Well they managed to deliver our HHG a day early, now we are inundated with boxes! I swear they multiply on the trucks!
We now also have a black kitten named Midnight underfoot to contend with along side our shih tsu.....life just keeps on getting better!
Our cable/phone/internet company is apparently run by transportation since they too can not have anything set up for two weeks (what is it with this place???) so, this will most likely be it for a while.......and so until the next time I am able to run off to Starbucks for some much needed caffeine and a hotspot to write by, this is A Soldier's Wife......
~Living the Dream! (or one might say nightmare at this point, there are arguments on both sides to justify this position! :D)
~ASW
Showing posts with label pcs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pcs. Show all posts
6/4/08
Update......
Okay so 17 crates AND 11 hours later they are still at the house attempting to finish this move. It seems as if every time we move it gets just a little worse. So tonight another truck, we already had two with the crates on them, shows up, this one is for my sofa, because it apparently is too big to fit in a crate and they will have to make a special one for it.....to which I am mumblng just great under my breath, my response to them was that it better be there when it all arrives on the other side of this move. When this happened, I opted out of staying, taking Dennis back to the hotel with me, both he and I are exhausted, today was his last day of school. My youngest daughter and her friend are weathering the remaining part of the move with Dad, the oldest is out with friends for her last evening...... Me, well I have cleaned, spackled and fed 6 movers and my family 75.00 worth of pizza and 50.00 worth of soda and water today. Tomorrow we pack the vehicles, sign out of housing, sign out of post and hit the open road......
I hate the open road, I prefer the closed air of a plane and a stewardess......I don't even mind paying for the extra bag......at least I don't have to hear "are we there yet" for 2000 miles.......
And so it shall begin............Move 2008. The only positive thing about it is leaving here......but still, I think I'd rather go to the dentist then ride in my car with two newly licensed (permits only) teens arguing over who gets to drive next, fearing for my life the entire way there AND hearing "are we there yet?" :D
I hate the open road, I prefer the closed air of a plane and a stewardess......I don't even mind paying for the extra bag......at least I don't have to hear "are we there yet" for 2000 miles.......
And so it shall begin............Move 2008. The only positive thing about it is leaving here......but still, I think I'd rather go to the dentist then ride in my car with two newly licensed (permits only) teens arguing over who gets to drive next, fearing for my life the entire way there AND hearing "are we there yet?" :D
Final day.........
The day has arrived, our movers will see how much they can shove in each crate today. Just a bit of information for those of you out there who are unfamiliar with PCSing (Permanent Change of Station) for CONUS (Continental United States) basically not overseas.
There are two codes on a military move. Code 1 and Code 2. Code 1 means that they will shove all your household goods in a truck and move it to your next duty station. Code 2 means that they will use crates to pack your belongings instead of a moving truck. If you do not have a door to door move set up, meaning that you are meeting them at your next house, all household goods go into temporary storage. Most people think that code 2 using crates is only used when you are PCSing overseas, but this is incorrect.
Cade 2 in our opinion is a far better way to have your belongings moved because it is packed up and crated in front of you and then the crates are sealed. Those crates are then either placed in storage or met by you on the other end. It is pretty hard for a crate to disappear (although it does happen) but when your belongings are placed on a moving truck, more often then not, they are not the only ones on the truck. Depending on the amount of weight being moved there can be a few families' belongings being driven across the country, or it could have a soldier's belongings on there, leaving those belongings up to chance of being mixed up where they meet on the truck and as they are dropped off, you may lose some of your things. Yeah, I know, they have different stickers, everything is inventoried, but IT HAPPENS EVERY DAY. Not to mention, your belongings are handled by the movers at your end, then they are moved out of the truck by another set of movers and placed in storage, then they are handled by another set of movers who then take it out of storage and put on another truck and bring it to you....that is a whole lot of hands moving your things......you are opened up for theft as well as the increased chance of breakage. So we opt for CODE 2 and request that it be crated whenever we have the chance. It does not cost the military any more money.....although I have had some transportation personnel tell us that it does as they mark code 2 on the paperwork, I just sit there and look at them......like it is money out of their pocket......just be nice to them and remember that if the option is open to you, you are entitled to it......but remember that some installations do not offer this to CONUS moves and if they do and its a busy season OCONUS has the priority for the crates. But do yourself a favor and opt for CODE 2 whenever possible and have your household goods crated for any move.
