Oh.My.Gosh. If you are military, have been military, or have heard about the military....nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can prepare you for the horror story that is my PCS move!!!! I say "is" because it is still ongoing...and I'm wondering when things will ever feel "normal" or "settled" again.
We have had:
- the movers from the darkest, innermost ring of hell! Forget that the packers were rude and incompetent. The moving company itself is beyond belief!!! BOTH our hold baggage (which was packed up on June 14th), and our household goods (which left our house on July 14th) is STILL IN GEORGIA!!!! We were told that our household goods were on a boat which left port on July 20th - LIE! - and our hold baggage would be flown last Saturday or Sunday, "for sure" - LIE!! Both are just sitting at the moving company and nothing has been done. Transportation here is run by Italians. They're nice, but totally worthless. And with the time difference, we have to keep calling, calling, calling them ourselves til late at night trying to find out what's going on. We get a lot of "oh, she just stepped out", "she's not at her desk", "can i put you on hold?"....ugh!!!
- super fun times dealing with Army Finance. We never did get our larger second part of our "advance" travel pay before we left the states. Then when we got here, not only did we still not get it, we got screwed out of a total of $4-5,000 traveling money. I was fit to be tied. Whatever, I'll get more money on my tax refund next year. *insert angry cusswords here*
- headache after headache dealing with the housing office here. It was ramping up to be another battle, but that was one we won because I got involved. There is a total jerk of a woman at the housing office here, with a notorious reputation. It's rumored that she gets kickbacks for off post housing so she never allows people to get the on post housing (which is actually off post but has it's own fence and gate like it's own little post). Well our sponsor, who is soooo awesome and Thomas' 1st Sgt, said the end unit next to him was empty and had been for a month. So we thought - great!!! But we were told we couldn't have it because it was for Junior enlisted only....even though the other three families living there were Senior enlisted!!! What the heck???
So I was like, uh huh, this is NOT going to happen, and I went down there to talk to the guy in charge. My plan was to be reasonable, and then resort to feminine tears if need be. Well the guy wasn't there and was going to be gone for a week (figures, right???), but we talked to another woman. She's from Spain and is new to the area too. I told her all the problems we had had, housing and otherwise, and explained our frustration and in doing so I really did break down because I was just soooo tired and done with it all!! She started crying too and gave me a big hug!! So bottom line - we got the house the next day!
Of course "getting" the house and moving in are two different things. I think I will either learn patience in this country or have a heart attack, because NOTHING is right away in this country and Italians aren't in a hurry to do anything, ever. But we moved in this past Monday and there was already furniture here. It was pretty clean too, although not "Jeannie Clean". The beds are so awful (think trying to sleep in wet cement) and I can't get a wink of sleep on them after two nights of trying. I'm going to borrow our neighbor's air mattress tomorrow and see if that helps. It honestly can't be any worse! At least Alex can sleep ok on the couch and Bella is ok on her bed.
So here's the things that are GOOD:
- Alex is here!!! I can't think how we would have managed without her!!! She is here til the 20th too. She's been a huge help in every way, and is able to drive us wherever we need to go, plus her big SUV holds all of us plus our PX and/or commissary hauls, lol!!! Bella is so happy to have her Sissy again. We don't know yet when she's leaving for Basic, so we might not see her again with that and her Tech School coming up. We got here on Wednesday, the 21st, and she drove down here from Germany on Friday, the 23rd.
- We're in our house, and although it's smaller and not carpeted, it's very nice and we have the best neighbors ever!!! We're also on the end and have lovely grass and trees!!!! It's surprisingly quiet and we're allowed to do whatever we want to in our yards - flowers, vegetables, decorate - anything!!! (pictures soon!)
- Bella's school is literally just down the street and it's brand new this year! It's just for elementary kids and looks awesome!!
