, I know plenty of wives who have threatened divorce if their husbands reenlist. So, yes. I support my husband. I go where the Marine Corps sends him and do my best to overlook all the other bullshit.

NaBloPoMo Day 6: Lost All Meaning

(This was saved to draft about a year ago and I forgot about it, lol. Thought I'd go ahead and publish it anyway.)

The word "deployment" caught my eye in a tech article today. It was used to reference launching a new product or something. Of course, when I saw it, I stopped to see if the article had something to do with military deployments. That's when it occurred to me that some words and acronyms have lost all meaning for me outside of how it pertains to the military and military life in whatever way. Probably until the day that I die, deployment will always mean sending someone I love away on orders to serve their country in a foreign land. Here are some more words that have lost all meaning or ways in general that I can't help but think military first and everything else second.

POV (each letter is pronounced) - To me, that means "personally owned vehicle". This came from three years on recruiting duty and the Mister driving a GOV (rhymes with above sometimes it's said "govvie insead of just GOV) or government vehicle for most of the time versus our own car. Your guess is as good as mine as to why POV is spelled out instead of it rhyming with above like GOV does.

Base - In my world, that means a military base first and foremost. The second thing that comes to mind is baseball.

Grape - Freshly shaved head.

Debris on an airfield equals FOD (rhymes with god) or foreign object debris. The Mister has gone on many FOD walks in his time or walking the flight line to make sure there isn't anything on it that jet engines can suck up while taking off and landing.

It's hard to say grocery store. I always want to say commissary no matter where I'm shopping.

Leave - Vacation or time away from work. In our family, taking leave means attending a funeral or visiting someone in the hospital. But I'm sure that's not the case for most. ;)

Home - It means Ohio despite the fact that I haven't lived there since 1999, have no plans on ever living there again, and haven't really considered it home for years. It's just habit to call it home.

PMO - It means police even though it stands for Provost Marshall's Office. At the root of it, it means a bunch of crack heads wielding too much power and think that the ability to give out a speeding ticket makes you god. I wonder how similar PMO is to civilian police officers, lol.

DITY - This one, pronounced "ditty" means moving yourself to your next duty station. It stands for "do it yourself" move. I'll never hear this word and think "song".

If you have something to add, leave me a comment. ;)

A Look at Military Life

1. Military wives are fat, lazy, and dumb.
2. Military wives cheat on their husbands.
3. Military wives are gossips.
4. Military wives have no ambition.

You know what? Those four things are true. They are also false. They can also be applied to military husbands, civilian wives, civilian husbands, and to just about anyone or no one. It’s just something to keep in mind.

One thing that really annoys me about living in base housing (I know, I know. Everything annoys me about living in base housing. I’ve said so before.) is that when I have maintenance come out, they treat me like I’m an idiot and talk down to me. I recently had them out because the igniter went out on my oven and it wouldn’t light. They pull out the stove to replace it and there was a piece of beef pot roast underneath it. Yuck, right? Well the guy hauls it out and makes a production over it. You know what? I’ve only lived here for five months and I haven’t made a pot roast of any variety in that time. It was my understanding that these places were cleaned before we moved in but I guess not.

Also, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week, maintenance has knocked on my door wanting to come in to fix an upstairs screen in a window. I didn’t call them but you can see it from the street. We’ve been running the AC so I haven’t been too concerned about it. The thing is, is that they come here unexpectedly and without an appointment and just figure that any old time of the day, I’ll be available to let them in. Well, I’m sorry, but I’m not available. I work during the day and when I’m on the phone with a client, I just can’t tell them to hold on while I answer the door. It’s like they just assume that I’m sitting my lazy butt on the sofa watching soap operas all day waiting for them to come and light up my life. It’s vastly irritating. So, I called maintenance today, put in requests for three different things in addition to the upstairs window and told them to be here after 2 pm tomorrow. One of the things that needs to be fixed are the vertical blinds on the sliding patio doors. They won’t open. When I described the problem, the lady asked me, “Are they all turned in the same direction?” GEEZ! Like that’s not the very first thing I tried!! I also called the main housing office and told them that I want the brush that is outside of my fence in the canyon cleared away because it is within the “100 feet of defensible space” you’re supposed to have cleared around your house for fires but outside of the area we are responsible for keeping mowed.

