KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

GreyQueen

Actually, it was gentle socialising which led to pulling something about which was beside the armchair I was sitting in, which turned into a bigger job which led to consolidating something into another container which contained stuff it shouldn't which was turned out which held - ta da! - the long-missing window key last Christmas.

Pleased that a sunbed frame even minus padding may well be a merchantable items, greenbee. If you haven't sold me past-used candles already, you may have missed the chance as I've taken the pledge not to buy any more for some considerable time. Tough, but necessary.;)

There's any number of things in that house which could usefully be bootsaled (imo) but they ain't mine so I can only offer gentle suggestions and hops some small things may exit. If I push too hard, I'll trigger hoarderish feelings and heels will be stuck in and there may well be upsets, which I don't want.

Am browsing online between sewing up my WIP. And am starting to get a bit of a throat, which is annoying. My department is doing Plague; the redux (we were all pretty ill Jan-Feb, some of us still aren't quite right and now this lurgy is starting to circulate, dammit.

Ach well, that's life. I will try not to let it slow me down and I still have some leftover throat pastilles from last time which I can kondo.

YorksLass

Not kondo'ing much at the moment though as news in work sent me into a tailspin over the option (across the whole department, not just aimed at me) to voluntarily Kondo my job. I've been thinking of it for a while (love who I work with but the travel is a dower) but planning to save for it vs suddenly having to decide is a scary thing.

Shortie: The team I worked in was in a similar position at the beginning of 2007. We were lucky enough to be on full pay for a further 6 months after being told (although HR weren't shy at trying to shorten that time) until we either found another job with the same company (different department/different role), either full or part-time, or with an outside company.

I'd only 2 years to go before (my) state retirement age and a pension forecast from the DWP showed that the extra 2 years would only make about £3pw difference to my eventual state pension. Added to that, DH had already been retired for a year (he's a bit older than I am).

My third option was to ask for early retirement. After a lot of thought, I took the plunge. I left with monthly salary, accrued holiday pay, tax-free redundancy pay and was also able to commute a proportion of my final salary pension into a tax-free lump sum. (I know that's not an option for everyone.)

Like you, I loved the job and the people I worked with, but I honestly couldn't face having to go through the rigmarole of writing up CVs, applying for jobs, attending interviews etc etc. The daily commute on public transport was a bummer. I also wasn't keen on all the (many) training courses, team/department meetings/team building days out, performance appraisals etc etc - in fact, I often wondered how we managed to get any work done at all!

As fate would have it, 6 months after leaving I became a carer for my (now) late father so, with no other family to help him, I would have had to have left anyway.

All in all, I haven't regretted the road I took and I really hope you'll be able to come to the right decision for you.

Floss

Shortie I was offered enhanced voluntary redundancy fom my council job in 2014, to finish on my 50th birthday. After losing DH's parents within 3 months in 2015, we are now able for me to work part-time locally, DH is now mainly working from home and life has never been better Things that are for you won't pass you by x

wort

Tbh GQ I'd love to come with you ! I'm desperate to kondo stuff be it mine or anyone else's! !
I did wonder if the boxes for items in use, have been flattened down or wether they are being used to hold other stuff? I'm sure they are flat as you are an old hand at this. :rotfl:
I enjoyed reading the minimalist page thank you.

greenbee

GQ - I'm sure you'll approach things with your normal care and tact... your mum is coming round slowly but surely, so you never know what she might suggest!

I must sort some more stuff out and do a CS drop off sometime next week. And deal with my office - I've got back problems at the moment, so lots of bending in a confined space is off the list (and I have more pressing problems, like needing to dig holes in the garden to plant the trees that have been delivered).

GreyQueen

The boxes are funny flattish or skinny rectangular shapes anyway, mainly a flat-screen telly box about the size of a table and another long skinny box for something called the sound bar, which sits in front of the telly and makes it sound better/ clearer.

Sorry to sound dippy, I gave my last telly away in 1987 and technology has moved on apace since that black & white portable.:rotfl:

Typical situation with appliances boxes:

Dad's POV - they should come down as they're a fire hazard.
Mum's POV - they have to be kept for at least a year/ forever, in case the item is defective and has to be sent back.
GQ's POV - WAHHHH!!! Who put all these huge boxes in my nice tidy loft?! I spent hours getting that tidy last visit!
Mum's POV - it's our loft. And they're staying.
Dad's POV - would anyone like a cup of tea? (peace-maker, see?)
Kid Bruv's POV - I could use the cardboard to package things I sell online. Give it here (he lives in the parental home, too).
Wild Thing's POV (one of the family cats) - A BOX! I can sleep in it! Purrr!

