This Electronic Life

from http://www.collegehumor.com/post/6121069/how-to-hack-a-computer-in-an-action-movie

Have you ever called a company and been frustrated by the phone menu? Ever tried to login and forgotten the answers to your security questions? Ever wondered if we might not be better off having personal relationships with the people we do business with?

Square the phone menu, add in a quadrupled set of websites, all with their own login, password, security questions, and blasted captchas.

And what do you get?

A REALLY LONG TIME on the phone, navigating the very complex phone menu, entering digits and passwords and account numbers, waiting on hold, finally reaching a person, and then confirming all of the same digits and account numbers, and then ending up with answers like: "Your husband will have to call us or write to us to grant permission for us to discuss your account."

I admit I find this whole thing exasperating. I don't see it as an opportunity, but maybe it is. An opportunity to write down every last detail there is for every account we have ever had?

The irony here is that my very capable husband has NO interest in talking with the XXXX Insurance Company about this claim or that coverage, and is so very happy that I am able to and interested in handling these details.

As much as I try to simplify things, the sheer vastness of the internet just makes it very challenging to stay on top of the details. I always thought of myself as a detail-oriented person, but the volume of details has increased to the extent that I dread trying to call someone, especially the insurance companies, to solve a problem or get information.

And then there are the places that require authorization EVERY SINGLE TIME from my dear husband. Not that he is working or otherwise busy or anything. Aargh. I love how they ask if he is right here with me so they can get approval from him. Ha.

Do you have any tips for how to simplify things? Because I'm all ears, here.

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My Organizophobe's New Organizational Tool

I'm happy to report that Joel's new planner is being USED and it is helping him GET THINGS DONE. I can see how helpful it is for him to have one place to write down things that he needs to do. I work with him every day to create and prioritize the list and then he works to complete the list.

I think it probably helps that he chose the planner himself and he really likes it. It's just a thrill to see this boy completing things that need to be done. Thank you Franklin Covey.

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I'm So Organized It's Scary

Remember this post about having such a hard time ordering the checks?

A little ha-ha postscript. The new checks arrived safe and sound a couple days after I ordered them. As I conscientiously parked them on my desk shelf, I noticed a box of checks there which had some deposit slips in it. I picked up the box, and lo and behold, guess what was tucked right under the deposit slips? RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.

I've included this autostereogram for your viewing pleasure, to give you a sense for how close the checks were. Let your eyes go out of focus and you will see some mushrooms springing up from the picture of leaves. No mushrooms, actually. For some reason, the picture disappeared and I had to put in another. Try this one!

If only I had crossed my eyes when I was looking for those checks!

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Lost and Found

Missing cell phone status: FOUND. Even though we had looked down in and under the couches, yesterday I stuck my hand down in the cushions and pulled out a cell phone! Kind of like Tom Thumb -- Oh, what I good girl am I! (Told you I'm still a good girl!)



Missing library book status: STILL LOST. But I was able to renew it, and I also found out that losing it will only cost us $3.91 so I'm not sooo worried anymore.



Missing Sure Steps: STILL MYSTERIOUSLY LOST. So strange. I still believe I am going to find them because I still have hundreds of nooks and crannies to check.

What all three of these items have in common is that I am going to keep them a little closer to ME and a little farther away from the KIDS as I find them. I know Kepler loves dangling his little Sure Steps, but he can dangle these once he has new ones to wear on his feet. And I think I will just hold onto Joel's phone for the time being.

Making progress!

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The Fine Art of Looking for Missing Things

There are three things missing in my house.

1. Joel's cell phone.
2. Kepler's Sure Steps (foot braces he wears in his shoes).
3. A library book checked out by Anna-Jessie and overdue and unable to be renewed.

One of my most pettest peeves is not being able to find something. When something is missing here at home, I have my radar on almost all the time as I move about the house and I look and look and look and look. Now, almost all the time I find it.

However.

1. Joel's cell phone has been missing for quite some time. He found it one Saturday, had it for an hour, and, sadly, lost it again. I've looked and looked but haven't been able to find it.

2. Kepler's Sure Steps, for which we were charged $1400 just over a year ago, were on his little feet last Thursday afternoon. Sadly, on Friday when it was time to put them on, they were nowhere to be seen.

