Space to Open the Car Doors -Only 18 Months Late

I can't believe I bought the truck a year and a half ago and never even thought of cleaning out enough space in the garage to be able to open the truck's doors! The truck opens like a truck, with one standard side door on each side in the front that opens out and toward and front and then another door on each side for the back seat that opens from the middle of the truck toward the back. When both are open, voila! There is a big space for loading or unloading the back seat...hmm, about the size of the sliding door of the old minivan. Ever since I brought the truck home last February, I (and my long-suffering family) have used the squeeze and dodge manner of loading and unloading the cab of the truck. Go past the front door and open it as far as you can before it hits the boxes and the saw and the hand trucks stored next to the car; then squeeze into the space where that door is open and open the back door, creating a triangular space with you standing at the apex where the two doors meet and can't be opened any further. Then try to get a bag or box out, mostly by picking it up and squeezing and maneuvering the doors in the small space until you can get the box or bag clear of the doors and then closing the doors and shuffling sideways until you get to the front of the garage where there is an aisle wide enough for you and the box or bag to use to get to the door to the house. Then, back for more.

So, today, after being inspired by a family discussion wherein I was duly embarrassed for leaving the garage so full of junk that everyone hates getting in and out of the truck, I cleaned out the garage...just enough to widen the space on the sides of the truck to be able to open all 4 doors all the way and carry stuff. I threw out some old plastic boxes, mostly yucky filthy ones; some absolute garbage; and then even a bunch of small boxes of various sizes that I had saved. I moved some things around on the shelves along the front wall of the garage and was able to fit the huge robot-mower boxes up there. They do need to be stored in case we need to send the robot to camp...

It was a grand success and will make life easier in the garage. We still have to sell the college refrigerator and the wetsuit to clear the space in front of the car to make it easier to walk around the front of the car when it's parked in there. But, this was progress, and some garbage was removed without any regrets!

Thanks to Elissa for her help! I couldn't have moved the big boxes up onto the shelves without her help, but she went further than that, rolling up her sleeves after the box was moved and getting me to see to finishing the job of making all that space.

It was 100 degrees outside today. We didn't look at the temperature in the garage. It would have scared us back into the house!