shinewriter

A Rolling Stone’s Guide to Moving House
By
Stephen Clover

The best place to start is on your knee’s. I’m serious! Once it is all sorted out with the Almighty here’s what you might expect to happen. Lol.

A garage sale. Lots of people come to them and they all like a bargain. So why not give them one. Often we just give things away. And when you give to the poor and needy God pays wonderful interest.

For the things you want to take with you, the place to visit is the appliance shop. They have cartons that washing machines come in. These boxes are good for us movers. Supermarkets are another place to get cartons. Even your local McDonald’s has a supply of fry cartons and yes they are all free.

Up at the house we are starting to fill the boxes. Instead of using newspaper; tea towels and household linen is sufficient. This way two things are packed in one box. Clever eh. Always write on the carton which room in the house it’s going to. Then what is in it. You just never know when something might be needed in a hurry.

Power companies are an interesting group of people to deal with. Landlords and their agents fall into this category too. When dealing with them always be specific. Keep every scrap of paper. Always get a receipt when handing over cash.

You are now vacating the house. A good time to take a meter reading. Some power boards have separate meters for power usage and the hot water heater. Take a reading from each.

At the new place do the same on moving in day. Then wait for the bills to come in. If the discrepancy is more that 10-15 units it needs to be sorted out.

Telephone companies are sweet. Well in our opinion they are. Telecom and Saturn have always been very helpful. N.Z. Post always seem to get it mixed up. But the mail really does get through in the end. And their free change of address cards, are a Godsend. Stock up on them; you will be glad you did.

Please don’t forget your neighbours. It is they who will bring in your wheelie bin long after you’ve gone. Say goodbye to them. Leave on a friendly note.

With all these things going on you’ve probably sold the mower. So what about the lawns? Plenty of gardeners about. An average lawn might be about 20-25 dollars depending on where you live. What about that neighbour with teenage boys? They might want to earn some money?

When possible give some firewood and toilet paper for the incoming tenants. Often we will leave a box with tea and coffee. Also a note with your forwarding address is helpful. After all some mail does slip through the net.

The last thing to do is to look after the workers. These are the people who have carried your treasures up and down stairs. They’ve hung the same picture several times until you liked it. Some have given willingly of their time, cars, petrol and advice. Often a hot meal and cuppa tea are a sufficient thankyou.

Hine an I have been married 20 years. We have lived in 7 New Zealand cities in a total of 20 different houses. We have 11 children and 39 grand kids between us in what is known as a blended family.

So who knows we may move to a place near you. Can we borrow a trailer? Lol.

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