Great song, but it makes no mention of the spectacular fall foliage we can enjoy in New York State!

As the days grow shorter and cooler, the trees “realize” that winter is coming.  They stop making food, because in winter there is not enough light or water for them to conduct photosynthesis, the process where they take carbon dioxide from the air, water from the ground, and energy from sunlight, and convert it into oxygen and glucose.  Chlorophyll, which helps photosynthesis occur, gives plants their green color, but as the process shuts down in the fall, the green disappears from the leaves, replaced by often very vivid yellows, oranges, browns and reds.

Right now peak fall foliage colors are spreading across New York.  To see what they’re doing in your neck of the woods, click here.

Autumn in New York is a beautiful time to move – the clear skies and crisp fall weather are perfect for packing and transporting your possessions, and the absence of heat and humidity makes it more comfortable for lifting, loading, and unpacking.  Although it’s not the most popular season for moving, it is our favorite!

If you have any questions about moving your home or business, just give us a call at 800-545-6683 or visit us at A-1 First Class Viking Moving & Storage.

PS  Halloween is Monday, October 31^st.  Drive carefully!

We do a lot of residential moves at A-1 First Class Viking Moving & Storage.  And although we deal mostly with the movement of possessions, we’re actually moving people’s lives.  Any change can be stressful, but moving is one of the greatest stresses we face in our lives.  In fact, in terms of severity, moving ranks just after losing a close relative and just ahead of illness, loss of a job, and divorce.

Adults are generally concerned with the practical issues of moving, but children are generally focused on the losses they will incur – friendships, comfortable surroundings, the things they know.

How can you make a move less stressful for a child?

1. Talk about it, starting early in the process, so they have as much time as possible to get used to the idea.  Give them as much information as they can handle.
2. Be sensitive to their needs.  Some kids want their new room identical to their old – but some want an entirely new décor!
3. Get them involved.  Let them choose paint colors for their room, let them “design” their room…help make them feel part of the process.
4. Be honest with them…and don’t make any promises you can’t keep.
5. If you can, visit your new home with the child(ren) before the move.  Eat in a local restaurant, see a movie, go shopping, walk through town.  This makes the upcoming move more “real.”

As movers, we can talk with children about how we pack their toys, their treasures, their furniture and possessions, and how they want the items arranged in their new room.  Believe it or not, a lot of young children think they’ll never see their toys again once they go in the box!

Moving can be a positive experience!  It requires lots of planning and communication, but it’s a good time to bring the family together to talk about expectations and feelings, too.

Professional Piano Movers should be the only ones that handle your piano when you are moving it from one home to another. A piano is a delicate, unwieldy and very expensive musical instrument and should be handled with the utmost care.

Maybe your piano is an inherited piece. Maybe your piano is one of the more expensive pieces you own. Either way, you want to make sure that it does not receive any abuse from bumping into a doorway or accidentally being dropped. The risks moving a piano on your own are too great to not hire professional piano movers.

Professional Piano Movers tips

If you have a large upright piano, you may need several strong men to carry it, and these strong men should be professional piano movers. An 800 lb object is difficult enough to move due to its extremely heavy weight. You need to know that the people handling your precious piano can responsibly and realistically, let alone making sure that it reaches its new space in perfect condition. Make sure that whoever is lifting your piano knows how much weight they can handle moving.

A grand piano may weigh a bit less than an upright piano, but the large wide and smooth shape makes it very difficult to grip and carry. You just cant trust non professional piano movers to make sure that they will be able to flawlessly get your piano from point A to point B.

Professional piano movers have knowledge and experience moving pianos. There might be tips or facts that you are not aware of which could very negatively impact the transition of your piano. For example, did you know that you are not supposed to roll your piano on the wheels (piano coasters) at the bottom of your piano’s legs? Professional piano movers already know this and as a result, they will not place large and long dents in your hardwood floors.

It’s time to call professional piano movers

Many professional piano movers offer other moving services as well. Make sure you call a professional piano movers company if you are looking to move your piano, as well as get some help moving the rest of your furniture and items.

