Simpler Living

Television

2006-05-31T01:01:00.000-05:00

Not wanting to haul a 100 lb monster up four flights, I sold my 27" television. The goal was to replace it with an LCD HDTV version when I moved. However, after 10 weeks without television, I can honestly say that I'm more productive without it.

Typically, I would come home around 6 or 7 and tune in to endless re-runs on the networks. Without cable television, there just isn't that much to watch. Nevertheless, television was a surrogate roommate. Entertaining at times, annoying at others, but always there.

Now time in my condo is spent on my laptop surfing towards the boundaries of the internet. When I reach the end every night, I turn to work. As an independent consult, my time is money. Not having television has directly led to more money in my pocket. That's not so bad.

What I miss most is watching sporting events. March Madness, Saturday baseball on Fox, and the NBA playoffs make me long for the idiot box. When October rolls around, I'm not sure if I can go without watching my Yankees flame out in the playoffs.

Cable Confusion

2006-04-07T23:34:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought I was doing well, I manged to fill 3 boxes with surge protectors, cables, and extension cords. This is rather alarming, as everything in those 3 boxes was being used. The next step will be to reduce the number of gadgets.

Step one involves selling a computer and getting down to 2. The need to run multiple operating systems and to have a hot backup compels me to own multiple computers. However, the third (a Linux desktop) can be retired. Joining the desktop in retirement are a 19" LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a KVM. That's one box of cords eliminated.

I really would like to retire my printer. But alas, that remains a dream. Paper is still prevalent in today's world.

Sporting Equipment

2006-03-27T22:49:00.000-06:00

Playing and watching sports have been a major component of my life. With each passing year, the number of leagues and athletic events I participate in declines. This coincides with an increase in my weight.

With some regret, I sold the majority of my sporting equipment to Play It Again Sports. I can't imagine a quicker way of turning $2,000 worth of goods into a $100 check. Just when I thought computers had no resale value, I met the used sporting goods market.

I'm left with two bicycles, softball gear, running shoes, and of course, camping gear. Besides the camping gear, I actually use the other paraphernalia about once a week. The quest to eliminate items that serve no purpose continues.

Books

2006-03-26T03:44:00.000-06:00

If you're like me, you have books lying around that you paid amazon.com for, but have never gotten around to read. On top of that, there are books neatly organized in a prominent viewing area to demonstrate how well-read and interesting you are. In reality, they just collect dust.

My next step in simplification is reducing my collection of books to 1 bookshelf. Essentially, that's about 3 feet across. Titles such as I Ain't Got Time To Bleed are easy choices for reduction. In contrast, eliminating The Origin of Species and A Brief History of Time required more contemplation. In the end, I realized that these two titles only served to demonstrate to a non-existent audience my supposed education level. How silly.

On Monday, 80% of my books will be donated to the public library, including most of those overpriced computer tomes. Just the thought of being free from all that paper is liberating.

Step One

2006-03-21T23:46:00.000-06:00

I'm two weeks away from moving out of my 1300 ft² house and into a 700 ft² condo. This is the first major step in reducing my possessions and simplifying life. Losing 600 ft² of habitable space, a garage, a workshop, and a storage shed forces me to make difficult decisions about my belongings. Only a small subset of what I own will survive the move.

A storage unit is not an option, as I don't have any sentimental attachment to my stuff. Moreover, storage units cost money. Who wants to allocate a portion of his disposable income to house useless crap?

To prepare for my move, I've established a simple filter for my possessions: if I can't transport the item myself up to my third floor condo, it will be sold or donated. This includes my bed, futon, sofa, recliner, desk, tables, fish tanks, and a 27" TV. In essence, I'm starting over.

Anything purchased from this point forward must improve my quality of life. Otherwise, it will remain in my online shopping cart. This simple test will help me from accumulating 3 vacuums, 5 bicycles, and 4 computers.

Stay tuned for progress reports.