Friday, June 2, 2017

I Know All the Best Places





We are on the verge of a major life change here, and before it even happens my day-to-day life is filled with new experiences. I’m now not only spending an inordinate amount of time at liquor stores (source of all the best free boxes), but I can now speak knowledgeably on thrift stores in our area.

          We’re downsizing, and that means purging the extras, the poor shopping decisions, the tchotchkes, and the old and tired longing to be set free. Next come the endless need for boxes, and after that comes somewhere, anywhere, to take those boxes.

          I’ve become quite the connoisseur of thrift stores.

          Our local survival center has always been my first choice for donating used clothing, but I doubt if someone who’s just achieved housing really needs my mother’s framed 1865 Godey fashion prints.

          Big Brothers/Big Sisters will pick up at your house, but I couldn’t get the furniture in our garage on their calendar until July.

          The Salvation Army takes everything as far as I can tell, but the guy I give my boxes to is really grumpy so that’s not my first choice.

          The Goodwill also seems to have few restrictions, but although the gentleman there was very friendly, the unloading area is in a busy strip mall.

          The Lutheran church only takes clothes and must be a preferred spot in town because I had a heck of a time stuffing My Guy’s bag of old boots into its already over-flowing bin, but it’s right down the street - much more convenient than the survival center.

          For trinkets, do-dads, and odd china bits I hit the big Congregational church at the bottom of the hill because they can sell them in their little thrift shop.

          And today I’ll be going to the granddaddy of them all, the town dump recycling center.

14 comments:

  1. Look up a place called Simple Recycling. If they're in your state, they pick up everything, and pay your township/village/city a penny a ton for it.

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  2. Sounds like a lot of work! But afterwards you'll be so much lighter. :-)

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  3. Good luck. We really, really need to follow suit, but one of us is resisting. Strongly.

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    1. I understand more than you'll ever know.

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  4. Came to your blog, via Elephant’s Child, and enjoyed your post. Have you tried the Kidney Foundation? In our area (Atlanta suburb) they come to our home and pick up many things. I am also trying to clear out 40 years of accumulation for a move to another house closer to family as I am the sole caregiver for my husband. It is not going too well as I have to use two canes now and cannot move easily, but will get an operation soon. It is hard to give up all these things, some could be valuable? Just found some original Grateful Dead posters from San Francisco from the 60s in the garage and other little souvenirs.

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    1. Hi Vagabonde - and welcome!!
      I get the 40 years phenomenon; we've been married 47 years. And even better, we're dealing with the reluctance of one of us to get rid of treasures like 3 shoeboxes of postcards from his grandfather in World War I.
      Yes, I'm sure those posters are worth something, but who has the energy to search out a buyer?

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  5. Thanks for coming to my blog. A friend gave me the name of two blogs that talk about Alzheimer, One of Life’s Little Surprises that you mentioned and also Alice in Memoryland (https://aliceinmemoryland.com/.) I had not visited blogs in a while but went on theirs in the last couple of days and wrote two long comments, explaining our situation, in case you are interested. My biggest problem about moving is that we have been bookworms for decades and have full bookshelves in every room. It is hard to decide which ones to give – I guess most of them. Then I have a box ready to go and my husband comes and takes everything out …

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  6. my go to is the Crises Center re-sale shop. if they don't want it, they'll dispose of it for you. second choice is the episcopal Church re-sale shop. but when we moved, we simply abandoned a bunch of stuff.

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  7. Good luck with your downsizing. it's a huge challenge.

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  8. Good that you have so many options. I just realized how rural I am. Not one of those organizations is in my tiny town. We do have Dorca's but that is it.

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  9. When I'm dumping stuff, I try to get to my local Vinnies early in the morning, right after they put their collection bin out and I resist going inside so I don't go home with more things I don't need and will have to dump sometime in the future.

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  10. Best of luck with the move. Even downsizing can be traumatic.

    Greetings from London.

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