07-29-2019, 11:09 AM
I've been wanting to downsize for years, and in the last couple of years I've felt a growing urgency. But each time I set out to do so, opening some box to sort through it, I was overwhelmed by all the keepsakes. And there's so many boxes, and miscellaneous stuff stashed everywhere in closets, filling the garage and shed... I just backed off, not able to deal with it.
But recently I had some help from Stephen Hawking and mice (or rats; not sure). The mice part is easier to understand. The beginning of July I decided to appraise the state of the garage. I knew there'd been some mice (or rats) in there, because we'd glimpsed them, though not in recent months. They had gnawed a hole at the top of the "firewall" (the drywall on the wall common to the garage and house). But like I said, we hadn't seen them for months and assumed they'd vacated the premises.
Well, climbing up a stepladder, I was appalled at the state of the shelves and tops of everything. Droppings everywhere, and urine stains -- and the stench. Yes, I'd smelled it down below, but I was in denial of just how bad things were -- and LCF doesn't have as good a nose and just doesn't notice it. I knew I needed to do a thorough cleaning of the garage, and that meant moving everything out and going over everything.
I'd meant to start this thread the beginning of July, to document my adventures; but this ordeal proved too disgusting, and shameful (how could I have let this get so bad?), and embarrassing (my hackneyed fixes along the way), not to mention exhaustion at the end of each day, that I kept putting the journalistic side of things off -- until I saw that tree fall and thought I really should post about that.
Anyway, there's still stuff piled outside, waiting to be dumped or reincorporated, but it's feeling manageable at last; so belatedly I'll catch you up on some of what transpired. TBC.
But recently I had some help from Stephen Hawking and mice (or rats; not sure). The mice part is easier to understand. The beginning of July I decided to appraise the state of the garage. I knew there'd been some mice (or rats) in there, because we'd glimpsed them, though not in recent months. They had gnawed a hole at the top of the "firewall" (the drywall on the wall common to the garage and house). But like I said, we hadn't seen them for months and assumed they'd vacated the premises.
Well, climbing up a stepladder, I was appalled at the state of the shelves and tops of everything. Droppings everywhere, and urine stains -- and the stench. Yes, I'd smelled it down below, but I was in denial of just how bad things were -- and LCF doesn't have as good a nose and just doesn't notice it. I knew I needed to do a thorough cleaning of the garage, and that meant moving everything out and going over everything.
I'd meant to start this thread the beginning of July, to document my adventures; but this ordeal proved too disgusting, and shameful (how could I have let this get so bad?), and embarrassing (my hackneyed fixes along the way), not to mention exhaustion at the end of each day, that I kept putting the journalistic side of things off -- until I saw that tree fall and thought I really should post about that.
Anyway, there's still stuff piled outside, waiting to be dumped or reincorporated, but it's feeling manageable at last; so belatedly I'll catch you up on some of what transpired. TBC.