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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Deneb on May 28, 2006, at 0:31:54
Our television broke down while I was on the Babble trip. My Mom likes to watch Chinese movies. She bought another one right away. It just arrived today. It has a 34 inch screen and it's extremely heavy!
The instructions say that at least 3 people are needed to lift it onto its stand. My Dad, Mom and I tried, but we couldn't do it. We need more people! I say we need at least 5 people to lift the darn thing. I have no idea how two movers were able to do it. I didn't see them do it.
It's kind of funny. The TV totally dominates the living room now.
Deneb*
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 28, 2006, at 8:23:48
In reply to The TV is too heavy!, posted by Deneb on May 28, 2006, at 0:31:54
> The instructions say that at least 3 people are needed to lift it onto its stand. My Dad, Mom and I tried, but we couldn't do it. We need more people! I say we need at least 5 people to lift the darn thing. I have no idea how two movers were able to do it. I didn't see them do it.
I was a mover for 12 years. I could'a helped. Sorry I wasn't available.
I am reminded of an incident, from my Hoover the Mover days. (And I'm starting to realize being a mover was valuable training for me.)
One thing about being a mover, is you often saw people in their stripped down form. Moving is stressful for most people, and there's a whole lot goin' on during a move.
One of my most memorable moves was three of our crews moving separate gay couples from around the city, all converging on one older house on the fringe of the richest section of town. Smart folk, buying an old mansion as a fixer-upper. Each of the crews was moving one couple, and we just worked around each other to get unloaded. Anyway, towards the end, all the crews just went over to help the last guys get their stuff off the truck. So we could all get finished, on a Saturday afternoon.
So, I headed over to help these guys who'd only just showed up with a *huge* load of stuff.
They'd been assigned a lesbian couple. The other two couples were men. The lesbians were quite a sight. One super-feminine, and the other..... well, this is what they called her, so I don't think it's derogatory, they called her a butch dyke. I apologize if that term is offensive. It didn't sound like it when I heard it.
Because I hadn't seen the stuff in the truck before, I had no idea where it would go, inside the house. And, there was already a lot of shouting going on because two of the four men were interior decorators. There were two different "visions" of that mansion, I am sure. It was "interesting", to scoop up some stuff, and head in to try and sort out whose it was, and where I could go and put it down.
Finally, I'm at the point in the story that Deneb's TV triggered. These two girls had one of those monster TV's of the day. Sony? So deep, they barely went through a standard doorway, sideways. A weird triangle shape moulded body, so it was hard to hold onto. And heavy. These babies were heavy. If a mover is calling it heavy, ya know? (Mover humour: Heavy? That's not heavy! It isn't heavy until you pick it up. [razzing other mover])
Anyway, I get a grip on one side of this monster, and another guy I trust got on the other. And we struggle to get it off the ground, so we can walk down the ramp off the truck. The butch girl is standing there (as she often was), at the side of the ramp, to relieve us of some stuff so she could carry it in. She says, "I'll take that." We go, in unison, "No, we better take this in, thanks." She says, " *I'll* take that!", with a threatening tone that stopped us in our tracks.
She wraps her arms around that beauty from the front. Gives a little grunt, and it lifts from our arms. We're still kind of holding it, thinking she'd figure it out, and let the weight of it back into our hands, and let us get on our way. But no, she had it. Took the full weight of it. So we let go and stood back.
We (and all the other guys, who were by now watching this whole thing unfold), we just stand there in silence, as she sashays into the house with it. Suddenly, the spell breaks, and we quick grab something so we can go running in there to help her put it down. That's the hardest part. We had it in the air, when she grabbed it.
We went in just a moment later, and it was already on the 2nd floor. She'd taken it upstairs, in this old house with 11- or 12-foot ceilings (i.e. more stairs than normal). I couldn't have walked even one step of that journey, with that in my arms. She didn't need our help. She wasn't all that big, either.
Later on, we went inside with a piano. It was all rigged (piano board, straps, and pads), so she didn't mess with us. She just watched, and followed us into the parlour. Thing is, both 'decorators' thought that naturally *their* piano was the one that would go in that corner with the natural light. And one was already in that covetted position. So what would we do with this other one?
She told us to just unrig it, and leave this piano in the middle of the room. Ordinarily, we would never do this. We always got the heavy stuff into final position. Before we leave, at least, if not right away. I didn't even question it, when she told us not to worry about it. That she'd look after it, later on.
When she offered me a beer after the job was done, she met my eyes. What she saw, made her wink and smile.
Lar
Posted by Phil on May 28, 2006, at 10:26:58
In reply to Re: The TV is too heavy! » Deneb, posted by Larry Hoover on May 28, 2006, at 8:23:48
Bro, I've moved those Sony's you're speaking of..used to sell them. You're right. They were extremely heavy. Moved one into a condo once. Of course it had to go upstairs and the stairs did a left turn. Darned near killed me and my work buddy.
