I can’t believe how horrible the office was. And I certainly didn’t make matters easier by just dumping all of the cords and cables in one big pile, huh uh.
I started at one end, then worked my way to the other side. Well, kinda sorta. I started with the old cat pee rotted file cabinets. I emptied those out and put some of the paperwork in the oak cabinets, where they should have been all along and the rest in storage boxes. But I ran out of storage boxes. I moved on to the file cabinet and got rid of the shelf I had the stereo on and moved the thing Brian made for me years ago that used to house a printer, but had become a half assed storage space for paper for the notecards I make and rarely sell over at lisaviolet designs. It works nicely and as a bonus, the bottom, where the printer used to be, is now where the officecam is aimed. The lighting should be more stable now, since it’s not in front of the window.
After I got that area neatened up, I moved Brian’s monitor and computer to the other side of his desk after I got rid of a bunch of old pricing books. It’s uncommon for him to do pricing here at home because the cats won’t give him a moment’s peace, so he does it at his shop. The fax machine is back between our desks, the cat’s water fountain that was on the desk is now on the floor. No more feeding kitty-cats on the desks, so no more left over crunched up kibble. Nice. The computer and monitor made it too crowded, so I moved the computer to where the monitor had been with plenty of room to spare.
Then I moved the copy machine to the empty area under the window and took the folding table that also had the paper storage outside, hosed it, scrubbed it, hosed it again and left it out there to dry. I wouldn’t be setting it back up on a permanent basis, but I didn’t want to throw it out, either. I moved the printers back and boy, did it open up the room.
I still had stacks and stacks of filing to do, piles and piles of tangled up cables and two computers completely down. Saturday night, I got the Gateway up and running. I finally quit working back here around 11:15 Saturday night. I covered the pile of cables and cords that was on the floor with a blanket, to keep them dry from cat pee.
I got little sleep, got up around 5:30 Sunday morning, came back here and turned on the Gateway (which runs the backyard cam, the office cam and the patiocam). It wouldn’t boot up all the way. It would boot so far, then freeze. I kept shutting it down, then restarting it. Finally, frustrated, I took a shower, got dressed and headed off for Wal-Mart (again). I got storage boxed, although they weren’t the kind I wanted, these were more like shipping boxes. I didn’t realize they were much too big until I got them home. *sigh* I did use one and the others are still in the extra room. I’m sure we’ll have a use for them eventually.
When I left, I let the Gateway sit in reboot mode. It still hadn’t loaded up, so I turned it off, the rebooted. Again. And this time it finished coming up. I had to fix the monitor settings and get the patiocam to run, but it’s still working. It’s back to that thing of not fully loading, which lessens over time. In a couple of weeks it should be back to normal. At which time I’ll most likely get another hair up my butt and reformat the hard drive, then have to reinstall everything. I’m a glutton for punishment.
Anyway, I finally got the computers up and running by Monday night. Then I had to do something with all of the extra cords, cables and switchboxes that never quite seemed to do what I wanted them to do. I had straightened the closet somewhat, finding all sorts of goodies. Like the extra desklamp bulb I knew I had (but couldn’t find, so I sat here in the dark for days) and golly gee whiz, look at this, a box full of printer cartridges for my new printer that I never put on the shelf where they belonged. (Coulda saved some money there, now, couldn’t I have? See what lazy does? Lazy costs you money.)
I found an empty plastic container and put them in there. One day I shall go through them all and use twist ties and label them all. Maybe some late some night, as I watch television. Yesterday, I finally shredded the papers that needed shredding that I have been putting in a box for at least six months. Why I don’t take five minutes and shred them as they come in is beyond me. And that big stack waiting to be taken care of always annoys the hell out of me.
The office is much nicer now. A lot more room, not such close quarters. The computers don’t block the light from the window, the new blinds work nicely and it’s a friendly place to be now. The cats aren’t thrilled with the changes, but they’ll get used to it. I still have the files to take care of. There are a lot of old things in the drawers that need to be taken out and either thrown out or put into storage. And I really need to wash the cabinets themselves. Years of minimal cleaning of the cat pee will take a while to overcome, but the Orange Glo is a start.
Looking back at it, it almost seems as if it was a thing of “let’s see how much I can stuff into this room”. Let me tell you, I think it had almost reached capacity. I don’t know why I don’t stay on top of things like this. A clean organized work area is so much more pleasant than a messy, unorganized area.
Oh, well, baby steps. It’s working in the pantry and in the linen closet. No reason why it can’t work in here, too.
Now, I have a stack of mail about eight inches high that needs to be opened and input, bills need to be paid. This should have been done last week, but I guess I had something else on my mind. Maybe I was planning the big clean…..
