On Tuesday we popped down to London to do the touristy things we will never get around to once we have acclimated to living here. The idea was to take advantage of a brief rest before our household goods arrived, because unpacking is so chaotic and stressful. We saw the changing of the guard (or at least the start before we grew bored and wandered off), took in the view from the top of Westminster Cathedral, toured the Cutty Sark, and when the skies started to spark with lightning took a boat tour of the Thames.
The next day the movers showed up with the 20 foot box we packed in early June in Seattle. It was still sealed shut, and when they cracked the bolts and opened doors water poured out of the container.
We all jumped back. Then we realized it wasn’t just water – the liquid running out was oily and dark. The movers described the smell as putrid, wretched. It smelled of the sea, and fish, and oil, and putrefaction.
As the day progressed they said they had never seen a shipment damaged to this degree.
Everything packed in the bottom of the container was wrecked.
The soft goods are permeated with a ghastly smell. Every single item of clothing, all the bedding, all plush toys, and most of the books have been ruined.
Also wrecked in the process, mostly by negligence on the part of the shippers, were sundries such as four bicycles. My hypoallergenic and very expensive mattress. The kids bed frames. Too many other things to list.
I am not fazed nor even particularly upset (I’ll save that for later). I just have a lot of work to do. I’ve spent the better part of three days and nights systematically surveying all the damage, making lists, throwing away the debris.
The insurance has already kicked in, a handyman is coming to fix our furniture and bikes, and I’m going to try and find a new mattress today (this will be challenging as bed sizes are different here). We have decamped to a hotel in the meanwhile.
I do apologize to everyone waiting to hear from me about manuscripts and book tours. Life has intervened and I will not be able to check email for a little while.