05/14/2021
This has been a very busy week for me as we close in on getting ready for the Estate Sale.
Everyday this week so far, I have returned to the house to clean up, load up and generally make sure that I have all that I need out of it. Finally, yesterday, Thursday, I did a final walk around and satisfied myself that I have removed everything that I either want or have room for. I even cleaned out the refrigerator leaving it totally empty. This also gave me an opportunity to look at a few labels and determine just how old some of that stuff really is. Needless to say, quite a bit got trashed for that very reason. Funny, it looked good and tasty when I bought it…
I suppose in some respects, cleaning house is a good thing especially after 35 years of living in it, the past 29 as a bachelor. I didn’t think I was a hoarder but in retrospect, I guess I am. Why would I keep old documents that have absolutely no bearing on anything going on in my current life, or broken tools that someday I might repair, with a newer variety of the same tool sitting in the shed. That is what happens when a bachelor doesn’t have a wife to keep him on the straight and narrow. I probably wouldn’t have listened to her advice anyway which is probably why I am a single man. Either that, or in my mind, it might come in useful someday and of course, that day never comes. Luckily, I had a lot of spare room both in the house and the three sheds to store all of this stuff and now I am suffering the consequences of being a hoarder. I located a bunch of old hard drives from previous computers along with some CD’s and personal papers that I wanted destroyed and made a trip to a local shredding place for that to happen. It cost me $420.00 to get them destroyed but at least I have peace of mind regarding identity theft.
Like I said, I have spent some considerable time going through everything, room by room and closet by closet often, more than once. I have made stacks of this and that, put stuff in boxes and thrown out quite a considerable amount but there is still a lot of the same aforementioned stuff laying around that I plan on leaving for my Estate Sale guy to dispose of in whatever way he sees fit. By the way, I discovered that my Estate Sale guy has an interesting system in as much that what he can’t sell at one estate sale, he bring along to the next one which makes me think that the accounting for my share of the proceeds is maybe a little questionable, to say the least. I really don’t care that much as most of my profit will be from the sale of the property and at 85 years old, how much does a person need? Even though a part of me says that I can leave it to my kids, another part of me asks “Why”? So I plan on enjoying what’s left of my life and they can have anything that is left over when I am gone. I earned it…
I am already having to face up to the realization that my life will no longer be the same as it was. My comfort zone is rapidly disappearing day by day as I work towards the Estate Sale and the realization that I will no longer have the stability of a “bricks and sticks” home. This was brought home to me when I called the post office to find out what I could do on a temporary basis regarding my mail while I am still here in the Henly RV park. My problem is trying to determine just how long that will be. I am guessing at least through the end of June and maybe even July which is only a couple of months. The rental for a PO Box at the Post Office is for 6 months although they did mention a refund if I gave it up sooner. I thought that would be the way to go or maybe I should just join the Good Sam Postal forwarding service earlier than anticipated which I was planning on doing anyway. To be truthful, nearly all of my mail is junk mail and nowadays gets recycled without opening it. I have written to many of these organizations asking them to stop the junk mail but few have complied. I even tried the “Return to Sender” ploy but my Mail Lady stopped by to tell me that third class junk mail is non-returnable. I wonder just how much money the different “charitable” organizations waste on this which could be put to better use? I have arranged with my neighbor to use their address as a permanent one for a Texas domicile which will enable me to vote and keep my Texas drivers license. It means getting the license changed to the new address from 10104 to 10103. Any mail will go to the new PO Box wherever I get it set up so that my neighbor will not get bothered with too much of it.
I’m going to miss the convenience of ordering on line through Amazon and similar places. Without an address, they will have difficulty in delivering. Wait a minute, maybe that’s a good thing and will stop me buying so much stuff although I will miss the convenience.
When I first started thinking and reading about RV’ing full time, these sort of details were not the top of my list. Now that I am getting closer to making the move, all of a sudden, the timetable is moving up at a rapid pace. Details, details…
Written 05/15/2021
Check out my old blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Frank, I think as you get everything sold, you can start to travel and see some really great things. If you need to order something, you can order from Wal Mart and have it sent to a store for pick up.
James. The problem is that I can’t really start to travel until the house is actually sold and I have signed all of the papers. As for impulse buying, I’m trying to give it up but I know that Whole Foods for instance has pick up for Amazon goods.
I have a friend who is a hoarder and you aren’t. Sometimes it’s just easier to keep the stuff than worry about what to get rid of until you really have a reason. As far as having things delivered from Amazon, you can request alternative delivery addresses. it doesn’t always have to go to your home so you can just keep right on impulse buying.
In retrospect, I am not really a hoarder just a lifetime of accumulated junk. I know there are alternative delivery options so I can still maintain my expensive impulse buying habits…Actually, most of what I buy is something for the RV to make it more workable.
I’ve just been cleaning my parents (in 80s and 90s) garage which is piled high with “stuff” and that is such a chore. Cleaning out an entire house must be exhausting!
It wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t built things my entire life. Consequently I have more tools than anyone should have and parts and bits and pieces in one big mess in three different sheds. That doesn’t count the broken down pieces of equipment that probably hasn’t started in 20 years. Luckily, I have an Estate Sale person who is taking care of most of it. Hopefully.
Say, I have a favor to ask. Could you link your new blog to your gravatar? When you comment on my posts, I click onto your gravatar which takes me to this page of your old blog: https://pondblog2011.com/2018/06/18/politics-2/ from there I click on your banner to get to this page: https://pondblog2011.com/ and from there I click on the discreet link to your new blog. I’m old. I’m exhausted. 😀 ! Thank you!
I think I have made the change. Let me know it is still not redirecting to the new blog. BTW, I’m old too but not yet exhausted.
Thank you, will try it out now!
EXCellent! It might bring you more traffic. Thank you, thank you! Have a lovely day!