FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 02:35 PM

Thanks for the heads up on the pool occupants! I haven't been at the gym dressing room when participants are preparing for a pool class, but I won't be surprised.

I have occasionally set the table with fancy table cloth and cloth napkins, maybe once every 5-10 years. Invariably someone spills something on it. Wine and cranberry sauce are top contenders. :-/

I'm glad you're able to recycle textiles! That option is woefully lacking in any of the centers here.

Next trip out to do with the portable AC: a 25' 12-gauge 15-amp extension cord. I'm going to plug it into the outlet inside the AC closet opposite my office door, then it won't trip the breaker for the office. I know they say don't run it under carpet, but I'll get a door mat for the hall to put down so no one trips on it, and wend it around the wall to the new AC. If this was a larger unit (over 15,000 BTU) it would need 20 amp. Harbor Freight to the rescue.

I did the extra brushing on the Lab and there was a flurry of fuzz dropping to the ground. I picked up some of it so they don't track it back into the house. If it were nesting season the birds would be pleased; I used to find old birds nests in the back yard lined with hair that came from my Catahoula-Blue Heeler mix Poppy. She shed a lot and the birds loved that long soft hair.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 05:32 PM

Went through my mess o' individual winery wine glasses and got rid of all duplicates, made about a half-shelf of room and my glasses are now vaguely organized.

Did the same with my shot glass collection. Also now organized.

Prompted by my getting some souvenir shot glasses this trip, and not having room for the new ones.

Am starting to acquire old-fashioned-sized souvenir glasses; the room on the wine-glass shelf will be appreciated.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 06:39 PM

I have emptied nine large plastic storage bins that I refuse to refill with household clag. To my delight, Habitat for Humanity wants them.

Tomorrow I will scrub the grotty ones and, as soon as they have dried, I will load the lot into the car for delivery to the ReStore.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 09:53 AM

Heat warning today: forecast high of 32 degrees Celsius, or 88 degrees American -- a mere bagatelle by Texan standards. It comes with a high likelihood of thunderstorms, however, and the humidity is correspondingly high, generating a Humidex of 41C. In short, not fun, but typical for mid-June. Things don't get horrible until the night-time low temperatures consistently hover above 20C.

A burglar alarm technician is on the ground this morning. As security companies look for new services to offer, their systems expand with new capabilities and new potential problems. My system includes smoke and carbon monoxide sensors that beep relentlessly at the slightest provocation, and fail surprisingly often. This always happens on the weekend, when the B team is on duty at the monitoring station. They promise to refer the issue to the tech support team who will call on Monday. They never say which Monday. The sensor crapped out five weeks ago.

Today's mini-crisis is ending well: the sensor had a five-year replacement guarantee with two more months to run. Sweet!

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 11:51 AM

That reminds me to change the backup batteries in my wired smoke detectors. Something else for my growing list (but not for today's list). Why is it the battery always pops out easily but needs a shoehorn to put the replacement in?

I pulled out dog records and see that two of them are due their shots, though rabies are up to date. The village used to schedule a pet shot clinic every summer but haven't since COVID. More stuff for that other list.

Today's lunch will be roast chicken on a bagel, haven't had one of those in a while. Much of the rest of the day's dining will be fruit because I got kind of ahead of myself and everything seems to be ripe right now. Must make room in the fridge.

Good work on clearing out all of those bins. I hold onto them, I always seem to find some new way to organize. Sometimes they end up with garden soil and plants in them out beside the kitchen door, after drilling a few drain holes. That is truly the end-stage for any bin.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 12:30 PM

I intend to avoid acquiring any more stuff that might find its way into a bin, Stilly. Also, I enjoy looking at the empty space where a bin used to be.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 11:12 PM

I have a little list (Gilbert and Sullivan wrote "I've got a little list," but it would have been more grammatical my way) and all but one item are crossed off from today. Now let's see what I forget to take.

That last item is an extra anyway, to read the the new AC manual and set it to turn on and off by itself. I already reprogrammed the big house unit so it will cool a bit more than usual (I usually adjust it manually during the day) so the dogs will be comfortable.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 10:25 AM

My Physician's Assistant happily told me of the comparison of my opened up knee in situ to the Xray (they always make note to help interpreting future Xrays). "Yup! This one is completely worn out!" When I first saw the doctor about my knees he said the worn state made me "knock kneed." That is no longer the case.

Looking forward to a weekend with family here. The house got a good cleaning this week, the dogs are clean (no having to wash hands after a pat) and the fridge is supplied for me and guests.

I'm still making cloth masks and will make another few to give my PA, because they use theirs a lot (I have taken them masks on most checkups over the last 2 years).

If I was still working I'd have 4 weeks or so at home, but everything I do these days can be done remotely, so not much will change, except not driving to the museum to volunteer.

By phone, Room 319. Heading home in an hour or two.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 01:58 PM

Today I start working my way through the congestion in my study closet. It's the last concentration of unsorted -- in fact, not even looked at -- boxed-up clutter in the house.

