Sunday, September 6, 2009

You Won't Need 15 Coffee Cups

I feel like we may have overloaded on the “housewares”. Mainly because our apartment is a single bedroom but, shelf space is basic. You’ll have just enough space for the basic two-person items. We actually have 15 coffee cups for 5 living creatures and trust me, the last thing any of the cats need is caffeine (see list of broken materials and objects dating back to 2007 in all apartments lived in by said pets)

When moving here, don’t worry about your favourite dishes and focus mainly on getting your favourite foods up here. Even when you think you’ve brought enough food, just bring more. We hit Costco a few times and looking back on all we have stocked now, I would’ve traded Half my wardrobe and/or 9 mugs to have brought more food. If you think one bag of flour is enough, bring 4. I’m deadly serious. Your cart may look full at the store, but believe me, when you settle in and you’ve seen how much things really are up here, you’ll see. It’s not that we’re on short supply or anything. We just found that during the process of un-loading all our things we were questioning why we brought some things.

The real problem is: You don’t know how big or small your apartment will be until you get here. We’re very happy and comfortable in our quaint comfy space. (which apparently is somewhat of an Iqaluit institution, especially for bloggers!) Looking back, I think we would’ve tweaked our selected items for the 1500lbs we were allowed to ship. . . just a touch!

Finally,
In the beginning the moving company we were assigned didn’t seem all that reliable. We began to feel really worried about our stuff, especially the fragile boxes which we marked very boldly. Don’t judge a book people. I think everyone is worried when they ship such a massive load such a massive distance. Out of the 35 boxes/items/miscellaneous objects we only had two broken items. One plate and one mug (define: irony). It was no fault of the movers . . . it was the decorative stones we packed inside of the box with all the dishes!

5 comments:

sarahegn said...

argh now you tell me after I did my costco shopping...I was thinking I got enough but even my partner in crime did not think I got enough...oh well at least we learned our lesson for next year eh? I guess all we can do is hope and pray....

Nancy said...

Ah, movers... the first time I moved to Nunavut (it was the NWT back then), when my stuff arrived, the last item they dragged in was my ANTIQUE DRESSER, shoddily wrapped in cardboard, which was supposed to go into storage! I wonder what the movers were thinking when they misdirected my largest, heaviest and most valuable piece of furniture. It was pretty damaged (and I sent it right back into storage), but when I moved back south they repaired it for me for free. Glad to hear your stuff fared better!

You're so right about the food, that's what I always bring in lieu of clothing (I'm a contract worker so I'm in and out quite a bit). And junk food is at the top of the list... flour? Pshaw, isn't that subsidized still relative to the munchies?

Enjoying your blog- I think it's my first time commenting but I've been reading a while.

Anonymous said...

I was reviewing my moving documents the other day and it stated I couldn't move any food items, even non perishables, which I found kind of odd. Has anyone else you might know experienced this with their employer moving their stuff?

Jordan~Stephanie said...

Our documents said that as well, but the movers told us that if we had boxes pre-packed and labeled "clothes", etc. with a layer of sweaters on top, they would really have no reason to go through them. Thus, the unwritten rule is apparently to pack as much food as you can hide!

Anonymous said...

I have been enjoying your blog,videos etc. Many thanks! Please keep the tips coming, they are greatly appreciated...
We are headed up in 2010, just don't know yet if the direction will take us to Rankin or Inuvik or ?