<p>No joke. I think we all will need a break and it would be much easier to try to meet outside by the dorm (unless it’s raining) rather than to try to move as a group to a restaurant. Does Full Moon deliver?</p>
<p>I’ll be there Friday to pick up D. She has a final from 12-2pm, IIRC, so I’ll be free :)</p>
<p>We are actually getting most of her stuff the weekend before when dh can help and D2 (HS junior) can explore the campus a little more.</p>
<p>I am in for a Move out Picnic!! I don’t have high hopes for D having her packing OR cleaning done. She has finals every day too M to F…and leaves on Sunday for Ecuador. That leaves me to drive back to Chicago alone! A picnic would be really nice to see everyone and chat a bit before leaving on Saturday morning.</p>
<p>RCS lawn is that right in front of the main entrance? What time?
Woo Woo! CC Meet up… :)</p>
<p>Watch out for those fire ants! ;)</p>
<p>I don’t see much on the housing website regarding moving out. Can I (or DS) expect to receive an official communication regarding the process/expectations? It’s more important to me that the kids receive the info. Then, hopefully, all the roommates will be informed.</p>
<p>Let’s say noon for the picnic. Who’s buying the keg? </p>
<p>JOKING!</p>
<p>SECfam, I imagine our students will receive emails with information as the time gets closer. In the meantime, you can find some information here</p>
<p>[Student</a> Affairs | Housing & Residential Communities](<a href=“http://housing.ua.edu/on_campus/move_out.cfm]Student”>http://housing.ua.edu/on_campus/move_out.cfm)</p>
<p><a href=“http://housing.ua.edu/pdfs/DamageCharges2012.pdf[/url]”>http://housing.ua.edu/pdfs/DamageCharges2012.pdf</a></p>
<p>@buzymom3: my DD will also on the Ecuador trip … sounds like it will be a busy time trying to get things packed up for summer and also packed for a trip. I am not sure which part is more intimidating, at least to a mom!</p>
<p>Move out picnic sounds great! I might be camping out there on the lawn anyway. :)</p>
<p>Ah, thanks Class2012Mom. I am guilty of not ready past “December 15…” I imagine the rest will be the same for summer.</p>
<p>@colobamamom - Ecuador seems to be a popular destination. My S will also be on that trip.</p>
<p>Will there be carts available for move out? My DH isn’t able to help us, so it will be D and me- which probably means me.</p>
<p>There are a few carts, but availability will depend upon how many people are moving at the same time. I don’t know about all of the dorms, but there were three or four at RCS. Students were required to leave their driver’s license with the front desk upon checking out a cart and were able to retrieve it when the cart was returned. If they didn’t do something like that student’s would likely take the cart to their rooms and use it at their leisure.:)</p>
<p>I don’t know that this information will help for move out for this year, but hopefully it will help others in future years. </p>
<p>We live in Colorado and I have spent many days and nights trying to figure out the best way to get our daughter’s stuff into storage. I am happy to report that her an her BFF just moved all of her stuff into storage in less than two hours using a zip car. For less than $30 (zip car fee) she is completely moved out. Oh, she did buy lunch for her BFF, so lets say $45.</p>
<p>GIRL POWER!</p>
<p>I just wanted to document our process this year, before I forget it, for other families and for next year.</p>
<p>I am sorry that so many experienced poor weather for move-out on Friday. Our family moved out on Thursday, and it was quite crowded with others on a similar schedule. I arrived on Wednesday, and spent about 4 + hours packing up and got most of it done, surprisingly. I spent the day Thursday w/ S (done with finals at that point) turning in dining $ refund form, forwarding mail, turning in post box keys, arranging storage of a few items, and so forth, and also cleaning. I could have left a day earlier, but had prepaid the hotel.</p>
<p>Re dining dollars refund: this is a two-step process if you want the $ in the hand. You first turn in a form to the Lakeside Dining Office (top floor office to the right of the entrance doors, Elizabeth Keller was the nice lady there), and that will refund the $ to your student’s account. Then, you need to email the student account folks to get the credit processed how you like. If you do nothing, the $ rolls into your BamaCash account.</p>
