Day 0 - The pack up

Today was a very busy day. I finished my last day of work, got my PCS award, picked up the U-Haul, and loaded the majority of our stuff.

It was busy from the start because I had to prepare a lot of NETUSR stuff, but I got to relax a little when it turned out all the classified computers were running super slow. There just wasn't anything anyone could do.

At the end of the day, I got an Army Commendation Medal. It's customary for a person to receive an award of some sort when they move away; for E-7s and higher it's normal for someone to get an ARCOM because of the scope of their duties.

Immediately after the cake and goodbyes, I picked up the truck, loaded the car on the attached trailer, and drove home to start loading stuff up. Around 6:30, folks from church came over to help load.

I was really surprised at how quickly things moved. True, I had given away the majority of our largest furniture and disassembled the beds, but I also had never seen so many people at a pack-up before. Neither had my friend/co-worker who had also come, and that's saying something -- he's among the most well-connected guys I know.

By the end of the evening, there were a few miscellaneous things laying around, but the truck was -- for the most part -- ready to go.