I tried, but it'll take a lot of work to get this place into a condition worth photographing. The taxman demands receipts and sometimes I buy things for work along with other shopping. Then I have to remember to mark the receipt with the relevant item and put it safe. The trouble is, I now default to keeping all receipts and sorting them later. There were some from 2008 here.
On the plus side, I found my MP3 player, and I reduced the piles so I can see the screen properly. Yes, my MP3 player was on the desk all along, which should give an idea of how much junk is on here.
The mess has a logic to it. The pile on the left of the desk is stuff that must be dealt with. The pile on the right is general crap. It's where the cameras accumulate, Electrofags and tobacco, calculators, pens, fly-tying gear and SD cards (I found a 32Mb one!) .
Then, on the right of the monitor, between the monitor and the support for the top shelf, there is the Box of Many Pens and the tax filing system (envelopes jammed in next to the pens). The shelf is covered with rolling papers, filters, a couple of stone dragons, partially assembled contraptions, a plasma ball and a skull in a box. Oh, and a space for storing a clean whisky glass. The sealing-wax and seal for letters is up there too. On the wall aboove that is a very nice glazed wooden cabinet I found in a charity shop for £3 and which contains models I really don't want to have to dust - such as the rigged 1/300 scale Cutty Sark that took so much swearing to complete.
To my left hangs the Flag of St. David (supplied by Stewart) which hides the Dreaded Alcove of Eternal Mess and lots of books. To my right are the printers - one laser, one colour inkjet, a supply of whisky and a lot of books. Oh, and the lava lamp. Everyone needs a lava lamp. Behind me is a duplicate of this computer in case this one ever breaks down the night before something important is due. Unfortunately it's not currently accessible due to mountains of paper and lots of books. There's a pair of almost-finished Daleks and an espresso cup which really should have been dealt with before developing its own ecosystem. Then a tall bookshelf with lots of books and bending shelves.
Floor storage includes a laptop, cameras, two netbooks (one of which is visible) and aluminium cases containing cameras.
The room is eight feet square.
The rest of the house isn't like this. For some reason, all the weird crap gravitates into the room I designated 'office'. Now the whole world knows what a pit I'm typing in, I'll have to tidy it up.
It's about time anyway. I'm sure I had a filing cabinet.
Okay, tag time. I'll tag Frank Davis, Fausty and Stewart Cowan. I had Pat Nurse on my list but she beat me to it.
That's enough holiday fun. Time to look at the news and boost that blood pressure.
13 comments:
Well I do think you should make an effort Leggy...will you try your best?
Thank you.
I've just moved. So the new desk isn't yet buried under stuff. It all looks very neat. I'd be more than happy to photo it, if I knew which box my camera is in...
The old desk was much more interesting. In Devon I worked in bed.
Ah, so you didn't cheat after all. :) Mind you, it's stretching it a wee bit expecting the taxman to accept receipts from 2008!
I understand how everything gravitates towards a study but I have a very large filing cabinet which keeps much out of sight, out of mind.
Last year I removed the settee in here and that's the best decision I've made.(I'd decided I'd given enough basic computer lessons). Now nobody stays in here for more than a couple of minutes because there's nowhere to sit. Perfect.
Look forward to seeing your photo and yours too Frank.
Tonight, I went to my local for a beer. It was kerioki night. Oddly enough. the pub was quite busy. What I noticed was that there was a large group of young people who were enjoying the kerioki but buying little from the bar. They were enjoying the facilities without paying anything.
I have noticed this before. An awful lot of young people are using pubs for their fun while buying very little beer etc. No wonder that the Managers are pulling their faces and closing the bar early!
Frankly, I am thinking of doing the same thing. Why not? I am perfectly capable of controlling my drinking so that I only have, say, three pints rather than five - just slow down a bit. Top up at home if necessary. This idea is 'reverse pre-loading'. Go to the pub. Enjoy the crack and spend as little as possible - after all, it is a 'public place', is it not?
The idea that it is 'a good thing' for hospitality places to have a level playing field is not really legal. It is anti-competative and contradictional. How can you have 'a level playing field' and have competition? Such a statement is contradictory.
Our politics stinks. It is purely dependent upon 'the feel-good' factor. But the 'feel-good' factor could evaporate instantly. What will take its place?
Suppose that people refuse to vote in general elections? Suppose that an MP does not have a majority of the electorate as a group?
Policians are really, really terrified of this possibility. Why else do we have vague suggestions that people should BE FORCED to vote?
Young people are a lot cannier than we think - although their actions are not as 'thought through' as politicians would hope for. They think - and who can blame them? - that places of entertainment are just that. Why should they not? I would, if I was nineteen.
Again we see that Tobacco Control has opened up a HUGE can of worms.
"Time to look at the news and boost that blood pressure."
Well, here's one for you.
Now, I'm not a smoker myself, but how is a 'band down the length of the paper, which will make the cigarette go out if it is not inhaled by the smoker' going to work?
I mean, smokers don't inhale the cigarette in one long continuous puff, do they?
So, aren't you going to have to keep stopping to relight the thing every few minutes?
*confused*
I am so pleased that someone else's office is even more chaotic than mine as it helps me feel better about the primaeval ooze discovered in a tea cup and the strange state that overcomes 8 year old liquorice allsorts.
