This takes place June 18th
I have still not received any emails about the move that corresponds to the form I messed up. I am not okay with this considering that I have received at least 5 emails for each of the other two moves.
I print off the correct form and go back to housing. I go back to housing also because I realized that I will not be in town on July 16th for the Unaccompanied Baggage move and I need to change it.
I end up speaking to the original woman that I gave my forms to. She seemed confused but accepted my new form. I asked her about how I change a move date and she gave me a "Are you out of your mind" kind of look. Since June through August are high PCS (Permanent Change of Station, i.e. a military move) months trying to change my move date would be not only foolish but difficult.
I thank her and leave. I proceed to try to contact the move company based on one of the many emails I received. I get to talk to an actual person and luckily they can move it to the 18th. Huzzah! Disaster averted.
I finally receive my multitude of emails about the one move.
Level Completed! - Move Scheduled!
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Move.mil, Part 3
This takes place June 11-13th
Since I could not check the Move.mil website at home, I would check it first thing in the morning at work on Thursday.
It was still down.
At lunch? .....still down.
Friday morning? .....it...it worked?! IT WORKED? I left work to go back to the Relocation Office.
They didn't believe me. But it worked. I scheduled our three moves
When you schedule a move, you also estimate the weight of your goods. The military decides what your weight allotment is based on your rank and whether you have dependents. Our totally weight limit is 14,500 lbs. We are allowed 800 lbs for the UAB move, so I maxed that out. At this time I have a vague idea of what is going into storage and what is staying, but clearly have no concept of what each move will weigh. I estimate 3,000 odd pounds and dump the rest into the HHG move. Once our stuff gets packed up we will know what it weighs. I can't imagine we will come close to our weight limit, at least, I hope we don't.
The military has not scheduled us flights out yet. I don't know when we're actually going, but I now know when all of our stuff is going. According to Dan's orders, he just has to report sometime in September. So I just picked dates that seemed reasonable given the lack of information that I have.
I am pleased with myself and I go to drop off the paperwork. I accidentally printed two of the same document and I am missing some form for one of the moves. The Housing lady assures me that this is not a problem. I am not convinced, but go home anyway.
I receive emails, several emails, for all of the moves, except the one I didn't have the right form for. I am now wary.
Level Completed! - Move Scheduling Completed....?
Since I could not check the Move.mil website at home, I would check it first thing in the morning at work on Thursday.
It was still down.
At lunch? .....still down.
Friday morning? .....it...it worked?! IT WORKED? I left work to go back to the Relocation Office.
They didn't believe me. But it worked. I scheduled our three moves
- Unaccompanied Baggage (UAB) for July 16th
- Storage for July 30
- Household Goods (HHG) for August 15th
When you schedule a move, you also estimate the weight of your goods. The military decides what your weight allotment is based on your rank and whether you have dependents. Our totally weight limit is 14,500 lbs. We are allowed 800 lbs for the UAB move, so I maxed that out. At this time I have a vague idea of what is going into storage and what is staying, but clearly have no concept of what each move will weigh. I estimate 3,000 odd pounds and dump the rest into the HHG move. Once our stuff gets packed up we will know what it weighs. I can't imagine we will come close to our weight limit, at least, I hope we don't.
The military has not scheduled us flights out yet. I don't know when we're actually going, but I now know when all of our stuff is going. According to Dan's orders, he just has to report sometime in September. So I just picked dates that seemed reasonable given the lack of information that I have.
I am pleased with myself and I go to drop off the paperwork. I accidentally printed two of the same document and I am missing some form for one of the moves. The Housing lady assures me that this is not a problem. I am not convinced, but go home anyway.
I receive emails, several emails, for all of the moves, except the one I didn't have the right form for. I am now wary.
Level Completed! - Move Scheduling Completed....?
Move.mil, Part 2
This takes place on June 11th
I head off to Housing, as always I have a copy of Dan's orders, my log in info an seven security question answers, and my POAs. (I finally found them. They were hiding in our office.) The woman I speak to at Housing says that they have a kiosk that I can use, but can only answer specific questions. If I want someone to walk me through the process I can go talk to Fleet and Family.
