Post by nina2 on Aug 22, 2008 16:50:57 GMT -5
A few days ago, in another thread, Keita posted a poem titled:
"A Psalm While Packing Books"
It really spoke to me, in so many ways. Around that time, I had been thinking a lot about what I have come to call "the MBS". Very simply, it stands for "Moving Box Syndrome".
How did I get to that MBS? What does it have to do, in a small way, with the poem?
I believe that we can - maybe should? - learn from everything. The fact is that in the past few years I have moved a lot, really, internationally, inside the US, and it does not look that it is going to just stop. I moved from California to France, then to the UK, back to California, and now in Texas. So, with that kind of moving, there is a lot of boxes involved! You box it, it goes on to the destination one way, you go to the destination your way, eventually, it all comes together, right?
Weeeeeelllllllll... Sometimes, it does not go like that. When I was preparing for the move from California to France, I did the boxing. I had the biggest size of moving boxes. I did read what was on the box, as the poem mentioned, weight it could handle, the measurements of the box, the tips to "pack it right". And, for good measure, I just super taped the boxed. I mean, I really went for it, all the seams, the edges and corners, and I felt like it would work out that way when I was done.
When we got to our destination, I knew about how long it should take for the shipment to come in. So, when it did not happen, and I did not hear from anybody, I got on the phone and started "inquiring".
I found out that yes, the boxes were in France, but obviously not where they were supposed to be, which was where I was. They were on the other side of France, in "transit". When I asked what could be done about it, I was told no problem, they will be re-routed to your current address. How were they going to that? Easy.... Just re-route them all the way back to Paris, and then back South!!!! Why not direct from where they were in the first place? They had to be re-assigned, and re-checked, and it only could be done in Paris. OK...
Of course, that was supposed to be done within 48 hours! But, again, no news... So, I called! And the plot thickened! Everything had reached Paris fine, but then, some of the shipment was in transit in one warehouse (by the way, they were trying to locate which one...) and some had been loaded on a truck that was going again, in the complete opposite side from I was. By the way, no, this was not a rinkidy kind of international moving company either.
Now, they had to locate where the part that did not leave Paris had been parked, wait for the truck to get back, unload, reload, and possibly have everything together and off the the right destination....
I did not obsess really about the whole thing. Not because I did not care, simply because it was literally out of my hands. I was however concerned about the boxes. They had been moved around a lot more than they should have, and I really did not want to dwell on that part either..
After being told basically every day "not to worry, everything had been found and on the way", finally, I got the call telling me that the shipment was there and could they deliver on that day, at that time. And that, they did.
When they brought up the boxes, as they were coming in, I started to have that "sinking feeling" because it really looked like they had been through waaaayyyy too much, way too long. Then, the guy tells me, big smile and triumphant: "there's one more!". And I just waited for that last one. And he brought it in, and was handing me the papers to sign, but I could not take my eyes off of that last one box: it was, originally, like the others, the biggest size, strongest, moving box. And, what I was looking at was for sure made out of carboard, and there were the tags all over it saying where it came from, where it had been (!) and where it had finally arrived, BUT that "thing" was actually round! It looked like a monster size cardboard, round thing and they still called it a box?
??
I did sign the papers, and yes, with all the reservations necessary, they left, I turned around and looked at that thing...
That happened in August of 2004, by the way. Since then, as I mentioned, I moved a "few" more times, still long distance. And true, that's where I got the MBS, but I never forgot that last box. And this is why:
- It had left from the right place, and it had reached its destination. The tags had never been damaged....
- The "box" itself, however it looked, had not burst on any side, not even a little.
- The tape that was securing the box and reinforcing it for the moving had not torn either, not anywhere either.
And, I did learn a lot from it, because:
- The manufacturer had specific instructions about and on that box, and I went by them.
- The manufacturer did NOT lie about his product and what it was meant for.
- I can only imagine what that box went through and how it was handled, or rather mishandled, while in transit. But the box did not burst, and the tape stayed in place.
