Phew. Just about halfway done with the cleaning project.

I’m in a one-room apartment, but it is sort of split into two sections. There’s the kitchen/computer section. And the TV/bed section. And I have finished the kitchen/computer section now. That’s where all my clothes are too. I have been through all the drawers and shelves and kitchen cabinets. Everything. Thrown out lots of junk. And reorganized things. When I moved in here I brought my stuff and organised it. And then for the last three years whenever I have gotten new stuff I have just sort of thrown it in the cupboard or drawer. It’s like having a pile of stuff that is well organised. And then throwing lots of stuff on top of it. Until it’s just a pile of mess. It was quite nice to take everything out and put it back, in a more efficient way. That is of course also an issue when you’re losing your eyesight. Storing things in an organised and efficient manner. Anything that makes life easier and less complicated is a good thing.

It continues to amaze me how much junk I have to throw out. My dad has been around a couple of times to pick up stuff. Things he can give away or sell or whatever. He’ll be taking my bike away too. I am never again going to ride that bike. I will have to be content with my exercise bike. So someone else might as well have the old one.

I am not just getting rid of stuff, though. Today I bought a new piece of furniture. A small one, but still. I have been using an old cardboard box as my bedside table. Well, I wanted to get rid of that and replace it with an actual table. I was talking to my dad about it on the phone, and in the background I could hear my my mother mention a second-hand store next to Bazar Vest, the local market place. I guess it’s a new thing, the second-hand store. At least it wasn’t there when I worked at the Barn, next to the Bazar. Anyway, my dad and I decided to be all spontaneous and go there. Immediately. So we hung up and got going. Met eachother halfway there and walked the rest of the way together. I didn’t bring my cane, even though I haven’t been round those parts for years. But it went fine. And we found the store. And we found a little table for me. And a serving tray I wanted. And then we walked home with it. My dad carrying the table, me carrying the little tray. Being almost blind has its upsides sometimes.

That second-hand store seemed really nice. If I had all of my eyesight I think I would have spent an hour or two up there, looking at all the stuff. Picking out things. I’m sure there were lots of stuff I could have used or that would just have been neat. But when you can’t see anything in there then browsing isn’t much fun of course. And I’m trying to UN-clutter the apartment, not the other way around.

But I’m happy about the table. Now the box is emptied and removed and it’s all for the better.

I can’t believe I still had the Windows 98 CD-ROM from my first internet-age computer still lying around. More than 10 years old. That computer is long dead and gone.

It really does feel good to rid myself of all that ancient history.

I got some good news today. My hospital appointment in late September has been moved up. They had an available time next Wednesday. So that’s good. That shaves a month off the waiting. Hopefully I will be able to get the secondary cataract treatment soon then. Fingers crossed.

In other news, I have started an apartment cleanup project. I am going to go through the whole apartment and clean out all the junk. I have a bit of the family packrat gene. But my circumstances have changed, to say the least. There is so much of the things I have lying around that I don’t need or can’t use now. So I will try to cleanse the place. Out with the old. It’s going to take some time, but I feel happy about the prospect. I have also been on a general cleaning craze. I think I may have a dust mite problem. So I’m doing what I can to clean up and simplify. Did you know that I have lived in this apartment for three years now, and I have never washed the floors? I have vacuumed, but not washed. When all the litter is gone I’m going to try and wash the floor. And speaking of vacuuming, I have not been entirely happy with the performance of my vacuumer. So I have ordered a new one. Should be a real good one, if I can figure out how to use it. I have also put in an order for two more buckwheat pillows. I like my buckwheat pillow, but I need more. I have always been used to lots of pillow support. In fact I have used a folded up top matress and a big blanket as pillows. But again, to combat dust mites, I want to simplify. Some nice pillows will do the trick. And I’m still lucky enough that my finances are so good that I can afford the luxury of… buying stuff.

Internet shopping is fun.