Questions you want answered.

Heh, at least I don't have to explain Oglaf to most of my social circle. So no worries there.

And we have a goodly supply of orange and red shirts, since that sounds like it will be a thing

OK. Just did a round-about search for moving companies. Who is the best?

Atlas Van Lines

Mayflower Moving

U-Haul

North American Van Lines

Please note my new company will pay up to $4,000 Cdn. for moving expenses.

Strangeblades wrote:

OK. Just did a round-about search for moving companies. Who is the best?

Atlas Van Lines

Mayflower Moving

U-Haul

North American Van Lines

Please note my new company will pay up to $4,000 Cdn. for moving expenses.

Depends. How much stuff do you have? Do you want to do the driving, or do you want someone else to do it for you?

Also, I would put ABF in the running if they operate in Canadia.

oilypenguin wrote:
carrotpanic wrote:
MoonDragon wrote:
Strangeblades wrote:

Great. Now serious connoisseurs are gonna think we're barbarians.

Because we are barbarians. The swizzlepiss that passes for coffee in north america is shameful. Similar to beer. Yes, just like beer, you can find small, limited, custom made, high quality producing shops. But that's not the norm.

The quality of craft beer in America has long since surpassed the rest of the world, except perhaps Belgium for one particular style. And you can find it in any moderate sized city.

Moondragon is Canadian. It's like some kind of post-apocalyptic beer wasteland North of the border.

(I'm only half kidding, I have not had great luck finding local micros when I head up there. Most of what I saw was imported... from the US)

Come to BC. I hear Ontario has a tonne of great microbrews too, but I've got my hands full with just the local stuff here.

Strangeblades wrote:

OK. Just did a round-about search for moving companies. Who is the best?

Atlas Van Lines

Mayflower Moving

U-Haul

North American Van Lines

Please note my new company will pay up to $4,000 Cdn. for moving expenses.

Not uhaul. I know your sanity is too far gone to really worry about, but uhaul is seven kinds of terrible.

Agree about U-Haul. Baaaad experience with them. Long story, short: rear axle fell apart while driving.

When filling a bookshelf, is it better to put big books on the bottom? I have a bunch of RPG books that I want to display, but I'm slightly wary of them being on the top shelf.

U haul is a budget deal. They're not bad if you're broke. They're only not bad if you're broke.

I've used North American Van Lines from Denver to DC, and they did everything very well. Anecdotal evidence of course, but they worked for me. I hear Atlas is roughly comparable.

Moving companies are one of those things where you get what you pay for. If the company is paying for it, start getting quotes and pick one near the top. In the US tipping is appropriate but not mandatory. The guys were a little surprised but it was hotter than blazes and they did great work. No idea about the great frozen north.

Radical Ans wrote:

When filling a bookshelf, is it better to put big books on the bottom? I have a bunch of RPG books that I want to display, but I'm slightly wary of them being on the top shelf.

Yes.

Fill bottom to top, heaviest on the bottom. Also, if the shelf did not come with one, buy some hardware from Home Depot to secure the top to the wall.

Why is Kingdoms of Amalur (PC) on sale all over the place but is full price on Steam? I realize the developer went under and is basically owned by the state of Rhode Island now, but I can't figure out why other retailers seem to be able to cut the price.

MyBrainHz wrote:

Why is Kingdoms of Amalur (PC) on sale all over the place but is full price on Steam? I realize the developer went under and is basically owned by the state of Rhode Island now, but I can't figure out why other retailers seem to be able to cut the price.

EA published it everywhere except Steam, which was self published by 38 Studios, if I remember right. So effectively there's no one to authorize the price cut for Steam, I'm guessing.

MyBrainHz wrote:

Why is Kingdoms of Amalur (PC) on sale all over the place but is full price on Steam? I realize the developer went under and is basically owned by the state of Rhode Island now, but I can't figure out why other retailers seem to be able to cut the price.

could it be that physical copies are already bought and paid for, and being blown out. While steam has digital copies and some sort of agreement twittering a certain price point? Total guess on my part, but I've worked in retail and seen similar stupidity

Hmm. I`m thinking since my new company will reimburse my moving expenses I might as well go for North American Van Lines or Atlas. Thanks for the tips.

Strangeblades wrote:

Hmm. I`m thinking since my new company will reimburse my moving expenses I might as well go for North American Van Lines or Atlas. Thanks for the tips.

Would your moving expenses cover things like new furniture/safety-deposit for rent/opportunity-cost-for-new-gaming-equipment?
My recent relocation package was used to cover new furniture and my 1st months rent. It might be worth saving some money to use it towards a standard-of-living upgrade.

S0LIDARITY wrote:
Strangeblades wrote:

Hmm. I`m thinking since my new company will reimburse my moving expenses I might as well go for North American Van Lines or Atlas. Thanks for the tips.

Would your moving expenses cover things like new furniture/safety-deposit for rent/opportunity-cost-for-new-gaming-equipment?
My recent relocation package was used to cover new furniture and my 1st months rent. It might be worth saving some money to use it towards a standard-of-living upgrade.

I am only getting reimbursed for moving expenses only.

Strangeblades wrote:
S0LIDARITY wrote:
Strangeblades wrote:

Hmm. I`m thinking since my new company will reimburse my moving expenses I might as well go for North American Van Lines or Atlas. Thanks for the tips.

Would your moving expenses cover things like new furniture/safety-deposit for rent/opportunity-cost-for-new-gaming-equipment?
My recent relocation package was used to cover new furniture and my 1st months rent. It might be worth saving some money to use it towards a standard-of-living upgrade.

