Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 18 - 11:53 PM

Two-thirds of my garage is organized after a weekend of steady work. I must have swept out 20 pounds of mouse turds and I tossed a lot more volume/weight in mud dauber (wasp) nests stuck to the walls and planks. I made two trips to the village recycle bins, one trip to Goodwill, and put a number of things at the curb - most of them were picked up; this evening the last item (a funky chair frame) is stuffed with a broken plastic bin and lots of styrofoam and bags of trash.

The dog stall is clean and the bedding washed and boxed for the time being. I still have to work on two sets of shelves (screwed onto the wall), the work bench, and the corner where I keep a number of pieces of equipment (mower, trimmers, saws, etc.) There is bulky stuff to toss or donate (enclosed cat litter box, animal carry cases, etc.) and stuff I've never used I should probably sell. But the end result of this work is that while I had enough space to park in before, I can *almost* fit two cars in there now. I moved my impromptu table (a door and saw horses) to the least-cluttered side and could actually set up a spread out project and still pull the SUV in and out without being squeezed for space.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Apr 18 - 06:32 PM

Plumber's been and drains open.

Police report filed and extra patrols in case of retaliation.

Locks and garage code changed.

Dog back from kennel.

Bedroom habitable.

Garage-ful of stuff looks like I wanted it.

Zzzzzzzzz......

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 30 Apr 18 - 07:31 PM

what an ordeal. and this type of behavior leads to homelessness because people are afraid of taking in a nephew or someone who could do things like this.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Apr 18 - 10:53 PM

Thanks, mg; I was actually expecting an "I told you so." Which I don't need.

Stolen/missing items are at about $6000 so far, with cleanup at about $1000 so far.

It's getting hard to think, now, too. Sleep will help and it HAS to look better in the morning.... but how am I going to do 10 loads of wash with no laundry supplies? Yep. Gone. And cash is awful short since missing blank checks caused me to pause that account.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Apr 18 - 10:56 PM

Near as I can figure, the one housemate/chore helper with weekend visit's from toddler became hosting 6 other people, from nests found, which is some of what needs washed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 01 May 18 - 08:49 AM

Oh, Susan! Aaaagh! I don't know what's worse: the anger, the disappointment, the discoveries of loss following each hard on the heels of the last, the being overwhelmed by all the extra work that you so don't need.

Mary's point is so well taken; this is a bad burn, and you will be shy for a long time to come.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 May 18 - 09:25 AM

Thanks, Charmion.

I awoke after rotten sleep with no idea where to start. Thinking about a nap made me think "fixing my mattress"-- removing a poorly placed layer from a February fix.

I didn't fix it in February because I couldn't think thru the folded layers capturing the hard, compressed foam layer to remove. But I was able to reach thru the folds from another angle, and I think the rest can await opening the camper (weeks away) to use its kingsize mattress to prep the bed for July vacation here with Hardi.

I cut the extra mattress layer in half and slid both pieces into the remaining leg-support pillow I'd fought with all night, to approximate the firmness and thickness of the missing leg pillow (one of three missing key orthopedic supports).

To do the bed, I'd taken a folding chair into the BR. So I took the opportunity to unpack a full-to-bursting laundry hamper we'd found in a closet, which turned out to be mostly clean and folded items for the new dresser-- I must have wisely NOT put away that last batch into the dresser I knew I'd replace on this trip. So I have a dresser full of clean clothes.

And I was richly rewarded by finding a clean towel and flannel bath wrap at the bottom-- I'd been going nuts trying to figure out a shower with no clean towels and no laundry soap I can't afford till funds arrive. The shower is filthy from the plugged drains, and to rinse it for use will require me to get in there with the hand-held sprayer, so I can stand to get naked in there pending a real, disinfecting cleaning via county social services.

Son and DIL left me breakfast sausage to cook up, and I may feel like eating later... so I washed one pot as best I could. The Horde left me a freezer full of frozen vegetables and I brought bulk mashed potato flakes, so if I get hungry I can stop living on power bars.

NOW I can see sleep! I hope. I have the HVAC fan running to flush the air in my BR that had me coughing all night-- some irritating incense residue I think.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 May 18 - 06:03 PM

I'm finding a few odds and ends everytime I look inside a place-- stuff of ours that they'd buried, or useful items of theirs that they left. Two cans of tuna in water is a help, but the countertop canisters for mashed potato flakes and Scottish oatmeal are priceless. They're just big plastic jars that had held fruit or peanuts, but I'm super strict on plastic purchases and if it can't be re-used, that product in plastic ain't coming into my house. These stack and are just right for my hand.

