Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
NEG, I can relate to your true story, a similiar thing happened to me on the move from Michigan to Texas in 2003, and we had walkie talkies! This happened in Missouri, and it was terribly frightening because since I was following him I didn't know where the next stop was or how to get "there". We got separated when traffic got between us on a multi-freeway interchange and the walkie talkies went "out of range". I knew the name of the town we were staying at for the night but not the motel chain and had no map or anything on how to get there. I didn't think to write down pertinent information because we had walkie talkies. No problem, right? Duh, I was so wrong.
I got frantic and ended up off the interlocking freeways and lost in downtown St. Louis in a not so safe neighborhood. Somehow I found a police station and, using my calling card at the pay phone, had to beg 411/Operator Assistance to look at all the lodgings in the town of ? to see if I could find my reservation and have them relay a message to my husband when he got there that I was lost and would find my way there somehow.
I don't remember anything beyond being in that phone booth except driving late at night in the dark on unfamiliar winding roads, using the walkie talkie trying to contact my husband. I don't know how I got directions to the motel, I think I found the motel via the pay phone call. I remember making contact with my husband when I got in range, and pulling up into the parking lot and seeing him and our moving truck. I don't remember if he even realized I was "missing".
It was a nightmare that I don't wish on anybody. I aged 20 years in one night.
New England Girl --- That is a funny moving story! You can pass that one along to your grandchildren when they get bigger. So did you find out how you two caught up with each other?
DH, driving the U-haul ahead of us, remembers looking in his rear view mirror and seeing me veer off onto a road adjacent to I-70 following another U-haul. I have zero sense of direction. The little kids were crying saying we were doomed and would never meet up with dad again. Fortunately we were bright enough to have established a designated caller in case we got separated. We each phoned my sister from paybooths and figured out a path back to each other. The kids wanted to abandon me and the car and get in the U-haul with dad. Those midwest highways are nothing like what we were used to and the stress was unreal. (I ordered them all back into the car and somehow we arrived in MO in one piece).
It was a nightmare that I don't wish on anybody. I aged 20 years in one night.
Oh the days before cell phones. I would not go back to those times for anything.
In hindsight, we should have had everything shipped. But we wanted to save money and we had a lot of kid stuff to bring with us. That experience, and the experience later of cleaning out three elders' lifelong houses, contributed to my sense of aversion toward too many possessions.
A few years ago, with no opposition from dh, I made a pact with myself to let go of all "heavy possessions." With the picture frames, for ex, which were collectively heavy and largely unused, I vowed to replace them with the lightweight plastic standups. I got rid of all books I will never read again, books I was keeping for l.r. ambience. That ambience was several hundred pounds. Someone else has them now.
Heavy kitchen utensils, for the most part are out, but I cannot part with the beloved black cast-iron pans. I clutch those like my babies. I've given away "heavy" clothing like wool sweaters that require so much care, opting for layering with lightweight nylon sports clothing. Heavy wool coat, goodbye. Columbia jacket, hello.
Other heavy things like furniture I've done well with, getting rid of a 10-ton couch in favor of a nice futon couch that's a sleeper, and now lightweight l.r. chairs. My d.r. set is contemporary danish, easy to move around. If I can't move something by myself without effort, I am getting rid of it.
So what I have left that's heavy are cast iron pans, large plants in glazed ceramic pots, and a massive bedframe of Canadian maple....oh and a computer table with shelves. Here I am stuck, can't seem to move forward. I know some will say I'm jumping the gun and being a fanatic, and I agree. In honesty though, the lighter I go the more free I feel.
I too have a very nice microfiber couch that weighs in at about a ton.....How much did you sell it for if that's not being too nosy. See, I have no idea what to price things at. I am downsizing too for a move. I like what you said, If I can't move it I don't need it..Thanks
We recently moved from a larger house with a large great room to a much smaller house with, umm "much more cozy" size rooms. Much of my furniture was way out of proportion here. I sold a sofa and two large arm chairs at a local consignment store. I'd been thinking of putting them up on Craigslist was $200 for the sofa and $75 each for the chairs (I wanted to get rid of them more than I wanted top dollar) but the group went for $700 at the consignment store.
I have new furniture coming in a couple weeks for the living area and will need to get rid of the the furniture I kept, so I am about to do the whole thing again.
The consignment store does only want furniture in very good condition - no rips, tears, large stains - and it must be cleaned.
I too have a very nice microfiber couch that weighs in at about a ton.....How much did you sell it for if that's not being too nosy. See, I have no idea what to price things at. I am downsizing too for a move. I like what you said, If I can't move it I don't need it..Thanks
Sell it??? No, we gave everything away. We had to get mother out of there fast. I will never forget the six guys trying to get that thing out the door. It could have been used as a bunker in war. I hate heavy furniture!!!
I too have a very nice microfiber couch that weighs in at about a ton.....How much did you sell it for if that's not being too nosy. See, I have no idea what to price things at. I am downsizing too for a move. I like what you said, If I can't move it I don't need it..Thanks
To get an idea of how to price things, check out Craig's List for your area, see what similar things sell for. Also, you might "troll" garage sales.
In general, Craig's List the seller wants to make at least some money, while garage sales are to get rid of stuff. I keep in mind that when I have a garage sale, the buyers are hauling it off for me, saving me that hassle and expense. For GS, I price things to sell, for example, two glass-doored book cases, $25, one bedroom set---dresser and chest of drawers, $25, box of old linens, tablecloths, etc, $1 each piece some are new with tags or vintage----
realize you're not going to make much money for such sales, but you get rid of the items which "weigh you down"
It seems that most of the responders are couples. I am a senior divorced woman who is planning to move and either sell or donate all of my "worldly possessions", with the exception of clothes, TV, computer, stuff like that. Oh yeah, my sweet cat, Ms. Mimsy. We are a package deal.
Plans are to move into a furnished apartment somewhere close to the western NC mountain area. I am on limited income with a lot of bills, don't want to pay approximately $1,000 for a moving van, not interested in finding someone to pack a U-Haul and then unpack it once I get there. I think a furnished apartment will give me the freedom I need to explore the area, perhaps other areas, to see where I really want to be (not returning to NY state, thanks).
I have had to shed a lot of my possessions along the way. I'm 32+ years divorced, moved several times, decided it was time to pare down and get serious. I want to enjoy my life while I still can (I'm going on 73) and not worry about the furniture, etc. I will leave behind. As Tina Turner once sang.... "What's Love Got To Do With It?". Someone else posted that they took pictures of everything. Great idea.
It seems that most of the responders are couples. I am a senior divorced woman who is planning to move and either sell or donate all of my "worldly possessions", with the exception of clothes, TV, computer, stuff like that. Oh yeah, my sweet cat, Ms. Mimsy. We are a package deal. Plans are to move into a furnished apartment
Good luck finding a furnished apartment with a cat.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Couch
