Writing
this on Saturday, spring-cleaning time, I need a manual and YouTube videos on
how to get rid of stuff. I try Google
and get this message: "Unable to connect to the Internet."
So
what now? To the basement where stuff
is, to check the modem connection. When
I go there, I take action and find
something easy to toss. (No, not my
beloved slide rules – a set of full-size and mini, which I haven't used since
college, when the first handheld electronic calculator came out @$400. And my longboard stays, of course.)
How
can I part with my LPs (music on vinyl) and my …
What
would I do without my vise (heavy metal with movable jaws for my future shop) and my …
Why
give up sturdy material (e.g., PVC pipe for Kay’s historic kids' “fish pond”) to a
landfill, when I’m sure it will be useful someday?
And
other language common to OCH (obsessive-compulsive hoarding).
Then
there’s the fine furniture we’re storing.
Our daughter, a non-hoarder and expert at advertising on ksl.com,
offered to help me photograph, post, and price to sell at a small fraction of
what we paid in 1981 … wish more people appreciated its true beauty and value. I prefer donating to a worthy thrift like
Deseret Industries, avoiding phone calls and dealings with strange buyers.
Fortunately
we recycle paper on a daily basis, constantly filling a box and dumping at
the public library bin to “save the earth”; (maybe I will contribute the whole
Earth Day file folder after celebrating on the 22nd.) However, the Bryce Canyon National Park calendars are keepers, gifts from our dear older friend who served there as a park
ranger decades ago; the breathtaking views of a favorite destination can be enjoyed by
our great grandchildren as well … when the Internet is down. Right.
Thank
goodness for my tiny flash drives I will keep forever – my guilt-free digital
hoard of photos and files I take with me in case the house burns down; no one will ever notice … easy for our children to discard after I die or go to a rest home.
Resetting
the modem, I grab some 2010 phone books for recycling, and still can’t get on
the web; reminds me of hearing Lois Lowry (age 77, award-winning author of The Giver and 39 other books) describe a
dystopian society that had lost all of its technology – a nightmarish tale! This is a work in progress for next week.
Now
on Monday morning (memo: watch for my cassette-tape backup copy of
favorite songs by The Mamas And The Papas) my Internet is working. I learned yesterday that a 17-year-old ran
his pickup truck into the main cable Saturday morning, knocking thousands off Xfinity
Internet/ TV/phone – stopped our world for hours! Having archived the original doc and
lightened its load by a few personal paragraphs, I think this writing is ready, and I am about to lighten my load.