I head off to Fleet and Family. They direct me to the Relocation Assistance Program office. I feel like I'm getting somewhere. I am the only person there, so the lady behind the desk is quite happy to help me. I log in. I try to log in. I try again to log in. The website will not load. My feeling of getting somewhere is fading.
The relocation lady calls someone. Apparently maintenance is being done on the website and it's down everywhere. It's been having such bad issues that they are just working on a work around right now.
SIGH.
Move.mil FAILED!
I head off to Housing, as always I have a copy of Dan's orders, my log in info an seven security question answers, and my POAs. (I finally found them. They were hiding in our office.) The woman I speak to at Housing says that they have a kiosk that I can use, but can only answer specific questions. If I want someone to walk me through the process I can go talk to Fleet and Family.
I head off to Fleet and Family. They direct me to the Relocation Assistance Program office. I feel like I'm getting somewhere. I am the only person there, so the lady behind the desk is quite happy to help me. I log in. I try to log in. I try again to log in. The website will not load. My feeling of getting somewhere is fading.
The relocation lady calls someone. Apparently maintenance is being done on the website and it's down everywhere. It's been having such bad issues that they are just working on a work around right now.
SIGH.
Move.mil FAILED!
Medical Screening Dungeon (MSD) Beginnings
From the Overseas Transfer Workshop, I find out that I need several documents to get a medical screening.
A medical screening is required to make sure that I do not have any chronic issues or other medical problems that the base clinic in Naples, Italy isn't prepared to deal with.
I think I'm being smart. I haven't had any medical issues since being in Norfolk, so I as my mom to make appointments with my doctors up in Winchester. I've been going to most of them my entire life, so why not? Because they are doctors' appointments, and I want them done all in a few days, I think July would be a good time to do this. My mom gets them scheduled and everything looks peachy.
I get an email from Dan on June 12th in which he informs me that my medical screening needs to be done ASAP because they need to make sure I clear so they can do whatever it is they are doing.
So much for being smart and well prepared.
Part of the medical screening for women is having had a regular pap smear within 12 months. Well I haven't done this, but I have one scheduled for July. This does not do me much good in terms of getting the medical screening done quickly. Luckily, my friend Laura is an OB/GYN nurse. I call her to see if her office can get me in for a pap smear and they can on June 17th.
I go to my appointment.
I will have to wait for the results which will take about a week, so I can't get the medical screening until after that.
Part of the medical screening for women is having had a regular pap smear within 12 months. Well I haven't done this, but I have one scheduled for July. This does not do me much good in terms of getting the medical screening done quickly. Luckily, my friend Laura is an OB/GYN nurse. I call her to see if her office can get me in for a pap smear and they can on June 17th.
I go to my appointment.
I will have to wait for the results which will take about a week, so I can't get the medical screening until after that.
Move.mil
The Army created the super user-friendly website called Move.mil. It's how you set up your moves with the military.
FYI for overseas moves we get three separate moves. I have ordered them in the way I planned them, they do not have to go in this order
On June 7th
I try to log on to Move.mil. I cannot because I have a macbook. Move.mil only works in Internet Explorer on a PC. I call my friend Laura to see if I can use her computer.
I tired to create an account. I could not create a new account because we have one from when we moved from Georgia. I have no idea what the ID or password is for this account.
I finally figure out how to reset the password and the log in information. I have to set SEVEN security questions. The password also has to be a minimum of 16 characters long with upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. Bite me.
It takes me an hour, AN HOUR just to get things sorted out so I can log into the system, and then it doesn't look anything like my handy-dandy information sheet that I was given from the workshop.
I give up. I will go talk to Housing this week. Maybe they can walk me through Move.mil.
Move.mil FAILED!
FYI for overseas moves we get three separate moves. I have ordered them in the way I planned them, they do not have to go in this order
- Unaccompanied Baggage - This is the essentials. It gets shipped early on so that it arrives at your destination earlier. I was told to think of it like going to a cabin for two weeks. What would I need for that. This move maxes out at 800lbs and cannot include furniture.