Easiest is the last boxes of Edmund's papers, which have only one destination: the shredder. But first I have to check with the nice lady at the Law Society of Ontario to get permission.

Next come several boxes of miscellaneous office supplies, of which the bulkiest are a stack of three-ring binders, rather a lot of plastic page protectors and a stack of yellow legal pads, all of which can be immediately Freecycled.

That leaves the boxes of photographs and negatives. One is full of commercially prepared slides from museums and historic sites my parents visited back in the day, and I have decided simply to chuck those. The rest ... Dunno yet. I'll think of something.

I must go to Canadian Tire to buy a folding work table that I can move around the house by myself. I have a really good "table, six-foot, folding", but it's in the cellar and too heavy for solo shifting. With enough effort I can move it upstairs, but getting it back down again would be much too dangerous. I've done it once, so I know!

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 09:12 AM

On the plus side: Most of the Freecycle-bound clutter is spread out on the work table in the basement. The boxes of papers to be shredded are sitting on the study table. I found the box of shredder bags that I had misplaced.

On the other hand, I had put out of my mind just how many boxes of photos, negatives, albums and slides are stashed in there.

It occurs to me that digital photography has liberated future generations from this task.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 09:37 AM

Digital photography means our computers and external drives are full of files to keep track of.

I wonder if the slides would be of interest to crafters. Lampshades and window covers via Pinterest. My scanning project at the museum has me in the middle of a bunch of slides taken for research by two area artists. They photographed art in books and used them for ideas or to to calculate the positions for the figures they were painting (wanting to have a modern rendering of the classics). Except for the fact that these are two famous artists, they probably would have been dumped. Here is an eBay take on the selling of old slides.

I have a closet in my office that sounds much like your study closet. Lots of paper that should go, but when I dive in to look at things there are interesting ideas - but will I ever follow-up? Probably not.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 05:58 PM

Today I went to the big mall in Waterloo in the hope of buying a pair of ordinary straight-legged Levi’s blue jeans with a zip fly and no damage. Epic fail!

The only jeans in stock that were in my size and did not come with factory-fresh holes in the knees were retro 501s complete with button-up fly. I remember those from 1968, when one wore men’s jeans or did without, and they were not convenient. Fly buttons vanished for good reasons! The twenty-something vendeuse understood my distaste for the back-from-the-dead 501s, but I failed to convince her that pre-stressed jeans are not a good look for a lady of a certain age. “On you, it’s fashion, but on me it would look more like negligence,” I said, departing.

So I invested more than an hour of driving, with gas at Cdn$2.10 per litre, to learn that the LL Bean website is my best bet.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 07:05 PM

Charmion, you would love the thrift store in my neighborhood. I haven't bought new jeans in 20 years (though they're new to me so it feels the same as new). 90% of what they sell is clothing and there's something for everyone there, and I always find great pants. (This building used to house a large grocery store. It's huge.) With all of those vintage jeans to poke through, there are always several pair that fit perfectly. It's easy to come out with five or six pairs of jeans for $20.   

Thrift stores are the great anonymizer of used clothes. I always feel a little odd looking at clothes at estate sales because I'll know who used to own that particular garment. Not so with the thrift store. Odd? Probably. (I had some hand-me-downs from neighborhood kids when I was growing up, and lived with the embarrassment of knowing that other people recognized the dresses I was wearing as having belonged to someone else.)

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 07:26 PM

Beaver:

Yard is de-clutttered of knee high grass etc!!!! I felt as though it was the Cavalry when I heard Steve's machine! There is still more I would like done but he did the most important stuff, including path to the wee bridge. (I'll post a pic of bridge on FB.) He will do more when he has time and keep it from getting away again, and stack the firewood!

The resident ground hog was enjoying the cuttings this morning! I suspect it was around before but the grass was too high to see it!

Then I fetched the screen doors from back shed and they are ready to hang; seem to have misplaced one set of screws but it is cool enough still that tomorrow is fine! I rarely come to this thread without finding a reminder! This one is to check for an empty bin in back shed for stiff that needs storing in shed - from house - for winter.

Also feeling I have made pretty good progress getting rid of stuff here. There is a great deal on its way out when
I decide to where? Not risking taking anymore to my friend the hoarder as we do not want the Carriage House to get more cluttered!

Managed to complete the mugs but need a few more pieces for an order. I have just spent two beautiful days doing little more than reading and watching the leaves dance to the music of the wind.

Trip to Dr: probably hernia - appointment with dietician - I'll give her a chance though I am doubtful; and someday in the future an ultrasound here in Bancroft. For anything more complex, a trip of 60 miles (each way) is required.

I am hoping #1 son's co-habit will like some lengths of fabrics when they visit in late August, celebrating her 50th. She still sews.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 22 - 05:31 PM

When the doctors instructions say you should have someone stay with your for 48 hours after returning home from surgery, they don't take into account that when it's family you're liable to overdo rather than just kick your feet up. I managed a compromise, and spoke with the PT supervisor yesterday and got some helpful hints. The ice pack takes two large inserts that go to mush very quickly and it is huge and saggy, so I'm just putting one pack into the case and that works better. The calf-squeezing things slide all around. Not comfortable.

