It did have a few downsides, but none were insurmountable. Had to deal with one of Di's co-workers who is one of those annoying "talk constantly, even though no one is listening to you" types, but she had to be there because we were giving her our old piano, so she was helping out etc. Right off the bat, we loaded it first (so that the rest of the furniture could hold it in, we could drop it all off at the new place, then drive the piano out to her place in the boonies). First problem: we dropped it. Gotta tell you, an upright piano makes an awfully big BAM sound when dropped right in front of you in an empty U-Haul truck. No real harm done, apparently, and we tied it down.
OK, everything else in, and off we go. Get to the new place, block off anyone's exit (which did not turn out to be a problem), and get everything offloaded, nice and quick. Off we go to the middle of nowhere to deliver the piano. Let me digress, just a moment. In the South, we understand the concept of driving when someone is following you to an unknown destination: you take your time and you watch your rear-view to be sure they don't get left behind, and you watch traffic lights so that you don't get cut off. This is especially important when you are going to a completely unknown location, and no one else knows even an address. I make a point of this because this skill seems to be relatively unknown in the Pacific Northwest.
Anyway, off we go. Now, when I say the boonies, I'm not kidding. I had to take this 17' U-Haul truck down one-lane gravel roads on hills to get to her house. As we were driving, I heard the occasional thump, but figured it to be the furniture dolly or hand truck back there in the mostly empty truck. At one point, though, I heard a MASSIVE *WHUMP* sound from the back, and just cringed. Finally, we got to her place, and opened the back...and yes, the piano had pulled until it bent the hooks of the straps holding it down, pulled free, and attempted suicide. Luckily, that's a REALLY sturdily built piano, and seemed to weather the fall damn well; other than the pedals being bent, it played fine. Either way, I was rid of the thing, so I didn't much care. ;)
On the way back, I stopped to fill up the gas tank, before turning in the truck. Midday Saturday, the gas station is packed, so I get in line and wait my turn to pull this big bastard up to the pump. Finally, I can do so, and about this time, some whacked-out looking quasi-emo kid tries to zip his little shitmobile into my space. When he can't do it because of my truck being halfway there, he actually had the gall to look at me like "what the fuck are you doing?" I wait a moment, and he starts to pull away...good, I think. I start to get closer into position, and it turns out he's just whipping around because his gas tank is on the other side, and he damn near runs into me doing so...and then actually looks at me again, as if to ask what I'm smoking. Well, long story short, it almost became a fight, but he gave up. Got my gas, off I went, gave up the truck, and we made one last trip to the house for some essentials.
Obviously, I got my cable service working, so I'm happy...and yes, this means that the Banshee is once again ensconced in her tower, wailing her cries across cyberspace. Forgot one last powerstrip, so no can set up my TV system, but that can wait.
What a day....