My den move... continues (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

Even though I have been working from my new den (CR's old bedroom) for a while now, it's been slow going to get it squared away. I still don't have all my stuff from my old den up here. Just most of it. A majority of the work has been going through my possessions and sorting them. This seems to be the sorting method:

1. If I don't want it, and it's trash, toss it
   
2. If I don't want it, and it's paperwork, shred it
   
3. If I don't want it, but think it's still useful to somebody, it's been put in a box labeled as such. So far the Heare kids are going to get many toys, and I have to sneak this past their parents, because with 4 kids, they have far too many toys as it is. They have even expressly asked not to give their kids any more toys. Of course I have to disobey this, it's my job as the "fun Uncle."
   
4. If I do want it, but can't let go of it for emotional bullshit reasons, it gets boxed and labeled.
   
5. If I do want it, but I won't use it for a while, it gets boxed and labeled.
   
6. If I do want it, and it's paperwork, it gets filed
   
7. If I do want it, and it's not paperwork, but small, it's going in a universal "junk box" to be sorted later
   
8. If I do want it, and it's not small... fuck, where am I going to put this? Try again from step 3.
   

Oddly enough, this isn't all that bad. I have generated a LOT of trash. Right now, I have more empty boxes than full ones. I have even had the "luxury" of throwing away cheap, torn, or stained boxes because I am keeping the more sturdy ones. A pile of empty boxes sits in one corner, waiting to be used, or given to anyarm and Brian, when the move out in just a few months from now (sad face). Posted in: cr , den , move

More moving (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

Well, I did more moving of stuff Sunday from CR's room to my new room. I moved all my knick-knacks to my new shelf. I took several boxes of Legos and condensed them into three large bins, and then a few unopened complete sets were sorted into various smaller boxes. I have about 65-75 gallons of Legos, if anyone is keeping count. I know I do :).

I wish I had more Lego time. I was trying to think of the last major Lego set I built, and it was the Viking ship I got for my birthday years ago. I have about 10 sets I haven't even built yet. That's why I stopped asking for Legos as presents (for now).

Then the power went out around 3. That pretty much killed my day. The wind was really bad yesterday, and finally, it took down some power lines nearby. I couldn't do much but move boxes around until it got too dark to see, and then the house was pretty cold because I have electric heat. I couldn't watch TV, and CR left to go eat Pho with his friend Eugene. I couldn't do dishes, vacuum, laundry, or anything but read Mad Magazine by candlelight.

My house was without power until maybe about 7pm. When it came back on, it stuttered a while until it finally stuck. During the daylight, I got some cleaning down that didn't require electricity, like some good scrubbing in the kitchen (until I ran out of hot water) and then the long terrible task of cleaning up foam peanuts.

Because of takayla's Slumber Party business, she was out all day. Another issue we have with her business is that she gets products packed with those foam packing peanuts. Lots of them. Generally we have about a trash bag a week filled with excess peanuts. Latte got into one of them, and scattered them all over the house. In addition, she decided that not only are foam peanuts fun to play with, they were also fun to burrow into and sleep in. We only knew she was in there because she snores very loudly. It took me an hour to clean up all the loose peanuts Latte scattered everywhere. Posted in: den , foam peanuts , legos , move

Hurts my bones (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

Man, all that work yesterday put a stress on my joints. With all the weather changes and arthritis, I feel like "Owwww..." I got a lot of stuff done by the time the night was done. There was more moving of stuff between CR's room and mine. Now he has 2/3rds of my old den to himself, and I cleared out a small alcove that had a lot of old computer books and CDs. Now I am starting to pile his boxes of his stuff in there.

I have found out that "Little Tykes" vehicles (you know, the large rounded trucks and cars for little kids) comes out real clean in the dishwasher if you wash them on "Heavy Duty" and turn off the "heated dry" (was afraid they might melt). I found some of CR's old trucks and stuff, and gave them a good clean scrubbing. I think they might do okay in the attic, because while it gets up to like 140 degrees up there, I have plastic boxes that survive just fine. And now that I have sorted out the attic, there's more room. Posted in: arthritis , little tykes , move , washing

More housework (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

I got a lot done today. Not as much as I would have liked, but a lot nonetheless. Several loads of dishes, many loads of laundry (yay) and more boxes from my old den to my new one.

In the move, I found (sniff) some old photos I thought were long gone. This is in GREAT thanks to my friend Neal, who sent me these photos in a package of "memories I got from you, since you lost a lot of memories in the flood."

Photos from 20 years ago. A few con photos, notably Disclave 87 when I was still in high school, and Evecon 5, when I lived with Bruce and Cheryl. I will post them when I have time to scan them. Posted in: den , disclave , evecon , fantek , housework , move

Still not at 100% (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

I think I have been "well" since Tuesday morning, but my lungs are still trying to collect gunk. I have had this happen before I feel better from a "minor cold" and a few days later I got pneumonia. Of course, that's not a forgone conclusion by any means, it's just after a few times of this happening, you get scared every time. I keep taking an expectorant (Mucinex), which seems to help. Perhaps I am worrying too much.

