Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Christina87]

Stay warm , @Westiepeach and @ginger90!!! Hahahaha I don't even know what I would do in that kind of weather! I remember it getting to 7 a few years ago here, and they delay the schools if it gets below 10 or 15. Haha! Can't. Even. Imagine!

[Jynnan tonnix]

We are on vacation in Florida. Came to visit our snowbird next-door-neighbors from Connecticut, but decided to stay at a hotel for the first few days so as not to have to put them out too much.

It's been in the 50's and 60's, which I don't personally mind, but Mr Jyn came for the warm weather (it's usually in the 70's here this time of year).

It hardly matters, though, as we both came down with a stomach bug on our second day here. Mr.Jyn is feeling mostly better, but while I'm not blowing out of both ends anymore, I still have a moderate case of the runs and haven't had the energy to get out of bed. Hopefully I feel better by tomorrow (when we are supposed to move over to the neighbors' place), but if not, we may just decide to go home. At least Southwest airlines is pretty forgiving about changing flights, even if they will no doubt be more expensive last minute....

[Westiepeach]

1 minute ago, Christina87 said:

Stay warm , @Westiepeach and @ginger90!!! Hahahaha I don't even know what I would do in that kind of weather! I remember it getting to 7 a few years ago here, and they delay the schools if it gets below 10 or 15. Haha! Can't. Even. Imagine!

Turning the thermostat up a few degrees for sure! And thank God for electric blankets!

[Catfin]

In Mpls, we got six inches of snow last night and it is currently -10 windchill. School was closed today and is closed Tuesday and Wednesday as it is supposed to get REALLY cold. 

 

Appropo nothing, I can’t stand Tom Cruise. Or Mel Gibson. Have never been able to stand them. DH likes them both. Ugh, I leave the room if they’re on. Sigh. 

[Christina87]

Y'all, I just deleted Reddit, and I have never felt more free! I really can't believe how mean people on there are. Even just as a lurker!

i saw this random post on there about MSG, and felt like that was a non-controversial topic, so I just pointed out that some people are sensitive to it. Then I had someone tell me, in a really mean way, that MSG sensitivity is a farce, and said, "you probably eat it all the time under these names." I wrote back and explained that I started having terrible migraines in eighth grade, and when my mom and I took that list of MSG aliases (plus way more) and started cooking everything from scratch, without them, my migraines dramatically improved. Of course, there are still some things unrelated to MSG that cause my migraines (oranges, weather, PMS, etc), so you can't prevent every one, but it's not super hard to avoid the worst offending foods, like canned soups, flavored chips, ramen, chinese food, etc. 

But I got hardcore ATTACKED by that girl again, claiming that MSG sensitivity isn't real, and she "raises her eyebrow" at what I said, and "admits she didn't read the whole thing" (to make it look like I'm some uneducated yokel who doesn't even deserve to be entertained lol). I just can't imagine what would be so wrong with a person to invalidate another person's personal experience in a way like that, especially surrounding an issue that involves severe pain, and identifying your own triggers for the pain. I mean, let's say I am an idiot...still, is it her place to say that? If someone told me eating cheese made their knees better, I would secretly think, "huh?" but it's not my place to be rude to them, and they probably have a good reason to believe it, a conclusion that they reached after a lot of suffering. It's their doctor's place to tell them cheese is irrelevant to their condition. 

It just makes me so angry that such judgmental, rude people exist out there, who will tell someone they're uneducated and stupid and invalidate a personal experience that they've had for half their life. I mean...if I eat something with a large amount of MSG unknowingly, I suffer for days. What agenda would I have in telling my personal experience? Why is SHE so pro-MSG? Does she work for Monsanto? I admit when my mom went gluten free and lost a lot of weight, I thought, "yeah, because you can't eat bread, cupcakes, cookies, etc," but you know what I did? I kept my mouth shut! Then I tried eating gluten free, and felt way better, and lost weight myself! While I don't do it religiously, I eat gluten free as often as I can, with exceptions for my very favorite foods that don't offer gluten free options. Maybe being open minded can actually, idk, help your life!!!

I'm just speechless though. It makes me wonder how many closet jerks are out there on the streets. I've told plenty of people that I can't eat MSG, and I've never told anyone who wasn't outwardly sympathetic. What if they were just pretending to be nice, but deep down thought I was an uneducated simpleton? I literally can't imagine being that closed minded, and I hope most people genuinely aren't like that.

ahhhh feels nice to vent. So glad to be done with those toxic people! Two bad experiences is enough. Life is short, and you should only have positive people in it! You guys are amazing. It seemed like such a non controversial topic to weigh in on...I can't remember, who here was it that posted on an Alzheimer's board and got viciously attacked? Man, life is too short for mean people like that.  And if you were thinking about joining Reddit, don't!

