Gary and I spent 2 days one week working on the basement and emptying out the cupboards and cubbies down there. We were able to separate most of it into 2 piles: one of items to toss and a second for Dawn and Cathy to go through to decide what they wanted to keep and what we could donate. Slowly but surely the toss pile built up until it filled one corner of the basement.
And, we kept filling that corner. (Actually, we took that chair out and are donating it to a local group.
Of course, we’re well aware that we’ve got to empty that corner also but first we’ve got to put it all into a pile so that we can see how much there is to determine how large a dumpster we need to order. And, no that record player does not work, nor does that vacuum cleaner.
Lug had an office in the basement and here’s a partial shot showing some off the floor to ceiling cubbies that lined 3 of the 4 walls. Very ingeniously, he put sliding doors on each one so they wouldn’t take too much space when opened. We’ve taken the doors off the left hand side so that we could empty these cubbies and you can see the walls in back. The doors are still on the ones from the center to the right but all of these spaces were cram jammed full.
But, it wasn’t just the office here that was full. The 15’ counter and the black bookcase that Gary deconstructed several days ago was also full of things and there were several built-in cabinets that Lug had made that were also full. Now, these cabinets had painting supplies like turpentine and old paint along with ant poison and lot of other noxious chemicals in them. Gary called the Fort Dodge landfill and found out that they have no provision for the dumping of chemicals and recommended that we take them to Bondurant, closer to Des Moines. OK. There were lots of others in the garage and we will probably fill the back end of Lug’s Vibe with the back seat down.
But, it’s not all work, we also went out to breakfast in a local FD restaurant. Because we don’t live there, we aren’t well acquainted with some of them so we’re trying them all out. Here we are in Jamar’s, a local mom and pop. I’m thinking it was started by a couple named James and Mary and is now operated by their children. But, I’m not sure of that but I do know that they’s been around for ages. I remember eating dinner there with Gary’s parents on Tuesdays which was fried chicken night. My, did Gary’s parents love their fried chicken. It’s a pleasant, bright, clean home-town diner. Just the kind of place we like to eat.
The place has lots of windows so the light can come streaming in and it has lots of little homey touches which now center on Easter with lots of bunnies and Easter baskets. Lots of locals frequent the place and they are very friendly. We got into a conversation with 2 women who sat at a table near us. One of them graduated in 1965, a year after us and certainly she remembered Gary who was the Student Body President and who started all the assemblies with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Remember my new BFF from the recycling bins several weeks ago whom we also met several days later in an elevator? Sure enough, he’s the guy in the red shirt off to the left here. Gary thinks we’ve got a thing going.
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