I have to say that the movers did a pretty good job. The major hiccup was the broken big screen Plasma TV. Bummer. Luckily we bought private insurance so we should be able to have it replaced. I've never had an insurance claim for a move before so we will have to see how it is handled.
NZ bio security didn't like the ornaments I brought in from our days of living in South Dakota so all of my Pheasant Feathered Christmas balls were confiscated as well as some tokens from Costa Rica that may harbor unwanted insects and an artificial tree with real bark. Unfortunately, the tree wasn't even supposed to come. I had requested the kid's growth tree (fake) and instead the shippers packed an ornamental tree. Some boxes were mislabeled so we got some stuff we didn't want out of storage like the 1000 framed photos of various races and activities that we've participated in over the years. We knew that we wouldn't be allowed to fill our walls here with holes so we wanted to leave them behind. However, the packers labeled these enormously heavy boxes as "camping equipment" which we did want. Just another example of how you really need to watch those packers! Unfortunately the thousands of dollars of beautiful fabric that I was waiting for did not come. Even though it was filled with fabric and clearly labeled as such, it was listed on our inventory sheet as "books" and was not sent. GRRRRR.
I didn't get my linens- no sheets, blankets, dish towels, pot holders, napkins, etc. I guess they were labeled as books too because I said ship everything but the books and couches. Darn it. Now I have to buy new ones and they aren't cheap or of high quality here.
All in all, the move went smoothly. There's not much I can't live without though I am really bummed about the fabric and blankets. The folks in Haegerstown did an excellent job. They sent everything we asked for without one mistake. The mistakes were on the packers side of things when they came into the house like locusts and seemed offended whenever I asked to checks their notes to make sure I knew what was where. So.....to all of you getting ready to pack out, organize some friends to come over and watch over every single packer and label the boxes yourself. I had one box clearly marked as kitchenware and they put it into the inventory list as "Christmas Ornaments" so I couldn't open it until the bio hazard team checked it out to make sure I didn't have any pine cones in it.
