Why'd you have to bring all that shit anyway?

The BBQ Pit
1

And you’re goddamn right it’s not my fault!

MIL’s basement was flooded today. There’s a lot less water in it now, due to my efforts with the squeegee and ShopVac, plus the simple fact that it’s stopped raining. There was very little in the basement worth worrying about, or so I thought. I dried out Mr. Rilch’s knapsack, got the Christmas decorations to higher ground, and washed the clothes that had been on the floor. (No, that didn’t affect the water level in the basement.)

But I overlooked this huge box between the sofa and the armchair. I mean, I saw it, but I’d forgotten what was in it, or even that it was among the stuff Mr. Rilch and I brought from LA. So he gets home, goes down to inspect the basement, and immediately starts chewing glass because that box contained CDs and DVDs.

Well, he calmed down almost immediately, but not until after he’d relocated the box to the arm of the couch. Which set the box at an angle. Which meant that the very small amount of water in the box flowed directly into the lowest layer of DVDs on one side. Which means that the liner notes, or whatever you call them, for Day of the Dead, Close Encounters, Freddy Vs. Jason, Gladiator, and The Dark Crystal are water-damaged.

The disks themselves are fine, of course. And those are only five DVDs out of dozens and dozens. (I may count them tomorrow and give an exact figure.) But that’s what I’m getting at—why did he bring dozens and dozens of DVDs on a three-month visit, most of which is going to be spent either a) working on a movie, b) packing up MIL’s stuff or c) going on short trips to Philadelphia and places? I’d be amazed if he watches any of them.

Of course this isn’t my fault, he says. Well, damn right it isn’t. All I did was fail to rescue the DVDs along with the other stuff. He’s the one who a) moved the box after it got wet, b) didn’t bring it upstairs days ago and c) dragged all the shit out here in the first place. And, as he acknowledges, and MIL pointed out several times, I busted my butt trying to dry out that basement.

Seven times, people. I emptied that ShopVac seven times before MIL told me to give it a rest. And it holds 76 gallons. You do the math; I don’t feel like it.

2

How would he have felt if **good/b] DVDs were damaged?

:eek:

Seriously… sorry that things have been stressful. Between this and constantly chatty Cathy who needs constant attention it really sounds like the trip from a higher rung of Hell.

3

Heh. I can’t help hearing “Guy Living In His Mom’s Basement Gets All Pissy Because His DVD Liner Notes For ‘Freddy Vs. Jason’ Got Wet.” :smiley:

[Shatner]

“Kid…get a life.”

[/Shatner]

snerk

:smiley:

4

76 gallons @ 8.33 pounds/gallon! :eek: - You dragged a 633 lb load up the stairs. You must be a women of some considerable size. It’s a good thing he shut up when he did or he might have felt the fury of your ham sized fists or size 18 pump.

5

Really :rolleyes: .

You worked your but off and he’s worried about liner notes? He should be glad nothing important got damaged.

:sidenote: 76 gallon shopvac?:dubious: Is that a diesel? :smiley:

6

astro:

Oh, I didn’t drag it up the stairs, believe me! It’s on wheels, so I rolled it from the “game room” to the garage, and dumped it out onto the driveway. Only tricky part was getting it over the aluminum carpet-retaining strip, and then over the doorsill of the garage.

[delayed reaction] 633 lbs.?! If anyone had asked me to move 633 lbs. of weight, with or without wheels, I would have told them to go down to the local gym and recruit someone. Whoa. And I’m only 5’1".

enipla: Well, as I said, he’s not mad at me. I’m not really Pitting him, just railing at the ridiculousness of bringing 75% of one’s DVD collection on a working vacation.

DDG: I sometimes think that, if not for me, he would be that person.

Mockingbird: Well, I feel bad about Dark Crystal. Close Encounters may actually be okay, if he can do without the cardboard sleeve. Which is totaled, but may have protected the DVD itself from damage. Even so, the only thing that’s really hurt is the potential resale value. The disks are all okay.

Jeez, though. I brought 12 DVDs with me, and only because I knew I wouldn’t be able to predict exactly what movie I’d be in a mood for, if I did have time to watch one. Hmm…I brought:

Metropolitan
Leningrad Cowboys Go America

Absolute favorite films of all time. I keep meaning to start a CS thread on this. (Actually, I burned copies from VHS; I don’t think either is available on retail DVD.)

Kate and Leopold
Secondhand Lions

Gotta have my Hugh Jackman and Haley Joel Osment fixes. Plus, they’re both movies that MIL could appreciate.

Auto Focus
Fight Club
Boogie Nights

Definitely not for MIL’s enjoyment!

Toy Story 1 & 2(boxed set)
This Is Spinal Tap
Stranger than Paradise
The Best of Red Green

Eh…what to say? Sometimes you just wanna be entertained.

