Purging

A little purging every day. 
That's what I'm striving for this week.

Everyone has "stuff" -- things we don't use, things we thought we liked, things that are worn out -- and yet we still hold on to them.  If we're not using them, why not recycle to someone who can actually use them?

Sure, there are some things we can't part with.  And some things that may become useful in the future.  About six months ago, I got rid of a set of pots and pans.  Why?  Because I don't cook for a family any longer.  When I got the set, I was cooking for a family of 8 (or more! if the neighbor kids stayed for supper!!)   Then it was just me and Brian.  I haven't used those pans since I moved into this house in 2009.  So why was I holding on to them?  I bought a 3 piece set to replace those 15 others, and I'm very happy with them.  (Talk about making room in that one kitchen cupboard!)

Today, I cleaned out a drawer of DVDs.  I own the entire series of Sex and the City, I don't need the others that were a "collection" with a theme.  And old movies that I'll never watch again.  Library donation, I think.  But yes, I did keep some of the ones that I know I will watch over and over again:  Pillow Talk, Father Goose, Ugly Coyote, Shawshank Redemption, Bridges of Madison County ... you get the idea. 

I know that I know that I know that I don't want my daughter to have to go through what we have been through with Brian.  Closing someone's "estate" is painful.  And there's so much *stuff* that ... well, it's hard to know what you'll want to keep and what you'll want to toss.  Pictures and written things are definitely kept.  The rest?  *shrug*  The things I have that are antiques, I'm putting a note on them so my daughter will know to at least try and sell rather than give to Goodwill. 

It's not a fun place in life to be.  But if I can get things down to just necessities ... life should be that much easier.  As long as I resist the urge to buy things I don't need!  (And what woman can do *that*???) hahah

I miss my son every day, and in some ways I'm sad at all the things I had to get rid of, but you can't keep everything; you can't leave his room the way it was so that it becomes a shrine.  He wanted us to be happy, to keep living.  Yes, I kept his guitars hanging on the wall, under one guitar poster.  The rest are gone.  I framed six of the logos from his fav tshirts, and they are hanging on the wall as art.  It looks pretty good, and since there are now other non-Brian photos hanging in there as well, it's not a shrine.  Just a few good memories.

Downloads of Junk

Is there anything more frustrating that a so called "free download" only to find that in order to make it run, you need to pay for it??  Or worse:  You download some free program to enable you to do something unique only to get unwanted add-ons that mess up your web browser, activate your security, and generally mess up the current status of your computer?   

That happened to me today.

I like to print labels for the DVDs I create of my photographs.  It adds a nice touch, and allows me to put some kind of archival dates on the photos.  But I ran out of the Avery kind, and my store is no longer carrying them.  So I stopped into a Staples store today.  They don't carry the Avery brand either, only the Memorex brand.  Ok.  I figured I could give it a try - it says right on the package that I can download a free software program to help me print these.  (Of course, you can ONLY use their program as the layout of the circles is different .... )  

I downloaded the program, accepted all their "terms" -- and ended up with a mess that had my security scanning my computer for 40 minutes trying to locate the issues.  In the end, I had to manually remove all of these items from the files it created.  *smh*  Ok.  So I wasn't smart enough to catch the fine print about loading all this crap ........  Went back and downloaded the program again, reading every fine print note, clicking on every link allowable, then clicking "decline" on every single one of their ""offers"".    So far, so good, I was able to install the program successfully.  Only to find that my very first attempt to add a photo to the template, it claimed "not enough memory".  Say what?

Ok.  That was it.  3 hours or more of time invested in something that I cannot use without a lot of aggravation and finagling.  Why should it be this hard??????  Back to Avery products, that's for sure.  I know for a fact their templates work.  I was able to find them online and purchased a pack.  They won't be here until March 1st, but that's better than nothing.  

Total frustration on my part.

Why would a reputable company like Memorex have a download like this?  exPressit is the program, and it's ... useless.  I know in this digital age that people mostly expect things to be emailed to them, or at the very least, stuck on a flash drive.  But DVDs are cheaper, and they work for the older generation who can't operate the flash drives properly.  

In the end, you get what you pay for.

I'll be returning those labels to Staples tomorrow.