- Storage - This is everything you want to keep, but don't want to send across an ocean. It goes into a government warehouse somewhere and no one touches it until we move again.
- Household Goods (HHG) - This is everything else. It will show up eventually.
On June 7th
I try to log on to Move.mil. I cannot because I have a macbook. Move.mil only works in Internet Explorer on a PC. I call my friend Laura to see if I can use her computer.
I tired to create an account. I could not create a new account because we have one from when we moved from Georgia. I have no idea what the ID or password is for this account.
I finally figure out how to reset the password and the log in information. I have to set SEVEN security questions. The password also has to be a minimum of 16 characters long with upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. Bite me.
It takes me an hour, AN HOUR just to get things sorted out so I can log into the system, and then it doesn't look anything like my handy-dandy information sheet that I was given from the workshop.
I give up. I will go talk to Housing this week. Maybe they can walk me through Move.mil.
Move.mil FAILED!
The Car
Remember how I said I hate Dan's car?
At some point around this time in the move, I get this in an email from Dan:
The car. I thought we would sell it and buy a new one in Italy, apparently we are authorized to ship one car, so now I am thinking we may as well ship it. Thoughts?
Let me explain why I hate Dan's car. It's a 2005 Camry and is from an awkward technology era, but otherwise it is fine in and of itself.
Back in February, with Dan going to be deployed soon and with us most likely going overseas, it made no sense to keep two cars and pay two insurances and so forth. Virginia has annual safety inspections that are required to legally drive a Virginia car in Virginia. The 4Runner was tagged and titled in Virginia, but it was not going to pass inspection without about $500 of work put into it. The sticker expired at the end of April, so it made logical sense to get rid of it. I was not thrilled about this, as you can imagine, but it made the most sense.
Without going too much into it, Dan ended up getting into a car accident the day before deployment. Everyone was fine, but the Camry was not going to pass inspection. I had just had it titled and tagged in Virginia, and there is no grace period for getting it inspected. I had not yet replaced the expired Georgia plates because of this.
Dan deploys. I now have to take care of this car issue. Our deductible is $1,000. Plus the $50 for title and tags, we are now $1,050 into the Camry when we didn't want to spend $500 on the 4Runner.
I leave to go to Thailand for most of March, so I can't deal with either of the cars until I get back.
I get back, and take the Camry to get inspected. It fails. The garage says it'll be $937.48 to fix and inspect it. I have a conniption. I take it to get a second opinion from FantomWorks. They tell me they can fix it and inspect it for $100. DONE.
We are now $1,150 into the Camry, instead of the $500 to keep the 4Runner going. I loved my car, and didn't care for Dan's to begin with; I now loathe it.
Back to Dan's email.
Given my feelings toward his car, and that this move has been going anything but smoothly at this point the first reaction to his inquiry involved lots of swearing and isn't really fit for repeating.
What I emailed him was this:
I am absolutely not shipping a car. I am dealing with enough shenanigans with this move, without you here, that I refuse to add another one.
He wisely hasn't said anything about the car since.
At some point around this time in the move, I get this in an email from Dan:
The car. I thought we would sell it and buy a new one in Italy, apparently we are authorized to ship one car, so now I am thinking we may as well ship it. Thoughts?
Let me explain why I hate Dan's car. It's a 2005 Camry and is from an awkward technology era, but otherwise it is fine in and of itself.
Back in February, with Dan going to be deployed soon and with us most likely going overseas, it made no sense to keep two cars and pay two insurances and so forth. Virginia has annual safety inspections that are required to legally drive a Virginia car in Virginia. The 4Runner was tagged and titled in Virginia, but it was not going to pass inspection without about $500 of work put into it. The sticker expired at the end of April, so it made logical sense to get rid of it. I was not thrilled about this, as you can imagine, but it made the most sense.
Without going too much into it, Dan ended up getting into a car accident the day before deployment. Everyone was fine, but the Camry was not going to pass inspection. I had just had it titled and tagged in Virginia, and there is no grace period for getting it inspected. I had not yet replaced the expired Georgia plates because of this.
Dan deploys. I now have to take care of this car issue. Our deductible is $1,000. Plus the $50 for title and tags, we are now $1,050 into the Camry when we didn't want to spend $500 on the 4Runner.
