storage | Piss and Moan

CD situation

Posted on March 10, 2023 by backuphill

CD. Compact Disc.

Do you remember those things called CDs? Remember when that was the next best technology and you were buying hundreds of those things? Remember when storage of those things became an issue?

Recently I was reminded of all those things…because I was cleaning out the entertainment cabinet and I had to remove FIVE folders that are capable of holding 100 discs at a time. All but one is full and the last one is 3/4s full.

Those folders hold all the discs I ever bought, plus the CD case art (from and back). Once upon a time it was difficult to store all those cases and moving them to the folders seemed like a great idea. Plus, those CD jewel cases were brittle as heck too, as soon as you dropped one it was inevitably broken and didn’t work correctly.

Well, now what the heck am I supposed too do with all those CDs?

Disc drives on computers are getting harder and hard to come by. Shoot, even cars don’t even really come with CD players any more. Converting them to digital takes time and storage (though I had already gone through every disc I had at one point and pulled all the songs off the discs I really wanted). So, now I am stuck…do I just trash them or do I donate them? Do I try to sell them?

UGH

There is a ton of money locked up in those and throwing them away seems like a waste since I purchased all the music, even if I don’t listen to it (well, all of it). Do you know what I mean? If I were to get rid of them, it feels like something would be lost but at the same time nothing would be.

What would you do?

Space fatigue

Posted on March 15, 2021 by backuphill

Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas on Pexels.com

Space is not endless, at least not in the “out of this world” sense.

We humans like to collect stuff. Some of it is useful, some not so useful. Some of it is because of nostalgia, memories, sentimental value, or whatever and then sometimes it’s just because it’s cool. Whatever the reason we collect stuff, there is always a tipping point that each of us reaches.

“Where am I going to put this?”

Space, especially in a small-ish house, comes at a premium. There is only so much space. You can only rearrange it so many times before you just don’t have any options left. You can stuff it full (hoarders?) or you can try to maintain a balance, but for every single thing that comes into the house there has to be a space for it to go.

Why do we have a hard time letting go of things? What is it about an item that makes us keep them for whatever weird reason it is? Why do we even store things for other people (kids, relatives, friends) when we don’t have space for ourselves?

A tipping point has been reached here.

There can be no more things brought home without giving up ground on something that no longer has a useful purpose, or is used more than a couple times a year. There just can’t be more. It’s hard to say, “No,” to someone or even myself but there is this fatigue that becomes too great for trying to make things “work” or “fit.”

This space is either going to be the final frontier with manageable things, or it’s time to explore different worlds and expand this universe.

And then there was none

Posted on January 14, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Jaymantri on Pexels.com

There is one persistent problem with the house. We just don’t have enough storage.

The house has some closets and, of course, cupboards in the kitchen but otherwise there is just not enough space in the house. Which means, by default, the garage (which is supposed to house the cars) has become the dumping ground for all those things that don’t fit in the house.

As such, I have done my best to maximize the space. There are shelves on all the walls, floor to ceiling. There are shelves in the middle of the garage, floor to ceiling. There are shelves attached to ceiling and things hanging from the ceiling. I have been creative in finding places to fit things into things, just to make sure space is used. Yet…

It is still not enough. I guess we just have too much stuff. Do we really need it all? I keep asking why we need 30 serving platters of different sizes, shapes, and colors. I mean, obviously if we didn’t have those I could fit more tools into the garage…and that really is the most important. I mean, really.

Anyway, I built some more pantry-esque shelves over the weekend to free up some of the bigger shelves from canned goods and that will work for a while but after that there just isn’t going to any more space in the garage.

And then there was none.

Do you deal with a similar issue or do you actually get to use your garage for it’s intended purpose?

Costco’s moldy bagel problem

Posted on July 20, 2018 by backuphill

Photo by Jaymantri on Pexels.com

Do you like bagels? That’s a silly question, right? I mean, as long as you aren’t gluten intolerant you probably like a bagel now and again.

Costco makes pretty good bagels, but then Costco has a real bagel problem too.

When you buy bagels at Costco you get a dozen bagels for $5.99 (or something like that). You pick two sleeves of six bagels, in your favorite flavor, and off you go. The problem with the bagels is they don’t keep long, not long at all.

If you want a bagel for breakfast you better have put them in the freezer and defrost one each day. The reason being is that if you leave the bagels out on the counter for more than two days, they get moldy. I mean like REALLY fast! Day three will likely find them with mold and you aren’t gonna want to eat that. It really is a problem as I have wasted my fair share of bagels over the years and I wonder if Costco even cares.

Anyone else experience this problem of nearly instantly moldy bagels?