| 111th Year, 37th Issue | Thursday, April 27, 2000 | Sparta, North Carolina |
Just in case anyone has driven by my house and seen a well battered pickup truck loaded with furniture, indeed I am moving. Along the same lines as the Beverly Hillbillies, I loaded up my truck and moved, but not to California.
I just went a few miles down the road towards Ennice, just a hop and a jump from town. I try not to skip, because every time I do I have to go back anyway.
A person just doesn't realize how much junk they accumulate until they move. In addition to the junk I discovered during this move, I still have stuff stored at three different places in Virginia. I discovered that I had three sets of serviceable glasses, very few of which match. Glasses only come in matching sets, as do socks. But for some reason, I have numerous different kinds of both and a number without a match.
The socks aren't much good without matches, unless they are white. In that case, if anyone notices, they are probably too close to me.
As for the glasses, I never have been much on matching sets of silverware and dinnerwear. As long as my company has a clean utensil, plate, bowl and glass, I don't see as how they have any call to complain. That's better than I have gotten at a few places I've been in the past. I went to one fellow's house who offered me a meal and then told me to wash up a plate and glass after I accepted. I never have tried that.
I also found things that I didn't recall owning. Most of the stuff was just this and that, but some was fairly significant. Like an older model laptop computer that cost a couple grand at one time, but is worth only about $20 today. Isn't technology a great investment? I kept the case and decided to toss the computer. I also located a number of books that I really want to read. This is unusual because a few weeks ago I looked around and decided I had read everything at my house. I also have the world's largest collection of pencils and pens, but I never seem to be able to find any of them when I need to write something down. I suppose it will always be like that.
As one of the last parts of the move, I loaded up my broken Craftsman riding mower, which has become quite a landmark on N.C. 18 south, from what I understand. People often asked me if I was the one who lives in the house with the riding mower in the yard.
As for the mower, a friend agreed to help me check it out. After a thorough inspection, he told me that my deck is bent and my bearings are falling out in both front wheels and one spot in the deck. I wonder if that happened when I ran it over that time? No, couldn't be. He just didn't understand that I never have had a full deck and I've been trying to get my bearings for years.
Just what I always needed: a mower that won't mow. That will fit right in with my broken-handled shovel, tine-free rake and two-piece mattock. All are wonderful excuses for not working. If I had good tools, I would feel obliged to put them to good use. But since I have old broken stuff, I don't feel too bad about it laying idle, at least until I have to move it all. Next time, I think I will do things differently. I might just have an auction and let it all go.
Anything beats moving again.
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