The medical folks probably didn't expect me to make a birthday coffee cake this morning or make small personal pizzas for lunch, but anyway, everyone has headed home and now I will relax some more. PT starts tomorrow.

After a phone conversation with her partner my daughter asked me for a COVID test; since the partner wasn't feeling good she figured they both should take the test so I'd know if I had anything else to make me miserable. Everyone came out negative. That's the reason for keeping a few extra boxes of these things around.

This is the strangest year; it's like we catapulted directly from May to August. Hot as hell out there and no sign of it letting up.

Dorothy, good luck with the hernia diagnosis.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Jun 22 - 08:01 PM

Before surgury how about an old fashioned Texas sand bar party.
#1 check out a sand bar at high tide. don't forget sun block.
#2 Bring enough wood for a good bon fire.
#3 bring enough food and drink.
#4 Leave by 8PM

Remember its easier with a boat.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 22 - 08:39 PM

Parties at the beach were fun when I was a kid. Always had to watch out walking barefoot in case someone just threw sand over the fire to put it out. More than once I've gotten a burn. Now I live on a creek and I suppose if I didn't mind how closed in it is down there, a barbecue on the rocky beach would be possible. Around here people put chairs out in the driveway or open the garage door and sit inside in the shade. Rather than setting up a picnic the creek is the place to take a bucket and a pry bar for digging the fossils all around.

I'm happy with the shade tarps I put over my patio; they're attractive and effective. I have enjoyed sitting out there comfortably some afternoons and evenings.

Today I said good-bye to a 10-gallon nursery pot with three lantana plants that I transplanted out of the back yard lawn so my daughter can put them in pots at her house. The roots were so robust that it didn't take long before they revived from being dug up. She'll have flowers soon. They're popular here while they're invasive weeds in Australia. I've been mowing them for a while but they keep coming back.

The heavy-duty pain killers applied during surgery have worn off all around the knee and I'm keeping track of meds on a notebook page in the kitchen. And after four days the magnesium has kicked in - thank dog! I was warned, but still, when your guts grind to a halt for a few days it gets your attention.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 08:13 AM

I went out and played at a session yesterday. Edmund would have loved it.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 09:57 AM

I was thinking about the two of you yesterday, Charmion, as we celebrated my ex's birthday. When is CET's birthday? We still celebrate ours as a family, usually with a meal - those are dates that are etched on the memory. (I never remembered our anniversary, but always birthdays.) When everyone left yesterday afternoon the house was looking good - they picked up around here for me. That was a gift!

The first big challenge since coming home is that I'd like to wash my hair today. When I bathe I take a shallow bath to keep the knee out of the water but I can't wash my hair there very well. I'll do it bent over the kitchen sink so I can use the sprayer hose to rinse.

Dorothy, early last week I got out in the knee-high grass behind the back fence in my yard and got into the chiggers. In the surgery setup area I had to pull my gown around to show the nurse the red spots on my torso, to be sure they would do the surgery. If I'd scratched any to a point of infection they'd have postponed. The tall grass is pretty (it's inland sea oats) that are meant to be tall, but the chiggers like them. I'll probably spray them with some soapy water to see if that reduces the redbug population.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 11:32 AM

CET (Edmund) had his birthday on 19 March, right spung in the middle of Lent. He tried not to take it personally, but nevertheless annually griped that it wasn't FAIR! Why couldn't he have been born a mere two days earlier, on St. Patrick's Day, when Lenten discipline is off for the saint's festival? Was that too much to ask? (Um, as a matter of fact, yes, it was.)

I well remember the acrobatics required to bathe with a non-walking plaster cast on one lower leg, and I'm still amazed that I never hurt myself during either the entry or exit stages of the evolution. At first, I could get into but not out of the bath-tub, being too weak from the injury and the surgery, and too stupid from the drugs, to hoist myself as one does in the return phase of a bench-dip. After the crisis of convincing my brother to extract me, I stopped taking the pain-killers and thus regained enough capability to manage the task about every second day. Hair-washing was a doddle by comparison.

Note to file: Don't break any more bones, especially in the legs and feet. I'm too old now for that kind of lark.

When I read about chiggers, I think of Ontario's swarms of mosquitoes and blackflies and count myself lucky.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Senoufou
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 05:35 AM

My husband invited me last weekend to inspect his little flat which he's renting in a nearby town. I smiled secretly, because 'clutter' hardly begins to describe the state of the place! When he left me five months ago, he took all his 'stuff' - dozens of sports trainers, fancy cooking equipment, heaps and heaps of clothes, dozens of male toiletries and so on. It filled about twenty big cardboard boxes and four suitcases.
My bungalow is so clear and tidy in contrast. But he seems to like his 'man cave'.
If we reconcile and he comes back here to live, I'll have to bite my tongue when the large twenty-or-so cardboard boxes and cases get plonked all over the place, then emptied into every cupboard, drawer and wardrobe, plus the floors. (I might 'tidy' him away into a cupboard too, hee hee!)

