Since i have been a little more nomadic than usual the past 18 months or so, i do not have a very good idea where my things are. I do not think of myself as very materialistic, but i do have some things that i enjoy quite a bit and like to keep on hand. One recent example was the search for fiction before the Mexico trip and my inability to locate all of Asimov’s Foundation Universe novels and Herbert’s Dune novels. Another more recent example is the unfulfilled desire to watch some films on DVD, since i do not know where my DVDs are right now.
A quick bit of background. I came home from India and soon thereafter moved to Arizona. After a year in AZ, i moved back East, originally setting-up in my old suite in my folks’ basement in PA. I was splitting my time between PA and Richmond (RVA) and other points further south, and my grandfather was soon to return to PA to stay with my folks for about 6 months.
I closed out my grandpa’s house in Brandon, MS and drove his bedroom set to PA. I packed up my stuff quickly and took it to the family storage shed and set-up the basement with all of my grandfather’s gear. I did all this very quickly, because i was always eager to get back to RVA to see a girl. I also was expecting at that time to have a job in RVA soon and to move back down there. That project got delayed and complicated for reasons that are best suited to another discussion.
The point is that i packed my stuff quickly and haphazardly. Some of my books were put in wine boxes, most in paper bags or backpacks. Some things went out to the storage shed, and some were hidden in closets or under the stairs or the attic at my folks’ place.
Another factor to add to the chaos. During this period i remodeled the first floor of my folks place. I took everything apart and rebuilt it. So, we had to move a lot of things around in order to make room for that project. After that, we had a painter come in and do the whole house – another period of rapid packing and moving of items. And that was capped off with my remodel of the bathroom in the basement. Keeping track of exactly what is where has not been easy.
Yesterday i said ‘Enough’! In addition to wanting to find my stuff and get it organized, i was also without my computer as it was getting its Superdrive replaced at the Apple store. I spent an hour or so at the storage shed, and two hours at home collecting books and looking for other things. Then i began sorting…
*by this late hour, my laptop was back and smart enough to read CDs and DVDs again.
The boxes i bought on the first run to the store are way too big to deal with books. So, despite weariness and the late hour, i went back out to find small boxes. Without putting some order to this mess, i would have no place to sleep.
A few hours later – Presto!
