Comparison of 3 Moving Companies [Moving Tips Series]

You have to get your own quotes for many reasons, among them: Prices can change over time, as the economy and fuel do. They may vary by season, depend on competition in your area, and also demand for movers/trucks.

The pricing will also consider accessibility of your street, parking lot, building, and unit. Tight lots, long walkways, stairs, far hallways are all more, more, more.

How much stuff do you have, you heavy of stuff do you have, and how breakable of stuff you have.

Move Me movers:

Bound rate

Pack the night before, then next day finish up

[this is what we were told repeatedly, by multiple people but did NOT come to fruition.]

The crew leader will call when they’re on the way.

You will have direct communication to the truck

[I’ve been told this by many companies at time of sale and it has yet to happen. So don’t count on it, but if you do consider yourself lucky.]

3rd party to deconstruct, then build treadmill

No one touches our stuff

[Again, don’t count on this and pack for professional movers-this will be it’s own entry].

$33,300 insurance protection

They use full time movers, not day laborers.

[Surprise this is a thing: Companies such as 500 Move Glendale, AZ https://www.yelp.com/biz/500-move-glendale get helpers (flakes and addicts and undocumented, oh my) off of Craigslist!]

estimated 3-3.5hr to load

ALL=$5850.00 (INCLUDES EVERYTHING, stairs, walk, parking!)

[And we all know get this IN WRITING before signing anything or turning over any money]

DEPOSIT $99

PAYMENTS POSSIBLE-TEXT OF PLANS

CASH/CR/DEBIT-SECURE LINK

Derek:  business owner’s direct #

[take this stuff w/a grain, bc I guarantee even if they actually give you their contact info, moving companies also know how to avoid you if they want to].

One of the following gals said something rude during the video showing our stuff. And I took that as a red flag. Like, yes transportation/logistics/moving companies are going to be to the point and maybe rough around the edges. And you should be fairly alarmed if you get a sweet talker (likely scam, trying to reel you in). But if someone is willing to be anti-social before you’ve even chosen their company, what will it be like when they have all your money and stuff and there are conflicts??? Anyway, really consider the demeanor of the person you talk to.

UNITED VAN LINES:

Unbuild/build treadmill through a 3rd party

req TV cart is $165 from them (can go to Home Depot and buy one)

[Don’t do this if you don’t absolutely have to. Even if you go with this company, pack your TV with cardboard over the screen and your thickest comforter taped all around it and stick it in your vehicle with you.]

Shuttle fee for smaller truck in lot

[this means they can’t park an 18 wheeler in your apartment’s lot so they get a Uhaul size truck, load it near your building, drive that to their 18 wheeler ginormous truck, and move your stuff (usually without you present) from one to the other].

Carry fees for long carries

[this means they can’t get an 18 wheeler close enough to your building so they have to walk a longer way (deemed by the foreman) in order to load. Some charge an extra surcharge, some do a per foot charge for every extra foot and it adds up quickly. 500 Move Glendale, AZ https://www.yelp.com/biz/500-move-glendale even did this from the apartment’s elevator down the hallway to my door!]

Sidenote: All of these things are pretty standard in the industry. But if you can find better terms-do that.

MAYFLOWER:  SONIA MADE APPT

24HR notice to change dates

Affiliated w/united van lines

[Be careful of this too. Many companies are under other ones, they can change names (especially if they ever get into legal trouble), they might even change addresses, and you need to know who you’re dealing with]

Door to door for under 500mi usually [Meaning no storage facility in between. Check the contract tho-verbal promises don’t mean $hit!]

3rd party to take apart treadmill- $50 for appt, then /hr, can put it together too; Mayflower will set up dates

Ended up being: TREADMILL $400 TO TAKE APART, PUT TOGETHER. We ended up calling an actual treadmill professional (only because some of the machine-tightened screws were stripped, and I didn’t have the tools as a renter to remove them). Try to do this yourself, especially the unbuilding. But I think we paid $275 for someone to come in, and they ended up using some scary fire/saw tool to take it apart.

tv w/o original box = $35 box at home depot, $100+ if moving co boxes.

Option 2: 

smer truck, cheaper to crate, store-takes longer to arrive

She priced our stuff for 51-53 lb, and said it’s probably on the heavy side, but she has 10% leeway.

