On Logistics

[serinde]

I need to be out of my apartment in 2.2 months. That...is rather soon, when you put it down baldly that way. I had consciously put packing out of my mind, because that's one of those tasks in which early action does not redound to your benefit, mostly, and trebly so when Your Life In Boxes becomes a sliding-block puzzle on account of a total lack of storage; but the sweet spot of when to pack is at the pinnacle of a very, very narrow spike on the graph over time. And I think I am rapidly accelerating upslope.

So, pack what? Books (I can make do with the ebook reader), DVDs (I can make do with Netflix), stalled sewing projects (haw haw). The kitchen stuff I rarely use. Tchotchkes. ...that should keep me busy for awhile.

I'm also debating how best to acquire boxes. Last time, I caused U-Line to deposit an Imperial butt-ton of them on my doorstep, which was okay because there was a garage with no car in it to stage them in. I think that won't work here. But, it seems fiscally broken to buy them in batches-of-five from Staples or whatever. How do normal apartment dwellers deal with it?

I want to go to sleep, but I'm actually more awake now than I was at 5pm. I have also noticed the last week or so that I'm starting to get that electric-worms-under-skin feeling that accompanied last spring's extended freak-out. It would seem that I am stressed, and sublimating it. I would like that to stop now, but I don't know how to fix it.

Comments

[rone]

We purchased a good amount of used boxes from a local packing supply outfit for our move, in addition to a few new ones.

Anyway, 2.2 months for a tiny New York apartment? Should be a doddle. We packed up a 5 bedroom house, not counting the amount of shit we threw out and gave away, plus the shit we threw out and gave away at the new house, and there's still shit in the garage and shed of the old house which must be removed before we rent it out (and we want to rent it now because paying two mortgages sucks). SO GET CRACKIN', YOU.

[rbarclay]

In general, I haven't bothered starting to pack until 2-3 days before actually moving. Sure, it's possible to stow away un-used stuff like clothes-for-the-other-season, books, paperwork and bits of dishes and so on before that, but then one has to navigate around the boxes for too long and the cats are freaking out because of CHANGES-OMG-CHANGES for too long.

As for boxes, I usually ask around people who recently moved themselves and collect some used ones (maybe shoring up their help for moving in the process), then go buy some at the next big-ish DIY retailer (where there's also packing tape, lots and lots of packing tape).

[piglet]

freecycle! It's where I dumped mine.

[pndc]

My packing wheeze is to potter over to IKEA and pick up their BFO plastic crates which stack inside each other when I'm not actually moving home. Just try not to buy any more clutter while in there. Focus. Avoid the shiny.

You may however not want to do what I did and pick up 50l crates because they were the cheapest per unit volume. It turns out that 50l of books are quite hard to lift...

[heliumbreath]

The canonical thing here is boxes from LCBO (the monopoly booze retailer); if you consistently confirm a desire to have your purchases boxed even when only purchasing a few bottles you can soon accumulate several sturdy boxes that originally ensconsced a dozen bottles each. This _might_ work at some of your vendors.