Why are the EU reinventing the cigarette wheel? Roll-ups go out when you don't keep puffing on them. And how much will the magic band add to the cost?
From chaos such a great blog. Carry on as usual, I say!
Julia
At the risk of cluttering up LI's blog comments, here's a quick explanation.
Position Paper on Reduced Ignition Propensity (RIP) Cigarettes
"The report also made it clear that in their tests it was not possible to set fire to furniture
bought on the UK market with either cigarettes or matches, because by law it must resist
ignition from both sources."
"In summary, cigarette-initiated fires would no doubt be reduced by the introduction of RIP cigarettes either by mandatory or voluntary means and this is to be welcomed.
However, the contribution of RIP cigarettes to the reduction of European fire deaths and injuries in the home would be less significant in the context of the overall domestic fire safety problem because cigarettes are not the ignition source in most domestic killer fires today."
http://tinyurl.com/35ur6go
Its quite unnecessary
"The elimination of burning agents in cigarette paper would be a simple and effective means of dramatically reducing the ignition propensity of cigarettes," wrote Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University Sydney, in a 2004 Australian medical journal."
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3540489,00.html
Rose
It makes people very ill.
Public misled over fire-safe cigarettes
Ignore the article, read the comments to get an idea of what they really do.
For example.
"Ive got one thing to say--whatever is in these cigarettes to make them fire safe is making me sick--and lots of others i know have the same problem--it hasnt been but a few months for illinois, but in the short time they have been implemented in illinois, ive have had a balled up lumpy feeling in my throat, my tongue seems acidic. And the headaches have been nonstop, never had this feeling before"
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3192
And they tried a similar trick before during prohibition.
National Affairs: Poison
Monday, Jan. 10, 1927
""The Government is under no obligation to furnish the people with alcohol that is drinkable when the Constitution prohibits it.
The person who drinks this industrial alcohol is a deliberate suicide. . . .
To root out a bad habit costs many lives and long years of effort. . . ."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,881577,00.html
It seems that its mostly to do with making cigarettes taste so unpleasant that people give up smoking, under a veneer of concern about fire safety.
Rose
Well that made no sense -
LI your blog ate my first post again.
For Julia
Position Paper on Reduced Ignition Propensity (RIP) Cigarettes
"The report also made it clear that in their tests it was not possible to set fire to furniture
bought on the UK market with either cigarettes or matches, because by law it must resist
ignition from both sources."
"In summary, cigarette-initiated fires would no doubt be reduced by the introduction of RIP cigarettes either by mandatory or voluntary means and this is to be welcomed.
However, the contribution of RIP cigarettes to the reduction of European fire deaths and injuries in the home would be less significant in the context of the overall domestic fire safety problem because cigarettes are not the ignition source in most domestic killer fires today."
http://tinyurl.com/35ur6go
And they know it.
"It is questionable whether technology and legislation are needed to solve the problem.
As smokers know, cigars, pipe tobacco and hand-rolled cigarettes tend to go out on their own.
That's because regular cigarettes contain burning agents to keep them lit.
"The elimination of burning agents in cigarette paper would be a simple and effective means of dramatically reducing the ignition propensity of cigarettes," wrote Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University Sydney, in a 2004 Australian medical journal."
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3540489,00.html
Rose
Glad you've found a reason to permanently displaying your flag in a useful way!
Being a chocoholic, the main problem with my desk is brown smudges on computers, invoices - everything really.
Subrosa - I think you're okay to put old invoices through if they haven't already been put through.
I believe you have 3 1/2 years to reclaim VAT on old invoices, which deosn't affect Leggy, but it's saved me a few bob.
Dear Mr Leg-iron
"The taxman demands receipts and sometimes I buy things for work along with other shopping. Then I have to remember to mark the receipt with the relevant item and put it safe. The trouble is, I now default to keeping all receipts and sorting them later. There were some from 2008 here."
A simple solution to business expenses is to always use a credit card, the monthly statement of which can be analysed as if it were an invoice, even if intermixed with personal items (Morrison’s or The Hard Liquor Store might be a bit of a giveaway). If the volume warrants it, dedicate one credit card to business use. A good ploy is in either event to put all your receipts in the statement envelope each month and write upon the envelope ‘Aug 10’ for the statement dated x Aug 10. Although there will be an overlap, all the receipts will be near enough the right statement should you ever need to refer to them.
Small expenses do not need a receipt for tax purposes ('small' used to be £25). Thus regular bus journeys can be estimated as, say, average 4 per week for 45 weeks per year at £X each = £180X.
Pace Subrosa and Mr Cowan, the norm is 6 years before any business related transaction becomes statute barred, including – absent fraud – tax related matters. Technically prior year expenses ought to generate an adjustment to that year's profit, but the de minimus rule and indeed common sense would allow that a legitimate prior year expense could be claimed in a later year since in effect you have gifted the Inland Revenue or Customs & Excise, as they used to be fondly known, a small interest free loan for a year or so and they really do not mind that at all. In fact I bet they wish more people did it. All the time. And for huge sums.
Since our wonderful and beloved government changes the rules every five minutes, all of the foregoing may now be wrong.
I hope that helps.
DP
w/v sincon make of that what you will
PS @Subrosa
Like the 'Libertarian' Party, I cannot comment on your blog even when I want to because you, like LPUK, do not permit anonymous comments.
'Libertarian' or wot?
New Year's resolution?
DP
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