Looks like I'm doing monthly updates rather than weekly. Well, that's ok, BECAUSE. Major breakthrough!
Since my last post, I have discovered the tool I have been waiting, wishing, and hoping for. It's the Fujitsu ScanSnap 510. Click HERE to behold the wonder that is instant sheet-fed scanning! I have been burning up the moveable parts catching up on scanning and absolutely just PLOWING through the files, stacks, and magazines.
I am forcing a new habit of processing my magazines the day they arrive. I can relax on this after this monster project is done, but for now, I want to continue applying the principle of "do the most recent first" (I've seen this mentioned many times in reference to scrapbooking photo collections).
Anyway, this tool is genius. I discovered it accidentally one Thursday or Friday night in mid-february. I read all the reviews, gave it some thought, and bought it from Amazon within 24 hours of learning about it. It arrived a few days later and this last month has been so fun! I should be embarrassed to admit that!
I think the bigger picture there is that finally I can actually see the light of day to getting out from under my obnoxiously large paper collection. Things I had hung onto for so long - work reference materials, valuable information from conferences I've attended - even just paperwork, records, statements, etc. that I've been dragging my feet on because the flatbed just took too long and my software kept freezing on me, losing all the stuff I'd scanned anyway.
Within another month, I hope to report that my piles are H-I-S-T-O-R-Y!
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Friday, March 14, 2008
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Week of Disasters
Ok, first of all, I should be ashamed of myself. I was using an external HD more than I should have been - i.e., as a working drive and not backup storage as it should have been. It started acting wonky a few weeks ago, and did I leap up and back up all the files (all 300G+ of them?) NO. I did not.
So you know what happened next - actually, let me digress for a moment.
I decided on Sunday that I needed to shake things up a bit. Recalling back to the days when I used to clean and change my bedroom around all the time, and how cool and new everything felt, and how creative and inspired I felt after I did it. Now I know it's moving around the "chi" that causes that feeling!
Anyway, so I'm working on a few things Sunday morning, drive is working fine. I shut down my PC to start Operation Clean Office. 8 hours later I plug my PC back in, plug the HD into the USB drive, and....nothing. I can clearly hear the disk isn't powering up. Just a few faint clicks. And then my panic attack begins. Along with the worst case of self-loathing imaginable. I am smarter than this. I am more tech-savvy than this. I just plain KNOW BETTER. And yet...all is lost.
Or not. I have solicited the (very costly) services of a data recovery facility. Shipped the HD off yesterday and am tracking it via UPS like it's my own child. I am sick. And sad. And miserable. I feel like a limb has been amputated. Every digital photo I've ever taken is on that drive. Every file, every scan, every work product. See what I mean about how stupid I was?
I don't care the cost, I am just hoping, praying, pleading that this data recovery process will work. The HD has been delivered - now I wait for the prognosis from the engineer. As HD failures go, this one wasn't awful. No horrid noises (i.e. the sounds of the disks being destroyed) or anything. Mr. RedFish thinks it's mechanical failure (i.e. the read/write head) rather than sector/disk damage. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE.
It's been a rough few weeks for odd things like this. First, our Garmin GPS unit stopped working while we were in PA for Thanksgiving. It was fine one minute, then we picked up my brother and his gf, and got back in the car, and nothing. Luckily, it was still under warranty, so we sent it back to be repaired.
Then my external HD. Oh, before that, my iPhone froze up and I had to restore it back to factory settings, which wiped out all my saved voicemails and pictures. It wasn't catastrophic like the HD collapse, but it was annoying.
I'm getting to the point where I don't want to touch anything electronic!
BUT..in what I am reading as omens of changing fortunes, good things started happening yesterday after the data recovery people got back to me so quickly (within an hour of my SOS call). The new Garmin arrived via UPS. They replaced our old one instead of repairing it. Then, I opened a program on my PC and found a cached version of one of the lost files. A major one, too. So that made me feel good...at least I have one.
So the upshot of the office rearranging is that I emptied out some drawers, gathered almost two boxfuls of stuff to get rid of, am on the way to finding more. The downside is the spare bedroom is a mess again, because I had to move stuff somewhere. I also miss my old behemoth of a desk more than I realized I would. But it's just an adjustment period, I guess. Less space is frustrating to me right now, but the point is to downsize. I shouldn't need a ton of crap on my desk to work....minimalize! (Is that even a word?).