Also thrilled to find the Behringer mini-mixer and a mic. All the instruments are gone-- two autoharps, a nice electric ukulele, an electric guitar, and a good Kentucky style mandolin. A small amp, a boom mic stand, guitar stand. But Hardi will be pleased about the Behringer.

I'm making headway on filthy dishes, using shampoo from my travel bag.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 May 18 - 07:54 PM

Susan,

   I'm sorry to hear all that's happened. :(   We didn't suffer the same amount of loss but when we had the cabin, people broke in and stole things that meant something to us. I know you've been working on making that space your new home so I bet there are things gone that you can't replace either. That's heartbreaking.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 May 18 - 08:08 PM

Thanks.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 18 - 08:27 PM

Thanks, mg; I was actually expecting an "I told you so." Which I don't need.

You're probably doing a pretty good job of that all by yourself. No need to pile on.

The instruments - anything you can put up on the Mudcat site or the Mudcat annex on Facebook as far as descriptions, serial numbers, photos, would help people in the community keep any eye out for them on eBay or in pawn shops. (Link the facebook reports to mudcat.org and people will be able to see the photos.) That theft is heartbreaking - because clods who stole these have no music in their hearts. They see only dollar signs.

Over the last few weeks I've also cleaned up around my employment cubicle. The urge to declutter has jumped boundaries. I got rid of several dozen old 3.5" floppy disks that were in a couple of cases - I don't think we have any devices that can read them now (and I'm sure I moved the data ages ago). The disks and the storage cabinets went into the e-waste bin.

In the garden the tomatoes are finally growing and I think the ones I planted a couple of weeks ago doubled in size overnight. The potatoes are starting to send up shoots and the squash leaves are spreading out. Soon the garden will be visible from the street (right now it looks like a dark brown patch of soil.)

This morning I moved a few things in the garage along the back wall - I need to finish the job - for now I'll spend a couple of minutes each morning (before the drive to work) putting things where they should be stored.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 May 18 - 10:45 PM

Gotta love the irony though-- the live in helper chosen to make things just a bit easier is the one who just made it harder.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 May 18 - 08:10 PM

Aw, a SURJ friend who had offered to look at the Liberation Library to try to restore it, did come.... and is not only coming tmrw afternoon to work with me in it, but after she left... she came back with dinner, dishwashing supplies, a hug-- and flowers! :-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 May 18 - 10:37 PM

That is nice!

My new "walk the plank" mousetrap arrived and is set up in the garage overnight to see if my cleaning activity chased them all away or if they are still lurking in the joists and rafters. So much sign of mice in the garage, but it was cumulative.

Hoping for a soaking rain tomorrow - something moist is forecast - I'm hoping it's just rain and not high winds or hail that can play havoc with a tender garden.

Busy weekend coming up, foundation work quote coming soon. Computer is acting up - I think it wanted an update.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 03 May 18 - 09:55 AM

Now that the house is as squared away as I can make it right now, it's time to turn my attention to -- sigh -- fitness.

While I wasn't looking, I regained five of the pounds I lost while having pneumonia (and little else *rimshot*). The fat pants are out of the storage box again, and I'm back on the wagon with respect to portion control and avoiding foods that say "Eat Me Now" rather too loudly.

Fortunately, it's spring in Perth County and the asparagus will soon start rolling in at the farmers' market. I can eat asparagus until I piss green, and then eat yet more asparagus. Also tomatoes.

But dinner tonight will be roast pork, so restraint must be today's watchword. Darn it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 May 18 - 10:50 AM

Decluttered an expensive 1/2 gallon (the remainder) of a mango yogurt drink when it became clear that it had turned into something not so benign. It's fertilizing the tomatoes now and my gut will recover. I like the store where it came from, but they sell lots of imports that don't always have sell-by dates. In this instance, I think they washed off the dates because this brand usually has them. The hurricane last summer made importing some stuff more difficult and more expensive. They're taking risks by keeping things that get so old they're no longer edible.

This morning I decluttered some mapped drives that I used when I telecommuted for work. The red X over each (disconnected) drive was making it difficult to see the large external drives on my home computer (for some reason the letter drives were duplicated). I should have done that ages ago since there is no trust in the workplace that telecommuters are really doing their job from home. Too bad, for 15 years it saved me a lot of money as far as the daily round trip commute.

