Rules for Unpacking

It sounds so simple. The idea of moving from one place to another.  There is always so much excitement about moving to a new location.  Think about moving to college or from home to your first apartment.  It is usually a positive experience before it happens.  So when moving is involved I like to set out some goals to help ensure it is a positive experience.  I like to create a schedule so I would like to share that with you.  I am not sure it will fit your needs but even if it is a small help then it is all worth it.

First thing I like to do is plan out how much stuff you will be taking with you.  I know this is really hard because everything has a different size.  If you are able to eyeball the amount then you can get an idea of what materials and even equipment you will need to move.  I like to think of packing in terms of shipping boxes.  Think about your clothes and get several different sizes of shipping boxes to estimate how many you will need. From there you can get an idea if you will be able to use a van, truck, or maybe even just cars to move.  If you need something larger like a trailer or a moving truck then you will have to make plans to get one. 

That is the next step, set a schedule for transportation.  This may be as simple as calling a friend who has a van or a truck. But make sure you know how many trips it will take and how much stuff you have.  You want to be honest with them in how much gas it will take and what types of materials they will be moving.  If they are moving steel items that may scratch or dent their vehicles and no one wants to be that friend.

Once you have it all packed up and have got the vehicles set aside to move you are almost there.  The move day arrives and you get all the items and boxes in the new place.  Then the fun part starts.  You must unpack and this is the part you need to plan.  Most of us get the important stuff unpacked within a few days, but there are always 4 to 10 boxes of things that don’t get put away.  So I suggest you put it on a calendar to unpack one box each week until they are gone.  Boy it looks like it will take months, but if you don't do it it could be years or never!  Hope this schedule helps a little and I wish you the best of luck moving!

Is it safe to ship again?

Today is certainly different than it was 7 weeks ago.  Currently, almost my entire country is on an emergency shutdown.  We have not been able to leave our home except for essential and emergency situations for 7 weeks.  This is all due to pandemic.  It has been labeled a pandemic and it has certainly made lots of normal things hard.  I generally sell several items a week online and to be honest I am not sure if it is safe to go out.  If the virus is so easy to spread I am not sure I want to take the risk of shipping until there is a vaccine created. So I am going to go over a few things I am doing before letting my shipping boxes be taken to other people.

I have now decided that it is going to be ok for me to do some shipping.  There is risk involved in everything we do in life.  Take driving for instance, there is a greater chance of getting killing on my way to work than any other risk I will take in life.  That is really wild to think about, its more dangerous to drive than to get all diseases in the world at least in general. So it is ok for me to take some risks and get my sales back on track.  So what I do is clean all my items with intent. 

Before I ship an item I get a clorox bleach wipe and bleach the entire item.  I then carefully pack it up in paper and not plastic.  I have read many articles that say the virus only lasts a day or two when attached to paper and can last 3 to 5 days on plastic.  So I have made the change to paper.  Yes, it does cost more to pack in paper or styrofoam but as a health risk I think its a wiser choice.  I don’t want to be responsible for giving the virus to another.

 

Once the item is in the paper I then take a antibacterial cleaning spray and mist the paper product.  Then I place it in the cardboard box. Most shipping boxes are made of cardboard and I believe that is the same as a paper product. Please see your healthcare provider to check on any medical facts.  I then tape and attach my shipping label to the package.  After all I spray it with the antibacterial spray again. This makes me feel better about myself not passing the virus on and keeps my customers safe.