I also found another foot-high stack of ripped magazine pages in the bottom drawer of one of my storage units. I thought it was all recipes/food, but turns out it isn't. Which is good in one way, because I can get rid of it. Bad, in another, because now I have to go through it! The fun never ends.....lucky for me, just a little work to do now and snow on the way. With my tight budget (what Christmas shopping?) and the cold weather, I have no excuse for not cranking this stuff out. If only I were writing or doing something that would make me money...
I just really want my files back from that hard drive. Then I can get back on track (with backups securely in place)
So you know what happened next - actually, let me digress for a moment.
I decided on Sunday that I needed to shake things up a bit. Recalling back to the days when I used to clean and change my bedroom around all the time, and how cool and new everything felt, and how creative and inspired I felt after I did it. Now I know it's moving around the "chi" that causes that feeling!
Anyway, so I'm working on a few things Sunday morning, drive is working fine. I shut down my PC to start Operation Clean Office. 8 hours later I plug my PC back in, plug the HD into the USB drive, and....nothing. I can clearly hear the disk isn't powering up. Just a few faint clicks. And then my panic attack begins. Along with the worst case of self-loathing imaginable. I am smarter than this. I am more tech-savvy than this. I just plain KNOW BETTER. And yet...all is lost.
Or not. I have solicited the (very costly) services of a data recovery facility. Shipped the HD off yesterday and am tracking it via UPS like it's my own child. I am sick. And sad. And miserable. I feel like a limb has been amputated. Every digital photo I've ever taken is on that drive. Every file, every scan, every work product. See what I mean about how stupid I was?
I don't care the cost, I am just hoping, praying, pleading that this data recovery process will work. The HD has been delivered - now I wait for the prognosis from the engineer. As HD failures go, this one wasn't awful. No horrid noises (i.e. the sounds of the disks being destroyed) or anything. Mr. RedFish thinks it's mechanical failure (i.e. the read/write head) rather than sector/disk damage. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE.
It's been a rough few weeks for odd things like this. First, our Garmin GPS unit stopped working while we were in PA for Thanksgiving. It was fine one minute, then we picked up my brother and his gf, and got back in the car, and nothing. Luckily, it was still under warranty, so we sent it back to be repaired.
Then my external HD. Oh, before that, my iPhone froze up and I had to restore it back to factory settings, which wiped out all my saved voicemails and pictures. It wasn't catastrophic like the HD collapse, but it was annoying.
I'm getting to the point where I don't want to touch anything electronic!
BUT..in what I am reading as omens of changing fortunes, good things started happening yesterday after the data recovery people got back to me so quickly (within an hour of my SOS call). The new Garmin arrived via UPS. They replaced our old one instead of repairing it. Then, I opened a program on my PC and found a cached version of one of the lost files. A major one, too. So that made me feel good...at least I have one.
So the upshot of the office rearranging is that I emptied out some drawers, gathered almost two boxfuls of stuff to get rid of, am on the way to finding more. The downside is the spare bedroom is a mess again, because I had to move stuff somewhere. I also miss my old behemoth of a desk more than I realized I would. But it's just an adjustment period, I guess. Less space is frustrating to me right now, but the point is to downsize. I shouldn't need a ton of crap on my desk to work....minimalize! (Is that even a word?).
I also found another foot-high stack of ripped magazine pages in the bottom drawer of one of my storage units. I thought it was all recipes/food, but turns out it isn't. Which is good in one way, because I can get rid of it. Bad, in another, because now I have to go through it! The fun never ends.....lucky for me, just a little work to do now and snow on the way. With my tight budget (what Christmas shopping?) and the cold weather, I have no excuse for not cranking this stuff out. If only I were writing or doing something that would make me money...
I just really want my files back from that hard drive. Then I can get back on track (with backups securely in place)
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Minor Update
Not a lot of progress to report, what with finishing up "real" work and Thanksgiving in there. But I'm plugging away on the whole magazine piles. This will keep me busy well into 2008, but I have a good system going and hope to move as quickly as possible!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Categories, Fun, and Progress
Another month without an update has gone by! But that doesn't mean no progress. Despite taking a week-long vacation earlier this month, I am nearly through all of the "loose" pages I started working on this summer.
The box, piles from the armoire, and the closet, are done. I want to say "gone", but with my sorting system, it's not really gone. A LOT did go into the circular file, at least.
My ultimate goal, at the end of all this, is to have at least what I'm still working through or on, to be separated and organized, rather than piles here, piles there, no organization.
