I think this might be a companion piece for my May column about how much I love stationery. Sort of the horror version of the story! Well, horror for any paper product within reach, anyway!
I'm currently clearing out years and years of junk/treasures as I prepare the house to go on the market at the end of the year. Last month I shared a gorgeous childhood book I found. I suspect there will be more than one blog here about the joys of packing up after years in one place! And I use "joys" ironically.
I'd never used a shredder before and I have to say in my naivety, I imagined I was getting something whose joys would be purely practical. But I've since discovered that there's something mind-bogglingly satisfying about munching up the detritus of years (and it is years - I've got electricity bills here in Mum and Dad's paperwork that I swear go back to before they invented electricity!). It's a fabulous stress release, works out any aggression, and leaves you with a wonderful sigh of satisfaction to rival the end of a great romance novel.
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| The fruits of my labors - boxes of shredding ready for the recycling! |
Well, the machinery is rather noisy but that's part of the fun. And it heats up fairly quickly so I have to be careful not to love my darling to death.
And oh, my goodness, is my house covered in a mixture of paper dust and little curly white worms of paper. The vacuum cleaner has been out a LOT lately.
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| Danger! Danger! Shredding in process! |
Do you own a shredder? Do you have fun with any of your office equipment? Should I seek counselling over my new obsession?
9 comments:
This was a funny blog post. :) I love my shredder as well. Clearing paper jams isn't my favorite thing so I have to watch how much paper I put in at one time. My cats love the printer. They run over to it every time I print something.
Hi Anna!
I have two shredders. When one overheats, I switch to the other one. I did a big shred a couple months ago. I shredded years of old bills, paycheck stubs, and bank statements for closed accounts. There are services here that will shred documents if you've got lots to shred. They actually have a truck that pulls up with an industrial shredder. Wasn't the computer age supposed to save us from keeping massive amounts of paper?
How very satisfying to have your own shredder, Anna. I can imagine you are having lots of fun with it. I believe you can use shredded paper as mulch in the garden, too.
I keep my shredder between my La-Z-Boy chair and end table (hidden). That is where I review the daily mail, so that is where I automatically shred it. Every night before recycling day, I take my office paper garbage upstairs to shred it too. And yes, there is a LOT when you keep going through old papers. Sometimes I think I should just burn it instead (but I don't).
Good luck and keep up the good work!
Angelina, watching cats and printers always makes me laugh. It's kind of a battle of the Titans!
Jennifer, I can say categorically that the paperless office is a myth! Although mine is considerably less papery than it was a few weeks ago. That's interesting about the shredding truck although it wouldn't be nearly so much fun as doing it myself. Two shredders? That would be a romantic triangle in my house!
Kandy, someone told me that - I haven't done anything about it yet. Apparently it makes wonderful animal bedding too!
Laney, what a great idea! Wish I'd thought of it before I cleared the household. I haven't used my shredder all week - I'm missing it!
Thanks to everyone who swung by to wish me all the best with my new love affair. See you next month!
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