So now that I have told you about this option, here is how this will play out for us today. Each crate acts like it's own little truck. Our things are put in the crates so that they are packed full and less chance of things moving around. They packed our dressers full, leaving clothing and such in them. I used my chests to place our linen for our beds in them so I know exactly where they are when we get to our next duty station, no searching for THAT box! Also any special or antique piece of furniture I am worried about, I just told them and had them box everything that was in it instead of having it travel with the belongings in them, they were more then willing to do so. They figure that each crate holds about 1000 pounds, but it's a guess because when your sofa goes in, it takes up alot of space, but it no where near comes in at the weight that all my husband's professional gear will come in at. Make sure you have them mark all professional gear as such in case you are charged for being overweight and ALWAYS REQUEST TO HAVE IT reweighed......
And so that is just a piece of friendly information from this Soldier's Wife who wishes someone had shared this information with her a long time ago........this being our 6th move in 7 years.....it will be the 5th one we have had crated.
I'm excited.....we are really moving tomorrow YAY! I definitely will look in my rear view mirror and say goodbye to this place, vowing to never return~I will miss my two friends D&V but otherwise, this is not a place that will go down fondly in the old memory book, fond memories yes, but in the Great Big Book of Everything, it is going to definitely go to the bottom!
There are two codes on a military move. Code 1 and Code 2. Code 1 means that they will shove all your household goods in a truck and move it to your next duty station. Code 2 means that they will use crates to pack your belongings instead of a moving truck. If you do not have a door to door move set up, meaning that you are meeting them at your next house, all household goods go into temporary storage. Most people think that code 2 using crates is only used when you are PCSing overseas, but this is incorrect.
Cade 2 in our opinion is a far better way to have your belongings moved because it is packed up and crated in front of you and then the crates are sealed. Those crates are then either placed in storage or met by you on the other end. It is pretty hard for a crate to disappear (although it does happen) but when your belongings are placed on a moving truck, more often then not, they are not the only ones on the truck. Depending on the amount of weight being moved there can be a few families' belongings being driven across the country, or it could have a soldier's belongings on there, leaving those belongings up to chance of being mixed up where they meet on the truck and as they are dropped off, you may lose some of your things. Yeah, I know, they have different stickers, everything is inventoried, but IT HAPPENS EVERY DAY. Not to mention, your belongings are handled by the movers at your end, then they are moved out of the truck by another set of movers and placed in storage, then they are handled by another set of movers who then take it out of storage and put on another truck and bring it to you....that is a whole lot of hands moving your things......you are opened up for theft as well as the increased chance of breakage. So we opt for CODE 2 and request that it be crated whenever we have the chance. It does not cost the military any more money.....although I have had some transportation personnel tell us that it does as they mark code 2 on the paperwork, I just sit there and look at them......like it is money out of their pocket......just be nice to them and remember that if the option is open to you, you are entitled to it......but remember that some installations do not offer this to CONUS moves and if they do and its a busy season OCONUS has the priority for the crates. But do yourself a favor and opt for CODE 2 whenever possible and have your household goods crated for any move.
So now that I have told you about this option, here is how this will play out for us today. Each crate acts like it's own little truck. Our things are put in the crates so that they are packed full and less chance of things moving around. They packed our dressers full, leaving clothing and such in them. I used my chests to place our linen for our beds in them so I know exactly where they are when we get to our next duty station, no searching for THAT box! Also any special or antique piece of furniture I am worried about, I just told them and had them box everything that was in it instead of having it travel with the belongings in them, they were more then willing to do so. They figure that each crate holds about 1000 pounds, but it's a guess because when your sofa goes in, it takes up alot of space, but it no where near comes in at the weight that all my husband's professional gear will come in at. Make sure you have them mark all professional gear as such in case you are charged for being overweight and ALWAYS REQUEST TO HAVE IT reweighed......
