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The Move

Shortly thereafter, Bruce lost his job. He found a new one in Denver for more money and a lower cost of living. So off we moved.  My husband, myself, Meera, Kelly,  a 14 foot python, and 3 hand raised cockatiels - or so I thought.

The job had wanted Bruce to come to work for them immediately. So off he went. I was to follow soon with the help of his new company making moving arrangements. They contracted with the Grabel moving company. The moving company sent out a man to evaluate the apartment and determine how many men and how long it would take to pack, load, and move us. He took a quick glance around the living room, peeked into each bedroom and left. This should have been a warning, but I ignored it. They sent me a letter telling me it would take two packers 1 day to pack most of everything. The packers would come back the next day to finish while 2 loaders loaded the truck. I called to tell them  “There must be a mistake, there was no way [they] could pack and load all of this in that short of time.” They told me “… they were experienced at this and could do it much faster then I would expect.”

 I sent the girls off to school, Meera now 13 and Kelly now 10 would be out of the way. The packers came in, told me to pick a spot for things I did not want them to pack (like clothes, medicine, suitcases) -- things I would need before the movers got to Denver a week later. I picked the corner of my bedroom. After the first day of packing the movers called their company and told them that, they had barely finished one quarter of the apartment. At this rate, they would never have it all packed and loaded by tomorrow. So after many calls back and forth, the moving company arranged for 4 men to come and pack and they would all load as they finished. The next day 5 men showed up - 4 packer/loaders and 1 truck driver. The truck driver showed up about an hour after the 4 others and immediately asked to use my phone. I overheard him talking to someone about a better job. He then came out of my bedroom and announced that my stuff was too “dirty” and that he would not move it. He left.

Stunned, I called my husband’s company and told them. They called the moving company. The moving company called me back to tell me that two loaders would be there to load my stuff the next day and that someone would be coming to clean my stuff. During the day my snake had died. It had died from a heart attack but I couldn’t prove that the movers had anything to do with it.

We were supposed to be on a flight to Denver that night as all our stuff would have been packed and moved. Therefore, I put the kids on the plane and arranged to get a flight to Denver the next day. I went to stay in a hotel. There was no way to stay at our apartment. The next morning I arrived at my apartment and could barely breathe from the fumes in the room. I opened the windows and then discovered my birds were dead. They had left a rag with cleaning fluid next to the birdcage and killed my cockatiels. I went to call the moving company but the phone was disconnected. We had arranged to have the phone turned off since we were supposed to have already beeen out of there. So I decided to call later from a pay phone.

The loaders showed up with the same driver. They began to load the truck. While they were doing this, I discovered that all the clothes I had put aside in the “special spot” in my bedroom were packed and so I would have to wear the same clothes for the second day. When I reached Denver I would be able to go out and buy something new. Meanwhile they continued to load the truck. All of the sudden the loaders came running back into the apartment. One of them was bleeding. He had a large gash down the side of his face and was near a concussion. I ran to the nearest pay phone and called the paramedics. I came back and asked what happened while we waited. The loader informed me that the driver’s wife had showed and gotten angry that he was loading the truck and had slugged him. After the paramedics left in tow, I called my husband’s company to tell her what had happened.  She replied “You’re kidding,” at which point I broke down crying.

 She believed me.

 She called the moving company on a 3-way call. I then told the story to the moving company secretary and she said, “You’re kidding.”

I said, “No!”

She replied, “ HOLD ON.  (pause) You must be telling the truth. One of our people just came in yelling that one of our men is in the hospital.” They arranged for another night in the hotel room and again rescheduled my flight.  They asked if I could please find the driver and have him call them. I went back to the apartment and found the other loader. We went looking for the driver in front of our apartment building, only to find the driver and truck gone. We found instead the boxes of all my things in the road. I stayed to guard what was left of my things while the loader moved the stuff back into my apartment.

 I went to a hotel and spent the night. Sometime about two in the morning I realized I had not seen the motorcycle in my parking space. Therefore, I called a friend and he took me to look. Sure enough, it was gone. We looked around and found it parked up the street. It still had the keys in the ignition. The truck driver must have unloaded it into the street with my other things and it had been stolen. It didn’t have any gas in it because it was being prepared to move. So, whoever stole it didn’t get far and just left it on the side of the road. Because it had no gas and at 2 in the morning all the gas stations are closed all we could do was push it. Ever try pushing a Harley half a mile at 2 in the morning?

The rest of the move went fairly well. I left for Denver in the same clothes I had worn for 3 days, a T-shirt, shorts and sandals, only to arrive in Denver in the worst blizzard in 25 years. The plane had circled for 3 hours before finally landing. I was so happy to be on the ground I didn’t notice that it was –18 degrees outside and 3 feet of snow, until I got outside the airport. Bruce took me to the nearest Wal-Mart and I bought new shoes, clothes, and a coat.

The moving truck arrived a week later at our new house. The president of my husband’s new company and the president of the moving company all showed up to make sure the unloading and unpacking went smoothly. The entire bill for moving $5000 was written off.  Compensation for dead animals and missing belongings added an additional $1000.