We’re going to look for someplace else to live when the Mister gets back from his deployment. Oh yeah. For those of you that don’t follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter, the Mister is going on his first combat deployment soon. It’s ok. I’m not freaking out. I have base housing maintenance to take care of things while he’s gone. ::snort:: Seriously though. The girls and I will manage and he’ll be running computers the whole time he’s gone. Deployments are part of the military life and we deal with them. All I ask is that people don’t try and visit me while he’s gone. It’s nothing personal. I just try and keep things as normal as possible for the kids and I can't do that with houseguests. No matter who it is or how long they stay or what the circumstances are, houseguests are stressful for me. Whatever entertaining gene that my grandmother has, it didn’t get passed down to me. I know that there are people who will take this personally but it’s all in your head. I will say no if you ask, so don’t make me be mean.

Now, I’m off to make my will. Who wants the kids?

Moving Progress

I was recently called out for not updating my blog regularly. Yeah well. I have very little of interest to say. So :P

We found out yesterday that the Mister will be checking out of his current command 15 days earlier than we thought. Our move date has moved up. Again. He checks out on March 10th now, not March 15th. In actuality, we have 26 days from March 10th until he has to check into his new command out in San Diego. We won’t be leaving NC exactly on the 10th because we’ll have movers and then the cleaning of this house.

::Side note::

I had to stop typing to take the oldest to school. On the way there, I got behind a school bus. After picking up a bunch of kids at a stop, it took off down the road going 45 in a 35 and in a school zone. What’s up with that?!?!

Anyway, essentially, we have 1 month and 27 days or so before we move. Yikes! I have so much to do and with our move date constantly being adjusted closer, I have less and less time to do it in, lol. We’ve opted to have the military pay for movers rather than moving ourselves so that takes a big load off but I still have organizing, cleaning, arranging to have my car shipped (we decided not to drive two cars cross country), getting the dogs to the vet for one last check up, finding somewhere to live in San Diego, taxes, and every day life in the midst of all that.

Did you know…

When you’re making a military move, you have two options. 1.) You can choose to have them pay to have a moving company come in, pack your stuff, and ship it to your destination. You get travel pay for mileage to drive your POV and for food and hotels depending on how many days they estimate it takes to drive to your new duty station. In our case, 8 days times 4 people. They always pay you way more than you need. We also get paid for the weight of our luggage that we have in our car. What that means is that we have to have our car weighed empty, pack it up, then have it weighed full. We get paid for that weight. 2.) You can choose to pack your own stuff and arrange to have it moved to your destination and have the military reimburse you for your expenses. This 2nd option is called a DITY move or Do It Yourself Move, pronounced, ditty. In all of our moves, we have done one DITY move and that was from Ohio to California. I packed up our very meager belongings which were at my dad’s house. We really had nothing. A bed with a plain metal frame, baby stuff (crib, changing table, etc.) a dinette set, sofa, 19 in. TV, a couple dressers and a few other odds and ends. I flew out to California with the girls and our families loaded a moving truck and drove it out to California for us. We reimbursed them with the money we got from the military and had some left over that we pocketed. I’m not sure if they have increased the money you get for doing a DITY move or if it’s just inflation, but nowadays, people get A LOT more than we did in 1999 for doing a DITY move.

A Marine that the Mister works with is moving out to Cali with his wife and some household belongings. They don’t have kids. They are getting $20,000 to move themselves!!! You may be asking yourselves why we don’t take advantage of such a deal. Well, I’m telling you that IMO, the money isn’t worth it. I would rather NOT have to pack up a 4 bedroom  house, all of our furniture and appliances, and the rest of our crap, and move it across the country. I’m not even sure they make a rental truck big enough to fit all of our stuff in. Professional movers come with a semi-truck. Plus, if stuff gets broken, you get reimbursed for the damages whereas if you break your own stuff, you’re out of luck. We moved ourselves across town a year and a half ago and that was such a major PITA that I think the peace of mind is worth $20,000. Maybe I’m just lazy. Yep. Movers are a wonderful thing.

Did you know::

This is how professional movers work:

1. They come in one day to visually assess how much stuff you have and what kind of boxes and moving supplies they will need to pack your crap.
2. On another day shortly thereafter, they come in and pack up your crap. Yes. It only takes them ONE day to pack EVERYTHING.
3. On the next day, they come  in and load your crap up on a truck. It only takes a few hours to load.
4. They make arrangements with you to have your crap delivered; a date and a destination address.
5. At your destination, they arrive on the prearranged date and unload your crap, putting together furniture and placing boxes where you tell them to. They will even unpack your boxes if you tell them to. We don’t because at this point, we just want them gone.
6. That’s it. You unpack your crap and settle in to your new home.