3. Library book. Aargh. Not in sight.

The Fine Art of Looking for Missing Things mainly consists of leaving no stone (or shoe, or sock, or piece of furniture, or article of clothing) unturned. It also usually includes moving the furniture because I have found that is the best way to really find out what is underneath.

Over the past several days, I have conducted three archeological digs -- one in Eli's room, one in Joel's room, and one in the living room. Archeological digs consist of picking up every single thing in the room, throwing away the odd bits (or large bagsful) of trash, putting all the stuff that goes elsewhere, well, elsewhere, moving the furniture of course, and just generally putting things in order. And, a big goal of the digs is to make the floor clear, so that one could vacuum, or maybe walk.

These three rooms have been certified clear of the three missing objects. I do have two more rooms on this floor, but if the missing pieces are not there, then I have to descend (jaws music here) into the basement, that pit of packrattery, that den full of piles of everything.

Wish me luck. I will need a flashlight.

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Before and After

Oh, yeah! I remember why I started this blog in the first place! I was organizing and decluttering and wanted to share my accomplishments with all of you. OK, I got a little distracted for a few weeks. But he-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e's another installment in the incredible tale that is my decluttering and organizing adventure.

So Val was taking a shower about four years ago and was holding onto the handicapped bar so she could better reach the shower head, shrimp that she was. Oops. The wall fell off because water had been getting behind the tile for a long time. Good thing it was a lithe youngster for whom the handicapped bar gave out! Seeing as how the tile color scheme was black and blue, we voted to remodel the entire bathroom rather than replace the tiles. Plus, who knew what havoc that water may have wreaked behind the tile?

As part of the remodeling, we put in a laundry chute. Here's the business end of it:



And here's the resulting mess:



Although the lovely laundry chute saved me running down the stairs with baskets full of clothes, and also led to me finding some interesting items among the clothes especially when the kids were younger, I was not happy to have this big pile of mess on the floor. So I put my thinking cap on and came up with this:



And now the floor looks like this:



I got that hanging basket for free from Discovery Toys in my brief insane foray into multi-level marketing. It's been hanging around my basement for quite awhile and I finally found a great use for it! The hardest part of the project was hammering the %$^%#$%^ nails into the floor joists since there was only 8 inches between them and the hammer wanted more space. But, now that little rectangle stays concrete-y and uncluttered just all the time.

Voila!

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The Family Room of Our House

My dear husband, Toyota T., bought this house without me even seeing it. I think he did a great job. He loved two things about this house: the yard, and the family room. This room has windows on three sides, and is on the west end of the house so it gets some lovely natural light all year long.

When we first moved in, one wall was red brick, presumably the outside wall of the house at some point, the floor was 1950's green patterned linoleum, there was a screen door between the kitchen and the family room and the counter opening between the two rooms was divided with some fancy plexiglass panels. 9 years later, we have painted, added carpeting, removed the door and plexiglass, and incorporated it into the rest of our house, year-round.

Since we all love this room, we have added more and more stuff to it. Finally, at the breaking point, we had two couches, the tv and components, the tv cart, a dresser, several little drawer units, a toy corner, a bookshelf, a telescope, a tub filing cabinet, both computers, a glider, and, finally, a 6 foot by 4 foot desk for me to use (translate: cover completely with stuff). I had added the desk because I thought my problem was that I didn't have any drawers at my desk. That's a good one.

As you can see from the above photo, we had this room jam-packed. I finally realized that the drawers in the desk apparently weren't doing me any good at all since my desk was constantly covered in stuff, and I mean deep.

When I decided to apply "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful," I saw that my really big desk was turning out to be neither useful nor beautiful. I began to transport almost everything out of the room. I've read that in several books -- take everything out of the space before figuring out what you want there.

After removing the majority of the stuff in the room, I ended up with the two couches, the dresser (now holding the tv instead of the tv cart), one table holding two computers and two printers, the tub file, and two drawer units. I also gleaned a table from my mom which fit perfectly in the corner and is now holding several houseplants.

The room is now open, and everyone loves being in here. I think the clutter was really getting to everyone, and even though no one had to use my desk for anything, the heap of stuff was frustrating everyone. I think the thing that finally got me to make a change was that I could never find anything I was looking for. I spent so much time looking for things. It drove me crazy.