The garlic will be ready to harvest soon and the cilantro has bolted, so that bed will be ready for more bedding plants soon. Cucumbers seem to like it there. Salads and pickles ahead! I need to organize the canning jars in the pantry shelves to be ready.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 May 18 - 07:45 PM

Cleanup continues, slowly.

The hug-bearing friend returned today to start sorting out the Liberation Library. It's very hard to be in that room but we cleared it of items just delivered and started sorting books. I'd found pictures showing where the categories went and they aren't clear enough to read titles, but I can do a lot from the colors of the spines.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 May 18 - 10:59 PM

An evening spent sorting out my computer banking software. Quicken killed off my ability to download bank files to update my accounts, and even had I entered each transaction manually, it wasn't letting me select "cleared" or any other status. They're going to a subscription mode. Grrr. The time it would take to find a new program and learn how to use it was more than I wanted to spend right now, so I bought the lowest-end version (downloaded the software), finally got it to download the bank account info, and I have 14 months to find and practice with another program. I wasn't paying attention when Quicken kept trying sell me a new program, I didn't realize it would essentially turn into a brick. I'm caught up now, and anything else I planned to do this evening will wait till the weekend.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 May 18 - 11:48 PM

Jed's death has kind of knocked the stuffing out of the week. I'm keeping my eye on information about upcoming events. The service on Sunday is for family and close friends; there will be something else later for the rest of us. I have a guest room if someone travels far and needs to avoid a hotel cost.

I moved the rug back into position and the table on top if it. It seems to be dry after a day of a fan and air conditioner. Guests coming for lunch tomorrow so I did a little cooking ahead tonight. One is a vegetarian, one has a salt and tomato restricted diet, so I have a few things available and let people mix and match, or we heat up tortillas and make custom quesadillas according to taste. I fried up some sliced potatoes and made a batch of boiled tomatoes to make mashed or hashed (potato tacos are pretty good - and I have masa for making corn tortillas). We tend to decide what the lunch will be once everyone arrives and we see what people brought with them.

The rest of the weekend will be eBay and yard work. After 2 days of rain the weeds have gotten a big head start on me.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 May 18 - 09:23 AM

Friends coming over for lunch today so a quick tour of the house to sweep (dog hair, one guest is allergic) and organize my stash of boxes in the sunroom - it has grown recently. After two days of rain my garden is in drastic need of weeding; it's astonishing how fast plants grow when conditions are perfect. Boiling water with white vinegar nips many at the bud and will be one of my main defenses this year against the creeping Bermuda.

I think it's time to weed out extra coffee mugs and donate to the Goodwill. They're coming out of the woodwork, since I brought a few home from work. That's a long story - I'm downsizing the amount of stuff I have there.

Must vote today. It's a small one, but so small that every vote counts. This one to do with a bond to make river levee improvements. They won't impact my part of the creek that feeds into that river, but all of this stuff is eventually connected. I'd love to see a hiking path developed up to our area, the creek is lovely and there are long wooded stretches beside this urban creek.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 May 18 - 12:19 PM

Others family members will disagree with my action, but after much thought I decided that Tyler's family gets a piece of the recovery/consequences too.

So I reached out to neighborhood family members, indicating that I have his little boy Gavin's items to return but desire no face contact. A younger brother replied (who was the first family member that had worked for me but whose own drug use this year is obvious), and we worked it out via txt that he'd send his mother with car when she got home from work, and that they would contact me first so we don't talk. It's a police matter, and for that and other reasons, it's best we don't meet.

In text, after the pickup, I urged her to contact the child's mother to interrupt unsupervised visitation. Since I don't have Gavin's last name or his mother's name, I've also requested law enforcement follow up on that. Tyler apparently didn't think I might report him, but in addition to my own deep concern, I am a mandated reporter.

So I bagged up the visitation-bag of clothes and tiny shoes, tub toys, dinosaurs, and new gifts for Gavin that Tyler had left in place here. I bagged up Tyler's friends' filthy frypans I don't care to wash or put in MY trash bin. I bagged the chess, dice, and dominoes they played with during long meth highs. I bagged the gluten-laden food he left, and the peanut oil we dare not use here (my BIL who is here often is highly allergic).

I loaded all this into the red recycle bin I use for hauling heavy items between house and garage. She picked it up from the front doorstep without conversation, leaving the bin as requested, while I unpacked a few boxes in the garage.

