Well, the important one worked. Ding showed up. I had locked Rhonda and
Mr. Clark in a bathroom, Mr. Clark losing some dignity when he
struggled away and landed in a litterbox.

When I opened the door, tonight's moving having been done, the two
imprisoned ones walked out, and, as I asked them, "where's Ding?", Mr.
Clark gave me some slow blinks, and then Ding shot by and down the
stairs. I think he was hiding in a closet.

How do things stand overall? Mixed. The guy driving the trailer was
able to rearrange things so it could take even more, but the problem
was that not enough things were packed. This partially goes back to my
ex packing things that interested her or that she wanted, and not
putting things like fiction in the back so there was room to stage my
professional books.  Later, when the volunteer today was packing, he
seemed intent on packing a wall of paperback novels rather than helping
with computer science, medicine, and other technical areas. In fact, he
baffled me when he asked whether one box really should go in the
trailer, rather than the car because I "might need it".

Utterly puzzled, I looked at the box, which was marked "medicine".
Suddenly, I realized he was thinking "pills", and I was thinking
"internal medicine."  While that may not actually be what was in the
next box, I think I labeled it "cardiology" just to reassure him.

While there were assorted emails and calls suggesting the short-term
financial problem was being worked on -- I just invoiced $3000 in
articles, with more stuff coming up as soon as I can get to it -- no
specifics have come as yet. IIRC, the service station does have
mechanics on Saturday, so if the charge gets authorized, that's one
more thing.

The best guess is Î need about a day by 2-3 people who can understand
book titles and papers to get most packing done, while I go through
files. The competent laborers -- and I must admit not as fast as the
volunteer, who explains it comes from bicycle road racing -- guessed it
would take 3 people 6 hours to load everything remaining and unload it
at a storage locker.

Some things just got forgotten, like the bed frame, but I slept on a
mattress on the floor last night and it was exceptionally comfortable.
For the next few nights, I'll make up a bed of an exercise mat and
blankets.

At least the feline staff is all present and cheerful. Mr. Clark, if I
had just listened, was telling me not to worry.