27 June 2008 @ 02:42 pm
That housing slump has been hitting, pardon the pun, home  
My brother is moving in with us on Sunday.

In the past year he lost his job in the mortgage industry, finalized his divorce (giving nearly everything he owned to the ex-, incl. the furniture, household, & kitchen stuff we bought him before they got married), apparently worked some deal for Volkswagen to sell off his car that hadn't worked in over a year but for which he couldn't afford repairs & insurance anyway to satisfy the last few months on his car note, worked in a laptop repair facility that was a modern day sweatshop before his ride to the building disappeared when his coworker got a new job, and has generally hit bottom.

He has had a rough year. Our first task after moving the paltry worldly goods he has left is to get him a job. One I can drive him to and pick him up from as Houston is NOT known for its mass transit system. *sigh*

Tonight and this Saturday I'll be cleaning out all the junk I have in the guest room. I have no idea where it will go; it's in there because I don't have anywhere else to put it. I suspect I'll miss tomorrow's Pride Parade for which I bought two expensive bleacher seats, damnit, because I'll still be working on it all. (I still have my bone collection in there from my days as a faunal analyst. I'm guessing at this point I could throw it away. I don't know anyone in need of a type collection who can come to get it before I move the brother in on Sunday morning. Good thing it's heavy trash on Tuesday.)

Our house is *small* and it already houses the two of us, the dog, Joe's business, Joe's recording studio, and the Flying Fish Sailors merchandise. I suspect everyone's stress levels will be running high for the next several months.
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Current Mood: worried
 
 
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[identity profile] demusetta.livejournal.com on June 27th, 2008 08:27 pm (UTC)
I have some time this weekend if you could use a hand. I'm sorry your brother has had such a difficult year.
Mish[identity profile] hsapiens.livejournal.com on June 27th, 2008 08:46 pm (UTC)
Thank you. *hugs* I'll keep you in mind but I think most of the work that needs to be dine is deciding how to handle the stuff I have in there. Some is easy, my pile of clothes to give away can, you know, actually be taken to the Goodwill collection center and given away. Other stuff, like tablecloths and household goods that we use but don't have another place to store is the part that stumps me. If this were a better time financially, I'd take the opportunity to dump the dining room furniture I hate and replace it with something that would hold the dishes *and* linens.
[identity profile] kcarp.livejournal.com on June 27th, 2008 09:04 pm (UTC)
I'd offer storage space (it can go in the closet with stuff I'm keeping for demusetts), but I'm out of town and it sounds like you need what you're keeping.

So instead, a suggestion: Bed lifts. Little blocks to stick under the bed and give the room a bunch of storage space.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=14039791 is one example. El cheapo.

Good luck!
Mish[identity profile] hsapiens.livejournal.com on June 28th, 2008 12:24 am (UTC)
That's so very kind of you! I *really* appreciate that. I think this is a good reason to give away a bunch of stuff that I can live without and probably should have dealt with years ago.

I'll be checking out those extenders, though, because I could pack linens into underbed storage bins and stow them under there. Thank you for the suggestion!