Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

Adventures In Atlanta

When I cleared out my late sister Wendy's apartment in November, I also knew she'd had a storage unit dating back many years. But without the key to the lock, the access code to the gate or the authorizing paperwork from the probate court for me to settle her affairs, I couldn't do anything about the locker.

So in a scene reminiscent of many an episode of Storage Wars, today I had the lock cut and the door was raised in the first time for a long time.

We're going to cut the lock and open the door. You'll have five minutes to look, but you can't go in and you can't touch anything or open any boxes...

Wait, this isn't an auction. This is my sister's locker -- I can just walk inside.


The big reveal. (Click on photo for larger.)


Nice of Wendy to provide a corridor inside. (Click on photo for larger.)


Not sure when she was here last. After she no longer had a car, it got harder and harder to get out here. Lots of Christmas decorations. (Click on photo for larger.)


I remember that dark wood and wheat cushioned sofa, chairs and coffee table. Too big and heavy to keep hauling up to apartments -- especially the staircase in the last one. (Click on photo for larger.)


One of those boxes says it has stuff from the 1996 Olympics. Several boxes labeled as being sorted in 1998. (Click on photo for larger.)


I remember that picnic basket -- will have to see if it's in good shape inside. (Click on photo for larger.)


That white bedspread I remember from Medina in the 60s -- but I'm not bringing it home. (Click on photo for larger.)


That wooden chest? Oh, I think I know what it is. (Click on photo for larger.)

Tomorrow we dig it all out.

Dr. Phil

And They Kept Christmas Very Well

No secret that my family likes Christmas. When I was boxing up Wendy's things in Atlanta, I pulled two photographs out. One is of my father from a few years ago and the other is Mrs. Dr. Phil and I from even further back. Finally got around to scanning them today.

At first blush I figured only that the one of my father was taken at Wendy's place, based on the furniture. But Daddy is wearing an Official Jurassic Park Tour Guide button. Now Jurassic Park came out in 1993, so at first I thought it was 1993. But then I realized that Daddy is holding one of many books on Harry S. Truman he collected. A quick search -- ain't computers amazing -- told me that Robert H. Ferrell's Harry S. Truman: A Life was officially released on 1 January 1996. Which means this is Christmas 1995. And quite possibly we didn't travel south, so we weren't there when this was taken. Can't read the gift tag on the book...


The scanner picked up a lot of white noise, which the Ulead PhotoImpact Despeckle routine only partially removed. Original photo was probably shot with a Nikon N2020 and a 35-70mm f3.3-4.5 AF Nikkor on color negative stock. (Click on photo for larger)


Robert H. Ferrell's Harry S. Truman: A Life would've be available for Christmas 1995.

The picture of the two of us is on a Polaroid SX70-type instant print. And it looks like this is in the living room of the house in Laurium MI in the U.P. Now I'd bought a Polaroid in the spring of 1990 when I went on a job interview -- it might have been a Polaroid Spectra SE -- which means that this might be Christmas 1990. The 'rents might have come up for Christmas (or maybe Thanksgiving) that year, in which case my father probably took the photo. Otherwise, I don't know who shot the picture.


We bought those Santa hats at K-Mart in Houghton, I think, and we still wear them, 21 years later.

Dr. Phil

The Apartment Is Emptied and Cleaned

There comes a time, when faced with a large and daunting job with a limited timetable that one alternately faces despair and satisfaction. First, it's when you show up the day after 90% of the apartment is cleared out -- all the big pieces and hundreds of pounds of clothes, dishes, books, etc. -- and you can't quite figure out what needs to be sorted, what someone was going to take, what's to be disposed of, and just how much of the stuff you've assigned yourself to take is actually going to fit in the Bravada. You can't quite stuff it to the gills because you still have the suitcase and gear at the hotel to load up when you leave in a day or two.

And you're alone. The kind volunteers who are going to help you -- or rather help their friend one last time -- haven't arrived. And you don't know where to start.

But then the help arrives and things are being moved. And the rooms are cleared one by one. And the Bravada is loaded and it will fit. And maybe. just maybe this is going to work.

And out of the blue someone shows up, but it isn't the person you just met the other night who was going to help clean, but an old friend and roommate of Wendy's. And who just found about out Wendy today and still came over to help clean the place. Without having found an address book, I know there are people in Wendy's life who don't know she's died. And I was so glad this person came.

Sometimes getting that second or even third wind is hard. But then you suddenly discover that there is nothing left to do. That it's all done. And you managed to get the rooms done that didn't have lamps done before the daylight left. And you can turn out the lights and close the door. And use the key for one last time.

Today's Amusement

Any house or apartment begins to look sad as it is emptied out. Just as there's a magic point in moving in where an empty space suddenly becomes a home. Or at least looks habitable. Late in the afternoon a U-Haul truck showed up and some young guy began moving into an apartment downstairs. He was an entrepreneur who decided to leave his fancy trendy apartment and pay a lower rent to save money to buy something. His crew were organized and he had plenty of help. There was a symmetry to this and the moving in raised the energy level in the neighborhood and people passed carrying things in opposite directions, chatting and, for some, sharing smokes.

We had three of the four guys from yesterday working today for a number of hours. We'd given them the cans and dried goods from the kitchen yesterday -- today they were going to take the unopened food from the refrigerator. But it got forgotten.

So we invited the new neighbor to come upstairs and load up on whatever he wanted. Actually there was a chilled bottle of Riesling which we sent downstairs as sort of a housewarming present first. Yes there was a lot of stuff we ultimately threw away, but so much stuff which found or will find a new home.

A job well done.

Dr. Phil

Finally

For over 10 years the people at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) in Grand Rapids MI have been trying to get powerhouse discount airline Southwest to come here. Grand Rapidians would be well suited to both the low fares and Southwest's successful quirky operations. Alas, Southwest wouldn't budge, and one has to travel to either Detroit or Midway in Chicago to fly Southwest. For a number of years, GRR had no discount airlines and the fares charged by Northwest, United, American, Continental, Delta, etc. showed. Since Air Tran and Allegiant (and Frontier) have come to GRR in the last year or so, fares have gotten more competitive. The jury is out as to whether the Delta-Northwest merger helped or hurt.


But... yesterday it was announced that Southwest was going to acquire Air Tran in a $1.4 billion deal. A look at the two airlines' maps shows that though there is some overlap, Air Tran would add a lot of eastern cities to Southwest -- including Grand Rapids and Flint MI, Charlotte NC and Atlanta GA. Yay! Southwest is coming to Grand Rapids!

Don't know the dates, but this should be interesting. Stay tuned.

Dr. Phil