The good thing about this room now is that it is REALLY easy to pick up. To get this photo, I had to pick up a wristwatch from the table, and a pair of socks. Otherwise, there's nothing else in this end of the room and this is where we all sit to watch TV.

The only secret to my success that I can claim is that I have a lot less stuff in this room and it is very easy to see when something is out of place. My family can even easily clean up this room because it is so obvious when something doesn't belong. I highly recommend it.

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Decluttering Update

I know you must be wondering what the next step is in the decluttering road I've taken.

It's called: hit a roadblock.

I haven't yet told you all my wonderful success of clearing out the family room and part of the basement, and the kitchen. But I've had some wonderful success clearing out the family room, part of the basement, and kitchen.

That was on spring break. Since then, I have realized that my newfound love of decluttering is having to be subsumed to the minutiae of the day.

Today I will spruce up the decluttered family room, give a nod to the part of the basement that has been cleared out, and tell myself that I am STILL decluttering even if I haven't taken a carload of stuff to Goodwill lately.

And, I j-walked this morning, so I'm good for exercise today. (J-walking is interval training consisting of 200 steps walking, then 200 steps jogging. I love it. It's not pronounced jaywalking. But jwalking.)

I have been worrying about whether or not to go lo-carb again. I realized this morning that a high protein diet PROBABLY isn't any worse for me than a high junk food diet might be, so I'm back on high protein.

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Update on The Fragrant Car

I've been in the car twice today. The first time I didn't notice any smell at all. The second time I put my nose on alert when I got in the car and I smelled the faint fragrance of the dryer sheet. So, either the whole dryer sheet as deodorizer thing lasts 3 days per sheet, or it calms down after one day and leaves a nice subtle fragrance for awhile. I vote it's the second one.

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Dryer Sheets

I just read a handy little household tips book and learned that you can just toss a dryer sheet under the front seat of the car to freshen it up from the stale french fry smell. I gave up dryer sheets for Lent many years ago and never picked them up again, but I thought this sounded like a cool idea. At the grocery store, The Absent Minded Professor and I gave the generic dryer sheets the sniff test and unanimously chose "Fresh" instead of Mountain Spring, Spring Flowers, or Hand Spring. Today, we tossed a sheet under not only the dryer sheet, but also the passenger seat! If one is good, TWO must be better!

The rest of the day, every time I got in the car, I thought to myself, "Hey, was someone in this car? It smells funny." I will give it a few more days to see if I can get oriented to the "fresh" smell. If not, I'll really toss the dryer sheets. "
The car didn't even smell in the first place, actually. I've heard it said, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But I really really do not like unpleasant smells. On the other hand, I really really do not like fake smells.

I'll let you know as soon as I decide!

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Picture This

I've fast-forwarded somewhat so you can see some of my actual decluttering!

Before we got a digital camera (or two, actually), we had those old-fashion 35mm types that took photos that had to be stored somewhere other than the computer. As a result of a husband who loves to take pictures and who is rather good at it, I am the proud owner of four photo boxes, an American Girl doll box, two bags, and one large 12" square photo box full of photos. I know they are not supposed to be stored in the basement, so they are in the coat closet of my house. Remember, we have a small house, and the closet space is very limited, and this is the best place I can think of to store these photos.

Two days ago I decided it was time to attack the photos and see if there were one or two that could be discarded. Oh, I should mention that I am not a Creative Memories afficionado, and even if I were, it would take me at least 27 years to get all these photos cropped and arranged. So, they remain, in boxes. At some point along the way, I did try to bring some organization to them and used little ziploc bags to put photos into groups. But, alas, they remained a very large, very burdensome, treasure.

As I began to look through the photos, I realized that my photographer husband has always believed that one needs to take at least 2-10 shots of something in order to get one good copy. And I also realized that I myself bought into that "get duplicates" thing. So, here's a nice shot of baby sleeping on her handmade blanket. Oh, and here's a duplicate of that one. No, it's not a duplicate, just one very similar. And, here's another similar one, and another, and another, another, and ok, this one for sure is a duplicate. And I asked myself: WHO of us, even the one pictured, wants or needs to look at 12 extremely similar photos of this precious little baby sleeping? Especially because we have several other sets of her sleeping as well. So, I culled out most of them, leaving myself with one or two of these particular shots of her sleeping. It's not like she had colic or something and pictures of her sleeping were as hard to come by as hen's teeth. She slept fine.

