Note

I am falling behind.  Francine is kicking my ass.  Today is day 136.  I’m going to buck up and sift through some stuff and get back on track — I’m 6 items behind.  Honestly, the hardest part of this exercise has been the daily posting, not the daily discarding, but now lately I’m even falling behind in that.  So I think I’m mostly caught up in the life-stuff that’s been keeping me busy, and before I have to really bear down and work on planning Mobius V, I swear I’ll get caught up.

So here’s the bonus:  A description of what the photograph is on the header of this blog.  When my grandmother died in 2005 a month shy of 101 years, we went down into the basement of her home in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago.  Squirreled away between the floorboard joists of the ceiling, were these tins and jars that my grandfather had left there when he died in 1978.  Inside were an assortment of screws and nuts and cabinetry hardware and pieces of string and broken bits of whetstone and so on.  And on.  And on.  Untouched and unused for 27 years. At least.

Inspiration.

day 130 – david

Dad’s planning to go to Italy in June.  I’ve been hanging on to this watch, which I love for 5 years, waiting for my cousin Roberta to visit to give to her.  When I was in Sicily last, she commented that she really liked the design.  I did too — it’s a Bill Yao MKII Quad 10.  Limited edition.  I had it built to spec, but when I got it, I didn’t quite like the hands, or the white on black date dial, so I ordered a second one with the hands I wanted and the white on black number dial.  I put this one on the shelf as a spare.  When Roberta said she liked my watch, I decided to give her the first one I bought.  But I don’t trust the Italian post, and I don’t want her to have to pay exorbitant customs on a gift, so my dad will get it to her when he’s there.

for my girl stunt-double

day 130 – francine

tossing this kind of thing doesn’t exactly clear out very much drawer space.

then again, if you have 365 items like this, it adds up

day 129 – david

I’d been holding onto this box for, oh, I don’t know… 3 years or so.  I thought my dad, inventor of boxes, would appreciate the lid construction.  It’s some gum candy box I saw in Paris and saved to show him.  He’s visited plenty of times since then, but I’ve always forgotten to show him the box until after he left.  Not this time.

inventor of the "Nerds" box, himself

He said the lid was a well-known design, and nothing special in the industry.  oh well.

day 129 – francine

looks wider than francine

day 128 – david

This one felt good.  Post-9/11, I’ve had recurring survivalist inclinations.  This was being saved in case the internet went down and I had to look up a phone number, or find an address.  Been on the shelf since ’04.  Never used.  Not once.  I don’t know whether I have more confidence in the persistence of internet access in the event of a disaster, or an inflated sense of safety from disaster, or simply that I’ve concluded that any disaster that’s big enough to take down the internet will be big enough that a phone book won’t help either.

still works

Of course, it’s still the benchmark for a toddler’s seat booster.  And a timeless prop for recreating Steve Martin’s “The new phonebook’s here!!!” quote from The Jerk.

I’m kinda sad to see it go.

day 128 – francine

david is officially registering his protest for discarding this one.

it was always a favorite

day 127 – david

another critical piece of what, I don’t know.

it's brass. plumbing?

day 127 – francine

day 126 – david

Absolutely crucial little screws.  MUST BE SAVED.

no clue what they're for.

day 126 – francine

better suited for someone with the initials “S” “V”.

whoever that might be.

day 125 – david

old razor inserts for a handle that no longer exists.

Mach 12?

day 125 – francine

day 124 – david

I have NO clue what was going through my head when I saved these…

and why only three?

day 124 – francine

necklace?

or spare button collection?

day 123 – david

it’s a thing to fill a waterbed we no longer have.

probably has other nefarious uses

day 123 – francine

the scarf

not the chair

day 122 – david

smooth operator charger sold separately.

day 122 – francine

granny glasses

day 121 – david

Sade wrote a song about this when it was first released.

day 121 – francine

Somebody’s grandma is gonna be

mighty jealous

day 120 – david

I cleared out a bathroom bin.

Summer camp, 1974.

day 120 – francine

And finally:

the stocking garage.

day 119 – david

upgrading to an Epson V600.  Free to good home.

day 119 – francine

zzzzz.

day 118 – david

still usable, but almost dried up.  Too big of a hassle to squeeze out the dry stuff to get to the still flowing.

caution flammable.... hmmmm

day 118 – francine

I know…

it's getting monotonous

day 117 – david

USB 1.0.  Thought it would be useful for charging multiple devices.  It isn’t.

day 117 – francine

day 116 – david

This was a gift from a former ICU fellow.  I’ve had it in my office for years.  Now it has new batteries, and will be part of our new and improved, upgraded attending “lounge” to be enjoyed by all.

the appreciation of the sentiment and the gesture of the gift eclipses possession of the object

day 116 – francine

day 115 – david

a  mylar shopping bag.  A gift from our neighbor.  Will be put to good use by someone at work.

support vere goods

day 115 – francine

day 114 – david

good idea on paper… bind together two thermarests so they don’t separate during the night with you or your sleeping partner falling into the abyss.

too fussy to set up each night

with the new rectangular neo-air size large, these just aren’t worth keeping.

day 114 – francine

begin the stocking parade

day 113 – david

Kerosene (!) generator for the stove that died on Mobius-3

it's going to a better place

day 113 – francine

day 112 – david

Today should be day 115.  I’m stuck at work until tomorrow afternoon, and I don’t have all the photos on this computer to upload.   Gimme a few days and we’ll be caught up.

Usually I keep these until I can replace them with the current year’s card.  But I won’t be driving ’till then, so out it goes, now.

yes, officer. no, officer.

day 112 – francine

I’m falling behind in posting — I’ll get caught up soon.

Meanwhile…

more hot pants

day 111 – david

This was a book I bought for myself,  but after it arrived, I realized it was perfect for a friend, so, without even reading it, I wrapped it up, and gave it away.

Merry Christmas, Vito

day 111 – francine

we got short shorts

day 110 – david

I want to believe.  I really do.  I bought two of these about a year ago, and they didn’t hold the butane.  They leaked and had to be refilled every few days.  I was ordering some chargers, etc. from deal extreme, and thought I’d try again… for $2.18, how can you go wrong?  I thought maybe I’d get one from a new batch, and it wouldn’t leak.  Wrong.

good design, poor execution

Keeping with a long-standing personal tradition of dismantling things to figure out why they don’t work, (or how they do work — with varying ability to reassemble them back to full functionality) I took on the challenge:

no dice.

day 110 – francine

We make our own Christmas cards these days…

no need for these anytime soon

day 109 – francine

purple-ish

day 109 – david

more desk drawer junk

day 108 – david

Our favorite restaurant, Aroma, was honored with inclusion to this edition in 2008.

we still love them in 2010!

day 108 – francine

Paid bills.

how many do you need to save?

David says “one month… maybe two”

Note the dates!

yikes! To the shredder.

day 107 – david

Buncha cards I don’t need anymore.

expired.

day 107 – francine

White shirt.

well, sort of white

day 106 – david

but three of these PCI slot covers from a computer we don’t even own anymore.