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 08:46 AM

I don't know for sure but I think men make the worst&biggest hoarders.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 11:02 AM

Senoufou, I didn't realize that had happened! I am so sorry - you two have always sounded like a solidly loving couple. Of course, there can still be love even with there are issues that make a separation helpful for sorting-out purposes. My very best wishes on resolving that in a way that works for both of you. It's a good sign that he invited you over. I'm better friends now with my ex, now that we aren't married. We met in 1979, so he's also one of my oldest friends. We were in the first year after the divorce and going through some of the snooty stuff (when the kids would stay with who, etc) and I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. All of a sudden the divorce was no big deal, no one had died of it. He even suggested I could stay at his house during my recovery after the surgery so they could look after me. After that we got along just fine. (I don't recommend cancer as a way to get over relationship issues, but it worked for us!)

The technicolor bruising is showing up as we enter the fifth day after surgery. And the powerful pain meds they injected or applied have worn off, so I'm carefully pacing the various types (not all are prescription; good old reliable Tylenol is on the list to take 3x a day).

Out of curiosity I weighed myself today - with the leg as swollen as it is it puts on several pounds. I don't plan to weigh in again until after my 2-week checkup. And once I'm off of the pain meds is soon enough to think about resuming the weight loss activity.

Don, if you watch any of those Hoarders shows on cable mostly they seem to follow around women, but that may be the way the programs choose, not aligning with demographics. Some of the most famous hoarders are men - I remember reading about the Collyer Brothers years ago. It was a novelty back then, though now we know it is far more common than one might expect.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 05:29 PM

I spent most of the day with the shredder and the last of Edmund's practice files, and now my recycle bins are packed and stacked with 10 bags of paper chaff. The study closet is almost coherent, by which I mean that everything in it has a reason to stay -- at least for now.

Stilly, don't ferGawshsakes weigh yourself until you can at least walk far enough to count it as exercise. There's no point stressing yourself about embonpoint when you can't do anything practical about it; besides, you're healing, and you need all the nutrition you can get, plus some pampering.

Senoufou's post about her husband's bags and boxes of stuff brings up an odd thing that happened the other day. One of my sisters-in-law actually asked if I was interested in dating again! I couldn't believe my ears at first, and then the first words out of my mouth were "God no!" Not because I don't like male company -- I do, very much -- but because I'm finally getting the house squared away and I emphatically don't want other people in my space for more than a visit.

As for hoarding -- it's a gender-neutral affliction, in my opinion.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 10:42 PM

I recall watching an episode of 'Midsomer Murders' in which an elderly woman was killed by a falling pile of hoarded newspapers from a stack which went up to the ceiling and filled rooms from wall to wall, leaving only a narrow walkway.

Our dishwasher is having conniptions, looks like it's time for a new one. We could wash everything by hand.....but we waited a long time to get a dishwasher, and it does make life easier for two Olde Phartes.

And the kitchen ceiling light has packed it in. We have bought a replacement and are eagerly awaiting a call from an electrician to install it.

Otherwise, life up here on the hill in paradise continues uneventfully.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 11:17 PM

Charmion, I was mostly curious to see how much the swollen leg added up to. I don't plan on a weigh-in as a regular thing for some time to come. (I did wait until the laxative kicked in to clear the gut after anesthesia brought everything to a halt. Perhaps TMI.)

Jennie, I remember that Midsomer Murders episode, and I've seen a similar device used in various other mystery and detective programs. I always wonder at what the set designers have to do to get ready for one of those episodes, and how much more risk there is to the actors and crew in the midst of it.

This week I've quizzed several friends about home warranty policies and the companies they use now or used in the past, and think that may be the way to proceed for living with the old appliances in this house. Replace the one dead A/C unit then get a plan that lets me select the company and workers who do whatever work needs doing. It means I can keep things going until they don't, not always worry about what will fail next. It's a gamble for those companies, will they get to keep the premium this month or have to pay out to fix something big?

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Senoufou
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 03:11 AM

Thank you Stilly. Yes, we were (I thought) a very solid couple, but there it is - off he went. But as you say, it's good we're still in touch, and may reconcile in time. It's been a big heartache, but I just have to keep a-troshing, as they say here in Norfolk!
I think hoarders exist among both men and women. My much-loved friend (neighbour across the street) is a consummate hoarder, and it drives her husband mad. She loves ornaments, antiques, family heirlooms etc and there isn't an inch of clear space in her bungalow. Her sheds and the garage are stuffed full too, and the dust! Cleaning is nearly impossible when clutter fills the house.
I'm the opposite. Anything unnecessary goes out of the door. I like empty spaces and an easy-to-clean house. Why keep stuff if you're never going to use it?

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 03:45 AM

The Midsomer Murders episode was Dark Secrets. Edward Fox (perhaps best known for The Day Of The Jackal) played the murdering husband.

