Change of scenery

I am moving out of my office/bedroom, where I have created stuff for the last 10 years, and into another bedroom, in part because I have new/old furniture. My current office will be transforming into a bedroom.

The centerpiece of my new workspace is this fine rolltop computer desk — I think it’s real oak or at least maple, because Red and I struggled to move it by ourselves when we picked it up last weekend. We were saved by two brawny lads who did the heavy lifting for us. There were a couple of tricky lifts required to get it out of the house where the estate auction had been held, but these guys hardly broke a sweat.

We’ve kept the desk in the garage for a few days while we prepare for the big move. Stuff needs to be packed for the big 20-foot transfer from one side of the house to the other, and we also have one other piece of new/old furniture to pick up this weekend: A 10-foot-wide, 79-inch-high entertainment center/bookshelf unit, actually five units that live together.

You may think we’ve splurged on a fancy-schmancy collection of office furniture so I can act like a big-shot author as I head into my old age, but it’s nothing of the sort. We have become fans of a online auction site called CTBIDS.com — C.T. for Caring Transitions — that helps people sell off their belongings when they downsize or otherwise decide they don’t need so much stuff anymore. 

At the same time a whole lot of people are not looking for stuff these days. Collectibles and the like see a lot of action. Furniture, not so much.

As a result I got this tremendous desk, which easily will serve for the rest of my life, for $6. Six bucks! And the big wooden bookshelves? I put one dollar down and no one outbid me. We’ve gotten some remarkable deals through CTBIDS, but this is the most amazing pair of acquisitions to date.

I find myself imagining the wonders I will create sitting at the finest desk I’ve ever owned, but I can’t necessarily say that will happen. 

One of our local school districts is asking voters for permission to build a new middle school to replace the outdated existing building, which despite hard work to keep it up has become a rambling wreck, parts of it dating to 1917 and most of it dating to 1957. One skeptic asked the superintendent why they’re not pushing the idea that a new school would improve kids’ education.

“I’m not sure that you can necessarily say that because I walk into a room that provides me better lighting, it provides me better aesthetics, I’m not sure that I can look at you and say that automatically going to improve scholastic aptitude or outcomes in students,” the superintendent wisely said. “I will say that it provides more opportunities.”

I wrote my first novel on a Commodore 64 and didn’t complete a second novel with until after the Macintosh, Windows 7 PC and iMac that succeeded it had come and gone, so I know the nifty new desk won’t increase my productivity or spark my imagination. But I will say that it provides a better environment and more opportunities. 

CTBIDS is a franchise operation, so you probably will find some local auctions if you check it out. It’s unusual to get deals quite this ridiculous, but I heartily recommend giving it a look. Assuming I survive packing, moving and unpacking all of my stuff, I look forward to reporting back on the new digs. 

Published by WarrenBluhm

Wordsmith and podcaster, Warren is a reporter, editor and storyteller who lives near the shores of Green Bay with his wife, two golden retrievers, Dejah and Summer, and Blackberry, an insistent cat. Author of It's Going to Be All Right, Echoes of Freedom Past, Full, Refuse to be Afraid, Gladness is Infectious, 24 flashes, How to Play a Blue Guitar, Myke Phoenix: The Complete Novelettes, A Bridge at Crossroads, The Imaginary Bomb, A Scream of Consciousness, and The Imaginary Revolution.

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