More than Enough

Since I have no posts for December, I thought I'd better chime in with something . . .

Hm. . . . no pics, but I did give some Christmas ornaments (inherited from my grandmother) to my cousin.  As soon as we opened the box (actually, a large tin, which also did not come home with me!), one of the child-types of small cousins immediately pulled out some angel ornaments and started playing with them, essentially "playing dolls," making up little stories, having fun.  I'm calling it a win.

Of course, I promptly lost points by driving to an outlet center to buy a Le Crueset frying pan.  But, see, I need this pan because I have finally figured out how to cook salmon that is cooked all the way, but not overcooked.  My cast iron pan is too big to mess with for 4 oz of fish, and my non stick pans are disintegrating and also of course probably killing me. 

The shopping trip added just enough time for me to hit chain controls on the way home, so what should have been a three hour trip took nearly seven.  Fortunately, I was carrying chains.  I haven't put on chains in over a decade, so I was very lucky to pull off the road near one of the few installers who was taking credit cards.  I was able to get them off myself, at Truckee.  I mention this because when I moved here, I had exactly three months' driving experience when I found myself in a similar situation, but was mistaken in my belief that I could get the chains off myself, and furthermore, locked myself out of my car - with the engine running - in the process of finding this out.  So this trip was a lot more bearable.  It also helped that I was carrying a sleeping bag and driving a car with fold-down seats, meaning I could have slept in the car had I wanted to. 

Another improvement was that instead of nothing but a Philco AM radio (the only entertainment option in my 1976 Pinto), this time I had the luxury of a smartphone and loaded iPod, which I wound up not listening to at all, because I was tuned in to the unfolding radio coverage of the Sandy Hook school shooting.

So I figured I had the "stuff" I needed to keep me safe and healthy, and that in the scheme of things losing $40 and four hours of my time was really, really, a perfectly good way to spend my day.

Out the Door

Just what it looks like, a pile of random stuff.  It's been accumulating for a while, awaiting a trip to the thrift store. 
A few items of note: 

•     Aqua globes - as seen on TV! 
•     plastic food storage containers whose functions are being replaced by glass (and I'm not counting these on my 1000 things list, because they were more or less replaced one-to-one
•     a wooden tray, which I like in concept but have never successfully deployed in the real world.  It is not comfortable, for the way I sit, to eat off this tray, or even to have my laptop on it
•     a cheap manicure kit, a gift from the very sweet security guard at my office
•     a because-it-looks-cool coin purse, another item I like in concept but not in actual function.  I was using it to hold business cards for awhile, but that wasn't working out either
•     blue vases sent to me by my godmother, having supposedly been my brother's.  More stuff I don't actually remember myself, and of less importance than many many other items of his that I still have
  

Christmas is a Time for Giving

Specifically, for giving away holiday stuff I will never use again. Here is how it appears in my spreadsheet (where I am tracking my attempt to get rid of 1000 Things)

Christmas-small rugs	2
Christmas-boxes of glass ornaments	5
Christmas-individual ornaments	12
Christmas-tapestry stockings	2
Christmas-mugs	4
Christmas-gift bags	6
Christmas-decorative tins	3
Christmas-pkg gift decorations	1

Even with this lot, and another pile of my grandmother's Christmas things I will give to my cousin, I still have 3 bins of stuff, probably too much for a person who isn't really into decorating for Christmas.  But the things I am keeping are 1) sentimental and/or 2) small scale for the type of small scale display I might theoretically muster.  The only toughie in the to-go pile is the mugs - bought about a decade ago at a thrift shop, I've actually used them quite a bit - they are a good size, attractive, and dishwasher-safe.  But I really have way too many mugs* to justify having holiday-specific ones.

*And my uncle recently gave me two more, one of which was allegedly my grandfather's, aaugh.

Christmas is a Time for Giving

Specifically, for giving away holiday stuff I will never use again. Here is how it appears in my spreadsheet (where I am tracking my attempt to get rid of 1000 Things)

Christmas-small rugs	2
Christmas-boxes of glass ornaments	5
Christmas-individual ornaments	12
Christmas-tapestry stockings	2
Christmas-mugs	4
Christmas-gift bags	6
Christmas-decorative tins	3
Christmas-pkg gift decorations	1

Even with this lot, and another pile of my grandmother's Christmas things I will give to my cousin, I still have 3 bins of stuff, probably too much for a person who isn't really into decorating for Christmas.  But the things I am keeping are 1) sentimental and/or 2) small scale for the type of small scale display I might theoretically muster.  The only toughie in the to-go pile is the mugs - bought about a decade ago at a thrift shop, I've actually used them quite a bit - they are a good size, attractive, and dishwasher-safe.  But I really have way too many mugs* to justify having holiday-specific ones.

