The
top drawer of my old dresser, rarely opens. Why you may ask?
Because it's full. So full in fact that I can't open it with
out having the bottom fall out of it. i unloaded the drawer
in hopes to do two things... First I wanted to get rid of
some of the things that I should have thrown out a long time
ago. Secondly I wanted to have some place that I could put
some of the things that are showing up in reoccuring piles
for my room. I figure it would be better to have a spot for
them to be placed near by then to have them all over the floor.
Lets see if it works.
Here's
a summary of what was inside. I marked which items got trashed
a map of the
NY/NJ rail system
Photographs
a picture of my sister
a camera cleaning kit
an old pair of glasses
2 manuals for old computer
games
a service learning faculty
handbook
1995 Marching Virginians
pressbook
a box of my old earrings
two boxes of cough drops
a note pad
notes for intermediate mechanics
a set of stamps for the
olympics
lots of gross insence
a paystub
a piece of wraping paper
a brass hammer head
a sewing kit
a hand held radio
a folder filled with old
paystubs
a drawing of a yelling vampire
a coupon for bandaids
1993-94 guide to university
core curriculum
a used checkbook
negatives
report cards
newspapers about Ripkin's
game streak
Trek Mountain Bike owners
manual
generic WD-40
a folder filled with old
bills and bank statements.
more used checkbooks
contract for graduate assistantship
Rain-x
classic monster stamps
old address book
acceptance letter into Phi
Kappa Phi
inter office mail folders
fuji camera manual
3 glue sticks still packaged
a notebook for a class
I taught
a photograph of my family
a photograph of my family,
(flipped horizontally)
two notebooks of various
subject
a registration form for
a cat toy
a birthday card
oil for a lamp
officer pettitions for when
I was XO of the Marching virginians
a christmas bag
an old highschool binder
with multiple college subjects inside it
several notebooks for physics
classes
heavy weight drawing paper
an envelope mailed to me
dental insurance forms
bandaid wrappers
green round bandaids
case for my good scissors
spring 98 copy of the virginia
tech alumni magazine
an itemized budget for a
project I never did
a plastic triangle
old Letters of recomendation
handbook of physics classes
registration form an Epson
printer
registration form for a
Mustek scanner
plan of study for my undergraduate
degree
former roommates resume
a D cell battery (rechargable)
sketch of a painting I made
of Calvin
a red three ring binder
proof of rabies vaccinations
graduate assisantship contract
acceptance letter into grad
school
scribble pad
packaging for a mini mag
light
authorization form for hospital
tests
Note: one item is not actually in the
drawer, guess which one.
After the whole ordeal I got back from
working on my server (at 3am) to find that I still had everything
on my bed. It was by far the best inspiration to get it all
sorted out. I trashed all the items as marked and set the
rest at the foot of the bed. Most of the things will be put
somewhere else in the room, like the closet or the file cabinet.
For now, I will try not to kick them off the bed and lose
them in the rest of the piles.
After
reading over this page my mother sent me the following email:
Hi Pete,
Enjoyed your 'bureau pile'. Thought you might enjoy the history
of the
piece. I purchased it unstained from Sears in Cambridge, Mass.
in June 1960
to go into my first apt on Commonweath Ave. in Allston, Mass
(just down the
street from BC). I had just graduated from college and was working
at
Cambridge City Hosp. My roommate bought a matching one. For
2 years it
remained unstained til she left to get married and I moved upstairs
to an
effeciency apt. Since it was now part of my livingroom/bedroom
I painted it
flat black. In 1964 anticipating birth of your sisters Dad and
I painted it
white to match the new nursery in our first apt Auburn, Mass.
The bureau
became the nursery bureau for each of you kids, remaining white.
When you
got your first bedroom set the bureau was moved to the basement
where it
was the receptical for our odds and ends until you came to it's
rescue and
moved it to VT. The bureau drawers came apart after the very
first year and
despite many attempts to reinforce them with nails, screws and
glue they
eventually losened up again. It's had a long life for a pretty
basic piece
of inexpensive furniture!
Love, Mom
After
reading over this page my mother sent me the following email: