Is this just Western Life?

Making an effort to stay in the 'now', to ignore the wtf-ery of the house move that has dominated my life for months now. I do not move houses well, it takes a lot to ground into a place and a lot to relocate.

This time around there is so much bizarre energy around the move. Like today for instance, the Toll Transitions case manager finally called, 2 1/2 weeks out from a proposed pre-pack and still not tendered the job, and says we have to 'dissassemble all Ikea furniture'. Like wtf. No really - wtf. Ikea furniture is not put together only with allen key bolts. It involves wood screws, wood dowels, some hefty whacks of a mallet to seat said dowels and at least a half a day of intense concentration. There are so many pieces - bolts, screws, drawer runners etc. And once you remove a wood screw and put it back into same hole - is it going to be as sturdy as the first time around? I don't think Mary has ever built a piece of Ikea furniture in her life. It is not Lego.

The Toll rep with his tablet who came around more than a month ago said we didn't have to disassemble anything, just the usual beds and some large shelving. I know I won't be dissassembling any Ikea furniture in the next couple of weeks - where does all the stuff in the drawers, cupboards and shelves sit while waiting for the pre-pack the day before uplift? How do they safely pack and transport the 5 plus foot tall pieces of glass currently safely attached to the side of a cabinet once you pull the thing all apart? Did I say WTF already?? Isn't it easier to pick up, stack and wrap a whole piece of furniture than a myriad of many odd shaped pieces???? Have you seen the elaborately engineered packaging that Ikea furniture comes flat packed in??? Do you know the lengths they go to to keep everything together and undamaged in transit? Is 'Joe's removals' from Sydney going to be able to pack that shit back into some magic custom box for the ride?

Yes, yes I am thoroughly and inexpressably over it. We still have not locked in a house, the job is not yet actually tendered, the amended condition report we submitted in 2019 mysteriously dissappeared from the property management's system in the past year, just in time to hit us for a bill to rectify something that was existing when we arrived here but not on their original condition report. I just want some boxes so I can get started on this pack. No way can one person from a removals company pack it all in one day the day before a truck arrives. But we don't get boxes until someone takes the job, and that requires a fracking tender. And too bad if Mary thinks we 'have a lot of stuff'!! I have two dining chairs and a small dining table ffs, a single 3 seater lounge and the furniture required to put stuff in so I can have a life with handcrafts in it. I don't have a room full of yarn and fabric, or a room full of sound systems, alcohol, a pool table or shelves and shelves of books. I keep culling my life so it is easier to move, and it still is too difficult for someone.

Hey, I'm not even getting them to pack and shift my extensive collection of rocks!!!

At this point it may be evident that I do not do discombobulation of environment well. I am writing this out in a blog post because today's wtf has overfilled my 'this is too stupid to find a place for' basket. This may seem like unimportant small-obstacle stuff to someone reading. Keep in mind that I am only relaying here a couple of details, the rest is too much of a rollercoaster of mountains, sharp turns and corkscrews for me to find the mental energy to recount in words.

I have been working on the move tasks as my physical energy and the weather allows over weeks and months. Today is evidence of why I start early. It was 39'c, tomorrow will be 40', the day after is heading for 42' (107.6F) and humid. In whimsical moments I wonder what will come first - a truck or the fiery end of a people determined to kill every bee still clinging to life.

I don't even want to 'just be at the other end' anymore. I'm looking for a dark hole with soft mossy sides and a slow rainy drip to curl up in and forget that there is a whole western world out here doing it's own crazy shit with a dystopian reality that is at its happiest if you have no stuff, keep all garden beds free of growing things, only use generic drop-down options, can be specific with your items so you are covered by their insurance but not too specific because that creates a need for thinking on their part, don't confuse anyone by calling a dining table a 'table', and make sure that you fulfill all YOUR obligations and responsbilities so they can completely drop every ball they are handed as a part of the job that they are paid to do - while you look for the camomile flowers and brew your umpteenth calming tisane.

Smiles, smiles, smiles. I'd better go order some more anti-inflammatory dried Hibiscus flowers and maybe some Bacopa.

Love to you all. May 2026 not kick your arse into 2027. And if it looks like it is going to, may your InterStellar family pick you up early before the real fuss begins.

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