<p>Meal plans for next year: I found Elizabeth helpful in deciding what sort of meal plan for the next year. She was able to look up how many meals had been used (495 in my S’s case, and these are legit meals, not snacks, as he does not ever go in for just snacks/drinks). There is a promotion going on right now that if you sign up for next year’s meal plan by May 27th (I believe - check this online), you will receive a certain # of combo meals for free (i.e., chick fil-a, in Ferg Food Court). With an unlimited meal plan, you would receive an additional 24 combo meals for no additional charge. This is very appealing, as we will most definitely be purchasing the unlimited plan again for sophomore S.</p>
<p>The process to check out is simple: there is a sign-up sheet on every floor of the dorm, with times listed in 15 or 30 (can’t remember) increments that the RA is available. You have to do this 24 hours in advance, so RA can plan his/her schedule around their own finals. At the designated time, the RA knocks on your door and finds you…walks you through the room and checks for damages that weren’t listed on your move-in sheet. Ours was very thorough. You lock the door behind you and give the keys to the RA, sign off and leave. A bit sad, actually, right?</p>
<p>Re moving the stuff out to cars: we were in Riverside, which has the nice circular driveway out the front, so very easy and convenient to pull right up and load. I counted at least 3 carts available in the lobby of the building for helping. They are first-come, first-served. You are asked to put these back when finished, but a lot of people obviously in a hurry and very unkindly left them on the sidewalk outside the building, so you might have to search for them. If you have packed well, loading the car only takes 15 minutes at most, with your student (or someone helping), ferrying back and forth from the dorm the pre-packed boxes. I caught more than a few families trying to shoe-horn things into their cars, and remarking to their student ‘How did it all fit on the way down?!’ I did see donation boxes for jeans and for clothing. I did not see donation boxes for other items. There were huge bins for rubbish, tho.</p>
<p>Re parking on the day: be sure to get a $5 daily parking pass at the transportation hub (corner of Campus Dr and Hackberry). Violations are charged $25. I know there are ways to get around avoiding paying the penalty or paying for parking altogether, but it would be courteous to obey rules and regulations so that UA doesn’t have to implement stricter policies to prevent such behavior. $5 is a small price to pay for the privilege of parking on campus and avoiding a ticket. The faculty/staff parking lot across from Lakeside was particularly convenient, and is considered a ‘visitor’ parking lot as well (as long as you do not park in designated faculty spots).</p>
<p>In hindsight, move-out was as unstressful as move-in. Good luck to everyone on their final day…and also over the summer, whatever your plans may be. Travel safely, too!</p>
<p>A footnote to parking… I didn’t mind getting the $5 parking pass but it was hard to find the transportation office (it is at the intersection of EAST Campus Drive and Hackberry) and if you end up looking for it from the other side it only looks like a parking garage rather than a building with a parking garage. Anyway, the helpers over at the Ridgecrest dorms were freely pointing parents into the RCS garage with or without passes. Happy to contribute my $5 but it wasn’t necessary yesterday. I hope the same holds true this morning when we go back to the dorm for one final time.</p>
<p>Aeromom, S is in Riverside West. DH got a parking pass and parked 3 blocks away to help son get everything ready to load. Unfortunately yesterday people parked right in front of the dorm and did not move AT ALL so DH and S had to walk 3 blocks to load the car. H said the 2 people in front had not brought anything down AT ALL in the 3 times they had to go back and forth. I told H he should of double-parked but he said that wouldn’t have been fair to everyone else (which is true). I’m glad when you were moving you didn’t have those inconsiderate people in front. You would think that they would have realized they should park farther away when packing/cleaning and just park in front when loading. I guess it takes all kinds! Except for that, the move out went really smooth.</p>
<p>Thanks for explaining the dining dollar process. S filled out the form but that is all. I will have him now do the next step so we can get the money back (and use next year for dining dollars) instead of it going to bama cash.</p>
<p>Move Out-How Much Time To Allow? </p>
<p>A. Million. Hours.</p>
<p>took us 4 hours to pack up everything and get it in the car. world record!</p>
<p>Show-off.</p>
<p>I ALSO have a million loads of laundry. </p>
<p>Alright Mike, sock it to me - you have… four?</p>
<p>no, no, no! LOTS of laundry. i am just now on the third load with plenty more to follow! </p>
<p>but i will let you know when i am done.</p>
<p>we could have a contest, but i am not sure if i am going somewhere tonight.</p>