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Jun. 22nd, 2005 08:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aprilstarchildLast update, then I go home and do laundry and make dinner/tomorrow's lunch and pack up overdue library books and an outfit for my bellydancing class.
This is me, shamelessly begging people who are local:
I need help with my stuff. I am the pack rat from HELL with ADD who has moved something like four times now (possibly more, I'd have to count) without ever completely unpacking. Yes, I'm serious.
I want to have half as much stuff as I do now when I get an apartment. First of all because all that crap won't fit in a studio without covering every surface in stuff, secondly because I never even look at most of it!!
My plan as of right now is to go through my boxes, a few boxes a week or just for a few hours a few times a week. My brain can't handle any more than that, or I seriously get upset and agitated and cranky. My "moving date" is set for September first--yay for solid concrete goals--so that should be enough time.
So the idea is to open each box, figure out what I'm keeping/not keeping, re-packing the keepers (I figure I'll buy a different color duct tape or something to mark the "keeper" boxes), and taking the rest somewhere appropriate, probably Goodwill. Mostly because I don't think I want the hassle of trying to sell stuff, whether via yard sale or ebay or wtf-ever.
Now!! Here are some details:
What I really need is someone just to keep me company. That sounds odd, but it's true. I'm less likely to spend hours meandering down memory lane if someone is there. I still will--but instead you'll hear me talking about it, which seems to take less time than mentally wandering off. Your job won't necessarily be to keep me on task or anything, or even really help me--but just to stay there with me like some strange emotional anchor.
I will reimburse you. I'm looking at either actual hourly pay (I'm thinking $10/hr) or me taking you out for food. I'd cook for you, but Nana's weird about guests in her house. Maybe baked goods, I can make those ahead of time. You'll also, of course, have my undying gratitude. The form of reimbursement is negotiable on a person-by-person basis. I would prefer to pay you somehow. I have lovely giving friends, but I don't want to feel guilty or like I owe something to half of them.
Qualities required:
*Able to put up with me rambling on about where various objects came from and/or who/when/what they remind me of, without becoming impatient at how slow I am at the actual task.
*An ability to be in the upstairs area of an old-ass building. I very rarely see live spiders, but there are quite a few abandoned webs in some areas of the building (none near the actual workspace, if there are, I'll get rid of them before you're there). I'm arachnaphobic and it doesn't bother me all that much, so most of you should be okay. If you have severe dust or mold allergies, stay far far away. It's not kid-friendly--lots of old rusty and/or broken stuff (not mine), the stairs up have no railing, that sort of thing.
*You'll likely need your own transportation out here--I live five miles south of Hillsboro. Rides to and from town for those who need them, would have to be arranged ahead of time.
*Ability to stay calm even when I get frazzled. Any kind of organization is incredibly difficult for me, and adding random emotional crap on top of it makes it harder.
*No Toxic Help. Which is a nice way of saying: If you see that my room has no carpet showing except near the door and under the bed, if you notice how badly I pack my stuff, even things I profess to love; and all of it makes you think, "How can you live like this?" or "Goddamn what a slob," don't bother. The last thing I need is to worry about what you'll think of my messes. As a general rule I don't have food messes, nothing that actually gets moldy or bugs--but yes, it's a huge freaking mess. Know that ahead of time.
*People I know pretty dang well. A lot of the memories brought up by various belongings are not necessarily good ones. I don't expect that I'll cry or anything, but I'm more comfortable being slightly morose (and explaining why an object made me morose) around people that I'm close to. The last time I randomly opened some of the boxes, a lot of the stuff I saw was hard to deal with--"Do I get rid of this? How could I get rid of this?" --Issues Abound.
*I would prefer one "helper" at a time. Otherwise I'm too tempted to socialize because that's far more pleasant.
Again, keep in mind: this would be chunks of a few hours at a time, tops. I'd also be able to bring a radio up there. No cd player, just the radio.
If that didn't scare you completely away, call me or email me or just leave a comment.
This is me, shamelessly begging people who are local:
I need help with my stuff. I am the pack rat from HELL with ADD who has moved something like four times now (possibly more, I'd have to count) without ever completely unpacking. Yes, I'm serious.
I want to have half as much stuff as I do now when I get an apartment. First of all because all that crap won't fit in a studio without covering every surface in stuff, secondly because I never even look at most of it!!
My plan as of right now is to go through my boxes, a few boxes a week or just for a few hours a few times a week. My brain can't handle any more than that, or I seriously get upset and agitated and cranky. My "moving date" is set for September first--yay for solid concrete goals--so that should be enough time.
So the idea is to open each box, figure out what I'm keeping/not keeping, re-packing the keepers (I figure I'll buy a different color duct tape or something to mark the "keeper" boxes), and taking the rest somewhere appropriate, probably Goodwill. Mostly because I don't think I want the hassle of trying to sell stuff, whether via yard sale or ebay or wtf-ever.
Now!! Here are some details:
What I really need is someone just to keep me company. That sounds odd, but it's true. I'm less likely to spend hours meandering down memory lane if someone is there. I still will--but instead you'll hear me talking about it, which seems to take less time than mentally wandering off. Your job won't necessarily be to keep me on task or anything, or even really help me--but just to stay there with me like some strange emotional anchor.