Edited January 29, 2019 by Christina87

[Zella]

6 minutes ago, Catfin said:

Appropo nothing, I can’t stand Tom Cruise. Or Mel Gibson. Have never been able to stand them. DH likes them both. Ugh, I leave the room if they’re on. Sigh. 

Haha I never liked either of them either. I remember being about 10 when The Patriot came out. And to the shock and horror of everyone I knew, I was like, "Who's the evil British guy again? Colonel Tavington? I wish the movie was about him and not Mel Gibson because I like him a lot better than Mel." :) 

(I still have a huge crush on Jason Isaacs some 20 years later, but that's another story. . . .) 

[Rabbittron]

It seems a few of us live in the Denver metro area.

[CalicoKitty]

2 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

It was 71 here yesterday. A little cooler today, only 65. 

Don't stone me. 😁

Delightful here, too.  Had the doors open most of the day.  Actually, I would like more winter, but NOT the horrible wind/rain storm from a couple of weeks ago.  That was scary.

[latetotheparty]

@Catfin and all our other fellow Upper Midwesterners stay safe this week. Bundle up!  Know where your inhaler is!  I’ve been in MN since 1982 and this will be the coldest I’ve ever seen. 

[ChiCricket]

3 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

It was 71 here yesterday. A little cooler today, only 65. 

Don't stone me. 😁

My daughter, who recently moved to Texas, just sent me this. (I have to remember to send something back to her in summer, when she's sweltering in Texas, and we have beautiful weather here in Illinois)😂

[Sew Sumi]

44 minutes ago, CalicoKitty said:

Delightful here, too.  Had the doors open most of the day.  Actually, I would like more winter, but NOT the horrible wind/rain storm from a couple of weeks ago.  That was scary.

I think we're from the same neck of the woods. Rain returns Wednesday. 

[jcbrown]

19 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

I think we're from the same neck of the woods. Rain returns Wednesday. 

I believe either I am also from that neck of the woods or there is a place other than the Bay Area where rain returns Wednesday.

[galaxychaser]

I want a ton of snow to hit NYC! 

[PikaScrewChu]

I'm waiting to see if they open my campus or not tomorrow. I'm hoping yes because I have to administer an exam and collect assignments. Rescheduling the exam will be a pain and I've already had enough headaches with this assignment. I had a group of students ask if I could proofread their assignments before handing it in. Of course, along with the other 90 students I have in my classes. It didn't dawn on them that it completely defeats the purpose of me marking their assignments if I read them beforehand.

If they keep classes running I will get a bunch of emails about how unfair it is that I'm still administering an exam and collecting assignments because it's going to take them hours to get to campus in this weather. Buddy me too, me too. Time I could be using to do other work rather than sitting in traffic. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching but it growing weary. It seems to be getting worse every year and we're getting our knuckles rapped if we're "too hard" on the students. I'd rather just take a term off and focus on my research to recharge but I have about a year to go before I can realistically do that.

@Christina87 sounds about right with the stage parents. This girl is up there dancing with 4 to 8 year olds. She gets told repeatedly to go to the back because otherwise she will block the rest of the kids. Nope. She goes straight to the front and blocks the other kids plus she just decides to make up her own solo to the song so it's caught on camera. It's so unfair to the other kids who have been practicing for months to perfect the choreography. Granted I've danced with people who will do that too when we're performing in a group situation. So it's not limited to adolescents!

[ChiCricket]

14 minutes ago, galaxychaser said:

I want a ton of snow to hit NYC! 

 You're nuts!😂  And now here comes record breaking cold.

Btw, I think it's funny when my (grown) kids call me up to "make sure you let your faucet drip, and open up the cabinet doors to let heat get to the pipes!" Who do they think taught them all that? I haven't gone senile (yet.)

[Love2dance]

2 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

 You're nuts!😂  And now here comes record breaking cold.

Btw, I think it's funny when my (grown) kids call me up to "make sure you let your faucet drip, and open up the cabinet doors to let heat get to the pipes!" Who do they think taught them all that? I haven't gone senile (yet.)

Awww, that’s sweet. Shows that they love you!

