Friday, December 28, 2007

Getting Rid of stuff in Portland 101

Ok, maybe it's not a 101 course, it's just the stops I'm happening to make today.

First stop: Rebuilding Center to drop off the old sink (because Craigslist free ads didn't work well over the holidays, like they normally do).

Next stop: Free Geek to drop off a box full of computer stuffs.

Near Free Geek, 3rd stop: Goodwill drive-through in SE industrial area.

Then bringing more choice clothes and books to: Village Merchants to consign them and pick up a small check from the last few loads. Making money by creating more space in the house = big thumbs up.

Enjoy getting rid of stuff,

Bp

14 comments:

Stu Farnham said...

I highly recommend moving every 5 years or so to clean out all of the accumulata. (Actually, I recommend moving as little as possible. My anti-recommendation gets stronger each time I move, perhaps due to me getting older and having less tolerance for the physicality of moving)

Each time we move we wind up dividing the excess into 4 piles: give to charity, give to friends, sell, and recycle/dispose.

The worst in terms of volume was when we left Sandy, OR. The two of us were in a huge (for 2 people) house with 9 rooms, a huge 2 car garage, a half basement, a barn, and a storage shed. It was amazing how must stuff we accumulated. It is apparently a law (like Newton's laws of thermodynamics) that crap will accumulate to fill all available space.

Anonymous said...

I think it's similar to expanding roadways to deal with traffic - just seems to allow for yet more congestion.

(Slaps forehead) - Nature abhors a vacuum. (I bet some Greek or Roman said it first.)

Iciyapi Tate said...

don't forget the wife will be needing stuff for give away

Bpaul said...

Oh we'll have plenty Tate, plenty :-)

I expect there will be a lot of crafty stuff, wouldn't you?

Anonymous said...

My 2 cents are that Goodwill is developing too strong a stranglehold on used stuff in Portland. I made a map a while back, visible here. This map will alert you to alternative places to drop off your unwanted stuff which might be closer to you.

Bpaul said...

Right on, thanks for the map that rocks.

Shocho said...

"Accumulata." Nice.

Iciyapi Tate said...

yes bpaul i bet there will be lots of crafty stuff..
also i avoid Salvation Army, too many hidden agendas there.
and yes i think the more space you have the more crap you get to fill it, especially if your partner likes to "find" great treasures that might be used one day..... LOL ok that speaks volumes

Bpaul said...

""find" great treasures that might be used one day.." Which could explain why much of your back yard looks fantastically like a Gilligan's Island set piece eh?

"Oooh, driftwood!"

:-)

Bpaul said...

I agree Shocho, "accumulata" -- nice use of made up words. Very nice.

Iciyapi Tate said...

Oh my god my back yard and 2 car carport... filled with stuff. but we did get our fence built and our woodshed built all out of reclaimed wood. and the fire pit, and enough windows for at least 3 greenhouses,,, *SIGH* i just smile

Bpaul said...

"*SIGH* i just smile"

Good man good man.

Stu Farnham said...

I harumph at the statement that I used a made up word. Harrumph!

'Accumulata" is the plural neuter form of the past participle of the Latin 'accumulo', meaning to accumulate. In this sense it means "that which has been accumulated".

Harumph, I say, harrumph (the extra 'r' added for emphasis)! The nerve, to place a perfenctly good Latin past participle in the tawdry company of such non-words as 'blogosphere'.

As Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe would say: 'pfui'.

Stu Farnham said...

I have to do *something* with all this crap in my head...