DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 31 Mar 25 - 11:12 AM

> a 70-year-old has to come out of retirement

You're younger than the Alleged Leader, nyet :-) ? And it probably counts as the Good Works that the ancient Romans used to do in their old age .... as opposed to whatever the Alleged Leader is up (down?) to.

More power to your keyboard, Stilly.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Mar 25 - 06:14 PM

Patty, the people who design cabin cruisers and small yachts must also design some of the travel trailers in the world today. I looked up that brand - they are amazing in how they compress for travel but open to give you space. Years ago I had an 21' Aljo double axle that I used for living quarters in a couple of the national parks where I worked. I was persuaded to sell it but I've always regretted that. It would be a great guest house (how friends have used their trailers parked in the yard; I've slept in those several times over the years.) Our no-longer-participating member WYSIWYG used to have a popup trailer she wrote about. Somewhere in my Facebook followings is a manufacturer of Teardrop trailers, tidy little compartments meant for sleeping and cooking at the back of it, and not much else.

Another small thunderstorm has passed through the region, aiming at us but again it missed. I was able to spend time in the front yard pulling out the dead canna stalks around the emerging ones. One older batch is going to need a pass-through with a pruning shear, I accidentally pulled up a live rhizome when weeding.

Making more baked pecans this evening and I've pulled up some alternative savory recipes. All of them have too much salt, but once again I'll see if I can get the flavor without the overly salty end product. Each one is a little better.

Another Zoom meeting this evening; I'm finding those helpful for planning my writing and resistance projects. The place is going to hell in a handbasket when a 70-year-old has to come out of retirement and block out her time in order to protest the crap the president and congress are coming up with.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 30 Mar 25 - 12:01 PM

It's a double edged sword, 'picking up for company'. Good to get things cleared away and cleaner. Bad because the real work of getting some stuff reorganized is messy to look at, and that's what really needs doing.

I'll be selling the motorhome, and acquiring a small nimble trailer for trips. Would love to get a 'hi-lo' type which telescopes down for easier towing and backing, maybe the smallest Trailmanor would work if I can find an old one.   Sleeping in the car would be doable but not fun, would do that only at remote sites which are hard enough to get to once.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Mar 25 - 11:35 AM

Patty, is there room in the SUV to sleep comfortably on your rockhound excursions? Or will you tent camp or convert the trailer to a habitable space (that sounds so odd to ask, so I suspect the answer is "no.")

The dramatic weather moved (west to east) past (to the north and south) without actually raining here at all. We listened to thunder around midnight but no hail or rain or even much wind.

There will be a guest in town next week, staying with her daughter but visiting here at some point. Her family is deciding to go in on a house; now she lives with her son five hours to the west, and the oldest daughter lives alone locally, so they'll buy a larger house here with bedrooms and baths for all. I had better start picking up so the house looks good for company.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 30 Mar 25 - 10:31 AM

Ah, Texas in the spring. Ecstasy, agony. Exhilarating views and scents of new green grass and early flowers, tempered by humidity blooms. I remember once getting out of a warm shower, we were having a rally near Crockett, and immediately a new sweat layer appeared. Had to allow extra time to cool off and dry off before getting dressed. Good times...

Finished emptying out the motorhome, started wiping down surfaces. Feels strange to be decommissioning it in preparation to sell. Washed its air conditioning filter. Wondering if today is a good day for a serious vacuuming of the coach, or if the next round of dust storms will mock my efforts.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Mar 25 - 11:46 PM

Wow. I've heard about that scar tissue forming, and have been told that laser surgery is quick and easy. I'm sorry it's such a long wait to get it. And I understand about the cookies - the chocolate I pick up these days is in the tart 70 to 85% dark variety. My hairdresser has a jar of mints and small Hersey's nuggets but the last time I ate one it was way too sweet and too much of the emulsifier they add for consistency.

Diet-wise I've realized lately that I'm out of the habit of using milk. I have sometimes made quiche or a bread pudding with gluten-free bread and other than ~ tablespoon of sugar the sweetener is stevia or monkfruit drops. There are a couple of really old half-gallons of milk in the fridge that once I get the garden going I'll pour over (it can work like a fertilizer) or pour into the compost. I do eat yogurt for calcium and the gut health.

Humidity here today is awful, but since it is only March I'm determined not to turn on the air conditioner. So far the storms have missed us, but if they do pass over they're supposed to be full of large hail. We can hear the thunder approaching now.

Today was a writing project, tomorrow is yard and house cleaning. I need to clear out the canna beds and pull some of the big gushy spring weeds that pop up in places - easy to pull now, difficult if allowed to grow huge.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Mar 25 - 06:50 PM

My right eye — the one that works — has a problem: scar tissue impinging on the artificial lens implanted after the cataract removal. What’s more, the optometrist has to refer me to an ophthalmologist for assessment ASAP because I’m perilously close to dropping below the visual acuity standard for keeping my driver’s licence.

Ideally, the ophthalmologist would immediately whisk me into an operating room and laser away that scar tissue. In this world, however, I’ll be lucky to get a first appointment in less than six weeks, and only God knows when (and where!) the surgery can be done. And I’m supposed to sell my house and move this summer.

So colour me bummed out big time.

After my date with the eye doc, I made a grocery run and got nailed by a troop of Girl Guides selling cookies outside the supermarket. In my vulnerable state I bought a box and took them home. I made a big mug of coffee (decaf) with cream, opened the cookies, and sat down prepared to eat the lot — but I just could not do it. The vanilla ones tasted like sugary dust, and the chocolate ones were no better. So the rest of the box went into the compost bin.

