from -15 to 70 and back again

my mission was to empty my storage unit in southern california.

it’s been there since i left my job at calarts before the summer of 2007- lame, i know, trust me, i know.

i thought i’d be going back to my job, but then halfway through my summer i realized it just wouldn’t be good for me, or good for the students, so i quit. for some reason i didn’t go back to california after my summer in santa fe to get my stuff. . . i don’t remember what my rational was.

i have plans to leave the country, and i didn’t want this unfinished business looming over me. . . not to mention the monthly fees.

day 1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the morning i left it had been 15 below. . . it wasn’t nearly as cold as i drove out to burlington to catch a flight in the early afternoon. the drive goes through the islands to burlington is real pretty.

i guess i picked a good time since another snow storm was due to hit us later that evening. . . i just snuck out in time. and there’s nothing like walking outside into 50+ degree weather, especially when you’ve gotten used to thermal underwear and wool lined winter caps. shedding the layers was a treat.

picked up my rental, a zippy yaris, and drove to my hotel.

i only lived in the valencia area for 7 months. i didn’t expect to remember the roads or places of interest so i printed out and looked through maps like crazy. i did surprisingly well, even when i hadn’t google-mapped my destination.

my first night, while snacking in my room i wondered why my bed, then why my room was vibrating. . . then i realized with was residual from my plane flights- all in my head. i woke up bright and early (strange for me) at 6. well, it was 9 est.

day 2-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i brought every set of master lock type keys i could find. . . but i had a feeling that none of them were going to work. i just figured there would be a way. wednesday morning, i got to my storage at 9 and none of my keys worked. some paperwork, lock cutting fees, phone calls and faxing to my brother (since he was the legal renter) ensued, and i was into my storage by around 11am.

btw, if you wanna know what it looks like to watch some guy cutting off your locks. . . here’s a shot from my phone.




i started sorting out garbage and picking out pieces that could go to goodwill first. i knew what i meant to keep. cds, the empty dvd cases (all my movies are in cd books), some books, and my comics. what i didn’t plan on was all the memorabilia type stuff. . . or things like my portfolio and school work. . .errr. . . . more sorting.

i made my first drop off to goodwill around 3. i remembered where it was! they don’t take hangers. . . i had a lot of hangers. i asked about mattresses. . . they don’t take them, but salvation army might. hmm. . . obstacles. and the trash bins outside the storage unit are locked. i’d have to pay to take my trash to a dump site, or be clever and indiscreet and find a hopper somewhere. . . discreet, with 26 bags of trash and possibly a mattress? not gonna happen. i took a lunch break after goodwill and started searching for ideas back in my hotel.

i had hoped to drop some things off with students, and some with goodwill. i thought i might be able to donate the books. i called a couple of places, one only accepted paperbacks, and the library wasn’t picking up the phone.

the quick truck rental and trip to goodwill sounded less and less likely. i did some quick google searches for trash sites and such online. . . and that’s when i saw a familiar name. 1.800.GOT.JUNK. all those hours of watching ‘clean house’ just paid off. :)

i checked out their site. it’s not a cheap thing. . . but it can take a lot of the worry and back break from a cleaning job. they recycle everything they can, and donate to charities whenever they can. they are big on bringing as little to a landfill as possible. i like this. (beyond all that, i just read that they were initially started up by a college student in canada. -i know my feelings are unfounded, but whenever something is canadian, i just expect it to be better. . . more trust worthy. . . or something.)

i made an appointment for the next day.

i continued to sort through my things for the rest of the afternoon. i started packing boxes that i would send back to myself. i had to be out by 7pm, or be locked in.

dinner from whole paycheck. . . err. . .whole foods. yummy sushi.

mind wired, body tired. constantly running through my head, like a mantra, ‘be productive, B-E- productive.’


day 3-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the next morning was similar. back at the storage before 9. . . sorting. my appointment with 1.800.GOT.JUNK was for 12-2.

i did all the major sorting, and even the smaller/ picky sorting before they called. (i have a tendency to place important pieces of paper into books i’m reading, so i had to flip through all the books in the two tubs i planned to give away.)

anyway, their customer service was phenomenal. the guy i spoke to on the phone was very helpful and kind, and the two guys that came to move my stuff were congenial and worked quickly. i am impressed with the entire outfit. one of the guys that moved my stuff took the time to tell me how glad he was to see me using a reusable water bottle. again, they stressed that they would go through everything to separate out things that can be recycled or reused.

my only criticism. . . they don’t pack a truck they way i would. they started with my trash, which could all be thrown in much later. i would’ve started with the mattress and the table- big square things. . . stack the tubs and storage bins, place the electronics, then pack in the trash and my bike. it definitely wasn’t a roadie pack.

they left around 12:45. all gone, except for my boxes. i packed them into my car. some more faxing and phone calls to my brother, and i’m out of my storage.

celebration lunch? in-n-out. mmmmmm. . .

back to the hotel. for some reason i’m especially beat in the afternoon. wrote some cards to people who would receive boxes.

after a long lunch i walk out to my car to address all the boxes. drove to the post office. it took four trips with a hand cart from my car to the counter. just as i got in line, there was no one else. . . awesome, no one to piss off with a long wait. as i stepped to the counter. 7 or 8 people filtered in. i had 13 boxes to ship. it took a while, but i cracked a joke about single handedly helping the USPS through the recession.

everything gone, except for one extra bag that will travel with me. my portfolio would’ve needed a much larger box. . . i cushioned it and some other bits with a blanket my friend sarah made for me. (i didn’t keep the two pj bottoms she made me, but i really like the blanket and wasn’t ready to give it up. . . . yet.)

it felt so good to be done.

back to my room to relax before meeting up with a friend from calarts. . . and some more whole paycheck sushi.

michael and i met up and found a bar to hang out in. i was able to give him a few things from my storage. . . and since i remember that he liked them so much, i made him a batch of rice krispy treats and brought them from ny.

we did lots of chatting- michael and i actually met briefly in ohio, working for vincent in cleveland before calarts. for the first couple of weeks that i was at calarts we kept wondering why we looked familiar to each other. after talking through a complete techie genealogy we discovered that we worked together a couple of times in cleveland, and one of his closest friends from his undergrad was one of my apprentices at SFO.

we talked about a number of places that he hasn’t visited in the LA area yet. i had the advantage of knowing an LA native while i was there. i got to see a lot in my short time there. hopefully michael gets a chance to take in some sites before he graduates.

we bumped into a couple other calarts students. . . ones i actually knew. so much for keeping on the dl.


day 4-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i can sleep in! or, it would be nice if i could sleep in. not only am i wide awake at 6, but there’s some sort of loud industrial work happening in the next lot for a full hour.

i did sleep for another hour between 9 and 10.

michael thought there was a chance that we could head down to the getty if he got out of a meeting early. . . but that didn’t happen. i had a lazy day walking around. i can always waste time in a borders. *must not buy more books!*

i wouldn’t get to Mon (exceptional sushi), or Chan Dara (exceptional thai). . . but i picked up some thai from in town. it was delicious. i wouldn’t get to the getty, or the observatory, or the arclight. but, that’s ok. it wasn’t supposed to be that kind of trip anyway. it was gorgeous out. warm and sunny.

michael and i met up for a movie in town. ‘taken’. . . from minute 5 on it was a heart pounding thrill. pretty fantastic. i reminded him over and over that he should go to the arclight to see coraline, and watchmen, it’s what i would do if i were there. :)

turns out he’s a big fan of westerns, and well. . . i’m a big fan of ‘easterns’- or samurai movies to be exact. we are now coaching each other through a list of what the other should see.



day 5-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(automaton day)
get up
shower
pack
clean car
check out from hotel
put gas in the car
drive to airport
check in rental
wait
fly and sleep (i think the father from twin peaks, ray wise, is on my flight)
land in ny
wait (in a pretty great terminal actually- yay jetblue)
fly and sleep
land in burlington
drive 3.5 hours home
it’s 4am
sleep a lot
wait for stuff to arrive