Author Archives: David Wiviott

Rainier Overseas Movers, Inc & Employees Donates for OSO Darrington Mudslide

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The worst natural disaster in Washington state in the last century has left many families feeling sad and helpless and the surrounding communities have reached out to help however they can.

The landslide has killed 26, at last count, with another 90 people missing.
The mudslide completely washed out an area of SR 530 and it’s causing local residents to have to seek alternative and often longer routes to and from their homes.

Jesse Jones, from King 5 news, has responded to desires to help by setting up a Darrington Mudslide Fund to help ease Darrington resident’s gas costs. The employees of Rainier Overseas Movers have decided to help out with money from their pockets, as well; and Rainier Overseas is matching those contributions. “Rainier Overseas sends their sympathy and good thoughts to all the victims and their families,” says Rainier employee David Wiviott. “Donating funds and creating a matching funds program is the very least we can do to help. Our hearts go out to those affected by this horrific disaster.”

Rainier Overseas Movers management matched employees donations and raised a total of $1280 to the Darrington Mudslide Fund.

If you would like to help, please send checks to:

Darrington Mudslide Fund
P.O. Box 90
Darrington, WA 98241

Recent Oil Spill Suspends Marine Traffic in the Houston Ship Channel

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As reported by the Port of Houston Authority (PHA) a barge and a ship collided in the Port of Galveston on March 22, 2014, spilling 169,000 gallons of oil. According to Your Houston News no marine traffic or ferries are being allowed entry into the bay until the water is clear; which authorities say could take up to several weeks.

Besides the obvious and very serious effects a spill like this causes to wildlife and the environment, it also poses a economic threat, as any cargo entering through the Gulf of Mexico is on hold. At last report, there were at least 33 vessels waiting to enter the channel and 37 vessels waiting to leave.

A channel closing of this nature is concerning to the PHA and all shippers utilizing that channel for ocean freight, cruise ship entry, ferries, steamships and any private facilities. The Port of Houston is the 7th busiest port in the United States and is a significant economic hub for Houston and Texas, in general.

Crews have laid more than 90,000 feet of containment boom around the spill and volunteers are mobilizing to help affected wildlife. It is unknown how long the Channel will be closed or how long clean up will take.

The ultimate guide for moving to the UK from the USA

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Making the move to a new country is never simple and with the continued rise of people throughout the world relocating overseas the demand for information on the procedure involved has only increased. As we are constantly scouring the Internet for valuable content for our customers, it was with great joy that we came across the well-known wikiHow web site and read what we have so far considered to be the absolute definitive guide on the process of moving to the UK from the USA.

The article is an incredibly easy to read and understand twelve step guide for Americans who are moving to England and covers everything from the difference between the names England and UK, issues specifically related to U.S. citizens seeking employment, challenges for moving your pets and, seemingly, every other important issue that can be thought of.

As an added bonus, after the twelve steps the article gives a thorough list of very practical tips (e.g. Don’t insult their cars…) and warnings (e.g. Don’t fake an accent trying to fit in….) that can be useful right away and also gives some great links to other resources such as finding the best flights to the UK, where to find great local entertainment, how to pack for the move and more.

While the process of making an International move seems to get more and more complicated, reading this piece on relocating to the United Kingdom from the USA will make potential movers comfortable in the fact that there are genuine, helpful and easy to understand resources out there that will break down the procedure into simple terms and will let the novices out there get a better understanding of what the process entails.

Contact Rainier Overseas Movers today for a free quote and join the ever growing list of people that we have helped move to the UK from the USA.

Shipping a Boat from Seattle to Dakar

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Rainier Overseas Recently shipped a rowboat from Seattle to Dakar

Every international move we perform at Rainier Overseas Movers, Inc. is unique and this one move really proves that point.

We recently got a call from a new client who told us they wanted to ship a rowboat from the United States to Dakar, Senegal so he and his team could row across the Atlantic Ocean from Dakar, Senegal to Miami.

We’re proud to say that Rainier Overseas Movers, Inc. was privileged to be a part of this amazing adventure.

