Pink Fox: its Raining...IN MY HOUSE! :/

[DianeS]

Hubby and I just moved from Colorado to Oregon in a Penske rental truck, and it was EXPENSIVE. For the 22-foot truck , tow trailer, dolly, extra day's rental, and insurance, it was $2000. And that was the cheapest price we could find anywhere, and it included a 12% discount for the AAA membership. For the expenses of the days on the road (gas, meals, lodging) it was another $1000.

Here is a hint for pricing moving trucks - check the prices in towns near you as well as your own. We drove an hour to get to Denver in Colorado, and it saved about $150. on the rental price.
Also, check discounts that they offer - it cost $75 to join AAA but it got us about $200 off the moving van cost.
Also, be willing to consider a diesel truck. Noisier for sure, but they get better gas mileage and the gas cost is comparable in most areas. Ours was diesel, we think we saved $200 or so in gas cost on the trip.

And definately ask around to your friends and aquaintences. I actually know someone who flew to New York to help an aquaintence drive his moving truck to Colorado. He was retired, didn't have anything else to do, and thought the trip would be interesting! It cost the aquaintence about $400 - the plane ticket, and the guy's meals, and upgrading from a single to a double hotel room. He said it was definately worth it to not have to be the only driver of that truck.

Hang in there!

 

[pinkfox]

well it looks like im all set for a pick up on tuesday.

did some searching round and dad did some looking too, and when tback and rechecked the pack your self type moves.
pods, packrats and another one were having none of it (wouldnt deliver to TN at all!) but U-haul (a side line of ABF) were willing to work with me, cant do a pod type unit because for whatever reason they cant deliver that to my new house...but what they could do for me is a u-haul truck...they deliver a 28 ft truck, unhitch the cab and drie away leaving you with a 28ft truck to use as much or as little as you want (and its clearly marked), you pack it then you call them and they come pick it up and its guarenteed to be at the new house within 4 buisness days. once there they drop it off unhook the cab and your free to unpack it at your leausre over the next 3 days before they return to collect it (theyll come back sooner if youd like)

it was cheaper than a moving company, the sales lady assures me they can get the 28ft truck up the driveway no problem...(and being the move is so small could probably ahng around and take it that day if we can get it packed quick) and its guarentted to be here between 8:30 am and 12:30pm on tuesday.

packing will be no problem, dads going to take tuesday as a work form home day to help me pack, gonna see what time my sisters moving and see if she can gather a couple of her frineds (i know of 1 that would help) to come help (id ask my frineds but there "too far away" *rolls eyes*) itll be packed in no time.

unloading however is going to take some fanangling...
i can unload about 98% of the truck myself, especially since i can take 3 days to do it...but theres some larger items i WILL need help with...
(so Wannabefree, know a couple big strong guys (or gals) willing to lift some heavy stuff in exchange for some cash)
the big stuff includes the 55 gal tank...not that heavy but at 48" long its arkward for me to lift it up onto the stand...
the washing mashine...small but HEAVY, wil have a furniture dolly but still arkward
the dryer...light but arkward and will need lifting onto the stand i have for it.
the chest freezer, again seriously not that heavy but bulky enough that i cant do it on my own
and the window AC unit, which is quite heavy (dad can lift it alone but its a struggle...2 strong guys could lift it quite easily though, id actually need that carrying in and putting into the window for me (ill be covering it for winter but nowhere to store it so it might as well go in)

theres no stairs to contend with, just a little step up form the dirt to the front door... and a little distance from the dirt to the laundry room for the washer/dryer and freezer.

shouldnt take more than an hour, i dont need anything assembled, i can do that myself...there just items that quite frankly i dont fancy mauling with.

i think this is the best way to go given the circumstances...i wanted to avoid doing it "myself" since i realy dont know anyone on the other end to help with those big items...but they gave me a price quote that works (and allows me to hand a couple guys a little cash for an hours labor on the other end), there well established, and they can get here on tuesday!
My stuff can be at the house monday night or tuesday morning...so i can leave early thurs or friday and not have to wonder how far behind me my stuff is going to be...

