Ve Got Our Vine!

Oh yeah, we also got all kinds of other stuff. You know, more stinky linens, books, pots, pans, Sterno¹…

Yes! They actually shipped our Sterno! They won’t ship matches (as a result of which my parents now have about 500 books of matches due to frequent moves on the part of their daughter-in-law), paint, propane tanks or baby elephants, but they’ll ship Sterno! So rejoice everyone who is coming to visit us this summer! For we will be able to have S’mores and fondue while you’re here! Just bring some matches with you. We have no way to light the Sterno.

Aside from being amazed at the discovery that we still have Sterno, almost everything else was normal for an overseas move. We had an amazing delivery team. What they lacked in promptness (we were told to expect them in the “afternoon” and they didn’t show up until 4:30) they made up for in efficiency. The team consisted of about 9 guys who never stood still long enough for us to get an exact count. Every one of them spoke very good English and it took them about an hour to unload all 95 of our boxes, unpack them and haul away all of the packaging.

The only thing that prevented this “normal” overseas move from being a “stellar” overseas move is the fact that our tool chest didn’t make it. It was on our cargo manifest, but it was not onboard the truck when it got here. We believe that it probably got placed into storage by accident, but we won’t know that for sure for a few weeks. We’re not too worried about it. If it’s gone, it’s gone. Everything was insured and the moving companies are liable for whatever doesn’t turn up in the end. It’s just frustrating to have all of our pictures, but no way to hang them.

So, here’s a packing list for everyone coming to visit us this summer:

1. Matches – for the lighting of Sterno and the making of fires.
2. Hammer and nails – for the hanging of pictures and the smashing of thumbs.
3. Baby elephants – for the confounding of airport security agents and the having of laughs.

-Dave

¹ Technically, Sterno is actually a brand name of cooking fuel², but it is such a commonly used brand that it has become a general term as well. It is still not a general enough term for spellcheck to recognize it, but then spellcheck also doesn’t recognize the very common word “spellcheck³,” so there we have it.

² For the uninitiated, “cooking fuel” is the proper name of that awesome blue gel you see burning under the food at banquets, weddings, and hangings. Weddings and hangings are actually much more akin than most people realize, but that’s a topic for a later post when I’m out of Melissa’s striking distance. Like when I’m back in the States.

³ Oddly enough, spellcheck recommends the word “spellchecker” in place of “spellcheck.” I find that odd since neither I nor the American Heritage College Dictionary have ever heard of the word “spellchecker.”