Dumping Grounds

Wow, posting this with the new, Intel-happy version of ecto.

Fast, fast, fast… and reduces the number of PowerPC programs I use by one more. Besides programs by Adobe and Microsoft, I run precious little that is not now native for the Intel processor.

And now, on with today’s list.

• 2 UPS bricks
• more cables
• a pile of old magazines
• some old clothes that were in no condition to be donated to charity

• A pile of old software manuals
• More of those cables (expect this for a few days, I have a LOT of them)

No, I have not forgotten about “Crap I threw Away Today”

I was simply out of town for a few days, and have had a little bit of a hectic time since I got back.

Tonight it resumes. Today’s casualties:

• A floor fan that Delaney chewed up the cable when she was much younger (and was lucky she didn’t the get shock of a lifetime)
• A pretty sizable pile of networking cables that my current computer could not use even if I wanted to (AppleTalk, 10-base-2 Ethernet)

Well, here’s today’s list:

• A docking station for a Dell portable I no longer own.
• A wireless router that no longer works.
• A power brick for some unknown appliance.
• A microsoft mouse that died some time ago.
• An ethernet cable that worked fine, but the little plastic notch was proken on one end, so it didn’t snap into place.

Today’s crap list:

• Two mementos from my company for being on an account 8 years ago. And I wasn’t that involved on the account even then. Gone.
• A battery holster from a portable computer I no longer own.
• A pair of dyed purple shoes that once belonged to some woman who lived in my house. (My best guess: my sister)
• Two boxes from old CD-burners I bought.
• A grocery sack full of old cassette tapes.

And as a special treat today, I’m going to make a trip to the dump to get rid of some things formerly featured on the â??soon to be crapâ? list:

• Four fluorescent light bulbs.
• The kids’ bike left in my yard (damaged beyond repair)
• probably some old computer parts.

I know that I’m using up too much crap on one day, and I won’t have stuff left over for tomorrow… but on top of all that I sold my venerable G4 Powerbook yesterday. Complete with all the packing materials! See one person’s trash is another’s treasure. To the recipient, it was just like opening a brand new Powerbook. To me, it was getting rid of a few extra boxes and some styrofoam.

You didn’t think I would keep this up for even one day, did you?

Well, today I raided a closet that I have not been in for years, assuming that anything in there could be safely thrown away.

• a stack of old floppy disks (I don’t even have a computer that HAS a floppy anymore)
• a pile of crap from high school, including a note from my ex-wife where she threatened to break up with me… ah, if I had only known then what I know now… /sigh
• a ton of really, really old insurance bills
• a notebook from my recruiting trip to the University of Texas
• a bunch of old bubble wrap
• a cardboard box to carry all that crap in

This weekend, most of the stuff from yesterday’s Soon to Go list bites it.

New stuff soon to bite it

• a stack of old 45s (hell, if you are under 28, you probably don’t even know what a 45 is.)
• exactly how many editions of Trivial Pursuit can one person own?

A lesson I have definitely learned from my weight loss adventures is that it’s not how much you can do toward a goal in one day, it’s the little bit that you do every single day that is effective.

To that end, I’m going to put some public pressure on myself to get rid of some of the junk in my house every day. Not a lot, just some. I’m literally going to try to do this every day.

Hence, Crap I Threw Away Today. My (hopefully) daily listing of things that I have been hanging on to for no real reason other than the fact that I am a terrible pack rat. Stuff like food wrappers, general garbage, and stuff in my fridge doesn’t count. This is all junk that I have been hanging on to for some period of time. I’ll also list things that are going to go, soon, unless someone wants them.

Today’s List

• the box my 30GB iPod came in
• an old EverQuest manual
• a halloween costume my sister once wore (she lived with me for a while)
• a box that contained the motherboard that became my MythTV computer
• some old 10-base-2 ethernet cable

Soon to Go

• an assortment of Appletalk cables
• at least one, maybe two Macintosh Duo 230’s
• a Macintosh Quadra 800
• a Mac clone that contained a PowerPC 604e chip
• several ADB keyboards
• maybe an ADB mouse or two
• an old Sanyo stereo
• a Sony DVD player
• a boy’s BMX bike that was left in my yard
• 4 8-foot flourescent light bulbs

No, I do not think that all of the Soon to Go items hold any appeal for anyone. It also serves as a â??To Doâ? list for future days for me.