Friday, February 8, 2008

FeGROCMo Update

Well it turns out that it's a lot harder to rid my apartment of unnecessary crap than I would have thought. Part of this is because I'm trying hard to find good homes for my crap, instead of just letting it go to the landfill. And part of it is that, well, when you're not buying any new stuff, it's hard to let the old stuff go. Ohmygod I can't get rid of X even though I never ever use it because what if I decide in a month that I really WANT X and then I won't be able to BUY IT noooooooooooooooo!! 

Yeah, that's what I've been going through for the past few days. Still I have made some progress. I took a bag to Goodwill a few days ago.


And then I started going through my desk. I got rid of the floppies in the Drawer of Anachronicity. (Yes, I just made up a word.)

But I haven't really decided what to do with the tapes. I mean, I never really listen to them because well, they're tapes. But I *do* have a stereo with a tape player, and a lot of the tapes are tapes that Annie sent me my first semester of college so they have sentimental value. They remind me of Annie and they remind me of those first few months of school. So ... I haven't gotten rid of them. 

And then there's this:


My first response, was, "Hey I have a mic. Cool!" And then I thought, "No Arduous, you are not keeping that mic. It's been sitting in this drawer unused for 7 years. And then I saw all the other wires/cables in the drawer and I started to stress out. I am not a technological moron but seriously, I don't really know what half of these things are or why I need them. Which is why every time I move, I just cart these things along, because ... why? Am I suddenly going to realize what one of these weird cables is for? Am I suddenly going to need them?

So I can probably get rid of all of this stuff, but guys, I really don't know what half of these chords are for. So how do I get rid of them? Do I take pictures of them and post it to Craigslist, and just hope someone else knows what they are and what they do? I dunno. I have a bad feeling that some of these came with small portable electronic devices that may or may not still own. Which means that maybe no one wants any of these. Which means ... I might have to start looking into "innovative" uses for cables. 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Keep the mic!!!

Rejin L. said...

Being responsible for all our stuff is such a big job. And I think the cord thing is a universal problem. Besides our own stash, I have a bag of cables from my late uncle's apartment that I have made myself responsible for. I tried Freecycling them but no one was inspired by my listing. If only such a lesson would help keep me from acquiring more stuff that I'll have to figure out how to dispose of later...

Jennie said...

I don't see what is wrong with keeping these things if you have space for them. But I'm the type of person who knows what everything in my house is and where exactly it is and when and how I purchased/acquired it. Yes I'm neurotic.
Try making an electrical cord belt. That would be cool, although likely difficult.
Also I saw these cool notepads that had floppy disks for covers, although I guess you got rid of them already.
I wish I was crafty.

ruchi said...

Jennie,

I agree there's nothing wrong per se with keeping things per se, but on the other hand, I feel like I've owned all of these cables and cords for about seven years and have never touched them. They just sit in a drawer and go to waste. So if someone else wants them, and would actually USE them I'd rather someone else have them. But probably keeping them in case I need them is better than throwing them in the landfill.

Mad Hatter said...

Drawer of Anachronicity...I love that! I also have a hard time throwing away things which I neither need nor use, but have sentimental value....

Sam said...

You could have an art show titled "Drawer of Anachronicity". The random wires could be fashioned into nooses to depict the violence that anachronistic technogarbage causes by winding up in landfills....or something.

And what is a blog with speakers (speaking people) called? A spolg? You know..something to do with the mic.

Chile said...

The problem that I see with keeping stuff that you are not using is that there is someone out there somewhere that could be using this stuff. Once I started looking at my clutter that way, it became much easier to pass it along. Thrift stores are a great way to make it available to a large number of potential users. :)