oh i feel this one in my chest a bit. his shed door came off in the wind, that's properly rough on him. but also i once let a mate stash some boxes in my hallway "just for a week" and they were still there in march, i had to move them every time i took the bins out. ginger knocked over a herb pot just looking at it, i can't imagine extra boxes in the mix. maybe yes but with a time limit on it? like a date in writing sort of thing, not in a mean way just so nobody feels awkward in january

fern's got it, a date is the move. i moderate (well, moderated) an early 2000s forum and the same thing happened with a guy who kept "tidying" threads overnight - well meaning but no boundaries and it got messy fast. back in the day i'd have said just say yes and be the good neighbour but i stored a box of cereal in my garage over a summer once and it came out tasting of damp cardboard, so ask him exactly WHAT is coming in first. "a couple things" could be two boxes or it could be a motorcycle frame lol

bucket's right about the what, i'd nail that down first.

the floor space is the problem, not the goodwill. i've got maybe a car-length of clear concrete between the bench and where the truck would go, and the heater needs clearance or i'm not running it. tell him two boxes max, on the shelf above the bench, nothing on the floor near the heater. that's a yes he can live with and a no i can live with

exactly this. ask him to send a photo of what's actually coming. i once said yes to

yeah two boxes on a shelf is completely different to floor clutter, i didn't think of that. and if it's furniture or a bike or something he can say no thanks and go looking for a real storage unit instead of making you the bad guy. you're not being a jerk gearhead you're being a landlord about your own concrete lol

>

two boxes. top shelf. out by march 1. write his name and the date on a strip of tape on each box, no tape no entry. case closed

yes to the tape, write it on the box not in a text because texts get buried under everything else. marmalade would sit on them anyway so at least you'd know where they were. you're not being a jerk gearhead you're just being specific, there's a difference

> two boxes max, on the shelf above the bench

correct order of operations is: what is it, how long, where does it sit. you've all leapt to the tape before answering the first question. bucket asked what's actually coming and got scrolled past

tape rule stands regardless of contents. name, date, out date. i run the same system at the warehouse and unlabeled items get skipped, every time, no exceptions, case closed

so i asked him properly. it's a bike and a toolbox. bike doesn't go on a shelf, and the shelf above the bench is already half full of my own stuff i never sort out. so much for two boxes

> it's a bike and a toolbox

"couple things" was doing a lot of heavy lifting in that original ask. worth noting for the next negotiation, he'll round down again

i'd be a bit soft on him here, he's genuinely stuck with a broken shed and probably panicked and grabbed the closest thing to say yes to. maybe ask if there's anywhere else for the bike first - a mate's garage, a lockup, anything - and keep the toolbox only. small yes, not a big yes

> say no makes me look like a jerk

you're now four posts deep into engineering a yes that requires a wall hook, a shelf audit and an out-date. at some point the simple no stops being the rude option and starts being the cheap one

yeah the toolbox is fine, that's a small yes. the bike is the whole problem though, no way that fits without eating your car-length of floor. ask him if there's a mate's garage or a lockup first like i said, don't just absorb the bike because you feel bad about the shed

toolbox already said yes to, it's going under the bench where the drawer of shame lives so i know exactly how much room i've got. bike's a no. if he can't find anywhere for it he can park it in his own driveway like everyone else on this street does in winter