I don’t know what that means either but it translated to:

$1000 less for traditional move vs option 2

$4400 total for the move

MON LOAD 20TH THRU 22-27 [Nobody likes flex dates]

This quote is good for 1 week

Can pay by credit card prior to loading day, must pay by cashier’s check on unloading day.

[Watch the payment type. A lot of these companies (even the legit ones) require payment in formats that aren’t as traceable, protected, or reversable. It’s in your best interest to try to pay with a credit card if you can, even if that means paying earlier.]

Can contact her 7A-7P 7d/wk. [Sure, Jan. For the sale, maybe, but I’m skeptical that would be a thing if any problems arise.]

Decision Time:

After gathering all this info, I took an afternoon to discuss this with my mate and see who we wanted to trust, wishing I didn’t have to trust any of them. It’s a little test to see actually how available the companies are too. Feel free to call or email with follow up questions. Warning signs are you can’t easily talk to someone, or they pressure you, or they are crabby and reluctant to answer questions or explain things. We went with the smaller local company Move Me movers of St. Louis and were 95% happy with their service, and 100% relieved it wasn’t the worst experience of our lives again.

Self Disclosure and Taylor Swift’s Mastermind

Maybe, just maybe Taylor is feeling people out, carefully testing the waters, and making a decision to update her public persona based on the reactions she receives. I think it would be beneficial for people to relax on the “straightest woman in the world” narrative, so she doesn’t get locked in a box (gold cage?!). Even if she is straight, does it need defending? Straight, is the majority, the powerful, the mainstream. If she has an inkling to come out as queer, your angry reactions about “forcing a sexuality” onto her, might be the exact explanation for all the ambiguity.

Coming out does not just happen once. It is a process that happens over and over again because we live in a heteronormative and cisnormative society, where people are expected to be straight and cisgender.

https://www.glsen.org/activity/coming-out-resource-lgbtq-students

Self-Disclosure

Self-disclosure is the process of passing on information about yourself to someone else – whether you intend to or not!

Even then, people’s responses can be unpredictable. Their reactions may come as a pleasant surprise – or they may cause embarrassment and upset.

If self-disclosure goes badly wrong, it can do serious damage to your reputation. It can also put other people in a difficult position, if they end up knowing more about you than they’re comfortable with.

opening the curtains inside her closet to look out at the fishbowl

Common Steps in Self-Disclosure:

1. Wait and Watch- Start by watching the people around you

2. Choose Your Moment – and Your Method

3. Go Slowly- Sharing too much, too soon can be overwhelming. But, taking too long to communicate can create uncertainty or suspicion. Instead, open up gradually.

https://www.mindtools.com/agr7y2v/self-disclosure

Helpful Tips for Coming Out:

1. You get to decide if coming out is right for you at this time and to this person. 
2. It can be helpful before thinking about sharing your own identity to have some conversations with people at school and home about their feelings around LGBTQ people and LGBTQ rights. This can serve as a useful gauge of how they might respond to you coming out.
3. However, this still doesn’t mean that their feelings about LGBTQ people, in general, will be a true indication of how they will react to you if you do come out, but it may be helpful for you to get an idea of their level of support to your coming out process. 
4. Even if you get a sense that they have positive feelings about LGBTQ people, you may still not feel comfortable yet.
5. Hiding parts of your identity can be emotionally difficult and can make you feel isolated. Try to build a community around yourself. 
6. And some folks choose not to come out to their families, for example, if they depend on their families for emotional and financial support, they may choose to wait until they have a solid community of friends and chosen family, and can financially support themselves.
7. Friends and adults who are supporting you should respect your own timeline for coming out.
8. Let people know that just because you’re out to them, doesn’t mean that you are out to everyone.
9. You’re telling them about yourself because you trust them, but this does not mean it is their story to tell or share. 
10. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not set in stone! 
11. “Coming out” by sharing an identity or using certain pronouns doesn’t mean you’ll want to identify that way forever.
12. People should respect your identity, no matter what it is today and know that it might change. 
13. You may have an entirely separate process for “coming out” or sharing about your gender identity. 

https://www.glsen.org/activity/coming-out-resource-lgbtq-students

Taylor Swift: Community I’m Not a Part of

Let’s look at this statement in the context of the entire interview

The interview begins with that line in Welcome to New York, tells of LGBT donations from Taylor, and reminds the reader about Taylor presenting a GLAAD award. Buckle up, this interview is going to be GAY. We segway to the sexy, ambiguous song, Dress, being dedicated to a lesbian theater/dance pioneer every night of the Reputation tour.

