The move of my Steinway Grand Piano proved difficult. The only company probably able to do it was New Zealand’s largest transport company. They sent someone to make photographs of the piano and of my driveway. My driveway is quite steep and I insisted having the piano in my living room on the second floor. They needed a crane they said and this crane could not get up the driveway. And they needed eight people for health and safety regulations. Hence the piano should go on the first floor health and safety regulations still applying.
That was sort of a set-back.
Seeing so many odd-placed houses all over the place, I had hoped they would be a bit more insightful and resourceful.
But help arrived in the form of a local guy who had a large van and ‘did’ removals.
A student had given his telephone number and when I called him he answered with: “Jesus loves you!”
“Oh, it’s good to know that is still the case”, and I explained the situation.
Upon hearing that the largest transport company could not do it he suddenly became interested. Alas, perhaps with Jesus behind him, he would not have a problem with impossibilities? And indeed he hadn’t.
“What are you going to do when it rains?” I desired to know. “Oh, it IS not going to rain, because I will pray for that!”
“And is the piano insured during the removal?” “No, I don’t do insurance. I trust in the Lord.” Right, that made me feel suddenly a lot better and I called the transport company again, whether they hadn’t changed their mind in the meantime and found a solution, but they hadn’t.
So I calculated my pros and cons and decided I wanted the piano on the second floor above all and called my insurance company. When I moved could they do an insurance? Yes they could.
And if I would move, would they make any demands with regard to the removal company? No, they wouldn’t. I could do it myself if I so wished.
“Ok”, I phoned up our man, who again re-assured me with regard to Jesus’ feelings towards me.
And so there he came on the day accompanied by one helper and me and a friend making up four people. But he had done some thinking indeed. He had made a crate and hired a four wheel forklift truck.
He had some sort of little machine, something like what you use to lift your car, when you have to change a wheel, only larger. He looked for the central weight point on the piano and lifted the 800 kg heavy instrument up without any of the others helping. Then he put some steel pipes on the floor and put the bottom of the crate on it and with two people they gently pushed the piano aside on the crate floor, after removing the legs.
Then he nailed the whole crate together and wheeled the crate over the pipes always putting the freed pipe from the back in front of the crate and rolled the whole thing towards the door where he rolled it just like that onto the forklift.
The forklift drove it to an open platform and lifted it on it. Alas, only one tiny mistake, the crate fell apart here under the weight of the piano. I looked worried towards the sky. Dark clouds all over, but no drip of rain.
The open platform was put behind my four wheel drive and our man said: “off you go!”. And whilst I drive home with the piano behind me, the forklift truck rolled at its own speed towards my house the other side of town, the driver ordering a Big Mac from the drive-in restaurant on his way.
Upon arriving there a small crane, which our man had managed to hire was already there on top of my driveway. I pulled the open platform up the driveway. The crane picked the piano up and craned it over the roof unto the back deck just in front of the back door. There the crane helped lift the piano to its side on the small wheel-carrier.
And from there it was driven straight into the living room and with help of his little machine rejoined on its feet.
And this is how Jesus put New Zealand’s largest transport company to shame….
(from Awesome Adventures of an Immigrant, by Art Zegelaar)
The move of my Steinway Grand Piano proved difficult. The only company probably able to do it was New Zealand’s largest transport company. They sent someone to make photographs of the piano and of my driveway. My driveway is quite steep and I insisted having the piano in my living room on the second floor. They needed a crane they said and this crane could not get up the driveway. And they needed eight people for health and safety regulations. Hence the piano should go on the first floor health and safety regulations still applying.
ReplyDeleteThat was sort of a set-back.
Seeing so many odd-placed houses all over the place, I had hoped they would be a bit more insightful and resourceful.
But help arrived in the form of a local guy who had a large van and ‘did’ removals.
A student had given his telephone number and when I called him he answered with: “Jesus loves you!”
“Oh, it’s good to know that is still the case”, and I explained the situation.
Upon hearing that the largest transport company could not do it he suddenly became interested. Alas, perhaps with Jesus behind him, he would not have a problem with impossibilities? And indeed he hadn’t.
“What are you going to do when it rains?” I desired to know.
“Oh, it IS not going to rain, because I will pray for that!”
“And is the piano insured during the removal?”
“No, I don’t do insurance. I trust in the Lord.”
Right, that made me feel suddenly a lot better and I called the transport company again, whether they hadn’t changed their mind in the meantime and found a solution, but they hadn’t.
So I calculated my pros and cons and decided I wanted the piano on the second floor above all and called my insurance company. When I moved could they do an insurance? Yes they could.
And if I would move, would they make any demands with regard to the removal company? No, they wouldn’t. I could do it myself if I so wished.
“Ok”, I phoned up our man, who again re-assured me with regard to Jesus’ feelings towards me.
And so there he came on the day accompanied by one helper and me and a friend making up four people. But he had done some thinking indeed. He had made a crate and hired a four wheel forklift truck.
He had some sort of little machine, something like what you use to lift your car, when you have to change a wheel, only larger. He looked for the central weight point on the piano and lifted the 800 kg heavy instrument up without any of the others helping. Then he put some steel pipes on the floor and put the bottom of the crate on it and with two people they gently pushed the piano aside on the crate floor, after removing the legs.
Then he nailed the whole crate together and wheeled the crate over the pipes always putting the freed pipe from the back in front of the crate and rolled the whole thing towards the door where he rolled it just like that onto the forklift.
The forklift drove it to an open platform and lifted it on it. Alas, only one tiny mistake, the crate fell apart here under the weight of the piano.
I looked worried towards the sky. Dark clouds all over, but no drip of rain.
The open platform was put behind my four wheel drive and our man said: “off you go!”. And whilst I drive home with the piano behind me, the forklift truck rolled at its own speed towards my house the other side of town, the driver ordering a Big Mac from the drive-in restaurant on his way.
Upon arriving there a small crane, which our man had managed to hire was already there on top of my driveway. I pulled the open platform up the driveway. The crane picked the piano up and craned it over the roof unto the back deck just in front of the back door. There the crane helped lift the piano to its side on the small wheel-carrier.
And from there it was driven straight into the living room and with help of his little machine rejoined on its feet.
And this is how Jesus put New Zealand’s largest transport company to shame….
(from Awesome Adventures of an Immigrant, by Art Zegelaar)