Shred!

Like most people, I tend to collect documents. Okay, I don't know if that is like most people, but it is like most of my family. I had shredder, but I just used it as a place to store the documents that needed to be shredded. And then never shred them.

Two weeks ago I killed my last shredder. I was using it on the mound of documents I had sitting around, and it started to smell. I turned the shredding thing over, and I could see sparks coming from the motor. So last weekend I borrowed one from a colleague.

You wouldn't believe the stuff I found in these bags of documents. Well, yes, you probably would. Most of it consisted of bills and whatnot. But as I dug through it I found things from when I lived in Madison. Four-and-a-half years ago. I keep this crap in plastic bags--like Wal-Mart bags. So, tell me, how did stuff from Madison get mixed in with stuff from two years ago. I don't know. I mean, I must have put it all in these bags. And even more bizarre--this means I actually moved it from Madison to here. And then from my first place to where I live now.

But even worse? Upstairs in a closet I found bank statements, canceled checks, and check carbons from 1999 and 2000. That may not be strange to some people, but nine years ago I wasn't even in Madison yet. And I wouldn't move there for another year and a half. So, this means I willingly moved these stupid checks downstate to Madison, and then from my apartment to my friends' garage, and from there to Mississippi, and then from my first place to where I live now. This is somewhat understandable since I found the checks in a box that was in a plastic Rubbermaid containers in the closet. But, why, why, did I think I needed to keep them in the first place?

This is when I say, "I'll be more careful next time. No longer will I wait four years to shred documents. No longer will I move useless financial documents across the country." But I know that won't happen. A few yeas from now when I am getting ready to move from point A to Point B, how much you want to bet I find a credit card bill from Mississippi?