The De-Clutter Bug Is Bitten and Devoured By a Bigger, More Ferocious Bug

I called Mom yesterday to ask her about some small matter I had forgotten to mention when I saw her last weekend.

Next thing I know, she starts going off on me.  This is completely out of character for her, so it really threw me for a loop.  Needless to say, I was quite upset following that emotional sucker punch.

It had to do with some stuff I had stored there over the past few years, stuff I had stored there WITH HER PERMISSION.  I didn’t just bring over some boxes and say, “Where can I put these?”  No.  I asked first, obtained permission, and then brought them.

Yesterday, however, Mom seemed to have forgotten that.  The conversation went something like this:

Blah-blah-blah – “When are you going to get your stuff out of here?” – Blah-blah-blah – “I want that junk out of here.” – Blah-blah.

“Okay.  I didn’t know you wanted it out of there.”

“YES!” – Blah-blah, rant, rant.

“Okay.  I’ll get it out.”

Rant, Rant, and Rant some more.

“Mom, did you hear me?  I said I would get it out.  Calm down.  How was I supposed to know that you didn’t want me to keep my stuff in the garage anymore?  You never said anything.”

“Well, I THOUGHT you would know.”

“I’m not a mind reader.”

“You SHOULD HAVE KNOWN.”

“When?  When you said, yes, I could keep it there?  All you had to do was say no.  And now all you have to do is ask, and I’ll get rid of it.  That’s all.  There’s no need get all upset and have a fit.”

“I’M NOT UPSET.”

“You’re not?  Do you hear yourself?”

And then I stopped.  It was pointless.  Obviously, something else was bothering her, and she was taking it out on me.  Not that that is acceptable, because it isn’t.  But I know when someone is going off like that it’s best to leave them be.  They can’t be reasoned with.  Like, when I said I would get the boxes out of the garage, and she continued ranting.

I told her my other line was ringing and got off the phone.

What the fuck just happened?

I tried to shake it off, but I was distraught by the exchange.  I vented a little to Sandy and tried, unsuccessfully, to distract myself with work.

When I left the office, I was still feeling the sting and then started to feel drained.  I just wanted to go home and decompress, but I stuck with the morning’s plan and went to the gym first.  I had hoped the physical exertion would overcome the emotional, but it didn’t really go that way.  When I finally arrived home, I shut down.  I left my cell phone (my only phone) turned off.  No television, no music, no dinner.  I just lay down for 30 or 40 minutes.  I spent the rest of the evening reading.  Peace and Quiet.

* * *

It comes down to this:  I don’t do conflict.  It’s probably one reason why I’m not married and don’t care if I never get married.  After ALL THE CONFLICT that was my parents’ marriage, no thanks.  Keep your stress; you can have it.  I’d much rather flee.

* * *

As for the stuff in the garage, Mom claims it’s ruined because the roof had a leak.  Also, some mice took up residence in at least one of the boxes.  Four fucking cats, and she’s got mice in her garage.

And get this.  Even if it’s now nothing more than a trash heap, I have to take it home with me.  I can’t just pile it up by her curb.  Heavens, no.  Don’t think about going up on Sunday and leaving it at the curb until it gets picked up on Tuesday morning.  Gah.  Drive through my neighborhood on Monday morning, and you can see who cleaned out their basement or garage over the weekend, even though trash is not collected until Wednesday.  That’s what people do.  They don’t pile it up behind the house and then move it and pile it up again on trash day.  I mean, it’s not like throwing a garbage bag to the curb whenever your kitchen trash is full.  But no, Mom doesn’t want eight boxes piled by her curb from Sunday evening to Tuesday morning.  And don’t come up on Monday night after work, either.  She’s all paranoid about trash pickers.  You know, the people who drive around in pickup trucks on trash day looking for whatever it is they’re looking for.

What the fuck?

Will eight boxes fit in the punchbuggy?  Hell, no.

So far, the summer heat has held off.  Let’s hope that continues, because I really don’t want to be cleaning out the garage, not even the little corner of it that is occupied by my boxes, on some sweltering 90+ degree day.  Seriously.  Why couldn’t Mom have had her crazy hissy fit in October?

So, bottom line, the de-cluttering is forced to continue all weekend long, but now it will have to be in high gear in order to make room for more stuff to de-clutter.  It never ends.

=^..^=

New Tune

So, I heard about 20 to 30 seconds of a new-to-me song on the radio this morning, and I was totally grooving to it, which doesn’t happen very often this days.  (Part of the aging process, I guess.  These kids and that crap they listen to.)

Anyway, I couldn’t discern the band, but I was most excited at the prospect of digging a current artist, so I made a mental note to research it once I got to the office.  I ingrained that clip of music into my head.

Googling what I thought might be the title proved fruitless, so I checked out the playlist of the alt-rock station, the alt-rock station that was a million times better before it had a #*@&! playlist.

(Oh god.  Did I just type comics curses?)

Goddamn, motherfucking, complete sellout of a suckass playlist.

There.

However, it was on that goddamn, motherfucking, complete sellout of a suckass playlist that I found my answer:

“Wish Upon a Dog Star”

That’s Dog, not Dark.  (silly me)

by Satellite Party.

Who?

a/k/a Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party.

