Cleaning Stuff Up

Last weekend I got on a bit of a cleaning binge.  I had some stuff that needed to be cleaned in the basement because of mice invasion, and I also had some new totes to help in organization.  So into the basement I went.  While cleaning, I also decided to get rid of all the puzzles that I did when I was a kid.

I loved doing jigsaw puzzles when I was a teenager.  It was part of my therapy along with playing minesweeper and playing the piano (although I didn't realize it at the time).  They're good ways to exercise your mind while also allowing it to wander and think a bit.  At least for me.  My parents indulged this hobby and bought me more puzzles and contact paper.  I would put contact paper on the back of them to keep them together, and then I hung them up on the walls in my room.  It was my "wallpaper" that helped disguise the pink stripe wallpaper in the room.  When my parents moved and I moved, they boxed them up and sent them with me.  On Saturday I decided that if I hadn't used them in more than 15 years, then I probably wasn't going to.  So all 40 of them went into the trash.  Yes, 40.  I don't think any of them were less than 500 pieces, and I think I had several that were 2000 pieces.

I almost kept one for sentimental value, but decided it would just gather dust, so into the trash it went.  Inside one of the boxes were two pieces of art that I drew in high school.  I didn't have the heart to throw them away.  I'm not sure what to do with them yet - they're sitting in the living room awaiting a decision.

At work today, I found out about this little new article.  It's quite interesting on the reaction to women in technology fields.  There is no scientific research quoted, but the movement is interesting regardless.

Here is another article on women in technology and why they leave.  You may find it interesting, especially the part about women having a bias along with men toward female employees.

That's all I've got for today.  Farm out.