My system is this:
1. To Scan-pages I want to scan/keep for any reason. Right now, there is just one not-quite-full crate of these. My plan once I start on the intact magazines is to scan as I go along with those - don't want to risk getting a crapload of NEW piles sitting around! So this crate may be the very last one I scan. Probably in 2011.
2. To Read-things I am interested in reading, but don't feel the need to scan/keep afterwards. I intend to always carry a file of this and keep another file for before-sleep reading as well. The least important stuff also - could be tossed if absolutely necessary.
3. To Keep (Pictures)- ads, graphics, visual things I want to keep, but not scan
4. To Keep (Reference)- things like tear-out guides, posters, things meant to "tear and save". May scan at some point, may not.
5. Two-Sided/Lists - pages that have info on both sides -- I'm just not dealing with typing/copying/cutting right now. They go in this file to be dealt with later. Lists, that I might want to type up or review, also in this pile.
6. Food/Recipes- self-explanatory. Will be gone through, sorted, scanned, categorized separately
So, where I stand right now:
1. Finishing last of wooden crate pulled from armoire. This will be done in the next day or so.
2. Will do two wooden crates in office (where tv is sitting). I believe this is "raw" piles that I tore out last winter or summer, and when I decided I needed to get these No Scan piles taken care of, I swapped out No Scans for these.
3. I was going to leave the above along, since they are stored and hidden, but then realized they are the last piles in the office. There may be some loose pages in crates over in the spare room, but one thing at a time.
4. After that's done, I start on the intact magazines. Most recent first - that working backward thing is the best trick I ever read for "catching up" on anything. I originally read it in relation to scrapbooking photographs - you should start with your most recent, or else you will NEVER catch up. Makes total sense, it's so obvious. Yet many people start from the oldest and try to go forward. Does not work with anything you continue to add on to.
It doesn't look like it sometimes, but progress is happening!
The box, piles from the armoire, and the closet, are done. I want to say "gone", but with my sorting system, it's not really gone. A LOT did go into the circular file, at least.
My ultimate goal, at the end of all this, is to have at least what I'm still working through or on, to be separated and organized, rather than piles here, piles there, no organization.
My system is this:
1. To Scan-pages I want to scan/keep for any reason. Right now, there is just one not-quite-full crate of these. My plan once I start on the intact magazines is to scan as I go along with those - don't want to risk getting a crapload of NEW piles sitting around! So this crate may be the very last one I scan. Probably in 2011.
2. To Read-things I am interested in reading, but don't feel the need to scan/keep afterwards. I intend to always carry a file of this and keep another file for before-sleep reading as well. The least important stuff also - could be tossed if absolutely necessary.
3. To Keep (Pictures)- ads, graphics, visual things I want to keep, but not scan
4. To Keep (Reference)- things like tear-out guides, posters, things meant to "tear and save". May scan at some point, may not.
5. Two-Sided/Lists - pages that have info on both sides -- I'm just not dealing with typing/copying/cutting right now. They go in this file to be dealt with later. Lists, that I might want to type up or review, also in this pile.
6. Food/Recipes- self-explanatory. Will be gone through, sorted, scanned, categorized separately
So, where I stand right now:
1. Finishing last of wooden crate pulled from armoire. This will be done in the next day or so.
2. Will do two wooden crates in office (where tv is sitting). I believe this is "raw" piles that I tore out last winter or summer, and when I decided I needed to get these No Scan piles taken care of, I swapped out No Scans for these.
3. I was going to leave the above along, since they are stored and hidden, but then realized they are the last piles in the office. There may be some loose pages in crates over in the spare room, but one thing at a time.
4. After that's done, I start on the intact magazines. Most recent first - that working backward thing is the best trick I ever read for "catching up" on anything. I originally read it in relation to scrapbooking photographs - you should start with your most recent, or else you will NEVER catch up. Makes total sense, it's so obvious. Yet many people start from the oldest and try to go forward. Does not work with anything you continue to add on to.
It doesn't look like it sometimes, but progress is happening!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Slow and steady...
I can't believe no update since 8/30. Where did September go? I've been moderately but steadily busy with work, but have continued to plug away at the loose stacks mentioned in previous posts. I recently did a mini-cleanup and am down to one crate and the original box brought over from the armoire.
Gone are the two crates from the closet (and I was right, so much of that stuff was old, outdated, or irrelevant - hello, wedding planning information?!). I haven't measured lately, but I've moved quite a lot of recycle bags outside.