As for hoarding, perhaps the things we tend to hoard vary by sex rather than hoarding itself? I have a tendency to hold on to things that I think may come in handy for some project or task some day… I suppose I could extend it to fasteners. If say, I needed 6x1” woodscrews for a task, I’m going to buy a box of at least 100 and I’ve got 4 big organiser boxes full of wood screws, wall plugs, machine screws, matching nuts, etc. in my shed. I’ve also got small selection boxes of things including a few of types of small stainless hex head screws and threaded inserts, in my room. Of course, I’ll never use all of them, some maybe never again/at all but I do like to feel I’m pretty well equipped with these things.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 11:29 AM

Jon, though I have my own set of tools here it ended up doubling up (at least) on some tools when I inherited all of the tools from my father's house. There were some interesting ones that I didn't figure out what they were for until I actually needed something and had an "aha!" moment and went to retrieve the device.

It is the same as your house with boxes of screws and nails and other fasteners. I usually buy the size package closest to what I need but sometimes you end up with a pound box of nails or screws - there are lots of those stacked on the shelving in the garage. I keep scrap pieces of lumber and am regularly able to put them to use as I modify or finish something I've been working on, so the bin under the workbench is full and in the corners of the garage there are pieces leaning against the wall. The point of pride in my garage is that there is plenty of room to park the SUV and get in and out on either side without squeezing out or banging the doors into something. I refuse to let my garage be one of those that the car is always parked outside of and when the door is up it can be seen to be crammed completely full.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 01:35 PM

I built a car port out of a rectangle metal gazebo and hang flowering pots off the edges where the rain water wants to drain. A tall fence forms one long wall and a fence gate forms the shorter rear wall. Its big enough to also shelter snow tires a table and 4 garbage cans. Besides a metal and bamboo roof I got a extra heavy duty rubber tarp as a waterproof roof from Amazon that hasn't degraded in 5 years. It looks fine and keeps hail, ice and snow off the car. It probably costs a grand but building a garage was quoted to cost $35K or more.

I didn't design or engineer this thing from the start but instead took an impromptu approach over 3 years. I do have to share this shelter with a family of birds who like to nest there every year. Hornet nests are unwelcome and are evicted. However hornets do not poop on the car.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 04:30 PM

Jon, your hoarding style sounds remarkably like my mother's. When I cleared the cellar and box-rooms of my parents' house after her death, I found dozens of containers full of a range of fasteners that rivalled the stock at Home Hardware -- except nothing was new and unused. Literally pounds of nails that had been wrenched out of old boards, pickle jars full of screws marred with rust and daubed with paint, even a wooden butter box full of porcelain electrical junctions of a type forbidden in Canadian construction since about 1960. The false beams (quarter-sawn oak!) from the dining-room ceiling of the old rectory down the street lay on the cellar floor -- God alone knew what she had planned to do with those. I had to hire two guys with a truck to help me clear the jungle, and they were ready to quit at three o'clock in the afternoon.

My husband hoarded office supplies. Just yesterday, I hauled a file box full of part-used yellow legal pads down to the basement; don't know yet if it's going into the recycle or out on Freecycle, but it's going. There's also a shoebox full of pens and highlighters, four gadgets for making holes in paper (one single punch, one double, and two three-holers), a stack of accordion files with wrap-around elastic, a much larger stack of three-ring binders ranging in size from modest to enormous, five staplers, and other items too numerous to mention (as they used to say in farm auction flyers).

I did not inherit the hoarding gene, or perhaps the experience of clearing out after my mother switched it off -- I was only 26 at the time.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: JennieG
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 05:26 PM

Ah yes - that's the episode, thanks, Jon.

One problem here - and, I suspect, in many other places - is that buying single items (or even a small quantity of some things) isn't easy because of packaging. Want one of a particular type of screw? Too bad - you have to buy the smallest pre-packaged quantity, which is 25 - but what do you do with the rest? You can't bring yourself to throw them out because you paid good money for them and anyway you might need them one day, so you keep them.....and next time you need one screw you can't remember where you put them, so you buy another pack......

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 08:16 PM

Another box o’ stuff identified for disposal! This time it’s the bin of forgotten electronics that sat on the floor of the study closet. Not any more!

The Stratford town dump has a large recycling area with a special spot for all those gadgets we could not do without 15 years ago and are completely useless now. Tomorrow I will pay a little visit!

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 09:31 PM

Office supplies. I still have lots of them, including the 3-ring binders. Some are odd library sizes that were discarded at work and came here to sell on eBay. I have a lot of e-waste that I used to take over to bins on campus but what with COVID I haven't been there much. There is an e-waste collection area in the recycling station near me that is operated by Fort Worth, though I live in a separate small town. They want to see your water bill to be sure you are eligible to drop stuff there (they also have a trash dump area and recycling and a sharing of usable stuff area). I'll get my ex to go with me with his water bill and take stuff in one of these days.

Charmion, your mom had a good eye if she rescued quarter-sawn oak beams. I hope your movers found a use for them.

