100 Things Challenge – A Mental Exercise

It’s been a rough day dealing with the babies, between my wife and I.  My daughter, Screamerella, and my son, Whiny McStinkypants were inconsolable.  My other kid, Owen, not so bad.

I’m tired and bitchy (in a manly way, of course) and I’m pretty certain that I’ve been recycling pictures for my articles but am too delirious to figure it out for sure.

So, it took me up to 11pm to get this post out, but here it is.  I definitely didn’t skimp on the verbiage, it’s the longest post I’ve written.

Sometimes I like to sit in quietude with my Fischer space pen and Moleskine and try to wrap my mind around possibilities like, for example, whether it’s possible for a single person in his mid-thirties, with a corporate job and reason to set up roots where he lives, to have 100 Things overall.  Of course, I’m not single.  I’m married with baby triplets, and I’m reasonably certain that it can’t be done in those conditions but I tried to work through the process as if I didn’t have family and investigate the possibilities.

So…grab a coffee or tea, this is a long, meandering one.  If you’re impatient like I am most days and don’t care about the hyperbole, just scroll to the end for the full list.

It helped a bit when I evaluated my potential list against my actual 100 Things Challenge.  I knew when I was writing it, there were ways to simplify further were my conditions different.  I also didn’t include any shared items like furniture or bedding on the initial list.

As I work through the logic and list that follows, I’m including furniture, bedding, appliances etc.  And as I write this paragraph, I’m not sure it can be done.  We’ll see by the time I get to the end of the post.

I am basing this on my life as a corporate employee (read – cube rat).  I acknowledge it would be a lot easier if I were a digital nomad, but I’m not. It’d be easier if I lived in a nudist colony (do they still have those?).

So with all the caveats on top of caveats out of the way…

Let’s walk through a typical day in the life of Corporate mule come Blogger, Charley, where I theoretically would hit the major categories of stuff.  I’ll bold the items that I need to count as I go.

I wake up out of my Bed, kick off the sheets set, and goosedown comforter and notice that there’s drool stuck to my pillow…again.  I sleep in the buff (I know, not a pleasant picture…try to put that out of your mind.  You can’t, can you?), no problem, but I’d probably need a pair of sweats to walk around the house.  So, I don the sweats, one of my five T-shirts, and put on my slippers.   The clothes were pulled out of my three drawer dresser that holds my wardrobe, minus a few things in the closet.

Alarm Clock?  nah.  I haven’t really used one for years (seriously).  I seem to naturally wake up on time, but I could use the Alarm Clock function of my IPhone if I needed to get up early for some reason.

I go downstairs to make coffee using my French press and a tea kettle to heat the water on my Gas Stove/Oven.  I grab a coffee cup and the creamer from the refrigerator.  I don’t count the kitchen sink that I draw water from, since it came with the house.  I make some Toast in a toaster and butter it with a knife on a plate.  No butter dish, they wrap butter for a reason.

I make some eggs in a medium frying pan and eat them with a fork.  I sit on one of two barstools that are under the breakfast nook, which is a built in part of the counter that came with the house so I do not count that.

I have to go to work in a bit, so it’s time for a shower (another unpleasant picture, sorry).  I wash my dishes using soap and a sponge.  Since these are consumables, I don’t count them.

Up to the shower.  It, too came with the house so I don’t count it.  But, I need a towel and some scrubby gloves (I’m such a manly man).  I count my razor/trimmer but I don’t count shampoo or tooth soap since they are consumables.  I actually use a shampoo bar that doubles as a body bar (true story).  I intermix Dr. Bronner’s as well (also true).  All  consumables.  I’m undecided whether a toothbrush counts since it is also a consumable but I’m counting it for now.  I haven’t used a hair brush in years since my hair is short and I prefer the messy look with a little gel (consumable).