I realized not too long ago that the two crates currently serving as my office tv stand ALSO have stacks of loose magazine pages stuffed in them. I seem to remember these are "raw" piles - the crates once had "No Scan" stacks in them, but I remember swapping out the no scan piles a while ago -- maybe even before I really started focusing on this project -- because I realized that my No Scan piles were getting way out of hand. So I put the raw (unsorted and unprocessed) piles in the crates and did the No Scans. Who knows when...earlier this year I guess.
I haven't done much scanning - all year really. My last major push was last fall. So that's why I assume the switch over to getting through the stuff I didn't plan to scan happened after the holidays last year. The couple of times I've tried to catch up on some scanning my software has crashed, taking all the temp files with it, and it pissed me off so I didn't start again!
Overall, making progress. Maybe not as much as I'd like, but as FlyLady says, "Progress, not Perfection". I am getting there. And having fun along the way. My system is solid and consistent and I am making a dent in the piles.
What I need to focus on next is the ever-growing stacks of intact magazines on my office credenza. Yowza. Way out of hand. I really want to hit the end of the calendar year with at least the "catch up point" in sight. Busy busy busy!
Gone are the two crates from the closet (and I was right, so much of that stuff was old, outdated, or irrelevant - hello, wedding planning information?!). I haven't measured lately, but I've moved quite a lot of recycle bags outside.
I realized not too long ago that the two crates currently serving as my office tv stand ALSO have stacks of loose magazine pages stuffed in them. I seem to remember these are "raw" piles - the crates once had "No Scan" stacks in them, but I remember swapping out the no scan piles a while ago -- maybe even before I really started focusing on this project -- because I realized that my No Scan piles were getting way out of hand. So I put the raw (unsorted and unprocessed) piles in the crates and did the No Scans. Who knows when...earlier this year I guess.
I haven't done much scanning - all year really. My last major push was last fall. So that's why I assume the switch over to getting through the stuff I didn't plan to scan happened after the holidays last year. The couple of times I've tried to catch up on some scanning my software has crashed, taking all the temp files with it, and it pissed me off so I didn't start again!
Overall, making progress. Maybe not as much as I'd like, but as FlyLady says, "Progress, not Perfection". I am getting there. And having fun along the way. My system is solid and consistent and I am making a dent in the piles.
What I need to focus on next is the ever-growing stacks of intact magazines on my office credenza. Yowza. Way out of hand. I really want to hit the end of the calendar year with at least the "catch up point" in sight. Busy busy busy!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Brain Dumping Update
Another busy two weeks leading into the Labor Day weekend, and my brain is buzzing again. I really need a PenSeive*. Work has kept me busy through most daylight and into the night hours, but the past few days I had a surge of free time so took the opportunity to plug away at the latest stack. I cleared probably almost 10". Lucky for me, it was a pre-sorted "No Scan" pile, so I could move quickly through it.
Never content to let progress stand too long, I just on a whim decided to bring in a new foot-high stack from the armoire in the spare room. This puts my "beside the desk" pile back up to max height (i.e. the top of the desk). But even though I'm "refreshing" it, I feel like I am making progress. Better progress than ever before.
The last time I caught up this much was when I wasn't working back in 2002-2003. I didn't have the same type of plan in place to clear it all back then though. It was more like "wow, cool that I have all this". Now, I want it GONE! Plus I have better tools - better pc, scanner, software, etc.
Also during August I pulled out two crates from the closet. I *think* these are the only two in there with magazine/paper-related materials. The rest is all office supplies that will need sorting and purging at a later date. That's part of the bigger declutter plan!
I'm hoping this stack from the armoire is old enough to just toss 99% of it. That fact is what drives me forward. Realizing that if I had a better system of reading my materials when they're current, the info will mean more. I am pushing myself to get this backlog done so that I can read and enjoy and use the CURRENT magazines and websites.
I am to the point of tossing without even looking (big deal for me!) at articles having to do with technology (although when I do occasionally read one, they are amusing in how much things have changed since the dark ages of 1998!), skin care (nothing changes, every magazine covers this seasonally), and health and beauty products. These "new and exciting" products are now 5, 6, 7 years old...so many new ones have come out since then, why bother? I'll find the new, cool stuff. I might make a note of a cosmetics company that is new to me, but that's about it. Toss, toss, toss!! Bags and bags of trash, leaving the house nightly! SO FUN!
