{"id":12233,"date":"2017-07-03T11:19:41","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T10:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/?p=12233"},"modified":"2017-07-03T11:22:01","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T10:22:01","slug":"truly-madly-deeply-busily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/?p=12233","title":{"rendered":"Truly madly deeply busily"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a mad weekend.<\/p>\n

Friday (though not the weekend) was mad.<\/p>\n

Saturday was mad.<\/p>\n

Sunday was mad-ish.<\/p>\n

I feel that I went to work on Monday just to get away from the mad.<\/p>\n

I am closing down a storage unit where most of my furniture, some clothing, and the majority of my \u2018other\u2019 belongings have been for the last two years.<\/p>\n

The idea is that as the work on the house completes, space will become available, and I can bring my things in to the home.<\/p>\n

Obviously there won\u2019t be room in the house for absolutely everything, some things will stay in their boxes, and will shift to storage in the garage, or in the loft.<\/p>\n

And some things will just get binned, after many years of loyal service *sniff*.<\/p>\n

But the majority of things should be OK.<\/p>\n

I had the trusty Man With A Van service booked for between 09.30 \u2013 10.00 on Saturday.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d spent a few days beforehand making space at the house, tidying, and at the storage unit, starting to filter what I might be able to throw away.<\/p>\n

On Saturday 09.30 came. And went.<\/p>\n

So too did 10.00.<\/p>\n

By 10.15 I had started phoning the Man With A Van company (straight to voicemail), and texting their mobile numbers (I have two).<\/p>\n

By 10.30 there was a solid and consistent lack of response to (now) two voicemails and two texts.<\/p>\n

By 10.45 the clock was fast approaching the point of no return, as I had to be out of the unit before Monday.<\/p>\n

Sam made calls and found a van hire place in Long Eaton.<\/p>\n

I knew I couldn\u2019t move all that stuff myself, so started texting people who I thought might help out as paid labour.<\/p>\n

I also asked Mark, off of Marks Munchies, the on-site caf\u00e9 where the storage unit is.<\/p>\n

Mark said he knew of someone who could probably step in. I offered a price. Mark said he\u2019d get back to me.<\/p>\n

I drove home to get my licence and the usual paperwork, and drove to Long Eaton to pick up a large van with a tail-lift.<\/p>\n

As I was completing the paperwork for the van hire, Mark\u2019s friend rang to say he was ready, willing and able, and was waiting for me at the storage unit.<\/p>\n

I was just about to set off in the van when I got a text from an unrecognised number that said:<\/p>\n

Hi just to let you know the driver is running late it will be about 2-2.30 when he gets to you thanks<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I called the number. It was the wife of the Man With A Van.<\/p>\n

I told Mrs Man With A Van that she was too late, that I was going to do this job by myself, and that I’d left various messages on Mr Man With A Van’s phone\/voicemail throughout the morning, and a final message telling him he was off the job.<\/p>\n

Mrs Man With A Van said Mr Man With A Van hadn’t told him any of this.<\/p>\n

By 12.30 I was back at the storage unit, and we had prioritised the loading. Because I\u2019m a planner. It\u2019s what I do.<\/p>\n

We grafted. We grafted hard.<\/p>\n

At 15.30 we had filled the van, leaving only a few items behind that could be taken care of the next day.<\/p>\n

That cup of tea we had, as soon as we got to the house, was most welcome.<\/p>\n

We unloaded.<\/p>\n

We grafted hard. Again.<\/p>\n

By 16.45 all of the heavy items had been put away.<\/p>\n

We left the smaller, lighter items in the back of the van overnight, and I took my helping pair of hands home.<\/p>\n

I was back at the house by 17.15, but unfortunately this meant that we had missed the viewing of Despicable Me 3 that I had booked tickets for.<\/p>\n

But I was probably too knackered to sit in the cinema and not fall asleep.<\/p>\n

On Sunday I finished unloading the van and ruthlessly tore in to the task of sorting stuff in to the categories of:<\/p>\n