Amazing how time flies....it only seems like yesterday did we buy our first storage unit...and now, we are knee deep in the bullsh!t to be sure! And let me tell you how I know....
Yesterday, we started a mighty thorough cleaning of the warehouse. Now this sounds simple enough, but let me tell you...it wasn't. (And is still ongoing to be sure!) A few weeks ago, we had a little tropical storm called Lee that moved through New Orleans and dropped about a BILLION inches of water. To our dismay, the second floor of the warehouse took water from a leaky roof and window. So we had to move all the merchandise from upstairs to downstairs while the construction crews renovated. This added a PILE of STUFF on top of already a PILE of STUFF! And to add to it, we bought other storage units since and added to the pile even more! I know what you are saying...."Why don't you sell your stuff when you buy it so you don't have so much building up?" The truth of the matter is...WE DO! We have sales all the time, and we sell individual items at private treaty as well. But there is just SO much, that it eventually builds up. And I am not talking about the garbage, most of that has already been dealt with. I am talking about the good stuff....electronics, kitchenware, clothing (which from week to week I wobble on whether it is garbage/treasures!), furniture and antique items (which I have come to embrace with the newborn hope of a Jedi Knight fighting against the dark side of the force!) and other apparel related items such as hats, scarfs, and gloves (which should come in handy down here since as I am writing this blog, the temps in New Orleans have dropped 25 degrees in 5 hours!).
Today, the "cleansing" continued, but with a new hope....THE UPSTAIRS WAS FINISHED!! So we were able to move merchandise back up, and clean along the way....and also get further back into THE PILE that I affectionately call THE HYDRA....because, just like the mythological creature, it seems like every storage bin (head) we cut off/move away, two more take it's place! It's like the Neverending Story except THE NOTHING is actually a whole lot of SOMETHING that NEVER ENDS! But I digress...(That's a line Rebecca uses a lot in these blogs, so I figured I would pay homage to the Storage Princess for a moment...and now the moment is gone!........)
As we continued into THE PILE/HYDRA, which for my own sake I am going to refer to as "RALPH", we began to make discoveries! It was like going back in time! As we got into the back towards bins that had clearly been laid to rest for months, we found items from our very first storage units/digs! It was cool, and interesting, and a little scary at the same time. I mean, we had "stored" this stuff in our own private storage unit for so long, I didn't remember we had them! And I am not talking about dirty shoes and childrens toys, I mean good electronics, $350 food processors new in the box, an entire bin of blenders from the 1950's that are fully functional, not to mention the antique furniture and sewing machines (we have a Victorian couch in beautiful condition!) Along with these treasures in "Ralph" we also found a box of what I like to refer to as "what in the hell were we thinking when we kept this insane pile of @*@&#! It just goes to show you that back then, we were still getting a grasp on things. What to keep, what to toss, what to hold onto (Just like in the Gambler...know when to hold them...know when to fold them!)
But one thing I did notice, is that we both generally had a really good grasp overall on what to hold and what to fold! And as the months have gone along, as evident in the layers of "RALPH" that were peeled away, we have gotten better and better at organizing ourselves and the merchandise. "RALPH" could have been a real beast, but in the end, it really showed us how far we have come. And one thing "RALPH" truly showed us was how we have handled the best of units, and the worst of units!
Picture time:
One thing we did find (that we kind of forgot about) is a lot of kewpie dolls and silver/silver plated items from the 1920s-1950s. Treasure!
Many, many, many moons ago- we came up with nicknames for ourselves-- I'm "Captain Trashbag" because I throw everything away, Rebecca is "Gold Digger" because she always finds the gold in every unit no matter what, and my wife Lily, whenever she would help us- would break any crockpot within 1000 feet. Not on purpose, just accidentally-- but it always happened, and the only thing she ever broke was crockpots. So, we dubbed her "Crockpot Killer"! Rebecca made this for her a long time ago out of a crock pot case we found in a unit. It resurfaced this week!
While cleaning out clothing, Rebecca and our lovely assistant Trish found these pants. HUGE!
And finally, what do these four things have in common? We have no idea either! Why did we keep this?
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