When my mother passed - we found money sewn into cuff of pants, liners of jackets, etc. Never large amounts - $10 here - $20 there, but as we dispersed her belongings over the years we had to check every piece first...
Older Folks and Vaping Back Porch - Part Three
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When my mother passed - we found money sewn into cuff of pants, liners of jackets, etc. Never large amounts - $10 here - $20 there, but as we dispersed her belongings over the years we had to check every piece first...
Ummm...Does anyone here have a friend or a family member with a hoarding problem? Dealing with one in my life and can't get past the denial that there is a problem, let alone get to the next step - trying to noodge them toward talking to a professional about it. This has been going on for a long time but since retirement set in the problem is rapidly escalating. (Nothing to do... Shopping!!!) Not just about shopping either. There is only so much space in their house but that reality is not setting in.
If y'all think this is a more appropriate topic for Wellness Wrecked & Bonkers I'll just shush up and move it over there.
I'm a partially recovered hoarder. Telling anyone about my problem was really difficult, but it was necessary. I had to forgive myself for letting things get so out of hand, and the only way to do that was to talk about it with people who loved me. Still, years passed in between being able to talk about it and getting anything done about it. The clutter was too overwhelming for me to even be able to start working on it. I wasn't willing to hire anyone to help me with it, because I couldn't let anyone see what a wreck the place was.
It turns out that breaking my back in Dec 2012 was key to getting clean-up started. My ex-girlfriend Joy is the only person other than me who knew what the inside of my house looked like. She drove me home after I was discharged from the hospital. She moved piles of stuff off of my living room couch so that I could use it as my bed. (The sideboards on my waterbed were impossible for me to climb over with my broken back, and the narrow "path" to reach the waterbed would have been dangerous to negotiate.)
Then, my sister Jean took time off from work and spent about 3 weeks here, in two separate trips. The first time, I put her up in a nearby hotel because there simply was not enough room anywhere in the house for a second person to lie down.
I used to joke that I had submitted video of my house to "Hoarders" and that they told me to re-submit after I cleaned it up some.
Joy said, before Jean got here, that I couldn't possibly have told Jean about the condition of the house, because if I had, Jean would not be coming. In fact, Joy called Jean and basically told her (nicely) that she was crazy.
Jean's first words after coming in the door, God bless her, were: "Oh, this isn't that bad at all". When I told Joy that was what Jean said, Joy said I must be lying.
I rented a BIG railroad-car-sized dumpster (Jean's idea.) The man and woman who live next door, and who I pay to cut my yard, showed up wanting to help, and willing to let me pay them, which made me much more comfortable accepting the help. While I sat, with my full-torso brace on, my sister and neighbors busted their butts for days and days. The dumpster got filled to overflowing. It turns out that I've got carpeting and linoleum on my floors. I hadn't seen them in years.
On Jean's second trip here, she and her dog could stay at the house.
The master bedroom and bath are still not cleaned up, but the rest of the house is. I just keep the door to that bedroom closed, and don't go in there at all. My neighbors were more than willing to go at it but I wanted to leave it for me to do. I'm gonna get started on it tomorrow.
Understand that I'm talking retired-bachelor-comfortable clean, not a high standard at all. It's clean enough that I am no longer ashamed of someone seeing the inside of my house, and that is the important thing to me.
Anyway, if I've said anything useful or anything you'd like to share with your friends, Rick, please feel free to do so.
If nothing else, it's been cathartic for me to tell the tale.
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I appreciate that, Dave.
Yes, I've got any hoarding tendencies completely under control. None of these musical instruments have been purchased in recent years. All of them 5 years or more ago. Missing from picture (because they're in other rooms): 2 full-sized electric pianos, a cello, a baritone horn, some instrument repair tools and the rest of the drum set.
These were all over the house before The Big Cleanup. The plastic shelving: my sister's great idea again.
These were all over the house before The Big Cleanup. The plastic shelving: my sister's great idea again.
I'm from a small town in Wyoming where everyone knew everyone else. We would get caught doing some shenanigans and in the race to escape (because I was always faster than my brother and friends) I would hear my brother yelling at the top of his lungs in the background... "Cave! Nerd! Wait for me Cave Nerd!" I always seemed to get caught. Even when I escaped.