Next the interview moves on to Taylor’s political voice:

The author of the piece takes a moment to reiterate this is NOT the first pro-LGBTQ imagery/lyrics in Taylor’s career:

The following portion of the interview is where people begin to take liberties and draw conclusions that just aren’t there:

Let’s break this down (yes, we’re going to laboriously get technical, because I am TIRED of seeing this get translated into: ”I’m straight leave me alone.”

Here we go, let’s take this is pieces:

Rights are being stripped from everyone.

Rights are being stripped from everyone EXCEPT WHITE, STRAIGHT, CIS, MALES. 

Rights are being stripped from (any demographic that is not white, straight, cis male).

Rights are being stripped from POC, LGB/Q, TRANS, & WOMEN (all the identities that are not white, straight, cis, males).

Taylor is not a POC, but could advocate for that community (intersectionality is important).

The rest of the letters/demographics (LBTQQIAA [sidenote: A is not really for ally (debated) it’s Asexual/Aromantic and Agender]) would be assumptions (even woman because she could be intersex or trans) and we might not know. 

Anyone can advocate for the LGBTQQIAA and be considered an ally.

An ally is not necessarily straight.

The LGBTQQIAA community is a whole community (rainbow flag) but also, each letter has it’s own community, vibe, problems, issues. Think of each separate flag as its own community under the rainbow umbrella of the entire community. The LGBTQ community is not a monolith.

A closeted person can advocate for any particular special interest within the queer community Example: Start a letter-writing campaign to lobby congress to write a bill for gender-affirming surgery for the trans community. 

Any letter under the queer umbrella can advocate for another letter. Example: Lesbians cared for HIV+ members of the gay community (MSM were getting hit hard) which is why the L was moved to the first position in the acronym. Example 2: A bisexual woman can advocate for asexual inclusion.  

Taylor could be lesbian, bisexual, or under the queer umbrella as pan or fluid etc, etc, but not all at the same time. 

So Taylor (as an ally, or lesbian, bisexual, trans, any identity under the queer umbrella) could advocate for the gay men, for example, even though she is not in their community.

Taylor could advocate for any group under the queer umbrella singularly if she identifies as an ally OR ANY OTHER LETTER IN THE QUEER ALPHABET.

In addition, many people who have an identity under the queer umbrella do not feel a part of “the community” because they’re closeted, not active in it, or self-perceived as not “enough” of their identity.

Example: bisexuals may not feel gay enough to claim membership in the LGBT Community if they’re in a straight-presenting relationship.

It’s anecdotally pretty common for every letter of the queer alphabet to not feel a part of the LGBTQQIAA community, and research backs that up :

I didn’t know I could advocate for a community [POC, LGB/Q, TRANS, & WOMEN (any demographic that is not white, straight, cis male)] that I’m not a part of.

In other words, the Vogue statement isn’t the smoking gun people make it out to be. Taylor Swift never said she was straight, and left ambiguity and plausible deniability just as she does in her songs and persona.

Taylor wants to control her image and the narrative:

Brings new meaning to:

And they would toast to me, oh
Let the players play
I’d be just like Leo
In Saint-Tropez

What’s it like to brag about
Raking in dollars
And getting bitches and models
And it’s all good if you’re bad
And it’s okay if you’re mad

So what does this mean???

Sources:

https://www.vogue.com/article/taylor-swift-cover-september-2019

Heteronormativity & Straight Privilege

Yup, we’re going to broach the New York Times Taylor Swift Queer Coding article. Buckle up!

Heteronormativity: The assumption that heterosexual identity is the norm, which plays out in interpersonal interactions and institutional privileges that further the marginalization of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. 