A1 First Class professional piano movers will help move your piano as well as help you move the rest of your furniture and belongings.

Just as all marketing tactics, trade shows are becoming more impressive as technology continues to move forward. Each booth needs to be more appealing and more eye catching than the next, meaning that each booth most likely has a greater need for special events transportation.

Special events transportation helps you get in, and get out of your trade show ASAP

Between your subwoofers and the boxes upon boxes of giveaways and promotional materials you need, you will most likely have a lot of unwieldy and heavy setup supplies to carry in and out of the trade show.

Depending on the size and the location of a trade show, the set up time before the show starts and the breakdown time after the show ends can turn a spacious open room into a mad house.

The last thing you want to be doing when you have many heavy items to carry through a large crowd is to be struggling to compactly fit everything you have into a vehicle that isn’t quite big enough.

Even if you are a master-packer and could fit everything you take with you inside your car, the whole moving process with be much more fluid if you have a special events transportation vehicle that is large enough to quickly place everything inside without thinking too much like a Tetris game. In this situation, hiring a special events transportation company can really make the process go much quicker.

Don’t let set and up and break down aggravation get in the way of enjoying yourself at, and getting the most out of your trade show. Hire a special events transportation company so you can be sure that your day goes smoothly and that your booth is as effective as possible!

Call A-1 First Class- Viking Moving & Storage for help with your special events transportation or visit our site’s homepage today.

Moving and packing with sturdy containers

When you are moving, make sure that the boxes that you are packing with are sturdy and strong. Packing everything in containers that will not break or be affected by inclement weather will eliminate many potential annoyances and problems.

Keep the moving and packing process organized by labeling

Unless you have see-through containers for everything that you own, you’re not going to be able to see what is inside every box you use for moving and packing. Make sure you are prepared with plenty of stick-on labels, markers and marking pens.

Label each box by category and pack each one accordingly. For example, label one box “photos” and put every picture frame you own in there, as well as any other wall décor or art that will fit.

Get clean before moving and packing

You already know that moving and packing are extremely time consuming, but unpacking is no quick task either. It could be weeks or even months before you unpack some boxes, so you’ll want to make sure that anything that goes into a box is clean. You don’t want musty or mildewed smells, strange stains or suborn folds to suddenly claim the character of your books and linens.

Dust, vacuum, wash, or sprinkle talcum powder over any items that you feel could be affected during the moving and packing away.

Don’t let anything break when moving and packing

If you are already taking the trouble to move and pack a particular item, it will be worth it to pack it in a way that it wont be damaged during the move.

Use lots of paper, bubble wrap or cloth around fragile items. In boxes, pack the heavier boxes at the bottom and don’t overfill any container or make them so heavy that they will be dropped or difficult to be carried.

Take the whole moving and packing challenge in manageable doses

Moving and packing can be extremely stressful and time consuming. Because of this, it is a major task that is often procrastinated. Leaving moving and packing to the last minute though can cause disarray, disorganization overwhelmingly negative feelings.

The best thing you can do to tackle this challenge as effectively and stress-free as possible is to start early and to pack each room one by one.

Afraid to move because you don’t have anyone to help you?

It’s true that it will save you time and physical distress if you have helping hands when you move. Moving enough furniture and personal belongings to fill a living space, whether it is a Manhattan apartment or a sprawling home in the Hamptons, is no easy task.

You’ll need help if you live alone, and if you don’t have a roommate, family member or significant other to help you, you’re going to have to hire a moving company.

Afraid to move because you won’t know anyone near your new home?

The number one reasons people are afraid to take a new job in a new place, or are afraid to move to a new city is because of the lack of social networking that comes with it. If you are hoping to find a new home but are afraid to move because of this reason, you may just need to put a more positive spin in the situation.

When you live alone, you have the opportunity to find out who you are, what time you naturally wake up in the morning, what you like, and don’t like, to wear when no one is around. You can do what you want with your space and no one will disturb you. When you live alone, you are free.

Afraid to move because you will be lonely?

