I'm a digital packrat. I have tendancies toward the more traditional style of packratism as well, but that is usually overtaken my my tendancies toward laziness whenever it's time to move to a new apartment. Things that I once thought I would definitely need at some point in the near future become instantly worthless pieces of garbage the minute the prospect of placing it inside a box and moving it somewhere new presents itself. This is not the case with digital information, however. I'm also a paranoid multibackuper. Weekly archives sent to offsite storage, regular database dumps whenever I change anything, triple backups on iPod, media center, and external harddrive. And that's just my music files.
Except for SPAM, which my mail program deletes for me, I never delete an email. Even the bouncebacks telling me that the email I sent was rejected because someone's inbox was too full never find their way to the trash. I have emails taking up a total of more than 1GB of space, dating back to 2004. I'm not sure exactly what happened in 2004 that caused me to lose all my email before that, but it's probably good for the sake of my hard drive requirements that I did.
Similarly, I have transcripts of every instant messenger conversation I have had with anyone dating back to late 2002. This includes all of the important conversations that I would never want to lose, like the afternoon January and I officially scheduled our "first date:"
Monday, June 27, 2005
3:31 PM January: so what does your evening schedule look like?
3:33 PM me: i have to hit the gym at some point, probably 6ish... and my kitchen needs a cleaning, but apart from that I'm free
3:33 PM me: what did you have in mind?
3:35 PM January: I'm not sure...we talked about making dinner last night, but I'm exhausted (couldn't sleep at nap time either so sleeping isn't in the cards even if I did nothing all evening)
3:38 PM me: ok... there's always scrabble :)
3:39 PM me: i would suggest we go out for ethiopian, but I know phil is busy with kung-fu andy
3:39 PM me: ...maybe they could be talked into joining us, though?
3:39 PM January: did I ever tell you that I don't actually like scrabble...I only played to have an excuse to hang out with you ;)
3:39 PM me: really?! i don't even know you, january
3:39 PM January: it's true
3:40 PM January: I'm full of surprises
3:40 PM January: if Phil can't go, are we allowed to go by ourselves?
3:41 PM me: man, i don't know... isn't that against the rules?
3:41 PM me: well, it has been almost a week... maybe we're due for a little alone time ;)
3:42 PM January: it's true...and you've been completely gone for four days
3:42 PM January: I would say it's within the boundaries of 'slow'
3:42 PM me: well then, i'm in.
3:42 PM me: should we even bother inviting phil?
3:43 PM January: you can if you want, but I think he's on Atkins again, anyway
3:43 PM me: just you and me it is then
3:43 PM January: I like that plan better anyway
3:44 PM January: what time are you thinking you'll be done with all of your business?
3:45 PM me: maybe 8ish? what if i pick you up around then?
3:45 PM January: that sounds good...
3:46 PM me: it's a date then
3:46 PM January: *gasp*
3:46 PM January: did you just say 'date'
3:46 PM me: i'm sorry, did I scare you off?
3:47 PM January: no...I'll be expecting flowers, though ;)
3:47 PM me: i hope my tuxedo is clean
3:47 PM January: well I'll settle for a suit
3:47 PM me: that's what I meant... i hope my suit is clean
3:48 PM January: fine...jeans and a t-shirt are 'okay'
3:48 PM me: i hope my jeans are clean....
3:48 PM me: how about cutoffs and my "hung like an elephant" shirt?
3:49 PM January: well you better not show up naked...that is definately a violation of 'slow'
3:49 PM me: i'm sure i can find a towel somewhere....
3:49 PM January: or a bed sheet...that's hot ;)
3:50 PM me: oh yeah, the one with the paisleys.... it really brings out my eyes
3:50 PM January: absolutely
3:51 PM me: ok, so, 8 with the tuxedo, roses, and chocolates. I've got my checklist here.
3:51 PM me: would limousine be overkill?
3:52 PM January: no, limo's are always cool
3:52 PM January: it's true...but I wasn't going to appear too picky, it is the first date, afterall
3:53 PM me: but of course
3:53 PM me: dandelions and cough drops then
3:53 PM January: man, you have a flare for the romance, don't you?
3:54 PM me: what can I say? I'm a big softy ;)
But for every conversation like that, there are a dozen or so of the following gems:
So every new blog needs some sort of gimmick, especially for bloggers who are fairly new to writing. As the need arises (translation: when life gets a little boring and I don't have any great observations to impart) I'm going to start making up for all the time I lost blogging by digging out some of these conversations. I don't have a middle school note box to open up, but this will be the next best thing.
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