Examples of Straight (passing) Privilege:

Source 1: https://queer.ucmerced.edu/sites/queer.ucmerced.edu/files/page/documents/queer_ally_homework.pdf

In everyday conversation, the language used assumes my sexual orientation (sex = heterosexual sex;
family = a man, a woman, and their children; spouse = husband or wife of another gender).

I am identified by my profession or interests rather than my sexual orientation (I am a teacher, not a gay
teacher; I am a musician, not a lesbian musician).

People do not assume that I can magically identify all other heterosexuals.

I can live every day without ever having to face, confront, engage, or cope with anything on these
pages. I can choose whether to pay attention to these privileges. I am not forced or compelled to
address heterosexism.

Source 2:  https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2017/10/05/10-examples-that-prove-straight-privilege-influences-everything

You don’t have to announce your heterosexuality to the world.

Very few parents are going to be surprised or angry that their child is straight. People that you’re sexually compatible with are still going to be readily available without having to confirm that you’re both straight.

And if you’re thinking, “Queer people only have to come out once! It’s just a matter of gathering up the courage and ripping off the Band-Aid!” you’re wrong. Queer people have to come out over and over again throughout their lives.

Just about every form of media is positively dripping with heterosexuality. TV shows, magazines, music, film—everywhere you look, straight people are flirting or getting it on or realizing they’re meant to be. It has taken us decades to get overt representation on screen. Diversity might be increasing, but even as queer characters start to get bona fide love stories, there are still subtle codes that reinforce the implication that we’re always a little bit less than worthy of true fulfillment. Remember that rosy coming-of-age story? Replace it with homophobic and/or religious parents, a deeply closeted lover, and a heaping helping of self-loathing. Lighthearted or nonchalant stories of sexual self-discovery are few and far between. Gay male characters tend to fall into one of two stereotypes: the effeminate outcast who’s horribly bullied or the closeted jock whose internalized homophobia underlies a temper and a violent streak. If you’re a lesbian, put simply, you’re always crying or dying. Writers have a nasty habit of killing them off as part of some half-assed, poorly executed social commentary—in subtext, of course!

Whether it’s hastily changing pronouns in stories or creating fictional significant others or just avoiding the subject of dating at all costs, queer people often have to go to meticulous lengths to avoid outing themselves. Everyone has different reasons for not wanting to be out to certain people or not wanting to be out at all. Regardless of circumstance, it can be very stressful for LGBTQIA+ folks to navigate even casual conversation with the constant fear of outing yourself to the wrong person. Imagine not being able to speak freely about the person you love or just not being able to swap silly dating misadventure stories with your friends. Straight people have the luxury to divulge as much information as they want about their personal lives without worrying about the reactions of their audience.

Source 3: http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2012/01/29-examples-of-heterosexual-privilege/

1. Receiving social acceptance by neighbors, colleagues, and good friends.
2. Having role models of your gender and sexual orientation.
3. Expecting to be around others of your sexuality most of the time. Not worrying about being the only one of your sexuality in a class, on a job, or in a social situation.
4. Talking openly about your relationship, vacations, and family planning you and your lover/partner are doing.
5. Not having to hide or lie about women/men-only social activities.
6. Acting, dressing, or talking as you choose without it being a reflection on people of your sexuality.
7. The ability to teach about lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals without being seen as having a bias because of your sexuality or forcing a “homosexual agenda” on students.
8. Not having to “come out” (explain to people that you’re straight, as you can just assume they will assume it)
9. Knowing that people aren’t going to mutter about your sexuality if you come out to them.
10. Knowing that being open with your sexuality isn’t going to change how people view you.

Once someone acknowledges their privilege, they can move forward in leveraging that privilege to confront societal and institutional discrimination. Some ways a person can leverage their privilege are to have brave conversations with family and friends, advocate for folks without the same privileges, and utilize bystander intervention techniques to support someone you see being harassed because of their identity.

https://unitedwaysem.org/equity_challenge/day-3-what-is-privilege/#:~:text=Privilege%20can%20be%20based%20on,personal%2C%20interpersonal%20and%20institutional%20levels.

