piranha | how organized am i? (Reply)

epi_lj ranted about this lj-meme, and i took it just for amusement value, being as i don't consider myself to be an organized person.

At a minimum, you should know exactly where to find these possessions (assuming, of course, you own them—and you should): (a little patronizing and prescriptive here, aren't we?)

* stamps -- at any post office. we send so little snailmail now that it's not worth buying booklets; they'll have raised the price before we need them again. also, we send more non-standard than standard sized stuff.
* your passport and if you’re married, your spouse’s passport -- mine has expired. i should really head to vancouver to renew it. yeah yeah. i think i know where the paramour's is. no idea where the *poing*'s is, but i bet i could find it quickly.
* a corkscrew -- we don't drink anything that requires one. i vaguely recall that we have one, but not where. well, there aren't that many choices in the kitchen.
* Bandaids -- in the bathroom, wall cabinet. also in one of my emergency kits.
* a safety pin -- bunches of them are in various places in my room. i have no idea why; i rarely use them. there's some in one of my emergency kits.
* a flashlight -- one on my primary keyring, one on my secondary keyring. one on the tool cabinet in the living room, one in the truck's glove compartment (these always work, we have others that may or may not work).
* a functioning alarm clock -- FSVO "functioning", unplugged on the paramour's nightstand. my watch also has an alarm feature, as does the paramour's. where is my watch ... ah, there. (on my desk.) (everything is on my desk, *heh*.)
* paperclips or a stapler -- paperclips on my desk somewhere, in a round container. stapler on the paramour's desk somewhere.
* your phone charger -- the main phone is plugged in. the paramour's cellphone charger is on zir desk somewhere. the cordless phone's is in the kitchen, but the cordless phone doesn't work anymore. i should go get a new battery for it.
* a spare set of keys -- we each have one which is the spare for the other person. local friends and the landlord have 2 more sets, but i would bet that the latter couldn't find theirs, and i'm not so sure about the former either. i know where our copy of theirs is, though. :)
* your doctor’s phone number -- in the phone book. also on the pill containers.
* cinnamon -- in one of the spice boxes in the kitchen. it's not my most used spice, or i'd know which box. no wait, it's not in a box, it's in the container on the window sill. i should really move it from there.
* your tax statements from 2003 -- bound to be in the white filing cabinet.
* fabric stain remover -- under the bathroom sink.
* a pair of mittens -- hahaha. mittens. i hate mittens. i also live in BC. i have no mittens.
* spare AA batteries -- several in the process of being recharged, several others waiting to be, and some ready to be used -- temporarily on the workbench in my room (temporarily because that workbench should not be there).

Congratulate yourself for being well-organized if you can also say exactly where you’d find these objects:

* a tape measure -- a small one on my secondary keyring, one, no two within arm's reach on my desk, several more on the tool shelves in the LR, one in the truck -- one can never have too many tape measures, apparently.
* your high-school yearbook -- don't have one.
* a Swiss army knife -- you know, i don't know where that one is. i lost track of it at some point, and it might be altogether lost (which would explain why i can't recall it). i can't find my sharp fillet knife either, or the fish clubber.
* a pencil sharpener -- on my desk.
* a copy of Pride and Prejudice or The Da Vinci Code -- at the local library, no doubt.
* the instruction manual for your camera -- in one of the boxes containing manuals.
* silver polish -- toothpaste does the job. not like i own a lot of silver.
* a vase the proper size to hold a bunch of tulips -- i don't remember where our one vase is; did we maybe leave it in etobicoke? i don't like freshly killed flowers; i prefer them potted and alive. occasionally i use a glass to keep a flower i found already pre-killed, or weed-flowers that i must eliminate but can't bring myself to toss on the compost righy away.
* food coloring -- in the stove cabinet. food colouring is fun for dough craft and dye experiments.
* a tube of lip balm -- tiny carmex jars. one on my desk, one in the living room behind the futon, one in the truck, an empty one in the bathroom.
* a cheese knife -- we have one of those wire ones. i think it's in the box in the big kitchen cabinet. we don't use it.
* an extension cord -- in the living room, plugged in, ready to do duty for the vacuum cleaner. one long external one is coiled up and tied to the tool shelves. we have other ones, probably in the cord box, and randomly floating around.
* a recipe for a favorite food your mother or father used to make -- my father didn't cook. my mother's cooking sucked. all my recipes are either in books, or in one of several flat files. i grep for recipes. :)
* a pack of playing cards -- two decks of bridge cards are somewhere in a small white box (formerly used for votives) in a miscellaneous box. i haven't used them since leaving champaign-urbana. my master points are in that box too, i think. and some old scoresheets. yes, i used to play duplicate bridge tournaments. those were the days.
* a pad of sticky notes (Post-Its) -- a couple different sizes are on my desk. there are more in boxes. i especially like the little coloured flag ones.

i find things easily not because every thing has its place (hahahahaha) but because i have an interesting visual/kinesthetic memory. i am better at finding stuff, even stuff other people mislaid (if i watched them use it last, or if i have a good sense of their organizational methods), than most people i know.