It is common to be afraid to live alone because you may feel isolated or lonely. This however is a concern that can easily be overcome. Today there are plenty of websites out there that provide meet-up groups for singles and for people new to different cities.

As long as you go into your new home or new city knowing that the first couple of months might be tough to get through socially, it will drive you to make the effort to meet more people, propelling your social life forward.

Not everyone has someone to follow them wherever they want to go, but that doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t go to the city they think they will most belong.

So don’t be afraid to move or to live alone. Living by yourself can be a great thing as long as you are aware and can overcome the problems and concerns you have with it.

Ready to move? Contact A1’s local moving company to get started!

Are full service movers worth it?

Before you dive head first into the moving process there are many things that you need to consider. Will you try to handle everything yourself when you move or will you hire full service movers? If so you may need to gather friends and family to lift things, or rent a truck to transport everything and you’ll most likely need to take off work to allot yourself enough time.

So are full service movers worth it?

This is a question that usually pops up after you start to realize all of the elements that are necessary in order to pull off a successful move. There is, of course, no correct answer to this question that applies to everyone.

Depending on your capacity for dealing with frustration and your budget, you should seriously question whether full service movers are worth it for you. If the answer is yes, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and irritation.

Things that full service movers will help you out with:

Full service movers will save you from the physical burden of your move. The average move requires lifting of about 40 pounds per item. Multiply that by the number of your boxes and furniture pieces and divide by the number of people you have to help you move. You could lift all that, or full service movers could.

Another thing full service movers will save you from is having to take time off of work. Moving is expensive as it is, let alone having to sacrifice a day our of your precious time off or a days worth of pay. When you hire full service movers, the job will get done in a quarter of the time if you had done it all yourself.

Full service movers also provide all of the transportation costs and moving supplies you’ll need to complete the move. This means that they will have dolly carts to wheel large and heavy objects around, as well as a vehicle large enough to hold everything. The best part is that you won’t have to risk driving a cumbersome vehicle containing everything that you own.

Because full service movers save you from possible physical trauma, taking time off of work and from renting moving supplies and transportation, hiring full service movers might be very worth it.

What will you say if someone asks, “Are full service movers worth it?”

So before you disregard the question, “Are full service movers worth it?” consider these points before you write them off as an unnecessary expense.

Need some full service movers for your relocation?

Automobile shipping has been steadily gaining popularity over the years as vehicle owners realize that driving their car a thousand miles to their new home isn’t always worth it.

Driving from coast to coast, north to south or even state to state can consume a great deal of your valuable time that you could be using in more productive ways, such as getting your new home in order. Not only that, but driving your automobile such long distances puts unnecessary wear and tear on the engine and is extremely non-eco-friendly. Not to mention, you will be spending a good deal of money to fill up your tank over and over again.

There are plenty of reasons to take advantage of Automobile Shipping services when you are relocating. Just make sure that after you call up your local moving company and schedule a pickup you take care of the following things:

Tips on what to do before an Automobile Shipping:

Turn off your car alarm. You won’t be around to hear it if it goes off and may cause a dead battery due to the auto transporter not being able to shut it off himself.

Check the engine for the proper amounts of oil, antifreeze, etc. Check the battery and make sure it is fully charged and secure. You are using an automobile shipping service to avoid the wear and tear on the car, so don’t let a little negligence make your efforts counterproductive!

Take out everything personal and important from your car before you send it off on an automobile shipping vehicle. Auto transporters do not provide any sort of coverage for lost or stolen items. If you have anything of value, take it out and pack it away with the rest of your stuff.

If you have any sort of customization on your vehicle, make sure you remove it or turn it off. Your extras are at a higher risk of becoming damaged in the moving process. Don’t let your fog lights get knocked off or your antennae décor fall victim to theft.

Empty the tank. A full tank of gas will not be used and weighs down the automobile shipping truck. This can slow down the process of the truck passing through the mandatory weigh stations.

Although automobile shipping is generally very safe for your vehicle, you should wash your vehicle and take photos of it before shipment, just in case. This is so you can accurately assess any damages that could possibly occur.