Several items I'd been missing from the LL were in that guest room. Now that most of the nastiness is out of there (I took out food trash ydy), I've set the guest room to air. And now that I've cleared some floor space in there, it's a good place to drag all that laundry I'll need to do, in hopes a County seniors-helper can load it into my car to go to a laundromat, and go with me to get it all done and re-loaded. There's nothing in it I need soon, because we bagged laundry by category when we got my bedroom ready. And I don't care to overload the fragile plumbing with Tyler's mess.

A plan I want to start soon involves using blue tape on the Liberation Library walls to stake out placement of furniture I brought.... BEFORE draggifng it in from the garage-- so I can move the library's existing furniture to IT'S planned locations and thereby create space for a table to organize and CATALOG the books which MUST BE DONE ASAP-- at least a photo catalog.

After a transfer glitch, I finally received PA funds early this AM to replace supplies, but now I'm down with a nasty head cold and ucky tummy, so it's a good thing I got chicken soup with my scooter yesterday. Despite both pairs of comfy slippers being gone, I found a pair of slipper socks and a blanket I'd brought from PA and cranked up the heat.

Today my only "work" in the house will be putting away groceries and clean dishes, hauling those loads of laundry to the guest room bed, and bagging uo the remainder of the guest room trash so I can stand to be in there again. Once upon a time (just two months ago), it was a peaceful haven. I could use one!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 May 18 - 06:58 PM

Finally remembered that the stuff in the dresser I brought included a woven cotton serape, so I added it to the sheet I've been using. I'll top it with another flannel sheet and look for a Goodwill comforter in a few days (I'm sick), to replace the one they stole.

Between streamed TV murders on my fone and a few naps, I moved most of the dirty laundry out of the LR and into the guest room. Now I wish I hadn't put it where I did, on the bed, because I want to move the bed.... I'll move it to the closet, the curtain for which is still up. I bagged the busted drain snakes they'd left and the clothing of unknown ownership, from the guest room, and emptied a trash can of bathroom crud that contained my water pitcher, which I set to soak.

In the guest room I found a bit, that fits my cordless drill/driver, so now I just need a bit for that. The guest room still has another trip's worth of trash to bag up, and then I can see if the electric recliner still works and, if so, reclaim that room.

I'm not trying to make it all like it was-- that vision is broken. I'm making new visions as I'm able.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 May 18 - 07:46 PM

The guest room is now clear of visible trash, and all parts of the electric recliner's power cord were found and connected. It works. It's padding needs to be put back together but TBTG I won't have to junk it-- that will have to be sawed in two to get it out.

The room's trash occupied another two big trash bags, which, when I take them out to the bin, will finish filling the 2nd 96-gallon trash bin. I'm sure I'll find more when I move the bed.

Of course I'm continuing to find ruined items. Such as two prayer shawls. Can you imagine?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 May 18 - 07:49 PM

The good thing about having people over for lunch is that it forces you to do some of the most immediate things that help clear up the spaces you'll use for the meal. And as it wound down I put everything in the dishwasher. By the time we stopped talking in the yard the dishes were finished and now I have a great looking kitchen and dining area.

It's a lovely evening to start on the last part of the garage cleanup, the back wall with the window and workbench. Plenty of stuff to donate or discard back there and other things to reconsider - start using them or sell them. My mouse "walk-the-plank" trap hasn't caught anything, probably because all of the work scared off the most recent residents. I'll put it away for a while and re-set it after all of the work is done and if I start seeing any more signs of rodents.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 May 18 - 08:25 AM

Gang, if you're reading along and want to support, "Go Susan!" is a good phrase to post. Please don't do that if you're not actually reading.

NINE hours bentramasleep under just enough covers!

Used AM energy to further de-Horde the guest room and sent leads found to Det. Wilson. Almost ready to move bed, which I suspect is harboring a down comforter as an extra mattress pad. MAYBE it's even clean and undamaged?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 May 18 - 09:00 AM

Good things come to those who wait. And he wants to get caught.

Comforter, yes! One ash smudge on removable cover.

Shouting alert--

UNDER it:

In guest room, found PAWN TICKET WITH SERIAL NUMBERS, for Hardi's guitars, dated March 10. IN TYLER'S NAME.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 May 18 - 11:58 AM

Go, Susan! To the phone, and call the cops.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 May 18 - 12:09 PM

That is a lucky break, and a paper trail to find them again, we hope, even if they sold from the pawn shop.

