Harper's On Packing Out by venitha

• Number of boxes shipped: 100 (14 by air, 86 by sea)
  
• Language spoken by packers: Malay
  
• Number of man-hours put in by packers: 32
  
• Number of weeks before we'll see any of it again: 3-4 weeks air, 6-8 weeks sea
  
• Boxes and packing paper saved from our shipment to Singapore that were reused: none
  
• Estimated value of shipment: US$65000
  
• Estimated value of baby gifts in shipment: Astounding. What do we say, Zoe? Thank you.
  
• Most useless item shipped here, unused, and now shipped back: a coatrack
  
• Contents of the under-the-sink cabinet that - whoops! - didn't get packed: 8 tubes of Crest toothpaste and 5 bars of Dial soap.
  
• Number of episodes of The West Wing, Season 7, Jim and I watched while performing our taxing supervisory role during our two pack-out days: 3
  
• Rank of Alan Alda, Jimmy Smits, and GW Bush in our preference for US president: We disagree. I'm glad to be returning to a country where women are allowed to vote. That's called sarcasm, and what I'm really glad for is to be returning to a country where I don't have to label it as such. Returning to a country where GW Bush is president, hmmm...
  
• Number of times I claimed to be "Mr. James" on the phone in order to close accounts: 2
  
• Number of bags we moved to the Marriott: 12
  
• Number of bags we plan to fly home with: 9. Hmmm....
  
• Number of these bags I can't lift even when I'm not pregnant: 2
  
• Number of laptop computers and ipods included in these bags: 3 and 1
  
• Number of Singaporeans who expressed disappointment that none of these items were included in our virtual garage sale: 2
  
• Highrise city view demotion in moving from the Pasadena to the Marriott: 19 - 6 = 13 floors
  
• Distance-to-the-MRT promotion: 10 - 2 = 8 minutes
  
• Most popular Marriott mini-bar item: Ritter (German) chocolate, S$4.80
  
• Most unexpected Marriott mini-bar item: men's dress socks, two pairs S$7.50

venitha