I guess I really did pull my sweet tooth.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Mar 25 - 11:36 PM

I read a discussion of the insurance thing responsible for my contacting my doctors in today's newspaper. It isn't a done deal yet; it seems the local hospital network and BCBS are playing chicken, and have until April 1 to sort it out. Fitting day to make an announcement, eh?

The router research has concluded and for confirmation that the choice was best I called my son to bounce my ideas off of him. He agreed, some of the features available today are overkill, but getting the range large enough for the house square footage and future-proofing by making sure it will easily connect with lots of WiFi devices is a plan. My MBS download is on the low end of what is available, but it does the job. And any router out there now is set to handle a much higher rate, though this isn't the fastest by any means.

The easy part is researching and ordering. Installing will be the next struggle (to be sure the footprint of the new one is the same as the old one and all passwords are the same so no devices have to be set up again.) Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it isn't. After that I have to map a drive (the router USB port) for the new full backup, and finally, I'll have to upgrade to Win11. That all doesn't need to happen right now.

I've been walking the dogs more lately and the last couple of times tried to resume using Google Fit, but it's gotten progressively stubborn and unresponsive. It insists on knowing where the phone is with high accuracy all of the time or it won't give any accuracy for just our walks. If I forget to tell the app that the walk is over it runs down my phone battery in a hurry. So nope.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Mar 25 - 05:08 PM

Another decluttering trip to my apartment.
This time it was all clothing and bedding, several large bags of same.
They went to a donation drop-off box.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Mar 25 - 04:37 PM

Yesterday I was in the neighborhood of a house that has a good "little library" box on a stand in their front yard so I added a book (I was there for a Buy Nothing item last month and noticed it the active location.) The book was in the back seat waiting until I was over there.

This afternoon I handed over some cleaning supplies my daughter put dibs on (before listing to give away elsewhere) and stopped by a friend's house to show her how to dose her cats (pills) and got home and changed out of cat hair-covered clothes and almost dropped my SUV fob in the washer in those pants. Forgot to stop by for my COVID booster, maybe tomorrow. Calling doctors to be sure we're still good (some of my insurance coverage shifted, but so far none were on that part of the plan).

One virtual declutter: uninstalled the Joann app from my phone.

We didn't get much rain overnight but more is due next week. Garden work can commence. The freeze protection has been removed from outdoor spigots, the true beginning of Spring.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Mar 25 - 10:43 PM

Drawing down the last of the dishwasher pods (cutting them open and putting just the powder in the compartment), as I prepare to switch back to a regular boxed powder. This is because of the polyvinyl alcohol (dissolvable plastic) in the covers. Yesterday I was at Joann's loading up on a few things and I read the Solvy (wash-away stabilizer) label and realized it's the same thing. I don't use it often, but I didn't add to my stash.

I learned new stuff today, after I signed up for an interesting Women's March Zoom meeting, to do with how algorithms work in social media platforms. Interesting and helpful.

We've waited for rain all week and the radar shows it finally approaching. The humidity in the house this afternoon was 20% and now it's 83%. I pushed off running around until tomorrow, so now it looks like I'll be doing it in the rain. One of those chores is to help a friend dose her cat. I knew when she told me that one cat had tapeworms that they were all going to have them. Ugg. With all of the cat sitting I do I'm a pro at stuffing pills down cats, quickly without much fuss. She's afraid they won't have anything to do with her again if she struggles and doesn't do it right.

I'm happy to report that since I've switched the dogs back to their regular limited ingredient dog food that the flatulence has abated. The blue heeler is hard to live with when she's perking away, and while a probiotic sprinkled over the food helped a little, it wasn't enough to solve the problem.

Not much decluttering this week so far, but I have hopes for the weekend.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 26 Mar 25 - 07:09 PM

> it really didn't use to be so, well 'crapified'

The official term, Patty, is enshittification (qv). I'm waiting for it to turn up in the OED.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 26 Mar 25 - 06:22 PM

Lots of frustrating techie issues today, but I'll spare everyone the details. It's just so saddening to have these machines basically refuse to do simple things they promise to do or ought to do, and it really didn't use to be so, well 'crapified'.

Favorite thing to get in Mexico is the local honey, some glassware and textiles, OTC drugs, non-narcotic drugs, and better flavored waters than we have. I guess I should get the list of banned stuff and venture into the grocery more.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Mar 25 - 02:08 PM

Patty, I'm still a member of Amazon Prime but I do a lot less shopping there. I use the site to search and read reviews and keep things I'm researching in the Wish List; at the moment I'm considering which router to purchase and will probably get it from Costco or BestBuy. The only way to make that purchase come in at the same cost is to pick up locally because the Prime membership does cover shipping (though some Amazon vendors charge higher prices to include the shipping, which is why comparisons are always necessary.)

When I lived in Arizona I used to shop in Mexico regularly, keeping in mind the items that couldn't come across the border (a friend used to buy limes and literally sit on the bag so they weren't in view when the customs folks glanced into her grocery bags.) What do you get when you're there?

Today will be my produce run since yesterday was killed by waiting for deliveries I was supposed to sign for. The USPS one I "signed" online but that still didn't take, I had to step out and sign a card, but the later UPS one was just handed over, even when the delivery email said I must sign. That wait killed the afternoon. Heading out before school lets out and then rush hour (that goes for about three hours around here) allows shopping before stores are crowded.

