Well apparently I haven't been posting enough. Not a whole lot of new news on the homefront though. So I'll just rant. (aka ramble).

I'm at the later stages of my job search and will probably be making a decision by the end of this week or early next week. It's very likely that we'll be moving to Fairfax, VA (Near DC) by the end of the month. It's a good offer and a great opportunity, but the location is still somewhat questionable. I've been researching a place to live down there.. and well, it certainly isn't cheap. We still haven't sold the house in Madison so that's been the main source of our financial burden.
So anyway since its pretty certain that we'll be moving, I've been packing the house. I saved all the boxes from our last move to here so at least I have a lot of boxes. We also never finished unpacking everything so lots of our stuff is still in boxes ready to go, so that's good.

We moved here to Boston from Madison on July 1, 2006. Legally the moving company was supposed to deal with my claim within 90 days of me submitting it. Its been WAY past that. And there were LOTS of emails, phone calls, red tape, and other hoops I had to jump through to even file a claim to begin with. Moving companies are a total rip-off scam. Anyway, this company (National Movers) have historically been very rude and unresponsive to my inquiries. I finally found a website where I could complain about them.

http://www.1-888-dot-saft.com/CC_main.asp

Soon afterward, the moving company contacted me in a polite but legally professional manner and worked to actually settle my claim. They emailed me a sum that they'd be willing to pay me for all the stuff they lost or broke. But, it's like 1/10th the replacement cost of everything. More Suckage.
I certainly will be VERY WARY of any moving company or moving broker in the future. Most of them suck. ALWAYS get the more expensive "Replacement Cost"insurance, not the default 'Replacement based on weight" insurance. You'll get like under 4 bucks for your 6 pound, $2,000 painting or sculpture or whatever. You get like 60 cents per pound... the replacement cost of the item is irrelevant. It's total BS. Stupidest 'insurance' coverage I ever heard of.
Don't do it.