I leave to go to Thailand for most of March, so I can't deal with either of the cars until I get back.
I get back, and take the Camry to get inspected. It fails. The garage says it'll be $937.48 to fix and inspect it. I have a conniption. I take it to get a second opinion from FantomWorks. They tell me they can fix it and inspect it for $100. DONE.
We are now $1,150 into the Camry, instead of the $500 to keep the 4Runner going. I loved my car, and didn't care for Dan's to begin with; I now loathe it.
Back to Dan's email.
Given my feelings toward his car, and that this move has been going anything but smoothly at this point the first reaction to his inquiry involved lots of swearing and isn't really fit for repeating.
What I emailed him was this:
I am absolutely not shipping a car. I am dealing with enough shenanigans with this move, without you here, that I refuse to add another one.
He wisely hasn't said anything about the car since.
The Pets, Part 2
This takes place Jun 3rd.
I take Tantalum [Ta] our dog and Tungsten [W] our cat to the base vet for their appointment.
Ta takes this as she does all vet visits. She wants everyone to pet her and she wants to investigate everything. Ta doesn't even seem to notice when they insert her microchip. (Have you ever seen the needles they use for this? They're huge!) She is completely unfazed by the rabies vaccine. She now has two microchips, the previous one is from when we adopted her. She is now that much closer to being a cyborg or terminator dog.
W didn't want anything to do with anyone or anything. She REALLY didn't like the microchipping process, to the point where she REFUSED to put paws on the examining table afterwards. She tried to climb me instead to hide on my shoulder. I set her on the floor and she climbed up into a chair and glared at everyone. I put her crate towel over her to let her hide.
The vet came in to finish up the appointment. Ta once again wanted to play and didn't mind getting poked and prodded.
Given her glowering out from under the towel, W was dubbed Jedi Kitty. Jedi Kitty is not amused by your shenanigans. I failed to get a photo, but it looked much like this photo.
W did not take to the poking and prodding very well. Once the vet was finished I reassembled W's crate, which she hid in immediately.
The vet receptionist tells me to call back on the 21st of July to schedule an appointment for the pets to receive their health certificates. This must be done within 10 days of flying. Did I mention I don't actually know when we're going?
The vet office was great and really had their system down. I had no problems and it went smoothly, once I got an appointment that is.
I take Tantalum [Ta] our dog and Tungsten [W] our cat to the base vet for their appointment.
Ta takes this as she does all vet visits. She wants everyone to pet her and she wants to investigate everything. Ta doesn't even seem to notice when they insert her microchip. (Have you ever seen the needles they use for this? They're huge!) She is completely unfazed by the rabies vaccine. She now has two microchips, the previous one is from when we adopted her. She is now that much closer to being a cyborg or terminator dog.
W didn't want anything to do with anyone or anything. She REALLY didn't like the microchipping process, to the point where she REFUSED to put paws on the examining table afterwards. She tried to climb me instead to hide on my shoulder. I set her on the floor and she climbed up into a chair and glared at everyone. I put her crate towel over her to let her hide.
The vet came in to finish up the appointment. Ta once again wanted to play and didn't mind getting poked and prodded.
W did not take to the poking and prodding very well. Once the vet was finished I reassembled W's crate, which she hid in immediately.
The vet receptionist tells me to call back on the 21st of July to schedule an appointment for the pets to receive their health certificates. This must be done within 10 days of flying. Did I mention I don't actually know when we're going?
The vet office was great and really had their system down. I had no problems and it went smoothly, once I got an appointment that is.
Side Quest Completed! - Pet Microchipping Completed!
The Passport Adventure Begins
This takes place the last week of May/1st week of June
Dan gets back to me that according to the office in Italy, I don't need the no-fee passport as long as I have my Military ID, regular passport, and a copy of Dan's orders.
Around the same time I had discovered there was a passport office and called them. They informed me I had to have a copy of Dan's orders WITH MY NAME IN THEM (this was heavily stressed), a proof of citizenship, a passport application filled in, two passport photos, as well as DD Form 1056 signed in BLUE INK, as well as some letter that say the Command says I can get a passport and go to Italy. I may have also needed to sacrifice a fatted calf on the full moon at midnight. I tell all Dan this.