Joann's is closing and they're apparently doing the classic move of raising prices before they mark them down. They aren't filling online orders and there are no coupons or weekly fliers now. I have a few things I need to buy there so will stop in to see if any is in stock, and decide if it's worth the trouble or I'll just switch to my shopping from Wawak and the expensive fabric store across the street. Their website is empty except for class information, sewing machine financing, and a newsletter.

The Goodwill donation bin has filled enough to make a run over to the nearby store soon, and I should offer a few things sitting around in the garage on the Buy Nothing group.

This week I've signed up for two Zoom meetings to do with current events and networking. I've contacted a friend about going to protests; there are several who would go but the coming and going is difficult, so I propose to be the driver and that way drop them nearby and go park where I can safely wait and not get towed. Pick them up when they're ready. I'm the most able-bodied of the bunch, but they have much smaller vehicles and driving folks to these things wouldn't be as easy for them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 25 Mar 25 - 09:43 PM

I'm upset for them too, keberoxu! Bunch of fellas trying to do good things get swept aside for some building project. Typical of this world turned-upside-down we are facing.

Did some purging, decluttering and organizing this week, using the new bookcase to store things I need quick access to, putting them in order; equipping the new used desk with a vast collection of pens/pencils and 'stuff' and yes I tossed all the iffy ones; washing out an old file cabinet and setting it up for use. I now have a place to open and deal with mail and files that is not center stage in the living room, feels good.

Erranding was a limited success but the ways of the DMV are frustrating even in sensible places. Got some OTC while in Mexico, but had to get the rest in a bigbox store on this side. Visited a local boutique, wasn't anything appropriate for right now, but good to know what's there for the future, some good stuff amidst the quinceanera gear.

Not sure what's going on with the fruit stand, they were closed, I hope they are moving to better quarters where windstorms do not wreck things. If just 10% of us did the local search before buying from bigcorps, we could start to see changes. I understand Target is already reeling from their recent decisions, even if most of the biz went to Costco, it still was a lot of money shifting from a sleazy corp to a responsible one.

Gently pushed back on yet another friend's 'just get it on amazon' advice. People are so ingrained with this, but some are starting to come around and realize they can look at Etsy and Ebay first.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Mar 25 - 07:28 PM

A dear friend of mine is a priest and Dominican friar, living on campus at a Catholic college where he practices campus ministry.
He tells me that he and his fellow friars have to move;
the college wants their on-campus residence for something different.

I'm kind of upset for him. He is going through this in Michigan,
and he actually went through the same thing years ago in New Mexico
at a different (and not strictly Catholic) university.
But the Dominican order is a mendicant order, and historically
they are used to doing a lot with very little.
So the household of friars will weather things together somehow.

They, too, will have some de-cluttering to do in the near future.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Mar 25 - 08:38 AM

We are now in the FAFO phase of Spring, with snow on the ground again and more in the forecast. A week ago, the temperature was up to 18°C under sunny skies. Oh, well; that’s Ontario. The daffodils like it, apparently.

My weight has been stable under 60 Kg for a while now, with body-fat percentage declining very slowly. I haven’t been this size since about Grade 10. It’s infinitely easier to get dressed when everything in the closet fits or is just a bit big.

I’m still waiting on Tony (carpenter) and Marco (painter) to come back with dates for the next phase of their respective projects. People are starting to ask when my house will go up for sale. I’m beginning to get tense.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Mar 25 - 07:03 PM

Breakthrough, finally! I've struggled over a blog entry for days, trying to keep it short so readers would stay till the end, then realized the real problem was I'd buried the lede; once that was on top the rest flowed.

Still reading Junkyard Planet and am utterly amazed at the wealth of resources we have buried in our landfills. He has a more recent book (2019) called Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale. I ordered a copy (used, of course!)

Keeping in mind my goal to empty out a lot of stuff by the time I pay off the house, will learning more about the secondhand market inspire or impede that work?

Rain coming up this week and after it passes I've arranged to pick up a couple of more plants at the friend's house where she's having shrubs dug up before the house sells. I also have a couple of potted trees to either plant myself (where?) or offer to others.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Mar 25 - 12:17 PM

Keb, late last night when I read your post (incorrectly) I saw "stuffed with high school students" and thought that was great! :-) Working or hanging out in a bookstore is good for their future - as long as they manage to not take home their entire salaries as books.

A bulk purchase of pork chops (Costco pork isn't injected with brine but their packages are huge) was frozen and is now packaged 1, 2, and 3 per bag. I am still testing the altered zip lock freezer bags for this, and will plan to use those packages first. It does let me extend the supply of the heavy-duty freezer bag roll.

A bunch of vintage plastic food storage items ran through the dishwasher yesterday to be photographed and listed on eBay today. Those are fast and easy to list; this is recent stuff designated for eBay and is listed now because it's the most in the way of everything else I'm working on. My sales page tells me I've sold $180.87 in the past 90 days. Piddling around with this keeps things out of the landfill and at this rate is enough to pay the water bill each month.

