Well I think we need a little humor mixed in with some serious stuff, so I have a question for ya'll (can you tell I'm from Texas!!??) I've been storing up the necessities for about 3 months now, and I'm running out of room!! I have a small house. So on the humorous side, how about some creative ideas for storing our "stash"?? (ok, serious ideas will be accepted also!!) Can't take total credit for the idea, Karen Anderson had a little contest on her site a couple of months ago on the subject. Thought it might be fun to do here plus maybe get some good ideas to boot! Looking forward to everyone's ideas!!

-- Donna in Texas (Dd0143@aol.com), November 02, 1998

Answers

Donna, one of the first things I did when I decided to stock up on stuff for Y2K was to get rid of anything, and I mean *anything*, that I didn't think I'd need. You'd be surprised how much worthless junk you accumulate over the years. Closets, attic, basement - everything I didn't need was cleaned out. Sell it (more $$$ for Y2K supplies!), give it to the Salvation Army, throw it out, etc.

One storage tip I remember from a while back - if you store blankets in a closet, move them to between the mattress and box spring on the beds. Take off the mattress, fold the blankets in half and layer them on the box spring, replace mattress.

Anyone else have ideas?

-- Melinda Gierisch (gieriscm@hotmail.com), November 02, 1998.

Melinda, did just that & last week had a big garage sale. Made $650 (on just "junk", although it was "good junk"!)LOL Amazing what people will buy! So took some of the money & just had a good time, some was used to buy a wahing machine from Lehman's, some will be used to buy a canner, the rest on other y2k needs.

Good idea about the blankets! I was thinking that I could take 5 gallon buckets (filled with rice or whatever), pad & cover the lids with a pretty fabric & I would have a nice little "stool" or foot rest! Any more ideas? Come on put those thinking caps on!

-- Donna in Texas (Dd0143@aol.com), November 02, 1998.

We have a posterior-unatractive bedstead with drawers that won't hold squat. I figure if I can convince DH, I will glue the drawer fronts on the sides of the bedstead, and remove the drawer rails, then use the interior for stuff.

-- Karen Cook (browsercat@hotmail.com), November 02, 1998.

Make use of the crawl space under your house. Cool temps, low light.

-- (mass@delusions.com), November 02, 1998.

If you have accoustic ceilings (drop down with iron grid), you can take a grid down, stick your head up in there, see what's what. Then take some 2x4's (or plywood, etc.) and secure it to the two wall headers (corner to corner to make it easier), then you have extra room in the ceiling to store cans in shallow boxes, paper goods, etc.

-- Okum (ws000@aol.com), November 02, 1998.

Thanks for the blankets idea!!! OK folks, time to clean out that stuff that's under your bed! Plenty of y2k stuff can fit there. What about those empty suitcases you store? Fill them up! Do you store your empty computer boxes? Fill those up too. Stack plastic bins of pantry items on top of each other.

Remember: store all fuels -- propane, kerosene, etc. away from the house!

We've been picking up a spare 2.5 gallon thing of water each time we shop. Any ideas on storing those? My guess is that we can't pile them on top of each other...

-- libby alexander (libbyalex@aol.com), November 02, 1998.

Come on, folks. CREATIVE!!! Remove the paneling from the wall in 1 room, fir out the studs to 6" instead of 4, and hang the paneling with velcro. You can install shelves and have 6" deep shelves on the whole side of the room.

CR

-- c d n d (not@2.nite), November 03, 1998.

Toilet paper in the attic. Insulation now, barter item later. Keep it wrapped in the plastic or buy it in big boxes.

-- Bill (bill@microsoft.com), November 03, 1998.

Want to store it in my house??

S.O.B.

-- sweetolebob(La) (buffgun@hotmail.com), November 03, 1998.

Bill, is there anything flammable in toilet paper? :-) It sure gets hot in Texas during the summer.

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), November 03, 1998.

Sure TP will burn, if you set it on fire. No fumes, unless you get the scented stuff. I suppose it could get dried out, if the plastic wrapper was broken. I have stored books and other paper items in the attic, and they seem to be ok. I will be keeping an eye on my stash. Wherever you decide to store it, it's a great inexpensive barter item. Try doing without for a week or two!

-- Bill (bill@microsoft.com), November 03, 1998.

Bill, I had to laugh when I looked at my post this morning. Must have been half asleep when I wrote it. What I really meant was, is it combustible? The smiley emoticon was me thinking about the 10 o'clock news reporting, "This fire was started by large amounts of toilet paper in the attic that suddenly burst into flames!" :-)

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), November 03, 1998.

Spontaneous combustion of toilet paper, hmmm could be quite nasty if you were using it at the time.

-- Richard Dale (rdale@figroup.co.uk), November 03, 1998.

Only tenuously related to toilet paper, but funny, and thus in keeping with the stated need for humor at the beginning of the thread, is the story of the woman with a clogged can of hair spray.

She was in a hurry to get ready to go to work and worked the clogged nozzle of the spray can with a toothpick while spraying what did get through into the toilet bowl. Achieving success, she put the can on the vanity and left for work.

Shortly after, her husband came in an sat down. He smoked a cigarette as he read his paper and when he was done with it, he carefully popped the butt into the bowl.

It seems that the quite flammable residue from his wife's hairspray was still lurking and one can only wonder at what other flammable gasses might have been present because the resulting explosion hospitalized the poor man.

And, unless I miss my guess, Robert Cook can provide us with an appropriate moral for this tale. Robert?

-- Hardliner (seaarcher@internet.com), November 03, 1998.

