Sunday, September 12, 2010

"Operation Simplify"

I have a couple items on my todo list that I've been dreading for some time. Cleaning out my office closet, and cleaning out the tool shed.
Both places are filled beyond capacity so that when ever I open one of the doors, things fall out. I fear one day one small falling item may drag a larger item with it, which could start a fatal avalanche. I'd be discovered days later under mountains of debris.
Jilda would say, "I'm not sure what happened officer, he didn't come home for supper last week, but I assumed he was visiting friends in Pascagoula.
I feared the worse when buzzards kept circling that huge pile of debris out yonder by the tool shed."
To overt catastrophe, we both decided to initiate "Operation Simplify".
Jilda got the ball rolling when she began reducing clutter in two of her spaces. We've hauled truckloads of stuff to the Thrift Store. She must have reasoned that her junk was either valuable, or would be useful in some shape, form, or fashion at some point in the future. I doubt we will ever miss anything we haul off.
I'm even worse at keeping junk that she is. I cracked the door of the tool shed this morning to get a feel for what I was up against, and I right away I spotted pieces of an eight track tape deck. These babies were invented when Johnson was in the White House.
I also spotted pieces of an air purifier that has been broken for as long as I can remember. Why do we do this? If anyone has the answer, please comment and shed some light on this phenomenon.
Anyhow, I gassed up the truck this afternoon and first thing tomorrow, I plan to "GO IN". It is my intention to be brutal. I will use this criteria:
Can I replace this if I HAD to
and
Will my life still have meaning if I throw this away?
Y'all pray for me.

4 comments:

  1. First, always stand to the side when opening doors of spaces containing more than the space was meant to hold.

    The only thing that has ever worked for me in getting rid of stuff was moving. I've not moved in 9 years, so it's looming. My plans are to move in Feb. 2012. I need to get busy. First thing I need is a dumpster the size of a railroad car.

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  2. I can't tell you why people save stuff forever because I don't do that. I get rid of stuff so quickly my family gets mad at me.
    Mom and I just cleaned out her magazine racks and she had some from 2006. That would drive me crazy.

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  3. It must be the season for having a clear-out. I always think September is like another New Year! I've just spent the weekend de-cluttering and it does feel good when you've finished and everything is looking tidier! Good luck!

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  4. There are certain places that seem to draw clutter--like they have some sort of magnetic pull. Ornery's work bench is like that. I can clean it off and have all the stuff neatly stored in its proper place, and the next time I look, all sorts of riffraff has moved in! Tool sheds are like that, too.

    Why do we keep it? I think if we paid "good money" for something it is hard to let it go, even when it is broken. Personally, I am more of Belle's mentality--get it outtahere! but Ornery is a bit more clutch-fisted.

    Good luck with your purging. I can tell you, you'll have a new lease on life when it's all done!
    tm

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