Monday morning I may be driving the neighbor's husband down to meet with the AARP volunteer tax preparer. She handles their finances so is the one who usually goes to the meeting but is having difficulties getting out (there are stairs around the house and she started using a wheelchair). I've offered to build a ramp into the garage, where there's only one step. That would use up some of my spare lumber here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Mar 25 - 07:28 PM

Put in another excursion to my apartment to declutter some more.
Packed out several shopping bags and boxes of used books
and drove them to donate them at More Than Words,
a second-hand bookstore staffed by high school students in the area.
Also removed some bedding and clothing for donations.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 25 - 12:29 AM

Finished my running around after a hair trim, didn't go too crazy at Goodwill (I did send photos of a couple of things to my daughter, who declined both). Today while heading into a chain grocery store (my source of low-tech environmentally friendly dishwasher detergent powder in a cardboard box - no more pods) I saw on their door that my prescription plan is back doing business with them. A couple of years ago they dropped out of our insurance plan. I am not switching back now. It's enough fuss that some of my doctors may not want to fool with extra paperwork now that the big health system I've been with for years has done the same thing. (They parted ways in the mid-1990s but returned after a couple of years.) These companies play chicken and every now and then one of them dodges, picks up their marbles, and goes away for a while.

Major declutter this evening - I bit the bullet and filed the taxes. I used a credit card to make the payment, not sending my bank info. It was worse than ever this year, knowing it is probably vanishing into Musk's cruel enterprise. A postal money order would have cost less than the fee to process it, but it would have involved a trip to the bank and then to the post office. I wanted this misery over with. Now back to my writing to and calling the representatives who have allowed all of this to happen.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Mar 25 - 11:22 AM

In the past month I went in for a couple of scans to determine brain and heart/artery health as I go forward without taking statins. I looked at the latest results this morning and am happy to report that both are excellent. The test from last week shows no artery problems. The score is zero. So I'm going to keep on with this almost-keto diet and not go on any of the medications that she keeps for folks who "don't tolerate statins well."

This week I've worked on an essay that I want to be short. It takes more time to write a short piece than it does to write a long one, like the long letter Mark Twain once apologized for (the sentiment often attributed to Mark Twain but earlier versions exist). It's going to be my next letter to each of my representatives but it is also going to be posted widely as a blog post, and in future I plan to publish my remarks to my representatives publicly (so those friends who want to call or write but aren't sure what to say will have something to choose from, should they wish.)

Patty, in that book on scrap and recycling I came across a possible answer to the trimmer you had problems with this winter. It seems that the scrap and recycling programs in China are huge, and one particular city has a corner on the market of refurbishing stuff that Americans and Japanese and people of other wealthy countries don't bother to repair. They have spare parts from all of the disassembled items and they repair, repackage, and sell them. It's an honorable practice, I'm just sorry your trimmer didn't work out the way you hoped (and what they planned for when refurbishing it.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Mar 25 - 01:58 PM

Nice start to the day - labeled and shipped an eBay parcel that sold yesterday, picked up just things on my list at the two stores we visited today, and got home without it taking too much time. I forgot to stop in the electronics section at Costco to look at routers, but it's probably just as well. They tend to have more choice online that ships to the store and if I find what I want I can pick it up next trip.

We haven't heard from Dorothy for a while. Has the weather cleared up enough for a trip up to Beaver? Do you still have things stored at the mill, or has that finally been sold? Are there other properties needing unloading (the original Montreal house, was it sold?)

Allergies are kicking my butt and I've been resisting the urge to take a nap, but I think the nap is going to win out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 25 - 06:11 PM

Your flapping fascia is the equivalent of the loose shingle reported across the street, but reported by a known and reliable contractor. Good luck getting that fixed easily. I'm watching across the street for the arrival of the daughter so I can run over and get her phone number and apprise her of the front yard confrontation yesterday. I'd rather be the eyes watching out than have to wade into the fray, if there are people with more say in the matter.

Editing and writing and more editing this afternoon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Mar 25 - 05:19 PM

Stilly, no fewer than three respirologists have told me that my singing habit has kept me breathing these many years. But it’s just as important that I usually recognize the very first signs of an asthma attack, I know what to do about it, and I always have the drugs handy. Also, I can easily afford to buy the drugs.

When I was working at National Defence Headquarters, one day I heard the unmistakable sound of an asthmatic woman coughing, then wheezing, somewhere in the cubicle farm. I grabbed my Ventolin inhaler and went looking for her. I found her in the area where temporary staff were put. Sure enough, she was an “office temp” on a two-week gig replacing a clerk who was on vacation. She did not take inhaled steroids because she could not afford them — the one I used in those days cost $150 a month. Worse, she didn’t even have Ventolin, which is cheap as chips. She had no extra health insurance to cover drugs because she worked for a temp agency.

I don’t think I would handle an asthma attack so calmly if I didn’t have the drugs.

Tony the carpenter just left after a forensic examination of the leaking window. He has agreed (thank God!) to take on the job of “caulking the shit out of it” and repairing the interior wall. He also pointed out that the recent gale-force winds have nearly torn the aluminum fascia off the highest section of the roof at the front of the house, and it’s flapping in the breeze … Sigh.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 25 - 12:51 PM

Patty, it sounds like you did a great job with the party! Isn't the host always the most tired at the end of it? I'm thinking of my Thanksgiving meals here. They're fun but exhausting. (The most organized Thanksgivings have happened since the ADHD meds became part of my routine. I was astonished at how much easier it was!)

Lots of wind this week, and yesterday I walked across the street and spoke with my 90-year-old neighbor and then proceeded to chase off a "roofer" who had knocked on their door and told them they needed the roof fixed. He was up on the roof and his partner waiting in a pickup truck. Yes, it needs work, a loose shingle is in view, but never hire some guy driving through the neighborhood looking for marks.

