Cleaning the office

[ksmith]

My desk looks pretty good...if you ignore the large box of stuff behind my chair that's holding everything I removed but have yet to sort.

Do I *need* 3 pencil cups? Which one should I keep? The black wire one would be easy to eliminate, but the spinning oak and black metal one that matches the desk *and* holds the stapler, the staple remover, and the scissors? The gargoyle that can hold a pencil in its mouth?

Does anyone else out there keep an electric pencil sharpener on their desk? Does anyone else out there *own* an electric pencil sharpener?

The wooden tea box filled with old convention badges and buttons? Those damned little figurines Small Dog sends you with your order? The rack of CDs for software I might need someday?

We won't even discuss the paperwork that requires sorting and filing.

One problem...or maybe it's a salvation, is that my desk has no drawers. It's a fake oak stealth wing corner thingie that belongs in one of those Crate & Barrel offices with white walls, bare oak flooring, and wireless network. White gauze curtains floating in the breeze. One clear glass vase with a single calla lily. Not a piece of paper to be seen.

Instead, it's in an 8x10 third bedroom with a 4-drawer file cabinet , three overfilled bookcases, and a doggie bed the size of France complete with sleeping dog. Granted, the walls are a nice celery green and serve as home to a nice Renoir still life. There's also a signed copy of the classic Mad Bluebird photo because haven't we all felt like that at times?

I see cobwebs in one corner. C&B offices do not suffer from cobwebs.

I need a bigger office, sans cobwebs. But right now, I need to figure out what to do about this box...

Comments

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

Aaaaahhhhhh Nooooo!!! Not the dreaded desk clutter! Papers and bits and crap. Oh My!.

*Ignores the pile growing at my left elbow. Back! Back, I say!*

We hates to do the filing...and you'd think my cats could manage to eat the spiders Before they web the place over. :-)

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

and you'd think my cats could manage to eat the spiders

I once had a vet tell me that eating anything with more than six legs almost always caused a problem...

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

They haven't had a problem in 13 and 14 years. I have noticed that there are some spiders that they wont eat though.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I've seen King and Mickey snap flies out of the air, but I haven't seen them go after spiders. This is probably a good thing.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Does anyone else out there *own* an electric pencil sharpener?

Up to a couple months ago, I didn't even own a pencil. Hate the things. But some of the quarterly gummint forms I need to file on behalf of SRM Publisher require that spaces be blacked in with No. 2 pencil, so I had to spring for a pack of pencils and a manual pencil sharpener. The latter because kinzel thought it would disturb the cats (who are natually genteel) if they saw me sharpening a pencil with my knife...

I have rocks on my desk, and a couple of photos relevant to the current wip; coins, flashlights, pens, calendar, an antique metal cigarette case with a dragon embossed on the top, the printout of the current wip, and SRM paperwork that needs done. I, cleverly, keep the filing-to-be-done on top of the file cabinet, from whence it's threatening to slide off and engulf a small Alpine village...

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I use mine to sharpen color pencils for editing. And I did have some regular No 2s, but have pretty much gone over to the mechanical pencil side of the Force.

The top of my file cabinet is now *CLEAN*. Dusted, even. The wooden crab jigsaw that toppled over months ago is still in pieces behind the cabinet--the last few bits fell yesterday when I removed the CD holder and jogged them loose. I probably should move the cabinet and pick up the pieces before declaring the office well and truly clean, but that will take some muscle and it guaranteed to scratch the floor.

I do have hardwood floors in this office. They badly need to be refinished, but still. We could say I'm going for the old NYC loft look, my living in a small town in northern Illinois notwithstanding.

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

I, too, have an electric pencil sharpener, for the exact same reason you do. We who have to work on your manuscripts appreciate a well-sharpened colored pencil. (I also have a Secret Stash of Col-erase purple pencils, which are almost impossible to find now. Col-erase kicks ass.)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Staples sells them for $10.99 a box--I will be getting them. Assorted colors. Thanks for the tip!

I had been using artists' pencils, but those leads are so soft that I was sharpening after every entry I wrote.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Here's a question--does this mean I should avoid using purple pencil for editing purposes? I avoid using the colors that my editor and CE use--tries to recall if last CE used color pencil or regular--but have always wondered if there is a set Color That The Writer Should Use.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Be strong!

Office organization is in my immediate future as well, so I share your pain. I can tell you that I also have three pencil cups, and three manual pencil sharpeners. Two of which don't really work and should probably be tossed. No electric pencil sharpener, but that's good since I wouldn't have a spare outlet to plug it in.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

My sharpener is battery-powered. It hasn't been used in a while, and may require a new battery.

Outlets are at a premium, and I should probably get a good power strip. This is in addition to my UPC, which I keep under the desk atop my old CPU trolley. Open packs of paper also fit into this trolley. It's nice that I could make use of the thing even after I got rid of the gateway tower.

UPCs. APC talked me into an upgrade a few years ago. The resulting unit was smaller, but even so, I really didn't want it atop my desk. The act of finding a place to put it led to a complete office overhaul including window washing and washing of the floor behind the desk. Now that Mickey spends more time in here, I need to vacuum regularly to pick up the dog hair, so things are a little cleaner than they used to be. But the plastic surfaces of printers and such are dust magnets, and as much as I like the sleek, white Apple look...

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Workng at C&B's corporate offices, I'll tell you that we do, occasionally, have cobwebs. We just don't show them in the catalogs.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

This does make me feel better.

[mindyklasky.livejournal.com]

Wait! Your office is related to mine!

I have, temporarily, solved the problem by importing my husband's antique desk. It has six (small) drawers, and I've been able to hide away the better part of my Stuff.

Alas, it also has a large horizontal surface, so I've already lost whatever apparent organization I gained with the drawers...

Thanks for making me laugh!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

I would cut a number of my problems off at the pass if I just tossed things right away instead of letting them accumulate. But I hate throwing away humane society/wildlife stuff because part of me thinks that every time you throw away a picture of an animal in need, that is a Bad Thing that will have metaphysical ramifications. Same with most people charity mailings. Catalogs--keep the office and home improvement catalogs away from me. Garden supply. Make-up. Just about all of them, actually.

At least I'm getting rid of the New Scientist issues on a regular basis since I learned that as a subscriber, I can access articles online. Gone are the days when the unopened plastic envelopes accumulated, once to the tune of a year and a half's worth of issues.

[mindyklasky.livejournal.com]

I used to get most of my magazine reading done when I traveled. But I travel much less these days, and mags pile up and up and up. Every few months, Mark and I go on a get-away weekend to a local B&B or inexpensive beach motel or whatever. I pack along a stack of magazines and spend the weekend plowing through them... Such a feeling of liberation to leave a pile behind...

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I wish some of my favorite magazines, like Vanity Fair, offered an online option. So much easier to save the e-copy.

The latest copy of W arrived today, and I went through it from cover to cover. Yes, I really do use it for research. Some of those stories about the European demimonde are pretty good.

[mindyklasky.livejournal.com]

I *totally* believe you. I use lots of things for research - it's amazing where stories raise their intriguing little heads!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I should add that while the Stealth Desk (TM) doesn't have drawers, it came as a set with a two-drawer rolling file cabinet. The cabinet has an open slot that's perfect for the unabridged dictionary. The top drawer is given over to ink jet cartridges and other small-volume supplies, along with things like dragon stamps and stamp pads. The lower drawer contains all things Mac-related--sales receipts, manuals, CDs, and cables. So at this point, it's pretty much spoken for.