There's the chair I threw out. Somehow it miraculously ended up on the old lady's front porch. You can laugh, but, don't you dare say, it's just one chair. This is how it starts. Next there will be two or three stuffed chairs and a couch or two and a couple of microwaves and a fridge and a broken kitchen stove...on and on. It took me eight month to clean up this dump and the city was fining her for having a junk yard without a permit. That chair has now seen a rainstorm and the stray cats and it's covered with hair and it smells funny. It could have been taken by a curb shopper who actually needed a comfy chair. Now it's ruined. My Mother is nuts. Period. This is part of her hoarding disorder. So, I will say nothing and I will get up at 3 am next trash day and put it back in the trash. It made a nice photo, but, I hope to never see it again. It made me sad to see this. Very sad. Because I know her sickness is spreading to the yard again.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
That is not lawn furnitue
There's the chair I threw out. Somehow it miraculously ended up on the old lady's front porch. You can laugh, but, don't you dare say, it's just one chair. This is how it starts. Next there will be two or three stuffed chairs and a couch or two and a couple of microwaves and a fridge and a broken kitchen stove...on and on. It took me eight month to clean up this dump and the city was fining her for having a junk yard without a permit. That chair has now seen a rainstorm and the stray cats and it's covered with hair and it smells funny. It could have been taken by a curb shopper who actually needed a comfy chair. Now it's ruined. My Mother is nuts. Period. This is part of her hoarding disorder. So, I will say nothing and I will get up at 3 am next trash day and put it back in the trash. It made a nice photo, but, I hope to never see it again. It made me sad to see this. Very sad. Because I know her sickness is spreading to the yard again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
34 comments:
And I am also a little hurt, because as you can see that old stuffed rocking chair is heavy and I had a hard time with it. Now I have to do it all over again. There is nothing fair or caring about that.
How did she manage to schlep it to her house?
She must have called the boys, there's no way she could lift that.
You've got every right in the world to be upset.. and hurt. And not merely physically either! With your blood, sweat and tears you turned the 'junkyard' into a show place worthy of a spread in House & Garden.
I know she balked initially, but I thought she was thrilled with the final product. Guess that proves how much of disease hoarding truly is; They have no control over the impulse to hang on to every bit of flotsam and jetsam that comes their way.
My mom has the same problem. When my dad died we forced her to face up to it and got busy getting rid of all the crap. I would have left her to it, but it was becoming a health hazard. When my dad had the heart attack, the EMT's had a serious problem navigating to his bedside.
She fought us through every step of the clean up process.. she cried hysterically, swore and threatened to never speak to me again.
Unfortunately, she didn't mean it ;-)
DD;
Can you call 'the boys' to come and get it? They could get it in the middle of the night and go put it somewhere else. A Goodwill donation station, or hell a dumpster, for that matter.
Saint James, it's so frustrating, isn't it? It's ugly, unhealthy and embarassing. REALLY embarassing.
No goodwill here, Cut, nothing like that. I have to do it in the night so she won't know. The boys are on her side, she pays them. They know she's nuts but they don't have to live here. Their grandma (her sister) is fruitcakes too. The boys use that to their benifit and I don't blame thenm a bit.
DD;
I guess those boys may be too young to appreciate the benefits of being "in" with a stellar gardener. No bribing them with tomatoes, I guess.
I was going to suggest that you take the cushions off and rip them to shreds, but I'm sure they'll just find something else to put on the chair as a cushion. Damn, I feel your frustration. Set the damn thing on fire!!! (It did make a very nice picture, though.)
Let's see... ugly, unhealthy, embarassing.. Oh! We forgot dangerous;
The lengths to which these old broads will reach in order to score more useless crap.
20+ years ago, (back when I was still under her thumb) my mom brought her car to a screeching halt in the center median of busy Los Angeles highway. Flat tire? No. She'd spotted a bag of crushed aluminum cans in one of the center lanes. She, my own mom, told me to get out of the car and get the bag.
Thumb or not, I told her she was nuts and no way was I going to risk my life for a sack o' cans that was just going to end up "on the pile" and unredeemed anyway. But after several minutes of back and forth, I knew she'd never give up the scent of those fucking cans so I dodged the 55 mph cars so we could be on our merry way.
It took many more years of similar incidents before I finally came around to the realization that there is just no arguing with crazy. You can either give in or give out, but to argue with them is simply an exercise in futility.
You're town was fining her for having a junkyard without a permit, but they won't do anything about mistreatment of animals (your neighbor's dogs)? I thought my township was bad. I bow to yours!
that is a nice photo, but, it should remain a photo. I wish I was there to help you.
what you need is a big mallet/chain sa & go over there in broad daylight without saying a word & destroy the the chair to fuckery.
