Letting Go of the Big Stuff

We're not getting any younger. It's time to move from our home of 25 years to a condo where stairs are optional, and maintenance is someone else's responsibility.

Initially, we are leasing a place with less than half the floor area of our house while our condo is being built. We've been getting rid of much of our "big stuff."

Our preference is to give stuff away.

My old bike, my favorite possession for 30 years, went in search of new adventures. It now belongs to a friend's grandson. pic.twitter.com/VTLGgxcnkU

— Tom Wilson (@TomPhase3) August 13, 2017

We get the satisfaction of knowing some of our favorite possessions have gone to "good homes."

A neighbor, who owns a construction company, relieved us of a step ladder and an extension ladder. His company did some top-notch work on our home for a good price.

A Salvation Army truck carried off most of our big items.

Much of our worldly goods were marched into a Salvation Army truck. pic.twitter.com/7lR0BOCWSO

— Tom Wilson (@TomPhase3) August 18, 2017

The Sally Army will sell the items, and use the proceeds to fund their adult rehabilitation homes. We get a nice tax deduction.

We sold our sunroom and patio furniture to 2nd Shade, a local company we found via Craigslist. 20 years ago, we were tired of disposable sunroom and patio furniture, so we bought chairs and tables that would last a lifetime. I had a delightful phone conversation with the owner, Dick Enrico, whom I had seen on television advertising Second Wind Exercise. Now, well into his seventies, he had started a company to sell good-quality patio furniture.

Let go of most of our patio and sunroom furniture; retained many happy memories; gained mental and physical space to create new memories. pic.twitter.com/IixQJBlYxi

— Tom Wilson (@TomPhase3) August 11, 2017

The truck arrived, as promised, and I was handed an envelope containing a wad of hundred dollar bills and a handwritten note from Dick. "Home of the Shady Deals" was emblazoned on the side of the truck.

We got responses within an hour or two when we posted free items on our neighborhood Nextdoor site. Dwight was thrilled a graduate student wanted his home-made desk from his college days.

The disassembled desk easily fitted into the young woman's Honda Civic.

Some items just didn't seem good enough to donate or sell, so we left them by the side of the road, outside our home.

Banished unwanted things to the curb where they begged for new homes. pic.twitter.com/I2rNB1S2RW

— Tom Wilson (@TomPhase3) July 15, 2017

A 40-year-old exercise bike was picked up by a guy who owns a "5,000 square foot adventure home" that includes...

"...a '50s diner, a tiki bar, a jungle room, a rustic log cabin, an Art Deco theater, a two-story homage to Bourbon Street and a plush purple lounge patterned after the bottle from the old TV show "I Dream of Jeannie! ." Even the bathrooms have themes, such as the mirrored "Elvis" and the gold lame "Liberace.". 

Apparently my old Schwinn fits right in.

The only large item that did not find a home was a vinyl dining chair from the 1970's. It was ugly and cheap then, and time had not been kind to it.

It was time for plan B. For some reason, our wobbly 1970's vinyl dining chair was not appreciated by street foragers. pic.twitter.com/svcld8wa7h

— Tom Wilson (@TomPhase3) July 19, 2017

Note: I took the picture at the top of this post in Nordeast Minneapolis. See previous post, Journey to the House of Balls.