Going Once, Going Twice...

I'm...decluttering.  Also, I've decided not to rent space in an office building any more.  This is the proximate reason I'm decluttering.  In fact, while we're on the subject, I'll tell you why I've gotten my landlord to agree to release me from my lease.  The short story is that my landlord on Biscayne Boulevard sent out an e-mail two months or so ago saying they had discussed the coronavirus problem, and they decided not to offer rent abatement to any of their tenants.  So, since they took that approach, which is dramatically different from the approach taken by any of the rest of us, who want to help each other, then I decided I didn't want anything more to do with them.  And I certainly didn't want to give them any more of my money.  And I leaned on them enough that they finally agreed to let me leave two years early.  So I then had to decide whether to rent space somewhere else, or just see people in my house.  Some psychiatrists do that.  I then had to decide where in my house to see people.  A prime choice, for a few reasons, was the small room I use as my home office.  Except it's loaded with clutter.  Hence, the decluttering.  I want to see how close I can come to having that space be suitable for patients.  It's mostly individuals, but sometimes, it's couples.  It's a good deal of work to tidy that room enough.  But that's the task.

I've already gotten rid of a lot of unnecessary stuff.  And I've reorganized.  I've discovered that I use that room for a lot of stuff that doesn't belong in an office.  Some of it is food, like dried beans and mushrooms.  And some lentils and spices.   Why I've kept that in a box in my office is a mystery, even to me.  But I also found some kitchen devices that I acquired one way or another, and I don't use them.  That's why they're in that room. 

Are you familiar with a device called a mandoline?  (Not the musical instrument.  A slicer.)  I have three of them.  And I don't use any of them.  I don't even know why I have them, or whence I got them.

My uncle "regifted" me an Ozeri "electric wine bottle opener."   It's battery-operated.  Apparently, he and my aunt didn't want it.  It had been given to them, and they admittedly passed it along to me.  This is arithmetic that's not hard to do.  It's been sitting, unused, in the box, in my office.  Taking up space I need for other things.

Some years ago, I bought, online, a gorgeous moka-style espresso maker.  It's Alessi, produced in collaboration with Illy.  I am in love with this thing.  It cost me about $50, and I was happy to pay it.  But somehow, I didn't notice it's the 3-cup size, when I ALWAYS use the 6-cup size.  If that was made clear, I missed it.  So it sits, in the box, in my office, accomplishing nothing.  And not only does it accomplish nothing for me, but it accomplishes nothing for anyone else, either.

You can have whatever of this stuff you can use.  It's free.  Just come pick it up.  Or I'll drop it off to you.  You'll want to look at the three mandolines, if you want one, because you'll have to decide which one you want.  Unless you want all three of them, which is hard to imagine, because if you use them, you only need one.  But let me know.