Moving with electronics

I have been involved with computers for forty years, both professionally and as a hobby and during this time I have moved home almost two dozen times, so I consider myself an expert in moving both myself and my ever growing stock of electronic equipment.

The early moves were easy, even the longer distance ones between the USA and England. Books were shipped by mail, which was remarkably inexpensive in the early days. Cartons of electronic data books would arrive in a month or so, battered but safe. Mundane personal effects went as checked baggage, but precious chips, like my hoard of one kilobit ram chips were sealed in static protected envelopes and carried in my pockets.

Eventually, my collection became too large for such tourist style moves, and I migrated to semi-professional apartment movers , typically a couple for burly men and a battered truck. The first such move was remarkably successful, nothing damaged, but only because everything was packed in a manner that guaranteed survival in any eventuality less than a direct nuclear strike.

I vowed to use a two tier scheme for all future moves. The electronics I would handle myself, while spouse’s clothes and jewelry could be entrusted to regular moving companies. Family responsibilities required me to allow other items to join the first tier, and soon each move was accompanied by sentimental keepsakes, slides and photos and frequently a few unhappy cats. The first tier items had to be able to fit into a station wagon, which was possible because big screen TVs had not yet been invented, and station wagons in the ‘70s were almost as big as aircraft carriers.

My techniques for packing improved, CRT monitors could be packed in boxes stuffed with rumpled clothing, so upon arrival at my destination, I would not only be able to compute, but also have a change of clothing before the moving van arrived.

As the years passed, my electronic collection grew, and more non-electronic items were added to tier one. Truck rental provided the answer. The bulk of my goods went by moving truck, but the tier one stuff stayed with me all the time.

The problem was with the old stuff- too old to be used, but with the lingering feeling it would one day be an antique, and hence valuable. Slowly, move by move, this was left behind in moving and storage lockups, where for a small monthly fee I could weigh the strategy of holding on to the antique CP/M computers in the hope of vast wealth at some future date, or send the order to abandon them to some anonymous auction. One thing I will always keep, my 1950’s UNIVAC computer manual retrieved from a garbage bin in the 60s. The 8 inch floppies are long gone, along with the computers that could read them. Now I’m planning my next move.