(no subject)

[the_rck]

I have a few goals for the next year. A lot of the things I need are outside of my ability to control, so they can't really be goals. Still, there are some things that I can do.

Empty one of the bookshelves in my bedroom so that I can move my bedside table if I need to.

Rearrange the bathroom cabinet so that it reflects what I think should be where rather than what the cleaning lady thinks should be where. This will involve throwing some things out and asking Scott and Cordelia for input. (The cabinet is directly over the toilet, with the sink on one side and the free standing storage cupboard on the other. There's no space between the sink and the toilet and not more than an inch or two between the toilet and the cupboard), and there's no way to get at it without reaching from a distance. There's nowhere to put a step stool any closer in, so I can't safely even see the top shelf. The cleaning lady keeps putting stuff I need up there. I think it's because my stuff is things like ziplocs of toothbrushs or dental floss. Every time I need something, I end up dumping things into the toilet accidentally.

Update and maintain our list of canned goods.

Update and maintain our list of freezer contents.

Figure out a good way to label food in the fridge with the date it went in.

Figure out a good way to put on my hiking boots without destroying my hands. If I can do that, I may set a goal about gaining a specific Ingress badge or two (which will require going out and walking). If I can't, walking outside won't be safe until some time in April.

Shelve the books piled in the basement. Move books from living room to dining room or basement or study.

Watch the DVDs I own but haven't watched yet.

Donate more books that I'm never going to read again. Donate jigsaw puzzles.

Finish 6 of my shortish WIP. I've picked a few that I think will be straightforward to complete.

Comments

[lunabee34]

I don't know if this would work for you, but my parents have always just put a piece of masking tape on the tupperware and written the date on it in sharpie; the tape just peels right off.

[evalerie]

Similarly, I use blue painters' tape for labeling things, and then write on it in Sharpie. It works well, and peels off easily -- though I would guess that with your hand issues that's not actually easy. :(

[the_rck]

I was thinking more of the difficulties in getting all three of us to do whatever process I select reliably and routinely. Part of that will be finding a place to store the tape and marker where they won't be difficult to reach or require extra steps to retrieve.

I know us. We'll assume that we'll finish whatever it is in two days so that the date won't actually matter. Then we won't. Because this is the way of refrigerators. (And, if we do label it, we actually will eat it promptly because that is the way of us.)

[evalerie]

Oh I hear you on that!!!

Hm. What about marking little pieces of masking tape with the names of the days of the week. Then you could stick tape to a cabinet or wall when they are not in use, or to a container when it goes into the fridge, and move the bit of tape back to the wall for re-use when the container is emptied. Though I think the hard parts with that would be (1) getting people to do it, (2) noticing tape to take it off before the container goes into the dishwasher, and (3) I'm still not sure that that would work with your hands.

Hm.

[the_rck]

I was thinking of something like that, but the part I need to figure out is making sure that the tape and marker are in an easily accessed place that doesn't require searching or going into another room or doing anything that makes the process effort intensive. I want to remove the barriers to us actually putting labels on.

[lunabee34]

My parents keep a magnetized thing on their fridge with a notepad and a marker in it. Could you put the tape and the sharpie in a magnetized thing on the fridge?

[badfalcon]

I'm really good at creating that spreadsheet of what's in my kitchen, but really not very good at using or maintaining it.

Good luck with your goals

[the_rck]

Maintenance would be our big problem. The list isn't very useful if we don't update it, and we just... don't. I think that if only one of us ever used the canned goods, it might be more feasible.

The lure of "Oh, right. I'll remember to update the list after lunch" unbelievably powerful.

[evalerie]

My winter boots slip on and off with no hands needed. I wonder if a pair of boots that works like that would help?

Would it be helpful to add some kind of "catcher" around the bathroom cabinet so that things that fall will generally land in it instead of in the toilet? I'm having a hard time picturing exactly how that would work; maybe some kind of hard plastic skirt that flares upward at the edges (and doesn't bonk toilet-users in the head)? Hm.

I'd be happy to come over and assist with a project if you would like company and a helper.

[the_rck]

I have slip on boots, but they're not hiking boot level traction or ankle support, and I really desperately need both in the winter. The boots that are easy to put on are risky to walk in if there's snow or ice, so I don't use them for anything that takes me out farther than pulling the trash bin to the curb.

I'm not sure we could manage a catcher. There's so very little space behind the toilet, and it's covered with stuff that we use every day and would otherwise have to try to wedge into the cupboard. We don't have any counter space at all in the bathroom. Putting a catcher higher up would block my (and Cordelia's) access to higher shelves. Reaching any of the shelves is awkward because either the sink or the toilet is in the way.

But I would welcome company for the pulling stuff out and sorting through it part. I also need to organize the cupboard of plastic storage containers which suffers from the facts that Scott's the only one who can reach it without a step stool and that Cordelia and I are the ones who put away clean dishes.