Boxes Boxes Everywhere

I am absolutely amazed, slack-jawed if you will, at how successful my move was. I was pretty sure that not hiring professional packers for most of it was going to come back and bite me in the ass. And then, when the van showed up on Wednesday morning with my boxes, all my fears were realized as I stared in horror at the scene that unfolded.

I'd say most of the boxes were damaged in some way. Some boxes completely crushed in on the sides/corners. Others more or less ripped open on the sides. And the idea that "This End Up" could mean anything was thrown right out the window.

So, I decided that it wasn't worth the extra money to pay somebody to move my stuff from the van up two flights of stairs into the flat, since the shipping company wasn't going to. I got a quote for two guys to come and move my 37 boxes, for £180. Really? Nearly $400 for no more than 20 minutes of work. I decided I could do it myself (and worried that I wouldn't be able to).

Essentially I've got three strikes against me now: I didn't hire professionals to pack it, the boxes were nearly destroyed upon delivery, and I decided I could move it in myself.

And yet, a light at the end of a very dark tunnel. I actually managed to get it all upstairs by myself (the driver helped with the heaviest box thankfully) in about 45 mintues. Nobody stole any boxes while they were there on the street, and it didn't rain until after I moved them all inside.

Still, I was pretty sure that I would have to buy an entirely new kitchen. I opened the first box, all wine glasses and extremely breakable stemware. Nothing broken! I couldn't believe it. Every glass I took out, I was holding gingerly in order to catch the broken pieces. But they came out just fine.

I had to get into work, but before i did that, I just had to find out about the rest of the kitchen. So I opened 3 more boxes. Two with glasses/mugs, and one box of dishes. Out of the first 4 boxes, which encompassed essentially 90% of the dishes and glasses we own, I had only 1 broken mug.

I'll have some pictures, and more details of the unpacking tomorrow.