I'm just going to say this now, I hate DD Form 1056.
Dan gets back to me that the Italian office isn't so sure about the no-fee passport, in fact the Yeoman he's been dealing with there is convinced I don't need one at all. The US side is pretty adamant that I need one. Clearly no one knows what is going on. You'd think they'd have figured this out by now, considering they do it all the time. (Note: I end up thinking and saying this a lot over the next few months. As you will see, they haven't figured it out.)
Dan also states that my name doesn't need to be in his orders. He checked and no one has heard of this being done.
So to sum up, the leaving office (US) says I need all of these things to go to Italy. The receiving office (Italy) isn't really sure if I need them or not, but maybe not, so I shouldn't worry about it.
This requires further investigation.
Dan gets back to me that according to the office in Italy, I don't need the no-fee passport as long as I have my Military ID, regular passport, and a copy of Dan's orders.
Around the same time I had discovered there was a passport office and called them. They informed me I had to have a copy of Dan's orders WITH MY NAME IN THEM (this was heavily stressed), a proof of citizenship, a passport application filled in, two passport photos, as well as DD Form 1056 signed in BLUE INK, as well as some letter that say the Command says I can get a passport and go to Italy. I may have also needed to sacrifice a fatted calf on the full moon at midnight. I tell all Dan this.
I'm just going to say this now, I hate DD Form 1056.
Dan gets back to me that the Italian office isn't so sure about the no-fee passport, in fact the Yeoman he's been dealing with there is convinced I don't need one at all. The US side is pretty adamant that I need one. Clearly no one knows what is going on. You'd think they'd have figured this out by now, considering they do it all the time. (Note: I end up thinking and saying this a lot over the next few months. As you will see, they haven't figured it out.)
Dan also states that my name doesn't need to be in his orders. He checked and no one has heard of this being done.
So to sum up, the leaving office (US) says I need all of these things to go to Italy. The receiving office (Italy) isn't really sure if I need them or not, but maybe not, so I shouldn't worry about it.
This requires further investigation.
Overseas Transfer Workshop
This takes place on the 20th of May. We have had orders for a month now.
The day of the Overseas Transfer Workshop arrives. I am, again, anxious. I really want this to be useful. It's the only lead I have on how to tackle this move or what I'm supposed to be doing in general.
I get to the classroom and there are tables and chairs and packets at each seat. Packets of information! Oh thank goodness! Something in one of them HAS to be useful, right?.....right?
The class starts and seems to be fairly helpful, until these words are uttered "Most of your move, and move issues will be handled by the Service Member and their Command". Silly me starts to panic But....my Service Member and Command are deployed! What are we going to do?! Rational me counters They do this all the time, they have to have contingency plans for absent Service Members.....right? Doubt creeps into rational me.
I raise my hand "Excuse, me? What if my Service Member is deployed?"
Pause.
Oh. Um, things are going to be difficult for you. We'll talk after the class.
This does not bode well say both silly and rational me.
The rest of the workshop goes well enough. I gather all of the extra pamphlets, pages, and packets that are set out on a side table, because it can't hurt to have them all.
I talk to the workshop instructor after the class who basically tells me two things.
1 - I need a Power of Attorney if I don't have one already or else I won't be able to do anything. I have one of those! rational me thinks. But I have no idea where it is! Thanks silly me. I will worry about that later.
2 - I should start trying to get things going now, because doing this move without reasonable access to my Service Member or Command is going to be difficult. Great all of the mes think.
To be fair the workshop did have some good and useful information and gave me a place to start. Though several of the items state "Start this as soon as you have orders." Ooops. How was I supposed to know? I mean I only even found out about this workshop by chance. So, yeah, I'm not going to feel bad about having not started things a month ago.
I scan the useful information and email it to Dan. I ask him about a Sponsor from our new command, if I need to get this no-fee military passport, what's the deal with the medical screening, move dates, and several other things.
And I wait.