- The box actually adapted to everything it was put through. But all that was coming from the outside of the box, not the inside. And the box, as a result of all that, changed shape. But it was still a box!
- All the moving around, on and off, stop and go, had changed the outside. So, I was wondering about the inside. It was actually very difficult for me to open that box! Because it just kept rolling away every time I tried to "tackle" it.....
- Finally, when I got to be able to see what was inside and in what condition, it was my personal 'stuff' only. As the box had had to stretch and adjust to what it was going through on the outside, the "stuff" inside moved along with it. So, it was not the way I had arranged it inside, it had, obviously, moved "around". Some things that were at the bottom were now on top, some were just stuffed in the corners in ackward positions, upside down, fitting into each others in ways that I could not have arranged myself. But they did that, following the pressures and motions from the outside. AND nothing was broken.....
Last, but not least, I mentioned that this was the box with my "stuff", and some of things might not matter to others, but if you went through anything like that, you are selective about what you pack, you take with you what "counts" (Keita, if you read that, you KNOW what I am saying...)
One of the things I had packed in that box was what I call my "Angels Collection". All of them were in that box. It had taken me forever to wrap them, to make sure that they would be ok. And here they were, bubble wrap all messed up, peanuts all around in the wrong places... And I started taking them out, I just "had" to see them. None of them was broken, not one of them was damaged!
That's when I passed out!.......
Now, after those few years and few more major moves, I do have the MBS. But, that one box still stands out for me. I traveled as much as those boxes, and there was a lot of along the way. And, maybe I look different on the outside, and for sure a lot has been re-shuffled on the inside, and maybe that was the purpose for it all, and maybe if I move again - and it looks like it! - some more will change in and out. But I won't break.
The fact is, we don't know what tests those boxes are submitted to before they are stamped with how much they can carry and what size they are. They probably already have sustained a whole lot more.
What we see is just the limit that we know of, not the real one....
Before we got here, He packed us with all the right stuff to sustain everything and anything along the way and reach our destination. That's my God, and He's able!
Chazak!!!!
"A Psalm While Packing Books"
It really spoke to me, in so many ways. Around that time, I had been thinking a lot about what I have come to call "the MBS". Very simply, it stands for "Moving Box Syndrome".
How did I get to that MBS? What does it have to do, in a small way, with the poem?
I believe that we can - maybe should? - learn from everything. The fact is that in the past few years I have moved a lot, really, internationally, inside the US, and it does not look that it is going to just stop. I moved from California to France, then to the UK, back to California, and now in Texas. So, with that kind of moving, there is a lot of boxes involved! You box it, it goes on to the destination one way, you go to the destination your way, eventually, it all comes together, right?
Weeeeeelllllllll... Sometimes, it does not go like that. When I was preparing for the move from California to France, I did the boxing. I had the biggest size of moving boxes. I did read what was on the box, as the poem mentioned, weight it could handle, the measurements of the box, the tips to "pack it right". And, for good measure, I just super taped the boxed. I mean, I really went for it, all the seams, the edges and corners, and I felt like it would work out that way when I was done.
When we got to our destination, I knew about how long it should take for the shipment to come in. So, when it did not happen, and I did not hear from anybody, I got on the phone and started "inquiring".
I found out that yes, the boxes were in France, but obviously not where they were supposed to be, which was where I was. They were on the other side of France, in "transit". When I asked what could be done about it, I was told no problem, they will be re-routed to your current address. How were they going to that? Easy.... Just re-route them all the way back to Paris, and then back South!!!! Why not direct from where they were in the first place? They had to be re-assigned, and re-checked, and it only could be done in Paris. OK...
Of course, that was supposed to be done within 48 hours! But, again, no news... So, I called! And the plot thickened! Everything had reached Paris fine, but then, some of the shipment was in transit in one warehouse (by the way, they were trying to locate which one...) and some had been loaded on a truck that was going again, in the complete opposite side from I was. By the way, no, this was not a rinkidy kind of international moving company either.
