Spring cleaning

The most common usage of spring cleaning refers to the yearly act of cleaning a house from top to bottom which would take place in the first warm days of the year typically in spring, hence the name. However it has also come to be synonymous with any kind of heavy duty cleaning or organizing enterprise. A person who gets their affairs in order before an audit or inspection could be said to be doing some spring cleaning.

So I guess for lack of a better term, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do with my room… and failing miserably at it.

Not really “failing,” but I’m the type of guy who likes to get things done quickly once started – and for some reason, I can’t seem to get a good flow in reorganizing shit beyond my main desk.

Still, it’s better than nothing.

I did a whole bunch of “modifications” on my main desk area to maximize the space efficiency.

First, with the exception of the mixer, I all my audio stuff aside – only to be pulled out when needed. Same goes for any extra accessory (e.g. the graphic tablet).

Next, I moved the modem to the side of the table ¹ You can see hanging on the edge of the desk (leftmost side of the picture) by channeling the spirit of McGyver and fashioning hooks and adhesive – to avoid putting holes in the table. Actually the only reason I had to go through such a convoluted process that I didn’t have a drill… if I did, I’d probably drilling holes everywhere like a mofo!

Streamlining even more, I got myself some LCD arms which allowed me to reclaim precious space that was once taken by my LCDs’ “feet.” It also had the added benefit of being positioned anywhere and in any way without sacrificing space.

You probably noticed from the picture how the TC’s (Time Capsule) now vertically oriented… I took the stand of one of my hard disk enclosures, sawed and sanded it on certain places, did some more McGyvering, and there you have it.

In case you didn’t know, the TC can get pretty hot. I’m touching it right now and the bottom (rubber side) is hotter than the top (where the logo is). I figure more heat gets trapped in that area – so I guess doing that modification was a good thing. Plus, its easier to see the status indicator that way 😉

It also freed up much needed space. The TC’s pretty wide, and since it gets hot, you wouldn’t feel comfortable putting anything on top of it (or having it on top of anything). So having a wide and flat thing taking up space can get quite irritating.

Next up was my USB hub… small, light and flat – very unruly as it can end up in the darndest places (and lots of wires can out of it). There had to be a way to deal with that right? So I got some 3M reclosable fasteners and mounted it to the side of the mixer.

So there you have it, a leaner, cleaner, and efficient workspace. For the heck of it, I loaded up all the other stuff Just to see how much I can fit into the table given the new layout… everything fits:

Am I a pack-rat or what?