The pressure, the pressure!!

It would seem that even given my explanation of why my eBay™ items are coming from many rooms, there still exist those members of my support system who feel it necessary to urge, wheedle, coax, and otherwise press me into a decision as to which one room I will focus my efforts upon. It helps that I love them. Considerably. Granted, the whole purpose of the project is to tackle one room at a time, but seriously folks, it ain't that easy. To help illustrate this problem, I have decided to take a course of action that brings me a bit of fear, raising certain paranoia alarms in my head. I have narrowed my decision down to one of three rooms, let the world see them, and give those who read this blog the final vote. [shudder] So, before I change my mind, let's take the mini-tour.

Basement Girl's Room A

This is actually the second bedroom of two that I added to the basement of our house, but there is a smaller space behind it where the utility meters are located which requires monthly availability. Some of what you see in the photo was actually stored in that space at one point, but I moved it out because I have a couple of homeowner issues to deal with in that small space which required relocation of everything in the space. The inventory of the room currently includes camping items, tools, computer stuff, home electronics, fishing gear, and other stray things of relative importance. Not everything will be available, and some of it is heavy, but I am willing to focus on this room if chosen.


Basement Girl's Room B

The first room I built in the basement, it is the one of the three that is the most cluttered at present. I would say that 90% of the stuff is computer related, but I know there is some clothing and miscellaneous household items hiding in there. The orange chair, however, is NOT available until I die. Again, not everything seen will be available, and some of it is heavy, but I am willing to focus on this room if chosen.




Attic Storage

Perhaps the most organized of the clutter, but lots of clutter non-the-less. In fact, this is the location of much of the yard sale leftovers. Found in the space is just about everything, including my magazines that I will get read at some point. Right. I will remove the dust from anything and everything that comes out of this room, but like the other two, not everything is available.




OK, so there it is. Now I have to release the choice into the hands of those who read this blog. Scary. Since it came to my attention that one must have a Blogger/Google account to post to this site, I have made available an email address to gather the thoughts of others, which I might actually post at some future point (given proper permissions). You can contact me at 1rat@cox.net to voice your choice, or make other comments. I will tally the votes Saturday, 30 Dec 2006 and make the plans to focus on that ONE room by the start of the new year. One vote per supporter, please. That way the Mrs. can't flood me out with her choice.

All The World's a Staging Area

During dinner with the Mrs. the other night, the conversation turned to the project. She brought up the stated purpose of One Room At A Time being just that, one room, and that everything I have done to this point (in terms of listing on eBay™) originated from many rooms. I agreed, but clarified that one room was the goal, while many rooms was the necessary path at the moment. I followed with an explanation, which I now share with you.

I am a clutterer. This is different from a collector, in that there really isn't any specific organizational structure to what is kept. No filing system, no albums, nothing that defines a collection. It is also different from a "pack rat," which involves pretty much keeping every physical item with which one comes into contact. My mother, sad to say, was a prime example of the latter. When we cleaned the house she had lived in for just over a quarter century, we found things that the vast majority of humanity would call trash. OK, so maybe just the Mrs. was calling it trash, but the point is that even I had to shake my head in disgust as I threw away junk mail from the '80s and coupons that expired a decade ago and things broken beyond any conceivable repair. I then came home to my clutter and realized that I was frighteningly close to the same status. Still, there was a distinct difference. Nearly all of the things that filled the various rooms of my house had some value, just not exactly value to any person living in my house other than me. Boxes of magazines that "will be read some day." Stacks upon stacks of computer items (in a previous life I was a Computer Dude). Camping supplies, tools, clothing, home repair and maintenance items. Stuff. MY stuff. Somewhere in that psycho-alphabet soup they've put in my file is the label OCD, and most who know me would say it fits. Dang it.

So, anyhoots, the problem with being a clutterer is that clutter migrates more than vanishes. In my meager defense, I will throw things away when they have lost value, although it might take an epic passage of time before I come across them again. If my chaos called a brain senses even the slightest potential use, then an item retains value and must be stored somewhere. Granted, it would be nice if I could put, say, that open package of safety door latches (which holds three of the original seven) in a specific location designed for Household Hardware Needed in the Future, then things wouldn't be so...cluttered. This, of course, depends upon actually having a specific location designed for Household Hardware Needed in the Future, which is not the case at the moment. Why? Well, because that location now holds other items. Aha! Now we come to the crux of the problem!! In order to focus specifically on ONE room, there must be a place in a different room to hold the items that are truly worthy of keeping. If the determination is made that Household Hardware Needed in the Future will go in the place that currently holds The Computer Undead, then The Computer Undead must go somewhere. If it is determined that The Computer Undead needs to go where the Inherited Train Stuff now sits, then the Inherited Train Stuff must go somewhere. And so on, and so on, and so on. That is why I am selecting items from many rooms at present rather than just one room. I have to find the space, or as I am apt to say, the staging area, to put the things that will be released into the hands of others who will cherish and find value in those things. I will call this space The Staging Area For Items of Value Destined For New Owners. Yeah.

I'm gettin' there...

Doing the Math - Week Two

Today's lesson: Do your homework!

Part A - Read the directions carefully. For example, comprehend that "starting at" means something different than "costs." Thus, noting that USPS Global Priority mail "starts at" $4.25 will tell you that $4.25 is the MINIMUM you will pay, but not the maximum. Very important.

Part B - Do not skip any steps. For example, when your brain actually processes that "starting at" means "it could cost more," take the time to actually weigh and measure your item to be mailed. Visit a website that can give you a closer estimate of the true cost. Use that information wisely. Very, very important.

Part C - Learn from past mistakes. For example, charging $12 for shipping and paying $14 for shipping results in losing a bit of income (see Week One). Recognizing this and recalling it when determining shipping costs helps to avoid future blunders of a similar nature. Very, very, very important.

Doing your homework therefore keeps the following from happening -

Item sale price: 0.99
Shipping charged: 7.00
Total payment: 7.99

Listing fee: 0.40
Final value fee: 0.05
PayPal fee: 0.61
USPS Global Priority to Japan: 9.50
Total costs: 10.56

Something about that looks wrong. Wonder if I will figure it out in time?

Out of One, Many

When it rains, it pours, even deluges. One match can burn down an entire forest. Nothing is as easy as it looks. The clichés are endless. Sometimes I think the same of this project, although it really is to be expected, given the nature of the project. Interestingly enough, it wasn't something directly related to the project that set me off recently. It began as a simple request for a simple item. Somehow it turned into half a dozen little tasks:

"Do we have it?"
"Why, yes, I do believe we have it...somewhere. I shall go look."
[scurries about]
"Did you find it?"
"Uhm, yes, I did find it, as well as that. I shall now deal with it, and that, so I can find it, and that, in the future."
[additional scurrying]
"Goodness, dear, what are you doing?"
"I am attending to organizing it, and that, and that, and that, and that."
"Oh."
[long passage of time filled with scurrying about, milling about, wandering about, plodding about, and the occasional stomping about]
"Dear, do we have...?"
"I HAVE NO FREAKING IDEA!!!!"

Yes, there is great relevance and even greater pertinence to some clichés.