Becky has convinced me finally that it’s time to update my office. It is on the main floor just off the entrance to the house, and this far I’ve been treating it like a giant dumping ground. I have four different types of cabinets, two different colored desks and a bookshelf that doesn’t go with any of the above. The walls are white and there are papers and electronics everywhere. So we’re going to be painting the room Manhattan Mist (silver-ish) and trying to find a new bookshelf that looks semi-modern. I’m also supposed to get rid of the mass of papers in all my file cabinets.
So that means I have to clean up. I’m a noted pack-rat, so I have pretty much every bill and paystub from 1998 on in my office. Here are some of the gems I found while digging (I’m reporting them here so I can throw them away without guilt):
- Plain Facts article about me starting my first job in June 1996 – my profile says I’m one of the few remaining Twins fans at the time
- Jan 30, 2001 letter from Becky and me to Kona Hawaiian Village by the Sea requesting to "undo" the purchase of a timeshare in Hawaii. We got caught up in the moment and made an irrational decision. Thankfully you have 7 days to back out and we did.
- May 1996 hand-written balance sheet calculating how me and my friend Uggie were going to spend our salaries. His first job was in Phoenix, AZ so I had him down for $800 of Suns tickets. I factored in the cost of a guitar and computer and $300 to spend on women (if only it would have been that much)
- 1994 – my first credit card with Discover. I signed the back of the card with neon-blue ink – not sure why.
- 1998 – picture of our first house while under construction with all the notes about what we wanted added to the house
- Jan 1996 – one of my last paychecks from the U of M for student government
- All of my raise notification sheets from my first real job – I love to keep those
- Jan 15, 1997 – my first attempt to buy a lake house – I’m actually glad that one fell through ($62,500 at the time)
- Sep 1999 – my second attempt to buy lake shore – I’m pissed about this one – 270′ lakeshore for $28,675 – would be worth about 10 times that now.
- 1998 Church Guide – it’s always fun to look at the old pictures, and it frankly helped me learn some names. It’s interesting to see people back then with no kids knowing they have 4 now.
- Circa 1993 scientific calculator. I turned it on and thought for sure it wasn’t working, but after about 2 minutes the light started to flicker. I was amazed.
- All my Premier Technology stock purchases which turned out to be a fiasco. Nothing keeps you humble like being reminded of the times you took it on the chin in the market
That’s my little trip down memory lane. Hopefully I can fit my slimmed down version of my files into the fancy new office.
Eric's space 