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January 02, 2020



Purging clothing is harder than it looks. Any place you take it to is going to have interim time for sorting. They try to put out more modern stuff in better condition, and (at Goodwill at least) it has a month to sell before they send it to recycle. Also, even thrift stores follow the retail model. It’s late for the winter season, but I took one in last week anyway. I just didn’t want to hold it until October. And even then, it was stressful because I also took in prom dresses freshly cleaned on the hanger and in bags, and I saw them just get heaved into a bin. You always want them to still hold some value and be used! But there just isn’t closure beyond knowing that you did try.

I give coats to our local domestic abuse shelter. I also give toys that are gently used, uniform items that are still good but outgrown, and a few other things. We don't have a goodwill anymore but a church runs a similar ministry that is far more charitable than goodwill anyway. They take a lot of stuff and price low and barely meet costs of running the place. Our church runs a foster family support group and periodically there are requests for certain items. I like knowing that a lot of our stuff will see use again.

You could test your printer by plugging it into a power strip with a fuse. If it blows the power strip, recycle it before it burns your house down. Otherwise you’ve got a problem in your wiring — call an electrician before the wiring burns your house down.

Thanks for the reminder, Tracy - when we moved, I donated a lot of nice dressy mens' clothing, including a few suits, that no longer fit (because a lot of weight loss had happened - hurrah! and a lot of closet-loss happened with the move - boo). I took them to my local St. VdeP. Their store in our local chapter is more need-based than others I have seen, and I think they try to make sure the clothes get to those who need them in a timely manner. And not a big operation means coats coming in now can go out now.

I hear you on the coat question. Part of my problem is that some things become totally not waterproof after rough wear by several children, but it can be hard to tell that until the first big wet snowday, when the child wearing it is totally soaked after 15min. But in desert SoCal, the first big wet snow is also the last, possibly for a decade, so then what? Spray with something? Replace? Zipper-fixing is always a conundrum for me. In most cases, once the zipper fails, the whole coat is also aging hard... how much more wear can I expect? Is it worth it? "Here, kid, just use the snaps."

Off to try to clean up the new-to-me china hutch that is destined to house all the dining room stuff AND all the homeschool stuff it can handle...and then get those things into it and off the surrounding surfaces where they were piled when emptying the old dying chest of drawers and bookshelf. Here's hoping the switch makes the situation better rather than worse.

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