All together now - Awww, she looks soooo cute, we can't throw the box in the recycling, the cat wouldn't like it.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I swear none of this is made up, boxes sometimes get down out of the loft and get waylaid by the Packaging Maven or Wild Thing faster than I can get them out the door. Just after Xmas I did a dump run with Dad in their town and saw people jettisoning big appliance boxes which seemed to be brand new and which had likely come with their Chrissy stuff in them.

It was liking watching a miracle, I wanted to rush up to them and ask how the slept at night, didn't they worry about it?!

silvasava

GreyQueen wrote: »

I find not having TV a good thing in many respects, especially in times like these, when cameras can be pointed at people in what is likely to be the worst moment of their lives, and their images captured at their most distressed and vulnerable.

It makes me feel a bit like a voyeur, and slightly soiled, to see that kind of thing, to be frank.

Plus the endless talking heads, hashing and re-hashing a limited amount of information which is liable to be wholly or partially incorrect at this early stage.......... it's not productive of anything.
....

Well said GQ - exactly how I feel

Have accidentally kondoed my mum's engagement ring while working in the garden on Tuesday. It really upset me as it has huge sentimental value to me. However I posted on a local website and a lovely man has offered to come round with his metal detector on Saturday so fingers crossed.

elona

One of my dds let slip that my middle dd was actually at a meeting just round the corner in London on the day involved :eek:

She usually works near home so it did not occur to me to worry but thankfully she got away safely. It makes me feel sick that so many other people were not so fortunate, not only those who were physically injured but those who saw awful things happen and were in fear for themselves and others.

GQ

I look forward to hearing "Tales from the Loft!" I sympathise with the tooth situation as I have not been to the fang wrangler for a while due to illness etc and think I may be involuntarily kondoing one once I finally get round to a check up.

I may have to kondo a few pairs of trousers as I am in between sizes - the ones I am wearing are falling down and yet the next size down is reminiscent of a blood pressure cuff.

MMF007

Hello, I have missed you all! At my parents' this week and been busy helping out. Have kondo'd garden cuttings, burned confidential waste, written complaint letter, completed several official forms, made a few phone calls and retrieved money owed to my mum by shady business. I also shortened some pj bottoms for my dad. He was very impressed by what a neat job I did. He thought the stitches were so small it was amazing. In fact, as I always take the easy option, I had used scissors and wonderweb. Yep, a neat job indeed :rotfl:

I am trying to encourage mum to kondo a large shopping trolley thingy with 4 wheels, so it is like a pushchair, which she wanted but used only once. It sits in the hallway, gathering crud on top, unloved and unused. One of my elderly clients could make good use of it though . I have floated the idea.

I enjoyed wearing my new top. I bought it on a whim, liked the colours and unusual cut but initial try-on was disappointing, not sure why though. Tried it yesterday and loved it!! It's a keeper and I have earmarked it for an outing with friends next month

The house is still full of crud, some absolute crud (old catalogues, papers etc), some Stuff that is worthless and unloved (I suspect it is unseen, iykwim), some stuff that would be nice if displayed rather than half hidden behind said crud. Last year I was really stressed by all this and the worry of disposing of it all at some point in time. This year I am trying to let it wash over me. When the time comes I shall give my brother first dibs on the goods and chattels, the rest I shall simply let go via house clearance / skip. It does annoy me, looking at a very messy room, but there is nothing I can do about it (I did try).

I have managed to do some painting in the lovely sunny front room. Varying degrees of success but all enjoyable and my mum loves the Swiss mountain I painted a few weeks ago. That's Mothers Day sorted then!

Oh, and when I opened the airing cupboard to get a towel I spotted my old beach towel. I bought it in my final year at university, in 1985 :rotfl:

ETA, Elona, I loved your analogy with blood pressure cuff-like trousers!! :rotfl: I am in the same boat atm!

PollyWollyDoodle

Oh Silvasava I hope the ring turns up. And I too love the 'blood pressure cuff' analogy!

Re damp - ventilation/air circulation is often the problem. I had the leaky metal windows in my spare rooms replaced with double glazing a few years ago, but didn't realise that I should have got DG windows with air vents. Some time later I was horrified to discover mould on the walls of one room - it's a north-facing outside wall and I had the bed pushed up against it. My brother lets several properties and he recommended having positive input ventilation fitted, he's done this with his rental houses. It's a unit that sits in the loft, it's not air-con but it ventilates the house, it's very quiet and costs very little to run. It wasn't cheap, but the mould has never returned - definitely worth considering if you have a problem with this.