My knee surgery leg is showing technicolor bruises now that I'm a week out. Most of them hurt, but they occasionally itch. Each PT appointment means the leg aches for the rest of the day. Meanwhile I'm trying not to make big important decisions during this time (like replacing the A/C or actually subscribing to a Home Warranty plan. This is the research period only.) Ugg.

Today I started hearing a high-pitched low-battery signal from somewhere in the bedroom wing. There are four devices there (hall and three rooms). These were warning beeps; they don't start beeping in earnest until 3am.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Jun 22 - 03:31 AM

My shed would have been the garage here but mum always parked her car outside. I think she used it as a store for a deliveries of wood before renting the patch of land in the field. It had become a sort of dumping ground when I asked for permission to turn it into my workshop.

With the workbench and shelving I put in, you’d not get a car in now. I’m not sure but I think I may have given this picture before. It was taken after my last major sort out and me adding lights and sockets a couple of years ago. The shed needs another tidy up now but nothing too drastic. One bit of clutter in there I need to try to find a home for (assuming it will still be in good condition) is a single bed. Due to a change of plans, it has remained unassembled in its box.

Jeannie, with most (some mostly larger bits are on the shelves to the left) of my outdoor fasteners in boxes similar to this and the indoor bits in smaller selection boxes, finding what I want is usually quite easy. Maybe I came over as more of a hoarder on these things than I really am. It’s just that I’ve still got rather more of some of these items than I’ll ever use.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 22 - 09:43 PM

My tool bench is built at the back wall of my garage, centered under the window, and constructed of sturdy scraps wood left over from a redwood picnic table and some 4x4" posts in front. The back is screwed onto the garage studs (the inside isn't finished). My contractor had, in the back of his pickup, a large piece of furniture-grade plywood that he offered to use in our project. Part went into a window seat in the new sunroom bay window and the rest went into my bench top. Because the wood had been chewed by dogs it has a weathered look. I found a $10 vise grip at a garage sale and fastened it onto the top right corner. The whole thing was held together with carriage bolts. It makes the garage look like it has been here as long as the house (instead of built 25 years after the house).

Not much decluttering happening this week, though I can still manage to toss stuff in the trash. Emptying the shredder bins, etc. I chased dog hair drifts around the den before the PT got here yesterday, and will repeat it again tomorrow. The thing most on my mind these days is finding a comfortable position to sit or lie; I can prop the leg up for a while but it doesn't extend comfortably for long since the soft tissues all around the thigh are tender. I can only put the ice pack on so many times. Staggering pain meds carefully helps.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 24 Jun 22 - 05:11 AM

Shredders… I must check ours as emptying it tends to get missed until the bin is too full… Our previous shredder packed in last year. We replaced it with a similar sized 6 sheet model but opted for a micro cut rather than a cross cut version this time. Ours doesn’t usually (but the way sort outs go, when they eventually happen, you can find a pile to deal with) get a lot of use but we do want something to chop up personal paperwork.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jun 22 - 01:47 PM

Charmion, I read your earlier remark about remodeling a moldy bathroom - I need to put in flooring in my hall bathroom, now it's just the concrete that was exposed when the Linoleum was pulled up. If I get the foundation fixed it means they'll have to inspect the sewer lines under the house to be sure they don't break with the shifting. If that happens they have to jack hammer and dig through the bathroom floor (piling dirt on a tarp in the bathtub) and repair the line so there is no point in putting in a floor till that other job is done.

It's a grim day today here in the US; I need to not be awash with bad news while I try to get past the pain in my leg (the news just makes it all worse). Time to do some sewing and finish the audio murder mystery that is due tomorrow.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 22 - 11:24 AM

This winter I was moving furniture in my bedroom and shifted the antique mirrored dresser to the right, forgetting there was a TV aerial propped on the top of the mirror against the wall. The TV was on the dresser top. The aerial case took a header off the frame and hit the back of the TV. Ever since if I try to watch that TV it turns itself on and off every minute or two. Not on all channels all of the time, but enough that it's really annoying and I can't figure out a fix for it. So this week I ordered a "renewed" (returned) TV to put in there to replace it.

These are usually products that were returned without being used, but because they were out of the "chain of custody," as it were, they don't know if the box was opened or things removed, etc. it has to be examined and certified as working. The TV on the kitchen wall was one of those and everything was still in the box and works perfectly all these years later. So I decided to keep the price down and try one of those. It just arrived and the box looks like it's new and I hope everything inside is also. The funky TV will go on the table in the sunroom and I'll test it in there some more. If it doesn't stop that behavior I will put it in an e-waste bin instead of donate it because if it doesn't work for me no point in giving it to Goodwill for someone else to discover the same problem. With the surgery and PT I haven't been able to do my exercises, but this is the setup I use for streaming Essentrics. It needs to be large enough so I'm not squinting at her moves from across the room. As Charmion noted a few pages back, smaller TVs are difficult to find. I think this is 33" and is huge compared to anything I grew up with, but had the features I wanted in the small (under 40") group.

Dorothy, have you tackled the weeds and the garden and the shutter or screen doors and the kiln and everything else up there at Beaver? Been out to any area concerts? I hope the heat doesn't fry your yard this year.