*And my uncle recently gave me two more, one of which was allegedly my grandfather's, aaugh.

Well. I'm back.

Been busy, then out of town, so not much posting lately.  but I have been filling boxes and making piles of things to go away.  More on that later.  As for these bits of random stuff - top pic, clockwise from 12 o'clock: 1) another eyeglass case.  I have discussed in a previous post why I do not use these.  Toss. 2) a spindle meant to hold receipts, purchased years ago at an antique store.   I actually used this for a long time, as I would use it's intended purpose prior to entering the data into MS Money or Quicken.  But I don't let receipts accumulate that much now, and the thing is kind of a hazard.  Donate.  3) a DVD recorded off VHS of my friend's yoga guru of choice.  Friend no longer does yoga, and I never managed to get into it.  Recycle. 4) Book I thought might have value on eBay, but then I realized I'd smacked a personalized bookplate into it, greatly reducing potential value.  Donate.  5) 2 bits of miscellaneous plastic, function unknown, and a lone earring.  Toss. Bottom pic:  Holiday address labels, from my previous address. 

See the full gallery on Posterous

Making a Production out of It ((omg-I-have-too-much-stuff, recycle))

Programs from school shows.  The ones on the left are from middle school - I was in sewing class, of all things, and we put on fashion shows of our projects.  I'd like to think what I see here are programs from three differeent shows, but really those are all from the same show, just with different covers.  There are no pictures, just lists of the participants, and special thanks to parent to helped out.  My dad got mention in this one.  I have no idea what for.  Maybe paper we used for set decoration?  Anyway, I have no serious extra special memories regarding middle school sewing class, so bye-bye.

The other program is for some high school show I wasn't even in.  It doesn't even look like any of my best friends were in it.  What the hell?

Just b/c it's called a Trapper Keeper . . .

Doesn't mean I have to keep it.  These folders contained a lot of paperwork (which is now in the recycling pile) from high school.  As always, I did keep a little bit - but really, I can't justify holding on to my Latin homework, given that I can no longer even read it.

Media Blitz

This is about half of my pile of miscellaneous and mostly blank CDs, DVDs, and cases.  I found it unreasonably difficult to move any items into the "get rid of"  (Technotrash) pile, despite having just put several similar items in a "keep just in case" pile. This is troublesome, given that I haven't burned a disk in at least two years.  I don't even know how to on my current laptop.  The problem is, about five years I bought an external CD/DVD device that will digitally label the media, and I did in fact use it a great deal (at the time I was converting LPs and audiotapes and VHS tapes).  Now I am anchored in the idea that these are things that I use, even though I don't anymore, even though I expect that in a few years I will will be using some new storage format.  The blanks I am keeping can be labeled with a Sharpie.  What horrible overseer in my brain thinks it matters how neatly my backup disks are labeled?

After having watched this documentary I am kind of trying to target plastic, and this is all just plastic I don't have any real need for.

Photo Opportunity

Once I had the scanner out, I kept on going. So I've scanned about 200 photos I can toss. I'm keeping a few of the hard copies, less than 10% I'd say. Once I started rooting around the space where I keep photographs and photo-related stuff, I realized two of the photo storage boxes are empty. What with the photos I'm not keeping, I'm about to empty a third box. Those are going, freeing up space to take on the overflow photos/frames that has been taking up space in a bedroom closet. And I still have a lot of condensing to do, as I continue to scan. I'm sure I picked up those extra photo boxes thinking I'd put more photos and some kind of mementos in them, but that's sure not my goal now, and I don't expect to collect a whole lot of other hard copies of photos anytime soon. Anyway, it feels like a real accomplishment, as it is clearing real space.

Picture Perfect

Today's theme is camera-related. Ironically, I am not including any photos with this post.

