The Great Decluttering Begins
Monday, January 2nd, 2023 07:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioDad got a visit from Sue, the nurse, and Kyangela, who bathes him, today. And their visits happened to overlap, so they kept him busy for a good hour, and got him all checked out and cleaned up.
Other than dog walks, and a run to get smokes, I spent my day working on the back room.
I started on the porch, actually, by taking a small stand table out there and putting it on the parking. It was an ugly black table, with a mirror top and gold trim. Very 1980s!
Dad's printer/scanner was out on the porch, so I put that on top of the mirror table out on the parking, and there's a decent chance both will be picked up by passers by before garbage day on Thursday.
We had an octagonal wood night stand with storage doors in the back room, so that replaced the mirror table on the porch, to hold the old storm lamp, and it looks nicer.
Then, from the back room, I took out two chairs, and another little stand, and lined them up on the parking next to the mirror table and the printer/scanner.
Of those, one chair might be taken by a passer by. We'll see.
--<>--
With some floor space cleared out in the back room, I got to work on the train set.
I put all the people and plastic dinosaurs into a small container, and all the bigger set peices like the church, water tower, train station, ferris wheel, little house, and some other stuff into another box.
All the trees fit into a third box, and all three boxes fit in a small cabinet that was under the table.
The tracks are screwed down to the plywood, which sits atop the table, so they could stay, and after cleaning up the board, I removed it from the table and leaned it against the back wall.
--<>--
There was also a bookshelf unit back there packed with old model train magazines, so I threw all the mags into a big trash bag. But it's so heavy, I won't leave it for the garbage guys to toss themselves.
I'll throw it in the bin when it's empty, so their truck's robot arm can do the heavy lifting.
But I did drag it out the back door into the dog yard... which is going to be my staging area for all trash bags and furniture that need to get pitched, but are awaiting future garbage stickers, or future room in the bins.
That way, I can get everything out of the house this week, even if it takes all month to get it all hauled away.
--<>--
When the bookshelf unit was clear, I picked it up to move it and... surprise surprise!.. the space beneath it was jam crammed with Good 'n Fun kabob sticks, and mouse poops!
It kills me what a benevolent provider Yvette has been over the years for the different waves of mice we didn't know we had!.. and to this day, she's aggressively keeping my cats from being able to hunt any that might now be sneaking around downstairs!
But, after cleaning up that mess, I came to a stopping point.
The train stuff is ready to be moved out of the back room and into the music room.
So, the next step is to clear out space in the music room.
--<>--
In there, is a twin bed mattress and box springs that have to be thrown out...because they've been sitting on the floor in a dog bathroom for seven years!
But that twin bed has Dad's old, hulking tube TV, sitting screen-down on it, at the moment. They're impossible to dispose of, because nobody wants one, the garbage guys won't take it, and recycling centers won't either.
You have to wait for a tiny two-day window every year where the city accepts them, but the date is random, and it's impossible to Google!
Therefore... it's got to be wheeled out to the old shed in the back yard, where it will sit for a thousand years.
--<>--
In addition to the bed and the TV in the music room, there are five million tons of papers, cards, pamphlets, receipts, and other worthless documents piled up on every surface... which have to be bagged up and removed to the dog yard, pending eventual disposal.
Also a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf full of filthy stuffed animals, given to mom over her life, on birthdays and mother's days... that have to be bagged up and removed.
And I wish I could get rid of Mom's organ itself, but when I get rid of everything listed above, and some other random junk, there will be enough room to set up the train table on the east wall.
UPDATE: 9:35PM
I just checked and now one chair, one table, and the printer/scanner are gone! This leaves only the mirror table, and a little comfy chair out there.
It's supposed to start raining after midnight, so the comfy chair is gonna need a sticker on Thursday. But the rain will not hurt the mirror table, so... the only thing preventing it's adoption will be... that it's ugly and way out of style.
------------{=0=}------------
Tim's flight doesn't get into Midway until 9PM Saturday night, so I have a little time over the next four workdays, and then all day Saturday, to transform the back room into a clean, livable bedroom for him.
You might recall I had a plan last June to turn the back room into a guest room, but back then I thought I'd have time to paint, redo the flooring, and fix some issues in the little laundry closet there.
But the Mulberry tree fell down. Then we had the Great Good 'n Fun financial crisis. Then Dad broke his hip. So now... vacuuming the shit out of the back room and mopping the ancient floor tiles is all I can do.
------------{=0=}------------
Dad spent most of the day sleeping, after his visitors left. He's still sleeping now as I write.