More eBay stuff listed. I guess my sleepless night finally got me motivated to unload this stuff faster than I have been. Even if it's just small and inexpensive now, the income adds up when it sells, and better yet, it clears out some space. The goal is to empty the front room, and right now I'm working on the things that have piled up nearest the doorway into it.

Shopping run tomorrow, and there the goal is to stick to the shopping list. Hairdresser on Friday and my usual stops in that town (the Halal market, an Asian market, and a couple of friends to visit. Again, list in hand.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 18 Mar 25 - 06:54 PM

Housebound today with gusts up to 68 mph, dust and wind. The whistling through the poorly sealed back window is starting to get on my nerves.

Spent more time today trying to carefully rewash the borrowed crocks and cooker. The party was a great success, though as frazzled and tired as I was, the guests enjoyed it more than I did. Tried to write down some 'lessons learned' in case I ever think a big house party is a good idea again.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 25 - 01:58 PM

Charmion, I wonder if your experience with controlling your breath in singing helps you manage the asthma response? I just Googled "what chemicals are released in body in asthma attack panic" and, well, wow. Stress triggers lots of stuff. Do you suppose the singing discipline gives you a level-headed response?

My outdoors work is off for now - high winds started up again this morning (part of the dry conditions contributing the wildfire danger; the outdoor thermometer said 18% humidity this morning.)

Last night's wee-hours brain churn has me making a renewed effort to get a bigger variety of stuff listed on eBay. And for other items I need to figure out how to more efficiently recycle them, with reuse being the best choice.

It looks like a good time to do a no-spend month, so that's my goal for April. This month I've been drawing down the freezer surplus, and there's a lot in the rolling pantry shelves (a tall set of shelves on casters) as well that should be used. (The closet pantry is where non-food items are stored, mostly cooking and canning things, and I've mentioned that also needs a good thinning out.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Mar 25 - 12:13 PM

The concert choir is doing a show on Saturday, and I have the big solo that the guest artist isn’t doing. Oddly, I just can’t be arsed to get tense about any of it, especially ticket sales. This is part of the disengagement process I go through when I have to move, unplugging myself from all the people and activities that preoccupy me before taking the big step.

Likewise, I didn’t bother with the annual vestry meeting at church. Not my circus any more.

The carpenter who put my basement windows in has yet to get back to me about a time to look at the damage. Now, *that’s* what I call a source of stress!

The after-effects of Friday’s asthma attack (and the drugs that stopped it) did not pass off completely until sometime Monday evening. At this morning’s monthly visit to the allergist, the nurse cross-examined me carefully, but in the end decided that, as long as I can manage these episodes on my own, they are not yet a cause for major concern. Unlike many asthma patients, I don’t tend to panic as my breathing deteriorates, which is probably an important mitigating factor.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 25 - 11:38 AM

I made the mistake of listening to a political commentary (the recently fired Joy Ann Reid, she's very smart, but this was a particularly pointed one about Musk and the billionaires aiming for another gilded age) and it seemed like my brain churned for hours. I definitely woke on the wrong side of the bed this morning, mood-and-courtesy-to-others-wise. Gotta fix that with some outdoor work to clear my mind.

Also, reading the book about recycling (Junkyard Planet) has me looking at my household through different eyes. So much stuff, and so much in view that I don't see any more because it's always there.

A detour from usual activity is required this week since my insurance company is dropping a whole bunch of the medical folks I use, all members of a major group here in my town. My card says I can go to them still, but only if they're willing to file more paperwork. I have to call each and ask if they will do that. Bummer.

Final note: the daily gelatin in a cup of tea seems to be doing the trick as far as stronger nails. Changing the diet helped some, adding this helps more. The usual name brand has doubled in price so I shopped around for what looks like a good quality brand I've never heard of but lots of good reviews on Amazon, at half the price. Or the old price, however you want to do that math.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Mar 25 - 12:17 PM

It bugged me that I hadn't finished the mowing yesterday, so after a couple of hours I put on one of my cloth masks and finished the job and was comfortable doing it. The dust will be with us for at least another week, and then the rain chance isn't huge, so I'll plan to wear a mask during yard work.

I have concluded the research on the Internet setup here - new modem and old working router and wanting to setup a remote backup. I've finally figured it out with the help of Reddit and someone trying to do the exact same thing.

Continuing the spring cleaning activities here. The first part of that is simply putting away stuff sitting around the house, and deciding if it is something to keep, donate, or sell. Maybe this will be a productive year if we're all able to draft off of Charmion's work as she prepares to sell and move and setup in a new place. Following along in her wake!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Mar 25 - 06:04 PM

I mowed about half of the remaining tall grass in the back today, but every time I turned the corner at the west end of the yard a big gust of dust flew up. The air quality is good except that there is a boat-load of pollen along with the dust in that tall grass and I decided to finish in a day or two. My eyes are itchy and the sinuses will be uncomfortable this evening. I suspect that a lot of the dust and pollen that is blowing around down here has crept up into the winds that are pushing on Charmion's car door. Funny how weather ignores international boundaries.

Today I tried to figure out what is going on with the Rubbermaid vintage food storage containers. They sell for fairly high prices on eBay and other online sale places. I'm using less plastic but when I do it is the newer BPA free Rubbermaid now. It's the human conundrum of "I'm trying to not use them but everyone else seems to want these things so should I keep a few?" For now I'll thin out the ones in the pantry I never use, and if I see these at Goodwill I can pick them up to sell.

