This has not been a good week for me. Not “DEATH AND DESTRUCTION!!” but not a week I’d care to repeat.

Work has been a challenge for the team I’m part of. Things that should have worked didn’t. Friday night I got home after midnight; my day started at 9 AM  but I wrapped it up at 10:30 PM. I had to back out some work I was doing. Saturday I was providing support for another co-worker and was on calls till noon.

Meh, it happens. Usually it works out. At home we had a leak in 2 rooms and we have expanded that work to the whole house. The basement flooring was all removed because another leak caused the floor to be develop  mold. It’s all work needs doing and as the grownups point out “there’s no time like the present”.

We acquired a 20 cubic yard dumpster and part of that was for 10 years of accumulated stuff. I had the task of clearing the garage. 5 cubic yards later I’m only 2/3rds of the way done. My father had filled the garage with items that he used only once. And it’s 10 other identical items; I tossed out so many unused paint brushes and pans. Never used and still good but Dad’s been gone for over 2 years. We will never use those things, they take up space and only remind us that Dad like to hoard things.

Disposing of the radio equipment was the hardest. Dad would buy a pile of equipment on eBay with one tube he needed. The other equipment went into the garage or his work room in the basement. The radios were not working and he’d always intended to work on them or harvest them for parts.

Radios from the 30s to 50s are not a hobby of mine or anyone in my family. That kit would have been valuable to another enthusiast but 29 months later and there’s just no point anymore in keeping it. I started on the left and if it was on the shelf I tossed it. Every scrap of wood, pipes, fittings, etc. went into the dumpster. I tossed enough sheet rock screws to cover my whole house.

It felt like I was throwing out my Dad. I imagined him saying to me “We might need that someday” and that just made it worse. Thankfully he wasn’t like that in real life and he’d wave his hand and say “Nah, it’s fine. We could use that space. Don’t forget that box in the corner.”

1/3rd of the garage is left. His workroom in the basement too. I’m really not looking forward to that. Maybe I’ll see if my brother’s can lend me a hand. I’m like my Dad in that way and I never even thought to ask them for help.