- Directly across the street is the: 1) bus stop for the on post shuttle bus (runs every 30 minutes or so) and the Italian bus system, 2) the shoppette, 3) the CYS building where Bella will have her ballet lessons and 4) the on post pool!! We have the best housing possible!!!
- We have our own internet!! The internet at the hotel was so slow and this is lightening fast! We pay 29 euros a month for it, so about $40 or so. It used to take me an hour or more for even the shortest videos to upload on YouTube, but now it's 5-10 minutes!!
- Bella has had her school physical and sports physical already! She's getting her eye exam this morning. There is no longgggg waiting for anything medical. AND our brand new, state of the art hospital (and dental clinic!!!) will be opening in September!
- We will be getting a full refund from housing at Ft. Gordon - almost $600. You know, "eventually".
- We will be filing an Inconvenience Claim with the moving company today. They were contractually obligated to have our hold baggage here by July 28th at the latest, so now we can buy what was in there (not the Wii or games though, lol!), and be fully compensated for it. So I had to buy things the lending closet didn't have and we get to keep them, but get reimbursed for it too. Like bedding, cooking stuff, towels, etc. It will be over $600 worth of stuff!! You know, "eventually".
- We have done a bit of sight seeing and have loads of great pictures and videos to share soon! The restaurants so far have been AMAZING!!!! It's not cheap but oh so good!!! Gelato is every bit as wonderful as we had been told.
- We have a much smaller PX and commissary than at Gordon, but they do have almost all of my favorite "must haves"!! It's so nice to see familiar comfort items when everything else seems to be falling apart, lol! I also discovered an Italian "Vita Pop" microwave popcorn that tastes almost as good as my beloved popcorn from Rachel's husband Chris!! Which is great because who knows when my popper they gave me will ever get here!!!
So it's not all bad, and things are looking better. I think if we can just get our stuff, get settled and get back into a routine, things will feel more normal. Oh and sleep!!! I need sleep more than anything else at this point!!!!! If I am very, very lucky I'll get only a couple of hours at most. Exhausted doesn't even come close to how I'm feeling! But, for better or for worser, we're here!!
And I'd really LOVE some mail, so let me know if you need my new address!!! :D
We have had:
- the movers from the darkest, innermost ring of hell! Forget that the packers were rude and incompetent. The moving company itself is beyond belief!!! BOTH our hold baggage (which was packed up on June 14th), and our household goods (which left our house on July 14th) is STILL IN GEORGIA!!!! We were told that our household goods were on a boat which left port on July 20th - LIE! - and our hold baggage would be flown last Saturday or Sunday, "for sure" - LIE!! Both are just sitting at the moving company and nothing has been done. Transportation here is run by Italians. They're nice, but totally worthless. And with the time difference, we have to keep calling, calling, calling them ourselves til late at night trying to find out what's going on. We get a lot of "oh, she just stepped out", "she's not at her desk", "can i put you on hold?"....ugh!!!
- super fun times dealing with Army Finance. We never did get our larger second part of our "advance" travel pay before we left the states. Then when we got here, not only did we still not get it, we got screwed out of a total of $4-5,000 traveling money. I was fit to be tied. Whatever, I'll get more money on my tax refund next year. *insert angry cusswords here*
- headache after headache dealing with the housing office here. It was ramping up to be another battle, but that was one we won because I got involved. There is a total jerk of a woman at the housing office here, with a notorious reputation. It's rumored that she gets kickbacks for off post housing so she never allows people to get the on post housing (which is actually off post but has it's own fence and gate like it's own little post). Well our sponsor, who is soooo awesome and Thomas' 1st Sgt, said the end unit next to him was empty and had been for a month. So we thought - great!!! But we were told we couldn't have it because it was for Junior enlisted only....even though the other three families living there were Senior enlisted!!! What the heck???
