I was up bright and early this morning in anticipation of our cargo arriving. At 9.45 I got a call from the security downstairs who told me (in mostly Hindi) that our truck had arrived!! I went downstairs to see what was happening. It was still at the main gate so I went to see what the problem was. As usual, the guys at the gate were just checking everything over to make sure there was nothing wrong with the container coming in. One of the security guards told me it would be about 10 minutes.
I came home and waited and sure enough at 10 a.m the doorbell rang and a very pleasant man called Clive was there to supervise the cargo being delivered. We had 95 boxes and between Clive and I we ticked every one off as it arrived. As it turned out the UK side of the company had made a few mistakes and we had 3 duplicate numbers so we had two box 16s and two box 46s (and no 47)!
They brought all the boxes up about 8 at a time and I started directing them into the correct rooms. They were all covered in a packing material so I started uncovering the boxes and opening some of them. Clive told me that once they brought all the boxes in, they would unpack everything but I told him I may as well do it, it saves time and we were just standing there waiting for more boxes to be brought up anyway. There were two other guys upstairs as well so Clive got them to unpack the wrapping around the boxes as they came in and then I said where to unpack the box itself. It was completely manic!! Raj Kumar was here to keep an eye on Dylan, which actually I didn't really need because DJ was so thrilled to have his toys, he was playing quietly in his bedroom. Raj Kumar also helped with Abi though and with all the boxes. I think it was a really good idea to have him there.
As we unpacked DJ's new ride on cars, Penri was sitting in the bedroom building them. Then whenever I had to feed Abi, Pen would come out and take over managing boxes and counting things coming in. They were pretty fast and efficient and by 2 p.m all the boxes were in and most had been emptied. Not put away, but just placed in the right room. When they asked if they could leave, I told them not until I made sure of a couple of things. I wanted to check our electronics were there – TVs, Xbox etc and I also wanted to make sure a few other bits were there. We couldn't find one of the Xboxes and every single person was looking for it. It said on the list that it was in box 47 so there were 7 guys, Clive, Das (from Penri's office), Penri and I all looking frantically for box 47 and checking in other boxes to make sure that it wasn't in there. Eventually, after about an hour of searching and Clive making a few frantic phone calls, one of the guys found it. It was in box 46 – the second box 46. As I said earlier – there was no box 47! The guys in England messed up and caused a lot of grief to all of us! But, happily, we found it and all seemed to be accounted for so Clive and his guys left and then Das left and Pen, Raj Kumar and I set to work.
We worked unpacking, tidying and cleaning. At 5.30 Raj Kumar left and Pen went for a sleep and I kept going. Would you believe I was unpacking until 4 a.m and there's still lots to do! The play room (which is also Abi's bedroom) is finished, the children's clothes are unpacked and sorted into piles (of trousers, tops etc) but I haven't put them away yet. The lounge and dining room are finished (apart from setting up the television and Xbox) and the kitchen is semi done. Raj Kumar put away all our plates and kitchen items but I want to organise them so they make sense. What I mean is, all the plates and glasses are on shelves but they are all mixed up and in no real order so they need arranging properly but that will be done once I finish everything else.
Last night I took one of the small lamps out of our bedroom and put it in the servant's quarters (I hate calling it that but I'm not really sure what else to call it)! We are using it to store all our empty suitcases and boxes. There is no light outside so at 2 o'clock this morning when I was taking everything out there (all the empty cases etc) I could actually see what I was doing. I fell into bed at 4.20 exhausted. Luckily Abi didn't wake me up until 7 and then DJ came through at 7.30!
No comments:
Post a Comment