Pack(ed) Out

Alright!

As of 4:30 PM yesterday, all of my possessions aside from those that fit in my car were loaded in a truck in the freezing cold, and I had a passel of carbon copied paper to show for it.  I am remarkably untroubled by this fact, which just goes to show you that I'm ready to be a bureaucrat.

In the meantime, I have a car full of stuff, a touchy little dog, and a very excited wife to cart around the country for a week before post starts.

If I could go back in time a week and do it all over again, I would.  While that's usually a sign that I've done something improperly, in this case it simply means that I learned a lot about how one packs in order to not have to pack.  (Incidentally, I am thankful every day that I don't have to go back in time and take the OA again, and doubly thankful I don't have to go back to Turkish immersion school.  Those were brutal.)

Things to change (and advice for future pack-out participants):

1) Start living out of a suitcase a day or two before, if possible.  I found dishes in the dishwasher and shoes under the bed after my bedroom and kitchen were already packed -- a problem I could have avoided by not using my dishes the day before and only wearing shoes I had packed in a suitcase. 

2) Group items by either room OR function -- not both.  This got confusing, as Mrs. Valdysses prefers one method over the other, and I feel differently.  In the end it wasn't a huge issue, but it might have saved some headache.

3) Don't forget how many clothes you have.  Because it is a lot.  I have clothes in the car, in the UAB, and in the HHE, and I have maybe 40% the clothes my beautiful wife does.  Clothes are unique to you in a way that appliances are not, so you're invariably going to bring them.

4) Prioritize by possibility, not productivity.  If I don't bring my computer, I can't operate.  If I don't bring a Kitchenaid, I have to knead dough by hand.  The absence of one makes a task impossible, the absence of the other simply makes it inefficient.  I'll take possible every time.

5) Bring your Kitchenaid.  Forget all that stuff I just wrote, with a kitchenaid you can make pretzels, and everyone loves pretzels.  Someday soon these wonderful people I will join in the 164th A-100 will decide whether they want to serve in some tropical paradise with me or with some other guy from A-100.  How do you not choose the guy who makes pretzels from scratch?!