Post-Awful

The U.S. mail is consistently the only cheap, reliable way to get packages to American Samoa. That said, problems still crop up. Sara and I were expecting a few packages to arrive in time for Christmas. When some of them didn't, we rolled our eyes and brushed it off like anyone who's going to make it on this island needs to. That said, when we finally made it to the Post Office today and picked up a package from my grandmother, we managed to be stunned by the condition of the package that arrived. It was trashed on the exterior. The Postal Worker explained that sometimes the staff in Honolulu leaves the packages on the tarmac while waiting for the aircraft.

Lucky us, the contents survived intact and we're looking forward to good coffee and scones. Just take this as a lesson to insure your packages and keep the receipts (as you'll need that to collect on the insurance).

Out of our house

After a frantic week plus of packing, moving and cleaning we are out of our Sacramento house. All of our worldly possessions are either packed into bags, in boxes ready to be shipped or in our storage unit. Now the waiting begins.

I have roughly two weeks before I fly out, so there's a little downtime to fill. My plan is to track down a few old mountain bikes to get into peak shape before shipping them to AS. There's also trying to see as many friends as possible before we head overseas, as there will soon be a few thousand miles between us and them. Let us know when you have time to hang out so we can get in all the quality time we can.

Sara needs to work for the next two weeks and then it's off to Ohio to visit friends and family before heading off to American Samoa. Our time on the mainland is quickly slipping away.

Sacramento

Sara and I are in the midst of a frantic move. Our lease in Sacramento is up at the end of April and we're purging and sorting our way out of the house. In two-and-a-half years in Sacramento we've managed accumulate too much unnecessary stuff and with our pending move most of it needs to go.

Thankfully we got a PODS storage until for this move. It's making the packing and storage much easier. Instead of running car loads of furniture to an offsite storage unit, we only need to heft it to the driveway. It's also only one round of loading and moving stuff. Raise a glass to efficiency.