Back then, it was Miller time.
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 28, 2006, at 10:49:30
In reply to Re: The TV is too heavy! » Larry Hoover, posted by Phil on May 28, 2006, at 10:26:58
> Bro, I've moved those Sony's you're speaking of..used to sell them. You're right. They were extremely heavy. Moved one into a condo once. Of course it had to go upstairs and the stairs did a left turn. Darned near killed me and my work buddy.
> Back then, it was Miller time.Ya. Sony.
This woman did one by herself. I am still in awe of the memory of that.
Lar
Posted by Deneb on May 28, 2006, at 20:50:19
In reply to Re: The TV is too heavy! » Deneb, posted by Larry Hoover on May 28, 2006, at 8:23:48
Whoa! That's incredible! Did you know if she lifted weights or something? Up the stairs too? Yikes!
I'm as weak as can be. I can hardly imagine someone lifting one of those televisions by themselves.
Our tv is a Sony also. I wonder if those moving straps you wrote of before would help us? Anyways, my Dad just called for someone to help us. Hopefully it will be on its stand tonight.
Two tiny people (me and my Mom) and two medium sized people (my Dad and his friend)...I hope that's enough to lift the thing.
Deneb*
Posted by Deneb on May 28, 2006, at 22:17:46
In reply to Re: The TV is too heavy! » Larry Hoover, posted by Deneb on May 28, 2006, at 20:50:19
Yay! The TV is up on its stand now. It wasn't that difficult with four people.
Oooooo, brand new TV. It's nice. :-) Now we can watch high definition programs. (((((new TV))))) LOL
Our old TV had messed up colours and was blurry.
Deneb*
Posted by verne on May 28, 2006, at 23:17:03
In reply to Re: The TV is too heavy!, posted by Deneb on May 28, 2006, at 22:17:46
I was just about to suggest something but see you solved the problem.
I once had a similar situation and raised one of these monster tvs off the floor one side at a time onto anything that would serve as a platform until it was the height of the stand. I think it's an old Egyptian trick.
I used to work on railroad derailments and we could put a locomotive back on the track with a couple tiny jacks and some blocks - inch by inch. (when a crane couldn't get close enough)
Now my rule is I don't move appliances or other peoples pianos anymore. I think I stopped after my third piano and 30th chiropractic visit.
Verne
Posted by Deneb on May 28, 2006, at 23:31:42
In reply to Re: The TV is too heavy!, posted by verne on May 28, 2006, at 23:17:03
> I was just about to suggest something but see you solved the problem.
>
> I once had a similar situation and raised one of these monster tvs off the floor one side at a time onto anything that would serve as a platform until it was the height of the stand. I think it's an old Egyptian trick.Cool trick. I would have to find a lot of platforms though.
>
> I used to work on railroad derailments and we could put a locomotive back on the track with a couple tiny jacks and some blocks - inch by inch. (when a crane couldn't get close enough)Cool. Slowly, but surely...there's always a way. :-)
>
> Now my rule is I don't move appliances or other peoples pianos anymore. I think I stopped after my third piano and 30th chiropractic visit.Good idea. Did you remember to always lift using your legs?
Deneb*
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 29, 2006, at 13:02:26
In reply to Re: The TV is too heavy!, posted by verne on May 28, 2006, at 23:17:03
> I used to work on railroad derailments and we could put a locomotive back on the track with a couple tiny jacks and some blocks - inch by inch. (when a crane couldn't get close enough)
They do the same, when logging equipment "goes down". When a caterpillar loses its track, for example, way out in the woods. Just a handful of hydraulic hand jacks, braced against whatever is handy.
Lar
Posted by Tabitha on May 29, 2006, at 13:29:28
In reply to Re: The TV is too heavy! » verne, posted by Larry Hoover on May 29, 2006, at 13:02:26
Leverage is an amazing thing. I rigged up a lever out of a pressure-treated 2/4 and a steel cylinder when I had some impossibly heavy bedroom furniture to move. Managed to lift each corner a few inches and get slider pads under it. But a TV is tough. I make sure not to own one I can't lift at least a foot or so off the ground. And I'm a big believer in wheeled carts.
Posted by ClearSkies on May 29, 2006, at 18:10:01
In reply to Re: The TV is too heavy!, posted by Deneb on May 28, 2006, at 22:17:46
> Yay! The TV is up on its stand now. It wasn't that difficult with four people.
>
> Oooooo, brand new TV. It's nice. :-) Now we can watch high definition programs. (((((new TV))))) LOL
>Isn't it a great picture? We watch the IMAX movies that are shown on tv. Good enough to make you woozy.
CS
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