There. Now I’ve updated my blog. :P

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

People seem to be saying things before they think about them lately.

Over the weekend, the Mister and I were watching a news report on the drug raids in San Diego at SDSU. One moron said something to the effect that he felt sorry for the accused students because they didn't sell the drugs with the intent to kill people. Wth kind of thing is that to say?? So, it's okay for drug dealers to sell drugs as long as they intend for their customers to live long lives? Umm. Okay. That makes total sense.

Lastly, Stephen King. I'm sure everyone heard the bonehead comment he made about reading and the Army. Here's a link in case you missed it along with his remarks regarding the backlash:

Stephen King Story

First off, for him to make the statement in the first place was appalling. I get so sick and tired and fed up beyond belief at all the implications that if you join the military it's because you had no other prospects and were too stupid to do anything else. People who think that are prime examples of ignorance and yes, I take it personally. It's an insult to my husband, my father, my brother, uncles, cousins, and some of the best friends that I've ever had or will ever have in my life. I'm not saying that every person who has been or is in the military is a Rhodes scholar. I've seen some of the greatest displays of idiocy from a few of the Marines, sailors, and soldiers (I've only known three people in the Air Force and they were all family members and they were pretty smart ;)) that we've known over the years. But you know what? The military doesn't own the rights to having idiots working for them. Idiots are freaking everywhere.

Furthermore, for King to defend what he said by replying that he meant that children should learn how to read, is insulting. That, in itself, is implying that we are all idiots. This statement: "I don't want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that. It's not as bright, " and stating that we misunderstood it, saying that he really said this: "That a right-wing-blog would impugn my patriotism because I said children should learn to read, and could get better jobs by doing so, is beneath contempt," is also contemptible. That is not what he said in his first statement. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Check out Laurell K. Hamilton's May 6th blog entry: LKH Blog Does anyone ever stop to think, when they're insulting our men and women in uniform, that the freedom that they possess to say these ignorant and offensive things are defended by the same people that supposedly aren’t smart enough to do anything better with their lives?

I’m disappointed. Stephen King was one of my favorite authors and I have always been impressed by his abilities. Being thoughtless and then unwilling to own up to what he said doesn’t take away from his talents in the least, but I’ve lost all respect for him. I know that I’m just one small and insignificant person ,but I won’t be buying anymore of his books and I’m trading in the ones that I currently own at my favorite used bookstore for something better. For me, it’s the end of an era.

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That (Additions)

There is no specific point or theme to this post. It's just some random thoughts and happenings that have been going on that I have neglected to post about recently. Now, I just need to figure out where to begin.

This afternoon, about half an hour ago actually, I walked into the living room/office to discover that Hannah, The Dog from Hell, chewed the chair cushion on my sectional. See for yourself.



I love Hannah, but sometimes she is really hard to like.

Remember the speeding ticket C got last week or whenever it was? Wanna know what his excuse was? "It was inevitable." At $150, that's not much of a comfort.

I'm really tired of certain people's attitudes towards those of us who don't have a degree and who are enlisted wives. Just because I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth and I'm not 30 years old with parents who still pay my bills because they're loaded doesn't make me less of a person who deserves respect. And just because my husband is enlisted doesn't mean that I'm ignorant, covered in tattoos (not that there's anything wrong with that if that's your deal), have my head up my husband's ass and career, and cheat on him every chance that I get. Get over yourself. Your attitudes make you sound uneducated. I'm tired, just plain sick and tired, of hypocrites and stereotypes.

It's almost November and still in the 80's!! Woohoo!!!!!

I finished The Picture of Dorian Gray FINALLY. I reviewed it on my Good Reads page and I will also be reviewing it later on my blog for the R.I.P. Challenge.

I got an A on my writing project yesterday. Go me!

From way back when...We went to the Mum Fest here in New Bern. I had a most awesome sausage and peppers sandwich. YUM! They had a lot of booths and things to see and do, but it was like any other fair or festival that I've ever been to. The ride tickets were outrageous imo. They equalled $3-$6 a ride. Is that a lot or has it just been that long since I've been to a fair?

Keep your eye out for my book review, updates on my television show post, Thursday's meme, and whatever else comes to mind.

**Additional Item:

I hate, absolutely hate, when people stop by unexpectedly. Is it too much to ask for someone to call ahead?