[CalicoKitty]

53 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

I think we're from the same neck of the woods. Rain returns Wednesday. 

Near Lodi.

[PikaScrewChu]

2 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

 Btw, I think it's funny when my (grown) kids call me up to "make sure you let your faucet drip, and open up the cabinet doors to let heat get to the pipes!" Who do they think taught them all that? I haven't gone senile (yet.)

Haha. My mom used to do this to my grandfather. He would actually wait until my mom was about to go over to fill the sink with water because my mom has a thing about filling sinks with water to ease dryness. Then he would immediately drain it after she left.

I'm worried about the pipes here. My neighbours keep their windows open because "it's too hot in the building". Well yeah when you have the heat cranked as high as it will go and are running eighty different electronics it's going to get hot. Turn down the heat a bit and give your massive gaming computer a rest. Two apartments have had their pipes burst and flooded the surrounding apartments because they keep their windows open. The pleading from our building manager to keep the windows closed is futile.

[galaxychaser]

All my windows are open and it’s 26 degrees out. Landlord is boiling us alive. I wish I had central air.

[Sew Sumi]

1 hour ago, jcbrown said:

I believe either I am also from that neck of the woods or there is a place other than the Bay Area where rain returns Wednesday.

So, there are three of us! 😀

[Marshmallow Mollie]

11 hours ago, Jeeves said:

I'm in Denver, @Christina87. It may look pretty in that picture, but it was a PITA to be there with snow blowing at me horizontally. The redeeming thing about the weather here is that it's rarely that socked-in, gray-for-days, iced-over thing that other climates get. The snow stopped about 1:30 pm, and the sun came out, and it's not flip-flops weather but it's much more pleasant. 

At risk of sounding like a country bumpkin, when I read “light rail” I thought you must live somewhere outside the US. Light rail sounds exotic! I was thinking somewhere like Montreal. 

[Minivanessa]

15 minutes ago, Marshmallow Mollie said:

At risk of sounding like a country bumpkin, when I read “light rail” I thought you must live somewhere outside the US. Light rail sounds exotic! I was thinking somewhere like Montreal. 

I know what you mean! It seemed pretty exotic to me when it was in the planning stages, and I still remember the first weekend they opened the system to the public. Free rides - and I was there to catch rides on it, along with pretty much everyone else in town. Since then they've expanded the system. Ridership on the light rail system has been very strong. Even out here in the Wild West which is overall a car-centric place to live.

Light rail is my preferred way to go downtown. I b*tched about walking in the snow from the light rail stop to the courthouse yesterday morning, but I much preferred that to driving several miles into downtown during that awful rush hour snowstorm in which even buses were sliding around (!!), then having to find a place to park and paying the ridiculous prices that downtown parking now costs. Instead I just had to drive a short distance from home to my closest light rail station and park (free). My local day pass - round trip ticket - was three bucks (that's half price because I'm officially a geezerette).

Edited January 29, 2019 by Jeeves

[Barb23]

3 hours ago, Marshmallow Mollie said:

At risk of sounding like a country bumpkin, when I read “light rail” I thought you must live somewhere outside the US. Light rail sounds exotic! I was thinking somewhere like Montreal. 

I would hardly call our Light Rail exotic.  I live in a nice small town south of Baltimore which the Light Rail passes through.  We now affectionately call it the Crime Rail (among other choice names) because of the crime & drugs it has brought into our community & other nearby towns.  It's nice to use for sporting events in Baltimore but for anything else, it's not worth risking your life. 

[Christina87]

3 hours ago, Jeeves said:

I know what you mean! It seemed pretty exotic to me when it was in the planning stages, and I still remember the first weekend they opened the system to the public. Free rides - and I was there to catch rides on it, along with pretty much everyone else in town. Since then they've expanded the system. Ridership on the light rail system has been very strong. Even out here in the Wild West which is overall a car-centric place to live.

Light rail is my preferred way to go downtown. I b*tched about walking in the snow from the light rail stop to the courthouse yesterday morning, but I much preferred that to driving several miles into downtown during that awful rush hour snowstorm in which even buses were sliding around (!!), then having to find a place to park and paying the ridiculous prices that downtown parking now costs. Instead I just had to drive a short distance from home to my closest light rail station and park (free). My local day pass - round trip ticket - was three bucks (that's half price because I'm officially a geezerette).

That's so cool! We have a light rail in Charlotte, and I have never used it, but always wanted to. When I dated the guy who was in law school, a lot of his friends lived near uptown and used the light rail a lot. It's pretty safe here, too. I'm glad we have that option. 

