Wednesday, January 23, 2013

shredding over the edge


Every project has a tipping point.  And I hope I just met mine.

The shredding truck showed up today to eat the thirty-six boxes of files from my ten years of private practice.  Oddly, I felt no sense of loss.  If I felt anything it was relief.

Relief at not being forced to slip each page through a finicky personal shredder.  Instead, a mechanism similar to a garbage truck fed bins of files into the shredder's maw.  I now know te sound of masticating giants.


The cost?  A mere $261 (US).  And it was worth every George Washington.

The arrival of the shredder freed up boxes to reshelve my hardback books for staging -- and to ship off my paperbacks to some charitable organization.  Along with the books will go a full truckload of personal items that would have made good garge sale fodder.  But there is no time.

I contracted with a cleaning firm to give the place a thorough scubbing next week.  If all goes well, the house will be listed on 1 February -- and I will be n my way back to Mexico on 2 February.

Oaxaca and Chiapas await.

12 comments:

Felipe Zapata said...

Very interesting. I did not know such a shredding monster existed, and the fact that the company employs the disabled makes it even better. Mexico awaits your return.

Steve Cotton said...

It is a very good operation. I have donated to the charity in the past. The company also did the shredding for my former employer. Today I am going to take all of my old computers there. They recycle the components.

Croft said...

What Steve? No files kept of a Perry Mason type case where the actual culprit was revealed right at the climax of a trial? The skeleton of a screenplay? I love a legal thriller!

We have had these trucks in our driveway a few times to reduce the files of several politicians (and campaigns) we have worked for over the years to shreds and again to eliminate the confidential files from my many years as a Union rep when I retired.

A friend of mine took what he thought was the easier (cheaper) route of feeding his pages two or three at a time into a fire. That project took him days! The "machine" is definitely the best way to go.

Steve Cotton said...

There is still a lot to do -- and very little time.But the house is almost ready to go on the block.

Steve Cotton said...

"One sheet at a time" sounds economically wise. But I would be destroying paper for weeks. Just like your friend.

Nita said...

I, too, am anxiously waiting for Oaxaca and Chiapas!

Steve Cotton said...

Today I dropped off a Subaru load of computer parts at the same business that shredded my files. And another load of goods at Goodwill. A third load consisted of hardbound books I have brought to my mother in Bend. What has made this easier is that, after four years in Mexico, none of it seems to be my stuff any more. That seems to be the trick.

Steve Cotton said...

I will soon be on my way there.

Joanna van der Gracht Powell said...

Good job done! When will you be in Chiapas? I'll be in San Cristobal de las Casas from Feb. 25 - Mar. 1 and in Palenque from Mar. 1 - 4.

Bob said...

You should have hosted a beach bonfire. A couple gallons of gasoline would have done the trick.

Steve Cotton said...

It would have been like one of those tire dumps that burn for years.

Steve Cotton said...

In Oaxaca 10 to 15 February. In Chiapas 17 to 22 February.