And now, the continuing saga of "Boxes of Armageddon", where I attack clutter by the box.
Box #2
This was one of my old plastic mini crates from college. The typical practice was to throw all of your toiletries into one little bucket, then carry that with you to and from the dormitory bathrooms whether you were brushing your teeth or showering. But it has since become a junk magnet. Here's what was inside:
- Plastic baseball cap sundae cup. I don't know if they make these anymore, but this is one of those little plastic baseball helmets they'd sometimes serve soft-serve ice cream in. The helmets were pretty good representations of the ones used by different MLB baseball teams, with the right color and logo. You'd eat the ice cream, then wash out and keep the little helmet. I remember getting these as a kid with my father at Hampton Beach. Though this one is much more recent. And it's going to the thrift store pile.
- Hand-written receipt for a book I bought years ago, and sold recently on eBay. Into the trash you go.
- Dungeon Dice. I was actually not too big of a D&D fan. I liked the aesthetics and some stuff that was directly D&D inspired, but I've probably played D&D only 3 times in my life. I think I bought these in a gift shop in New Hampshire when I was a kid. I guess I always liked the look of the package, so for years I didn't open it. Then when I finally did, I only opened it up near the top, and replaced the 6-sided die with two other 6-sided dice. I'll throw these into the eBay pile.
- Phone number for a guitar player I know, whose band I joined in 1999. I still know how to reach the guy, so I don't need this. Nor the partial grocery list on it.
- Incomplete Metal Puzzle. You know, those big metal puzzles with the different links of metal in strange sizes, and the object is to twist it around until you can detach the metal ring. Then the second challenge is putting it back on. I own about 5 of these things. I love 'em. Unfortunately, this one is incomplete. It's missing a piece. I remember getting these and a few of the others for ridiculously cheap at some store's liquidation sale. And this was one I ended up with that came incomplete. I managed to put together most of the others before buying them. I seems strange to throw something so heavy, but there's really no point in keeping it. And yes, I checked the other puzzles, and they won't need this for spare parts. Ditto for the empty peanut container I was keeping this in.
- More pieces of paper, one with arithmetic on one side, then some partial notes on the other side I made regarding Vh-1's short-lived series on music life in prisons. Another had various places in New Hampshire I'd go to on vacation from time to time. Into the trash you go, along with the broken elastics and stretched hair ties I found.
- Blue Oyster Cult card I got from a friend. It's just a mini cardboard flier for when his band opened up for BOC in 2002. I never ended up going to that particular show.
- Lynnfield Public Library bookmark. Actually, I need this. I'll stick it in the book I'm reading now.
- Pro-Wipes. A little pack of 5 cloth disc wipes made for CDs. Unopened. You can "even clean a record" with these. I think I'll be using these when I get around to transferring more vinyl on to my hard drive.
- Infocom stuff. Infocom was a computer company based out of the Boston area. They were best known for their all-text adventures like Zork and Wishbringer. I was completely hooked on these when I was a kid, and I still play them every once in a while. Here in the box I found a few old catalogs, plus a few "Invisiclues" books (their invisible-inked hint booklets) and marker. These go with the other Infocom stuff under my bed.
- Phony/Insulting Parking Tickets. Heh heh heh. These shall work well with my "I Park Like An Idiot" stickers
- Stress gripper. Actually, I think it was more like a grip strengthener. But you get the idea. It's a really thick and stiff piece of pink foam with finger grip ridges on one side. I think my brother bought this as a kid. Not sure how it ended up with me. I actually destroyed a few stress balls at a job I had some years back. This one looks handy to have, because it doesn't seem destructable.
- Black candle. Well what can I say. These are bound to turn up in a Warlock's home now and then.
- "Wallet card" Instructions for a Lucent "Answering System 1308/09". I guess that means "1308" OR "1309". This was my old tape answering machine I used in college and at home too. I got rid of it in October. I was about to toss this out, but a quick search showed that there was some demand for such a system's instructions. Hopefully people who are searching for it will find this page. Here you go:
WALLET CARD information for
LUCENT ANSWERING SYSTEM 1308
and LUCENT ANSWERING SYSTEM 1309
Front side:
- Dial telephone number and wait for system to answer.
- Enter Remote Access code.
- Listen for messages OR enter touch tone command
- Hang up to save messages
Your Remote Access Code _________
Back side:
| Options after Two-Beep Signal: | Touch Tone Command: |
| Listen to messages | 7 |
| Listen to new messages only | 6 |
| Stop | # |
| Rewind Tape | 2 |
| Clear messages | 3 3 |
| Record announcement | 4 * |
| Play announcement | 4 1 |
| Turn system on | 0 |
| Turn system off | 8 8 |