[bigskygirl]

My computer died again on Saturday. Ha! I am seriously thinking of getting a HP computer. I can live without itunes. I feel like I am missing out on knowing what is going on in the outside world without a computer. The local news is nice, but to me, it is not the same.

[bigskygirl]

And speaking of the weather, I have noticed we seem to get snow and/or rain on Sundays. Monday and Tuesday are usually cooler, but by Wednesday it starts to warm up again. It has been like this for the last few weeks. 

[Mindthinkr]

17 hours ago, Jynnan tonnix said:

We are on vacation in Florida.

Same here. On the drive down we stayed in northern FL and had...yes, tropical force winds and rain. I was literally sideways trying to walk from the car to the hotel. Now I’ve made it to my destination and on the early am news it stated that it was weather breaking cold last night. Seems like there’s no escape this year from the cold. 

Edited to add: I hope y’all ended up feeling better and enjoying some vacation and warmth @Jynnan tonnix

Edited January 29, 2019 by Mindthinkr

[PikaScrewChu]

We didn't cancel classes.

I wish we had. Having to deal with students despite the fact the one class is later in the day and the weather has improved significantly is getting tiring. I get it, the weather sucks. But this is a program where they are expected to pursue careers in places that have extreme weather too.

I'm pretty good at being polite and not snapping at them but they don't understand how rude their emails come across. After reading several of them you're like "Ahhhh, why is email etiquette not a subject in high school???". Save that for the snark forums.

[Zella]

14 minutes ago, PikaScrewChu said:

We didn't cancel classes.

I wish we had. Having to deal with students despite the fact the one class is later in the day and the weather has improved significantly is getting tiring. I get it, the weather sucks. But this is a program where they are expected to pursue careers in places that have extreme weather too.

I'm pretty good at being polite and not snapping at them but they don't understand how rude their emails come across. After reading several of them you're like "Ahhhh, why is email etiquette not a subject in high school???". Save that for the snark forums.

When I was teaching comp as a TA, I had to make rules about whiny emails and basic email etiquette. I know a lot of them were just oblivious and needed to learn sometime, but I was mortified. I wasn't even that much older than them and still would never have subjected an instructor to the emails I got. 

[PikaScrewChu]

9 minutes ago, Zella said:

When I was teaching comp as a TA, I had to make rules about whiny emails and basic email etiquette. I know a lot of them were just oblivious and needed to learn sometime, but I was mortified. I wasn't even that much older than them and still would never have subjected an instructor to the emails I got. 

I'm honestly mortified. They have an assignment due on Friday that needs to be handed in as a paper copy. No exceptions. "But I don't want to drive to school this week to hand in a paper copy. Can't you accept a digital copy?"

You've known about this for three weeks now and several students handed it in last week. They went out of their way to get it to me. You're kidding me, right? These are second and third year students.

My first year of TAing the students were only allowed to contact us via email if there was an emergency. The course director dealt with all the emails. He forwarded us some of them and he was a seasoned veteran with teaching. I was shocked at how they spoke to a man who had been teaching the course for 30+ years! I'm a very petite woman and I've noticed that students think they can intimidate me. I was helping with an exam my first year of grad school. One of the students was pushing and shoving one of the other women because the bathrooms were only for students still in the exam and he was done but wanted to use THAT WASHROOM despite there being one 2 minutes away he could use. She kept saying no. The look on his face when I grabbed him and picked him up was priceless.

[Zella]

I know it made me sound like a bitch, but I always told them, "A failure to plan on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine." 

[ChiCricket]

44 minutes ago, Zella said:

I know it made me sound like a bitch, but I always told them, "A failure to plan on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine." 

Ha! We used to have a sign saying just that in the pharmacy I was a tech in.

So many people would wait until they were completely out of meds before trying to get a refill, especially when there were no refills left.

 They loved to wait until it was a Sunday or holiday when they knew their doctor wouldn't call back right away.Then they would berate us for their lack of planning.

That's when my manager would just point to the sign. (don't even get me started on how many people "lost" or "had stolen" their controlled substances.)🙄

Edited January 29, 2019 by ChiCricket

[Scarlett45]

The polar vortex is coming! Court is closed, retail stores are closed, work is closed tomorrow! I will not have to remote in, and I will be baking blueberry bread. 