1. Time to toss (recycle) the manual for the Canon Powershot A540, which I no longer have.

2. Way past time to get a stray roll of film developed. I had hoped it was from my visit to the Statue of Liberty (1993) or Prague (1994). Sadly, it was neither, but rather some shots around the condo that I think are from around 2002-2003. Mostly cat pics, but also some of a table which I had forgotten entirely. Another relic from Kurt's house, it is something I had around for awhile because it had potential, but I lacked the skill/money to get it fixed up. I have no recollection of when or how I disposed of it. But it is proof that such things needn't take permanent hold on my memory, and that their absence is not a mandate for regrets.
The cat photos were nothing special, so I just scanned them and threw away the actual photos. Once I had the scanner out, I had some momentum and scanned about twenty-five more photos - a small start to a huge pile of same, but a start nonetheless.

3. It was the right time, again, to delve into my drawer of labeled cables to get one for my digital camera. I had some problems with my primary laptop and wanted to upload some photos, well, for the last blog post. The old laptop doesn't have a port for the sd card, so I needed the cable to connect the camera. I'm glad that I kept the right thing in the right place that enabled me to actually use it when I needed it.

Kid Stuff

Childhood crap, what a minefield.  I will say things got easier a few years ago as it has been increasingly statistically impossible for me to have biological offspring of my own, thus freeing me from the pretense that I should be saving anything for my kids, either from them to play with, or reminisce over.

Exhibit "A" is my first real doll.  I mean,  I definitely had other dolls, stuffed toys and whatnot, but this was the one I would have been dressing up and giving a baby bottle and hauling around in a toy stroller or something.  I was late to the game wanting this, but but parents obligingly got her for me when I rather suddenly insisted I needed a doll.  A named her "Adora" because I adored her.  Someone, possible my godmother, sewed that little yellow dress.  The pink jacket was at some point commandeered and assigned to one of the cats, who did not care for it at all and would walk around backwards when forced to wear it.  Adora was joined shortly, at Christmastime, by "Wake-up Thumbelina."  My mother, trying to do the right thing, got me the African-American version, so my doll family looked a little odd, but so does my real one, so that was ok.  Thumbelina is long gone, abandoned I suppose when the mechanism that allowed her to turn over (that was her schtick) wore out.  See, this is why I decided i probably wouldn't be the world's best mother.  It's Adora's turn to go now.  She is blind and has some kind of plasticized version of leprosy.

Exhibit "B" is a rabbit puppet.  We were going through the booths at the county fair with my aunt and uncle and I really really wanted this and my parents didn't want to buy it for me (on principle or on account of cost, I don't remember), but my Aunt Florine bought it and gave it to me. I don't know why.  If I'd been whiny about it, I'm sure that would have put her off - we weren't close and I remember her as a bit harsh and strict, so I don't know what possessed her.  I think the thing was seven dollars.  My allowance at the time was probably about 35 cents a week.  So, I named the rabbit Annie, even though that was already my sister-in-law's name.  I conducted a little wedding ceremony between her and the same cat who was forced to wear my doll's jacket. 

Exhibit "C" is a hairbrush shaped like an alligator.  It was made by Avon and was once part of a set along with a green comb.  It got used to brush one too many cats and is pretty grungy now. 

Exhibit "D" is a copy of Gulliver's Travels.  Notable is that, although this is a children's version, it does not gloss over the method by which Gulliver put out the fire at the imperial palace.  I'm pretty sure I've seen a movie version that wimps out on that.

Dad's Drawers

I hadn't planned on it, but I wound up doing a fair bit of tidying up on/around the desk in the library/home office.  It is a bad place for clutter, since the long-haired cat (who has nine layers of fur and sheds as if it were an Olympic event) likes to sit there.  The surface has been pretty hopeless since the day I moved in, but as of last night I thought, this could look decent if I can clear some of the things off the right side.  Those happen to be things I definitely want to keep, but they don't have to be "out."  I know, I'll put them in one of the desk drawers!  Now, I knew at least one of those drawers was usable, since my spare laptop lives there.  Mistakenly, I thought the others were, too, but really, not so much.  They contain very random small crap, some of which is pictured below.  From left to right, a bit of everything - things to toss (1999 Pocket Pal calendar), relocate to my office (post-its) , donate (tape measure with Suburban Propane logo), or keep (sliding square, which is very cool and which I will actually use).