But see, I cut my choices down to the Desert Island 12. He basically swept the whole wall unit into a carton. His risk, not mine!

7

Okay, here’s the count:

Not counting the 5 DVDs I left to dry out, he brought:

96 individual DVDs

11 boxed sets

13 “homemade” DVDs (in CD jewel cases)

4 GameCube disks

3 videos

There were also a couple dozen audio CDs, but I didn’t count those. I mean, people do bring a lot of CDs on a journey, because listening is less time-consuming than watching, and you need music or audiobooks when you’re driving.

But that’s still a fuckload of DVDs.

8

The whole situation sounds like a bummer.

Offhand I’d guess your husband wasn’t looking forward to this 3 month trip very much either. Moving his mom out of her home doesn’t sound like a barrel of laughs for anyone, even under the best of conditions. A flood definitely doesn’t qualify as “best” anything. So he probably packed a lot of ‘comfort’ things to help get him through the ordeal. Sensible? Maybe not. Understandable? Definitely. When I’ve been obliged to go on extended care-for-family trips, better believe I packed umpteen books to retreat into when needed.
He isn’t blaming you, so cut the poor guy some slack, rilch. He–and your MIL–have plenty to deal with too. It sounds like you’re completely miserable, but your husband is probably just as miserable. And your MIL too. There’s plenty of misery to go around. Dwelling on every aspect the misery just makes it more acute for everybody, yourself included.

Let it go.

9

I’m still trying to picture a 76 gallon shop vac. Hmm, half again bigger than a 55 gallon barrel?

10

What’s there to let go? I was just stating a fact. I knew, or thought I knew, that at least some of the people reading this thread were thinking, “Well, how many DVDs did he bring, Rilch?” So I posted a tally.

It is. But it could be a great deal worse.

He was and he wasn’t. He hasn’t been back for two years, and he has enjoyed seeing his old haunts, and the few old pals who are still here. So it’s not entirely bad. But he admitted to me last night that “this whole trip was a bad idea”. Thing is, we’re between a rock and a hard place. The only alternative is letting his mom pay professional movers, which is simply not on.

Indeed. And the job he’s on is kicking his ass.

Hey, I brought stuff, too. Books, CDs, and stuffed animals. And my recipe book. Which came in handy yesterday, when I couldn’t even avail myself of the SDMB. I made an apple pie. And in the absence of a food processor, I found out I really can make dough with two knives! MIL said it was the best apple pie she’d ever tasted, which means a lot, coming from someone from West By-God Virginia.

I can see now that I should have started this in MPSIMS. No, he’s not blaming me; he didn’t even mention it this morning.

Are you accusing me of thinking only of myself? I assure you, I’m not. I’ve been wrapping up glassware and china, tying up magazines, and building boxes. (MIL simply cannot get the hang of that.) Only thing that really bothers me right now is that I can’t smoke in the house while she’s here. And yes, I know it’s her house, and I know smoking is bad for me. Sue me; it’s part of being in my “comfort zone”. It just feels so unnatural to compose a post without a cig burning in the ashtray by my elbow.

But if I were completely selfish, I would have urged her to go back to The Farm yesterday, come hell or, literally, high water. Then she would, at best, have had to turn around and come back, and at worst, been washed off the road. Or if she made it to the farm, she’d be entirely alone, because her tenants hightailed it out of there at the first sign of rain. I do think of these things.

P.S. The basement is almost entirely dry. On the downside, though, we have almost no water pressure; no one in this community does.

11

I can’t find a link, but it says “76 gal” on the barrel. It’s industrial, from the restaurant MIL used to own.

12

Yep, it can be very tough to visit sometimes. Put a move on top of it and it can be a fiasco. My Wife just spent 2 weeks 1500 miles away at her brothers and SIL. Her Mom and Dad are now living there too, they had just sold their house and Mom and Dad need a place to stay before going into their new place. Add two dogs and two teenagers, and stir.

Funny isn’t it. We both love our parents and siblings very, very much. However, get too close for too long and it takes very little to put people on edge.

13

I wonder if there is supposed to be a “.” between the 7 and 6?

I can believe a 7.6 gallon shopvac, that still weighs about 70 lbs. full.

Not that it’s important or anything, If I didn’t have to move it around, I’d love to have a 76 gallon shopvac. Guys like big tools, and that thing would have to really suck!

14

I just went downstairs and checked the ShopVac once more.

Now, there’s no decimal point, but, one closer inspection, that may not be a 7. It may be a very stylized 1. So only 16 gallons. Which is, after all, a lot more likely.

:o

Look, I wasn’t trying to brag, really. It was heavy; that’s all I was trying to say in my OP. :::Rilchiam scuttles away:::

15

I love it when chicks scuttle.