clutter |?kl?t?r| noun – a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass.
So, today I started the process of getting rid of some of the clutter from my desk area but first I wanted to work on the unsightly wire situation. This turned into an exercise primarily in futility and basically a FULL. DAY. EXERCISE. It turns out that no matter how well the cables are organized it falls back to the placement of the electrical outlets. Which keeps it looking completely cluttered. I’m currently considering just getting a mat and covering the whole thing at this point. Actually I do have a mat now that I think about it. It just happens to have been urinated on recently but it’s 2am at the time of this writing.. I guess I could drive to the 24hr laundromat and chuck it in the wash. In any event..
Before & After
I did get a lot of the dust and dirt that have built over the last 4 years up and the difference is pretty much night and day. This involved a mixture of rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, water and soap. You can cut all of those into a bowl.. a 1/4 for each substance. The wipe down should be quick (use a soft sponge) and you don’t want the mixture to pool or sit on the wood floor because with enough time it will soak it in and that would suck for you. So you’ll want a bunch of paper towel on hand (Costco currently has Bounty 12 MEGA ROLLS on sale) Also, on the base boards you’ll want to have a can of compressed air handy so you can blow out any moisture that may get stuck in the crevices. Also, don’t forget because of the dust it’s a good idea to have a fan blowing out a window or away from you. Once everything is pulled up and dry I recommend a light layer of “Scrubbing Bubbles” Bathroom cleaner.. This stuff removes soap scum but it also removes engrained dirt that didn’t come up the first time around pretty well.. I love this stuff now and use it on everything (4 bottle pack on sale at Costco). Once that’s pulled up you’ll want to put down a light layer of Pledge and wipe that up immediately. Again; it’s not something you want to sit, be sure to put it on the baseboards as well.
The above will take a long time and most likely be painful.
Next up, for the actual desk clutter I came up with a simple formula. Remove anything from the desk that you have not used in a month. So, if I have not used it in 4 weeks, it’s obviously not something I use on a regular basis. So it can go in the closet until I need it. This formula turned out to be really effective (my apologies the photos lack light).
If an unfortunate act of fate it seems my red cactus has rotted. It’s strange because i’ve watered them once since I got them a couple weeks ago and it wasn’t that much water. The other orange one seems fine; i’ll have to go pick another 2 or 3 up.
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That said.. the process continues.. Tomorrow we start with the mess below. We’ll see how much I can get done. This may actually just need me to purchase a 16 or 24 port switch for this floor. It all started innocently, first the tivo, then backup server, video jukebox, actually I’m not even sure what else is hooked up here.
Christopher Warner is part genius, part idiot. This makes him well balanced. He's worked on numerous opensource projects with great people and has generally led an eventful and fulfilling life. He hopes to retire an old man in a rocking chair should he be so fortunate.
Project De-clutter
clutter |?kl?t?r| noun – a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass.
So, today I started the process of getting rid of some of the clutter from my desk area but first I wanted to work on the unsightly wire situation. This turned into an exercise primarily in futility and basically a FULL. DAY. EXERCISE. It turns out that no matter how well the cables are organized it falls back to the placement of the electrical outlets. Which keeps it looking completely cluttered. I’m currently considering just getting a mat and covering the whole thing at this point. Actually I do have a mat now that I think about it. It just happens to have been urinated on recently but it’s 2am at the time of this writing.. I guess I could drive to the 24hr laundromat and chuck it in the wash. In any event..
Before & After
I did get a lot of the dust and dirt that have built over the last 4 years up and the difference is pretty much night and day. This involved a mixture of rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, water and soap. You can cut all of those into a bowl.. a 1/4 for each substance. The wipe down should be quick (use a soft sponge) and you don’t want the mixture to pool or sit on the wood floor because with enough time it will soak it in and that would suck for you. So you’ll want a bunch of paper towel on hand (Costco currently has Bounty 12 MEGA ROLLS on sale) Also, on the base boards you’ll want to have a can of compressed air handy so you can blow out any moisture that may get stuck in the crevices. Also, don’t forget because of the dust it’s a good idea to have a fan blowing out a window or away from you. Once everything is pulled up and dry I recommend a light layer of “Scrubbing Bubbles” Bathroom cleaner.. This stuff removes soap scum but it also removes engrained dirt that didn’t come up the first time around pretty well.. I love this stuff now and use it on everything (4 bottle pack on sale at Costco). Once that’s pulled up you’ll want to put down a light layer of Pledge and wipe that up immediately. Again; it’s not something you want to sit, be sure to put it on the baseboards as well.
The above will take a long time and most likely be painful.
Next up, for the actual desk clutter I came up with a simple formula. Remove anything from the desk that you have not used in a month. So, if I have not used it in 4 weeks, it’s obviously not something I use on a regular basis. So it can go in the closet until I need it. This formula turned out to be really effective (my apologies the photos lack light).
If an unfortunate act of fate it seems my red cactus has rotted. It’s strange because i’ve watered them once since I got them a couple weeks ago and it wasn’t that much water. The other orange one seems fine; i’ll have to go pick another 2 or 3 up.
<center>
</center>
That said.. the process continues.. Tomorrow we start with the mess below. We’ll see how much I can get done. This may actually just need me to purchase a 16 or 24 port switch for this floor. It all started innocently, first the tivo, then backup server, video jukebox, actually I’m not even sure what else is hooked up here.
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About Christopher Warner
Christopher Warner is part genius, part idiot. This makes him well balanced. He's worked on numerous opensource projects with great people and has generally led an eventful and fulfilling life. He hopes to retire an old man in a rocking chair should he be so fortunate.