The reason I was working in that room in the first place is I'm trying to make progress on my curtains.  For now (and the last several months) the fabric in there has been just draped over the rods, but not actually made up.  I started some of the work yesterday (after finally hemming some of the ones in the living room) and that gave me the momentum to do a little bit more.  Today I'm going to try to sew the side hems.

SOMEDAY (there's that word), after I've finished the curtains and decluttering, I'll be refinishing that desk.  My father used it as a worktable for his model train hobby, so it's in pretty rough shape.  But it is from my brother's house (see multiple previous posts) and has potential and would really be perfect in that room once I have it fixed up.

DIY to go

This is a small (about 4"H) box.  I made it about 15 years ago out of scrap fabric and whatever it was I had bought in a round cardboard container.  It came out pretty well, considering my utter lack of talent with anything even remotely crafty. 
It has been in use for the whole time since I made it.  I think originally I kept cotton swabs in it; more recently, it held my vast collection of nail files and emery boards.

But . . . I'm looking to justify keeping other things, which can only be done by putting *them* to use.  I've moved my nail care implements to a blue and while ceramic tumbler - so this can go.

That reminds me of how I've gradually worked this out in my bathroom.  A similar tumbler holds thermometers - both digital, and the old mercury ones I like to keep (but obviously would never use).  A tall tumbler holds toothbrushes, a chocolate cup now houses the cotton swaps, and my grandmother's hair receiver holds a makeup brush.

I do something similar with the kitchen junk drawer.  Since I insist on keeping my parents' old chipped coffee mugs, I can at least use them to hold wire nuts and wall anchors.

In Hot Water

I have two, count 'em, TWO hot water bottles.  I think I bought one for myself, and then was given the other by either my mother or by my best friend.  I think the second one came with a fleece cover, long since gone (I hope).  I do kind of think my friend gave it to me.  I have a vague memory that I introduced her to the relief to be found in a hot water bottle, but she liked this other kind because it has a thicker construction, and for the fleece cover.  The thing is, that's exactly why I don't like it - to me, it doesn't transfer heat well enough or long enough.
It's not like I use one regularly, anyway - I won't use it during the summer, when it it hot, and during the winter, I don't want to stand around freezing trying to fill it with hot water, which I then need to dry off the bottle.  I'll try to use pain relievers first - the water bottle is awkward when I need it most, when I'm trying to sleep.
Going forward, how often will I need the thing?  I should be hitting menopause before the one I do use wears out.

Power to the People

A few weeks ago I wrote about what was being relegated to the Technotrash box (for recycling).  One of the things not going in was the backup power supply cord for the backup laptop.  Calling that a keeper seemed a bit excessive even at the time that I wrote that, but there it is.

Meanwhile, at work I have a project that requires use of a particular program, installed on a particular laptop.  At my office, I can set up the laptop on my desk, and have threaded the cord through the openings at the back of the desk to keep them out of the way.  But that is a bit of a pain to fish around and crawl under the desk to do, and I need the laptop to be mobile, as I want to be able to work on the project at home, and use it for demos.  I needed another power cord.  I thought, huh, this is a Dell, just like my backup laptop at home.  I wonder if the power supply is compatible?  Well, it is, so I can use the cord I already have at home while working there.  (If you are wondering why I don't ask my IT department for an extra cord, that because I try to save my requests for favors for important things, like last-minute access to the projector).

The point here is not that I should keep everything just in case, but that for the things I do chose to keep, they are a lot more likely to be useful when I can actually find them.  In this situation, because I had already gotten rid of so many cords and cables, I'd been able to put all the rest in one drawer, so when I went looking I only had to look in one place.  And this item was labeled, making it even easier to find.  If I can't find what I am looking for, I might just as well not have it.  Anyway, I am counting this as a win.

Case in Point

This is the case for a pair of glasses I lost almost a year ago.  Did I mention that I don't use these cases, even for the glasses I have?  If my glasses are in my purse, I wrap them in one of those little microfiber cleaning cloths.  Tossed.

Gilty as Charged

More from the brother's estate - two large mirrors. My mother had one in her home, and I had one in mine. Mine (which I have actually had on the wall in the condo) has kind of a nouveau look to it. It goes well with the period of the current house, it is a style I like, and I like it enough to have utilized it in the past. I'd like to think the main reason I don't have it up yet in this house is that I need to do some kind of touch-up on the frame. But the chances are decent that I will hang it eventually.

