beccaelizabeth | Piano storage and VHS transfer

Today I found out that piano storage is an actual business that exists.
There's websites listing all the famous clients that they store pianos for, so presumably it's mostly for musicians who end up with too many pianos or have one for travelling with but need to put it somewhere when they're at home or swish stuff like that.
But there's also pages of them being understanding about how much of a pain it is to move house without messing up your piano, so they'll take it, tune it, repair or restore it even, and store it, while you decorate and shove things into corners or whatever. (Or, presumably, find out which relative actually wants it. Whichever works.)

That is proper handy, that is.

Also piano movers sometimes advertise moving said piano in your house. Like, they don't think it's silly if it's on the wrong side of the room and you can't move the ******* thing on your own. Useful.

I looked at the big self storage places, and there's storage-and-removals places where you get a container in their warehouse and don't get to visit, or there's storage rooms with no heating or cooling, which won't promise they won't freeze, though some of them say they're careful about damp. Piano storage has different constraints than, well, everything that isn't a piano really. but I could get a room for random Stuff much simpler. And one of the places says they're fine with people running a business out of storage rooms, as long as they don't use tools. No workshop, plenty welcome to be offices. So if I take all my random papers and go sort through them, that's plenty fine by them. And then I would have space to have things that are not boxes of I don't even know what any more.

There's stacks of boxes I'm reasonably sure moved in with me and haven't been opened since. 15 years ago. It seems likely those could go. Except last time I looked for my birth certificate I couldn't find it, which means I need to go through all the paper in all the boxes fairly carefully. Or possibly ask mum, but I thought I had it because I have a passport now. ANYway, stuff, there might be stuff in with the stuff. And some of it is like school certificates and stuff from when I was 8, which I don't want to get rid of even though it is, objectively, useless.

Also I have a tendency to collect empty cardboard boxes or particularly useful looking empty envelopes, just in case, and am psychologically ill prepared for the whole 'get rid of' concept.

So a storage room is my new cunning plan, because first it isn't in my flat yet is still owned by me, then I can sort it in its new context, and then maybe it'll be easier to not have it at all.

Mum says some of her books and shows have the same idea, that you can declutter better if you first just get it all gone and then figure out which things you'd bother bringing back.

Getting quotes is a pain though. They all promise to beat each other but they none have a simple price list. How hard can it be?

I have some actual VHS tapes lying around still. Will they even still work? Somewhere on them tapes is the Blue Peter clips of my school. And a bunch of other stuff, I don't even know. It's likely too late for any of them, really.

Ah, google says a lifespan of about 10 years. High school 20th reunion happened. Tapes will be totally toast by now.

... see me not running to throw them out right now.

... actually, what bin do they go in? I have a Wheel of Trash, but I don't know if tapes are on there.

Huh, more google has different people saying they're still watching 30 year old tapes.

That means I have to apply brain to the whole what would I even want to retain question.

Though if I have a shelf full of DS9 tapes, I think I could let them go, seeing as I've got the complete DVDs.

... nope, not DS9, X-Files. And the mostly proper versions of Star Wars. And my 90s teen movie collection, which I could replace, if I were not embarrassed to admit to wanting to. Plus the first movie dad ever bought me, which is not replaceable even though the tape is not for watching.

Also, entire shelves of convention videos. I don't remember if I even watched those in the first place. but I have them. Many, many, many videos. And those will not be available on DVD. Also they're newer than most of the other things. Along with the fan tape tree collection of movies involving actors we like in roles even they didn't, that's quite a lot of stuff that just won't be on digital anywhere. Unless I get it converted, assuming the tapes are still viable.

So I'll have to think about that. Especially since they're taking up substantial potential book space.

Also, two things for my future note:
Behind the bedroom door in the weird corner I need a torch for is no place for anything I'll ever get around to just picking up and using,
and,
those VHS boxes are not, as it turns out, grey.

*sneezes*

So, if I'm going to just shove things in boxes and send them to storage, I don't think the VHS tapes should be among those things, on account of however bad they are right now that would certainly not help.

oooh, the camera place in the middle of town does VHS to DVD. That's quite close.

They'd probably have to be picky about Copyright though. Like, just because the conventions can't be acquired in other formats, I don't think that means I can legally copy them myself.

I'll have to ask.

There's gadgets offering to do it too though, if I want to break the law on my own.
(sometimes don't know how to both obey copyright law and continue to own and use my own stuff, you know?)

Old stuff: difficult.

I shall continue thinking about this whole plan.

Also, thinking very hard about using the (loud and nasty) (hates it precious) vacuum cleaner on the shelves quite a lot.