Another clear out...

I started another clear out today, having been galvanized by someone asking me for help editing his Craig's List postings.  So, I went up to the attic, set Galaxy Quest to playing on the computer, and unpacked, set up, and photographed everything that I would like to try and sell on Craig's List.  Anything that is not gone by December 1st—since half of the items are Christmas related—will be donated.  That way, folk can use the holiday items this year.  Thus far, I have sold some sets of Christmas lights.

I thought about trying to sell the clothing that I got from Liberia, when I was a missionary, but I plan on donating it.  The dresses are simply beautiful, and it will be hard to let them go.  However, I have not given a talk on being a missionary in eons and the clothing is all in very good shape.

Other than Christmas items, I posted a flatscreen computer monitor, an adjustable clothing rack, two desktop vertical file holders, a stool, and a large dog bed with a rather beautiful, high quality upholstery fabric zippered cover that has a corded edge.  There is only one small worn area on it.  I made it for my first dog, but Amos never liked it. There is no sense in hanging on to it.

I wondered if my old, old, old Powerbook was worth anything, since it still runs, but the 12-pound 4 meg RAM behemoth is not one of the sought after ancient MAC models.  Even though it is just sitting in the bottom of the filing cabinet, I plan to wipe the information from it and go ahead and recycle it.  Again, there is no sense in hanging on to it.

I started the clear out because I got YET ANOTHER call from the doctor's office about the Theophylline prescription.  I am so bloody frustrated I can hardly stand it.  I say this because the nurse was asking me about the dosage level.  The dosage level that the on-call doctor yelled at me for correcting.  The pharmacy only got a temporary supply from him, so they needed to get my doctor to write a prescription with refills.  The nurse didn't understand.  So, uhm, she has in front of her access to medical records showing more than TWO YEARS of the proper dosage and she doesn't know what level I am supposed to be at.  While I did not weep, I hung up the phone and sank into deep despair.  Her final comment was that she would do 30 days.  Yep, that means I have to go through this all over again once more before my December 30th doctor appointment.

Sometimes, I think I should just stop taking the theophylline, faint more, fall down the stairs more, maybe break something, and hopefully go be with Jesus.  Prescriptions shouldn't be this hard.  They weren't.  They weren't until the doctor's office switched to digital records to comply with the Affordable Healthcare Act.  SIGH.

I have wondered about going ahead and trying to sell or donate (perhaps to Habitat for Humanity) my large wet/dry shop vac that has a pump.  After all, my basement here has channels and a gravity drain.  If, for some reason, I had water in the basement, I wouldn't be able to sop it all up anymore.  While it might be worth it to have the tool on hand, what are the odds?  The water heater is new.  It's not going to be breaking.  A pipe could fail, but any water from it could still just be squeegeed to the channels.  Keep the desk brush and squeegee, but let go the mammoth shop vac.

I also have a really large, heavy-weight canvas drop cloth that I bought for when I ripped down the first floor ceiling in my duplex in Alexandria.  I have a smaller painter's drop cloth someone left at the house years ago, so the mammoth one basically does not get used.  I did haul it out for when the closet in the basement was created by adding a wall to the steps from the outside entrance.  But that is the only time it was used—I believe—since I finished the ceiling some 13 or 14 years ago.  Or was it 15?  Anyway, getting rid of the drop cloth and the shop vac would create much open space in the utility closet.  And, perhaps, doing so would encourage me to not step back into the world of self-home repair.

See, I just talked myself into posting those two items!  They are now (after a short break from here) photographed and posted.  So, if they, too, are also not sold by December 1st, I will donate them as well.

My filing cabinet still has some of those ideas I would like to capture.  Perhaps once I get this latest round of sell-or-donate items out of the house, I will work on finally typing up all those documents and getting rid of the paper files.  I have two filing draws of thoughts ... or dreams ... that I only have on paper, not electronically.  For example, I have a suggestion sheet of tips that parents can use to encourage their children to read.

So, the filing cabinet really would be the last great frontier in my house where clear outs are involved.  The attic will have just a small area of things, such as the ceiling fan that would have gone into the living room (no ceiling fixture), luggage, and a few other storage items.  The basement utility closet (after the items above are removed) will be rather lean and mean.  And the only real stray items remaining in the basement are the office supplies I am slowly whittling away at and the 3-ring binders for which I have yet to find a home.  Those are all, though, tucked away nicely in bankers boxes on one of the sets of shelves.

I am rather tired from all the photographing and posting 15 listings.  Plus, all those cold symptoms are still lingering, but I am feeling immensely better.  I still believe it will be the weekend or so before I have no traces of those wretched germs left.  In any case, Amos feels rather strongly that he is in need of make-up snuggling time, since he had to take several naps all by his lonesome today.  Oh, the sacrifices that fluffy white canine lavender aromatherapy makes for me!


I am Yours, Lord.  Save me!