Lots of Developments

A major bottleneck has been removed in the process of emptying my condo. Got the OK from the building manager yesterday to have movers up to empty the place. So the ball is really in my court and I have to make more progress in pulling out the relatively few things I want to keep.

I got three bikes listed on Craigslist, and sold one right away. It was only $300, but it was a good feeling having a little money coming in for a change. Sold the very unexciting Specialized comfort/cruiser type bike that Sarina left here a few years ago. The very exciting (to me, anyway) Vitus 979 racing/road/city bikes have gotten a lot less attention. Did get one inquiry today, but no appointment to see it yet,

My friend Steve, who is a realtor, came over for coffee this morning, and advised me to keep most of the furniture now, for staging purposes, but to get rid of everything else. That makes a lot of sense, since there is a chance a buyer might want some of it, and I'm not counting on getting a lot of money for it now. If I wanted the realtor to stage the place, it would cost something (probably outrageous), and at worst I can get some cleanup company to get rid of everything from Utah.

I called the estate liquidator lady, and she is interested in all my crazy dinnerware from the '40s and '50s - Fire King Jadeite and Homer Laughlin Harlequin. I've got probably a couple hundred pounds of that junk, so I sent her photos of all the stuff I hope she can sell. Even if I only break even, will feel much better about disposing of that stuff this way than seeing it go into a dumpster.

Used a Lancaster County pork shoulder from the freezer to make some green chili. Had gone to the Italian Market Monday and got tomatillos, poblano and jalapeño pepper, and cilantro. Super easy Instant Pot recipe and it seems very tasty. Thought of the Colorado Warnocks while making it. Going to save it for dinner tomorrow, but brought a bowl down to our friend Dawn at the front desk, who has been such a lifesaver. She called me a little bit ago and said she was tearing it up. She said it made her want to "jump up and slap her mama!" Cut lots of fat off the pork roast, and will try to render it tomorrow and make a roux with masa corn flour to thicken it up. It's pretty soupy as is.

I need to make better progress, and I didn't get a whole lot actually done yesterday or today. But having a little bit of a plan and a roadmap in place now will help me focus on getting rid of the non-furniture stuff. Just need to bear down and make better progress.

The insurance company called about my accident in Iowa. I assumed I didn't even have collision coverage, but I do, albeit with a $1,000 deductible. I think the damage - scrapes across both passenger doors and the front quarter panel - will likely exceed that, so that's a good think. I think this is the first insurance claim I've made in nearly 45 years of driving.

Weekend Update

Woke up to a beautiful day today. Slept well Friday and Saturday, following two sleepless nights previous. Had much more energy today, and after my 8am meeting, got to work. Made a big "contractor bag" full of trash after going through my clothes closet. Got that disposed of and loaded most of my packed up stuff into the car. That Honda is going to fill up fast, I'm afraid. But it was a good feeling to start loading the car and make some space down here.

Went to the basement storage space and retrieved a couple of big boxes, some packing tape and bubble wrap. Now can pack the relatively small number of dishes and breakable kitchen stuff I'm taking.

Ran into Kerv, the head maintenance guy, and tried to get the lowdown from him on getting my stuff moved out. He confirmed that the building does not want outside movers coming in, but offered his services, along with his crew. I've been thinking about that this afternoon, and am now thinking that I'll go ahead and have the estate liquidation lady come in and identify the things she can sell. I can get Kerv and co. to load up that stuff, then to clear everything else out of the place once I've sold all I can myself. I'm thinking I can get maybe $400 for electronics, $600 for this Kurzweil synthesizer, and maybe a couple of thousand for four of the six bikes I've accumulated.

Tomorrow's goal is to get the bikes, electronics and synthesizer photographed, catalogued and on Craigslist. I hear by word of mouth that it's a good time to be selling bikes, and these are nice ones. I am keeping the old Vitus that Dad and Yancey built, and one other. Going to check with local bike places to see if someone can package them up to either ship out west or strap to the top of the car.

