Getting our STUFF!

Monday, 21 July 2008

Today’s the BIG DAY! After 24 days (it seems longer), we are finally getting our “stuff” back! (And the birds are looking forward to getting back into their own cages… with room to stretch!)

Scott left early this morning… with a satchel of money… to meet our agent at the dock. I stayed here at the house. My friend Jackie joined me in waiting. I had also received a call from Cable & Wireless that they would be installing my phone line this morning. Woo-hoo! It’s going to be a GREAT day! The weather iseems to be cooperating as well.

Since I wasn’t there, I’ll have to let Scott describe how things proceeded at the dock:

Mike (our British friend here) and I were scheduled to meet the shipping agent near the commercial dock at 8 am. To his word, he showed up exactly on time (which is unusual in the islands!). With paperwork in hand, we walked to the commercial dock guardshack, where for a small fee, we are each issued an ID badge. This allows us access into the restricted area. After meeting with several official-looking officials (they all had on uniforms), we were escorted to our container, which at this point is at ground level and easily accessible.

The seals are removed. The doors are opened. And the inside of the container looks exactly as it was when we closed it in Mount Joy! Like magic, several large flatbed trucks appeared; guys jumped off them & went to work unloading the contents while the government official stood by with clipboard in hand… looking for the four “new” items listed on our inventory.

The loading guys worked tirelessly! And without the use of any forklifts or handcarts, they loaded up (one truck at a time) a total of 5 trucks. At that point, the trucks were tarped, the load secured, and now the hard part begins!

While they waited on the docks, the agent & I started to make our rounds to the various government & civilian officials. This went pretty well, until we got to the very last station where we had to pay our duty on the “new” items. There was a line of about 6 people ahead of me, and some of them had stacks of paperwork an inch thick! All which had to be looked at and approved. After the final approval, the duty payment is made in cash… Eastern Caribbean dollars.

My turn finally arrived. The duty amount turned out to be slightly less than $1,000 US dollars. All things considered, that was nothing! We left the secured area, turned in our ID badges, and followed the convoy to our house in Bay Gardens.

The first truck… the one with the crane… had already gone up the driveway & was getting positioned to unload the heaviest items. Meanwhile, a second truck pulled up & had backed into the lower level to begin unloading its contents. Most of the boxes and crates were marked with a particular letter which corresponded to either upper level or lower level. They picked up on this immediately & went to work, with very little instruction from us.

As each truck was emptied, it went back down the hill, was parked, and then its 2-man crew would come help the next truck unload… and so on, and so on, until all 5 trucks were empty. At that point, we paid the agent, who in turn paid all the drivers & helpers. Everything was done in cash… no receipts, no paperwork, no signatures… just a job well done!

While he’s doing that, the phone guy arrived. I showed him where the jack was located & left him to do his work. Then we got a cell call from Jackie’s husband, Mike… as soon as he finds Scott, they’ll be headed our way! It was around 11:00 am, so they should be here with the convoy of trucks in about a half hour.

The phone guy (Wesley) needed to show me where the wires were, so he walked me through the house… following the phone lines throughout. (He was already familiar with this house, since he knows our former tenant very well!) There are wires leading to other rooms, but Scott will have to install the phone jacks so we can use them. So there’s another job we’ll have to put on our list! I told Wesley that I was already given the DSL box & should be able to install it on my computer myself. He left me with his name & phone number to call if I need him to do more wiring here. (Guess that means if Scott doesn’t get around to it!)

By this time it was after noon, and we still saw no sign of the delivery trucks. We’re wondering what could be taking so long?

Finally they arrive! (Around 12:45) I gave Jackie a camera to take a few photos in case I was busy. There were 5 trucks and about 6 or 7 guys to unload… in addition to Scott & Mike. All the trucks had the contents under tarps in case it rained. The first truck up the driveway was the one with the crane on it. (I could see the bird’s cages on the back once the tarp was removed.) Another one followed & pulled into the space by Scott’s workshop below. Then the unloading frenzy began!

Scott & I were trying to tell the guys which boxes went where… but they were so quick, it was hard to keep up with them. These guys were incredible! They were the ones that pulled the stuff out of the container & loaded it onto the trucks. THEN they ride along out here and do the unloading as well… all by hand! Some of them were even in their bare feet! I think it only took them about 2 to 2-1/2 hours to get it off all 5 trucks. I’ve never seen anything like it before! They were a good bunch of guys, so we gave them each a beer when they were done.

We talked a lot about how steep our driveway is & wondered just how the heck they would manage getting all our stuff up here. Amazingly, it was never an issue!

By 5:00, we were left alone with our boxes of stuff. The first thing I did was get the bird cages together so Joey & Cricket could get into their old home… with a much better view! Then we worked on getting the boxes to their proper location… either in the house or down in the workshop. We also couldn’t wait to open a few. It was like Christmas morning!

For more photos of the amazing delivery, click on the following link: http://travel.webshots.com/album/564985462wpMpUS