Tag Archives: 100 days

DAY EIGHTEEN: Another Monday

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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

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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.

room_hoarding

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 FIFTEEN: Survived the First Round

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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 FOURTEEN: Two Weeks and Nothing to Show For It

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I’m two weeks into this daily blogging about “doing stuff” and have pretty much nothing to show for it. Of course, that was kind of the point of this blog: to illustrate how, despite my efforts, I never get anything done or make any changes.

We got word at work today that the schools will be closed on Friday in advance of an approaching tropical storm. As an illustration of the environment at work: I did not hear a single staff member expressing concerns about the approaching storm, but there was widespread delight at the announcement of the school closures. People would rather face a potentially destructive hurricane than come to work. So it’s not just me.

I’m looking forward to the three-day weekend myself.

DAY TWELVE: Tuesday

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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 →

DAY ELEVEN: Monday

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Another Monday at work. Another day of making very little progress toward life-enhancing changes.

When I got home I found the baby gecko who had been living and growing in the kitchen for the past few weeks dead on the floor. He was intact, so I don’t think the cats got him. He wasn’t squished, so I don’t think I (or other household members) accidentally stepped on him. I suspect, from his location, that he got into one of the toxic roach traps and either ingested the roach poison or ate ants that had eaten poison.

I had been feeding the little guy ants whenever I saw him.  He also seemed to like bananas and spilled soda pop. He was becoming very tame, and seemed almost like he expected to be fed whenever he saw a person approaching. I  feel like I murdered a pet.

gecko

Granted, I did not put out the roach baits. Nor, however, did I protest or move the roach baits. If nothing else, I am guilty through inaction and negligence.

And I feel so sad I want to cry.

DAY EIGHT: Screens or Screams?

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Today I worked on re-screening the living room window screens – that sounds redundant, doesn’t it? – and of course the process unfolded more slowly and less smoothly than anticipated. I did not have enough screen material to complete the three screens on which I was working. Additionally, I managed to tear the second screen while installing the spline. A trip to the hardware store became necessary, this time to Lowe’s in Waikele, a forty or so minute drive away, because I was fairly certain Lowe’s would have what I needed. And they did. Still, after making the drive, looking for and buying what I needed, and then making a side-trip to Home Depot to check the dimensions on bathroom vent fans (the replacement fan motors carried by Lowe’s and Home Depot will not fit the existing box in the bathroom, of course), my buying trip ended up taking the better part of three hours. Continue reading DAY EIGHT: Screens or Screams? →