While I'm at it, I really should thin out surplus stuff in that little pantry cupboard. And stop picking up stuff at Goodwill.

Laundry and some dusting and vacuuming finished.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Mar 25 - 01:50 PM

After many shots of Symbicort on Friday night, I shook most of yesterday and I’m still a bit nervy today. Symbicort is a cocktail of the steroid budesonide and formeterol, a powerful long-acting bronchodilator. The attack took most of yesterday to resolve, and I spent the day lounging with a book and one cat or the other.

The weather is unseasonably warm and very blustery. Leaving church this morning, I had a hell of a time holding the door of the car open long enough to get in behind the wheel, and neighbours are out checking their property for torn-off roof shingles. For days, the radar map has shown a massive front extending from somewhere up around Timmins to deep into the US midlands — as far south as Environment Canada bothers to report. Next week won’t be much better, as equinoctial gales are normal around here.

It’s a good thing I don’t go in for fancy hair-dressing. An elaborate do would last about ten seconds out there.

I think the box-room is honed down to the stuff I really want to keep, so the garage and the garden shed are the next targets. I have an awful lot of tools I don’t need and/or can’t use, so a major clear-out is necessary there. I think I’ll ask Neil-across-the-street to give me a hand with that.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 25 - 04:15 PM

Are you feeling better, Charmion? Will your course of medication have to run over a period of days (I seem to remember you having these episodes over as much as a week at a time?)

I heard the next door neighbor crank up his mower right after I decided not to mow - the air quality is way high in the red zone after all of that dust. I called and spoke with his wife to alert her to tell him; it's a sunny day, except for a kind of haze you won't know the air was this bad.

Shredding papers indoors today (no burn barrel for the foreseeable future, we're in high fire danger). The next load of laundry goes in soon. Also considering the backup options with the external hard drive and the various ports I can connect to. Using what I have here instead of buying new adapters or converters.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 25 - 11:57 AM

Patty, that's a whole lotta stuff going on all at once! No water right before guests arrive seems the most drastic (to say nothing of no water for just you at the house!) Good luck with the computer/screen setup. Do you ever use books (like the beloved/reviled Rise Up Singing)? Slow cooker for the corned beef? How far are people travelling for your event? And will they all arrive with their own accommodations for a collection of RVs around the yard?

Yesterday's run to the discount grocery store was for research; I have concluded that Thursday is most likely to have the best array of produce available outside of Saturday (with the crowds and long lines). Since my ex often goes with me I let him know that he might want to plan for twice monthly Thursday trips.

A couple of loads of laundry today of the heavy robe, sweaters, lap quilts, etc. as I prepare to put them away for the summer. Another blanket off the bed to be folded and zipped away in the vinyl under-bed bags. The washer only did a UL symbol once with this first batch (as an old pinball player I always refer to that as the "tilt" message.)

While preparing to mow the lawn I pulled a few sprigs sprouting from the Mexican Plum roots. One is in a pot now to grow through the hot weather and I'll plant it in the far back by the creek next winter. I'm considering taking the plum out for a couple of reasons; in fire danger it is too close to the house, and it suffers from poor drainage right there. A few feet further over is a large baldcypress (planted 23 years ago), that will stay put. It has been my experience that for every three trees I've planted here I've had to remove one of them when it gets too big. I have a couple of smaller trees in pots (Texas kidneywood) that I'll plant on the far side of the baldcypress in a sloped part of the yard with better drainage. I still need to put in a French drain close to the house even if the plum is removed.

Declutter via eBay continues.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 15 Mar 25 - 10:32 AM

Called my sister this morning to get talked down from my panic. The well people finally showed up yesterday to work in bitter cold and wind, took the tank out, left to get a part, came back, discovered that wasn't the part with the hole after all, but the part that fits into it, which they might have at the shop, which cannot be bought anywhere. So I am without water til they fix it. They will be back today but I have got to make the big grocery run, so they will have to let themselves in.

On the good news front, after I swept/scooped 10 gallons of sand and dirt off the porch this week, it looks like yesterday's drifts will be the last, because it rained last night. And it should be picture perfect and calm tomorrow.

Way too much to do before guests arrive tomorrow late afternoon, and I am so stressed I can't even think clearly about who to ask to help with what, when. Maybe I can ponder it on the drive to town this morning.

Technology is not helping; I set up the order, then "normalized" the playlist volume for the party and the (*^)&*( software erased 12 song titles, and still not sure if it will write to a thumb for me. Then, got the laptop to send a 'mirror' image to the big monitor so people can see words to songs they will be presenting, but everything is totally out of whack size-wise, so that'll be an hour's tweaking. Stuff like that. Wishing for simpler days at this point, because at least the old CD player worked then, and if you told a computer what size monitor you had, it grasped it.

But, I have corned beef, rye, and cabbages to buy asap, so off I go!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 25 - 11:22 PM

Charmion, I've watched a lot of This Old House and Ask This Old House episodes, I feel sure you'll be set when the carpenter gets the right waterproofing insulating product installed there. It sounds like the kind of question they get regularly.

Don asked about the dust. It has been dry and windy here; yesterday my allergies kicked in. The worst of it was for people out in the wide-open spaces, especially drivers on West Texas highways.

Good work with the letters and boxes, Keb. I also have a lot of letters I should toss, I haven't looked at them in ages. It's nice to have a sample of a loved-ones' handwriting, but I don't need every card they ever sent. Too dry now for burning them now, but maybe I can send them to a shredder at an Earth Day event this year.

