Thursday, August 19, 2010

PART FOUR. The Move. Number Three. Moving Day

At last, Shloimy,  moving day has finally arrived.

For the last four days, ever since the packers had finished packing, you have been living with boxes everywhere.

The living room--boxes stacked.

The dining room--boxes stacked.

Every bedroom in the house--boxes stacked.

Get the picture?

You have converted your house into a warehouse!

And then, exactly as promised, the truck shows up. Mind you, this isn't just any truck. It isn't even a moving truck. It's a shipping container on a truck-bed!

Shloimy, do you know what a shipping container is?

No?

Well, picture a railroad car.

Got that picture?

Well, a shipping container looks exactly like a railroad car with two differences. First, the door is in the back, not the sides, and second, there are no wheels. It's just a metal rectangle that sits on top of a truck bed. At your house, the container will be filled and the doors closed, locked.  The truck then drives away, to the port. Then, at the port, a crane will lift it up onto the top of an ocean-going freight ship. All the shipping containers, you are told,  ride like that, piled on the top deck, outdoors.

On your residential street, in front of your house, that's a big truck!

They park. They  open the doors at the rear. They pull out a ramp. They adjust the ramp at the rear, where the doors are.

They are ready to load.

The loading is simple, Shloimy. Every box is a rectangle. Every piece of furniture has been wrappped in a rectangluar-like shape. Every inch of space in your huge shipping container is packed. Rectangle is against rectangle. There are, curiously, very few odd shapes. And no gaps.

The container is filled, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling.

It looks like a puzlle made of simple, rectangular shapes.

Now you understand why the packers/movers were so concerned about the book boxes. The boxes are stacked 7-8 high, floor to ceiling.

If the boxes were not filled to the brim, the bottom boxes could collapse under the weight of the boxes on top of them.

If the boxes are too flimly, the same thing could happen.

Collapsed boxes could cause shifting, and you do not want that weight shifting in a container on top of a ship on the high seas.

Everything has to be snug. Every box has to be strong. The chance for shifting has to be minimized.

Now do you get it?

You watch the movers work. It is hard work. But they move quickly.

 They ask you, where are you going?

You tell them, Israel.

They're impressed. They ask, isn't it dangerous there?

You tell them, no.

They stop. They look at you. They say nothing.

The movers work quickly. Very quickly.

An hour later, they ask you, when are you supposed to receive this container, in Israel.

You tell term, 3-4 weeks.

They stop. What?

You repeat. 3 -4 weeks.

Two of thenm look at each other. Who told you that?

The Israel Mover, you tell them.

They look down. They say nothing. They turn away.

You walk over to the Foreman. What's up here? Why that reaction?

He explains. Nothing gets over there that fast. They probably told you that just to get your business.

So how long should it take?

He didn't know. But not 3-4 weeks.

Oy!

The movers finish loading rhe container in less that four hours. The container doors are closed. The locks are attached. You sign papers. The truck drives away.

You have just recently found out that, because of how the insurance calculations are made, you have insured your earthly possessions for more that $50,000.

You thought that the shipment would take 3-4 weeks. Now you're not so sure.

Oy!

You watch the truck and its metal  box drive away, down your street. Suddenly, you have mixed emotions about all of this. You think about the journey your possessions will be taking.  You think about how much money all of this is costing you. All of your belongings will have to sit on top of a ship on the Atlantic ocean, exposed to the elements. You wonder, insurance coverage of  $50,000+ is a lot of money.

Wouldn't you be better off if your container fell off the ship?

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