Last night I was well enough to catch up on some of the backlog of housework (laundry, dishes, trash) and moving my stuff from my old den to the new one. CR now had half of my old den available to him, including my old desk. I miss that desk because it was very functional and useful, but it was a particle board thing from Office Depot I got in early 1999, and it barely survived the move from Reston to Fairfax as it was. The base is split and sagging. But I paid $149 for it and it lasted me 9 years of good service, which is roughly $16/year. That's a good value in my book. Posted in: desk , health , medical , move , sick

The move continues (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

CR is now sleeping in my old den, and my den is now getting set up in his old bedroom. There's still a lot of moving that still needs done, but most of my furniture is out except a filing cabinet and a shelf. The majority of moving now means carrying boxes and assorted loose stuff from his new room to my new den. And then doing the reverse for his stuff. Sadly, since his room is smaller, I have to take all my stuff out first before I can put his stuff in.

Last night, after stacking some containers and consolidating crates of stuff I just tossed together, I repaired my "new" (really, stodgycat's old) dual-recliner love seat. We had taken parts out to fit it through my door, and I put them all back and reclined in my new den... gazed at my new ceiling fan making a nice breeze... and felt relaxed.

God, though, the walls are so ugly. The previous owner's two older boys had this room, and the decor was a strip of border paper on the top of the walls that show killer whales mating or something. The rest of the white walls are dotted with teal green sponge prints, as you can see on the left. I think I will get some base coat and white it all out, and then eventually paint the walls a very calming pale blue and pale green. Posted in: cr , move , room , ugly walls

This weekend's plans (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

I was going to the beach this weekend (yes, in late fall), but oddly enough, the group I was going with had too many members get sick. One had pneumonia, and one was out of work for weeks with whatever she had. Considering how susceptible I am to bacterial infections in the ENT and lungs department, I am glad I dodged that bullet. We're rescheduling for next year (yes, probably with winter). ninjacooter? Get better, please. :)

I hope to get more of CR's stuff and my stuff swapped this weekend. Posted in: cr , move , room , weekend

punkwalrus @ 2007-11-27T15:56:00 (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

CR finally got his hair cut. It had been very long, and I think it was starting to bother him. He got it cut short like mine, and he looks very nice. While I didn't like him having long hair, he always kept it clean. The way I saw it is that this was the time he could have long hair and not worry about the stigma you get as a male adult.

He's still sick, however. Well, I am not sure it qualifies as "sick" anymore, because now it's more of long-lasting thing with his asthma. He sees the pulmonary specialist again on Thursday.

The progression to move my den to his room and vice versa still goes on. It's slow going because I am the only one who can move anything, and I am down to furniture and boxes. Actually, part of the problem is I am out of boxes. But the last 4 day weekend gave me enough time to move myself to his old room, so I am hoping that the rest of the move will go quicker. Posted in: asthma , cr , den , medical , move , room

More weekend madness: moving rooms (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

So far, I have managed not to get sick despite being exposed to many sick people over the last week. This is a great streak for me, usually I am down and out for the count after just one sneezy exposed person.

I worked my hardest to get CR out of his room and into mine (and vice versa). I was supposed to do a lot of packing and moving by this weekend, but due to being on call and other issues, I barely scraped more than a few boxes of crap. At least I got my table cleared. I also managed to buy a new door, get the network rewired (my den used to be the central network source), and a new ceiling fan put in. That would have been IMPOSSIBLE had it not been for the invaluable help from tth and Chris, known as "gypsy_sylvin's Chris."

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you guys! [grovel]

They did a majority of the cat6 wiring work, as well as hauling me back and forth from Lowes. I found out my beloved Sears Craftsman drill is dead. I am not sure if both rechargeable batteries are dead or the drill itself. :( And I found replacement drills are VERY expensive; I paid $65 for mine in 2000, and a replacement is like $199. Fuck me.

I did all the ceiling fan work. CR ruined his by smashing out the light portion some years ago, and more recently, breaking a fan blade. Now there is a lovely 3-blade 50" fan light with a slim profile and I must say, I am proud of myself for getting it all wired right, working, and working SMOOTHLY; ceiling fans are very prone to wobble if not installed to a millimeter of precision, and I am proud to say there's nary a wobble, and when you're under it, it makes a cool swooshing noise. It's the ONLY ceiling fan we have that does not wobble (the previous owners bought cheap fans and installed them badly).

The door still needs drilled and hung. Due to the previous owner's "bargain buys," they had a really non-standard door for CR's room which broke in part due to being cheap and CR's lack of care in taking care of a cheap door hastened its eventual decline. There was also an incident when it got stuck, and I had to beat it down. The old one was held together with duct tape, had no doorknob anymore, and was garishly colored (the previous owner also had this theory to save paint you put on one primer and then dab dots all over the room with a sponge to give it a stippled effect).

More moving needs to be done. I have to totally clean out his room to make room for my stuff. There are simply not enough boxes. I think out of 100% of stuff, we have boxes for 20-30% of it. I have thrown away a LOT, and still... more stuff. I just never ends. This weekend I finally got my work table cleared. Posted in: cr , house , move , room