Now it's becoming addictive
I spent a great deal of time today at
gehayi 's. I dragooned my ex-husband into helping shift a giant console television that's probably older than I am. Wonder of wonders, it did fit in my tiny hatchback, but even though the electronics recycling place said it was open 8-1 today, they'd already buggered off when I got there at 12:30, so the thing has to stay in my car until Monday. The chest of drawers we put the working television on instead (it had been sitting on the ancient one) was smaller, so we had to balance the cable box on top of the TV instead of setting it beside. Since the current TV is still old enough to be a CRT model (with built-in DVD and VHS players), it didn't really balance, so we had to shim it. This involved duct tape and an outdated copy of Writer's Market. Never say I'm not resourceful!
While I'd been waiting for my ex to show up, I'd gone upstairs. You see, when I'd cleared out the china closet two weeks ago, I'd moved the contents up to the mostly-empty master bedroom. This proved suboptimal, because I discovered other things I wanted to move around in there, and dodging potentially-valuable china and glassware wasn't working so well. So I decided it should live in the small bedroom we call "the library". That one has a small desk against one wall and a dining-room table in the center. Which, of course, were covered with books and Random Things, which wasn't really convenient for putting china-and-glass on.
By the time he showed up, I'd cleared the surfaces of not-china, and moved about two-thirds of the china onto them. Then it was TV-shifting time.
Now, you'd think after I'd shifted a giant TV, I'd feel like I was done for the day.
Nope.
I had to come back, finish moving the china-and-glass, and then while I was up there it became IMPERATIVE to move the Stuff on the floor around. So vintage toys & Christmas tat went in one corner, bed/table linens went in the kneehole of the desk, empty boxes went under one window, clothing against another wall... and then there were the books.
First of all, the rest of the outdated volumes of Writer's Market had to go. That made some room on the shelves. Which meant I was able to take the piles of loose books and put them on the shelves. Those piles of loose books contained a great many outdated computer and internet reference works. Those had to go too. Amazingly enough, all the loose books DID go on the existing shelves. The books in boxes stayed in boxes, but they got shoved over in front of one of the bookshelves.
It is now possible to walk around in that room. So I can get AT the clothes that need to come down and be sorted and be tallied for donation. Given that the nonfunctional car in the driveway may not sell for parts, it might get donated, and in THAT case it becomes worthwhile to keep track of the amount of clothing that's being donated to Goodwill & assorted other charities (Big Brothers/Big Sisters, a veterans' charity, whoever else sends flyers around for curbside pickups, as long as they're not objectionable -- just never, ever the Salvation Army) and get receipts. I think it's more than fair to value the clothing at a flat $1/item, as most items in a Goodwill store sell for more than that.
Once I'd managed all that, I felt like I was genuinely DONE for the day. It felt like I'd reached the end of a task.
I do have to go back tomorrow evening, as the 90-gallon recycling bin is half full of really large books, and will undoubtedly be too heavy for
gehayi to pull down the steep driveway without injuring herself.
But oh, boy, does it ever feel satisfying to have cleared out that much STUFF and created a genuine walking path.
Now I need a shower, and then I'm going to make myself a green salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, because after I did all that I did the week's grocery shopping, and I am DONE.
gehayi 's. I dragooned my ex-husband into helping shift a giant console television that's probably older than I am. Wonder of wonders, it did fit in my tiny hatchback, but even though the electronics recycling place said it was open 8-1 today, they'd already buggered off when I got there at 12:30, so the thing has to stay in my car until Monday. The chest of drawers we put the working television on instead (it had been sitting on the ancient one) was smaller, so we had to balance the cable box on top of the TV instead of setting it beside. Since the current TV is still old enough to be a CRT model (with built-in DVD and VHS players), it didn't really balance, so we had to shim it. This involved duct tape and an outdated copy of Writer's Market. Never say I'm not resourceful!
While I'd been waiting for my ex to show up, I'd gone upstairs. You see, when I'd cleared out the china closet two weeks ago, I'd moved the contents up to the mostly-empty master bedroom. This proved suboptimal, because I discovered other things I wanted to move around in there, and dodging potentially-valuable china and glassware wasn't working so well. So I decided it should live in the small bedroom we call "the library". That one has a small desk against one wall and a dining-room table in the center. Which, of course, were covered with books and Random Things, which wasn't really convenient for putting china-and-glass on.
By the time he showed up, I'd cleared the surfaces of not-china, and moved about two-thirds of the china onto them. Then it was TV-shifting time.
Now, you'd think after I'd shifted a giant TV, I'd feel like I was done for the day.
Nope.
I had to come back, finish moving the china-and-glass, and then while I was up there it became IMPERATIVE to move the Stuff on the floor around. So vintage toys & Christmas tat went in one corner, bed/table linens went in the kneehole of the desk, empty boxes went under one window, clothing against another wall... and then there were the books.
First of all, the rest of the outdated volumes of Writer's Market had to go. That made some room on the shelves. Which meant I was able to take the piles of loose books and put them on the shelves. Those piles of loose books contained a great many outdated computer and internet reference works. Those had to go too. Amazingly enough, all the loose books DID go on the existing shelves. The books in boxes stayed in boxes, but they got shoved over in front of one of the bookshelves.
It is now possible to walk around in that room. So I can get AT the clothes that need to come down and be sorted and be tallied for donation. Given that the nonfunctional car in the driveway may not sell for parts, it might get donated, and in THAT case it becomes worthwhile to keep track of the amount of clothing that's being donated to Goodwill & assorted other charities (Big Brothers/Big Sisters, a veterans' charity, whoever else sends flyers around for curbside pickups, as long as they're not objectionable -- just never, ever the Salvation Army) and get receipts. I think it's more than fair to value the clothing at a flat $1/item, as most items in a Goodwill store sell for more than that.
Once I'd managed all that, I felt like I was genuinely DONE for the day. It felt like I'd reached the end of a task.
I do have to go back tomorrow evening, as the 90-gallon recycling bin is half full of really large books, and will undoubtedly be too heavy for
gehayi to pull down the steep driveway without injuring herself.
But oh, boy, does it ever feel satisfying to have cleared out that much STUFF and created a genuine walking path.
Now I need a shower, and then I'm going to make myself a green salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, because after I did all that I did the week's grocery shopping, and I am DONE.