This morning I've addressed the contents of a steel shelf in the garage. It's fastened to the wall and can stay there, but the things stored there are getting dusted and sorted. Some to the greenhouse, some to a stack for the Goodwill, and a lot in the trash. Up on the top shelf I can see traces of mud stuck to the vents on my Coleman stove, so I need to take it down to see if the inside is completely bricked in by mud daubers. They spend a lot of time in my garage and I am still finding and tossing out old nests.

Boiling water into the vegetable garden to knock out some of the patches of weeds that sprouted after the rain last week. I also have 10% vinegar to use to keep weeds out of some of the pavers and gravel I put down last month.

Lovely weather today so it will include a dog walk before dinner.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 May 18 - 01:18 PM

Charmion, first thing I did.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 May 18 - 05:16 PM

:-)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 May 18 - 09:25 PM

Finished most of the clearing in the back of the garage by the workbench. There are still a few things that possibly should go, but for now, the worst of it is in the trash for morning pickup and the useable stuff is at Goodwill.

Now for a load of laundry, this was a sweaty dusty job.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 May 18 - 10:07 PM

Some good news-- there's been no nefarious account activity for the checking account whose blank checks were found in Tyler's closet. In fact Hardi was able to go thru the special statement with me over the phone and compare numbers with me to determine that none were missing (even from the middle of the 2 books found).

To limit electronic use of the account, I'll notify the bank tomorrow that the only transactions they should see until further notice are SS by direct deposit as usual and SS out via my monthly same-day transfer to pay down a card. And the surplus current balance just went to that card before anyone can sick it out.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 18 - 11:50 AM

It's a pain to change out account numbers, especially if you pay bills online or by automatic withdrawal, but banks will usually help with some of that. The activity you need to look for isn't at the bank - though sometimes thieves will wait a month or two and swoop in after the monthly check is deposited. It's the information on the check that thieves use to set up accounts you never see - identity theft. You don't know about the new accounts until the bills aren't paid and it hits your credit score. You know you can get a free credit report from each of the big three credit reporting bureaus; I usually get them one at a time, spaced out through the year. This happened to a friend after her purse was stolen, she decided the checks were okay only to get clobbered a few weeks later by a hefty withdrawal, and the new accounts set up. Because you are the victim of this kind of crime the bureaus will let you choose to add an extra security level and they let you know any time any new activity happens as it happens or will block the establishment of any new accounts.

We're supposed to reach 91^o today, so I need to do my mowing before noon. I also need to set up sprinklers in the vegetable garden. It begins.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 May 18 - 03:03 PM

A very generous friend sent a surprise today by special delivery and it's safely in the local bank (not the one whose checks I posted about). Her gift may covery a security system.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 May 18 - 07:49 PM

Ohio:

I'm having a really odd reflection.... that once I get the house back to "normal" no one (including me) will feel like it happened. A kind of resistance to doing more. Very weird feeling. Don't want to let this get buried as one more PTSD!

So.... after simple supper.... 20+ minutes upright time before sitting, ouch, but DW emptied and some kitchen order emerging. Fruit basket reclaimed and stocked. Unsorted spices abused/added by Horde set in bin in spice cabinet to sort later. Misc more groceries/bags put away as Penguins hockey game remains scoreless.

Ten more minutes after very brief sit, OWWWW but DW loaded from Horde Filth, and running. (Found missing dishpan NOW of course.)

Not all items may wash clean in one cycle, so may have to re-run some items. Also not loaded are company glassware they used... And befouled. .... That's a separate load w glassware I btought to unpack in a day or two, but the big kitchen island table is now nearly clear of Horde crud, though it needs to be scraped and disinfected. Hockey game still scoreless but stats are in our favor. I cannot imagine getting this all done without that game radio!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 May 18 - 07:56 PM

Oh and I hauled out the heavy, last 2 bags of Horde trash earlier, which has cleared quite a bit of hallway/kitchen floor space. There's almost room there to unpack a box or two.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 May 18 - 08:39 PM

Montreal:
Nice trip to Montreal in the rain on 28 April, via folk concert in Gananoque.. Have managed to little bits of clearing up here and at the mill. The LR looks so much bigger with the black cabinet gone (this am) – to the curb – and the stuff behind it. Have packed some of the shelved stuff and de-cluttered the shelves of years of dust.

