Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Day 385

I'm trying to simplify. Today, when I was setting up categories for my new accounting program, I decided that groceries would suffice as a category for all my grocery shopping. In my old accounting program, there were a multitude of sub-categories for paper towels, laundry detergent, juice, vegetables and lord knows what. It took me forever to reconcile things because by the time my credit card bill arrived a month after I bought the groceries, I'd totally forgotten what I'd bought. For years I just made up things to put in these categories. The totals were correct, but who knows if I really bought paper towels or not. I don't know why I felt compelled to fill out all the sub-category boxes, because my accountant told me several times that he wasn't interested in how much I spent on juice or multi-vitamins. Well, all that's in the past now. From now on, when I got to the grocery store all my purchases are just going to get lumped together as groceries.

I overcomplicate my life in so many odd little ways. I save the boxes for most things I purchase and put them in the storage warehouse. I always thought that if we moved to another part of the country someday, it would be good to have the original boxes to pack things in. Over the years, I've put some things back in their boxes as I've retired them. The problem I'm having now is that I can't remember which boxes are full and which are empty. I need to throw away some boxes to make room for more stuff, but I'd hate to throw away a full box. Especially if it contains a vintage camera or something. I'm having to open and look through all the boxes, just to see if they are empty or not.

As part of my simplification campaign, I'm going to switch to Final Cut Pro for editing video projects. I probably should have done this several years ago. I've edited using Adobe Premier, Avid Media Composer and Media 100. For some reason I grew fond of Media 100 and kept using it long after it fell out of favor in the editing community. Nobody uses Media 100 anymore. Come to think of it, nobody even uses video tape anymore. It's been several years since anyone asked me to finish a project on video tape. All they want is a DVD now. Maybe I'll be able to retire the tape machines soon. That would certainly free up some additional space in the office.

I took Dash to get his antigen shot again today. His coat is looking great and he only needs the shot once every two weeks now. I hope he stays healthy. My vet has gone on maternity leave again. She won't be back until March.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day