Tag Archives: tidy

More Cleaning

We had a fairly productive day in the efforts to get rid of a lot of unwanted stuff.  We focused in our office area and got a TON of our electronic waste out the door.  There had been two huge baskets of cables that we were able to pretty much get rid of entirely.  Also timed it right so that we found out there was an e-waste donation recycling effort going on up in Burbank and you could bring any and all of your e-waste to them for free.   Felt good to make sure we got rid of that excess properly.  Anyway, this is a short post to say that we got a lot more of the junk gone that was clinging to us, and it feels good that we’re making this kind of progress.  Plenty more to go though, as we haven’t even hit the clothes yet.

Our two boxes of cords and e-waste, a defunct microwave, and some broken cameras and a Kindle.  All ready for the e-recycler!Our two boxes of cords and e-waste, a defunct microwave, and some broken cameras and a Kindle.  All ready for the e-recycler!
Our two boxes of cords and e-waste, a defunct microwave, and some broken cameras and a Kindle.  All ready for the e-recycler!21-Feb-2015 12:25, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 64
Our upstairs landing is a bit overwhelmed today as we went through all the stuffOur upstairs landing is a bit overwhelmed today as we went through all the stuff
Our upstairs landing is a bit overwhelmed today as we went through all the stuff21-Feb-2015 16:09, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 200
Lots of data cds finally got released.Lots of data cds finally got released.
Lots of data cds finally got released.21-Feb-2015 16:09, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 250
 
Yeah, lots of shit.  Can't believe how long I've held on to this stuff.Yeah, lots of shit.  Can't believe how long I've held on to this stuff.
Yeah, lots of shit.  Can't believe how long I've held on to this stuff.21-Feb-2015 16:09, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.042 sec, ISO 250
Alright, so before, all 6 of these drawers were completely packed.  Now they're mostly empty, and that bottom left one is all paper recycling that will get taken to a destruction facility next week.  So I'm feeling good.Alright, so before, all 6 of these drawers were completely packed.  Now they're mostly empty, and that bottom left one is all paper recycling that will get taken to a destruction facility next week.  So I'm feeling good.
Alright, so before, all 6 of these drawers were completely packed.  Now they're mostly empty, and that bottom left one is all paper recycling that will get taken to a destruction facility next week.  So I'm feeling good.21-Feb-2015 16:09, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
 

Also, here’s a link to the website resource I ended up finding to help locate a proper donation place for e-waste – it’s called All Green and the process at the dropoff couldn’t have been easier.  Highly recommended!

AllGreenEWaste

These Last Two Weeks

February is a short month so that means my month-long stint of doing nothing is slightly short-changed due to the fact I only get 28 days.  4 weeks!  The first two weeks were a blur, with the first week being celebratory and me spending some money like I won the lottery or something; the second week was filled with mostly Vegas, which was a blast.  So now I have these last two weeks – and with Larry getting some work, it means there’s really no more traveling around.  I’m very good with that though – I have spent plenty of money this month already and my wallet could use a break.

So what am I doing?  WELL, you saw that in my earlier post, I had mentioned Marie Kondo’s tidying book.  That’s what my goal is now.  Starting Tuesday, I got to work on our storage unit and I had a specific goal in mind: those damn boxes of DVDs.  I absolutely love movies but I have moved past the stage of wanting to have all those movies on display.  You may remember that I used to love putting my giant movie collection up in my Boltz shelving systems….You can see below where I adorned my Las Vegas, Colorado Springs, NYC and Santa Monica homes with the goodness:

When we moved to Franklin Hills, I didn’t unpack all of the DVD boxes.  I just put out the Blu-Rays and a very few select DVDs.  There was no room for those shelves anymore and it was honestly a relief to not have that wall of media taking over the room.  So we have this for our Blu-Rays currently:

1-IMG_2124That’s probably still too much for some people, but I do like having SOME things at the ready.  But I still had those items from before, but they were tucked safely away in boxes.  But here’s the thing:  Now I still have to move those boxes and store them when we move again, PLUS I can’t easily get to content that’s only on those DVDs.  Well, with today’s work, problem solved, as now what was stored in 5 boxes below is now in 3 binders, while 5 boxes worth of cases are now headed to the recycling bin.

18-Feb-2015 13:03, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 32
18-Feb-2015 13:03, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 32
19-Feb-2015 13:27, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 125
 

It feels good.

So that was a lot of the work I did on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I had to order a third binder which came in today to finish up the job.  I’ve also been inventorying all my media, because I am a nerd.  But today was when I moved on to paperwork and Job Office boxes.  GEEZ LOUISE!  I think I held on to absolutely everything I was ever given from the USAF, GE, and NBC.  Seriously.   How could I have kept EVERY SINGLE ORDER I received from the military?  Half of the stuff I was able to chuck into the trash, but there is a lot I have to shred.  But we’re making progress.  Marie Kondo recommended that you start with clothes, but she also suggested that you go through the easy stuff first.  Believe me, these media things and all the paperwork is by far the easiest stuff to tackle.  Very satisfying too.  I went through a 3-drawer organizer today that ended up basically empty except for all the shit I have to shred.

19-Feb-2015 13:24, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 32
 

Progress, progress, progress!  This picture above is what remains of the boxes I took from my office.  It’s kind of nice to get rid of all that NBC shit that doesn’t matter anymore!

Tidying Up With Marie Kondo

I was reading the latest issue of New York magazine and there was a very interesting article about a Japanese sensation that is now starting to make an impression here in the U.S.:  Marie Kondo and her tidyness ways.  It was a fascinating read and I’ve linked it below:

mariekondoI know we’ll be moving to a new place very soon and I really really really don’t want to have to keep schlepping my or our extraneous stuff again and again.  Honestly, I know that I look for a certain size of apartment basically because I’m looking for a certain amount of space to hold our crap.  Well, after reading this article, I did buy the book she’s published and I’m ready to get rid of shit and make some feng shui happen.  🙂

lifechangingtidyingI haven’t finished the book nor even gotten past the first 40 pages or so, but that’s because I’ve just received it in the mail from Amazon.  There’s plenty of ideas ahead though and I’m hopeful to use them, but I already started the process of getting some of the shit in our storage area reduced.  We went to Target today and got some media binders so that I can divest myself of the bulky DVDs I’ve been carrying around.  Now I just have the media in those binders.  It’s kind of awesome that I could get rid of 3 heavy boxes in an afternoon and replace it with a slim folio of entertainment.  Now I just have to look at the rest of our stuff, including clothes, books & magazines, and office clutter.  THERE’S SO MUCH CLUTTER.

I figure I’ve got the next week and a half to put in some major effort to reduce our crap footprint.  I’m optimistic.

In other news, I got my car back yesterday, and she’s beautiful and scratch-free.  I would love for that to stay the status for a while, por favor.