A Little More OrgoWorking

Betsy asked awhile back whatever happened to the Organizing. I can't remember if I had posted about that ... I guess I posted about the Grand Lunar's desk, right? So in summary:

Hollie and I have been on hold since Christmas. First there were the holidays, family, food, and all that ... then Hollie was sick. Then sicker! Then very sick! (yes, you were, Hollie!) Then getting better. Then sick again! Then getting better! Then we had a snow day with bad roads. Then she got sick again! Then still sick! Then finally better! We got a day in! Then car trouble. Pray for God's protection over and provision for Hollie and her family, if you would, they've been through one thing after another!

So in the one day we had together this week we were back to working in the basement. The basement is no one-day-quick fix. At least not with me and my stuff. I think if I stepped out of the picture, Hollie could've whipped the whole thing into shape in a day, but I was underfoot trying to explain why we needed to keep that really old software and boxes of weird stuff and fifty-odd old cans of paint.

Plus it took us almost a whole day to bolt one cabinet to the wall. I don't believe I told you about our failed attempt to move the cabinet while Hollie's son stood back, shook his head, and laughed at our foolishness. Apparently with his guy-genes he could see right away that it was not moving out of it's entrapped location, but Hollie and I thought our stubbornness might have been a good match for the law that two objects can't occupy the same place at the same time. You know, like maybe it would be okay if one is just passing through? Turns out that's not true, it's not allowed to just pass through. Yet. Maybe when we catch up to Star Trek technology. Apple's probably got something in the works.

But I digress. We couldn't move the cabinet elsewhere, so we figured we better secure it, having wrenched it free in order to move it. Turns out there was a reason it was screwed to the wall. The first toggle bolt went in through the cabinet, through the wall, and down into the hollow cinderblock. Oh, right, that's what washers prevent.

The second toggle bolt went in through the cabinet, through the wall, not through the hole because the washer stopped it. But I'd put the toggle-wing part on backwards and so it spun aimlessly in the block instead of tightening, and so in the end the toggle-wing fell into the wall, never to be seen again.

~~ We interrupt this rambling retelling of an old story for this public service announcement. The H button on the round timer is for HOURS. Yes, you already knew that. But do you remember when your mother told you that sometimes it's very important to pay attention? This is one of those times. Do not bake cookies for 16 hours. Thank you. We now return to your irregularly scheduled ramble. ~~

The third attempt (third time's a charm, right?) put the toggle-wing on correctly, and it went through the cabinet, through the wall ... at this moment we *thought* it worked, because the cabinet appeared to be secure. Foreshadowing! And we went to drill another hole with which to anchor it. The second hole turned out to be much closer to the edge of the block than we thought (due to the cabinet not being movable, we were left to try and measure and guess at the bricks behind it) and so we drilled a goodly long hole the length of the drill bit, and never burst through to the spooky dark innards.

Somewhere around that time we also discovered that the previous snug toggle-wing had actually gone through hole, but not quite far enough to expand on the far side, and had been working it's way through the hole, snugly against the sides (thus the perceived tightness - we did yank on the cupboard to test it's snug fit, really!) and eventually loosened and popped out and promptly expanded on the wrong side of the hole. Whoops.

The fourth attempt (fourth time's a charm, maybe?) - back at the original failed hole again - was with one of only two long machine screws we could find. As we started, Hollie's son mumbled something about "it's bent" but opted not to elaborate. Possibly due to that guy-gene, being a man of few words. Or possibly because watching me repeatedly attempt to bolt the cupboard to the wall amused him immensely. The toggle-wing successfully deployed on the inside of the cinderblock and tightened for a bit. until it hit a point where we could hear it grinding against the brick rather than tightening. Eventually we realized that, as he had predicted, the slight bend in the screw-thingie was too much, and the toggle-wing was stuck. So we went to take it out. But apparently had coaxed it far enough into the bend that it refused to come out, either.

So there we were, with a toggle-wing bolt expanded in the wall, and the screwy-thingie-part stuck sticking out of the hole, unable to go forward or backwards. Kind of like Pooh when he ate too much honey at Rabbits Howse. Right.

Wait, am I even getting to the point here? NO!

So (cutting out long parts of the story) we eventually DID secure the thing to the wall.

And then put stuff in it.

Then Hollie had to leave, but I vaguely promised to keep working.

Then I bought shelves. (can you tell I'm still cutting out long rambly parts of the story?)

Then I built them.

Then I went through and decluttered the bulk of my baby clothes, figuring someone else can be using them rather than me hoarding them, and that we can get more if needed, when that time might or might not come ...

I did save some stuff, don't worry.

Anyway, at the end of the day I had this:

**Eight** empty totes! WOOoooo!

A stack of boxes to give away, send to friends, and give away to a different place. (Two views, same stack)

One giant empty tote to also give away:

and the lovely shelves I built, more or less without catastrophe:

cool, eh?