Today I discarded the equivalent of at least four “apple box” size cartons of packaging material from the toys and dolls I’ve been deboxing. I unboxed my Pinky:st hoard today, including “rare” figures like Tenjho Tenge sets, Post Pets, and even sealed-carton Pucchi, Air Gear Ringo, and Gunslinger Girl Henrietta figures. Research on eBay indicates that boxed Pinky:st figures are not holding any resale value. I unboxed everything, threw away or recycled the packaging, and put the figures into plastic sandwich bags and then stored them in a plastic tub. I used a plastic storage tub that I already had, one that I had emptied when I more efficiently repacked my larger-scale dolls and toys last week. Continue reading DAY TWENTY-TWO: More Decluttering
Category Archives: 100 Days
DAY TWENTY-ONE: Nothing New Under the Sun (Hardly)
I accomplished very little today beyond going to work and coming home. I spent a bit of time working on decluttering The Room of Doom, but progress seems infinitesimal.
I read a quote from author Jack London on a web site called The Art of Adventure. The London quote led me to look at a bit of biographical info on London. That guy accomplished more between the ages of 13 and 17 than I have, or ever will, in my lifetime! Time have changed, though. How likely is it that a 13 year old, or even a 30 year old, or a 60 year old, could make enough money working a menial job for a few months to buy a sloop and go into the oyster fishing business… or oyster piracy business, in London’s case? How likely is it that someone of young years and zero experience could get hired on to a ship crew for a voyage to Asia? In many ways the world today offers far more opportunity than the world of the 1880s… like not dying of smallpox or cholera, for instance. But in other ways, opportunity is significantly more limited, particularly as a result of the increased financial cost of… everything.
Anyway, I need to turn off the Interwebz browser and declutter some more.
Three day weekend. Gotta make a list of things to do. They will be boring, around-the-house things, the same things I’ve been working on for seemingly forever, but more realistically what has been about three weeks. Progress seems slow, if there’s been any progress at all, but they’re baby steps in the right direction. Of course, what’s the point in taking baby steps in the right direction if the ultimate destination is as far away as the moon?
DAY TWENTY: What th’ Devil?
“Satan is god! Satan is god!” This is what a 9-year old kid in my class was spouting today, mostly to draw attention to himself and draw a rise out of the other kids. At least I hope that’s why he was saying it. Working as I do in the public school system, I have to be tolerant of all religious viewpoints, so beyond trying to quietly shush the little devil-worshipper… well, what can I say? I was trying very hard, but somewhat unsuccessfully, not to laugh. Less than two weeks into the new school year, the Crazy Train – actually, a few years ago a friend christened it The Circus Train to the Twilight Zone – is already at full-throttle.
And I want off this ride! Continue reading DAY TWENTY: What th’ Devil?
DAY NINETEEN: Deboxing Dollies
I finished de-boxing dolls and toys… I think. I hope. I even de-boxed several figures that I’d wanted to keep pristine, including Ghouls Rule Draculaura and original issue Jinafire. I may end up regretting that move down the road, particularly the Ghouls Rule Draculaura figure, which I predict will one day be of significant value due to the attractiveness and the complexity of the figure. She has giant bat wings!
Somehow, I do not seem to have realized a significant increase in available space, despite the voluminous amounts of packaging I’ve carted to the recycle and rubbish bins. This is disappointing. Then again, everything I undertake results in disappointment and failure, so why am I surprised?
DAY EIGHTEEN: Another Monday
Another Monday at work. Whatevahs.
After work I caulked the ceiling edges and the front part of the counters in the kitchen. The fronts of some… most… of the kitchen cabinets are extremely weathered and the finish is flaking or peeling. I tested a quickie refinishing technique on a couple of sections, rubbing oil stain into the weathered wood using steel wool. It doesn’t look “new,” but it looks better than it did. I think I’ll be able to use this method on most of the weathered cabinets, and then brush coat everything with varnish. It will be easier than painting everything, and it will look less neglected than it does now. There’s not much point in putting too much effort or expense into the kitchen cabinets, as I’m sure that, were the house to sell, a new owner would tear everything out and replace all the cabinets and counter tops anyway.
