I tried to jam one more half-used package of post-it notes into my desk drawer today.  They wouldn’t fit, and I decided it was time to clean out my desk drawers once and for all.

The stuff that comes out of a desk drawer is remarkable.  Here’s a list of oddities, in no particular order.

• Plastic paperclips.  I don’t like plastic paperclips and don’t use them by choice, but a few of them somehow found their way in and bred like rabbits.
• Hardware driver CD’s.  Everyone has them, and everyone keeps them because they seem like something that should be important.  They’re not, and you’ll end up throwing out the hardware long before you ever crack the seals on these.
• Obsolete computer cables.  My assortment included a hodgepodge of keyboard and monitor cables for a KVM switch long-departed, a 9 pin serial cable, at least a dozen power cables (true, these aren’t technically obsolete, but they seem to breed like plastic paperclips), several mouse adapters that let you plug a USB mouse into an old PS2 style mouse plugin, and a curly keyboard extension cable for the really old AT style keyboard plugs.
• Old medicines.  My array included some long-expired packages of Advil and some equally-ancient Benadryl caplets.
• A very old IBM notepad with “THINK” embossed on the faux-lizard-skin cover.  This must date back to the 1960’s or 1970’s, and it actually is pretty cool - if I had any use for a paper notepad.
• Batteries to cell phones disposed of long ago.
• A spring-loaded badge holder with a retracting spring.  It allows you to wear your security badge on your belt, removing all doubt that you’re a nerd.  It seemed like a good idea at the time … you wore it once and realized that you were a nerd, and it lived the rest of its life in your desk drawer.
• Cable ties.  These are another thing that have the appearance of being incredibly useful.  Usually just a long strip of velcro, they inspire you to clean up the birds nest of cables behind your desk.  That is - if you ever decide to vacuum behind there.
• A PDA that you stopped using about four years ago.  I found two - my old Palm III (practically a collector’s item now) and a less-useful iPaq that was getting long in the tooth in 2003.  Not even worth listing on eBay, sadly.
• Conference swag.  This is the stuff they give you at conferences that seems cool for the first fifteen seconds, and simply weighs you down after.  Other than the silly-putty in the cool metal tin and the combination screwdriver that actually does come in handy from time to time, the rest of it got mercilessly tossed.
• Tibetan prayer beads.  When I’m really frustrated I’ll fiddle with these.  They’re a keeper.
• Pens that don’t work.
• Pencils that are out of lead.
• Erasers that haven’t erased since the Reagan administration.
• A combination calculator / tip computer / mileage recorder / blood pressure analyzer / body mass index calculator that doesn’t turn on because the batteries started leaking in the late 90’s.
• Postage stamps of varying denominations and vintages.
• A single foreign coin you found in a vending machine.
• An extra pair of shoelaces for the shoes you aren’t wearing today.
• A membership card to some dorky club you actually sent money to.
• Obsolete flash media (in my case, a 16 meg SmartMedia card I got with my first 2 megapixel digital camera).

On a sidenote … the photo of the paperclips above is the thirty-four hundredth photo I have taken with my Nikon D80.  Not that this has any relevance, but this post is pretty irrelevant to begin with.

2 comments
Posted in Blog
Written on Wed, 23 January 2008 at 1:59 pm
Tags: desk junk, Nikon, photography
If you liked this post, then consider subscribing to our full RSS feed.