Mr. Tetris

I went and helped a friend load up his Budget rental truck today in preparation of his family's moving back to Missouri after living in Texas for 15 years. I arrived around 10am and the truck was maybe 1/3 full. My friend BillyV realized that the truck wasn't going to be big enough so he and his father in law went to rent a tow behind trailer. While they were away I helped pack the truck with a few guys I have met before. As we were loading one guy says, "this is kind of like Tetris." Anyone who lived in the 80s and 90s would know that Tetris is the video game where you manipulate different size geometrical block shapes and you keep the game going by packing them in perfectly, thus avoiding uncompatible pieces from piling up.

Mr. Tetris, they guy in the truck, is responsible for packing in different size boxes into the moving truck. He needs to do this as the few box carriers deposit various shaped boxes and other items on the back of the truck. If he works too slow then the boxes pile up. If he works too fast he may do a poor job packing, thus wasting space and possibly creating the need for another truck.

Our Mr. Tetris was pretty good. Not only did he manage and place the boxes that we brought to the truck, he would often follow us into the house and locate the perfect sized, ALREADY TAPED, boxes to fit the unique hole that needed plugged.

Tetris piece comparisons:
Long straight: these were the long boxes such as Christmas tree boxes
L shaped: the couch, sofa, chairs
C shaped: coffee and end tables
Multi-edged: odd items including benches, a bike with training wheels
Square block small: small boxes of various sizes
Square block large: the refridge, dressers, night stands.

I think our Mr. Tetris did a great job filling the moving truck to it's near capacity limit.