Today R collected enough boxes to pack lots of the books that are on the staircase and the plan is that he will bring a whole lot on the truck to Beaver when he arrives for some part of next weekend. I thought my desk was empty but… Will empty the rest of drawers into one of those boxes today. On the other side of the LR is an electric organ that he found last week and brought in out of the rain – for how long???

Yesterday R divulged the amazing news that he no longer feels a need to collect stuff but only to find things good homes. Clearly this does not include books as 4 more bags full arrived on Saturday from the Little Green Library! But he found a good home for 3 nice light fixtures – installing them in Geri’s LR so we can see in there for the first time – in 30 years, she says! It was an exciting event to be able to really see her art work – by her! But he came home with the 3 old ones! Thrift shop, we agreed!!

Picked up the printer from the mill to take to Beaver. It worked fine last time I used it. Also found the instruction booklets and discs for it, if need be.

Will check with credit union when I get back on how to purchase things on line safely, and pay odd bills. No apps, Maggie, My phone is archaic.

Will leave early tomorrow to return to Beaver so I can be going north before the sun is in my eyes. (driving west)

My cat Friendly was the best of all possible cats for 17 years. Have no intention of taking a chance on another one! And, when I suggested to a friend the other day that I might like another dog, she responded in horror! NO! you don’t want to do that! Borrow one, offer dog walks… I have to agree. No more dogs.

No housemates either! Susan! What a dreadful end to a long trip! Thankful for the misplaced pawn ticket! Hope it leads somewhere! This far beats the worst “housemate” experience of my 81 years!

Rec’d email that plants were shipped on 4 May. Responded with a curt note that advance notice would have been acceptable as I am 4 hundred Km away. Hope all is well tomorrow and that I can find someone to dig the necessary holes! Cherry trees, blueberry and raspberry plants! And the yard a morass of roots that are almost impossible – for me – get a spade into, or a fork – maybe a pick!

Mags gardening notes are so amusing; our climate zones…! I am looking forward to getting back to Beaver to see what is up. In Montreal, the crocuses have bloomed and daffodils are in bloom. I saw a forsythia the other day. WOW!

R bought a brand new guitar at a yard sale on the weekend for $50, in a case. We will keep it until my django jazz son visits in June and dispose of it according to his advice. Googled at about $250 US at Amazon. He thought of putting it at his airbnb place in the Laurentians but I would like to know someone was going to get good use and appreciation from it.

Bro uses “walk the plank for mice: a bucket of water and a suitably placed stick. Or several of same if needed!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 18 - 10:02 PM

Dorothy, for future reference, Manuals Online is a good place to start your search for manuals for older items of all sorts. I've uploaded several PDFs to them. And if this doesn't work, try searching the company, sometimes they have the older items (I've found that to be the case on several iHome devices I've brought home recently. Some of those will go on eBay with a printout of the manual).

I'm glad R is beginning to see the light. This weekend I finished the big push in the garage and ruthlessly disposed of a number of things that might have been usable - in the future - possibly - but I've owned for a decade or more and never used. Gone. Books are tough; I just pulled two slim volumes out of my "to read" stack to put back on top. The stack of books to read keeps rearranging itself as it grows.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 May 18 - 11:12 PM

Aaaarggh! Fone autocorrect!

Thanks, DP. I have so much PTSD from earlier in life that it's actually not clear to me how bad this is. 

But it appears that the Horde funded their meth use at least partially by charging underage kids a cover charge to attend the drinking parties-- the older addicts addicting the next generation. Nice, huh?

So, living in a crime scene is.... interesting in too many ways.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 08 May 18 - 09:28 AM

You know, Susan, even people who don't suffer from PTSD find it difficult to assimilate just how wicked the behaviour of people they know and love -- or even just like -- can be. The act of bringing a person into the charmed circle of home and family, as you did with your ex-housemate the druggie and friend of meth dealers, seems to cancel part of our instinct for self-protection. It makes sense; we can't relax and get comfortable in our homes (which is what home is for) if we remain on guard against the people we live with.

Life's a bitch sometimes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 May 18 - 01:21 PM

Of course if I'd been told about the meth by my "friend" his mother... or by his younger brother.... or his parole officer....

If the friend with a key to water plants weekly had USED it instead of taking the plants home because "poor Tyler is working so hard/late that I can't wake him up" (when he had no job and was actually METH-crashing)....

Or if the neighbor who asked how many housemates I had, had been honest when I asked if there were problems....

Or if the mailman who told me ydy what a shithead the housemate was for hosting kids to drink, had called 911 or the number plastered on my front door....