The day of the Overseas Transfer Workshop arrives. I am, again, anxious. I really want this to be useful. It's the only lead I have on how to tackle this move or what I'm supposed to be doing in general.
I get to the classroom and there are tables and chairs and packets at each seat. Packets of information! Oh thank goodness! Something in one of them HAS to be useful, right?.....right?
The class starts and seems to be fairly helpful, until these words are uttered "Most of your move, and move issues will be handled by the Service Member and their Command". Silly me starts to panic But....my Service Member and Command are deployed! What are we going to do?! Rational me counters They do this all the time, they have to have contingency plans for absent Service Members.....right? Doubt creeps into rational me.
I raise my hand "Excuse, me? What if my Service Member is deployed?"
Pause.
Oh. Um, things are going to be difficult for you. We'll talk after the class.
This does not bode well say both silly and rational me.
The rest of the workshop goes well enough. I gather all of the extra pamphlets, pages, and packets that are set out on a side table, because it can't hurt to have them all.
I talk to the workshop instructor after the class who basically tells me two things.
1 - I need a Power of Attorney if I don't have one already or else I won't be able to do anything. I have one of those! rational me thinks. But I have no idea where it is! Thanks silly me. I will worry about that later.
2 - I should start trying to get things going now, because doing this move without reasonable access to my Service Member or Command is going to be difficult. Great all of the mes think.
To be fair the workshop did have some good and useful information and gave me a place to start. Though several of the items state "Start this as soon as you have orders." Ooops. How was I supposed to know? I mean I only even found out about this workshop by chance. So, yeah, I'm not going to feel bad about having not started things a month ago.
I scan the useful information and email it to Dan. I ask him about a Sponsor from our new command, if I need to get this no-fee military passport, what's the deal with the medical screening, move dates, and several other things.
And I wait.
The Pets, Part 1
This starts on May 15th.
I find out somewhere that we can take pets and there is no quarantine.
We are allowed to take 2 normal pets. Normal pets are dogs or cats according to the Navy.
I find out that they must have EU acceptable microchips and upon getting them must have their rabies vaccines updated. This doesn't seem to bad rational me thinks.
I call the civilian vet that I've used most recently and ask if they can do the overseas screenings for pets and their health certificates. I am not impressed with the response I get. I am not convinced that they can do the required pet health things and instead try calling the base vet. They do this all the time, they should know what they're doing, right?
I try calling the base vet. Yes, they can do the microchipping and vaccines as well as the health certificates, but this is Thursday and appointments should be made on Monday. What?
I call back on Monday morning, first thing at 8am. The base vet goes to voicemail. Sigh.
I call again at 8:30, 9:00, and 9:30 when I finally get ahold of someone.
The sergent hasn't released the schedule yet. Please call back later.
Did I mention that the base vet is an Army vet installation? No? Well it is. I don't know why.
I call back at 10:30 and finally get an appointment for June 3rd. Three weeks from now, because that's the earliest available appointment they have.
So I wait.
I find out somewhere that we can take pets and there is no quarantine.
We are allowed to take 2 normal pets. Normal pets are dogs or cats according to the Navy.
I find out that they must have EU acceptable microchips and upon getting them must have their rabies vaccines updated. This doesn't seem to bad rational me thinks.
I call the civilian vet that I've used most recently and ask if they can do the overseas screenings for pets and their health certificates. I am not impressed with the response I get. I am not convinced that they can do the required pet health things and instead try calling the base vet. They do this all the time, they should know what they're doing, right?
I try calling the base vet. Yes, they can do the microchipping and vaccines as well as the health certificates, but this is Thursday and appointments should be made on Monday. What?
I call back on Monday morning, first thing at 8am. The base vet goes to voicemail. Sigh.
I call again at 8:30, 9:00, and 9:30 when I finally get ahold of someone.
The sergent hasn't released the schedule yet. Please call back later.
Did I mention that the base vet is an Army vet installation? No? Well it is. I don't know why.
I call back at 10:30 and finally get an appointment for June 3rd. Three weeks from now, because that's the earliest available appointment they have.
So I wait.
Orders! Now What?
We received orders for Naples, Italy! Hurray!