today though was rough...
everything finally got to me and i broke down this morning over a bag of screws.
see when i took jack jacks cage apart i baged them up and put them in my laptop bag so i KNEW i wouldnt loose them during the move. since weve no got till tues we rebuilt jacks cage today...couldnt find the screws anywhere...literally they are GONE...dad atched me put them in my laptop bag, there not there now. we lifted the couches, checkd the cushins turned my room apart, i even tore apart the bags of jack jacks toys and stuff just in case id put them in there accidentally...cant find them ANYWHERE. i just burst into tears...
im still ready to cry at the drop of a hat but feeling better, dad bought some new bolts (and me being as flustered as i am right now miscounted so were still 4 botls and 2 screws short (thank goodness for cable ties) but its together, secure and jack jacks a little happier right now...

im an emotional basket case right now...but i think ive earnt it this week.

ontop of everythign we had a furntture repair guy out yesterday...my parents bougth a couch from bobs, weve bought lots of furniture form bobs, its not high quality but its good enough to last long enough to count and the prices are right and weve NEVER had a problem with the customer service...and only 1 problem with a product (a peice of wood in the arm of the sofa cracked after 5 years and they gave us full cash value!)
well this loveseat has somehting wrong with it..the cushion on the seat doesnt meet the arm of the chair, not even remotly, theres an inch and a half gap betwen the seat cushion and the carm of the sofa...and when you look at it, one arm sits ar a 90 degree angle from the couch, thas youd expect...the other arm however is closer to 80 dgrees, it just out at an odd angle.
now we have the matching sofa to this too and the arms on the other one do NOT do this...they match the 90degree arm...
so mum called the repair guy and he comes out and his respnce was "you just need to fluff the cuchion and pull the fluffy bit on the arm of the chair over to meet the cushion...hes ignoring the fact that the arm is clearly NOT sititng at the same angle as the other 3 arms...he leves it at "fluff the cushion" and leaves.
this was a cuple of months ago...
well the problem has gotton worse, you now cant sit on the couch without falling into the gap between the cushion and the arm, and end up sitting directly on the sood insdie the arm of the chair...
whent in, its still under warentee, customer service tells us "fluff the cushion" is not an adequate answer well send out a repair tech.

so the phoen rings...we have a repair guy in your driveway but he needs someone to answer the door....
now nooens walked past my door and you have to to get to the front door so i tell him, well wre home and noones rang the bell but ill go check the drive...
sure enough (despite being told ours is the top house on the driveway) hes sat next door...
told the customer service rep...ahh i see his truck hes in the wrong drive, tlel him were the next house up ill be stood waiting for him...
ok mam...
service guy comes back, he says hes at #8 and nooens answering the door...
well im stood in the driveway of #8 and can see his truck at #10...hes NOT at #8...
him "are you sure, he says hes at #8...
me...im pretty sure i know where i live.
ok...off he goes again...comes back...which way on the driveway, left or right?!
me, well since theres only 2 houses on the drive and taking a left would put him back on the road, which he can see directly from where hes sitting...id say he needs to take a right out of the driveway...
ok...off he goes again...
mam he says hes at #8
me...well hes wrong! im waving at him...
ok mam ill tell him...
comes back...umm he says your at #10...
me, once again...im pretty sure i know where i live...the house he at is #10...its clearly marked on their front door...
but mam hes AT the front door...
me...NO..hes not, hes sat in his truck, i can see him from where im standing...
by this time the customer service rep is clearly getting frustrated...and goes "what? he said he was at the front door...im going to..." at which point he realized he hadnt hung up on me yet apologized and switched over to the driver...then back to me, im sorry mam, seems he got...confused...he wil be there in a moment! thank you for your patients"

i already knew this was going to be interestingand was just glad that thanks to my mess, dad was at home...mums a push over and they often dont take me seriously ebcaus eim "not the parent" (i aparently look younger than i am)

takes the guy about 10 mines to drive the 25ft up the rest of the riveway then another 10 mins to get out of his truck...i gret him...his responce...with a big tone of that rolls eyes Ugh "ive Been here BEFORE..."