I am only getting reimbursed for moving expenses only.

Right, but what Solid is trying to say is that the definition of "moving expenses" for his latest job included more than the cost to pack and move, but also getting settled in (security deposits, furniture you didn't already have, etc).

Sneaky sneaky.

clover wrote:

Heh, at least I don't have to explain Oglaf to most of my social circle. So no worries there.

And we have a goodly supply of orange and red shirts, since that sounds like it will be a thing :D

You might also want to get it a size bigger then what you normally wear. mine was a little tight before and it seems to have shrunk a little in the wash. So now I either need to lose ten pounds or buy an extra-large, I'll let you guess which one of those is more likely to happen :P.

Strangeblades

Why did you say you 'self-terminated' when you quit your job a while back? I found that really weird, man. I couldn't believe a journalist would use such an odd phrase.

1Dgaf wrote:

Strangeblades

Why did you say you 'self-terminated' when you quit your job a while back? I found that really weird, man. I couldn't believe a journalist would use such an odd phrase.

Hee. Oh that. I love to use movie phrases to explain myself. That and television phrases by Firefly and Futurama. I'm a huge, super nerd. I can actually fly provided DC hasn't ret-conned that power out of me.

Oh I see. I don't recognise the line. I'm the opposite; I don't use emoticons because I'm concerned I'll use accidentally use them in a business email or something.

1Dgaf wrote:

Oh I see. I don't recognise the line. I'm the opposite; I don't use emoticons because I'm concerned I'll use accidentally use them in a business email or something.

Yeah, my business tends to play it loose a lot. Unless, I'm emailing a government or business official, correspondence between reporters is hectic and chaotic. Lots of colorful language is allowed.

EDIT: Also, you would be hard pressed not to meet a saltier bunch than a gaggle of jaded journalists.

The secret about moving companies are they are just shells that send a sales person/estimator. The people who show up to do the actual moving are other companies that are contractors. You'll see like a big Atlas truck and then it will have the name of the actual moving company on it. Atlas, United, etc are all like this. So it is really luck of the draw if you get a good contractor or bad. I have moved a lot and I have had awful contractors from both Atlas and United and I would never risk using those companies again. I've never used Mayflower. Best contractor I've had was South Hills movers, but it was also the smallest move I've done so maybe that influenced the experience.

These days I just do it myself. I pack and I rent a Penske or Budget truck (UHaul SUCKS never get trucks there) and then pay some muscle from moving help to come and load and unload the truck. I know stuff is packed right and for a few hundred bucks I can just supervise.

I have had moving expenses paid for in the past, sometimes it is a flat amount, basically a bonus like $5k and if I move myself it is less than 1k and I can pocket the rest. I also had where the company pays the movers directly or I have to provide receipts and in those cases yeah I would go with a full service mover, but it wouldn't be Atlas or United.

Someone upthread mentioned ABF. They are basically a trucking company, they dropoff a trailer, you load it, they drive it, you unload it. I have read too many horror stories of leaks, bugs, scheduling problems, things going missing. I have not had the courage to risk my stuff to them. Their own documentation says you should put tarps over your stuff after you pack it, yeah... If I was going to use something like this I would go with Pods, but they are pricey and when you look at the dollars to compare to traditional methods (rent a truck, etc) it just doesn't seem worth it for a move.

My last move was with Pods, and it was really good. The main downsides; you still have the schlep all your stuff yourself (though you certainly hire muscle to do it for you), and it takes about a week for your stuff to arrive. I'd do it again.

I believe we are going to go with North American Van Lines.

From somewhat recent moving experience across Canada (Toronto to Vancouver), the conclusion was: go with the big guys. The quality of the move may not be different--you still risk losing everything--but the quality of the follow-up is night and day. Part of what you pay for with the big guys (and you don't care how much more since you're not paying for it) is for good insurance coverage. So, if things get busted or lost, they'll be much quicker to just write you a check and be done with you, than the little mom and pop shop that will nickle and dime you for every f'n detail.

I really don't want to get into my nightmares about sleeping on blow up mattress for days on end, and other assorted troubles, but if you can afford it, go with the more expensive moving company.

Strangeblades wrote:

I believe we are going to go with North American Van Lines.

If you haven't already, check out Salmon's Transfer - I've used them a few times and they've been great. During one of my moves, the driver thought he lost the screw-on legs to our couch, and he went out that minute and bought me new ones to replace them.

The prices are pretty reasonable too.

Also, to keep the move quick and simple, I totally recommend a place like Frog Box or similar. The move was SO much easier without the worry of crushed cardboard boxes (and crushed belongings). The movers said they wished everyone used those style of boxes because they stack so well.

+1000 to frogboxes

I'm moving to British Columbia and will be working and living in Penticton, a short trip from the Washington state border.

Who lives in Washington and British Columbia because we need to hook up and part-tay at PAX Prime, Slap and Tickles, get-togethers and such.

Strangeblades wrote:

I'm moving to British Columbia and will be working and living in Penticton, a short trip from the Washington state border.

Who lives in Washington and British Columbia because we need to hook up and part-tay at PAX Prime, Slap and Tickles, get-togethers and such.

This ended up being last year's main PAX thread. There are quite a few of us here, though we're bad at frequency... so far there are standing gigs for PAX and Intl. GWJ Day, and maybe a couple others when we're organized enough to sort it out.