Comments on: Office 10: Box Despair

By: Sheri

Sheri — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 23:46:59 +0000

I have boxes in my garage that have been moved from house to house for over twenty YEARS–and yet I keep them because I am afraid that if I throw them out I will lose something invaluable…. So your Box From Hell? Got one or two of them myself, thank you very much. My solution for you is the same one I used–if you got a garage, haul it out there and stick it on a shelf. That way it is out of your office and you can go through it sometime when you actually feel like wading through years worth of memories. Or you can hope for a spring flood and it will wash away and you won’t have to deal with it at all. Just a suggestion. YMMV.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:54:03 +0000

Laura, those pics of Marge and Clea are great ! Especially the one of Clea.

By: Diane (TT)

Diane (TT) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:42:37 +0000

Well, Jenny has said before that she doesn’t like being read to – but maybe she just needs to try again with something she really likes (I’ve got a reserve at the library for the new Pratchett, Making Money, and I LOVE the Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody books that someone here recommended to us, and – as I’ve said before – Patrick Tull reading Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/ Maturin series made my rural Ohio commutes a joy, several years ago). Or she could just rock out, the way she does now (the B52s have a very good “Housework” song that can get one started, if one is prone to alternative rock).

And I want to second ZaZa’s suggestion – the Chicago area has something called “Poised for Success” that would be really grateful for the blazers, so someone in Ohio probably has that, too. My discards are usually disintegrating (my current dress, which, actually, I bought in Gambier, is only 8 years old and not only is the neckband fraying and some seams parting, but there’s a pair of tiny holes in the skirt in the back (near the hem, fortunately) or stained, but there are some too-smalls that I could get rid of if I weren’t in denial about my size.

But thanks to whoever mentioned the underbed boxes – sort of. I have one, if only I knew where it was, I could put things in it.

By: JulieB

JulieB — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 02:57:37 +0000

Jenny,
Remember, the 12 days is a deadline you set. We are all very impressed with everything you’ve done. The Box from Hell can be done in 15 minutes at a time if you want it to be done that way. You have the power.
I never, never thought one load of laundry a day would make a difference. I only did it because nothing else worked. It worked.
I didn’t keep it up, but it’s never been that bad again.
Maybe if you take a moment to visualize what you want to find in that box, it would become a powerful tool. Think of things you lost and really want, then open the box to see if they are in there. It might make the decision making process go faster.
Good luck. I think I’m going to follow my own advice this week regarding the boxes of family photos I have to go through.
JulieB

By: McB

McB — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 01:56:07 +0000

I second the audio book suggestion for getting through those really icky chores. It’s like a treat for tackling that stuff. Go find some good ones, Jenny. Hugh Fraser reading Christie is always good, or you know you can get Pratchett on audio too. Download to your iPod and your are good to go. I recommend Going Postal, which will set you up nicely for the release of Making Money.

By: Mel

Mel — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 01:44:04 +0000

lol Yvonne, my mum has been trying to instil that lesson in me since I was tiny. Still hasn’t stuck. I think the tidy as you go thing is a gene. And if you don’t have it, you need some sort of Flylady like system to stop the build up. Or you know, a cleaner and a personal assistant.

By: Laura Vivanco

Laura Vivanco — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 01:23:56 +0000

CrankyOtter, there’s this fridge/freezer, and they also make it in the right shade of blue. Unfortunately the company’s name is “SMEG” and they don’t sell that model in the US.

These don’t have the freezer at the bottom, but they are retro fridges, and they’re in the US.

By: Yvonne Lindsay

Yvonne Lindsay — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 01:13:01 +0000

I’m thinking that the only way to avoid this boxitis is to never ever again put things in boxes. When you find something has reached the end of its useful life… send it on its way to the ever after.

Now, if I could only follow that observation my house would be so much neater.

By: CrankyOtter

CrankyOtter — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:23:33 +0000

Jenny A, this isn’t a stove, but rather the most beautiful oven in the world. Check it out.
http://www.turbochef.com/residential/products/overview.aspx

In the meantime, where can I get that old school, freezer on the bottom fridge, only sans ex-husband? I love that fridge.