A group of four brave men who are a part of an expedition and research team for O.A.R Northwest (Ocean Adventure Rowing & Education) and the Canadian Wildlife Federation based in Seattle, Washington worked with David Wiviott, move coordinator for Rainier Overseas, to ship their specialized four man rowboat from Seattle, Washington to Dakar, Senegal.

This move included amazing logistics and all went without a hitch thanks to fantastic teamwork and assistance from multiple agents worldwide.

We trucked the boat across the United States from Seattle to New York City, where it was loaded into a 40’ container for it’s voyage via ocean freight to Dakar.

Rainier Overseas Movers recently moved a rowboat from Seattle To Dakar.
Boat-in-Container

The boat made it to Dakar without incident, and today you will find this amazing crew rowing westbound across the Atlantic Ocean at a whopping speed of 1 to 3 knots on their journey to Miami.

You can follow their adventure at www.oarnorthwest.com.

Real time tracking is available along with daily Facebook and Twitter updates from the team.

Boat-in-Water
We wish team OAR Northwest safe travels and look forward to your arrival in Miami!

Will big businesses continue moving to the UK from the USA?

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In January, when Aon Corp. made the major announcement that their corporate headquarters would be moving to the UK from the USA, their statement said: “The move provides greater access to emerging markets and takes better advantage of the strategic proximity to Lloyd’s and the London market as one of the key international hubs of insurance and risk brokerage.” However, as 2012 has passed by there are people speculating that, in truth, the move was to avoid paying the almost 40% corporate tax rate (the highest in the world) that the USA requires.

Such speculation has intensified as two other corporate powerhouses have declared their intentions to relocate from the USA as well: electrical equipment maker Eaton Corporation is planning on finishing off a merger that would land it in Ireland instead of Ohio and Pentair, the water technology company, recently made the move from Minneapolis to Switzerland.

While there are other reasons being listed for the moves of these companies, tax laws seem to be the common thread in all three cases and experts have pretty much universally agreed that this was the overriding motivation for relocation in each occurrence.

The question now becomes whether this trend, disturbing as it might be to the US financial community, will persist. There continues to be calls to reform the tax codes of America and, without doing so, many professionals believe that this trend will indeed keep up and that major corporations will pursue the possibility of fleeing America for the potential to save up to several million dollars in taxes by relocating to places such as the UK. As the United States Presidential election draws upon us and the economy continues to be one of the biggest concerns (if not the biggest) among voters, the pressure will only be turned up on decision makers to lower these corporate tax requirements by at least 15% and to make the final amounts more competitive with the rest of the world.

It would appear that, as the pundits have suspected, whichever Presidential candidate chooses to embrace the potential of tax reform stands to get a very big leg up on the coming race.

Rainier Overseas Movers has helped countless people move to the UK from the USA. Contact us for a free quote today.

Voters threaten to move to Italy from the USA if Romney wins

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As the American Presidential election draws ever closer and the polls continue to show a neck and neck race that could go down to the wire, it appears that certain fans of President Obama are growing more and more concerned about the chances of him not being reelected and have begun to take to Twitter to announce possible actions that they will take should this occur. One of the more popular threats thrown around has been these voters intentions to move to Italy from the USA if Mitt Romney is elected (“I’m moving to Italy if Romney win; Italian men love black girls,” wrote illest ice@iamDynastyCold) and, while this has been one of the more commonly proposed landing spots it was not the only one. Others included New Zealand, Mexico, Australia and even Cuba (e.g. “If romney wins & is as horrible a he appears now… Deport me back to cuba… Ill call them myself.”).

However, a mass exodus from the US is not the only threat being bandied about. Others contained rioting and even violence. Some of the more disturbing of these messages included the following: “I Heard Mitt Romney , Tryna Take Away Food Stamps , If He Do .’IMA START A RIOT , IMA START A RIOT’” from Tommy Pickles@ThugPickles and “I want to shoot Romney in the penis. Why do we let him talk? If he wins I’m moving to New Zealand.” from Rafiki the Ukulele@lovingschneider.