Inform the automobile shipping company of any quirks, leaks or damages that your car has so they will know what to anticipate in case there are any problems along the way.

Need an automobile shipping company to transport your vehicle? A1 First Class moving company offers an automobile shipping service as well!

Children’s Sport Connection

Children’s Sport Connection is a non-profit, 501 C-3 organization that provides aid in the form of financial assistance and equipment donations to families, organizations and schools in need.

As a sponsor, A-1 First Class Viking Moving and Storage has been storing and transporting needed equipment to various locations in the form of a continual-in-kind donation. Through these efforts and those of other companies, Children’s Sport Connection has been able to accomplish many goals and give children the opportunity to participate in athletics.

If you or your business would like to become a part of the Children’s Sport Connection family and benefit from helping children in need, please contact CSC. Without your continued support, Children’s Sport Connection would not be able to successfully complete their mission. Call (516) 512-8922 or visit them on the web at www.cscny.org today!

Soles4Souls™

This past April, the second annual Seawolves Shoe Drive brought together Stony Brook University Department of Athletics, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and A-1 First Class – Viking as they collected shoes for the non-profit group, Soles4Souls.

“We are proud to be part of the shoe drive and support the tremendous efforts of Souls4Soles,” said Matt Schwartzberg, President of A-1 First Class. “Our offices and clients are excited to be able to continue and expand on the collections with both Stony Brook and Souls4Soles.” A-1 First Class provided shipping services for the collection.

This university-wide project included drop boxes in all 36 residence halls on Stony Brook’s campus in addition to collection points in the Department of Athletics.

Soles4Souls is a shoe charity dedicated to helping those in need, facilitating donations of shoes to over 40 countries as well as coordinating relief efforts for hurricanes Katrina and Rita. For more information on Soles4Souls, please visit their web site at www.soles4souls.org.

How to move with pets: Talk to Your Landlord

Depending on where you are, you might not even be allowed to take a pet. If you are moving with a pet, make sure you call your landlord for permission to keep your pet around and ask him or her for any tips on how to move with pets regarding the building policies.

How to move with pets: Don’t Let It Go Hungry

There’s nothing worse than dealing with a complaining pet when you are preoccupied or in a confined space. If your pet is coming with you on the transport, make sure the food and water bowls are full and easily coverable to prevent spillage. Reward your pet for good behavior with a treat.

How to move with pets: Avoid Unnecessary Cleaning

When you are moving to a new place, you’ll want to establish new habits right away. Don’t offer a day or even a few hours of leeway. Chose a permanent location for your animal to do his business to instill that habit before you wind up with a stain on your new rug! Pick a place to repeatedly take your dog when you walk him outside of a permanent place to keep the litter box. The biggest challenge when learning how to move with pets is how to keep them, and your new place clean.

How to move with pets: Keep It Out of Harm’s Way

On move in day, your animal is most likely going to be overwhelmed or at least over stimulated with the new environment as well as with all the hustle and bustle that comes along with moving. Confine your pet to a single closed-door room to keep them out of harms way. This will prevent them from escaping and will minimize impending clean up.

How to move with pets: Know Your (Pet) Rights

Animal laws vary state to state. If you are moving across state lines, makes sure you know what the pet laws are. In some states, you’ll be fined if someone sees you not cleaning up after your pet or if your pet isn’t on a leash. This isn’t true in all states. Be prepared for your dog’s first walk in his new town. Find out about the pet laws in your new neighborhood to avoid awkward encounters with new neighbors and to establish good habits for your pet right away.

How to move with pets: Get the Records Before the Move

Just like you’ll need a new doctor, your pet will need a new vet. Try to take your pet to your regular vet for a checkup before your move. When you are there, ask your vet if he or she has any recommendations or referrals for vets around your new home. Also, don’t forget to grab copies of your pet’s medical records.

Now that you’ve learned a thing or two about how to move with pets hopefully the moving stress will be minimized for you and your little companion. Looking for more helpful tips and advice to make your move-in day as smooth as possible? Check out A1 Moving’s blog for frequent posts!