Struggling to drag the underbed storage bin, out from Under the Bed, I knew the final to-do item on my to-do list mentioned in a Prior Post would now have to include a new and updated To-Do list.
The simple task of adding the keepers stack from the work completed Could.Not.Happen!
Nothing but a hair off my head could be added and that might be hard,
Dragging it out with words not spoken but heard inside my head, I sighed and lifted it to the bed.
I found Tax Returns all the way back to 1996, each year in a large envelope,
a Tupperware container of paperwork that Bob had under his bed in 1985 when we got married.
a container of 40 years of nursing home paperwork for Bob's son, most of which was dated before I married him in 1985.
Real Estate records from my Real Estate Sales/paperwork, dated 990-1994
Each one had to be opened, gone through page by page, keep/toss/keep/toss for THREE days of a couple hours a day. OV VEY!!!! The result of three days of torture, the shred these papers were piled so high on the computer room bed, I could not see the bedcovering.
It was such a mess I totally forgot to take a photo, until I was almost done and remembered I had to put this on the blog. Had To!
I set my brain on OverThinkThis and tried to decide between:
Pay Staples Money by the pound, and fret over if they were using my personal information and that shredding the papers was shredding money.
Build a fire in the back yard and burn it all.
Do It Myself with my tiny little shredder, that takes one sheet at a time, because if you put 3 it goes really slow and bends it into hard boards that are caught between shredded and hard as a brick. Alos they are still readable. Do not ask how I know this.
I over- thunk myself into doing it myself. I assume I can trust myself, except of course the memory losses that continue to mount each day.
I said to Bob... I do solemnly swear, I will shred one shredder box a day until the bed is clear.
I could tell he was thinking, why are you telling me?
The first day, I did one box full. Time 30 minutes.
Second day, 2nd box. Time 30 minutes. I thought I will do one more.
150 minutes later, I carried the two trash bags stuffed with all the shredded stuff and a drawer that was sitting on the bed, through the house, through the garage and around the house and put it all in the trash bin.
The next morning, I went to get out of bed and my back was out.
I have a trick back, full of Arthritis. I can walk as long as I want to, but
I CAN"T STAND IN ONE spot for more than 10 minutes. The longer I stand the more the back will hurt the next day. It doesn't hurt while I am doing it, it waits to leap with glee and make me walk hunched over like a proper hunchback. I simply forgot I could not stand in one place that long.
Memory issues made me forget there was a CHAIR practically touching my foot.
Bob said, for petes sake, it was ONLY PAPER. I said Paper is heavy, it doesn't get any lighter because it is SHREDDED. He replied, well why didn't you ask me to take it out for you?
I forgot I could not stand, forgot to sit down and work, I forgot I don't carry heavy stuff.
Can you say Memory Loss?
I am fine, I took two ibuprofens at bedtime, which brings me to "Pain Pill Issues."
to be continued
20 comments:
This is sounding more and more like me. I just returned from the back surgeon recently. He diagnosed my not being able to stand for more than 10 minutes as Facet Arthritis in my back. He said injections will work. So I will be seeing the injection doctor for a consult. All that paperwork in such a short time, it's a wonder you didn't get really sick.
Hari OM
As a fellow spinal painer, I hear ya... and you put me to shame because I have been avoiding doing exactly that sort of clearout; the have to read everything just in case before destruction... sigh... YAM xx
hugs to you.... if you need helpers for shredding, call us.. we are good in shredding things...
I have a lot of stuff by the shredder waiting to be done. I too have to feed the maw of the small machine one sheet at a time, and quite quickly the noise makes me grit my teeth. Must get to it soon though.
Hello,
I am sorry you were or are in such pain. Shredding your paper work is a good idea. My hubby handles all that and saves a big pile for a bonfire in the backyard. Take care, have a great day!
I don't have the problem with standing in the same place too long but I tend to forget that I'm not wonder woman any more. I can no longer leap over tall buildings in a single bound.
That's a lot of paper to shred. I probably would have had a big fire in the back yard.