Excitement wears of quickly and confusion and anxiety rise up in its place.
Dan is deployed. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing for this move. What about the pets? Are we taking them? (YES!) What do we need to to do take them? Is there a quarantine? What do I need? Do I need shots? What happens with our stuff? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?.....Hippo?!
Like many of you, I spend some time on Facebook from time to time. I belong to two wonderful groups related to Navy Spouses. These people are amazing and a fount of information and advice. You can ask them just about anything and someone has useful information about it. You are almost never in a unique situation. Someone has gone through these shenanigans before you, and they are all to eager to help or know someone who can.
It is in one of these groups that I stumbled upon someone else's request for information about moving to Japan. We're not moving to Japan silly me thinks, This isn't useful. Luckily rational me chimes in But some of the info has to apply generally. At least it's a place to start. What could it hurt to look? Get used to these two, they are around a lot.
Thanks to the Facebook group and rational me, I find out there is such a thing as the Overseas Transfer Workshop hosted by Fleet & Family Services. I call immediately to find out when the next class is and if I can get into it. SUCCESS! I now wait for the class which isn't for three weeks. I do not know what to do with myself in this time. I feel like I should be doing something for the move, but don't know what.
So again, I wait.
Excitement wears of quickly and confusion and anxiety rise up in its place.
Dan is deployed. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing for this move. What about the pets? Are we taking them? (YES!) What do we need to to do take them? Is there a quarantine? What do I need? Do I need shots? What happens with our stuff? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?.....Hippo?!
Like many of you, I spend some time on Facebook from time to time. I belong to two wonderful groups related to Navy Spouses. These people are amazing and a fount of information and advice. You can ask them just about anything and someone has useful information about it. You are almost never in a unique situation. Someone has gone through these shenanigans before you, and they are all to eager to help or know someone who can.
It is in one of these groups that I stumbled upon someone else's request for information about moving to Japan. We're not moving to Japan silly me thinks, This isn't useful. Luckily rational me chimes in But some of the info has to apply generally. At least it's a place to start. What could it hurt to look? Get used to these two, they are around a lot.
Thanks to the Facebook group and rational me, I find out there is such a thing as the Overseas Transfer Workshop hosted by Fleet & Family Services. I call immediately to find out when the next class is and if I can get into it. SUCCESS! I now wait for the class which isn't for three weeks. I do not know what to do with myself in this time. I feel like I should be doing something for the move, but don't know what.
So again, I wait.
Decisions, Decisions
Waaaaaay back in January, Dan told the Navy where we would like to go for our Shore Tour (Shore Tour - should not have any major deployments, if any deployments at all). We had talked about wanting to go overseas if the opportunity ever came up, well here was our opportunity.
Major overseas bases for the submarine community are in Italy, Spain, Guam, or Japan. Every so often other places show up, but our options were limited to Italy, Guam, Japan, or the Bahamas. Don't get so excited about the Bahamas. That duty station is actually based in southern Florida and only Dan would go to the Bahamas every so often for military exercises and testing. So that was out. Guam is, well....a small island in the middle of nowhere and did not appeal to either of us. It came down to Italy or Japan. Italy offered ease of travel whereas Japan would just be entirely different. We decided on Italy.
Dan put in for several jobs in Italy and one job in Japan. And then we waited. And waited. Dan deployed in February. And I waited and I emailed Dan and I harassed him if he had heard anything. He had not.
I started working full-time, and took a trip to Laos and Thailand for most of March.
FINALLY, in April we received orders. Hurray! We're going to Italy! .......Now what?
Congratulations! You're Going on a Quest!
Side Note - I sold my car in April and it was very sad. I get a little sad every time I see a same generation 4Runner. My parents had purchased it new when I was 10. My dad drove it for 5 years and I drove it for 12. Of my current friends, I only have one that I have had since I was 10. The 4Runner has been a bigger part of my life than most of you. Think about that. (I may be getting rid of some of you in this move too! Just kidding....maybe)
Major overseas bases for the submarine community are in Italy, Spain, Guam, or Japan. Every so often other places show up, but our options were limited to Italy, Guam, Japan, or the Bahamas. Don't get so excited about the Bahamas. That duty station is actually based in southern Florida and only Dan would go to the Bahamas every so often for military exercises and testing. So that was out. Guam is, well....a small island in the middle of nowhere and did not appeal to either of us. It came down to Italy or Japan. Italy offered ease of travel whereas Japan would just be entirely different. We decided on Italy.