I go to get dressed for work.  Since I work for a financial institution, it’s expected that we dress nicely for work.  So, I have a choice of Black dress pants, and Olive Dress Pants.  I suppose I could go with only a pair of Black Dress pants and nobody would notice, but I really like wearing my Black Button down shirt, and it looks stoopit on Black Dress pants (Johnny Cash, I ain’t).

Apart from my black dress shirt, I can choose a White Dress Shirt, Blue Dress Shirt, or Green Dress Shirt.  I only need to dress nicely four days a week as I work from home one day per week.  On the “home” day, I can wear Jeans and one of a couple long sleeve shirts, or nothing at all (sorry, again).

There is a one brown Corduroy sport coat hanging up and my light flannel jacket.  I elect for neither today.  I prefer to wear them with jeans, anyway.

I pick the Black pants and the White Dress shirt and I put on my Black belt because droopy pants look stoopit at work.  I put on some socks and underwear  and wonder whether I could still go back to the days of no underwear?  For now, underwear (reluctantly) stays on the list.   I have four pairs of underwear and socks each.  I’ll need to do some laundry tonight in my Washer and use my Drying Rack.

I don’t count laundry detergent as it’s a consumable I remember to grab my dirty laundry and stick it in my laundry basket.  I could forego the Washer and Drying rack but I hate laundromats and I hate carrying around sacks of quarters.

I remember that I have a wedding this weekend, so I make sure that my suit isn’t looking too dingy in the closet.

I notice that the carpets are due for a cleaning, so I’ll need to Vacuum later and I may as well Mop (and Mop Bucket) the kitchen floor later as long as I’m planning to do things that suck.

I check outside and notice it snowed a fair amount, so I put on my ski jacket with a zip out liner, some gloves, a scarf, boots and a winter hat and grab a shovel out of the garage to do the walkway.  I pass by my push lawnmower and dream of Spring a few months hence when I can enjoy the outdoors.

Done shoveling, I start my Jeep Wrangler to let it warm up.  I wish it was summer, so I could Bike to work and then remember that I have to make sure my bike pump still works, and wonder whether I still have a bike lock and repair kit in working order.  Still time to worry about that…

I’m gonna work out on lunch today, but I haven’t decided if I’m gonna swim or run.  So I pack my swim trunks, swim goggles, one of two pairs of running shorts, a t-shirt (already counted above) and my sneakers.  I’m feeling spontaneous so I’ll make the decision at the gym.

I throw them in my Saddleback Leather briefcase with my Netbook, Moleskine Notebook, and Fisher Space pen.  I toss in a Sigg water bottle, change into my J Walk shoes and head out the door with my keys, and wallet.  The door jam seems like it’s coming loose so I remind myself that I should pull out the hammer and swiss army knife and try to fix it tonight.  I might have to Drill a couple of holes to reset it.

Off to work and the day goes smooth.  We have a cafeteria so I can get cheap lunch and cheap coffee.  I’m out of my house so not much going on with my “stuff.”

When I get home, it’s time for dinner.  I decide on soup, which I cook in a two quart sauce pan.  I’d love to be cooking a steak on the Grill but I don’t want to freeze my arse off.  I poor myself a coffee cup of milk and wonder why I have two of every plate, cup and utensil since it’s been six months since I’ve had a date over and most women think that I live in a van down by the river…but that’s the subject of a different post (good thing I’m married to a beautiful woman in real life).

I pull the crock pot out for a more wholesome one-pot dinner tomorrow and realize that I’m weird for not owning a microwave but am thankful for the counter space.  I dice up some veggies with a chopping knife on the butcher’s block that is built into the counter.  I could use my Swiss army knife but really, you should have the right tool for the job.  Just trying to prep some of the stuff for tomorrow morning.  No, I don’t include herbs or any foods as part of my list.  Gimme a break.

I hit the three-person couch and turn on the TV which is bracketed to the wall.

I’m procrastinating taking my receipts for taxes and putting them through the All in One Printer/Copier/Scanner that I have.  I know that there’s a couple of folders I need to get to in the filing cabinet too.

