Ridding [1] myself of random stuff

This past week, I’ve been attempting the Sisyphusan [4] task of cleaning out my lab [5]. As part of that task, I’m trying to rid myself of stuff. I’ve given away two exercise balls, a pair of speakers, a bunch of potentially-working flash drives, a huge box of pencils [6,7], a medium box of Post-It flags [8], and some other stuff that I forget. I also moved some of the office supplies to the department storage closet, since they were intended for department use.

But I’m not done getting rid of stuff. I have about ten boxes (more or less) that I don’t need that I accumulated for a variety of projects, in the OfficeMax clearance sale, or both. On 31 August 2017 [9], I plan to haul most of them over to the Studio Art free stuff area. But if any of my readers would like them, I’m happy to give them to you, provided you make arrangements to pick them up. Let’s see …

A few thousand empty coin rolls of various denominations. I intended these for a project on the value of money (or lack thereof). In this quantity, they likely have no use other than in an art project or for recycling.

A few hundred bill wrappers of various denominations. Bill wrappers are for things like a fifty fifties, or the like. They were also intended for the value of money project.

Way too many report covers. By way too many, I mean a box that is about 24" by 18" by 18" full of them. These will probably go to the high school, but I’m happy to give some (or all) to anyone who wants them.

About one-hundred adding machine tape rolls. These were intended for an art project. I thought they’d make great scrolls. Alternately, I thought it would be interesting to hang them from the ceiling and use them for note paper. But they’ve been cluttering my lab for a few years and I haven’t done anything with them.

A few hundred CD cases. Perhaps as many as a thousand. I’ve planned way too many things for these cases. I thought about gluing them together to make a tower and then inserting different images in each case. I’ve thought about using them as supplies for the laser cutter. But I’ve never gotten around to doing anything with them in something like five years [10].

I think that’s it for now. As I said, I’m happy to give those to anyone willing to come to campus and get them. Just drop me a line.

Oh, please wish me luck in making progress on the lab. The start of the semester is close enough that I probably won’t be able to do much more until fall break, but I may try from time to time. I have at least fifteen boxes of assorted papers to sort through [11].

[1] Ridding is one of those words that gains a duplicate letter to distinguish itself from the seemingly more appropriate riding. I love English. It reminds me of the ways in which people use bussing to mean send people on a bus [2].

[2] It shouldn’t. Bussing should be the present participle of buss not bus. For the later, busing is preferred, at least in the Rebelsky household in which I was raised [3].

[3] Mom was certainly pro busing. She also wrote a great poem in which she noted that she was pro bussing.

[4] Mostly figurative, but since the piles of stuff I make tend to fall down on me, perhaps somewhat literal.

[5] I should do my office, too, but I started with the lab.

[6] Those went to the high school.

[7] huge = 24x18x18" or so. Bought on clearance at OfficeMax. I love pencils, but I’ll never use that many.

[8] Those went to academic advising.

[9] I hate reading old ’blog posts that say things like Ask by September 1 and I’ll send you X. I get all excited, and then deep down in the post I discover that it’s two years old. So I’m including the year explicitly.

[10] Almost certainly more than five years.

[11] I know what you’re thinking: They’ve almost certainly been in his lab long enough that he should just throw them out or recycle them. But I find gems every time I go through a box. I also have an obligation to shred some contents in each box.

Version 1.0.1 of 2017-08-20.