The other one, Mom's, is less my style. It is a gold gilt frame, something you would use to frame a portrait of your great grandfather or something. It is nice, just not my thing. It wasn't really Mom's thing, either, I know she only displayed it because it had been my brother's. When she died, it got boxed up, and it is still boxed (six years later), so no photo. I opened the box just enough to make sure it isn't damaged, but it is packed well and I don't feel like messing with it.

If I didn't already own the deco mirror, and saw it in a store, I might wish I could have it. The other one I would probably pass without a second glance. Right there is probably all I need to know.

Like so many things that I keep because they were at one time owned/valued by my brother and mother, I have to get real over whether they would have wanted me to feel that I HAD to keep these things, especially when I have many, many more items that meet these qualifications.

The mirror really is rather big. I hope it will fit in my car so I can get it to the thrift store.

Words Fail Me

And here is the flipside to the previous post.  This painting is from my late brother's house.  Maybe he painted it, maybe he didn't.  I have no idea who (or what) the subject is.  If this painting was displayed in his house, I don't remember it.  It was never displayed in my mother's home.  It never made it to the wall in my home, and I don't wish it to.  Zero reason to keep, now that I think about it.  I just hadn't thought about it.

So it is going in the "donate" pile . . . um, maybe someone will want the frame. . .

Roger That

So here is something that I am keeping.  In fact, I've bought additional stuff to support keeping this object.  But it was a mindful decision.

At some point, probably over a decade ago, I was buying and selling a lot of silverware on eBay.  I bought a page cut from a 1953 magazine advertising 1881 Rogers silverplate patterns, thinking, one of these days I'll frame this and put it on my wall.  Well, yesterday was that day.  I went to Aaron Brothers, bought a frame and a matte (and might I say I did a good job picking the colors) and came home and fiddled with the lot a good 45 minutes to get it the way I wanted it.  This morning I put it up on the wall in my kitchen, and I think it looks damned good, if I do say so myself.

Resolved:

Resolved: I don't need a portable DVD player anymore, as discussed in a recent post.

Resolved: I don't need 2 bicycle locks - I scarcely ride my bicycle anymore; one will suffice.

Resolved: I don't need to the lockset I bought years ago for reasons I am too tired to go into right now. And it doesn't match my current hardware in this house.

Resolved: I don't read the material I get from the Tahoe Rim Trail Association. The only activity in which I am willing to engage is 1) hiking, on my own when I feel like it an 2) occasionally contributing money to the cause.

Resolved: I don't know why I saved an unfilled Ambien scrip of my mother's (I know what you are thinking, but if I were going to abuse something, it wouldn't be this) and the label off of a box of prescription Lidoderm.

Resolved: I don't need old, used padded envelopes. I can utilize my ample supply of bubble wrap and brown paper bags if I need to mail books.

Resolved: I don't need the deco lusterware tea set that's been waiting patiently by the donation pile for months while I tried to think about something to say about it.

Resolved: I don't need the plastic over-the-door hangers that are a relic of apartment life. I can drill holes in shit now, if I want. Also, with less stuff, I shouldn't need to resort to much stored on hooks anyway. None yet so far in this house.

Resolved: I don't need the bracelet I bought when I hadn't waited long enough for the (pre-medical procedure) drugs to wear off.

Resolved: I don't need the little teapot ornament I bought at the airport, of all places, when I though I wanted to start collecting the stupid things.

Resolved: I don't need the rest of the shelf brackets I bought to fix the ones at the condo I'd sheared off.

Resolved: I don't need the jewelry-making supplies I bought for some one-off project a year ago.

Resolved: I don't need the extra phone filter devices I still have too many of. They came with my modems and I think I wound up with twelve. I need ONE, and one for backup, although I'm sure I could get one at Radio Shack if needed.

Resolved: I don't need the little stained glass piece I let sit in my kitchen for a decade. I've only kept it so long because it was probably made by my late brother.

Resolved: I don't need an aerial photo poster of San Francisco. I will never frame or display it. It was a cooler thing to have years ago, before I could call up satellite photos of most of the planet from my cellphone.