Guess we'll start from last Thursday... it was late... I was still packing. Been procrastinating cuz I knew that we had an escape path. This wasn't the end game. We weren't motivated. But as we got to the eleventh and a half hour... I was focused. Started boxing like mad... organizing... stacking. Final count... 50 boxes. Small, medium, large. Each one labeled. Each one accounted for. Inventoried. I was confident I knew exactly where everything was. I was skeptical that the movers will actually read the labels and put the boxes where they needa go. More on that later...
Got to bed around 2AM.... everything was done. Remaining items were in the kids' room or bathrooms.
The movers said they'll be here at 9AM. I initially wanted them here at 8... but glad they planned it that way. Knowing full well that it takes time for people to wake up and get out of bed. I specifically left the final dribs and drabs of food to make breakfast and lunch. Then Joyce took them to school and I was alone.
Panic struck. The bathrooms weren't packed!! So I ran and grabbed one of the few remaining boxes and threw everything in there.
Panic struck again. Their rooms weren't packed. Alarm clock. Glasses case. Bed side stuff. I threw their comforters into a closet, ripped off the bedsheets and wrapped up all their pillows
Panic struck a third time. My grill. Heh... quickly disassembled it. And then...
At 8:45AM, I'm done. I have nothing else to do. I have nothing else to pack. Where are they?? I sit and wait. There's nothing to do, but wait.
They said they'll show up at 9AM. But no one is here. They're late. Dang it.
9:15... they show up. I didn't know what to expect. They sounded like they were middle eastern on the phone. Perhaps south east asian. Turns out... they're Eastern Europeans!! Wow... Croatians. That's new. Two Eastern Europeans. And then two Mexicans show up. Within 30 minutes...all the boxes are packed. cleared. And they have everything Tetris'ed into the truck. Onto the furniture. Dang these guys are strong. One man just picked up my sofa single handedly. Piece by piece... they get the furniture onto the truck. In the midst of everything... they see the box of biscuits dad got me for CNY... and I said..."Have it!!" They were famished. They were so hungry. I was glad someone liked it. HA!!! They finished half the box. And then finally... "the beast" - our upright piano. Heh... they're charging me an extra $350 for this. They owner bought a plank. The entire crew were nervous and discussing this the entire time. How to handle a simple upright piano?!?!
It was hilarious, side splitting, seeing them huddle up on how to move the piano. The last time we moved it... the Chinese overs did it in 5 minutes. 3 old Chinese men vs. this crew of movers. Amazing. Heh... but in the end, they figured it out. They even figured out how to get my grill and the 4 bikes on the truck. Lunch time. They needed an hour break. Much deserved. The best part about the break... one of the guys asked, "Wanna join us?" I didn't expect that... and I was touched.
But I didn't have time to have lunch. I hurried to the new house to install the most important thing of all... WiFi. The essentials. But of course... nothing goes smoothly. WiFi wasn't working. So while they were moving... I was on the phone with Comcast. Trying to multi-task to get it going... I failed. The guys showed up around 1:30 and the move continued. The first thing to decide... which way to go into the house. Nothing was easy... the front door with a big opening? Or the garage with plenty of steps.
After a series of contemplation... they started to unload, beginning with "the beast" going up a flight of cement steps and a flight of carpeted steps. How I wish we coulda said, "Leave it in the bonus room" adjacent to the garage. But that wouldn't work. Not for the future years of practicing. We ended up deciding to move the piano through the front door. It was a simple move... supposedly. But they made it soooo much harder for themselves. There should be a youtube video on how to move a piano for non-professional movers. I tried to interject with some of my thoughts... but why would they listen to a skinny Asian with no moving experience?? They aptly ignored my advice and continued their huddles.
They ditched the piano plank... exactly what the Chinese movers used. They had a nice dolly for rolling furniture...which they also ignored. Instead, they dragged the beast over 6 feet of cobble stones... leaving a trail of white paint. Then the used the fragile castors on the piano to roll another 20 feet before they got to a flight of 10 steps. 10 measly steps... 4 huge guys... 2 of which do professional strength training. They barely did it.
It was as simple as ONE TWO THREE...HUH!!! ONE TWO THREE...HUH!!! Nope. Instead, they tried to power through it with brute strength. A piano. Without proper handles. CA-BOOM!! CA-BOOM!! And with two steps to go.... they were all spent. I was so scared that the piano will come crashing down... smashing my two movers... and making a new opening next to the front door. They struggled. They cried. They used every last bit of their God-giving strength to heave the beast up that last step. I stood there... helpless. Scared. Fearing they'll die. And then... they finally got it to the top.
"Hold on. Stop!" One of them cried. "I'm gonna black out." That's how much strength they exerted. More than they ever expected. "I should have charged you more for the piano." The boss said to me. But honestly... I wouldn't have given a penny more. I tried. I tried to call professional piano movers. But no one called me back. The one who did call me back backed out after hearing about the stairs. And to think... me and my college/high school friends moved that very piano from Daly City to San Jose. Man.... we were strong (and stupid).
From then on.... it was a breeze, all things considered. We had four flights of stairs. I tried to help (to hurry the move, cuz I was charged by the hour.). But I needed to be by the truck to direct traffic. "That goes to the garage. That goes upstairs."
I wasn't expecting them to follow the labels on my box... I was expecting all the boxes to end up in the garage and Joyce and I would need to lug it up the stairs ourselves. But they were professionals down to the last box. Every box.... ended up exactly where I had wanted them. My calves were so tired from running up and down the stairs. And that was without carrying 50 lb boxes!!! How did these movers do it???
From then on... and for the next 3 hours.. they methodically moved every single box to its final destination. And when it came time to pay my bill... they charged me exactly what they quoted me. Drive time. Stairs. Piano. Gas. Etc... they were not cheap... not by a long shot. But I enjoyed my conversations with them. I enjoyed the time I had with these overs. To a point, where I was wondering if they'll ask me for a tip. They didn't. Not a peep out of them... unlike my previous movers... how were downright rude and about to bust a cap into me for not tipping enough. I ended up giving a $50 to each of the movers personally... and they were ever grateful. Deep down... I feel like if I gave a $20... they woulda been happy. But so be it... what's done is done. Money... is worth less than it use to be. I'm blessed to be in my position. They gave me exceptional service... I will not be stingy, not in this case.
As we parted... I told them... "David.. I'm not kidding... I'm going to call you next time I move." And he replied, 'Thank you for the business, Henry. I will be ready. "
I was drained. From all the hustle and bustle. Luckily... we have our new neighbors, the Yu's, in which we had dinner together. I really wanted some comfort food of rice an Peking Spare ribs. Instead, we had Korean Burgers and fries. Close enough. I wasn't going to argue. I was famished. And then... our first night at new house...let the adventures of unpacking begin...