Or if one of those kids' parents had called 911...

Or if the lawn service crew who watched the Horde moving out had called me...

Or if the other neighbor who wondered why she hadn't seen me but seen a woman living in my house, had texted me....

Or if the THREE kitty corner neighbors had....

Or if the cop living across from me....

Or if the neighbor who DID call me hadn't waited so long that our house was trashed....

After personally speaking with each and every one of these nice people to give our number and encourage watching out for odd things....

Yeah. "We didn't want to invade his privacy." They're all eager to have me listen to THEIR stories NOW-- but seem unable to hear mine. "Too much drama." (Class issue. Po' folks GET IT.)

Yeah. I'm having a little trouble making sense of ALL that, and nothing any wisenheimer here can say can actually help. Until it happens to you, you can't truly understand.

My social worker friend gets it. "You were conned by a drug addict. They're good at that."

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 May 18 - 04:09 PM

My DIL's kindly-loaned car is now safely garaged again in case of meth-fueled vandalism (when Tyler learns I've fucked up the visitation he lives for).

Young neighbor Camryn made a few bucks today helping rearrange the garage a bit to make room for the car, learned how to use a hand truck, and took a message for the neighborhood grapevine-- "No valuables in these boxes of papers and pictures." He even took that pesky last big bag of trash to his family's bin, after stowing the two big heavy bags to fill mine. That leaves me just enough space for the kitchen trash tomorrow night, more than half of which Tyler left me.

I'm mostly using the scooter for local shopping, but it's great to know I can use that tiny, uncomfortable old car when I need to.

Newbie and I celebrated being ALIVE with a rarely-indulged Coke and Burger King feast-- radio blasting-- after a very short highway spin to let the car run a bit. (MOMMY! TRUCK!!!! WHERE MY CRATE!!!) I wonder-- does it have a name?


~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 May 18 - 11:12 PM

Sending an item that doesn't work to Amazon as a return. Lucky me I had the packaging nearby, I often just toss it straight into the recycle bin (that I emptied last weekend).

Paper and books are piling up in my home office as I clear out extra stuff at my work office. Much of this will go into the recycle bin also.

Only two more weeks of tutoring in the public school district where my university sits. The U student tutors are taking finals and walking the walk this week, so the next two weeks will have skimpy tutorial help (since U students usually hit the road as soon as they can after finals and/or graduation). Means I'll probably double/triple up with the kids I work with (they get out around June 1.) This is how I remind myself that I've decluttered myself of math facts from long ago and have to read the workbook or look very closely at the problem examples to help these kids. Today's child had a writing assignment - right up my alley!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 May 18 - 11:22 PM

Happy teachers day, Ac.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 May 18 - 01:11 PM

Ohio:

Found much loved (matches another) fleece in evidence they'd used the garage to store stolen goods, as well as Grand Theft Auto plates ready to use. :-0

Found local bank checkbook buried in the wrong section of purse-- huge help. Substantial balance there to pay kid labor, and Cameryn's aunt/step-mom next door was the neighbor who DID call me. Laundry bucks-- yaaaay!

My boombox Tyler kindly left WORKS and has CORD. (I still show no mercy.) It's a solid old Sony that does radio, TAPE, CD, and MP3 disc. Decent sound; I have a lot of audiobooks and music in tape and MP3. This belongs in the Guest Room, and is now playing. That will help relieve my fine battery! The always-on station was jazz and will now alternate jazz/NPR.

I got the Mother's Day card off.

I brought in and washed a chairside trash can they'd left in the patio full of crud.

In a little bit I'll take out kitchen trash and recycling that accumulated during de-Hordeation.

I invited two friends for dinner OUT, and I can afford a long-postoned wash, haircut and style on the way to dinner-- on my scooter.

I am informed that the Saturn's name is Polly. She picked up a flat yesterday, but I have AAA... and I'm gonna let them get this one. They can dig her spare out.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 May 18 - 11:19 PM

One of my larger eBay items sold today; the shipping box is 20" x 15" x 16" and is mostly filled with cornstarch peanuts (to ship a terracotta piece). That will free up the space in front of a storage cabinet and is good enough for a school night. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 May 18 - 12:11 PM

Ohio:

Digging out continues slowly and painfully. Pursuant to preparing to put away clean laundry, I cleared the BR "it can wait" area around the antique dresser-- hanging up honeymoon curtains and blackout fabric; setting clean linens aside; putting unpacked scarves and scarf hanger in a drawer; hanging up bath towels that migrate to the BR; consolidating drawer contents. It looks better and the million thumbtacks in the blackout fabric are safely cased.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 May 18 - 04:22 PM

Ohio...

As I'd hoped, the design of the panic button delivered and set up yesterday prevents accidental triggering if I wear it while sleeping. The base unit make just enough night-light, too-- red, and about like the PA dresser clock.

I take great pleasure in knowing that if the worst happens ("starring" on Forensic Files, lol), help can arrive in time to start the investigation promptly! ;-)

Busy day at Camp Ridgebury--

The county's Council on Aging grab bar installer Larry came and worked with me to determine best placements, while the lawn service loudly mowed and I called AAA to fix a slow flat on DIL'S car. Then Det. Wilson emailed an urgent request for a new signed statement, in order to FILE CHARGES YAAAAAY!!! Guitars have been located per the pawnshop ticket I'd found, and are being held pending case disposition.

Dealt with AAA and was then promptly off to bang out the story and paste the list I'd been working on, of stolen items.

Only 1 bathtub bar was installed because studs were not found near the 2nd desired and more needed location-- only a stripper pole will work there.

One was placed in the back door opening. One inside the garage door.

What I submitted to Det. Wilson was a detailed, 3-page witness statement including 58 high-value missing items. OMG. Only a typo or two and the wrong number for the time submitted-- they wanted a 2400 type number, and those never come out right for me. BUT IT'S DONE.

Hardi can use all that to submit an insurance claim. I'm just not up to managing that like I did our house fire claim in 2000. And the medical claims after my 2012 botched surgery and aftercare. Not this time. NOPE.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 18 - 10:25 AM

These days the term "stripper pole" doesn't bring to mind the same thing as it used to. (I have friends who take classes with the poles because it's great exercise, offered as one of many forms of dance at a neighborhood studio). ;-)

For a couple of weeks I've brushed against several plastic dry cleaner bagged garments hanging outside my closet. Time to try them on eBay, I'll never wear them again. They were special so I kept them, but no one in the family is that size, so. . . off they go. Two parcels shipped this week, and the combined income covers the electric bill that just came in. There's no telling what or when things will sell on eBay; sometimes they sell right away and I think I might have priced them too low, but because I research these things and try to put them in the marketplace correctly, someone just needed that thing at the moment I listed it. I keep my feedback score at 100% and have sold enough items that the extra information shows (speed, satisfaction, shipping costs, etc. are all rated by buyers.) You have to take it to the next level to make a living with eBay (buying wholesale, selling retail), I'm not there yet and probably never will be, but it's a good hobby.

It's an overcast weekend so into the garden.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 May 18 - 01:02 PM

Down 1.6 this week...surprising as I had my annual oncology checkup/new oncologist (physical check up is annual/tumor marker check up is more often) and I was stressed out about it. I did fine until after the exam and even then I had a decent breakfast, behaved myself at lunch out...but when I got home....I don't know what happened other than I was starving and ate exactly what I wanted. It was ONE day and that isn't going to derail me. :) Good news from the oncologist and I was most thankful that she was very nice and not all clinical...I NEED that personality along with the clinical!

I worked late last night and took about 20 minutes to clean off some of my shelves and the bottom drawer of my desk as it had become somewhat of a catch all. I have been wanting to re-organize some of my hanging files as I'm working with both children and adults now....I want their stuff separated but within easy reach and easy to locate.

In about 30 minutes I am off to my sewing room to do some organizing but also to select a project to do for an upcoming quilting retreat. I have plenty of fabric in my stash so I'm sure I'll come up with something. I like to have everything pre-cut and bagged before I go so I can spend the majority of my time at the retreat actually sewing. While I'm up there, I'm going to find a bag of fabric that was donated to me for making dresses to go to Africa (surprising how many folks around here actually go to Africa on mission trips). I'm not into making clothes so I'm going to get it out and deliver to another woman who just finished 58 little dresses and is interested in making more. :) I'm happy it will be out of my space and going to someone to make what was the fabric was intended for.

This week begins my walks during lunch time. There is a nearby park with a lovely trail around a pond that I'm going to check out. I normally eat my lunch while I'm working as it is so I'm going to use that *mandatory lunch break* to go out and get some fresh air and rack up some steps for the FitBit.

My car has been cleaned inside and out with the exception of winter gear that still is in the trunk. I was hoping to empty it out today but it's currently pouring....it will wait.

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle