Let's talk about paper today...

As I sit here trying to get ready to pay off that line forming at the rear waiting for the tax return to arrive, I'm looking at a very ominous looking mountain of paper.

I haven't actually purchased anything paper related in over a year...probably closer to two years. Not that I'm diligently trying to be environmentally conscious, mainly it's because I get tired of shoveling it to the road for the garbage person, so I don't buy magazines, newspapers and such.

My desk is covered in it, with only space for my elbows, keyboard, dictionary, monitor and one speaker. There is a garbage can right beside my desk. I have, believe it or not, been diligent about putting all junk mail, food wrappers, empty cigarette packs, old phone books, etc. in that for months now. Yet I still have the lurking pile.

Every single garbage day there is at least one full bag I have to put out totally made up of paper. Right now on the other, unused side of my bed, the paper pile is at least a foot deep and about four or five feet long. This pile consists of stuff I decided I would read instead of immediately chunking it in the trash. After reading it I casually put it on left side of the bed not giving it another thought.

Of coarse it eventually ends up on the floor and well, out of sight, out of mind. Occasionally, the boy will come in there looking for something and make fun of me for my pile and every now and then when he gets that rare spurt of energy that wants to clean something he will go in there and clean it all up for me. I suspect it's really because it makes his stomach cringe just to think about it, or simply, he gets tired of wading through it to get to what he needs.

Does it bother me? Nope, not in the least. Well, maybe a little or I wouldn't be writing about it, right?

My question is...Where does it all come from? I believe the higher being for paper told it to go forth and multiply, because I swear, the little amount I get out of my mailbox each day could not possibly become the mountain I put at the road on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

We have two of those great big wheeled garbage cans. That was the greatest invention known to modern man, right? wheeled garbage cans :) This past Wednesday I put both of them out filled to capacity and yet still have the pile on my desk and the one on the other side of my bed.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the large underbed type container that sits neatly under my desk (footrest) that is filled with unused "pretty" paper left over from my desktop publishing days, resume paper, business card paper, etc.

You see, this is what gets me...we had a major house cleaning not very long ago when I packed up most of my books and we threw everything out then, even the side of the bed stuff. So all this has accumulated, despite my diligence, in the course of about two or three months...geez....