Mental separation
The only way for me to stay sane is to mentally separate part of reality and put it aside...and focus on what needs to be done to improve reality...and on what has improved.
This works for the most part, until the putting aside comes back to bite me.
For the past year or so I have created a pile of papers in my office amongst so many boxes. These represent all of the bills and correspondence from 2024 so far and a good part of 2023 as well.
Last week the city asked for W-2s from 2022 so they could find out what Intel withheld from my earnings for Metro Supporting Housing Services and Multnomah County Preschool for All. I am quite sure Intel withheld nothing, so this is a useless exercise. Yet, I thought as long as I put these papers into their respective satchels I would easily be able to look through them to find the W-2s.
Nope.
The 2023 papers going backwards through the year end around June. January through May of 2023 are missing!
I did find W2's from 2021 and 2020 because I had pulled them out when I applied for the HELoC.
Somehow I wish all physical belongings would just disappear (and never re-appear), with exception of those I have managed to put in some sort of order. Not going to happen.
Organizing the 2023 and 2024 folders was a good first step toward improving things.
The coffee bar idea was another. It should be complete this month. It already has improved the kitchen look and utility.
I am also keeping up with cleanliness on the kitchen table. I just cleaned two boxes of cat litter this past weekend, so I need to keep up on that.
Eventually I will find the paper work, but the city wants the W2s by June 23, 2024, so I have a deadline.
All my spare time has to go toward getting the back yard cleaned up to meet city expectations...plus basic kitchen, cat stuff. Meanwhile we have situations like this...and the park strip needs to be weed wacked. People walk by saying "It's overgrown."
Once the city and Neil Kelly have unhooked themselves from me by granting me a permit...and issuing the final bill and me paying for it...I can take a step back and deal with clutter and general cleanliness and maintenance...with some occasional projects to move ahead on the backroom, cellar, backyard, etc.
I used to be pretty good about keeping things organized.
That all changed starting in November 2019 when my truck wouldn't start reliably, I sent it to the shop to be fixed and it came back completely maladjusted. I went through three mechanics to get it resolved. That lead right to Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020.
By 2021 we were still under Covid-19 restrictions, but under all of this I was not able to organize my papers as I had no satchels and could not go to the as-is or thrift stores repeatedly to look for them. I finally broke down and bought some on-line (one for sure, but maybe two?).
In 2021 I wanted to move ahead with our house, so contacted Neil Kelly and in late 2021 started the ball rolling. All during 2022 I waited for them to get things going but nothing. So I suspended almost everything I would normally do...and posessions piled up.
Then, late 2022, they come up with a plan and I immediately start figuring out finances. So, basically November 2022 begins this focus on the backroom project to the exclusion of most everything else except work. I throw in special projects in anticipation of parallel work I could do (but didn't do): attic insulation. Also, I felt I had to fix the sidewalk. The attic access was resolved by creating a hatch, but to do that required moving and stowing books...so more stuff ended up in my office. So 2023 until January 2024 was chaotic as our already busy basement became even more crowded moving stuff away as access was needed to the A/C, electrical and the entire front area after the foundation collapsed. There was no place to unburden the growing pile of stuff in my office. I also wanted to save most of the material that made up our former backroom...creating piles outside as well (which would come back to bite me this year).
Now, I am simply unravelling all of this. If it took 4.5 years to get to this point, it may very well take 4.5 years to unravel all of this, so I should be back to normal in 2028 or so!
This works for the most part, until the putting aside comes back to bite me.
For the past year or so I have created a pile of papers in my office amongst so many boxes. These represent all of the bills and correspondence from 2024 so far and a good part of 2023 as well.
Last week the city asked for W-2s from 2022 so they could find out what Intel withheld from my earnings for Metro Supporting Housing Services and Multnomah County Preschool for All. I am quite sure Intel withheld nothing, so this is a useless exercise. Yet, I thought as long as I put these papers into their respective satchels I would easily be able to look through them to find the W-2s.
Nope.
The 2023 papers going backwards through the year end around June. January through May of 2023 are missing!
I did find W2's from 2021 and 2020 because I had pulled them out when I applied for the HELoC.
Somehow I wish all physical belongings would just disappear (and never re-appear), with exception of those I have managed to put in some sort of order. Not going to happen.
Organizing the 2023 and 2024 folders was a good first step toward improving things.
The coffee bar idea was another. It should be complete this month. It already has improved the kitchen look and utility.
I am also keeping up with cleanliness on the kitchen table. I just cleaned two boxes of cat litter this past weekend, so I need to keep up on that.
Eventually I will find the paper work, but the city wants the W2s by June 23, 2024, so I have a deadline.
All my spare time has to go toward getting the back yard cleaned up to meet city expectations...plus basic kitchen, cat stuff. Meanwhile we have situations like this...and the park strip needs to be weed wacked. People walk by saying "It's overgrown."
Once the city and Neil Kelly have unhooked themselves from me by granting me a permit...and issuing the final bill and me paying for it...I can take a step back and deal with clutter and general cleanliness and maintenance...with some occasional projects to move ahead on the backroom, cellar, backyard, etc.
I used to be pretty good about keeping things organized.
That all changed starting in November 2019 when my truck wouldn't start reliably, I sent it to the shop to be fixed and it came back completely maladjusted. I went through three mechanics to get it resolved. That lead right to Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020.
By 2021 we were still under Covid-19 restrictions, but under all of this I was not able to organize my papers as I had no satchels and could not go to the as-is or thrift stores repeatedly to look for them. I finally broke down and bought some on-line (one for sure, but maybe two?).
In 2021 I wanted to move ahead with our house, so contacted Neil Kelly and in late 2021 started the ball rolling. All during 2022 I waited for them to get things going but nothing. So I suspended almost everything I would normally do...and posessions piled up.
Then, late 2022, they come up with a plan and I immediately start figuring out finances. So, basically November 2022 begins this focus on the backroom project to the exclusion of most everything else except work. I throw in special projects in anticipation of parallel work I could do (but didn't do): attic insulation. Also, I felt I had to fix the sidewalk. The attic access was resolved by creating a hatch, but to do that required moving and stowing books...so more stuff ended up in my office. So 2023 until January 2024 was chaotic as our already busy basement became even more crowded moving stuff away as access was needed to the A/C, electrical and the entire front area after the foundation collapsed. There was no place to unburden the growing pile of stuff in my office. I also wanted to save most of the material that made up our former backroom...creating piles outside as well (which would come back to bite me this year).
Now, I am simply unravelling all of this. If it took 4.5 years to get to this point, it may very well take 4.5 years to unravel all of this, so I should be back to normal in 2028 or so!