my brain goes "uh oh, its the fluff the cushion guy..." my mouth goes "DAD! the furniture guy is here..."

in he comes walks over to the couch and goes, see you need to just fluff the cusion and pull this over...
me and dad look at eachother, were both stressed im already in the mood for a fight...
NO...we DONT need to fluff the cushion...
he looks at me, rolls his eyes (which that was it, mean enlglish redhead power actiate...i dont yell, i just get flat out MEAN lol) "as i said" (as hes tugging on the cushion trying to shove it in the gap" it just needs to be flufed up and pulled over
in the mean time hes pulling on the squishy bit on the arm to try and shove it into the gap (whihc is NOT how it is on any of the other 3 arms) and pulling so hard that hes tugging the stitching loose.

i look at him, look at dad, dads saying "no to him about tugging on the cuchon and i go...
look...we have 4 arms here...this arm, this arm and this arem ALL look the same...they all look normal...this arm however doesnt and theres a 1" gap...now which ONE is the one thats NOT normal...

you just need to pull this over" he tries to tell me agian...
by this point dads also getting realy angry with this guy...as i said wev been using bpbs since we moved here 11 years and NEVER had to ARGUE with a service tech...especially with a problem so obvious...the arm of the chair is splaying and the cushion foam is collapsing and the sofa is less than a year old...
dad says NO...
so the guy takes the cusho off and sees the foam is collapsing...he goes, well heres the problem...i can just shove a little batting in here and then you fluff it and itll be fine...

im FUMING...you want to do WHAT? rather than FIX the issue you want to shove some batting in and bandaid it...
my respnce NO...that is NOT the answer!
he loks at dad as if dad was going to leash me...
futs with the cushion some more...tried to turn it so the zipper was in ebtween th 2 ushions rather than at the back (these cushions can only go one way) when that didnt work, the tries switching it with the cushon directly next to it...you know, like that would mjogally make the other cushion fit right! then he pulls the cushion over as far as he can to meat the arm of the chair,,,theres still an odd gap and now theres almost 2inch gap between the cushions in the center...
he then proceded to start with the "jyou just need to fluff this and pull it over schpeial...

oh i was so mean..and i dont even feel remotly bad ofr it...i go "LOOK you idiot...if those 3 are normal...and i walk over and point out the cushion meets perfeclty no tugging on the fluffy but, no shoving it into the cushion to fill a gap, and poiting out...see normal, see normal...see this ones noral too...then what the HELL does that tell you about that arm...

dads backing me up in the meantaim point it out too...

then he has the cheek to go...well if this has been going on for so long...why didnt you call us earlier...
me...we did...you came out and told us to fluff the cushons...
him...no i didnt...
YES you did and you mentiond yourslef as you walked in the door that youd been her before...
him...scilence for a moment...


so he stammers then while holding his clipboard with a pen on a string attatched goes "umm i have to go to my car and get a pen..."umm theres a pen on your clipboard...
i have to go outside to get a pen...
dad goes, im in a house with a million pens...
i have to go outsie to get a pen as hes heading for the door...
dad is now fuming because he HATES being brushed off and hates being lied to...we knew this guy was going to go crying to his boss about how mean and how were not accepting his answer ect...so he goes...listen...you lie to me one more time and ill be calling your superviser myself...if you want to go outside ot make a phone cal say so....but you have a pen and were not idiots!

the guy BOLTS...es gone for a good 15 mins, in the mean time dad takes pctures of the problem with his i-phone directly and calls customer service cause while ill admit we were giving this guy attitude and i was in the serious mood to get in a fight already...he walked in with a roll of the eyes and attitude...and neithe rme or my dad take that anyway even if we wernt already having a bad week...

