Delete, delete, delete

 

You know what? The e-mail issue was probably a VERY GOOD thing. It forced me to take a serious look at my e-mail situation, and it's BAD. 

I'm pretty good at filing e-mails into my complex (well - it's not that complex) file folder system. But I do need to delete some of those folders. I don't belong to any guilds now - no need to keep any of guild-related e-mails. And just like that - GONE!! There are other folders of e-mails that I no longer need to keep. Let's just say that I did a LOT of deleting yesterday. 

Not many e-mails left

I know that some of you will think that 805 e-mails is a lot, and it is. But it was close to 15,000 before. So yes - thank you to Microsoft Outlook for making me clean up! And will I really miss any of those e-mails? Likely not. I'm not sure what happened, but as I was further deleting yesterday, it was hard to determine the logic that had occurred with the deleted files. There didn't' appear to be any logic. 

However, I was SAVED by that IMPORTANT folder. For some reason, some of the important e-mails stayed in that folder. I know - it's bizarre. I needed some attachments and links for work, and I was just about to send e-mails out to try and recover them when I thought of checking that folder, and VOILA -- ALL the links and attachments I needed were there. It's bizarre, but I don't care. I've moved on! 

I saved a lot and deleted a lot yesterday. Took hours, but I'm OK with that. I'm nowhere near finished - but progress is being made. I remember saying that I did want to do that this year. Now I'm forced. 

OK - so here's another thing that needs to be fixed. I know there's a setting to fix this - I just can't remember where it is, so I'll be doing a wee bit of research today. It would appear that ALL of my messages are still sitting on the server. ALL my messages from how many years? I've no idea, but that's why I had to buy more storage from Google. 

I honestly thought it was all the e-mail in my inbox, but NO - nothing seems to have been deleted off the server, and they just "made" me buy more storage. I know there's a setting that deletes off the server after so many days, and I must find that. 

In the meantime, this is what I found. 

In the PROMOTIONS category - I found close to 20,000 conversations. Yes - that's all the "junk" e-mail you get about sales and promotions, etc. I think I did manage to delete this yesterday, but it only got rid of 1 GB of storage, and there is a total of 17 GB attributed to e-mail. Oh my - what other treasures am I going to find? 

A lot of garbage sitting on the e-mail server

I'm learning so much - if you go to the Google tabs, there's one for storage that even tells you how to clear up storage space. Lots of deleted messages, files with huge attachments, etc. 

Cleaning up files on Google

And BIG warning signs when you hit delete! You have to click a box to agree to the deletions and then a BIG red button that says PERMANENTLY DELETE. I guess they've had issues in the past. 

Cleaning up the Google server

I used it with reckless abandon yesterday. I mean - this has to be dealt with. I did Unsubscribe from one or two e-mails yesterday, and I need to do more today. But - how the heck is one supposed to know all this stuff???? 

I was feeling pretty confident by lunchtime and grabbed another folder of paper crap. 

The next pile of paper crap to deal with

Oh my god -- so much of it was from when I was working full time a couple of years ago. I rescued the paper that can be reused in the printer, recycled what I could, and I did leave a pile that I want to address in more detail. But that initial purge took about 15 minutes. Why didn't I do this before? 

What's left to go through in greater detail

The big question now is, do I keep doing the quick purge? Or do I tackle one stack at a time and deal with it completely? I think I should do one stack at a time. Otherwise, it's going to be very boring to do all that final purge at once. God - I found a calendar from 2017 with pictures of quilts. Why did I keep it? No idea - it's gone. Lots of other silly stuff is gone, and there are a few things I want to take pictures of, and they will be gone as well. 

I did NOT get to finishing the distribution lists, so I hope to work on those today. I did have a project for work that needed to be done - paperwork. The first half is done and sent off, and all that remains is the second half, which I should finish today. I moved my laptop upstairs to Studio U so I could enjoy the sun. It was glorious!!!

Then I was off to the library as part of my afternoon walk. I picked up my book from the curbside pick-up. The library has made curbside very easy, and I was partway home before realizing that my bag was different. OH MY - there was a big pipe cleaner ORANGE BOW on the bag. It was tucked in so no one would see it when the bag was on the pick-up table. I know exactly who put that there!!! One of the librarians that I chat with from time to time. I bet it was her!!! You know something? I don't think I know her name, or I can't remember it if I do. Thanks for the chuckle. I had a huge smile on my face for the remainder of the walk. 

My big orange pipe cleaner bow

And you know what? It's as simple as that to make someone's day. It didn't cost anything, but it made me smile, and I thank her so much for it!

It was a glorious day for a walk. I wore a hat when I left the house, but I had to take it off at one point. The sun was blazing down, and it was amazing. 

So I was back to Studio U to finish my paperwork, and while I waited for the e-mail to synchronize on the laptop, I decided to tackle that stack of books that I pulled from the cupboard to make room for the handwork. 

OH MY GOD!!!!  I found some brochures about Husqvarna Viking software. I thought I had picked these up at my local dealer. 

 

Brochures on Husqvarna Viking embroidery software

But NO - I picked these up in California!!!  I used to go to California for business a couple of times a year. So this would have been picked up in 1997 or 1998. I loved to visit Eddie's Quilting Bee - it was a great quilt shop. If I remember correctly, the son was taking it over from his mother or something like that. 

Eddie's Quilting Bee

I just checked, and the place is still open. It doesn't appear that they sell Husqvarna Viking any longer. And they are in Sunnyvale, not Mountain View. Oh my!!! That was a long time ago. I guess I don't need to keep these, but what a fun memory! Time to move on. 

Shortly after that visit, I purchased my grown-up sewing machine - a Husqvarna Viking Designer I (which I still have). 

I also found some books on machine embroidery, and while they are dated - the largest hoop was 4" by 4"!!!!!!  Imagine!!!  That's not entirely true - the book was written in 2001, and my Designer I had a larger hoop than that. But the machines in the book look like toys!!!

It's still got great information, and I figured since I bought it - I should read it!!!  That's what I did last night instead of handwork!

There's so much more to go through! BUT - the mess didn't accumulate in a day, and I can't expect to clean it up in a day. I need to focus on those smaller piles of stuff that require a bit more attention. Then I can tackle a new pile. 

And I have some quilting and sewing to do today, as well as to finish that work-related project. Another busy day, but with nothing on the schedule but stuff for me? Well, it's a glorious day. 

Before I go, I need to share this with you. OH MY GOD - I do NOT need another book, but I found this book somewhere yesterday, and I WANT IT. If you love small things - you will also want this book.  It's not coming until the end of January!! I want it now!!!! 

On that note, I'm reining myself in and going to be content with what I have. 

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!