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jamesqJust before Christmas I did two things: Bought assorted shelving and cabinetry from Ikea and bought a new Macintosh to replace the first generation MacBook I've had since 2006.
The shelving was to go above/beside my computer desk in the den. Therefore it didn't make sense to set up my new Macintosh until I had the shelves assembled.
Assembling the shelves required moving everything off (and inside and around) my desk so that I had a clear working area.
To clean up around my computer, I had to open up the box full of paperwork that I'd been putting off fortwo three five years. And if I was going to open the box, I'd really should organize it.
To organize the paperwork I needed a clear working surface, so I had to clean off the coffee table and couch. To do that I had to put away two dozen graphic novels and 100+ comics.
Finally I had room to work on the papers, so I began that. It took about three days, during which I shredded enough paper to fill a large recycling bag. When I was finished, I went into my bedroom where there is another collection of paperwork - If I was going to do some of it, I might as well do it all right? This additional paperwork took another day.
It took about a day to remove everything from on top of and within my desk - this got shoved to the far end of the room. Now the desk was empty so I removed the carpets from beneath and put casters under the desk's feet to protect the floor. Also I slid it away from the wall.
The bar fridge was also in the way so I emptied it and sat it on top of the laundry room sink to defrost. The glacier in the icebox was getting rather large and was threatening to get in the way of my Titanic memorabilia.
Next up was to build the shelf that would go beside the desk. My first miscalculation: It was much higher then I thought and would require me to rethink the cabinets that would go above the desk - I wanted the right-most portion to be over the shelf you see. I decided to scrap this plan, but that meant returning $250 worth of material to Ikea.
I went back to Ikea, but had made a colossal error: I had shredded the receipt for the cabinets. It figures that my enthusiasm to get rid of paperwork would kill the one receipt I've actually needed over the last several years. Ikea was forgiving. However because I didn't have a receipt, I couldn't get the money returned to the source (my credit card). Instead, I got a gift card, and a stern warning that they would only do this for me once a year. I did buy other stuff while I was there, so the gift card isn't as large as it was.
Back home I could now concentrate on populating the shelves. They are to be used for the large number of components I have for multiple computers. And since I don't like cables lying around, I wanted them all out of sight. Some strategically placed holes and wall brackets enabled this.
Finally, I got to put up the computer. Sadly, Apple has changed some of the form factors for cables so I had to wait a day to pick up the right cables to use. Also, it took 16 hours for my user info to transfer from the old MacBook to the new iMac.
A few iterations of moving the components around and I finally had everything the way I wanted it.
Savour that picture, it probably won't be that clean again until I replace this computer in 2016.
Some things in the picture, going left to right and then top to bottom:
It was quite costly in terms of money, time and wear-and-tear on my body, but it's done now. Also, the rest of the room is clean enough to entertain. This calls for a movie night soon.
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nosarious (amongst others) asked "But why buy the iMac before going through all that trouble - why not clean up first and then buy it." The answer is obvious, so I'd stop putting the whole thing off.
The shelving was to go above/beside my computer desk in the den. Therefore it didn't make sense to set up my new Macintosh until I had the shelves assembled.
Assembling the shelves required moving everything off (and inside and around) my desk so that I had a clear working area.
To clean up around my computer, I had to open up the box full of paperwork that I'd been putting off for
To organize the paperwork I needed a clear working surface, so I had to clean off the coffee table and couch. To do that I had to put away two dozen graphic novels and 100+ comics.
Finally I had room to work on the papers, so I began that. It took about three days, during which I shredded enough paper to fill a large recycling bag. When I was finished, I went into my bedroom where there is another collection of paperwork - If I was going to do some of it, I might as well do it all right? This additional paperwork took another day.
It took about a day to remove everything from on top of and within my desk - this got shoved to the far end of the room. Now the desk was empty so I removed the carpets from beneath and put casters under the desk's feet to protect the floor. Also I slid it away from the wall.
The bar fridge was also in the way so I emptied it and sat it on top of the laundry room sink to defrost. The glacier in the icebox was getting rather large and was threatening to get in the way of my Titanic memorabilia.
Next up was to build the shelf that would go beside the desk. My first miscalculation: It was much higher then I thought and would require me to rethink the cabinets that would go above the desk - I wanted the right-most portion to be over the shelf you see. I decided to scrap this plan, but that meant returning $250 worth of material to Ikea.
I went back to Ikea, but had made a colossal error: I had shredded the receipt for the cabinets. It figures that my enthusiasm to get rid of paperwork would kill the one receipt I've actually needed over the last several years. Ikea was forgiving. However because I didn't have a receipt, I couldn't get the money returned to the source (my credit card). Instead, I got a gift card, and a stern warning that they would only do this for me once a year. I did buy other stuff while I was there, so the gift card isn't as large as it was.
Back home I could now concentrate on populating the shelves. They are to be used for the large number of components I have for multiple computers. And since I don't like cables lying around, I wanted them all out of sight. Some strategically placed holes and wall brackets enabled this.
Finally, I got to put up the computer. Sadly, Apple has changed some of the form factors for cables so I had to wait a day to pick up the right cables to use. Also, it took 16 hours for my user info to transfer from the old MacBook to the new iMac.
A few iterations of moving the components around and I finally had everything the way I wanted it.
Savour that picture, it probably won't be that clean again until I replace this computer in 2016.
Some things in the picture, going left to right and then top to bottom:
- The bar fridge with my magnet collection. Clean on the inside and outside now.
- My indestructible $40 desk.
- Extra monitor with inputs coming from both the iMac and my wee Linux box.
- Brand new iMac - the cause and solution to the room's problems.
- Old reliable UPS.
- Beer.
- Expedit 5x1 shelf with extra cabinet door, drawers and some custom shelf inserts.
- Printer for iMac.
- Scanner for Linux box.
- Wee Linux box.
- External DVD for Linux box.
- External hard drives for the iMac.
- iPod docking station.
It was quite costly in terms of money, time and wear-and-tear on my body, but it's done now. Also, the rest of the room is clean enough to entertain. This calls for a movie night soon.
nosarious (amongst others) asked "But why buy the iMac before going through all that trouble - why not clean up first and then buy it." The answer is obvious, so I'd stop putting the whole thing off.
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-05 11:14 pm (UTC)*eyes