so he comes back in with his boss on speaker phone...tells us he cant fix the problem and the manager will be calling to try and sort out a solution...then tells us we NEED to sign the paper that clearly stated the issue had been adressed and resolved...dad saw it said no...so hes ON SPEAKER with his boss and asks about the signiture, his boss says, if they want to sign it they can, however because the issue has not been resolved they are not required to sign it...
my dad..being the guy is on speaker...goes "look mr supervisor..." and the "repair" guy goes "you cannot talk to him sir, this is MY phone, you cannot talk to him..."
so my dad goes, then NO i will NOT be signing your peice of paper, and then even louder...and you can tell the supervisor currently on speakerphone i refused to sign it too...
so he grabs his stuff, im retty sure by this point he thinks were going to feed him in tiny peices to the dogs and hurries towards the door...in the mean time hes still got his superviser on speakerphone and hes getting reamed out for taking attitude with a customer...

Oh my goodness MR fluff the chusion guy SERIOUSLY bad day to be comming in here and treating us like 5 year olds...fluff the cushion on a 1 yr old loveseat with an obvious manfacturing or structural defect is NOT a good answer....
so if we dont get a call on monday (were told there open monday) dad will be calling them...and if they dont do whatveer it takes to resolve it well be calling "bob" directly (he clearly states on his ads that he can be contacter directly for any dissatisfaction isues...and oh boy...we will be if they dont fix this)
we dont want a whole new couch...but this is clearly not right, you cant sit on it comfortably, it looks a mess because theres a HUGE gap which you literally fall into...we like the sofa...but the loveseat doesnt work..replace the loveseat or give us a refund on just the loveseat so we can replace it with something we can sit in withint being consumed by it...

 

[dragonlaurel]

Relief !!!!! This sounds good. :bun These smileys are burning off some of the energy from the moving stress.

 

[pinkfox]

as a bonus, my frined ashley, one of the few frineds that actually makes an effort has monday night off and since ill be around shes omming back down and were gonna have a firepit ... shell be burning her wedding stuff now shes divorced (messy) and i get to burn the agreement form the idito movers that screwed me over...itll be clensing lol

 

[Denim Deb]

Don't burn the stuff from the moving company until you have your money back, and anything else they should cover! That way, if for some reason, you NEED to take them to court, you have your evidence.

 

[pinkfox]

i have it all saved on the computer..including all the call transcripts form every call betwen myself and the driver, myself and the company and visa versa as well as any my dad answered too! having vonage is realy helpfull overall, sucks that it doesnt work if your internet goes down, but the fact is has bouncable call forwarding (ours goes through 5 different cellphones if it cant get the house phone lol) but it auto transcripts EVERY call comming in or going out too so any issues...i have every conversation ive ever had with these idiots.

i just want to burn something that represents them as a clensing ritual...

 

[dragonlaurel]

Burn a copy of the info but Keep the originals for evidence!!!!! Originals are taken much more seriously in court cases. This company may have it coming . . .

 

[Wannabefree]

I know a few folks willing to help unpack. It really should be no trouble. My brother used to do it for a living I'll call him first and see if he's available when you give the word. At the drop of a hat I know I can round up 4 folks minimum. Lots of my friends/family do not do much during the day, but have night shift jobs and seem to never sleep anyway It'll be NO problem on this end. Just say when

 

[pinkfox]

oh that would be amazing...i dont have alot to offer in terms of cash (or a hot meal) lol, but as i said, theres realy not that much stuff so i cant see it taking long at all! and i have the truck for 3 days so plenty of leeway for "schedualing conflicts" LOL!

Ill know by tuesday afternoon what the actual delivery date will be but itll probbaly be Tuesday 18th which means ill have untill thursday to empty it.

the great news about all this mes though is the price difference between this and the moving company with $100 set aside for helping hands (be that to give them cash or to buy beer/drinks and some form of nourishment for them) it should give me enough to get my fridge! woot


as a side note, do you have any exerience with southern community bank?
im gonna need a bank and right now free checking/lw cost saving is the key and i found these guys online.

