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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

~~How I Lure Men~~

And, it is done, all but the mopping up. I am exhausted, can barely walk, and feel sooo sleeeepy. It has been a good afternoon, long afternoon. He is gone now.

WHAAAT??

NOT that! Silly goose.

I have seven bookcases. I managed to clean out a whole one, and parts of three others, where I can reach the books. Two years ago, I sold about 10 books to a used book store and gave away 790 for a total of 800 books that left my home. I had vowed to get rid of 10 books a day and gave out at 800 books.

The thrift store where I donated books had shelves of my books. I had really strange feelings of loss and violation of my space as I looked at them. I wanted to rescue them. I resisted. One time, I took in stacks of books, donated them, looked at the stack and asked if I could have one back. The woman readily agreed.

Mark likes books. He is only a few classes away from have a BA in English. Sooo, use what charms I have--books. He agreed to remove all the books from one bookcase and I would give him all books I did not want to pack.  There is 10 feet of shelf space plus the top of the bookcase he emptied. Plus, I stack books crosswise, laying them on the upright books. My other ploy to ease overcrowding is to slip some books behind the rows of books. I would say that added another 3 feet, making making 13 feet of books. Then, he carried and emptied a whole milk crate of books onto the table.

He put 12 or fifteen boxes of books in the car. A table full of books is staring at me! He might come back by, so I cannot take a much needed nap, just in case he will carry more books to the car for me. I cannot handle a large box of books, so sometimes there are only 6-8 very small books in a box.

Update: Some boxes had a dozen books because the smaller boxes would not hold larger books! I gave him 15 books. He put 18 boxes in my car.

Gee, I may have to up the ante and cook a meal for him....sheesh.

Your turn
Do you find that people help when there is a reward for them?  I cannot afford to pay for help, so this is as good as it gets in the "help" department.

10 comments:

  1. Gosh, all those books... just gone now. I have a very hard time doing what you're doing but sometimes it must be done.

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  2. I only ever get help by bribing or paying people. It makes me sad because I do favors for people all the time and never get anything in return unless there is something in it for them.

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  3. Rubye,
    Don't get too eager. I still have 2000 books. I got rid of all Shakespeare and kept "Rats, Lice, and History." I got rid of pregnancy and baby books and baby-naming books--all part of the 800. The books sent to the car today are going into safe-keeping for a bit with exbf--NOT gone. If you have 3000 books, maybe some need to go. But, don't feel compelled to get rid of books because people tell you to do so. I had 7 bookcases, stuffed, books lying sideways and books flat behind other books + books in boxes and stacks on tables. My goal was to get all books onto a shelf. When I did that, I quit. Now, I need to keep going on the three or four bookshelves that were not sorted.

    If you have books that pertain to having a baby, raising a baby, raising a child that are old, no young mother will read them, even if some of the advise is good still. If you have three copies of Sula or To Kill a Mockingbird, share. That is why I have multiple copies of books. I sold "Your Body; Yourself" because I buy them for a quarter and sell them for $3. There are classics like that, important and salable.

    This was a hard thought for me and hard to do, so I did 10 books each day until I quit for some reason.

    Free!~
    It is the same way here. Exbf does for me and does not expect anything in return. He needs a hip replacement so cannot do much, lives 65 miles from me and works 5 days a week at a Sam's Club in the gas station. (His place where he worked as an engineer closed, so he cannot find a job in his field. ) This is hard on him.

    Everyone else I ever did anything for? They cannot see I have a need that they are willing to fill. But, if I am giving something away, they rush with their truck or open hands.

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  4. Linda, same here, I'm always available when called on for a favor but when I need help no one's around unless there's something in it for them. I've decided to make myself a little less obliging.

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  5. Giving to someone is a wonderful feeling to be able to help someone out in some way but I do not like to be victim of my own generosity.

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  6. I like passing books along--unless they are reference books that I would refer to a lot. But I like knowing that someone is enjoying the same book I enjoyed.

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  7. Pamela,
    Reference books usually stay. I figured out the thrift shop threw books they deemed "unfit" into the dumpster! I like getting help from him...lol. He was happy to get the books.

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  8. Linda, that would be really hard for me to get rid of books except for maybe the baby related stuff. I find that paying others is less messy...no expectations, but we do barter a fair bit too.

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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.