While the vast majority of people have written off these countless posts that have hit the Twitter sphere as harmless threats from some frustrated voters the truth is that these are dangerous precedents being set that should have the rest of us fair minded American citizens very concerned, regardless of political leanings.

One of Americas finest characteristics is the right it gives its citizens to vote for the leader of our country in a fair and democratic way. The mindless threats being callously thrown about by these hooligans does nothing but undermine all the rights of freedom that America was founded upon and stands for. While these folks think they are doing what is right for the country, in reality they are smearing the country’s reputation and putting the notion in the minds of people around the globe that US citizens get what they want or they throw a tantrum.

This is not what America is about. This is one of the greatest countries in the world and if these people truly do intend to take matters into their own hands should things not go their way then I suggest they do indeed move to Italy, Scotland, Canada or any of the other places mentioned regardless of how the election turns out. These people do not represent the real America anyway.

If you’re moving to Italy from USA contact Rainier Overseas Movers today for a free quote and any other information you may be seeking.

New laws could force WWII vets to move back to Germany from the USA

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As world travel gets easier and the barriers of relocating from one country to another continue to decrease, America and Germany continue to be two of the countries most frequently involved in citizen swaps. In fact, the amount of people moving to Germany from the USA and, in return, from Germany to the United States has surged at a rapid pace. It now appears, however, that there will be many new forced immigrations as well.

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That was the word out of Germany as news spread that the standard for trying potential criminals of war-crimes has been lowered and that the country would therefore step up efforts to force suspects to leave their homes in America to come and stand trial in Germany.

The change resulted from the successful prosecution of John Demjanjuk over one year ago that charged him as an accessory to murder in almost 30,000 cases stemming from the Second World War. Demjanjuk lived in the USA but was charged in court in Munich. He was a guard at one of the infamous death camps of Poland and, as many have over the years, escaped prosecution on the basis of his claims that he never actually committed the murders but was just “working” at the camp.

This has been a common story over the decades. However, as authorities have learned more about the war and the way that these common “workers” also very likely had a helping hand in the brutal murder of millions of people they have been able to prosecute defendants without having to tie them to specific crimes.

Another high profile case, being investigated against Johann “Hans” Breyer of Northeast Philadelphia, has also gained global attention. Breyer has long claimed that his job in the camps did not involve any illegal activity and, in fact, a federal court ruled several years ago that he could remain in the U.S. However, the case of Demjanjuk has reopened the case and Breyer, 87 years old, is again being pursued.

While the constant moving back and forth of Germans and Americans has been an extremely positive development over the decades since the end of the war, it is good to see the German authorities not resting on these laurels and willing to push the issue while knowing that this could strain the relations of the two countries. It has been proven again and again that even workers with supposedly legal jobs at the camps often rotated duties with some of the other overtly violent workers and that very rarely was there someone on the premises of the death camps without blood on their hands.

Let’s hope that the German Nazi hunters continue their thorough pursuit of these alleged perpetrators and that friendly relations and back and forth transfers will not cease between Germany and the USA as a result.

Rainier Overseas Movers will give you a free quote for your move to Germany from the USA. Contact us for more information.

Will French president's new tax laws discourage people from moving to France from the USA?

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As French President François Hollande continues to push forward with his new tax plan to, essentially, raise taxes for high income earners, there has been a fervent opposition coming from the start up community who are saying that the new bill will further discourage entrepreneurs from moving to France from the USA and will ultimately prevent young innovators from even ever considering France as a long term destination.

The start up group, locally referred to as “pigeons,” has long felt the restrictions imposed by France and bemoaned the difficulties of starting a business there in comparison to the US. Capital gains taxes are substantially greater in “pays des droits de l’homme” (which means country of the human rights, a nickname for France) and tax laws there are historically slanted to favor the larger companies.

A direct quote regarding the complaint aptly describes the position of future potential start up entrepreneurs: “They are protesting against aspects of Hollande’s tough crisis budget for 2013 which, they say, are unfairly skewed against the small business sector and would kill the start up boom, forcing young digital innovators to flee France. They argue that a €2bn (£1.6bn) increase in capital gains taxes on equity sales would force entrepreneurs who sell their new companies to pay up to 58% to the state, discouraging them from getting new ideas off the ground in the first place.”

