Day 1 of the four-day packout is over, and it did not go at all like I predicted. I happily admit that I had it pegged all wrong.

Three guys arrived 30 minutes earlier than expected, took a quick tour of the house, asked a few questions, dragged in rolls of bubble wrap, bales of paper, and stacks of boxes, then got straight to work.

There was no mid-morning tea break.

They seemed grateful for the pizza and cookies we provided, but ate lunch on the fly–no one-hour break as I’d anticipated.

There was no mid-afternoon tea break. Apparently they all agreed that they’d rather work the entire day without a proper break and knock off an hour early at the end of the day.

The same three will return tomorrow morning, bringing along one additional crew member. I figure if they work at the same pace as today, the four of them should have no problem finishing all the packing. If they were really ambitious, they could theoretically get it all out of the house and crated as well. I don’t figure that’ll actually happen…I suspect the crating and removal will be slated for Wednesday, but I see no reason for the process to run into a fourth day as planned by the surveyor.

I say, “Three days, then be on your way!”