I also managed to debox more toys and move them into storage containers. I’m down to about a dozen or so left to do. There are a few figures I am hesitant to unbox and I’ve been leaving them until last. Over the past few days I’ve been thinking about how much space they take up in their original cartons, how much effort goes in to taking care of them and boxing them properly so the cartons don’t get scuffed or damaged in storage, and how I did not intend to “collect” these items, but rather to use them as photography props, and that is leading me closer to deboxing everything.
Okay, almost everything. I still have a set of the original Monster High “First Wave” figures: Draculaura, Frankie, Clawdeen, and Lagoona – I’m hoping there’s a Ghoulia in there too – that are sealed up in a sturdy packing box and that I have no intention of opening.
The dolls are only part of my “hoard,” however. I am not sure what’s in all the other boxes in the Room of Doom. Books, I know. Some Pinky:st figures. And just… stuff.
A bit at a time, that’s the only way to get through it.
I really hope we can sell this house for enough money to make a move feasible. I hope I can complete enough decluttering and enough painting and repairs to meet the self-imposed “three month plan” or “100 Days” timeline. So far… so slow!
DAY SEVENTEEN: And So It Goes
Yesterday morning the bathroom scale showed 194 pounds, so I went out and ran 12 kilometers, or about seven miles. Today the bathroom scale displayed 195 pounds. Yet another illustration of how my “steps,” no matter what the endeavor, tend to lead backwards.
Attacking my “hoard” of boxed toys is taking a considerable emotional toll, but it’s starting to clear out a little bit of space. As soon as I’ve finished typing here I shall be de-boxing the Monster High figures visible in this photo. If I counted correctly, I believe I found one-hundred nine boxed dolls stashed away. Eighteen are headed directly to eBay. The others will be de-boxed and stored in plastic tubs for now.
In an effort to gain even more weight, I ran again today, both more slowly than yesterday and less far, only 10 kilometers.
DAY SIXTEEN: Duh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh… FATMAN!
The bathroom scale read 194.6 pounds this morning, so I went for a seven mile run. It was my first attempt at running in over a month. While I was running I had all kinds of ideas for brilliant, clever, witty posts for this web site. Continue reading DAY SIXTEEN: Duh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuh… FATMAN!
DAY FIFTEEN: Survived the First Round
The first hurricane, Iselle, brought only moderate rains and wind to Oahu. Now Hurricane Julio is queued up to strike.
The touchpad on my MacBook Pro is becoming so unresponsive that navigating on the computer is becoming a hassle, to the point where I’m even more disinclined to do anything productive or creative with this website than I have been thus far.
Today I caulked around the ceiling in the bathroom. I still need to work on the lower edges of the wall around the floors and the tub. I also started deboxing a lot of toys I had “hoarded” for possible investment value. The hoard totals… erm… a ridiculous 110 “action figures.” I’ve been looking up some of the items on eBay. If they’re not selling, I’m deboxing them to save space and putting the loose figures into plastic storage tubs for now. If they are selling for anywhere close to what I paid for them, I intend to list them for sale. Taking toys out of their packaging can be a tedious, time-consuming process. So is listing items for eBay. So is caulking the bathroom. Everything takes forever.
DAY THIRTEEN: Lack of Focus
We had a largely pointless, but extra-long, faculty meeting at work today. In my notebook I ran across a comment I had written down back in April 2014, toward the end of last school year: Continue reading DAY THIRTEEN: Lack of Focus
DAY TWELVE: Tuesday
It’s only Tuesday and the midweek blahs have already set in. I feel I’m accomplishing nothing in my efforts to make changes in my life. I blame this on my work schedule, and being too tired after work to do much of anything after waking up at 5:00 a.m. I am not a “morning person,” I never have been, and efforts in the past to change that have been futile. It doesn’t matter what time I try to get to bed, my foggy brain simply does not want to function at a time that has a “5” in the hours position.
After work I hosed off my car. I have not washed the car in two or three years, and yesterday while filling it up with gasoline I noticed that it is looking so dreadful and pathetic, covered in bird dung and road dust and general grit, that even I could not stand it anymore. My plan is to hose off the car each day this week to loosen up the accumulated grime, and then wash it properly this coming weekend. Continue reading DAY TWELVE: Tuesday