SOMETIMES IT TAKES AN EMERGENCY...

 Sometimes it take an emergency to push us to do some clutter removal.  I have probably mentioned that we have been having water in our basement after the various big storms we have had since Hurricane Ida came through.  The water appears as wet carpet (indoor/outdoor carpet so the carpet has not been ruined) in front a bookcase in our basement.  The bookcase is in front of a window.  Our hope is that the problem is caused by the fact that the basement windows sit below the grade of the land and there is a window well outside the window.  It used to have a plastic bubble over it, but a few years ago the bubble burst  (okay broke) and we have not been able to replace due to the fact that this is where poison ivy grows.  

Husband decided that we need to move the bookcase and pick up the edge of carpet and see “what the story is”.  The bookcase not only is filled with books – most related to his profession and many of them college textbooks (ie, big and heavy).  On top of the bookcase are some shelves husband built to hold a stereo and small TV (video player for TV on the other bookcase next to this one) as he has an exercise bike there and would listen to music or watch TV while he rode it more regularly than he does now.  

First job therefore was to find an alternate location for the stereo.  He redid part of the top of a long, low bookcase in our bedroom (on his side) and managed to fit the stereo there – without having to get rid of the stuffed bears (his bears, not mine) on top.  We then had to bring up the CDs for the stereo and the rack they are kept in.  He found a spot under the bedroom TV for that – problem is that he cannot read the titles without sitting on the floor and can barely read them there and barely get up from the floor – but they have a new home.  

Next came the BIG JOB.  We had to get the books off the shelves and do “something with them”.  I have mentioned before that I have trouble donating items as all of the locations I used to go to have all been closed over several years (actually over a decade since they started closing).  The last one closed in late 2018 as I had items to bring there in October 2018, but had to come home as husband was unwell, and when I could back out in December 2018 to donate them – Goodwill had closed the location!  Husband went looking online and Goodwill has opened a collection center where the store used to be – so we could bring the books there as they accept books.  

First he sorted through the books – a good number of them he feels he can sell online (as if that idea has ever worked for us) and he moved them to a nearby table.  The rest of the books had to be packed in some way to take and donate – and the packages of books had to be light enough for us to lift.  I myself would gone with stacking them and tying the stacks, but he decided to use kitchen garbage bags – which could only be about half filled due to the weight of the books, being a problem both in ripping the bags and our being able to lift them.  We packed the books over the past weekend.  After they were all packed we started carrying the bags up from the basement.  They were put in our dining room.  After all were upstairs and we took a brief rest to recover, came the next part.  I would carry a bag of books to the front door and he would be outside to carry the books to our van (parked on our driveway in front of the house).  That gave us a van filled with books.

Yesterday, Tuesday, I added the 2 bags of stuff I had from before and we set out to donate it all.  When we got to the Goodwill location there was actually parking near their location.  When I have been there in the past the parking lot was always full (it is in a strip mall with stores and restaurants), but apparently between their store being closed and the pandemic it was far from full.  There was even a shopping cart nearby that we could use.  (Supermarket at other end of parking lot.)  Problem was the drop off center was closed!!!

Apparently they have not updated their open times on their website.  They are closed Tuesdays and Thursdays (and of course Sundays) now.  So we turned around and drove the van home.  We then ran the errand he planned to today (Wednesday) buying new eyeglasses as his vision had changed.  

Today we went back and they now have all of the books and my miscellaneous stuff from 2018.  (The 2018 stuff is some household items and also – we used to babysit his niece when she was young (now in her early 20s) one afternoon a week and had a laundry basket filled with toys for her.  I had gone through the toys back in 2018, kept a couple of them that I liked, and bagged the rest to donate, along with plastic tissue box covers that had not been used in some years and other similar items.  

So it took a flood to convince husband to donate stuff and get rid of it!  He has not opened these books in decades – and certainly not since he quit his job, a little more than 10 years ago (before that the books were partially in his office at work). Now they are gone.  

Today he took apart the shelves he made for the top of the bookcase and we will put it in his wood shop (our garage) for future use.  Next thing to do is take apart the bookcase so we can put it out for trash pickup – will need a call for them to take it.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
What has been taking up room in your home for years/decades only because you have not bothered to deal with getting rid of it?  Don't wait for a flood to deal with it.