On the sink in the bedroom, right next to where I hang my uniforms, is a little wire basket. You can see it there in the background next to the toolbox that I use as a footstool. It measures about 8" long by 6" wide by 3" deep. Not very big.I use it to dump stuff out of my pockets when I get home. Ostensibly so I can file them later.
Yeah.
Today I was in a cleaning mood so I emptied out the little wire basket and sorted out the papers I should file and keep. The stuff you see there on the floor is the stuff I decided to keep.
About half of what was jammed in that little wire basket. The rest went in the trash can.
The rest is all leave forms and memos and use of force paperwork and job orders, etc.
I'm a little embarrassed to say it, but there was a leave slip in there from 2006.
I guess that shows how long it's been since I cleaned out the basket and did any filing.
And of course when I opened up the filing cabinet, stuff just fell out on the floor in a pile. Looked like I had just been throwing stuff in there for awhile now. Sheesh.
So it looks like I have my work cut out for me. At least I am throwing away some crap and getting rid of a little bit of it.
I have decreed that this is the year I am going to get rid of any useless crap that I have just laying around. I have already gotten rid of quite a bit, even though it hurt to part with some of it. It's been a learning experience.
Will there be a whole new me? Oh snap no.
But I will be toting much less baggage, believe me.
And yes, I know the carpet in my office is nasty. Years of dogs and foster kids will do that.
It's cleaner than it looks.
While I can't claim to be the cleanest person in the world, I'm definitely not a pack rat. I get rid of things quickly I have no use for.
ReplyDeleteWe're almost finished downsizing our living quarters from 1600 sq ft to 900. I tossed out a lot of stuff that I didn't really want to, but there just wasn't room for it. But it was liberating. Get the dumpster, you won't be sorry.
ReplyDeleteI shredded all my built up leave slips at work yesterday. I've got you beat....shredded some back to 2004 when I was still a caseworker at Bonne Terre. I like your vow. Time to start the shredder at home. I still have leave slips here from 1998 when I was a COI. Somebody in the Academy planted a seed in my brain to keep EVERYTHING! Bastard! He should be found and shot.
ReplyDeleteJust Plain Tired- I've been a pack rat all of my life. It's a hard habit to break.
ReplyDeleteJoe- I'd love to walk out of here with nothing but the clothes on my back and the hard drive out of my puter. But i would lose too many irreplaceable things that way. But I'm dumping what I can.
Peggy Sue- In the academy they tell you "If it's not on paper, it didn't happen." And then they tell you "If you lose the paper and can't prove it happened, they'll burn you for it." They make us paranoid pack rats.