CR--LOL I love it!!

S.O.B.--ROTFL Maybe if we "co-ordinate" our preps?? La's not that far from Tx!! (You are in the Pelican state right?)

Bill--almost can't think of anything worse than being without!!

Hardiner-- ROTFLMAO Robert? Oh Robert? Where for art thou?

Another "creative" idea: I'm thinking those big bags of rice, beans, sugar, etc... stacked just right would make a nice sofa & chairs!! How about a large box filled with ???, covered with an attractive emergency blanket, then place a piece of glass or wood on top for a nice coffee table. Then of course you'd have a nice place to display all your "survivalist" books!!

Make it a great day!! Donna

-- Donna in Texas (Dd0143@aol.com), November 03, 1998.

Read up on some feng shui books The Western Guide To Feng Shui by Terah Kathryn Collins or Creating Sacred Space With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston.

Pay special attention to clutter clearing the stuff out of your life and homes that is no longer useful, serves you or lifts your heart in some way. Its a way to make new room for what is important to you.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 03, 1998.

Gayla asked: Bill, is there anything flammable in toilet paper? :-) It sure gets hot in Texas during the summer.

Gayla, what an assinine question!!

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), November 03, 1998.

Very funny, Craig! But not as funny as Uncle Deedah's question about your picture. Now THAT was funny! :-)

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), November 03, 1998.

Sounds like bean bag chairs are back! Only this time around we will use real beans (or rice). Just make sure you pack them in food grade mylar bags before you stuff your "chair". How about book shelves made from #10 cans and 2x8s.

-- Bill (bill@microsoft.com), November 03, 1998.

My friend Ray B. tells me that you do not need to worry about toilet tissue burning untill TX reaches 451 deg. F

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), November 04, 1998.

I leave school, work real hard for 20 years, and end up with a room that looks my dorm room?

I'm trying not to imagine the effect of those tiny-weenie little fiberglass pins will have should of that "atticized" toilet paper get insulation on it.

Wouldst one rather use rolled pineapple leaves instead?

Spontaneous combustion eh? That would have to be a function of friction. speed, pressure and relative surface roughness .... be too messy to calculate without a slip stick and a log table and Elbow Grease.

Heck, it be messy to calculate on a log table with a slippery stick and a wet cat.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 04, 1998.

Dang it...quit bickering and sniping...you could get messages across with as much ease without the junvenile stuff...."Assinine"? Carumba,..... if you were my kid I'd send you to your room for an hour, and expect you come out with a heart felt apology!

Questions are questions...they may seem "assinine" to you..but you have only your limited perspective....Stop the name-calling! Learn...Human beings CAN learn. Get out of yourself for two seconds. (horse noises)

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), November 04, 1998.

Well Unk - last time I looked TX was between 26 and 36 degrees, if it went to 451 I'd say she'd need a little more TP in the attic - it's 1 degree the other of the North Pole.

Might solve her air conditioning problem though. Wouldn't recommend burying any treasures below shrubberies outside though.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 04, 1998.

Donna

Breathe, chill, find a nice zone, then, slowly, carefully, reread the ASSinine post. Methinks it twas humor meant, sort of a CHEEKY response having to do with intended usage.

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), November 04, 1998.

The placement of various food storage items throughout the home should be considerate of the harmony of yin and yang energies.

-- (bradbury@feng~shui.com), November 04, 1998.

I'll accept that premis - how does water storage then relate to food storage (positive, or optimized, ying-yang considerations assumed) if water must be indoors to avoid freezing?

How "accurate" should placement be with respect to other food groups or mechanical devices? Also, as food is depleted, does that affect your recommendation?

Do current mechanical devices (heater, air conditioner, dryer, washer) - which cannot be moved due to hookups and gas lines - affect the relative ying-yang considerations? Or are they nuetral?

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 04, 1998.

Speaking of ying-yangs, the guy worried about getting fiberglass in his TP didn't read my post. Keep it wrapped up (box or plastic). Thanks for the 451 degree info. I'll sleep better tonight.

-- Bill (bill@microsoft.com), November 04, 1998.

>>Spontaneous combustion eh? That would have to be a function of friction. speed, pressure and relative surface roughness .... be too messy to calculate without a slip stick and a log table and Elbow Grease. <<

I'm not sure I want to be included in *that* calculation. :-P

Of course, you've heard of the constipated mathematician who worked it out with his slide-rule........

When one is attempting to store several cubic yards of stuff in a house that's already crammed with old "useful" things, something's got to go. It's amazing how much one can find that can be tossed out, recycled, given away or sold.

-- Elbow Grease (Elbow_Grease@AutoShop.com), November 04, 1998.

Sir Bill of Microsoft.com;

Thank you for your correction - I was in error.

Ref the 451 degrees - it may be more likely to rotate not about a line horizontally through the equator, but rather to keep the earth's current axis (magnetic, theorectical polar, or North Star - your choice) and revolve - either forward (East or West) or backwards (West or East) - TX about that axis 451 degrees.

The results on her air conditioning bill and relative attic insulation due to the stored TP will, of course, depend on axis and direction chosen.

I await with bated (baited ?) breathe more information on the optimized ying/yang postions of my food and water storage. Perhaps later.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 04, 1998.

Robert,

Your breath has probably not been baited. (unless you've been snacking on chum!)

-- Hardliner (searcher@internet.com), November 04, 1998.

Bad feng shui is almost always caused by what is termed the killing breath, or shar chi.

-- whytwokay (yin@yang.com), November 04, 1998.