It took the Amazon vendor almost two weeks to deliver the small digital camera, and after a test run I think it will work for taking photos at any political events while my phone stays safely tucked away. (Related - I have a couple of things on my shopping list that I've searched for from local stores instead of buying on Amazon since this is the last day of the boycott. I need a larger-capacity SDXC card and the one I am testing now will be a spare.) I'm finally seeing some political meetings scheduled in my county.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Mar 25 - 07:47 PM

The car is packed with yet another load for Goodwill, this time stuff from the boxroom. First thing tomorrow, off it goes.

Half the back wall of the basement is now stripped of drywall, and I have established that the leak is not coming from a crack in the foundation! Instead, it’s pouring in under the sill of one if the basement windows, then trickling along the framing timbers to pool in the furnace room. The exploratory surgery took several hours and cost $100 bucks cash to a jobbing carpenter — lovely guy.

So now I have to get the carpenter who installed that window to rectify the problem and figure out a way to shield that window from snow build-up. And replace the drywall and the sodden insulation the other guy took out.

After all this Sturm und Drang, I’m having an asthma attack. I toked up on Symbicort and decided to take it easy tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Mar 25 - 07:08 PM

I hope Stilly wasn't involved in the Texas dust storm fiasco.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Mar 25 - 07:02 PM

Another day of disposing of boxes of old stuff at my apartment.
This box contained letters that I have kept for years,
even though I have stopped reading them.
I steeled myself and threw them out along with the rest of the trash.
Where I am going, there isn't room for extraneous stuff,
so the letters had to go.
The boxes that contained these papers have been broken down
and fed to the dumpster.
Little by little, the work is getting done.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 25 - 04:36 PM

I looked back at more of Patty's description of her contact adventures - Patty, look at the blog post about contacting them, it offers a lot of options that I found. When you enter your address and phone that is how they verify you are from where you say you are. They don't sell phone numbers or addresses. I use an alternate phone (my old house phone number was ported Google Voice to keep the number because it is still tied to some accounts). I use that number and I use one of my alternate email addresses (not the one for real bills and the doctors' offices and such.) You do have to give a physical address also.

If you call and choose to speak to a member of the staff chances are you end up on voicemail anyway, but leave your message. They keep track of the subjects people call about. (It's hard to speak to a real person, even if it is an intern manning the phones, but that is the gold standard, to read your message to them.)

I picked up a couple of bottles of the whisky I like and the clerk said she's heard that the Canadian sellers have removed the American brands from their shelves. Even without tariffs at the moment, this is one of many areas where people might do well to put in a supply for a couple of months. The northern tier states were going to get clobbered with electricity fees (because power from Canada is sold to the US) and that paused. Gas prices will go up, lumber will go way up. For those of us decluttering via eBay or other sales locations, sales might get weird. I don't have many out of the US sales, but they do happen, usually to Canada or Australia. (I may need to buy my veterinary medications that come from Australia before he slaps a tariff on their stuff.)

Life is enough of an obstacle course in "normal" times. This mess is because of a spoiled churlish despot. 1407 days and some hours and minutes left in his term as of now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 25 - 12:16 PM

Patty, I'll email you the link to my blogged list of tools and addresses and such. (I see I need to add these two general links also):

All House Representatives

All US Senators.

Charmion, I'm doing a similar removal of cold weather gear, though it isn't mukluks and heavy jackets, it's the extra blanket off the bed and washing sweaters before stowing them for the summer.

Heading out to shop the discount produce place and stopping by the liquor store nearby to pick up a couple of bottles of the Scotch I like, just in case Trump pulls a really stupid tariff and clobbers the distillery industry. They'll last for quite a while and in the meantime maybe someone will impeach him, dispose of him by other means (will that goofy cabinet do Section 25? I doubt it, but it's there), or he chokes on a hamburger.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 14 Mar 25 - 11:32 AM

Another Freudian misreading:

oval office -> offal office

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 14 Mar 25 - 11:29 AM

Busy and stressed here, and waiting for the well people for the third day in a row. In their defense, it's hard to do outdoor work in raging dust storms. They'll either show this morning or let me know if they have to delay to tomorrow.

This morning I learned about the excessive powers ceded to 'the executive' in the crummy Continuing Resolution Bill, basically they will authorize the oval office to tamper with any program they like including Social Security, at will, at whim. And (*^)^! Schumer thinks that's fine, apparently his billionaire owners told him that. Good grief. Yes, let's just alter our government with text hidden in some fine print in a funding bill, they'll never notice.

Left a message at one senator's office, could not do it with the other one. Tried to leave a written message, but you have to fill out a form which is clearly meant to put you on phone and mailing lists til the end of time.

SRS, do you have a real email address for the offices of the New Mexico Senators?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Mar 25 - 08:57 AM

I have one ceramic knife that I use only for cutting cheese. I won’t acquire any more. For decades, my favourite small kitchen knife has been a little Victorinox parer with a plastic handle and about four inches of stainless-steel blade. Edmund was forever trying to get me to use something fancier, but it fits my small hand perfectly, holds its edge, and doesn’t mind the dishwasher.

The carpenter is expected today, so I must move stuff around in the basement to give him room to work. Marco the painter is due at three to discuss the upstairs hall and touch-ups in the bedrooms. Four years of clearance efforts are paying off — clearing the walls doesn’t scare me, and I know precisely what’s in every box and bin!

