Monday, August 4, 2014

Another exhausting day


Yesterday (Sunday) we moved another couple of pickup trucks worth of boxes, bags and bits from our old residence to our new one.  Thank heavens for the help of friends!  We'd never be able to do all this without them.  Miss D. and I collapsed into bed early yesterday evening, completely worn out.

Things are beginning to make sense at the new place.  Our bedroom's organized enough to find the basics (including our bed, which is a Good Thing).  The kitchen's still rather disorganized, and most of our pantry is still at the old place, but that's one reason why restaurants were invented, right?  We'll get that sorted out over the next few days.

My biggest challenge in this move is to get rid of a huge amount of stuff I've accumulated over several decades.  Miss D. moved fairly often in her single days, which means she didn't accumulate too many bits and pieces and so has less to worry about.  However, I have a library of over 4,000 books that used to occupy 13 6-foot-tall bookcases plus a few small ones;  tools;  my firearms, ammunition and accessories;  and other stuff too.  There's also our emergency supplies, which I've tried to maintain at a level to allow us to get through an emergency lasting two to three months.  I regard them as worthwhile, but they take up space, too.

I've temporarily rented a storage unit to house the overflow.  We'd like to get to the point where, by Christmas, everything fits into the smallish duplex in which we now live, to make future moves easier;  but it's going to be like pulling teeth for me to get rid of some things.  For example, my library will have to be reduced to the point that it fits into no more than five bookcases.  That means 2,500 to 3,000 books will have to go.  Many of them aren't available in electronic format, and some are irreplaceable.  I'm going to have to decide which are really important to me, and which are "nice to have but not essential".  I guess the local used book stores are in for a treat . . .

I'll say this for moving:  it gives you a real incentive to cut down on the amount of "stuff" you own, in order to minimize the pain of the next move!

Peter

10 comments:

Robb Allen said...

You're not helping my dread. We're trying to get our house sold so we can buy the next one, and the idea of moving keeps me up at night.

We're hiring guys to take care of the furniture and the big stuff, we'll trickle the smaller things over ourselves.

But yes, we've been 'downsizing' our stuff and for packrats like myself, that can be painful.

Anonymous said...

What kind of books? Do you want to sell any of them? I'm still collecting and we seem to have a lot of the same interests, hence the titles of the books may be something I'd be interested in.

Anonymous said...

Why not list the ones you have to part with here and sell them?

Gerry

Anonymous said...

What Gerry said. List what you absolutely must part with, and prices you'd like, and I bet word will spread very quickly.

LittleRed1

Paul said...

Never move. That is what I am telling myself. Even though I am finding my current location nearly untenable after living there 26 odd years.

Sherm said...

My basic rule for books is to only keep those that are worth reading again. Since I hesitate to buy any book that, from the get go, I'd not read twice our book inventory has been culled, over the years, to a paltry six or seven bookcases (including one containing every issue of American Heritage magazine since December 1954).
Purchasing volumes from the Library of America (http://www.loa.org) helped a lot. My Twain collection, for example, is down to seven books containing most everything he published.

Mark J said...

I would also be interested in purchasing any titles you may decide to part ways with. Hopefully this would help with any additional expenses which may have arisen from the move and benefit those of us who would like to add to our esoteric libraries. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I believe it was Twain that said, "Two moves equals one fire."

Best of luck finishing up the move and downsizing. The Wife and I have been through it a number of times in the 15 years we have been together.

FormerFLyer

Anonymous said...

It would be the MOST AWESOME GARAGE SALE EVAR.

Antibubba

Alanatswbell said...

Yes, Please post an list and prices of what you will get rid of.