Good night - time to get some rest.

TGIF

Got a good bit done today - the last two deep drawers in the kitchen and the downstairs closet are empty, and all the kitchen gear, my electric and other tools are boxed up and ready to load in the car. Still have to select some dishes, cups, platters, etc. to box up, but that will be pretty small. The pile of things to be sold or dumped is many times larger, as it should be.

Didn't sleep well the past two nights, but got a nap after morning AA meeting and got down to work. Spoke to the building manager, who had no further news on the ability to move out my stuff or have any non-residents come up.  She did say that, "we can't legally stop you from moving out" which maybe was her way of giving me the green light while still covering her tail. She said she usually talks to the head of the condo board on Fridays and would let me know Monday if there were any developments. If no encouraging news then, maybe I'll go ahead and make plans, condo board be darned. (Utah must be rubbing off on me!)

Had IOP aftercare meeting this evening, and realized, after someone asked me, that I hadn't left the apartment since Tuesday. He suggested that I take some time this weekend to get out and do some walking, and get a cheesesteak! That's probably a very good idea, and the tastiest kind of "homework" I've been assigned in quite a while.

First Full Workday

Happy to have gotten a good bit done today. Made two big contractor bags of trash, then went out to Home Depot for more. Stopped by Sprouts and got some badly needed fresh food. Back home, started tackling the kitchen. Dusted off the Instapot (literally) and made spaghetti for dinner. Washed sheets and made up bed. Foot was pretty good all day, but now that I'm sitting down, it's throbbing like crazy. Spoke with with my sponsor Bill this morning. Apparently they had a big hurricane-like storm move up the east coast a week ago and he was without power for three days. Looking forward to my 7:15 AA home group tomorrow morning, then making some more progress here, then 8pm Aftercare meeting in SLC via Zoom. Have to talk to building manager about specific rules for non-resident access to the condo for now. Apparently they lifted the "red" status for Philadelphia county a week ago and we're now "yellow." Hope that means at least some non-resident access allowed.

Home, sweet home.

Got the AC running and am about to take an epic nap. Our wonderful friend Dawn was working the front desk when I arrived. Kelly, I can't thank you ever enough for cleaning up my  place.

Salt Lake City to Philly - Mile 0

My Personal Recovery Plan

Tonight I complete the 8-week Intensive Outpatient Program, "Recovery Works!" at the University of Utah's Neuropsychiatric Center. It has been an been an outstanding experience and has given me insight into my behavior, addiction, and how it has led me to where I am now. And some great new friends and an introduction into to the recovery community in Salt Lake.

I am leaving Salt Lake City for Philadelphia tomorrow, and plan to blog here daily to keep family updated on my progress in Philadelphia.

Central Park Reservoir - 8 miles

In New York this weekend for the Matzevah (tombstone unveiling) for Barbara's late father Julian. His apartment finally sold and closed early this month, so we're staying in a hotel in midtown. There's a great view of the Empire State Building out our hotel window. Ran about a mile north to Central Park this morning. Weather was overcast, but temperature was perfect - probably high forties. Took the roadway around the park, but detoured when I got to the Central Park Reservoir. If you've ever seen the old movie Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman, he does his training on the running path around the reservior. It's a gravel path about a mile and a half long. I did one and a half loops and returned up the west side of the park and back to the hotel to make 8.33 miles. Kept a respectable 7:47 pace, considering I had to stop for traffic a number of times between the hotel and the park.

Could feel the knee acting up a little during the first half of the run. Guess I will have to take a few weeks off to let it heal, but I wanted to finish out the month and to break 500 miles for the year to date, both of which I did today.

Did a few other runs in the past week which I didn't get around to blogging:

Thursday, April 28
Gang From Work 5.65 miles

Tuesday, April 26
First Summer Weather Run 7.16 miles @ 7:35/mile

Sunday, April 24
Home From Rittenhouse Square 2.28 miles
Jog With Paul 3.77 miles
Run to Paul's 3.01 miles