unexpectedly good moving

[aroraborealis]

I help friends move because I like to be helpful to my friends, not because I like moving.

This morning, wolfkitn and her sweetie moved out of their 2nd and 3rd floor apartment (in a building with three? flights of steps leading to the front door) into their very own house (yay!), so I got up bright and early and headed out to lend a hand. I wasn't really very excited about it, in part because of getting myself moving so early and in part because, hey, moving.

Amazingly, when all is said and done, that was actually kinda fun! Not that I can't think of other things I'd rather do with all those folks than move boxes and furniture and such, but...

I got there a bit after 10, and already people were showing up (official start time was 11, but people were encouraged to come early, especially after yet another UHaul screw-up put a deadline of 4pm on the truck rental). By 10:30, big items were being loaded into the truck. By 12:15, I think we were done. The steps were dealt with through the simple expedient of a very efficient bucket brigade, which was then reinstituted at the new house, and everything was unloaded and moved into the house by shortly after 1pm.

And the most amazing thing? I'm not even particularly tired! No one person took on the bulk of the work, and there were enough people that one or two people could rest a bit at any given time, if need be, although mostly people didn't. Some people brought fresh produce from their gardens, everyone was cheerful and helpful, and I was amazed at how quickly and efficiently we got things done, and, dare I say it, actually had a pretty good time doing so!

What they did right:

* Packed lots of reasonably-sized, reasonably-weighted boxes, rather than fewer but more awkward or difficult boxes. All were in good repair and labeled clearly.
* Made clear instructions so that everyone knew what was happening.
* Provided treats for their helpers, including plenty of water and nummy muffins.
* Were cheerful and appreciative throughout.
* Put people clearly in charge, so that there was no dispute about what was happening at any given time.
* Bought us yummy Bertucci's pizza at the end.
* Were appreciative!

In comparison to the last move I helped with, it was a different world. I'll have to make notes for the next time I'm trying to gather help to move me, which, I hope, won't be for a while!

Anyway, the process today gave me a good idea of how a cooperative community could raise a barn in a day. Very cool.

Comments

[catya.livejournal.com]

yay, that's excellent!

i'm glad they had enough people, i was worried about not being there to help out.

leaving aside this past time of moving stuff which we were both at.. wow the one before that sucked. Not Enough People, and one of the two people we were moving was just Not Organized enough.

remind me of all of these things when i get to the asking-for-help part!!

[wolfkitn.livejournal.com]

yah, we actually had a ton of people, which was very gratifying. important to note that randysmith was a key component of the organization, being the primary above-the-truck organizer; and that his sweetie was the packing goddess. i do believe that she packed that truck to within 0.0005% of its capacity. must remember when and if we move again: 17 foot truck.

re: organization: i spoke about this with aroraborealis on the way from old to new house. i pointed out that we were, say, 95% or so (?) packed by the time people arrived. and i wondered if this was a problem (other than being embarassing for us). her comment was that as a person helping someone move, that wasn't the issue; the issue is, is the stuff that is being moved clear, labled, easy to carry, identified as heavy or not, etc.

personally, i think the real key was having the good food. :)