Decluttering by re-location

Maseru, Lesotho

About seventeen years ago I bought a high spec desktop computer to drive the recording studio that I had set up on a Lesotho hillside. Along the way I incorporated two outboard pieces of kit - an Iomega disc drive and a Backpack CD rewriter.

Unusually at the end of a contract, I took the clutter back to Scotland. This was about fifteen years ago when a friend’s son upgraded it and I set up another home studio to record my tunes and songs – see below for links.

Having recorded my songs I lost interest in the home studio and the kit lay unused while the world went usb and it became easy to record wav files along with midi in the same programme.

I set up the system this morning to transfer the work related files from the Iomega disc drive to a more up to date medium. But the system would not boot – the error message – “CMOS battery failed”. I looked up the error message on the internet. The problem is easily solved – replace the battery on the mother board (probably a CR2032 button battery). To be on the safe side I will take it to the computer experts next time I am in Banff.

Button battery

So today I became aware of clutter. When I upgrade my technology I should throw away the outdated versions even if they are in good working order. Also, when I finish home based writing projects, I should throw away the literature – at least the preliminary drafts.

The problem is that I have now been in one place for a long time. The earlier pattern was to work for several years in a foreign country and then to abruptly leave with a half empty suitcase. Decluttering by re-location. Very little was wasted of what I left behind. Plastic milk bottles were highly prized – especially if they still had a lid!

But I have no intention to move again. I will have to make a project out of the decluttering process – with objectives and measurable targets. How much is enough?

Toon Loon Tunes

The cure for the blues

The Never Ending Highway