I decide instead that I’m going to sit down with the Martin Backpacker Acoustic guitar for a bit and blow off some steam.

Dammit, forgot to mop and vacuum and do the laundry…f*ck it.

I happen by my flip flops and my sunglasses and wonder how much longer till it’s warm enough to hang out outside.

I debate going out for a beer.

I decide it’s better that I sit down and write an article for my blog and then read myself to sleep with a book on the IPhone.

So…I don’t know if I hit everything.  I didn’t really count lighting since the home I live in came built in with recessed lighting and ceiling fans.  I also didn’t count the home itself, but if you want to be technical, fine…I trade a pair of underwear for the house…stoopit underwear.  Sound fair?

If I had to do lamps, that would add something.  But to be honest, in my entire home today, with my family of five, we have two lamps and the only reason we have them is that we turn them on at night downstairs so that it looks like somebody is awake.

I certainly gave this a lot of thought and tried to account for the change of seasons.  I suppose I could get by on less if I lived in a more temperate climate, but for as much as I bitch about the snow, I actually enjoy the four seasons here and I love winter sports like skiing and hockey.

Here’s my hypothetical list of things, in order of appearance.  I’d be interested in hearing from anybody to see if you’d have something else to add or perhaps something I glaringly missed.  I probably could do this exercise ten times and get a different list each time.

The important thing is, it’s not impossible even for a corporate sell-out like me, but some folks still may think yer weird.  For the remote worker, I can imagine it’s even easier.  Jeans and t-shirt (or buff…sorry, last time, I swear) everyday.

Anywho…

1. Bed
2. Sheet set
3. Goosedown Comforter
4. pillow
5. sweats
6. T-shirt
7. T-shirt
8. T-shirt
9. T-shirt
10. T-shirt
11. Three Drawer Dresser
12. IPhone
13. French Coffee Press
14. Tea Kettle
15. Stove/Oven
16. Coffee Cup
17. Coffee Cup
18. Refrigerator
19. Toaster
20. Knife
21. Knife
22. Plate
23. Plate
24. Medium Frying pan
25. fork
26. fork
27. Bar Stool
28. Bar Stool
29. Towel
30. Manly Scrubby Gloves
31. Razor/Trimmer
32. Toothbrush
33. Black Dress Pants
34. Olive Dress Pants
35. Black Button Down Shirt
36. White Dress Shirt
37. Blue Dress Shirt
38. Green Dress Shirt
39. Jeans
40. Long Sleeve Shirt
41. Long Sleeve Shirt
42. Brown Corduroy sport coat
43. Light Flannel jacket
44. Black Belt
45. Socks
46. Socks
47. Socks
48. Socks
49. Underwear
50. Underwear
51. Underwear
52. Underwear
53. Washer
54. Drying Rack
55. Laundry Basket
56. Suit
57. Vacuum
58. Mop
59. Mop Bucket
60. Ski Jacket
61. Gloves
62. Scarf
63. Boots
64. Winter hat
65. Shovel
66. Push Lawnmower
67. Jeep Wrangler
68. Bike
69. Bike pump
70. Bike lock
71. Bike Repair kit
72. Swim trunks
73. Swim goggles
74. Running shorts
75. Running shorts
76. Sneakers
77. Saddleback Leather Briefcase
78. Netbook
79. Moleskine
80. Fisher Space Pen
81. Sigg Water Bottle
82. J Walk Shoes
83. Keys
84. Wallet
85. Hammer
86. Swiss Army Knife
87. Drill
88. 2 Quart Sauce Pan
89. Grill
90. Spoon
91. Spoon
92. Crockpot
93. Chopping knife
94. Couch
95. TV
96. All in One Printer
97. Filing Cabinet
98. Martin Backpacker guitar
99. Flip Flops
100. Sunglasses

Tagged as: 100 Things Challenge, Minimalism, Simple Living