Well, I've dealt with all of my worldly possessions being stuck in customs TWICE, so none of this surprises me. I actually assume my stuff will be lost or held hostage for a period of time. Moving sucks.

One final update for everyone. U-Pack (ABM) was fantastic. The dropped off the cube exactly on time, picked it up within a few hours of my phone call, when I called to arrange delivery they could accommodate me exactly when I wanted (well, they don't deliver on weekends, but other than that...), delivered exactly when they said, and the only piece left is for them to take it away, which I'm confident will be done this morning. And all of this completely politely and professionally. It was actually more expensive than having movers do the whole thing for me, but I think the result was worth it.

As a bonus, since I packed it myself based on what I've learned from previous moved, I had 100% success! Not a single broken item or even a chip. The only minor problem was I had a pump bottle shampoo that was bad before I put it in the box, and probably due to change in temperature and altitude, it oozed a little. Not to the point of destruction. One box just has a fragrant stain now! The next recipient of my box will probably wonder what they hell? And my 2 small avocado trees seem to have survived. They don't look great, but they're not dead. I don't know if I'll ever be able to grow them to tree size or if they would bear fruit in any case, but I started them from seeds and didn't want to give them up.

And to recap, contrary to what you've likely been told, pack HEAVY. Wrap everything well - bubble wrap is your friend - and use dollies or cart trucks to move stuff around. I think the stuff in the boxes stay put better if they are at maximum weight. I also had the pod filled absolutely side to side and front to back so the only stuff that seems to have bounced around at all were the things that were ok to move.

Know anyone in the KC area/Overland Park who's moving?

I have paper and bubble wrap, all nicely flattened and stacked (it's an OCD thing), 5 large boxes and 5 medium Uhaul boxes ready to go. I also have 2 flat screen TV boxes (a 37" and a 32") and a couple larger boxes that are in excellent shape which are not Uhaul boxes, so they're a bit different shape/size. Free to a good home. Send me a private if you want to discuss :)