So, I began the process. Pulled out duplicates, removed really blurry photos, took out photos that were dark, and removed some of those "proofs" from the multi-shot sleeping sessions. At the end of the day, I had removed 7 pounds of photos. Here's the photo:

I was feeling very proud at this point. 7 pounds of photos! Woohoo! I had cleared out 1 1/2 of the photo boxes and was feeling strong and confident, ready to attack the American Girl doll box the next day. Which I did. By the end of the process, I had cleared out enough photos to be able to actually get rid of the American Girl doll box!

I put the pictures into grocery bags and then into the trash. The trash even got taken out. Then I started worrying. What if I'm sorry I threw them away? It's not like a pair of shoes that I can go and just get another one of. When these are gone, they are truly gone. I thought maybe I had better do some journaling about this before they were gone and I decided I still wanted them for some reason.

What reason could I possibly have for wanting them? I wasn't sure, but I have learned in this decluttering process to listen to myself when I am feeling unsure about something. As I wrote, I realized that I had always had this idea of making a photo album for each of my five children and I realized that if I threw away all the duplicates, I couldn't make pretty much identical albums for each child. But, wait! Do I WANT to make identical photo albums for each child? Wouldn't it be more fun to make them similar albums? That is, albums with photos from all their childhoods, but different photos? That seems like it would be much more fun. Upon further reflection, I thought beyond making them for the kids and decided on a theme for my eventual photo albums: Life in _________. Each album would cover a time period when we lived in a certain town/state/country, or maybe just cover a certain time period, like college/graduate school, or our own childhoods, "Life in my Family of Origin."

I decided at that point to get the photos back out of the trash and keep them long enough to go through them again with my new plan in mind. I feel so much better about this idea, and I am confident I will still get rid of many of the original photos I first discarded, but I am not getting rid of them anymore without some sort of plan. And with photos, I think that having a plan is probably a really good idea.

I've always known that getting rid of photos is for me an extremely difficult process. Is it difficult for you? I daresay there are lots of people who have even more boxes than I do who can hardly face the thought of going through them.

My thought about photos is that they don't need any special colored papers underneath them or little stickers that tie them together with a theme. What I want when I look at photos is to read about the picture -- where was this? Why did the photographer take it? Is there a story? That to me is what makes the photo special, especially years down the road when the viewer is wondering what, where, when, why, who, and how?

Picture this! I have a plan!

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My "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" Phase

So, the next thing I tried was reading this book: "Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui." Here is an excerpt from her book:

Feng Shui is the art of balancing and harmonizing the flow of natural energies in our surroundings to create beneficial effects in our lives. These natural energy flows were well known and understood by the ancients, and knowledge of them still exists in some cultures today.

I had heard of this concept and I was pretty desperate to get rid of this stuff. I thought maybe if I started talking about "the energy of my clutter" it might help me do something. I mean, energy is good, right? I want energy! I need energy! And if the pesky clutter is draining my energy, then . . . wait. If the pesky clutter is draining my energy, then where am I going to get the energy to get rid of the clutter? It takes serious energy to go through all the junk, not to mention carrying it out to the car or trash, and what about putting the stuff I'm keeping back onto the top shelf? Well, I'm only on page 2 of the book, so I'll keep on. Maybe she'll explain where to find the energy that is being sucked out by the boxes of stuff.

And another excerpt:

My own approach to Feng Shui is rather different to that of other practitioners because I work directly with the energy of each space. Over a twenty year period, I have developed the ability to see, hear, smell, taste and sense energy in enhanced ways, so to begin a consultation the first thing I usually do is go around the entire inside perimeter of the building, taking an energy reading with my hands. The history of events is recorded in the walls and furniture in the form of subtle electromagnetic imprints, and through reading and interpreting these I can detect everything of significance that has ever happened there. Traumatic or repetitive events become more deeply embedded and have a correspondingly greater effect on present day occupants. I am also able to find areas where the energy in the building has become stagnant and discover what needs to be done to improve its flow. Whenever I come across clutter, its energy field is unmistakable. It presents an obstacle to the flow of energy and has an unpleasant, sticky, unclean feel to it, like moving my hands through unseen cobwebs. This is what first made me realize that clutter causes problems in people’s lives. It also has a distinctive musty, pervasive odour which I can smell if I walk into someone’s home, even if the clutter is hidden away from sight. Actually, if I tune in, I can also smell it in a person’s aura (the energy field around their body) if they stand near me, because they become imbued with the smell of it. But don’t worry about this if you ever meet me in person – there is so much clutter in the world that I don’t tune in too often!