Taking a chance, I put away my sheepskin coat yesterday. Today, the tall fleece-lined boots get packed in the bin they share with my mukluks. I’m sure we’ll get more snow around the equinox (we usually do), but I doubt very much that I’ll need serious winter gear again this side of Remembrance Day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Mar 25 - 04:05 PM

I'm reading a book about how we use so much stuff and discard so much stuff and yet I spent the morning researching routers because it turns out the one here is an "End of Life" product. Dealing with the planned obsolescence part of being a modern consumer - how much are you going to add to and rely on a product that will no longer be supported by the manufacturer.

Dorothy, I agree, having a social life is a must in taking care of your health. I hope you made a couple of trips over to the river today. I'll get a big dose of that tomorrow with a trip to the museum for training and scanning. In the evening the artist whose installation is situated in a main corridor will speak about her work, and I will attend to hear her talk about all of the garments she dismantles to make her art. The scraps hanging from the ceiling like jersey stalactites are remnants of other work. I have baskets full of that still after all of the mask making. I plan to ask her about where to use or send it.

A note on household implements—for a couple of years I've been experimenting with using ceramic knives. The first one is still around but the tip is chipped and it's a bit dull. They apparently can be sharpened, but it isn't as easy as sharpening a high-carbon steel knife. I also have stainless knives and they just don't seem to need sharpening. When people are here I'm careful about who uses the ceramic ones; a friend was going to pry something open and I had to grab it out of her hand. My daughter was cutting carrots and thumping the knife on the board with each stroke. The last couple of weeks I've returned to using just the steel knives and have decided that the durability of steel is what I'll stick with. It's the same reason I'm no longer using the non-stick pans. They're more trouble than they're worth.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Mar 25 - 10:46 PM

Dupont:

Spending most of time on computer re the state of the world. Nice visit from Rita yesterday - I had not even gone shopping for a couple days! Low Atmospheric pressure and the time change threw me for a loop - most of a day in bed. Plus the memoir of Navalny - An amazingly dedicated man.

Today was springlike and I managed to walk down to the river - 340 steps each way I guess, though it is "uphill" (a bit) on the way back. Anyway it felt good to do it. Meant to do a second trip but the computer held me in thrall.

The house is moderately clean, dishes washed and planned-overs still available in frig. My good spell went kaput for those low (2) AP days but seems to be back with higher AP and above freezing weather! Darn! weather may hold through the weekend but rain in Bancroft - which could freeze. Guess I will stay here and hope for April! My son might be able to get there; he sees the route from Philly to Bancroft is only 20 minutes longer than to Chateauguay! So we could meet there and it might even be spring weather!?!

Alt weekend is Bluegrass here in Chat. Some fine musicians and getting acquainted with a few folks. NEED a social life!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Mar 25 - 05:08 PM

There is something about the consistency of mud after the freeze and snow that makes it particularly viscus and trackable. I put off scrubbing my den floor until I'm sure we're past any more of that weather.

This week I picked up Junkyard Planet again and his description of rag pickers, "grubbing", and of various levels of recycling that occur in places around the world makes North Americans look like slackers. We can afford to recycle stuff in bins at the curb because we don't need to sell the paper, cardboard, glass jars, scrap metal, and other found items to feed our families. He describes a hierarchy of recyclers in his city in China that is precise and incremental as materials move from an apartment to a scrap buyer to those who buy scraps and take them to larger recycling businesses. So much of our wealth is sent to landfills. I think that for those who are older and the children of parents who lived through the Depression, it is all apparent - we see the packaging that comes with purchases and would like to see it used again, we have all of these items that might be useful one day, so why throw it away to purchase again later? Can someone else use it now if we donate it?

I spent the afternoon researching and writing messages for my representatives. I'm to the point of mailing a letter to each again, in addition to calls and messages on their contact pages. Now to go do something else; the side yard and back need mowing. Moving around will do me some good.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Mar 25 - 04:39 PM

The snow in my back yard was hip-deep only two weeks ago, and today I can see mud and dead-looking grass. Ah, Spring! In Ontario, it’s more like an ambush. Despite today’s bright sun, however, it’s nowhere near time yet to take the snow brush out of the car.

Now that the snow has melted away from the back wall of the house, the wet spot in the basement has dried out. The crack repair must be done anyway — the evidence is all over the wall in the form of great streaks of the mineral salts with which our water is loaded. But it’s not quite so urgent as I had feared.

While the carpenter is here, I shall also ask him to rip out a section of drywall that has a mold stain left over from last year’s furnace condensate pump crisis.

I just finished digging through several bins of doohickeys, from which I sorted two boxes for Goodwill and a large bag of garbage. One bin has been packed with Christmas decorations that were sculling about without permanent stowage. Two others have been repacked with ornaments and photo frames that I may be able to use in my next abode. If not, Ottawa has church bazaars, too. The empty bins will go to Habitat for Humanity. They love bins. The Goodwill boxes will leave the house tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 25 - 11:26 PM

The front yard was mowed this afternoon, giving me more steps than I've been getting lately on my fitness tracker. I'll take a Benadryl at bedtime because a lot of pollen from surrounding trees had settled in the weeds, ready to puff up around me as I disturbed the area. Also did some weeding of the large pots waiting to be planted for the season.

Dishwasher running, some stuff cleared from the fridge. Heading in to read for a while. Back yard needs mowing tomorrow.