Aaaahhh.  I didn’t even know he had another project going post-Jane’s Addiction, post-Porno for Pyros, post-Jane’s Addiction reunited.  I really need to keep up more.

Further investigation revealed that his WIFE is in the band (“backing vocals”).  Oh, Perry, Perry.  Have we learned nothing from Paul and Linda McCartney?

For now, though, I’m digging the song (what little I heard) and look forward to listening to it in its entirety.

Then again, I may hear the song a few more times and decide it’s rubbish.  We’ll see.

=^..^=

Clutter Bug

Finally, at long last, I’ve been bitten by the de-cluttering bug.  The past few weeks have been most productive.  I’m sure the lovely weather has been a factor – neither too cold nor too hot.  This means that when I’m home, I have the drive to do more than either seek refuge under the fauxchilla blanket or cozy up to the air conditioner in the family room.  Yes, moderate temperatures rule!

The yard is looking spiffy, too.  I have taken advantage of the mild highs and low humidity to spruce up a couple of neglected areas.  The perennial bed got a much needed cleaning out, the shoots from the felled oak trees have been sawed off and their little stumps painted to prevent regrowth, and the bare spot in the backyard has been seeded.  And get this – it worked!  The seed has sprouted wispy blades of grass!

The planting is done.  Impatiens and petunias in the window box and planters, a few more dianthus and a replacement artemisia in the perennial bed, parsley and basil in the herb garden, two more euonymus in the “shrub border” along the fence, a row of hostas along the back wall of the family room ($2 specials at MalWart!), seeded violas, cosmos, and sunflowers, and a trio of white pines (from Mom’s woods) near one of the oak stumps.

The new thistle feeder is stocked and hanging, too, and is being visited regularly by Mr. and Mrs. Finch.

My arms hurt.

(To think, I skipped the summer bowling league to give the tendonitis in my elbow a rest.  Bowler’s elbow – can you stand it?!)

Last night, at about 10:00, I cleaned out a couple of drawers from the desk in the guest room personal landfill.  Also, I was looking for some financial documents.  Found some of the documents I was looking for and tossed almost half the drawers’ contents.  Purging can feel so good.

And now, I must confess.  One of the drawers had a small pile of neatly folded magazine articles.  All were tossed, including the last one, circa 1996, about de-cluttering your home.  My bad.

Color me blush.

=^..^=

Doing Time Out

A bratty child misbehaves repeatedly and shows no remorse when her bad behavior is pointed out to her.  As a consequence, she is punished, grounded for several weeks.  She is to stay in her timeout space.  No going out, no friends, no cell phone, no computer.  She cries for her mommy, but to no avail.

Wait – was that a bratty child or a 26-year-old, waste-of-a-life heiress?

No difference, I guess, except that someday the bratty child might do something useful in her adult life.

=^..^=

Kiss Me

Didn’t see the movie, but this was great…

(Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen accepting the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (in Talladega Nights))

=^..^=

The Nail

Well, that’s all, folks.  Either Andrew has left the planet or he is holding my banners ransom for the sum of one gold renewal.  Yes, the banner I submitted three days ago (when I still had 4.88 days remaining on my gold membership) has yet to be approved.  However, the amount of views requested already has been deducted from my total count.  Hrrrmmph.  Was 19,000 too many to request?  I don’t recall seeing a limit.  I submitted another banner for 500 views.  Nothing.  Except that my total is now another 500 less.

The nail in the coffin, the last straw, the final fuck you.

This morning, I returned my template to a former state.  It took for-ev-er. Well, somewhere between forever and a day and eternity.  Painstakingly slow, like a whining toddler dragging his feet, incapable of walking another inch.  So suhhh-looooow.  As noted, my gold membership has not yet expired.  I wonder, how horrendously slow must this place be for non-paying members?

I am now in the process of setting up shop at WordPress.  Eventually, I will be taking my archives with me.  That’s how little faith I have in this site’s future (much like what’s happening at the office, but I’ll save that post for WP).  In the meantime, I will take my chances by leaving my archives here.  I am so not looking forward to the tedious task of moving them, more of that kind of slow.

I’ll post the link when the new place is ready.  I hope you (buddies and faithful lurkers) will visit me just as I intend to continue visiting the Land of D, my patience and the infamous server permitting.

Stuck in my head:  some Audioslave song that I don’t like

Comments:

Ungolding

I have 4.88 days of gold membership left.  Or, 4.88 days to decide whether to renew.  Yes, I am contemplating a move.  Considering I just submitted a banner for 19,000 of my 20,000 remaining views, I’d say the decision already has been made.

My reasons for bailing?  I want a name change.  I’ve wanted this for a couple of years but never got around to setting up the new journal with the template I had in mind.  Other reasons include the Land of D’s cost, its ongoing problems, and lack of support.

Now I need to shop for a new home.  Any suggestions?

Of course, I will be posting here (non-gold) until I move, and when the move happens, I will link back here.

In the meantime, there is a new recipe posted in the Recipes link.  Black Bean and Corn Salad (from Tim’s Mother’s Day cookout).  Very easy.  Very tasty.

Happy Weekend!

Stuck in my head:  “Roadrunner” – The Modern Lovers (as in Jonathan Richman and)

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