Taylor Swift’s Question… My Analysis Series [All Links]

Taylor Swift’s Question… Analysis [Part 1]

Question… Good Girl or Wrong Choices? [Part 2]

Question… Cognizance Illuminated [Part 3]

Question… Closeting Leads to Fall Out [Part 4]

Question… Can the Ultra-Famous have Reeaal Friends? [Part 5]

Question… Too Trusting at Fifteen and Public Perception Evolves over 15 Years [Part 6]

Question… Fighting Drama, Queer Love is a Fight, the Masters & Kaylor are the Fight of her Life [Part 7]

Question… Desire to Touch Women is Taylor Swift’s Real Nemeses [Part 8]

Question… EYE Theory (Just Kidding, Really I’m Joking) [Part 9]

Question… Surprise! Taylor’s Realization Closeting Comes with Career [Part 10]

Question… The word Drinking/Drunk is in at Least 16 Taylor Swift Songs [Part 11]

Question… The Politics of Contrasts [Part 12]

Question… Inherent Attraction Leads Taylor Swift to Depression [Part 13]

Question… Taylor Keeps Repeating the Same Old Pattern that Ultimately Makes her Miserable [Part 14]

Question… Planets, Stars, & the Moon-Nothing Compares to You [Part 15]

Question… Kaylor-Politics Fear, Fire, & Smoke. Many Songs are Tied Together [Part 16]

Question… Dancing is Exemplification of Uninhibited Sexuality [Part 17]

Question… Dancing with our Hands Tied Connection- who is 25 years old? [Part 18]

Question… The Last Post of the Series and Explanation of Who and What the Song is About [Part 20]

Taylor and I Wrote a Song Together!

I mean, she doesn’t know about it. But I used I’ll Bet You Think About Me as a template. Here are her pieces in purple and mine in between:

3 a.m. and I’m still awake, I’ll bet you’re just fine

Fast asleep in your city that’s better than mine

And the girl in your bed has a fine pedigree

And I’ll bet your friends tell you she’s better than me, huh

3pm and I ruminate, and you have left town

Herding trials in a field still foreknowing renown

And the dog at your feet has a fine pedigree

And I bet in your mind you are better than me, huh

Well, I tried to fit in with your upper-crust circles

Yeah, they let me sit in back when we were in love

Oh, they sit around talkin’ ’bout the meaning of life

And the book that just saved ’em that I hadn’t heard of

Well I tried to break into your competitive career

Yeah, they let me clean the shit back when we were involved

Oh, they drink and lament how no one works hard

And back in the day- they were tougher and more evolved

But now that we’re done and it’s over

I bet you couldn’t believe

When you realized I’m harder to forget, than I was to leave

And I bet you think about me

But now that we’re done and I’ve moved on

I know you didn’t foresee 

That I’m harder to replace; you’re short-staffed, now that I’m gone. Gee.

Now you regret discarding me

You grew up in a silver-spoon gated community

Glamorous, shiny, bright Beverly Hills

I was raised on a farm, no, it wasn’t a mansion

Just livin’ room dancin’ and kitchen table bills

You grew up on a ranch with your admissions advantage

Experience working with large animals

I was raised in that small town, no link to the 4H

Just goin’ to school and dancing on a team

But you know what they say, you can’t help who you fall for

And you and I fell like an early spring snow

But reality crept in, you said we’re too different

You laughed at my dreams, rolled your eyes at my jokes

But you know what they say, you can’t pick who your boss is

And you came back home and I had just one choice

But your narcissism aimed at me, I was confused

You scapegoated me and you silenced my voice

Mr. Superior-Thinkin’

Do you have all the space that you need?

I don’t have to be your shrink to know that you’ll never be happy

And I bet you think about me

I bet you think about me, yes

I bet you think about me

MNarc my former vet mentor,

Do you have all the power you want?

I don’t need a  psych degree to know you lack real empathy

You now know there’s no other me

I think you regret culling me

And nobody works like me

Ooh, block it all out

The voices so loud sayin’, “Why did you let her go?”

Does it make you feel sad

That the love that you’re lookin’ for

Is the love that you had?