And so that is just a piece of friendly information from this Soldier's Wife who wishes someone had shared this information with her a long time ago........this being our 6th move in 7 years.....it will be the 5th one we have had crated.
I'm excited.....we are really moving tomorrow YAY! I definitely will look in my rear view mirror and say goodbye to this place, vowing to never return~I will miss my two friends D&V but otherwise, this is not a place that will go down fondly in the old memory book, fond memories yes, but in the Great Big Book of Everything, it is going to definitely go to the bottom!
6/3/08
And with a few signatures (or several on 35 sheets of paper)
We are now the proud owners of a new home......or we became the owners of a new home on Saturday.....
It seemed a little strange for us this time, we have always been present when we closed on our homes in the past. But this time with how things have played out, we had no choice but to fly out to our new duty station ahead of time and put in the offer and then do the closing via overnight mail. It was a bit more stressful and a little more work since this was the first time we had a Realtor doing the work for us, but it went off without much to do and once we arrive we can pick up our keys and move in. Well.....I will, my husband has to jump right in and start with his Assumption of Responsibilities, a Sergeant Audie Murphy Club Induction and then the Change of Command for his new BC. Following all this, 6 days later he will then be TDY for a week leaving me and the children to sort through boxes in an attempt to make some sense of the house.
But first we will head out from here to visit my husband's family for the annual reunion we have every time we PCS....which is normally every year, but this time we were lucky enough to have 22 months between moves. This next one promises to be three years before the Army will up and throw an assignment at us, but now we have that option to say NO and just retire.....what a great feeling that is to have!!!
I will say that it is a huge relief knowing that all we have to do upon arrival is call to have the water and gas turned on. The electric, phone, internet and cable are done.....we know everything about the children's schools since we chose this neighborhood based on where we wanted them all to attend. We met some of our neighbors while we were there and although it is not a huge military community, I think we will all love our new neighborhood......I guess its a give and take at this point.
Since we, as military spouses, rely so heavily on one another and our military community during back to back deployments, its only natural to be a little hesitant to move to an area that lacks those qualities.....but since my husband will not be deploying again (just the occasional TDY) I will take that over the military community any day (it does not mean that I wont miss it, because I will)......but hey, after 20 years, my family may have some assemblance of a normal life. I'm not quite sure what we will do with that, except maybe enjoy the hell out of it and thank God for every day we are together.
~ASW
It seemed a little strange for us this time, we have always been present when we closed on our homes in the past. But this time with how things have played out, we had no choice but to fly out to our new duty station ahead of time and put in the offer and then do the closing via overnight mail. It was a bit more stressful and a little more work since this was the first time we had a Realtor doing the work for us, but it went off without much to do and once we arrive we can pick up our keys and move in. Well.....I will, my husband has to jump right in and start with his Assumption of Responsibilities, a Sergeant Audie Murphy Club Induction and then the Change of Command for his new BC. Following all this, 6 days later he will then be TDY for a week leaving me and the children to sort through boxes in an attempt to make some sense of the house.
But first we will head out from here to visit my husband's family for the annual reunion we have every time we PCS....which is normally every year, but this time we were lucky enough to have 22 months between moves. This next one promises to be three years before the Army will up and throw an assignment at us, but now we have that option to say NO and just retire.....what a great feeling that is to have!!!
I will say that it is a huge relief knowing that all we have to do upon arrival is call to have the water and gas turned on. The electric, phone, internet and cable are done.....we know everything about the children's schools since we chose this neighborhood based on where we wanted them all to attend. We met some of our neighbors while we were there and although it is not a huge military community, I think we will all love our new neighborhood......I guess its a give and take at this point.
Since we, as military spouses, rely so heavily on one another and our military community during back to back deployments, its only natural to be a little hesitant to move to an area that lacks those qualities.....but since my husband will not be deploying again (just the occasional TDY) I will take that over the military community any day (it does not mean that I wont miss it, because I will)......but hey, after 20 years, my family may have some assemblance of a normal life. I'm not quite sure what we will do with that, except maybe enjoy the hell out of it and thank God for every day we are together.
~ASW
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