She put the chair there as a way of regaining some control. She knows it will piss yo off, she knows you will get up in the middle of the night & possibly hurt yourself moving it, so don't do it. Just go over & smash it to bits. It will also be easy to move to the trash then too.
This will be a sign to her that you are not playing the game anymore. New rules, yours.
Oh & If you do, please please please video it & post it here. ;)
Pat, have you tried Freecycle?
http://www.freecycle.org/
Check to see if there is a yahoo group of it in your area. Then you can post things you want to get rid of (Offer). Maybe somebody will take it.
You can also see what others are offering or wanting.
I just got rid of our old broken gas BBQ this week on Freecycle. Someone wanted one and did not matter if it needed to be repaired. One less thing to take to the dump!
I have gotten many things on Freecycle..including the cat in my avatar.
I have something that gets rid of unwanted items, it's called garbage men.
Bubble, that made me laugh, but, that old chair is indestructable. Maybe fire would kill it, but, I'd burn her house down. Hmm.
I have a general questions. Why are most hoarders obsessed with cats? And seem to collect them? Everyone I've heard of with a hoarding problem also has tons of cats that piss everywhere and live in unsanitary conditions. I'm just wondering why the two normally go hand in hand?
Mags
They do not have bulk garbage pick up in our area anymore. You have to pay to haul it to the dump. We are lazy so I would rather have somebody want it and come and get it..LOL
post it on ebay, put 1 cent start price then whoever wins it will come get it, i've got rid loads of crap like that.
Good question about the cat collecting. I've noticed some new ones around here and I'm pissed about it. All of them don't "just come here" like she claims.
You might not like this but I love the fabric on the cushions. Its actually a cool pic. It looks very 1950's California, poolside! The flowers in the pot looked placed there as to compliment the cushions. I think it's cool. I dont love the wood chair either and leaving it outside is a shame. At least save the cushion covers! Take them and put pillows in them and use them in your house. They will wash up still. Dont wait! That fabric appears to be vintage. I love it!!!! Sorry...
I am on your side tho about the junk yard thing. My husband used to be like that. He saved everything he ever saw at a jobsite and would bring it home. Mind you, some of it is good stuff. But 90% is someone elses junk. In the past year I have had to replace my kitchen range & my refrigerator. I was glad 'cuz now my kitchen looks much nicer. I had to wait till the old ones died tho. So...he takes the old ones out to the barn and there they sit. Call the old junk appliance guy to come & get them! NOOOO!!! Dayum. I hate junk! Junk cars, trucks, campers, riding mowers. I know what I am talking about!! I think he is somewhat reformed now however. Not completely.
The old argument "I might need them for a part" just doesnt cut it after all this time. My grandma used to say that!! A grandma? Yes! She might need THAT for something. Really? Really??? It's JUNK!!!
PS: I love that pic so much. I'd print it out & frame it!!!
That chair is original and it IS vintage. I had it for years, but, I don't have room for it now. The cushion part can not be removed. It's solid. I think it's from the 50's.
The design is weird with that wood part. That was, like, inovative. When they were starting to move into the 60's designs. I don;t like the wood either, but, it's a comfy thing. Ruined now. She should have let soneone have it. We have curb shoppers here. Crazy bitch can't let anything go. I find my trash in her house all the time.
Well, I STILL love that chair & it would look fantastic painted & placed in a sun room. This pic is perfectly arranged. The water can, the flower pot, the chair, the white wall, the stone floor, the damn cat even! How did you get this?!!!! The plants around the outside of the frame too. It's amazing how well arranged things can be just by accident. I still say, save the cushion covers!! Cut them off if you have to. Save them!
OK...I dont have a sunroom either. Unless you count my front yard! Only old rich ladies have sunrooms. What do you need a Florida room for in Florida? Just go outside!!!!
It's not posed. I snuck up behind a tree and took it.
I was struck by the colors too, but, it doesn;t make the chair there any less stupid.
I understand how you can worry about your mom, but your never going to change her Pat, so just try and enjoy her.
People that age grew up in a tougher time then us and I see it a lot that they need to keep everything.
crystal
I would have loved that chair in good condition.
I don't worry about her. I worry about the yard. Fuck her.
FUCK HER.
Wonderful chair, beautiful pic. ut if you don't have room.....i get it.
my mom is a hoarder. i've lived with it all my life. i'ts just a sideline of her personality disorder.stacks and heaps of random crap. threats and tantrums for anyone who tried to clean up. two refrigerators full of rotten food, counters piled with moldy bread, deceased fruit, cookies and candy a diabetic old lady is not supposed to eat. and yes, cats... a couple of dozen cats in the back yard.
All swept away by hurricane Ike.
poor cats :(. even crazy doesn't ague with mother nature.
every hurricane has a silver lining.
I love it. WHoooooooosh.
Post a Comment