The big move update, part 1

Well, it's started -- the big five-person move to San Francisco. The car shipper guy came this morning to pick up our cars.. after the big inland hurricane last night left trees down and roads flooded all over Chicago, I wasn't so sure they'd be here; but they were -- ninety minutes early! The phone rang at 6:30am.

It's fun when all the neighbors think your cars are being repossessed... I can only imagine what they were thinking -- "Why is he standing there, talking to that repo man as he puts the cars on the truck? Why isn't he mad?"

The company that we're using to move cars is eBay Motors' "preferred" car shipper, so the driver had lots of fun stories to tell about cars he delivered to people who'd never seen them, and the reactions that they give. He told about one guy who'd ordered a 70's-era Charger. This car looked mint in the pictures, but when it actually arrived, it apparently was a different story. It'd been in some kind of accident, the firewall was all jacked, axle kind of bent, etc. The sad thing is, once you get to that point, you've already purchased the car so you're kind of screwed. The guy who bought it didn't even want to sign for it, but he had to; he owned it so he was responsible for it. After delivery, you have to fight it out with the seller and eBay. Good luck with that!

Next on the hit parade -- packing, which starts Monday. We all will move into a hotel while this process is going on. Our place is way too small for five people and eight million half-packed boxes.