By: Jenny A

Jenny A — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:01:48 +0000

Boxes. I empathize, sympathize, and agonize. DH and I are clearing out old records. Ten–TEN!–boxes of them, with tax stuff mixed in everywhere, so every piece of paper must be examined. Aaaargh! Shredder at the ready!

So I’m stealing some of the helpful hints Jenny’s getting. But I got to tell you, fifteen minutes isn’t going to get it here, not if I want my dining room back for Thanksgiving. But then, hey, the stove doesn’t work anyway. (I recommend not buying Gaggenau, just for the record.)

By: Mitzi - Cherry Crone

Mitzi - Cherry Crone — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 22:50:18 +0000

Pattie -
You’re just too prolific for me.
And you pop up everywhere………..
Pattie’s seeeeester, who did some cleaning out of clothes (in two 15 minute time periods) and will wait to do more.

By: pattie

pattie — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:59:21 +0000

Hey seester, I posted The Sopranos’ quote on Bob’s site. Here I spoke of my love for Burn Notice.

The New Age fair was fab. We went, we saw, we bought.

I have many piles of magazines in my office/den. Today I put about a third of them in the recycling basket without going through them to cut out stuff I’ll end up throwing out later.

Happy cleaning or not cleaning–whatever your preference–everyone.

By: ZaZa

ZaZa — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:24:37 +0000

Do they have a Career Closet (or something similar) near you? You have to dry clean stuff, but that can be done all in one load, and you get a tax deduction. Plus, women who can’t afford new stuff have something good looking to wear as they get back into the working world. It’s all good.

I did television news for a couple years before I moved home to California. I’ve never been a suit kind of person, but I had to have a ton of that stuff for on-air. I knew I’d never be the suit kind of person, and the chances of my ever doing anything like that again were nil, so I passed most of that stuff along. Relief to get rid of it and good feelings that someone else could use it.

By: RfP

RfP — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:24:25 +0000

pity there is no catastrophic hard disk failure for boxes.

Oh, there is. During my last move 4 boxes of papers got soaked and mildewed. That took care of that. Apparently I didn’t really need my bound thesis, old short stories, or… whatever else was in there. It sounds scary, but I haven’t missed them.

So Jenny, here’s an idea: Take one sacrificial box outside and turn the hose on it.

By: Lee

Lee — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:35:20 +0000

it is a pity there is no catastrophic hard disk failure for boxes. or that the only alternatives are fires or dynamite. Or really strong capacity to ignore the potential for throwing out the one thing you wanted in the box, that had been lost since the move (Mickey and Minnie, anyone?)

Hard stuff. I’m deeply impressed.

By: Laura Vivanco

Laura Vivanco — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:15:12 +0000

I finally found the picture of the woman saying “And this is where I keep my ex-husband’s body”. It made me think of Margie in Fast Women.

By: Krissie

Krissie — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:08:43 +0000

Sorry, babe. Grab a box and go into the tv room and put Hellboy or Big Trouble in Little China on. Bring a second box and a trash container with you, and go through them while you watch tv. That’s always the way I do it (fold laundry too).
Movies dull the pain.

By: Laura Vivanco

Laura Vivanco — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:58:12 +0000

I’m glad, Zeldaz. I probably spent far too long looking for the photos when I should have been doing something sensible, but it was too much fun. I think the mouse must be a relative of Ralph’s, a mouse that Beverly Cleary wrote about, who rode a motorbike.

By: zeldaz

zeldaz — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:54:55 +0000

Laura Vivanco: Loved Clea and the mouse on scooter!

By: Rosa

Rosa — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:34:42 +0000

I’m telling you, clothing exchange party.
Someone you know either wants that stuff, or will look at it and say “oh my god get rid of that” or “wow, you look GREAT in that, why are you giving that away?” The hard part of the sorting is the decisionmaking.

And then there are drinks, and everyone goes home with a bag of “new” clothes, and you take the unwanted stuff directly out to the trunk of your car to go to the thrift store (or wherever).

The only bad part is you have to spend the entire evening before the party going through your closet pulling out stuff to donate to the try-on pile.