It looks like our current heat wave won't break until Monday when the high is forecast to be 87^o. Normal June temperatures for a few days then back up into the triple-digits in July. I fear this summer will rival the 1980 Texas heat wave when there were 42 consecutive days over 100^o. We might not have consecutive, but we'll have a high number worthy of the record books.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 22 - 11:10 AM

This new "smart" TV is bossy - it wants me to accept the statement that it will send my clicks (viewing choices) to wherever, and I won't. It's logged into the house WiFi but I will probably take it off again to dumb it down. There are some things I haven't figured out yet (I have to find and download the user's manual.) The Amazon Fire stick is on the network for streaming and it has NetFlix, so I don't need it also on the TV.

The knee is slowly healing, it's a bit different than last time, including a little ooze through the bandage and small pinkish area beside that part of the bandage. I'm guessing I popped a stitch there. The on-call nurse asked for a photo and she said it's normal, but if it gets quite red, then call back. The thing that is the same between the last surgery and this is that I don't get a good-night's sleep with the various distractions this provides. The bandage comes off on Wednesday and I'm counting the hours. #ThankDogForIcePacks

Things I can still do include dragging the hose over to water the garden. I make a point of looking at how I'm dressed to be sure I won't alarm anyone. The calf-pressure cuffs look a bit odd (my Alley Oop look - you may need to be a certain age to know him.) The water and electric bills will be higher this month with the high heat and extra watering.

I am going to exert myself this afternoon to make a batch of my yeast dinner rolls as a thank-you to my ex, who has run lots of errands this month. They're one of his favorites. I make the dough with the bread machine on manual so after it stops kneading I shape, raise, and bake. When adding ingredients I mix in a good shake of granulated garlic and crumbled oregano into the dough and make them with olive oil instead of shortening. These rolls are a family favorite and friends request them by name for potlucks. Several years ago when my son moved to the Pacific NW he was going to Thanksgiving dinner at his aunt's house, so I suggested he make the rolls. I gave him the recipe - he knows how to divide and shape them because that was often his chore as a child. Now when I hear from my sister about dinner with my son and his partner she'll say that "he brought his rolls." The legacy shifts, and now he also owns them. :)

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jun 22 - 01:56 PM

The wilfulness of a modern television is tiresome. Mine is loaded with Google software, so it drags me (kicking and squirming) toward streaming services the Google company has cut deals with, including Disney, Netflix and Prime. Of course, the list of favoured options does not include any Canadian services.

Back when we had cable, we realized that we watched only about four of the hundred or more stations available to us. The same thing is happening to my consumption of streamed video; I find something I like, watch all of it, and then can’t get interested in anything else on that channel and just stop using it. So far, I’ve booked out of Netflix and I’m rapidly losing interest in Disney — I’m sorry I paid for a year of it up front. Last week I signed up with Apple to watch “Slow Horses”, and I hope that holds my attention for a while.

Prime has a nice selection of innocuous Brit series that have a comforting sedative effect on me. Right now, I’m slogging through “Midsomer Murders”, which provides beautiful landscape to look at when the plot is really too tiresome.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 22 - 03:10 PM

You can watch a lot of those older programs free on streaming Internet sites. Pluto TV is just like basic cable. There is a channel dedicated to Midsomer Murders (it has commercials). There's one for Perry Mason. All of the episodes of America's Test Kitchen and This Old House. The CSI brand is well-represented. And IMDb has free streaming (I forget the name of the service it uses now).

I set the new TV so it automatically comes on to the OTA TV setting. That helps.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 26 Jun 22 - 04:31 PM

I don’t usually watch streaming tv but SRS’s post just gave me an idea. I’ve just used the (UK) ITV streaming service to finish off the Midsomer Murders recording I’d been watching earlier but had stopped 10 minutes before the end. Repeat episodes are shown regularly on ITV3 and new episodes come on ITV1 here. I’ve (again) set MythTV to record both when episodes not already recorded crop up and have watched quite a few episodes lately.

Before that, I went through some DVD sets I have (The Avengers, The New Avengers and The Champions) for say 1hr a night something to watch. I think I might get The Prisoner some time.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jun 22 - 05:15 PM

Pluto TV and similar Internet services that distribute old American TV shows are not easily accessible in Canada, Stilly, and such content on YouTube is often blocked.

One of brothers-in-law is a radio geek from way back. When video streaming started, he went to nine kinds of trouble to get content from the States and the UK, and his system delivers shows from everywhere. He carefully explained how he evades the CRTC rules to get normally inaccessible TV, and I listened politely, but it’s just not worth the effort. I didn’t want to watch America’s Test Kitchen or Perry Mason when they were new, and they don’t have British or European landscapes to offer.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 Jun 22 - 05:34 PM

A hint, Charmion, about coming attractions (not out yet):

Disney Plus, I think it is, is the network producing
the eight-part series sequel to The Full Monty,
which is being shot as we speak, in Sheffield and Manchester for example.