It appears that this issue will go straight to the heart of the long held debate of the pros and cons of one of the basic financial tenets of the USA vs. France. Since the beginning of the hi-tech era there has been speculation and, some would say, out and out resentment from the global financial community about the US’s seeming overwhelmingly dominant position as the preferred start up destination of the world as opposed to some of the other financial heavyweights around the globe, such as France.

Hopefully Hollande’s new tax laws will strike an extremely sensitive chord amongst the financial leaders of France and will force them to take the needs and desires of future start ups into account. You can only take away so many local incentives to start a business somewhere before the field of prospective innovators begins to dwindle and they decide to pursue their dreams elsewhere.

Rainier Overseas Movers is a global leader in helping people move to France from the USA. Contact us any time for a free quote and any other questions regarding your move.

Will moving to Europe from the USA increase your chances of finding love?

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While the numbers of people who move to Europe from the USA continue to be steady, the idea that you are more likely find romance abroad is a myth that is simply not true.

This is an idea put forth in the latest blog posting of Elizabeth Carlsson, a journalist for the internationally renowned “The Local” which is one of Sweden’s most respected English language news sites.

While the news of these findings put forth by Carlsson may seem trivial in regard to the global big picture, in truth there are a startling high amount of thoughts and theories presented by her that match the common characteristic stereotypes of Europeans that many in the world have grown to be accustomed to.

Chief among these is Carlsson’s assertion that, to many of the men she has dated, she will always be a “foreigner” and she seems no closer to shedding this label. She says that she is frequently regarded as the American with all of the typical American traits that USA citizens supposedly possess and that that has hindered her ability to meet, date and, ultimately, find her soul mate since relocating to Europe.

The irony in the story is that this is the exact reputation that Europe has been trying to avoid. They have been pushing for decades the concept that the general population refuses to stereotype foreigners and to have a well known publication such as “The Local,” with its army of readers, publish such a story to paint so much of Europe in a negative light (Carlsson first lived in London before Stockholm) cannot be something that puts immigration officials in a good mood.

It is yet to be determined what effect, if any, the publishing of such a story has on the situation on the ground. Will European officials urge community leaders to fight against this seemingly everlasting stereotype of its citizens being cold and un-accepting of foreigners? Or will the story get ignored along with the many others of those who move to Europe from the USA and continue to tell similar tales?

Contact us any time at Rainier Overseas Movers to get a free quote for your move to Europe from the USA.

Inspiration for anyone making the move to China from the USA

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As the number of people who move to China from the USA increases, so do the fears, questions and uncertainties of these people making such a dramatic move to a foreign country across the world.

Being where we are in society today it is no surprise, then, that many of these people are taking their concerns to the Internet and, happily, there is tons of useful information for this group to allay their fears. I came across just such a piece today entitled An American Girl in Shanghai which is the blog postings of a woman from the USA who moved to China with her husband and wanted to share it with the many who are either making or thinking of making this move in the future as it provides both encouragement and inspiration for anyone else on the cusp of such a change who is feeling that “big step” anxiousness.

The woman takes you through many of the day to day doings in her new surroundings and takes you along for her shopping trips, a visit to the Shanghai Marriage Market, Olympic viewing, challenges receiving her luggage, road trips, her first week of teaching duties, ventures to local events and more.

As someone who himself has made that dramatic move from the USA to a foreign country I can say first hand how valuable such stories are. While movers can read all of the “how to” guides and country brochures that are available (and there are lots) there is nothing that can provide a more calming influence on someone making such a drastic relocation as the real life happenings – and mishaps – that a real life person in a similar situation is undertaking. Stories like these always helped to soothe me and my family when we moved our lives to a different part of the world and I highly recommend the blog posts of Anne Marie and her husband Chris to anyone else who is looking for that extra boost of encouragement.

Rainier Overseas Movers provides free quotes and information to people moving to China from the USA. Contact us any time for more information.