right now im wells fargo, the closest one is way too far with no local atms either which just makes it ridiculously inconvenient, especially while there now talking about adding fees for this that and the other thing.
ive looked at a few others in the general vicinity and they all have monthly ees associated if your balance goes below $750 (i dont think id normally have $750 in my checking on a good month lol)
sure its only $10 or so a monht but still that adds up...
communtiy south have a complelty free checking with first order of checks free, free internet bankiing, free atm/debit card and basic services.
they also have a basic savings that requires a $50 min balance (which i try to keep in there anyway) i dont use my savings account all that much, its usually for christmas money...so i figured it sounds like a good deal. they have 2 branches within 30 mins of me...both on the way to places i would normally go anyway (selmer, and adamsville on the way to savannah)
worth it?!

as i said i HAVE to close my wells fargo account either way because the closest branch in memphis is about as convenient as a brick to the head...so im gonna go on tuesday after the moving truck has been so i have a guarenteed amount i need to pay them...take out anything more than i need to pay the moving company and make sure i can close the account over the phone.

I would close the account before leaving but since i need a debit card to pay for the moving company when it arrives at the new house, and a new debit card wont come untill 7-10 days after the account is opend, i dont want to be stuck...
my other option would be to pay the money due for the truck (current quote plus a little for leeway) off my credit card NOW...then on tuesday go in and close my account, then put the moving truck on my credit card (12 months interest free) since id alreayd have paid off the cost of the truck off the current balance id be out the same amount of money either way and wouldnt have to worry about closing my bank account over the phone lol.

i also need to find a Vet for the critters...
normally it wouldnt be a rush but...about a wek and a half after we arrive i need to get my ruby girl an xray.
palipiated today and it looks like shes going to be a momma in early november! VERY excited.
this will be her second litter...
yes im a "back yard breeder", my dogs are not show champions, there not AKC reg (well my male is),
BUT they are prc-PCRD clear, amazing pets, great personalities and lovely examples of the breed in the eyes of 3 judges (two akc one whome d never met or talked to before).
I am a horrible person in that my dogs are not yet OFA and i wanted to get that done but its been so crazy i didnt get chance before ruby came into heat again (and its a little over a year since her first litter which was accidental)
she had 5 pups her first litter all are amazingly beautiful and well loved, im hoping this one will give me similar results.
and shes an AMAZING mother!

i just hope she doesnt do to me this time like she did last...i took her in on day 45 (it was an accidental but i keep track, and knew exactly what day it happend), vet xrayed...and nothing...now skulls and spines dont calcify till day 42 so he tells me, i dont see ANYTHING...not even shadows...and im loking at the xray and hes right, theres NOTHING in there, not even a gas pocket, her abdomen was just dark and healthy looking...
he tells me i must be mistaken...shes not pregnant, or if she is shes not even o day 30...i must have my dates wrong...(i was a vet tech i know how these things work) i figure it must have been a phantom pregnancy...ok no problem took her home and kept a close eye on her food intake ect...within a matter of days you could see odd lumps, then i decided to take my stethoscope to her and sure enough, heart beats, though im not trained enough to count them) and within days you could SEE and feel those lumps moving around...
she had her babies the exact night i predicted she would, exact to the date of first breeding, the pupes were fully formed, healthy, perfect in every way...my math was right...
im not sure how she managed to hide 5 of them in there on the xray, she should have clearly shown all those little skulls and spines that day...dont know where she put em all to hide them...
was annoying those cause an xray especially around here isnt cheap so i was out that money with no answer and i like haveing an idea of how many to expect for safety reasons!

some people will think im a bad person for allowing more puppies in this world...but i can assure you, these babies ont just go to any tom dick or harry, i keep tabs and if they cant stay with their new people for any reason...they come back to ME...no pound for these babies.

im upset wiht myself that i didnt get he OFA in (health is my biggest concern for any breeding dogs, i dont belive you have to show, but i do belive in strict health testing), but im excited for nekkid puppies!

 

[Wannabefree]

There will be no cash requirements from me and hubs Consider it a housewarming gift May have to give some of my buddies a soda and a sandwich though It'll take no time I'm sure, so I'll try to round up a couple of favors.