Dan put in for several jobs in Italy and one job in Japan. And then we waited. And waited. Dan deployed in February. And I waited and I emailed Dan and I harassed him if he had heard anything. He had not.
I started working full-time, and took a trip to Laos and Thailand for most of March.
FINALLY, in April we received orders. Hurray! We're going to Italy! .......Now what?
Congratulations! You're Going on a Quest!
Side Note - I sold my car in April and it was very sad. I get a little sad every time I see a same generation 4Runner. My parents had purchased it new when I was 10. My dad drove it for 5 years and I drove it for 12. Of my current friends, I only have one that I have had since I was 10. The 4Runner has been a bigger part of my life than most of you. Think about that. (I may be getting rid of some of you in this move too! Just kidding....maybe)
Side Side Note - I have been driving Dan's car. I hate Dan's car. Remember this fact, it will come up again.
In the Beginning...
I married a Submariner. I knew from soon after we got engaged that I would be moving at least 2 times in 3 years, if not 3 times. I got lucky; I'm on my 3rd move in 3 years.
The first move, Virginia to Georgia, I did on my own (and by that I mean my brother Colin helped me on a whirl-wind weekend driving tour of the South-eastern part of the US). This move went fine. It did not involve the military in anyway.
The second move, Georgia to Virginia, was my first military move and it was overwhelming. We split it between military movers and a DITY move (do-it yourself move). This move went mostly fine except for the part where the moving company did several thousands of dollars of damage to our stuff because, in their words "the truck leaked."
This is my third move. We are going from Virginia to Italy, and given the stress of my previous military move, and the fact that this move actually involves large expanses of water, I have been a bit anxious about everything. Turns out I have had reason to be.
Dun dun dunnnnnnnn...
[Pause for dramatic effect]
The first move, Virginia to Georgia, I did on my own (and by that I mean my brother Colin helped me on a whirl-wind weekend driving tour of the South-eastern part of the US). This move went fine. It did not involve the military in anyway.
The second move, Georgia to Virginia, was my first military move and it was overwhelming. We split it between military movers and a DITY move (do-it yourself move). This move went mostly fine except for the part where the moving company did several thousands of dollars of damage to our stuff because, in their words "the truck leaked."
This is my third move. We are going from Virginia to Italy, and given the stress of my previous military move, and the fact that this move actually involves large expanses of water, I have been a bit anxious about everything. Turns out I have had reason to be.
Dun dun dunnnnnnnn...
[Pause for dramatic effect]
Hello!
So I have no idea what I'm doing. Let's just get that out of the way right now.
I should be doing something worthwhile as my second pack out day is tomorrow (more on this later), and I'm sure I'm not ready for it. Instead I'm starting this blog. Woo procrastination!
Kudos to my friend Dustin for coming up with the name. It's very clever. Good job Dustin.
Anyway, this post is just to get things started. After I get through tomorrow I will start from the beginning, which was some time in January. Don't worry, a lot of nothing happens between the beginning and when things got interesting and by interesting I mean frustrating and ridiculous. On that note, I'm going to go finish doing laundry, because they are taking my washer and dryer away tomorrow and no one likes wet sheets.
I should be doing something worthwhile as my second pack out day is tomorrow (more on this later), and I'm sure I'm not ready for it. Instead I'm starting this blog. Woo procrastination!
Kudos to my friend Dustin for coming up with the name. It's very clever. Good job Dustin.
Anyway, this post is just to get things started. After I get through tomorrow I will start from the beginning, which was some time in January. Don't worry, a lot of nothing happens between the beginning and when things got interesting and by interesting I mean frustrating and ridiculous. On that note, I'm going to go finish doing laundry, because they are taking my washer and dryer away tomorrow and no one likes wet sheets.
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