Well it is all over now. We are finally pack out and ready to head to Germany. This was a long and daunting process even thought the pack out only took two days, it was the most stressful time I have had in a long time. I guess the thing that makes it so stressful is the fact that you are constantly thinking about the weight of your goods. You see in the Foreign Service you only get to take 7200 lbs. with you to a post that is furnished. Seeing that Jakarta is a furnished post we only get 7200 lbs. It does not mater how big the family is it is still 7200 lbs. We packed out four shipments. Two air and two sea shipments, the air will go to Germany and San Antonio, while the sea will go to Germany and Hagerstown Maryland (storage).
We had a total of 178 boxes that went into 5 crates. Are you ready for the weight? Well I have to tell you that we were so close I would not let them close the last two crates until we received the final weight, just in case we had to remove any of the items. You see it is very expensive to have the Department ship excess weight. It comes out to about $3.00 Kg. I am not sure if the Department actually pays more for more weight or if they are charged by the shipper by container size.
The packers that we had were really good. They were even able to pack a few items that were strangely shaped. See if you can guess what is in each of the boxes. I will show a picture of what’s in the box when we get to Germany.
Box 41
Box 45
Box 166
Box 39
Oh by the way our weight was 7,071 lbs. Boy did we cut that one close.
9 comments:
We should totally be a team on "The Biggest Loser". Together we lost over 7 TONS in three days!!! Wish we could have a beer together to celebrate. Here's to you! -K&D
Congrats, that's good weight there! Crazy that it's not affected by the number of dependents! Good job though! Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades....and weight limits I suppose! See ya next month!
Doug calls them "cardboard artists". Your post makes me regret not taking more pics of the art our guys created. M & A went around writing silly things and their initials on the boxes, too.
- Kate
Good news is the card board art will show back up at your new place in Lusaka. Take a picture of the sculptures before you unpack.
Good news is the card board art will show back up at your new place in Lusaka. Take a picture of the sculptures before you unpack.
I got no guesses on those weird boxes. They could contain anything... I'm really glad the process is done, and shipping has begun. Now you can look forward to settling into Germany. :) And WE will see you soon!
I really like what the workers are wearing for foot protection. LOL
Funny that in this time of containerized shipping you are still given a weight limit. Last 2 times we did an international move (for a corporation, not government) it was a 40-foot container, period. Much better than the weight business, especially since I have -- literally -- a ton of books, to begin with. LOL.
Bon voyage.
Bobbie
Bobbie words cannot express my jealousy! The hand crafted furniture here is exquisite but also solid wood and very heavy. If I had a container (esp. 40ft!!!!) instead of a weight limit I would have had all kinds of stuff made.
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