I just went through stuff in the mice, though I will say over the past few, as in 20 yrs, I have at different times hone through things, and I have built fires and burned stuff..but even with a fire, you have to stand and make sure it burns.
Definitely shred. I had to buy 2 new shredders back in 2014 while going thru my parents papers and clearing out their house. I cannot tell you how shocked I was to see that Daddy used their Jacuzzi as a file cabinet. The Jacuzzi was about 3'deep. Papers were up to the rim. This is 100% the truth.
I do a big shred every 6 months. I don't want to leave 4' of documents for the kiddos to have to manage.
Hugs Cecilia
I'm so sorry you are hurting. Please take it easy and rest.
I don't have a shredder, so I tear my papers and then put them in the middle of the dog poop that's going to the dump. I've been to our local dump many times and I'm not worried about what may happen to the papers there.
Sorry about your back. We always forget we are not up to doing the things we used to do with ease anymore. It’s not easy to change a lifetime of habits.
SHRED. Your clear out to-do list made me address mine about a week ago. First sort all the unfiled papers, then go through the files one each day, sort and throw stuff out for shredding. Now it isn't scaring me like it used to and the bags of shredded paper have gone into the compost bins. I found a pension fund I didn't know I still had and have consolidated it with one that I did remember I still had. It was tiny and I got confused because one pension fund business bought out another and I ended up with two different investments in the same business. I had wondered for a while why I was getting what looked like repeat mailings. I hope your back recovers quickly - and then you will forget because it doesn't hurt and will do another challenging thing....
That's alway such a chore. One of our local TV stations hosts free shred days 4 times a year. You are allowed 4 bankers boxes each time. We take all of stuff there. They shred it all right in front of you.
Welcome to the world of shredding...we have finally finished a huge amount of paper just like you.
It feels so good to be rid of it. Our shredder will take 3 or 4 sheets at a time. Now we just tear off our names and addresses and any pertinent info on the pages and the rest goes straight into the trash.
Going through our financial problems several years ago has made us get rid of old "history" what a load off our backs...speaking of which, I'm so sorry your back is giving you fits. Hope it continues to heal.
Sue
Once again my husbands technical and security side has had him shredding since 2000 ....
So sorry your back had problems. My back is getting the same way. I have been taking Advil or Tylenol when it bothers me but lately that has been messing with my tummy. Never a dull moment, right?
Sandra, I can understand how time-consuming this has been and not to mention difficult to haul all that shredded paper to the garbage. A couple of years ago, I went through many back years of tax returns and shredded some more sensitive info with name/address than cut or tore other sheets. My system is to have a couple of bags going and to put some of the cut-up pages in either, but not all in the same bag. I know it sounds crazy but shredding everything would have burned out the shredder for sure. Hopefully, you will be done and in future keep a watch on saving papers. It happens to everyone and we keep more than we should for longer than needed.
OUCHie!
... but props for having the self-discipline to do the job yourself. Trusting a third-party with all my personally identifiable information was a bitter pill to swallow, but nothing's happened in almost 6 years so there's that.
I take Meloxicam "as needed" for my back issues, but that's turning into an everyday thing. I think I'm going to start using the TENS unit my son gave Tom a few years ago that he never turned on.
Mom does an annual shredding of all important papers from the year before the last year (i.e. shred 2022 and keep 2023) - that is for the receipts and such that SHE keeps. It makes it so much more manageable. BUT Dad recently decided to clear out a lot of HIS stuff, and yes, it went back a good ten years. Mom spent several days and filled five giant trash bags with shredded paper. We tried to tell her that we were good shredders too:)
Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber
Oh my, those are old papers. I have a huge stack of papers to go through but Mark is going to take it to get shredded someday because they are still current accounts.We used to have a shredder but he got tired of doing that.
We burn our papers. Shredders were fun at at first but we’re over it. Sorry about your back. I know how that is as well.
We don't have a shredder. I soak a pile of my papers in water until they're easy to tear into smaller pieces, drain most of the water out of them and mix them with wet garbage. Andy hauls the garbage bags out to the dumpster.
That was a huge job for you!!
Post a Comment