[lookeyloo]

So here in metro Atlanta, everything is closed, no school today and we had a nice day.  Maybe tomorrow morning there will be issues, but, since the sun came out around noon, maybe the roads will be clear.

I spent 3 hours in the endodontist chair.  Complicated root canal.  Retreatment.  Then a new crown.  This is between the cataract surgeries.  He told me not to be surprised if I had pain.  But to call the eye people before I took anything he prescribed.  I'm using the trusty bag of peas.

[ChiCricket]

A's surgery went well...but she looks so pale in the pics her mom sent.

My poor granddaughter. 🤕

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by ChiCricket

[PikaScrewChu]

4 hours ago, Zella said:

I know it made me sound like a bitch, but I always told them, "A failure to plan on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine." 

I use that quite a bit along with "Not my monkeys, not my circus" when I get asked for favors.

6 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

A's surgery went well...but she looks so pale in the pics her mom sent.

My poor granddaugter. 🤕

Awww the poor wee one. I hope she has a smooth recovery. :( It's not fun being injured at that age.

[Sew Sumi]

4 hours ago, Zella said:

I know it made me sound like a bitch, but I always told them, "A failure to plan on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine." 

We used to have a poster with this truism in the Writing Center. Then someone decided it was too "mean" and took it down.  They're adults. If they can't handle deadlines, they're not going to go very far in life.

[Zella]

2 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

We used to have a poster with this truism in the Writing Center. Then someone decided it was too "mean" and took it down.  They're adults. If they can't handle deadlines, they're not going to go very far in life.

Haha I used to work in a writing center. All the hard luck stories/excuses were good prep for teaching.

[Nysha]

4 minutes ago, Zella said:

Haha I used to work in a writing center. All the hard luck stories/excuses were good prep for teaching.

I am currently giving one of my tutors the stink eye b/c he's spending too much time "helping" another student rewrite his less-than-one page paper into a 4-page paper that is due tomorrow. This is the fourth week of classes, we've been open all day for the same amount of time, and it's our job to proofread and offer suggestions, not save their bacon by walking them through every single sentence.

[Zella]

6 minutes ago, Nysha said:

I am currently giving one of my tutors the stink eye b/c he's spending too much time "helping" another student rewrite his less-than-one page paper into a 4-page paper that is due tomorrow. This is the fourth week of classes, we've been open all day for the same amount of time, and it's our job to proofread and offer suggestions, not save their bacon by walking them through every single sentence.

Yep, we were taught to teach them to help themselves, so a process of showing them how to do something in an isolated example then pulling away for them to try it with supervision and then they were on their own to apply the concept/concepts. It's been a good life skill and one I used a lot when I worked at the library and had to deal with people who wanted me to do everything online for them. 

[Sew Sumi]

15 minutes ago, Nysha said:

I am currently giving one of my tutors the stink eye b/c he's spending too much time "helping" another student rewrite his less-than-one page paper into a 4-page paper that is due tomorrow. This is the fourth week of classes, we've been open all day for the same amount of time, and it's our job to proofread and offer suggestions, not save their bacon by walking them through every single sentence.

We've had more than one of those tutors over the years. I think it feeds the tutors' egos that many students bypass the Socratic tutors in order to have someone basically write their papers or, in the case of the ESL students do their homework, for them. 

[latetotheparty]

It’s currently 19 below and dropping. I don’t work Wednesdays but have to go to the vet tomorrow; diabetic kitty. I’ve got my sweats tumbling in the dryer so they will be toasty when I put them on. 

[Catfin]

-21 here @latetotheparty with a -28 windchill. I think I’m a bit north of you in the NW burbs. Planning to work from home all week. No snow days for grownups, sadly. 

[Christina87]

Wow, guys. We're having a low of like 20 tonight, which is sort of low for us (most of the time it's high 20's to 30's for low). Thinking of all of you!!!! Hope you stay snug. Literally can't even imagine it!!!

[latetotheparty]

15 minutes ago, Catfin said:

-21 here @latetotheparty with a -28 windchill. I think I’m a bit north of you in the NW burbs. Planning to work from home all week. No snow days for grownups, sadly. 

I know, right? It’s so  unfair. 

[crazycatlady58]

Houston here..or a bit north of Houston. We are 45 °now with a low of 35° .  Tomorrow we should have a high of 57°. Not near as cold as some of you but still a bit nippy for us.

[Catfin]

And now current temp?  -25 actual. -51 windchill. Sigh. 

[jennblevins]

Moving over from Jinger’s thread because it has nothing to do with the Duggars ...

