RomanceClass.com Forums Romance Organizing and Cleaning Basement Cleaning

Our basement has been a gigantic pile of junk for a long time. We have two kayaks about to be covered with snow, which can't be good for them. So I finally dragged Bob downstairs last night to help me with some basement cleaning. Most of this is his junk, his tools and supplies and such.

We spent several hours down there and moved the Bowflex into a new place, moved my Dance Dance Revolution into a new place. We haven't used either in more than a year because of the junk in front of them. So now I can actually do my dancing again, which I miss!

He's off doing a chore but when he gets back we will put the kayaks in their corner, thank goodness, and one stage of cleaning will be done.

just open the doors and have a yard sale...instead of moving this from this spot and lets put it over there in that spot lol...it sounds like your rearranging a house room of furniture ...better you than me...

Dear Illusive -

We did do that several years ago, and it was very stressful. Also I think most of the junk now in the basement is now stuff that would sell. A lot of it needs to be recycled or thrown out. Much of it was waiting for our niece / nephew to come down and get and they never did. In fact, let me call my niece right now!

Hmmm. No answer. Well I left a message so at least that is progress!

giggle...always the way...its progress if they call back and say sure we will come...ohhhhhhh gotta luv the hurry and wait thing i guess or go nuts.

I finally convinced my neighbor to call 1 800 GOT JUNK and she was surprised how reasonable they are. They cleaned out her entire basement as she pointed at stuff to go to junk. When they were done she clean and rearranged the stuff she kept and now has a basement to use.

I would rather call www.collegehunks.com. Its a national company of guys who make money for school. College Hunks Hauling Junk!

Tessboss - I believe it was the College Hunks guys who wrote Effortless Entrepreneur -

http://www.lisashea.com/workfromhome/bookreviews/effortlessentrepreneur.html

I highly warn against the book and against the company. They gleefully suggested illegal activities, and were very denigrating to women.

I remember your review for that book, and how they kept harassing your review. Yeah, I would not go with them.

Well, the kayaks got into the basement, and we did do a small bit of reorganizing, but it's still a mess down there. Part of the problem is I am so flat out with other work that I can't make time to do this.

Step by step I need to offload some of my tasks so I can get some order back into my world

Still, at least the kayaks are in. One step at a time. I have a pile of kiln-related stuff in my office. I will take that back into the basement right now, that will be a step in the right direction!

congrats on getting the kayaks in!

The kiln stuff is in the basement, and the steel pile is gone, so little steps are helping. However the basement is still a fair mess. I have my dance-dance setup down there so I really want to get it clean. But most of it is Bob's stuff. So I need to start making time for that.

Steel - is - gone!!!! Now that is a cause to celebrate!

I am quick to point out that we still have a barely-functional dishwasher and a barely-functional washing machine. But I should count my victories where I have them.

yes,sure.


Today was overall a terrible, traumatic day for me. first i was dealing with the threat of marshalls dragging me away again. That took up the entire day. After things stabilized, i checked my mail box. Two letters to me. One was my acceptance letter for a free vision exam and eyeglasses with the Lions Club and the Old Town Mission.

The other was a court-ordered court date with a fee of $1000 on top.

I did have to slink into bed after that last one, but i am at least glad the eye care thing finally finally came through.

So, YAY for steel pickup!

good lawd jilly i think id slink into bed on that one also...did you know it was going to happen tho...and my gosh i simply can not picture you being dragged away by marshalls ...what on earth for...lawdie we have all sorts of harden criminals out there is this the best they can do for their salary...sigh and then you say ...dragging you away ...again...how often does this happen...

Last year I was dragged away by marshalls because they were told i was going to kill myself. I have a terror of ever having them come on my property again.

well who gave them THAT idea in the first place and what made them think you were in the second place.

sounds like your life is never dull for sure jilly...wishing you MUCH better times girl

Dear Jilly -

It's great that you got the eye exam paperwork, that is wonderful!

Don't worry about the court date for now. It will work out somehow. Focus on your small victories. You have the cars organized so that is no longer an issue for the neighbors. Today came and went without further issue in that area. That is the main thing.

You can take on tomorrow when tomorrow comes.

yep one positive step at a time...you just dont let it ALL overwhelm ...just keep picking a bit here and there at the issues...it will all fall into place. im certain the light is right there over yonder...do you see it???

Absolutely right, Illusive. Like a bird! I can keep picking at the big things and eventually wear them away.

the court thing is going to be very terribly stressful but i do not have to think about it today.

there is something about court that does that to everyone...i think , mind you now i said think, its a sense of losing control and what happens is decided by someone else...a certain loss of what we consider our freedom ..if you will.

Yes! A loss of control, my fate lies in the variegated personal whims of those society has deemed in authority. With a wave of the arm they could dismiss the whole non-criminal thing and give me a warning against next time.

And, also stressy - the loss of $1000 that I do not have. Last year I made $7500 total. This year I am applying for disability. I doubt the civil courts care how much of my income $1000 is.

some do Jilly because over time they realize you cant get blood from a stone..and so set it up for small reg. payments and yes i know even at that its a hardship.

I'm back to the basement project again, because now we have to get the kayaks back in there again. And I **never danced** all year long because it is still messy down there. This is just silly.

Hopefully this weekend we will get the kayaks inside in advance of this hurricane that is coming. So that might let us at least tackle one tiny corner. We have to get that junk out of the house.

Since I moved back into Serenity the RV, I now have basements again. It's been a few years since I looked in there. I'm thinking maybe to start changing things out, put in actually useful things, remove the whatever i haven't needed in all this time.

What's nice about class A motorhomes is all the massive basement room. What's hard about the basements is that you have to pretty much sit or lie down on the ground to use the spaces.

Dear Jilly -

That is great that you have basements! I agree that if you haven't used something in a few years it's at least worth looking at. Sometimes there are legitimately things we only use every few years. But many times it's a sign of clutter.

Our basement is still an untouched, giant mess. It frustrates me, but we have made a lot of progress on the upstairs rooms. So I'm focusing on priorities. We have done quite a lot of cleaning out and giving away and organizing in the main household areas. Still a mess, but taking those small steps. The basement will have to wait until we get through this other stuff.

Maybe we can help each other get rid or, clean or organize ONE thing. Even just one thing, right now.

Alright! I grabbed a stack of RV resort magazines that I certainly won't be using again. Probably. Maybe. Anyway, I really don't need these. What do i do with them?

Jilly -

I think the web will provide far more accurate information for you than those old magazines could. Great choice!

Do you have a local senior center? My senior center loves magazines of all types. The people there simply enjoy reading, no matter what the topic.

OK I will tackle my basement tomorrow and try to do just one thing down there.

Yes, I give my senior center thrift store magazines all the time. Actually, I used to. I started getting a little put off by the amount of nice things they toss in their dumpsters (yes, I look).

Now I bring them to my Guidance Clinic and stick them in the magazine racks for people to enjoy. I go there weekly anyway, so i am happy to bring down a stack of catalogues and magazines that at least will get looked at.

I've become paranoid about thrift stores since seeing what goes on in their various dumpsters around town. It upsets me that things i make an effort to pass along end up tossed in landfills anyway. It makes me start hoarding, which is not good. I think I will start a topic on the hoarding subject.

Dear Jilly -

It's always a shame when groups throw things away that were donated to them. Hopefully at some point they will connect with another charity which can use those things.

I try to donate to thrift stores that have downstream options, but i think even thrift places are so overwhelmed with stuff these days, that there are no good solutions.