War on Junk - Day 10 - A Christmas Special!

Day 10 - One hundred pieces of junk consigned to banishment! It hasn't even made a dent in the chaos, but it does feel good. It was Christmas tree time on the weekend and like every other year, a string of lights no longer works. When I was a child we had the screw in, flame-shaped, multi-coloured lights. If one of them went out, you could replace it. Today's miniature, cheap little twinkly lights are garbage as soon as one light goes out. On my website for Rare and Precious.com, I have a gallery dedicated to the well-made object, items I have owned for decades that are still useful and functional. http://www.rareandprecious.com/

Todays Christmas list.

1. Miniature artificial tree
2. A string of christmas lights
3. A wreath of twigs
4. A cluster of fake cherries
5. A blue glass globe ornament
6. A pink glass globe ornament
7. A red glass globe ornament
8. A white and gold christmas tree ornament
9. A round white plastic attachment for a massage tool
10. Two more of the above

Strictly speaking that's 11 items - we'll call it a Christmas bonus.

War on Junk - Day 9

I have mentioned this project to a few people and it seems to have struck a nerve. Upon hearing that I am eliminating 10 pieces of junk a day some have said "I'm going to do that!" We could call ourselves the junkinistas. Any way, I got rid of some bulky junk today.

Here is the list:

1. A CD for a Samsung computer?
2. Cardboard box for my Blackberry World Edition
3. Cardboard box for the Nikon Macro Cool-Light SL-1
4. Nikon Guide de demarrage rapide for the Coolpix 4500
5. Nikon French Instruction manualfor the Coolpix 4500
6. Nikon multi lingual instruction manual for the Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
7. A plastic black felt tip pen
8. A broken zipper pull.
9. A Nikon Quick start guide for the Coolpix 4500
10. A cork stopper from a Martell Cognac

Ironically, the one thing I really need of all the Nikon stuff is the English instruction manual for my Coolpix 4500 and it is nowhere to be found. I did find some useful accessories for my Blackberry that I didn't know I had - like a car charger and some earphones. The war on junk is having some useful side effects. Who knows what else I will discover once the junk is out of the way?

The War on the War on Junk - Day 8

It turns out, the war in junk is not as popular as I expected. In fact, in some quarters it has been met with scorn and derision. I will however persevere, for I believe it to be a noble and worthy challenge.

Today's Junk:

1. A vintage address book (way before e-mail)
2. Michael Jackson's rehearsal glove
3. An impressive plastic device, precisley made for a very specific and unknown purpose
4. A plastic bag with 1 screw and 1 pencil tip
5. A Nikon Coolpix 4500 French manual
6. A Nikon Battery manual
7. A charging converter for an obsolete device
8. A highliter in a case
9. Telus maual Our Privacy Commitment to You
10. A JDRF folder

War on Junk - Day 7

So today there was one decision that took a little bit of thought. Do I get rid of the box of book plates featuring Hiroshige's Great Wave of Kanagawa? I've had it for more than a decade but I kind of like the idea having bookplates in my books. Bottom line is I like the idea, but not the doing so - 'they're outta here!'

Today's outstanding crop of junk:

1. An Audiologic Portable CD Player with Virtual Skip-Free Protection
2. A CD Stomper for labelling CD's
3. A Telus USB Hub
4. A King of Diamonds playing card
5. A Crayola Super Tips orange felt pen
6. An encore vinyl eraser (we have 3 - never used)
7. A plastic bag containing 2 Canadian dimes, 2 American dimes, 2 Mexican twenty centavos coins, a Maltese 2 cent coin, a Playland game token
8. A box of Hiroshige "Great Wave" bookplates
9. A Rio Grande Tools & Equipment catalogue from 2003
10. A set of 4 obsolete keys

War on Junk - Day 6 The Resistance

Here's how it works. Every evening I cast a glance in various cupboards and drawers and find ten superfluos pieces of junk. Perhaps it's a pad of heart-shaped Post-it notes or a duplicate of some seldom used device. I pile the offending articles on my desk to take a quick photo. Last night, my wife objected to disposing the heart-shaped Post-it notes and three pencil sharpeners. After some negotiations we agreed to get rid of one pencil sharpener. There was no shortage of suitable candidates to replace the reprieved junk. I can see the junk war may morph into a guerilla campaign - the Resistance movement has been born.

Today's junk:

1. A phone cable
2. A staple remover (we have two)
3. A plastic pencil sharpener
4. A computer mouse
5. A Texas Instruments BA-35 financial calculator
6. A Quantum Micro-V FM Auto Scan Radio (genuine junk)
7. Some to/From labels
8. A pair of Steelworks keys from Desmoines Iowa
9. A floppy disc
10. A set of instructions for an obsolete computer

War on Junk - Day 5

No shortage of junk in sight. This is the easy part, getting rid of the obvious stuff, once that's all gone it will get harder as we contemplate things with emotional attachments. I discovered an unopened box of contact lenses in the medicine cabinet. I bought these for skiing last year using my old prescription but found out recently that it has changed,so they are now obsolete. Most junk started its life as a useful or potentially useful object and became obsolete over time.

Day 5 list.

1. A plastic spine for a report
2. Avery hole reinforcers
3. A Lego arch
4. A pull for a zipper
5. An empty staple box
6. A defunct marker pen
7. A floppy disc
8. A suction cup arrow for a toy gun
9. A pad of paper from Executive Hotels & Resorts
10. A plastic bag containing 2 plastic pencil lead holders

The tote is now half-full.

War on Junk - Day 4

I've mentioned my war on junk to a couple of people. They seem to agree that the proliferation of stuff is a common problem. It's not like we are not constantly getting rid of garbage and recycling and giving things away. We are. It's just not enough and a large part of the problem is the manufacturing of junk disguised as useful items. For example electronic converters. We must have 10 obsolete converters because each one has a different plug and will only fit a specific device. Standardize the converters.

Today's haul:

1. A floppy disc
2. A key fob with two compasses
3. A triple-header hiliter from the Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company
4. A converter
5. A paper mache vase made by one of our children 10 years ago
6. A bicycle lock key
7. A magnifying top to a plastic box
8. A plastic bullet
9. A plastic plug for something
10. A cigar journal

I don't think I'll need to look outside my home office for quite a while. there is a lot of junk here!