The one person from the successful feature-length film
who is NOT returning,
is director Peter Cattaneo.

All the others are:
producers this time around include
Simon Beaufoy who wrote the feature-film script, and
U-somebody Pasolini (Uberto??), who edited and produced at last minute
the old film, essentially improving over Cattaneo's shoots with the edits.

In truth, other younger writers have been chosen to script the episodes.

Most if not all of the film actors are back, in their previous roles.
This includes Nathan/Nate, the wide-eyed young boy;
now he is a man, and towers over Robert Carlyle,
playing Nathan's father as before.

On-set photographs have shown:
Carlyle; Mark Addy; Steve Huison (red-headed Lomper);
Paul Barber (the memorable 'Horse').
Also credited officially in their film roles, and returning, are
the actress who was Dave (mark addy)'s wife
("Me, Dave. I do." and all the men in the audience choked up).
As well as the actress who was Nathan's divorced mother.

Not as certain about:
Tom Wilkinson (the steelworks owner?),
or Hugo Speer
("Gentlemen, the lunchbox has arrived").

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 22 - 06:00 PM

This is getting more technical than we usually do for the declutter thread, but if you sign up for one of the VPN software programs, even if it's something you start and then cancel later, you can choose to subscribe occasionally.

Over the years I've found good advice at Tom's Guide and this mostly just discusses how to do it (they use the US Netflix platform as the target viewing).

I asked the question of Google and got a couple of reviews of VPN programs. That from Comparitech. Cybernews compares the top companies.

I get regular email reviews from CNet.com and ZDnet.com, and here's a search at ZDNet for VPN that includes a list of "cheap." Keep in mind that too cheap and you're almost into malware. I wouldn't go with a free VPN.

A final thought: I think you're an Apple user, so you'll have to do a search on your OS to find out, but there is a VPN built into the Windows OS. I just searched in Win 11, it has one. I am still using Win 10 and it looks like they're about the same to use. Windows 10/11 has a free, built-in VPN, and it's not horrible. This article is from 2020.

Here is the Microsoft knowledge base info on how to set up the VPN step by step.

Meanwhile, the rolls just came out so the house smells wonderful. My ex will be over to pick up most of them tomorrow when he runs an errand to pick up prescriptions for me. That fresh-bread smell boosts my spirits!

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jun 22 - 08:24 PM

There ya go, Stilly. Way too much like work for my taste. I’m just not that interested in TV.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 27 Jun 22 - 05:58 AM

I use a VPN but for a different reason. It’s to put a device on the home LAN when I’m away. I access the cameras that way for example. I use the VPN built into my router for this. Android has a built in VPN client and I’ve found setting up a connection is straightforward.

Back to TV. I have seen a couple of Perry Mason episodes but think I watched more Ironside. I watched quite a few American detective type things at one time (Columbo, Canon, Rockford Files, McMillan and Wife, Hart To Hart, McCleod, Starsky and Hutch are ones I can think of) but there is nothing on that line I’d bother going back to. Dad on the other hand frequently watches Columbo which is regularly repeated here. It’s a wonder he doesn’t know the scripts to some episodes by heart the number of times he’s seen them.

On to other things, dad has been the main one lately. His mobility later in the day deteriorated quite quickly and, after a very close shave in the bathroom, I had to decide I could no longer get him to bed safely on my own. It took a few weeks to get regular evening careers (using a 2 person team and with a tew transfer aid [a Ross Return which is safer and easier for a tired dad to get up and be transferred with than a walking frame] provided) and we had to phone daily to arrange for the council run emergency/back up service to come out. Problems were compounded by mum frequently getting information mixed up and to add to that, dad, if he did say anything, supporting mum’s wrong details and accounts. At times, the pair of them were driving me round the twist.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Jun 22 - 06:31 AM

1 in 40 in England have covid. 1 in 20 in Scotland. They generally have the 2 new varients. Could this be a Jubilee effect? I would say its a pandemic effect. Despite being summer infection rates are up.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 22 - 11:01 AM

Jon, you've got one of the most complicated and wearing jobs on the planet right now. Are there other family members who can come in and give you a hand? And give you a break? (I fixed the code typo on that link for the return device.)

I agree with you about those Columbo episodes - there were maybe 40 of them made, so you can cycle through them pretty quickly, especially if they broadcast them two at a time, like some stations do here. I've memorized most of them and don't watch very often.

I'm waiting for a call back from a doctor's office but the spammers are busy robo-calling and I have to probably let the nurse's call go to voice mail and return her call. Phone tag, illustrated.

The hip on the surgery side is developing bursitis, despite eliminating the one physical therapy exercise that causes it most often. I'm going to have to do a couple of the stretches I was given to help resolve this. The painkillers that help the surgery site don't do a thing for bursitis.

There is good news: in the midst of this heat wave we've been under for most of June, we had thunderstorms and a substantial amount of rain last night around bedtime. It was wonderful to listen to rain on the roof, and today is much cooler (90^o instead of 100+). We'll resume the heat later in the week.