Moments of Calm: Closing Bothersome Open Tabs
Most of the time, when people think of "feeling overwhelmed by chaos", the thing that comes to mind is typically physical clutter.
That said, sometimes it can be the mental and psychological clutter that weighs us down the most.
I have been experiencing this first-hand over the past couple of weeks as several rather distracting "open tabs" in the circus that is "my life" have suddenly been closed.
And I feel a lot of not only relief, but it's also like some memory was freed up, because these things no longer linger in the back of my mind, taking up space.
For example, we had been storing a bunch of an acquaintance's furniture and belongings in our garare, while she was on assignment outside the US... which turned out to be for more then three years.
Why she didn't just get a self-storage unit and prepay it — after all, we live a couple of hours from where she lives, not exactly convenient — remains a mystery to me, but somehow she talked Mrs. Denmarkguy into letting her store stuff here.
Anyway, she cam by earlier this week and picked up all her stuff! Yay! Now we are no longer responsible for the keeping of someone else's stuff, and I can tidy up and clean all the garage, for the first time in almost four years.
Meanwhile there was the issue of the water heater — which I think I mentioned that we needed to get replaced because it was leaking — which we kept putting off because we didn't have $2,000 sitting around for a new one.
Well, then Mrs. Denmarkguy found a small announcement on a local web bulletin board, in which someone was offering a couple of "gently used" water heaters for $20 each because they had been removed from a house where the owner had wanted to install "tankless" water heaters instead.
Turned out that they had been removed by a local handman who also agreed to install one of them here at our place... so water heater + installation for a total of $100 instead of $2,000.
Another tab closed.
Then there was the issue of my getting a new driver's license — always a hassle that requires lines and waiting at the DMV — but it turned out that I didn't actually need to get it renewed until next year... mostly because I misread the date. Expires in 2026. Not 2025.
Last but not least... the weight of having to do a bunch of business bookkeeping on short notice because of one of Mrs. Denmarkguy's applications for a particular government program (she has a disability), but it turned out that they could take all the paperwork and approve an extension for another six months without my having to jam two weeks' worth of accounting work into a few days! Yay!
Of course, the bookkeeping still has to be done, but at least I can do it at a more reasonable pace!
The point here is that I really do feel a lot lighter — and much less bogged down — with those items off my plate, and all in such a short time!
Of course, there's still a $1,450 tax bill coming due in mid-October... naturally right in the middle of crypto taking a dive. But I won't get started on that — for now I am just celebrating somewhat of a lightening of the load!
Thanks for coming by, and have a great Friday!
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Created at 2025.09.26 01:02 PST
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I can relate to the paperwork. I just received the fuel assistance application and spent a good part of the morning collecting the necessary paperwork and preparing it for submission. Why it can't be submitted once a year and all necessary government divisions get the info from there, I have no idea.
Glad about the water heater! And that you have a bit less on your plate.