Which, now that I'm a little older, I know to be the natural order of the Universe. Little boys need to get caught. Plus, my uncle was the sheriff so ALL the cops knew me by name. heh.
I'm a Sailor. I can't help it that I want to carry on our proud tradition of debauchery.
LOL. I told the GF that I had an important "Attention response experiment" to conduct concerning human anatomy vs avian parenting instincts, but she told me that if she caught me posting pictures of her on the internet she would "make me not a man anymore" (my words, hers were a little more... violent).
I believed her.
Not sure how to attach videos the right way from my phone but here's a good laugh for you guys and gals
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ItORJmByj2U
Completely forgot about that video. "Regal vape"... Engrish kills me.
Also, back from the good old days when PB made videos shorter than 45 minutes.
Ah-ha! I dearly hope that means spring is on the way for all y'all. (<--- I can learn)
Well done, Bells!
Next step - endow a high school marching band?
90% of the instruments are in need of repair to be playable, and they're the hard-luck cases that remain after I bought, repaired and re-sold many over about a 10-year period approximately 1999-2009. Most of the repairs are within my capability and tools, but I'm not fast and each one takes me many hours. Some are simply not worth the time and effort for me to repair them. I think I can become cold enough to toss some. My repair emphasis is on function. Re-lacquering is not something I'm interested in learning to do.
My interest in recycling these instruments faded when I invested a small fortune in implant-mounted dentures only to discover that even they were not as rock-solid as they needed to be for me to get above a certain level with my trombone playing.
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My daughter would absolutely LOVE you!! LOL She is a band director. Need I say more? LOL She has one whole room devoted exclusively to the music. I don't think her collection is a large as yours, but I do believe she has at least one of every instrument.
LOL. I told the GF that I had an important "Attention response experiment" to conduct concerning human anatomy vs avian parenting instincts, but she told me that if she caught me posting pictures of her on the internet she would "make me not a man anymore" (my words, hers were a little more... violent).
I believed her.
Can you say "Lorena Bobbit"?
(As long as you don't have to say it in a high voice, you'll be ok!)
Hence the term "bobbitize"!
Sent while sitting on my busted ..... Stay off the ice if you can't skate. I can't and didn't.
Me too cept every couple of years I am forced to clean it and reorganize because my dear wife will not let me buy any more tools until I prove I don't already have one. Ever notice how certain things grow legs and just disappear. Kind of like socks. 1/2" and 3/8" wrenches are like that. I can never find one when I need it. Cleaned the garage awhile back and found at least 15 of them. So many that I couldn't get them all on one of those long pegboard rods.BB,
Poignant post and much appreciated!
Substitute garage for house, ya 'got' me...
Sent while sitting on my busted ..... Stay off the ice if you can't skate. I can't and didn't.
BB,
Poignant post and much appreciated!
Substitute garage for house, ya 'got' me...
Ah! My carport was also part of the big clean-up. For 20 years, I used most of the space there to put a leaking roof over trashy stuff long enough for it rot and rust into complete trash. There wasn't much "do you want to throw this out or keep it?" questioning needed, and my neighbors carted off about 15 pickup truckloads to the convenience center. Most of it was old furniture, some of which I'd garbage-picked when I saw it discarded in town. Some would say my carport is still a mess, but my viewpoint comes from comparison to what it usta was, and it therefore looks pristine, spotless and beautiful.
I could even put a car under there now, if I had a car. It looks SO much better than it did. Fixed the leaking roof, too, somewhat, although my neighbor didn't do a very good job of it. Gonna have to get up there and do some more fixin' and use a lot more nails before the next big hurricane.
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Well I got an email from my new PCP I was trying to get the results of the new CT they did compared to the VA. All she said was the way they will proceed depends on my smoking history. That's easy smoked a pack a day or more since I was 17 till I had to have open heart surgery when I was 62. 45 years or 3/4 of my life heavy smoking. I'm not sure what she means by the way we will proceed. Probably just take me out back and shoot me.
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