So I was like, uh huh, this is NOT going to happen, and I went down there to talk to the guy in charge. My plan was to be reasonable, and then resort to feminine tears if need be. Well the guy wasn't there and was going to be gone for a week (figures, right???), but we talked to another woman. She's from Spain and is new to the area too. I told her all the problems we had had, housing and otherwise, and explained our frustration and in doing so I really did break down because I was just soooo tired and done with it all!! She started crying too and gave me a big hug!! So bottom line - we got the house the next day!
Of course "getting" the house and moving in are two different things. I think I will either learn patience in this country or have a heart attack, because NOTHING is right away in this country and Italians aren't in a hurry to do anything, ever. But we moved in this past Monday and there was already furniture here. It was pretty clean too, although not "Jeannie Clean". The beds are so awful (think trying to sleep in wet cement) and I can't get a wink of sleep on them after two nights of trying. I'm going to borrow our neighbor's air mattress tomorrow and see if that helps. It honestly can't be any worse! At least Alex can sleep ok on the couch and Bella is ok on her bed.
So here's the things that are GOOD:
- Alex is here!!! I can't think how we would have managed without her!!! She is here til the 20th too. She's been a huge help in every way, and is able to drive us wherever we need to go, plus her big SUV holds all of us plus our PX and/or commissary hauls, lol!!! Bella is so happy to have her Sissy again. We don't know yet when she's leaving for Basic, so we might not see her again with that and her Tech School coming up. We got here on Wednesday, the 21st, and she drove down here from Germany on Friday, the 23rd.
- We're in our house, and although it's smaller and not carpeted, it's very nice and we have the best neighbors ever!!! We're also on the end and have lovely grass and trees!!!! It's surprisingly quiet and we're allowed to do whatever we want to in our yards - flowers, vegetables, decorate - anything!!! (pictures soon!)
- Bella's school is literally just down the street and it's brand new this year! It's just for elementary kids and looks awesome!!
- Directly across the street is the: 1) bus stop for the on post shuttle bus (runs every 30 minutes or so) and the Italian bus system, 2) the shoppette, 3) the CYS building where Bella will have her ballet lessons and 4) the on post pool!! We have the best housing possible!!!
- We have our own internet!! The internet at the hotel was so slow and this is lightening fast! We pay 29 euros a month for it, so about $40 or so. It used to take me an hour or more for even the shortest videos to upload on YouTube, but now it's 5-10 minutes!!
- Bella has had her school physical and sports physical already! She's getting her eye exam this morning. There is no longgggg waiting for anything medical. AND our brand new, state of the art hospital (and dental clinic!!!) will be opening in September!
- We will be getting a full refund from housing at Ft. Gordon - almost $600. You know, "eventually".
- We will be filing an Inconvenience Claim with the moving company today. They were contractually obligated to have our hold baggage here by July 28th at the latest, so now we can buy what was in there (not the Wii or games though, lol!), and be fully compensated for it. So I had to buy things the lending closet didn't have and we get to keep them, but get reimbursed for it too. Like bedding, cooking stuff, towels, etc. It will be over $600 worth of stuff!! You know, "eventually".
- We have done a bit of sight seeing and have loads of great pictures and videos to share soon! The restaurants so far have been AMAZING!!!! It's not cheap but oh so good!!! Gelato is every bit as wonderful as we had been told.
- We have a much smaller PX and commissary than at Gordon, but they do have almost all of my favorite "must haves"!! It's so nice to see familiar comfort items when everything else seems to be falling apart, lol! I also discovered an Italian "Vita Pop" microwave popcorn that tastes almost as good as my beloved popcorn from Rachel's husband Chris!! Which is great because who knows when my popper they gave me will ever get here!!!
So it's not all bad, and things are looking better. I think if we can just get our stuff, get settled and get back into a routine, things will feel more normal. Oh and sleep!!! I need sleep more than anything else at this point!!!!! If I am very, very lucky I'll get only a couple of hours at most. Exhausted doesn't even come close to how I'm feeling! But, for better or for worser, we're here!!
And I'd really LOVE some mail, so let me know if you need my new address!!! :D