*A PenSeive is a magical object from the Harry Potter books. It allows one to remove thoughts from one's brain and store them away for either safekeeping or pondering at a later date. Removed thoughts can go back into one's brain when ready. A fabulous concept that really should be invented for us Muggles**.
** The 7th book in the series came out July 21. I decided before reading it, I would delay the inevitable ending of the series (No!) by re-reading the entire series before culminating in the last book. So the entire month of August I have been reading Harry. I'm on Book 6 now, so am completely immersed in HP culture.
Never content to let progress stand too long, I just on a whim decided to bring in a new foot-high stack from the armoire in the spare room. This puts my "beside the desk" pile back up to max height (i.e. the top of the desk). But even though I'm "refreshing" it, I feel like I am making progress. Better progress than ever before.
The last time I caught up this much was when I wasn't working back in 2002-2003. I didn't have the same type of plan in place to clear it all back then though. It was more like "wow, cool that I have all this". Now, I want it GONE! Plus I have better tools - better pc, scanner, software, etc.
Also during August I pulled out two crates from the closet. I *think* these are the only two in there with magazine/paper-related materials. The rest is all office supplies that will need sorting and purging at a later date. That's part of the bigger declutter plan!
I'm hoping this stack from the armoire is old enough to just toss 99% of it. That fact is what drives me forward. Realizing that if I had a better system of reading my materials when they're current, the info will mean more. I am pushing myself to get this backlog done so that I can read and enjoy and use the CURRENT magazines and websites.
I am to the point of tossing without even looking (big deal for me!) at articles having to do with technology (although when I do occasionally read one, they are amusing in how much things have changed since the dark ages of 1998!), skin care (nothing changes, every magazine covers this seasonally), and health and beauty products. These "new and exciting" products are now 5, 6, 7 years old...so many new ones have come out since then, why bother? I'll find the new, cool stuff. I might make a note of a cosmetics company that is new to me, but that's about it. Toss, toss, toss!! Bags and bags of trash, leaving the house nightly! SO FUN!
*A PenSeive is a magical object from the Harry Potter books. It allows one to remove thoughts from one's brain and store them away for either safekeeping or pondering at a later date. Removed thoughts can go back into one's brain when ready. A fabulous concept that really should be invented for us Muggles**.
** The 7th book in the series came out July 21. I decided before reading it, I would delay the inevitable ending of the series (No!) by re-reading the entire series before culminating in the last book. So the entire month of August I have been reading Harry. I'm on Book 6 now, so am completely immersed in HP culture.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Back at it...
Well after a couple of weeks derailment with major work projects and the July 4th holiday week (which really did turn into a WEEKlong vacation, complete with family visiting from out of town and lots of tourist-in-my-own-town activities.
Last week I made little progress, maybe a magazine's worth a night, if that. So this week I'm determined to get back on track with the declutter project.
Since yesterday, I've been working on a9" stack of what I call "fresh" tearouts - unsorted, straight from the magazine. This is the pile I mentioned before that came out of one of my filing bins sitting next to my desk. A lot of this pile is now in the "To Scan" pile since it was never gone through before, but I'm making good progress overall. Got a LOT done last night while watching the ballgame. I just measured and it's about 3.5" high now. My goal is to polish it off tonight and start on the tall stack sitting next to me.
This pile is (hopefully) mostly No Scans and I can tear through it. This is the pile that came from the armoire in the spare room when I cleaned it out back in May. I had started it last month but then decided to do the smaller pile mentioned above.
Finding lots of good stuff so it's been fun. Even though I *should* be working.....
Last week I made little progress, maybe a magazine's worth a night, if that. So this week I'm determined to get back on track with the declutter project.
Since yesterday, I've been working on a9" stack of what I call "fresh" tearouts - unsorted, straight from the magazine. This is the pile I mentioned before that came out of one of my filing bins sitting next to my desk. A lot of this pile is now in the "To Scan" pile since it was never gone through before, but I'm making good progress overall. Got a LOT done last night while watching the ballgame. I just measured and it's about 3.5" high now. My goal is to polish it off tonight and start on the tall stack sitting next to me.
This pile is (hopefully) mostly No Scans and I can tear through it. This is the pile that came from the armoire in the spare room when I cleaned it out back in May. I had started it last month but then decided to do the smaller pile mentioned above.
Finding lots of good stuff so it's been fun. Even though I *should* be working.....
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