I will reimburse you. I'm looking at either actual hourly pay (I'm thinking $10/hr) or me taking you out for food. I'd cook for you, but Nana's weird about guests in her house. Maybe baked goods, I can make those ahead of time. You'll also, of course, have my undying gratitude. The form of reimbursement is negotiable on a person-by-person basis. I would prefer to pay you somehow. I have lovely giving friends, but I don't want to feel guilty or like I owe something to half of them.
Qualities required:
*Able to put up with me rambling on about where various objects came from and/or who/when/what they remind me of, without becoming impatient at how slow I am at the actual task.
*An ability to be in the upstairs area of an old-ass building. I very rarely see live spiders, but there are quite a few abandoned webs in some areas of the building (none near the actual workspace, if there are, I'll get rid of them before you're there). I'm arachnaphobic and it doesn't bother me all that much, so most of you should be okay. If you have severe dust or mold allergies, stay far far away. It's not kid-friendly--lots of old rusty and/or broken stuff (not mine), the stairs up have no railing, that sort of thing.
*You'll likely need your own transportation out here--I live five miles south of Hillsboro. Rides to and from town for those who need them, would have to be arranged ahead of time.
*Ability to stay calm even when I get frazzled. Any kind of organization is incredibly difficult for me, and adding random emotional crap on top of it makes it harder.
*No Toxic Help. Which is a nice way of saying: If you see that my room has no carpet showing except near the door and under the bed, if you notice how badly I pack my stuff, even things I profess to love; and all of it makes you think, "How can you live like this?" or "Goddamn what a slob," don't bother. The last thing I need is to worry about what you'll think of my messes. As a general rule I don't have food messes, nothing that actually gets moldy or bugs--but yes, it's a huge freaking mess. Know that ahead of time.
*People I know pretty dang well. A lot of the memories brought up by various belongings are not necessarily good ones. I don't expect that I'll cry or anything, but I'm more comfortable being slightly morose (and explaining why an object made me morose) around people that I'm close to. The last time I randomly opened some of the boxes, a lot of the stuff I saw was hard to deal with--"Do I get rid of this? How could I get rid of this?" --Issues Abound.
*I would prefer one "helper" at a time. Otherwise I'm too tempted to socialize because that's far more pleasant.
Again, keep in mind: this would be chunks of a few hours at a time, tops. I'd also be able to bring a radio up there. No cd player, just the radio.
If that didn't scare you completely away, call me or email me or just leave a comment.
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 04:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 04:29 am (UTC)Yay!
no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 04:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 04:31 am (UTC)Oh yeah, it's a Wednesday, your workweek is over. *lol*
Next week: I have my bellydancing class Thursday night, am I staying there both that night and Friday? I know we talked about it but I can't remember all the details.
Also, re: this Saturday: I'm either going to have to skip Noir or get back dang early. I'm still on coffee hour for church, and to boot it's the summer potluck thing, and the guy doing the grill promised to buy me vegan hot dogs.
no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 03:40 pm (UTC)As for Noir this week, I'm really hoping to shut the place down actually. I haven't been out in more than a month and I'm going a bit stir crazy. Maybe we should hit The Fez together next friday instead?
no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 06:40 pm (UTC)Fair warning: I'm going to want to hit Fez or Backroom when I get back from Utah. Dancing before I leave, dancing after I get back... :)
no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-24 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-26 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 06:10 am (UTC)But I know how you feel. I have a garage full of things that I can't bear to get rid of. And I do the same thing, I get nostalgic about things, or I'll look thru old photographs. I get sidetracked because I don't want to get rid of anything.
(I have this big box of stuff labeled "constitution class stuff" copies of newspaper articles, legal cases, etc that weighs about 40 lbs. I took the class when I was 15. That was 17 years ago. My mom keeps threatening me to come into my garage and throw it away for me. But for some reason I can't bear to part with it. It was one of the most wonderful eyeopening years that I had when I was a teenager. Besides, who knows when you'll need to be able to look up information about the constitution?)
no subject
Date: 2005-06-26 12:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-23 07:43 am (UTC)It might be easier if you said I'm going to move X number of boxes. Get that number of boxes and mark them. Anything you can't put in those boxes either goes in the trash or to good will. 2 things get accomplished this way. It's much easier to prioritize what is mearly nostalgic and what is actually important. You will pack very tidily because the neater you are, the more stuff you can get in each individual box.
When I moved the last time I said I would move 7 boxes of personal items. This isn't clothes or kitchen stuff, but just purely personal stuff: papers, drawings, journals, pictures, little glass turtles from bulgaria, letters that I had gotten from my great grandmother, and mother... The birthday cards from last year (or year before last, or 1994) all got chucked. Oh and the entire newspaper that was printed on my birthday 4 years ago (why the hell did I save that?). Once I moved I went through all those boxes again and got it down to 3 boxes and one very ratty quilt my mother made when I was about 6 that we used to play on. The quilt isn't in a box its in a very lumpy pile up in my meditation space.
I would love to help but I'm too far away!
Date: 2005-06-23 08:50 pm (UTC)