And So It Begins

Packing is an art form. Some people pack in the lines and some outside. Some have a system and some have lists. Some pack early and some the date of travel.
Larry began by neatly packing 10 days before the trip and placing his opened bag on the coffee table directly in front of Debbie’s chair (similar to Sheldon’s chair on the Big Bang – Debbie constantly has to firmly encourage people to get out of the Captain’s chair). Anyway, Debbie was not packed at this time. This inspired her to get a suitcase out of the store room and stand it up in the corner like it was done. It looked very nice.

Larry would casually stroll by and say things like “I am 95% packed. Glad I am done. I just couldn’t wait like you.”

Eventually, Larry caught Debbie trying to use his open luggage as a foot rest with her shoes on mumbling that she would show him how to pack. So, Larry moved his suitcase into the bedroom. He put the suitcase on an ottoman directly beside Debbie’s side of the bed. This prompted Debbie to begin gathering items in one big pre-sorting pile on the dining room table (A different approach). But alas, every time Debbie woke up and opened her eyes, there was that neat little suitcase taunting her. Daring her to say or do something. She casually pushed or maybe kicked at it as she walked by. Then, one day she just cracked and couldn’t take it anymore.

Debbie began her opening salvo with a few questions “How many pairs of shoes are you taking? Do you really think that is enough? Hmm, oh, I well, I just thought you would take more. How about shirts? Really? I think it will be cold in Switzerland. I really hope that you have enough clothes. I am pretty sure that Rick Steves’ packing list is flawed.”.

Each day was a different set of questions. Soon, Larry began to stack things on top of his open suitcase until one day when Debbie opened her eyes and realized that Larry’s suitcase would no longer close and she thought “life is good”.

Alas, Larry and Debbie were at the same point. Both with too much stuff and suitcases that wouldn’t close. Debbie began to feel a little guilty and offered to lay on top of Larry’s bag to see if he could zip it closed. (Larry declined and Debbie is sure she is too light to make a difference). Debbie’s technique was to pile everything that you would possibly need for a trip to Mars and then gradually take things away. Both did some serious reconfiguration and two nights before the trip were able to close the suitcases with appropriate weights. However, there would be a final dress rehearsal the night before with each spending a couple of hours rechecking the suitcases.

As a side note on Wednesday, Debbie asked Larry what he thought of this Harold thing.  Larry said “Do you mean Harvey? I don’t know. What do you think?”

Debbie as we know will always give an opinion. She said: “Oh, yes Harvey that is what I meant. I don’t think much of it because a serious storm can’t be named something like Harvey. I don’t know anyone named Harvey. It can only be a tropical depression and it will never come to Houston. Those news people just need to chill out.”

On Thursday, Debbie was betrayed by Harold Harvey who transformed into a hurricane. Things were thrown in the suitcase without proper rehearsing and vetting as they raced out the door. And thus, the vacation began a day early with Harold/Harvey showing the two who wasn’t a nice little tropical storm and a first night stay in an airport hotel in Houston. Both feel like they have forgotten something.

Larry says that he will now pack in secret and Debbie has conceded that earlier is better. (She is looking for some one to blame for her tardiness). Larry will just have to whisper the words “Harold Harvey” to send Debbie scurrying next time. On a side note, Joyce’s suitcase did not even make it to Frankfurt which made Debbie and Larry feel pretty lucky for what they brought.