The Locker

It’s 1978, and I’m a sophomore at Abington High School in Abington, Massachusetts (School #11 of The Twelve). I’m living with my father and his third wife in their home I’ve derisively called The Chestnut Prison. I only stayed at Abington High for about four months, before my living situation got so toxic I had to leave.

The Chestnut Prison

But during that time, I published a couple of articles in the Abington High School newspaper, and if you’re looking for the proto-early works of a blogger … I got cha covered.

When I recycle a blog post… I REALLY recycle a blog post.

I say this, because nearly 50 years later … I’m dealing with a locker again.

Specifically, a storage locker.

Look, I’m not in a situation where someone needs to bring a Hoarders camera crew to my home, but over time I’ve really packed my small place with lots of things. And I need to clear out space.

But of course … you know the rule. You need a reason to throw something out, and it better be a damn good reason to keep it. Unfortunately … I find plenty of damn good reasons to keep things.

So I invested in a 5×15 storage unit. Yeah, it’s larger than I really need … but I’m thinking it’s better to have more space than I need than to have the current situation I’m in, where I don’t have enough space for everything.

Oh, and I had to purchase my own padlock. The storage unit company recommended a padlock with a key, rather than a combination lock. Apparently combination locks can be forced open with a good hard yank. So I purchased a padlock that contained 4,500 pounds of force to cut it or break it. Like I really need Dave Hester or Brandi Passante rifling through my private stuffs.

Great. Let’s just hope I don’t lose any of the keys that came with the package. 😀

Because we all know what can happen if I leave my keys in a locker. Right?

A Chestnut Prison story, how 1978 reflects 2020.

My storage unit rental began on Sunday morning. Bright and early, I drove across a half mile across Green Island to the storage facility. Punched in a door code to open the gate (the computerized door code said “Welcome, Chuck – which was a nice touch).

There’s the locker. Jeez. Cobwebs all over the place. But hey, it’s not like there’s leaks or cracks in the galvanized steel walls or doors, right?

The best way I can focus on this is to load the storage locker with small trips. Put a few boxes in my car, schlep over to the storage unit, unload the car, schlep home, load up more boxes, schlep here, schlep there.

Here we go. Totes of half-finished and unfinished drive-in speaker projects from last year. Remember the drive-in speaker projects? Those were fun … until someone in the neighborhood complained about them. I could have continued the projects, but … the emotional punch of someone tearing me a new one will put me in a shell and keep me from moving forward. So I stopped. Maybe I’ll start again. And if I do, all the drive-in speaker parts – the shells, the wires, the electrical materials – will all wait in the storage locker until I need them once again.

I should get more of these totes. They look pretty durable.

A few things to remember when filling a storage locker. And I’m speaking from experience as a first-day owner of a storage locker.

1. Label every box. Your memory is not strong enough to remember what box contains what must-need item when you must need it.
2. Allow yourself an aisle. Put every box and crate against a wall, so that you can enter the storage unit and reach for anything you need at any one time, without having to haul every single box out of the storage unit.
3. Keep your spare padlock key in a good location. You’ll need it. Trust me.

As of today, I’ve moved lots of ephemera into this storage locker. And every day or so, I’ll put another box or tote or bag in there.

And the more I do this … the more I’ll de-clutter my life.

Which will make me feel good in the long run. For sure.