So, I wonder if people can smell my clutter on me? When I step up to the optometrist's reception area, do they wrinkle their noses and wonder what is that "unpleasant, sticky, unclean" thing they are detecting. Wow, with this thing to worry about, now I have even less energy than I thought.

Here's the link to the place I got these excerpts, because it has been a long time since I read the book. I have had to take a lot of naps to recover from reading this, so be careful.

http://www.spaceclearing.com/html/books/extracts/extract-from-clear-
your-clutter-with- feng-shui.html

The only other thing I remember from reading this book is that Ms. Kingston believes there is a great deal of energy being captured in empty boxes, and they are especially pernicious when stored under the bed. Well, I knew I had a lot of empty boxes in the basement, so I thought maybe I could scare up some extra energy by getting rid of some of those boxes.

I opened the basement door bravely. I slowly walked down the steps, preserving what little energy I still possessed. Soon enough, I spied a few empty boxes.

In the picture directly above this paragraph, you will notice an empty SILVER box in the upper left-hand corner of the photo. And in the photo to the left, look carefully on the right side and you will notice a dark green empty box that has stuff in it. Does that make it an empty box or not?

But, I ask you. Really. Does it look to you like the empty boxes are the problem in these photos? I think not.

Sadly, I concluded that although Ms. Kingston probably has some good ideas, she wasn't going to be the impetus that would make me do something about this clutter, now known as energy-sucking clutter.

Will this ever change? Stay tuned.

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My FlyLady Phase

Marla Cilley, AKA The FlyLady, has a wonderful website, full of encouragement on keeping house, decluttering, loving your family, and loving yourself. She offers daily emails to help you take control of your laundry, hot spots (clutter spots), dinner plans, and housecleaning. There are clever names, like "5 Minute Room Rescue" and "Weekly Home Blessing Hour." You can check her out at www.flylady.com. Somehow, I heard about this lady and jumped right on the FlyLady bandwagon, drinking in those daily emails, thinking there was someone out there who UNDERSTANDS and was ON MY SIDE in trying to keep track of all the details of running a home.

One of her cute titles has to do with clutter: "The 27-Fling Boogie." You are supposed to take a trashbag, walk through your house, and pick up 27 things you can throw away right now. I was able to do this, like, once. After that, I became effectively paralyzed as all my anti-de-cluttering mental recordings turned themselves up LOUD in order to be heard.

"You may NEED that some day and you won't HAVE it anymore."

"Your CHILD made that, for crying out loud. HOW could you even THINK about throwing it AWAY?"

"Your MOTHER gave you that, for crying out loud. HOW could you even THINK about throwing it AWAY? Don't you LOVE her?"

"You can't throw THAT away. It's from that SPECIAL EVENT that you attended when that SPECIAL THING happened! What are you THINKing?"

"You know you will throw that away and then wish NEXT WEEK you had it!"

"Remember that thing you threw away 15 years ago and wished you had later? That will probably happen again if you throw anything away. Beware!"

"It's perfectly good and can certainly be used or fixed."

"Ooo. That might be worth some MONEY. You better keep it."

"They just don't make 'em like this anymore. You'll never be able to get another one as good as this."

"That cost WAAAAY too much money to get rid of."

"No, it doesn't matter that you don't like it anymore. It cost WAAAAY too much money to get rid of."

"Someday my children will want to read this letter from my friend."

"I know they never knew her, but it will be meaningful to them just because it belonged to me."

"So I can't throw it away, or any of the other 100 letters from this friend."

By the time I experience the slings and darts of these accusations, I drop my trash bag, slump my shoulders in defeat, and trudge back up the stairs, convinced I will never get rid of anything as long as I live.

In the meantime, FlyLady's encouraging emails start to get annoying, so I switch to "daily digest" and then finally, "no email."

In this phase, I have bravely gotten rid of about 8 ounces of clutter, mostly papers that I could trash because I don't need them anymore.

Somehow, I don't think that is what FlyLady is envisioning when she talks about "decluttering" your house. Sigh. How will I ever get rid of this junk?

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