Now, they had to locate where the part that did not leave Paris had been parked, wait for the truck to get back, unload, reload, and possibly have everything together and off the the right destination....
I did not obsess really about the whole thing. Not because I did not care, simply because it was literally out of my hands. I was however concerned about the boxes. They had been moved around a lot more than they should have, and I really did not want to dwell on that part either..
After being told basically every day "not to worry, everything had been found and on the way", finally, I got the call telling me that the shipment was there and could they deliver on that day, at that time. And that, they did.
When they brought up the boxes, as they were coming in, I started to have that "sinking feeling" because it really looked like they had been through waaaayyyy too much, way too long. Then, the guy tells me, big smile and triumphant: "there's one more!". And I just waited for that last one. And he brought it in, and was handing me the papers to sign, but I could not take my eyes off of that last one box: it was, originally, like the others, the biggest size, strongest, moving box. And, what I was looking at was for sure made out of carboard, and there were the tags all over it saying where it came from, where it had been (!) and where it had finally arrived, BUT that "thing" was actually round! It looked like a monster size cardboard, round thing and they still called it a box?
??I did sign the papers, and yes, with all the reservations necessary, they left, I turned around and looked at that thing...
That happened in August of 2004, by the way. Since then, as I mentioned, I moved a "few" more times, still long distance. And true, that's where I got the MBS, but I never forgot that last box. And this is why:
- It had left from the right place, and it had reached its destination. The tags had never been damaged....
- The "box" itself, however it looked, had not burst on any side, not even a little.
- The tape that was securing the box and reinforcing it for the moving had not torn either, not anywhere either.
And, I did learn a lot from it, because:
- The manufacturer had specific instructions about and on that box, and I went by them.
- The manufacturer did NOT lie about his product and what it was meant for.
- I can only imagine what that box went through and how it was handled, or rather mishandled, while in transit. But the box did not burst, and the tape stayed in place.
- The box actually adapted to everything it was put through. But all that was coming from the outside of the box, not the inside. And the box, as a result of all that, changed shape. But it was still a box!
- All the moving around, on and off, stop and go, had changed the outside. So, I was wondering about the inside. It was actually very difficult for me to open that box! Because it just kept rolling away every time I tried to "tackle" it.....
- Finally, when I got to be able to see what was inside and in what condition, it was my personal 'stuff' only. As the box had had to stretch and adjust to what it was going through on the outside, the "stuff" inside moved along with it. So, it was not the way I had arranged it inside, it had, obviously, moved "around". Some things that were at the bottom were now on top, some were just stuffed in the corners in ackward positions, upside down, fitting into each others in ways that I could not have arranged myself. But they did that, following the pressures and motions from the outside. AND nothing was broken.....
Last, but not least, I mentioned that this was the box with my "stuff", and some of things might not matter to others, but if you went through anything like that, you are selective about what you pack, you take with you what "counts" (Keita, if you read that, you KNOW what I am saying...)
One of the things I had packed in that box was what I call my "Angels Collection". All of them were in that box. It had taken me forever to wrap them, to make sure that they would be ok. And here they were, bubble wrap all messed up, peanuts all around in the wrong places... And I started taking them out, I just "had" to see them. None of them was broken, not one of them was damaged!
That's when I passed out!.......
Now, after those few years and few more major moves, I do have the MBS. But, that one box still stands out for me. I traveled as much as those boxes, and there was a lot of along the way. And, maybe I look different on the outside, and for sure a lot has been re-shuffled on the inside, and maybe that was the purpose for it all, and maybe if I move again - and it looks like it! - some more will change in and out. But I won't break.
The fact is, we don't know what tests those boxes are submitted to before they are stamped with how much they can carry and what size they are. They probably already have sustained a whole lot more.
What we see is just the limit that we know of, not the real one....
Before we got here, He packed us with all the right stuff to sustain everything and anything along the way and reach our destination. That's my God, and He's able!
Chazak!!!!