Forgo all the days off

You go it alone, not able to depend or trust

Or recruit somebody

The 2nd doctor you need

Was supposed to be me

Now you’re out in the world, searchin’ for your soul

Scared not to be hip, scared to get old

Chasing make-believe status, last time you felt free

Was when none of that shit mattered ’cause you were with me

You sold your hospital and now they can’t leave

Scared your mask will slip, plebs won’t believe  

Hoarding make-believe status, your life is empty 

And I know your truth, and it would’ve gone smoother with me

But now that we’re done and it’s over

I bet it’s hard to believe

But it turned out I’m harder to forget than I was to leave

But now that I’ve gone and it’s finished

I’m sure you won’t acknowledge

I’m not so easy to replace, too bad your bets were hedged

Then, yeah, I bet you think about me

I bet you think about me, yes

I bet you think about me

Now you know there’s no better me

I hope you regret denouncing me

And nobody works like me

I bet you think about me when you’re out

At your cool indie music concerts every week

I bet you think about me in your house

With your organic shoes and your million-dollar couch

I probably crossed your mind when you were at work

Missing out on float trips and rough camping

I think you wish you kept all of my perks

Self-starting hustler, my dependability

I bet you think about me when you say

“Oh my god, she’s insane, she wrote a song about me”

I bet you think about me

I’m sure you say she’s obsessed and jealous

But you know I know what others can’t see

You were worse off without me

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: Target ~ Hits Different

Hits Different

I washed my hands of us at the club You made a mess of me/I pictured you with other girls in love/Then threw up on the street/Oh, my, love is a lie…/…It hits different this time/Catastrophic blues/Movin’ on was always easy for me to do/It hits different/It hits different ’cause it’s you/(‘Cause it’s you)/I used to switch out these Kens, I’d just ghost/Rip the band-aid off and skip town likе an asshole outlaw…/…Cursed the space that I needed/I trace the evidence, make it make some sense/Why the wound is still bleedin’/You were the one that I loved…/…Dreams of your hair and your stare and sense of belief/In the good in the world, you once believed in me/And I felt you and I held you for a while/Bet I could still melt your world/Argumentative, antithetical dream girl…/…Or have they come to take me away?/To take me away

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: 3AM ~ High Infidelity

Father’s reaction to coming out

High Infidelity 

Lock broken, slur spoken/Wound open, game token/I didn’t know you were keeping count/Rain soaking, blind hoping/You said I was freeloading/I didn’t know you were keeping count/High infidelity/Put on your records and regret me/I bent the truth too far tonight/I was dancing around, dancing around it/High infidelity/Put on your headphones and burn my city/Your picket fence is sharp as knives…/…Storm coming, good husband/Bad omen/Dragged my feet right down the aisle/At the house lonely, good money/I’d pay if you’d just know me/Seemed like the right thing at the time…/…I didn’t know you were keeping count/But oh, you were keeping count

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1557988314539993

Chapter 3: The Coming Out Experience

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: 3AM ~ Bigger than the Whole Sky [(maybe) Part 1]

I might do a part 2, as I found another very interesting source. Will alll the new songs coming out (heh) we’ll see what I do.

Bigger than the Whole Sky 

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye/You were bigger than the whole sky/You were more than just a short time/And I’ve got a lot to pine about/I’ve got a lot to live without/I’m never gonna meet/What could’ve been, would’ve been/What should’ve been you/What could’ve been, would’ve been you…/…Every single thing to come has turned into ashes/’Cause it’s all over, it’s not meant to be/So I’ll say words I don’t believe

Grieving giving up her opportunity to come out, missing the (queer) person she might have been.

***Trigger Warning***

conversion therapy

Though this is very bleak, we’re going to end on a lighter, more hopeful note:

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: Midnights ~ Midnight Rain

Midnight Rain 

…I wanted that pain…/…All of me changed like midnight/My town was a wasteland/Full of cages, full of fences/Pageant queens and big pretenders/But for some, it was paradise/My boy was a montage/A slow-motion, love potion…/…I broke his heart ’cause he was nice…/…It came like a postcard/Picture perfect, shiny family/Holiday, peppermint candy/But for him it’s every day/So I peered through a window/A deep portal, time travel/All the love we unravel/And the life I gave away…/…I guess sometimes we all get/Just what we wanted, just what we wanted…/…I guess sometimes we all get/Some kind of haunted, some kind of haunted/And I never think of him/Except on midnights like this (midnights like this)