We've got four more days alone together here, and over those four days I'll be going back to work in the empty school building another week... because the kids are still off on Christmas break.
I'm looking forward to next Monday, when Tim is here, and things at work go back to normal!
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Other than dog walks, and a run to get smokes, I spent my day working on the back room.
I started on the porch, actually, by taking a small stand table out there and putting it on the parking. It was an ugly black table, with a mirror top and gold trim. Very 1980s!
Dad's printer/scanner was out on the porch, so I put that on top of the mirror table out on the parking, and there's a decent chance both will be picked up by passers by before garbage day on Thursday.
We had an octagonal wood night stand with storage doors in the back room, so that replaced the mirror table on the porch, to hold the old storm lamp, and it looks nicer.
Then, from the back room, I took out two chairs, and another little stand, and lined them up on the parking next to the mirror table and the printer/scanner.
Of those, one chair might be taken by a passer by. We'll see.
With some floor space cleared out in the back room, I got to work on the train set.
I put all the people and plastic dinosaurs into a small container, and all the bigger set peices like the church, water tower, train station, ferris wheel, little house, and some other stuff into another box.
All the trees fit into a third box, and all three boxes fit in a small cabinet that was under the table.
The tracks are screwed down to the plywood, which sits atop the table, so they could stay, and after cleaning up the board, I removed it from the table and leaned it against the back wall.
There was also a bookshelf unit back there packed with old model train magazines, so I threw all the mags into a big trash bag. But it's so heavy, I won't leave it for the garbage guys to toss themselves.
I'll throw it in the bin when it's empty, so their truck's robot arm can do the heavy lifting.
But I did drag it out the back door into the dog yard... which is going to be my staging area for all trash bags and furniture that need to get pitched, but are awaiting future garbage stickers, or future room in the bins.
That way, I can get everything out of the house this week, even if it takes all month to get it all hauled away.
When the bookshelf unit was clear, I picked it up to move it and... surprise surprise!.. the space beneath it was jam crammed with Good 'n Fun kabob sticks, and mouse poops!
It kills me what a benevolent provider Yvette has been over the years for the different waves of mice we didn't know we had!.. and to this day, she's aggressively keeping my cats from being able to hunt any that might now be sneaking around downstairs!
But, after cleaning up that mess, I came to a stopping point.
The train stuff is ready to be moved out of the back room and into the music room.
So, the next step is to clear out space in the music room.
In there, is a twin bed mattress and box springs that have to be thrown out...because they've been sitting on the floor in a dog bathroom for seven years!
But that twin bed has Dad's old, hulking tube TV, sitting screen-down on it, at the moment. They're impossible to dispose of, because nobody wants one, the garbage guys won't take it, and recycling centers won't either.
You have to wait for a tiny two-day window every year where the city accepts them, but the date is random, and it's impossible to Google!
Therefore... it's got to be wheeled out to the old shed in the back yard, where it will sit for a thousand years.
In addition to the bed and the TV in the music room, there are five million tons of papers, cards, pamphlets, receipts, and other worthless documents piled up on every surface... which have to be bagged up and removed to the dog yard, pending eventual disposal.
Also a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf full of filthy stuffed animals, given to mom over her life, on birthdays and mother's days... that have to be bagged up and removed.
And I wish I could get rid of Mom's organ itself, but when I get rid of everything listed above, and some other random junk, there will be enough room to set up the train table on the east wall.
I just checked and now one chair, one table, and the printer/scanner are gone! This leaves only the mirror table, and a little comfy chair out there.
It's supposed to start raining after midnight, so the comfy chair is gonna need a sticker on Thursday. But the rain will not hurt the mirror table, so... the only thing preventing it's adoption will be... that it's ugly and way out of style.
Tim's flight doesn't get into Midway until 9PM Saturday night, so I have a little time over the next four workdays, and then all day Saturday, to transform the back room into a clean, livable bedroom for him.
You might recall I had a plan last June to turn the back room into a guest room, but back then I thought I'd have time to paint, redo the flooring, and fix some issues in the little laundry closet there.
But the Mulberry tree fell down. Then we had the Great Good 'n Fun financial crisis. Then Dad broke his hip. So now... vacuuming the shit out of the back room and mopping the ancient floor tiles is all I can do.
Dad spent most of the day sleeping, after his visitors left. He's still sleeping now as I write.
We've got four more days alone together here, and over those four days I'll be going back to work in the empty school building another week... because the kids are still off on Christmas break.
I'm looking forward to next Monday, when Tim is here, and things at work go back to normal!
°¦}