6 hours ago, ChiCricket said:

I actually think the clothes pin thing is a great (cheap) idea. I might have to make something like this for the eleventy-billion baseball caps my husband has.

We have something similar in our front hall for baseball hats — it uses 3M Command Hooks, not clothespins, but it works really well. Mr. Blevins is tall, so the top row is right up where crown molding would go (if our 1960s box had crown molding), so nobody accidentally knocks them down. We managed to fit two rows between the ceiling and the top of the coat rack. Not that it seemed to reduce the number of baseball hats sitting around, unfortunately. 

[lookeyloo]

23 and clear here in metro Atlanta. 

[Minivanessa]

54 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

I don’t think one has to be an influencer or anybody special to pick and choose parts of Marie Kondo’s approach and I’m guessing Jinger didn’t either. I watched the shows, found some other videos on You Tube and refolded everything in my dresser and Mr lookeyloo’s closet. I also reorganized my closet. No thanking and no thought to Shintoism. Just folding. By the way it doesn’t take long and everything is visible and takes up way less room which is perplexing to me. 

Bringing this over from the Jinger topic. That's an interesting comment, @lookeyloo. I want to be as sensible as you, when I grow up.

I started reading Kondo's book way back when it was first a big splash. I got so friggin' irritated early on with the "apologize to your socks for folding them wrong" stuff that if it had been a paper copy I would have thrown it against a wall. But since it was on my iPad's Kindle app I just deleted it from my device and moved on.

I never got past the animism, or her obsession with handling and thinking about the physical objects in her life. Sure, in her case she related that her obsession took the form of constantly tidying up her room as a child and her space in general whatever it was. IMO that's just the other end of the spectrum from so many of the hoarders we've seen on TV. I got interested enough to read some books about hoarding. I came to understand that many hoarders think of each item they encounter as having significance, and even feelings. I still remember the account of a woman talking about the foil lid of a yogurt container, when asked about throwing it away. She described thinking of how lonely and abandoned it would feel as it fell into the trash, and eventually was in a bag sliding down a trash chute and then on a truck going to the landfill. 

Just, no. I have my own kinds of crazy going here, and I do NOT need add to it by having conversations with my frigging socks. Or the extra roll of duct tape, or the potato peeler. 

When it comes to physical objects, my joy is sparked by my camera gear. Well, except the tripods; they are a PITA but necessary. Years ago I had just a bit of that gear, and it was kept nicely on a couple of shelves in a hall closet. Over time I got more, and it sprawled out in that closet and across different places in my condo. It was out of control, and annoying, and inconvenient, and I knew that Something Must Be Done. In the meantime, I really need the shelves in that front hall closet for kitchen stuff (small condo kitchen, can't leave a ton of nonsense cluttering the counters). 

I started in my home office, with a big paper scanning/tossing/shredding festival that cleared out two of the four drawers in my lateral file cabinet, and a book-purging project that cleared out a double bookcase. I migrated lots of camera stuff onto the shelves but it was a mass of ugly plastic boxes and unruly piles, and camera gear was still in the hall closet - and I couldn't find a set of extension tubes I KNEW I had purchased. Aargh!

Finally, last week I got 'er done. Used a lot of two-dollar "photo storage" boxes from Michael's which are a great size for a few items each of most camera gear. Even my big 70-200mm f4 lens fits in one of them. All the camera gear is either neatly stashed in those boxes on the shelves or tidied away in plastic boxes in one of the nice deep drawers in the file cabinet. All of it is now protected from dust, there are little desiccant pouches in the boxes, and all the boxes are labeled. And, I found the extension tubes. The hall closet shelves have been reclaimed to house kitchen stuff. No more clutter on top of the fridge. It all feels good.

Of course I just shared TMI. If your eyes haven't glazed over yet, I'm posting a snapshot - view from my desk - of the bookcase shelves with boxes, and the reclaimed closet shelves. I bought all the black boxes I could find at Michael's and then another six assorted brown and white ones. There are also a few boxes there that I already owned which contain photos to be, someday, scanned. It's not House Beautiful and the labels are temporary post-its, but it's tidy. And I'm calm about where to find things.

Before I pop the photo in here, my best wishes for all of you being slammed by that polar vortex or whatever fancy word they are using for the insane cold temperatures. We got just brushed by that stuff with the snow on Monday and have been spared the deep freeze temps. I hope you and yours will be safe and warm till the craziness is over.

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Jeeves
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