Big news on the clear cut front.
My two major piles -- to Goodwill and the dump -- are finally out of the house. That is the Goodwill pile at the top of this post.
I finally decided the easiest (and quickest) solution was to hire a small U-Haul truck. I estimated two trips. And that is what it took. Too full loads.
What you see in the photograph is only about half of the Goodwill load. It was a big mix. Almost everything could have been flogged in a garage sale -- or with lots of eBay activity.
I had neither the time nor the inclination. In fact, if I had all the time in the world, I would not have had the inclination.
That pile was teamed up with hundreds of pounds of vinyl records (a collection I began when I was in grade school), an expensive turntable, several lamps, two brass storage cubes (I had the good sense never to op them with a bridge of glass and pretend it was a coffee table), and about nine filing cabinets from my old law practice.
There were lots of memories in the pile. But after four years of not using any of the items, it felt rather good to watch it all go.
The second trip was to the dump. For all of the items that were still useful to someone, there were plenty of things that should have been thrown away years ago. If I lived in Mexico, most of it would have been used for another purpose. But it was the type of stuff that even Goodwill would not take.
This cleanup has turned out to be rather serendipitous. I had a couple of items in the basement that were not suited for either Goodwill or the dump. The guy who mows my lawn stopped by as we were getting ready to head to the dump. I asked him if he knew anyone who could help on my unaccomplished tasks.
He volunteered. By the time we returned from the dump, everything was out of the basement.
So, here is what happens next. The piano will be shipped to Portland on Monday. On Tuesday, the cleaning team arrives for two and a half days of spruce up. On Thursday, the house will be listed.
And Saturday will find me back in Melaque. Waiting for the vagaries of the housing market to seal a deal.
A lot of work. And, I certainly hope, worth the effort.
