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There always seems to be a need to organize around my house but especially so since we’ve put the house on the market. Places that haven’t seen some hot soapy water have now experienced a bath. The cabinets have been gone through and many a trash bags have been made fat with rubbish. Even the Goodwill store benefits from my pairing down of life’s collections. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hoarder but you know how things collect over the years. Some people say that if you haven’t used the item in a year, pitch it. I don’t necessarily go by that rule but if it’s been sitting there for a while and I can’t imagine that I will need it within the next 3 or 4 months, it’s going to be evicted. There are only a few items that I want to keep even if they’ve not been used recently, such as my collection of manuals related to my job and the suitcase of clothing that I have saved since my children were just babes.

I find that even the items I use every day can be a pain to keep organized. For instance, I’m sitting here looking at my desk and I’m constantly fighting with a stack of papers that need to be kept along with all the deposit books for various bank accounts. And then there are the three calculators, the stapler, the white-out and the note pad. Such inconsequential little items that are used daily can sure make my desk look cluttered. I hate that disorganized look. Anyone who has been to my home knows that each item has its own place except for the deposit books, stapler, calculators, and etc.

I’ve managed to semi-organize my bathroom and walk-in closet with square wire baskets. In my bathroom, I’ve organized the makeup in one basket and the Band-Aids, hairspray, cotton balls, toothpaste and etc. into another basket. The same goes for my closet. Socks and undergarments go in baskets (because we have no drawers) on a shelf on top of the hanging clothes. I would be lost without baskets and bins.

The husband’s shoes now go on a wire rack for shoes that I recently purchased. It hangs on the wall in the garage and neatly displays his shoes in an organized fashion. The rest of us just toss our in a bin. I also have a worn out mesh laundry basket in the garage for dirty rags, dish towels, and any other stinky articles that need to be washed. I must find a replacement for that basket soon. If only they would make a wire basket for laundry. That would be a great idea. It would never wear out or crack. They could coat it with a plastic so that it doesn’t snag clothing.

My next project will be to go through the various chemicals in my garage. What a job that will be. I’ll need a whole day to do that.

I’m no technological genius. Although I’ve been exposed to all kinds of cutting edge technology, my camera is still the one that uses a 3½ inch floppy disk, rather than any kind of memory card. Granted, I understand that there are newer, fancier models, and we have big plans of getting one of those that can take more than four pictures per memory storage unit. The camera is just one example of my tendency to stick with the old styles of technology (and clothing, but that’s another story for another blog).

For years, I’d used the 3½ inch floppy disks to transfer any and all files, since I missed the era of the big ol’ really-floppy floppy disks. Not too many years ago, I learned about using compact discs for data transfer, although it was much more recently that I actually had access to a computer with a CD writer. With that major step in technological advancement, I graduated from floppy disks to compact discs for any and all file transfers. What larks! We could handle all kinds of data, as long as we started on a computer that had a CD writer and moved to a computer that had a CD drive (not always the case…).

Imagine my delight when first I was introduced to the flash drive. With the USB port now being standard on pretty much all the machines I ever see, the only usability concern is being able to get to a USB port. On some of the older computers, there are only a few USB ports, and they are sometimes in use for the keyboard, the mouse, and other accessories. One of my favorite improvements to the majority of desktop PCs is putting a couple or a few USB ports on the front of the computer tower. Although many people still have that part of the machine on the floor (which can make for some rather un-ladylike acrobatics), it’s still better than having to crawl behind or drag out the computer to get to the ports on the back. Ah! the joys of living in this day and age!

Nowadays, our household flash drive gets plenty of use, and we’re considering getting them for our parents. Since the birth of our daughter, we do a whole lot of sending pictures, and at month end, we give each set of grandparents a compact disc of all of the pictures we took of their granddaughter during the just-ended month. It seems as though it would be a lot cheaper, and a lot easier to just get them flash drives on which to add the new pictures. Cool thing is, now that I’ve discovered CFgear, we might even be able to figure out a customized flash drive and get them for aunts and uncles (biological and adopted, that is), too!

With my limited understanding of computer technology, outside the applications I use on a regular basis or can figure out because of similarities, I’m especially thankful that whoever figured out the flash drive concept decided to make them pretty user friendly. If I can use them, I’m guessing that pretty much anyone can!

There is an ad that appears in the coupon section of the newspaper often for ADT home security systems.  I was curious so I went ahead and tore out the ad to give it some attention.  I wanted to see if this is a good way to go in securing our home and how the cost compares to another security system I’ve heard of.

Wow!  What a difference there is!  This advertisement treats everything as if it’s a really good deal.  Oh yeah, it’s a good deal - paying out $99 just to have someone install a security system that doesn’t look the least bit complicated.  Oh, and I should mention the 36 month monitoring agreement you have to sign at $35.99 per month, or $1295.64 over the 36 months.  I should mention that the parts are at no cost and if I act right away I can get a free wireless Remote Control which is normally a $99 value and a medical & Fire Panic Alert (whatever that is.)

No, that’s not for me.  I have no desire to put out monthly fees when I know there is another option available.  There is also the fact that they will only install their system for homeowners.  We rent our home so that means we’re out.  Of course, now that I think about it, I would want some kind of system we can take with us when we move to our own house and not have to pay another installation fee anyway.

I think you can see why I would want to go with the DS7000 Protector Plus Home Security System put out by the makers of X10 products. The Protector Plus System has no installation fee because you do it yourself.  There is no monthly fees because you monitor it yourself.  How?  With this system you program 4 phone numbers.  When there is a breech in security the system will call those numbers until someone answers and you can listen to see if there is a need to call the police. 

This security system includes two DS10A Security Door Window Sensors, a MS10A Home Security Wireless Motion Detector, a SH624 Security Remote Control, LM465 Lamp Module, and even a KR10A Security Key Chain Remote very much the one offered by the other company.

I’m sure both systems work very well, it just comes down to how much money a person wants to put out and how much they are willing to do themselves.  For me, I’m willing to do more so I can save more.