Helping friends move..

The Gaijin · 12:07 PM

Beware, angry rant in progress.

What is the worst part about helping friends and family move?

a.) Making you drive the truck?

b.) A wasted day off?

c.) Goofus 17 y.o. nephew the size of an Ox pulling you off truck ramp as your both trying to carry a 300lb piece of furniture?

d.) The unpreparedness of it all and the valuable time wasted?

e.) The general unpleasantness of dealing with other peoples filth, dust and dander as you move things that have not been moved in years??

f.) Your (aching) back at work the next day?

mattdavis11 · 08-01-2007, 08:48 AM

All that and having to buy the gas and beer.

Zeke · 08-01-2007, 08:53 AM

All of the above, but the best one is about the ox. Most people do not know how to move a heavy object and make a simple task much more difficult that need be. Even some pros aren't ll that savvy. I once watched a middle aged man move off a trailer and place a commercial market horizontal freezer by himself. He hardly worked up a sweat. Poetry in motion.

I hate moving with other people and won't do it any more. Of course, I have "senior" privilege.

Freybird · Freybird's Garage

If it was you moving house, would this friend be there for you?

id10t · 08-01-2007, 09:09 AM

Friends help you move, family (or really good friends) help you move bodies.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

The worst is when you show up to help someone move and when you arrive, they haven't even boxed anything up or packed at all. A fellow Navy coworker had a bunch of us help him move and he and his wife had not prepped at all and it was a mess!

My brother and brother-in-law did it the right way, they had everything boxed up and ready to go. They furnished the truck, gloves, dollies, drinks, food and had everything boxed and all boxes labeled since we packed, moved, unpacked and moved them into their new places the same day. Being unorganized is your own business, but when you invite others to help, you had better not waste their time/effort.

notfarnow · 08-01-2007, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milt

All of the above, but the best one is about the ox. Most people do not know how to move a heavy object and make a simple task much more difficult that need be. Even some pros aren't ll that savvy. I once watched a middle aged man move off a trailer and place a commercial market horizontal freezer by himself. He hardly worked up a sweat. Poetry in motion.

My neighbor runs an appliance shop. When he is moving large, heavy items he doesn't want help, he wants people out of his way. Pretty amazing to watch.

The Gaijin · 08-01-2007, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freybird

If it was you moving house, would this friend be there for you?

Yeah.....

mattdavis11 · 08-01-2007, 09:21 AM

The last time I helped anyone move (my ex-boss) was the best ever. He's the kind of guy who alphabetizes his pantry, and squares everything up. Nothing can be a 1/4 inch off. The beauty of it was that he was only moving 2-3 blocks, and was in no hurry. I helped him shuffle schit for nearly two months.

legion · 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azasadny

The worst is when you show up to help someone move and when you arrive, they haven't even boxed anything up or packed at all. A fellow Navy coworker had a bunch of us help him move and he and his wife had not prepped at all and it was a mess!

My brother and brother-in-law did it the right way, they had everything boxed up and ready to go. They furnished the truck, gloves, dollies, drinks, food and had everything boxed and all boxes labeled since we packed, moved, unpacked and moved them into their new places the same day. Being unorganized is your own business, but when you invite others to help, you had better not waste their time/effort.

My thoughts exactly. I helped a friend move across town a few years ago. Nothing was packed, nothing was organized. About six more people than necessary had been invited. We probably took 2-3 extra trips with the moving truck because of the disorganization.

When we bought our house, we invited one other couple to help us move. They showed up to everything already packed in boxes and labelled. Their job was to move stuff from location A to location B. No packing, no unpacking, no organizing, no decorating, just moving stuff. It took two hours. We did have them help place heavy furniture, but otherwise it "put the boxes labelled 'kitchen' in the kitchen.

trekkor · 08-01-2007, 09:26 AM

I have helped friends move upwards of 30 times.

If they are organized, clean and ready to go, fantastic! No problem. Happy to help!!

Not packed, short on boxes, TV and equipment still hooked up, no food or drinks and they just watch you work...Not cool.

KT

pwd72s · 08-01-2007, 09:32 AM

Milt and Jake touched on it...it's amazing how many people don't have a clue how to operate a hand truck. Use one correctly, and it becomes amazingly easy to move heavy loads. I consider myself an "expert" with feed sacks. Years of experience...

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Also, if you wear good gloves, you can move alot more weight and your hands don't hurt at all...

legion · 08-01-2007, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Milt and Jake touched on it...it's amazing how many people don't have a clue how to operate a hand truck. Use one correctly, and it becomes amazingly easy to move heavy loads. I consider myself an "expert" with feed sacks. Years of experience...

I guess I don't "get" this comment.

Are people just speaking of balancing the heavy object on the cart so that it takes minimal effort to push/pull it? I thought that was common sense.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

The last two times I moved, I hired a moving company. I'd just had ACL recon, and was in no shape to do it myself, and didn't feel like dealing with the hassles of wrangling up a U-haul truck that might run, manpower, etc.

The first move was picture perfect except for a couple minor details, which were truly minor. Due to some mixup, the bobtail they had scheduled for my move was committed, so they sent a semi. However, they only had one semi driver to work 2 jobs, so he dropped the trailer and two guys at my house to load everything up whilst he drove the other job, then came back and delivered my trailer. It lengthened the whole ordeal by 2 hours, but not on the clock. These guys were pros - one guy tipped my 5hp/60g compressor onto a dolly, and ran it up the ramp into the semi.

The second time was a borderline disaster. Neither of the two guys who showed up had any moving experience - there was an older guy who just happened to have the appropriate license, and a skinny 19 year-old kid on his first day at this job. They put one row of boxes across the floor of the truck, and then wanted to drive over and drop them off. They had no idea how to load the truck at all. They didn't know how to take a door off it's hinges, or any of the common moving tricks. In fact, they didn't even know how to get the ramp out of the truck - I caught them trying to lift stuff 4' or so off the ground trying to get it inside.

livi · 08-01-2007, 10:34 AM

I use moving companies and that is my recommendation to anyone asking for my help too. Never, ever again will I ruin my back on carrying big furniture up to third floor without an elevator. How people can stand making a living on it is beyond me, but to me it is worth every penny.

sammyg2 · 08-01-2007, 10:39 AM

That's why I don't have any friends.
Well, maybe that's not the only reason

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

When we moved from Berkeley to Claremont we used a moving company that was owned by a friend. It was f*cking great. They packed most everything, moved it without a hitch. Same thing when we moved from Claremont to Pasadena, then Pasadena to west LA.

I moved myself out of the house, doing 4 loads in the 4-runner by myself into my apt. When I moved from my 1-br to 2-br in the same building, I didn't even box stuff...just bought a heavy duty laundry basket and carried them from the 2nd floor to the first floor one load at a time. My g/f helped me carry one or 2 bulky things, everything else I carried by myself. Took all day, but didn't cost anything. Helps that I don't have that much stuff these days, although moving my studio was a pita.

Guess my friends got off easy.

Zeke · 08-01-2007, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

I guess I don't "get" this comment.

Are people just speaking of balancing the heavy object on the cart so that it takes minimal effort to push/pull it? I thought that was common sense.

You'd be surprised. But, get two people on that hand truck, one on the handles of the business end and one on the load end, trying to negotiate some steps or unevenness and you'll "get" it.

MRM · 10:54 AM

I try to be a good friend. One way I try to be a good friend is to hire professional movers. Last time we moved we hired a mover and asked a friend to come over to help open and shut doors. That was stressful enough and she was a great help.