Mortgage Monday: Needing Separation

While I have a home office, I have yet to use it as much as I would like. In fact, I have used the kitchen more than any other place in the house to get work done and it has actually worked out well so far. While it may not be the optimal place to get projects done, it allows for greater flexibility to switch from work to family. Again, not the optimal work conditions but I can’t help it.

To be honest, the space I am currently using to get work done is more because of the fact that there are a few projects still incomplete around the house. Namely the organization of my office which at one point was pretty close but it now a bit disheveled. However, the biggest thing preventing me from using the space is the simple fact of noise. My office is currently open to the main entrance of the house and the stairs to the second floor. Any work that I do in the office could wake up our son.

This is just one of many projects (which have all been discussed previously) that have to be completed. I consider this one to be an essential change to improve the functionality of the space. And that it important to note… we have the space. This is a luxury that we have to work with… we don’t have to move things around or have multipurpose rooms. We have the space to separate everything and our goal is to separate work from the family.

That strong divide is something that I would like to reestablish sooner rather than later. Not only am I able to be more efficient and productive but I can keep the piles of papers and my computer out of the family space of the house. We all need that divide between work and home whether it is a long drive or simply a door between rooms. Of course, the nice thing is that my wife and I both have our own spaces which we can make our own because, again, we have the space to do it. But this will also take a little time.

It just goes to show that things still need to be figured out over time even though you may have found the perfect home for your family. There are always going to be projects that have to be done to fine tune the house to fit your needs. This is because of the simple reality that a perfect home is going to be an imperfect house.  

Trick, Treat, Or Video Game

My wife and I are not ones that put stock in the Halloween holiday. It has actually proven to be more of an inconvenience than anything else most years. We are actually one of those houses that simply puts a bowl of candy out as the sun goes down with the hope that some kid doesn’t dump the whole thing in his bag or bucket. Of course, we mitigate some of this by putting half out at the beginning of the night and the other half a little later after having checked the rate of depletion. Generally speaking, this keeps things pretty quiet outside our door.

However, while we don’t care much for the holiday itself, we appreciate the opportunity that this night has afforded us over the years. I am not talking about the amount of money that we have to spend on candy (seems like a waste to me) or the scant leftovers remaining in the bowl after the noise subsides. The evening gives us an opportunity to clean out the house a little bit… in the past we have handed out Starting Lineup figures (they were actually cheaper than candy that year) and this year we were able to add something even better to the bountiful bowl.

A few seconds after I finished dumping the rest of the candy in the bowl tonight, the next group of kids walked up to the front door to inspect the offerings. It is safe to say that based on their wide eyed expressions and near shaking excitement, none of them expected to go home with a free Wii video game. I have to admit that we both chuckled a little bit when we could hear the next group of kids come up to the door after being summoned by the previous visitors and proclaiming “this is the best house ever… by far.” What they didn’t realize is that they were helping us out a little.

Unbeknownst to them, we spent some time earlier in the day putting together a trade in order on Amazon after we had come to the conclusion that we were probably not going to be using the various video game systems that have been collecting dusk in the basement and laying unplugged on our shelf in the family room. All those games that Amazon wouldn’t take (that were age appropriate) were what we put out in that tiny candy bowl. By the end of the night, all the games were either packed in boxes ready to be shipped or in the hands of neighborhood kids. However, the most important thing is that it cleared out about five boxes worth of stuff that was not being used. Everybody won tonight.

Overdue Project

Of all the projects that have been talked about at the lodge time and again there is one that piques my interest each time that it is brought to the forefront of the conversation. The discussions have been ongoing about reallocating different spaces in the lodge to fill our various needs one of which is moving the Secretary’s office to the main floor. I fully support this idea but I also do my best to stay out of the back and forth unless someone asks for my opinion. After all, it is just a room, I can do the work no matter where there is a place set aside in the lodge whether it remains in the back of the basement or it is right off the main hall on the ground floor. The change would be nice but it doesn’t really matter.  

Not long after being raised I began spending a fair amount of time in the basement assisting the previous Secretary with the various tasks that fill the weeks between gatherings and the nights after the meetings. For all of its flaws, it has always been a bit of an escape for me. However, when I assumed the office shortly after that, it was painfully clear just how much work needed to be done in the space to simply make it functional again. And in my first year as Secretary, the situation didn’t get any better when a leak was discovered streaming down the outside wall. Needless to say, the “organization” project never got back on track after that and I rarely venture below grade these days.

That is a projects that is long overdue… finding some sanity in the office and turning this old fallout shelter (designated by the town years ago) into a fully functional working space not just for me but for any of the brothers who need a place to privately meet at the lodge. What it really comes down to is setting aside the time, convincing a few brothers to do the same, coordinating with the Trustees to sort the material crammed within the walls, and cleaning out the entire room. It actually might be best to just hit the reset button and start from scratch.

We need to consolidate the furniture and figure out what is really needed in the space. Part of that will be consolidating the filing cabinets after sorting through the draws full of files with the Trustees overseeing this operation. And finally, it is about simply getting rid of all the trash and clutter that has accumulated over the years from old phone books and computers to empty boxes and brittle desk organizers. It seems like a quick and easy endeavor but I know that it’s not. This is going to take some time and some significant effort but I do have a plan together to finally get it done next year. Let’s just hope that it sticks on the calendar.

Surrounded By Devices

Could be worse!

I have never been a big proponent of all the devices and new technology that tends to dominate the lives of many. I have never gone out of my way to buy the biggest and best phone, computer, etc. Overall, there are a few things that I use on a daily basis (namely my work computer and my cell phone) and everything else doesn’t really matter. This is why I was so surprised when I looked around this weekend at all the devices that fill our apartment.

While I really only use my phone and computer, I also have a small stockpile of old laptops teetering on  shelf in the office closet and a few outdated mobile phones that my wife and I haven’t used in years. And that is just the beginning as between the two of us we also have several tablets, cameras, and other ancillary items that we used briefly at one point or another for work. For not buying a whole lot of technology we sure have a crap load of it floating around.

It just seems like these things have accumulated around us without us knowing about it. We each have 3 or 4 generations of computers, 2-3 cameras, 1 or 2 old phones, and three tablet between the two of us. Many of these items just kind of hung around and fell into disuse like the island of forgotten toys and most of them were remnants of previous employers and previous incarnations of our hobbies (i.e. game systems and cameras). I guess that is the down side of employers allowing me to keep my computer (and being a bit of a packrat).

Other items that are orbiting the clutter have been either free (Kindle, Nook) of really, really inexpensive (several laptops, Wii, no name tablet). Of course, all of this doesn’t include the random little pieces of antiquated hardware like portable CD players, old iPods, and portable dictionaries. Kind of makes you think about doing a little extra cleaning and getting all of this crap out of our living space. While none of the items are particularly large of taking up any significant room individually, when you add them all together it does take a toll on the limited space that we have in our apartment.

Never took notice of the latest devices but, over time, they just seem to accumulate. They all work, sometimes the old ones are preferred over the new ones, but are they worth the hassle of storage and the random times that we pick them up and use them? I guess I will just have to keep closer track of whether or not I pick them up and put them to work. If not, I will have to salvage what I can off of them (this is mostly regarding computers) and find the best way to get rid of them (possibly at long range). This could get interesting.