Scanning progress

I've set up the scanner now in the kitchen.  It's a sunny place and nice to not be looking at the boxes that I piled in the living room.

I have scanned only three days but am getting used to how to scan and have learned things to make the sessions easier.

First, I remove paper clips and staples and straighten the pages.  Then I feed thru the scanner in very small stacks.  Most of the time so far the papers are of different sizes and types.  I have found it saves time in the end to feed the different sized paper individually.  I just found today that I can simply push the button on the scanner (rather than moving the paper I placed on the keyboard press the continue spacebar).

Then I stack the scanned paper into either financial or not.  The financial papers need to be ripped up or shredded.  The other stuff can be put in the trash.

I check every once in a while to verify the scan is correct.

At the end of a session I bring the computer to my time machine back-up hard drive so I have two copies of the files.

I name the files as consistently as I can.  And then add information to the file name if I think it might be important.

To save time, I have set it so only the first page is turned to OCR. DH has a new program that is very quick with rescanning the files so all the words are searchable so I do not need to wait around while the data is being processed.  We tested this tonight and it works great at indexing the words so things can be found.  DH doesn't think it works for printed letters, only typed ones.

I do not have a scale to weigh how much paper I have scanned but I estimate I have gone thru three reams of paper already.  At first I was tossing all folders, but now if they are reusable I am stacking in the living room and will give away using freecycle.  Each time I scan I come up with new little tricks that seems to save time and effort.

I had been estimating a month to go thru all these boxes of paper.  At the end I will still have Christmas decorations, some office supplies, toys, photos, videos and more to deal with but they were to be packaged well, labeled and replaced so easy to find.  I had dreamt of processing everything then moving on to other areas, but now only have two weeks I think to work on this, then I need to paint the downstairs (another job I was going to do with DH, but now will hire out) as we are hosting a party for our son and his fiance the middle of August and I would like the interior of the house painted and really clean for that event.

In anticipation of that I was already going to hire a gardener to help with maintaining the yard.  Unfortunately as of about 5 days ago we have mole holes in our backyard.  It's very disappointing to have this surprise.  From what I have been reading this means we may have them for many years.  I just wonder what has changed in the neighborhood to have this issue. We have lived here for 25 years and have never seen the little holes that are appearing every day.  I will have to hire out to deal with them as I just get ill thinking about them.

So I counted the boxes I brought in the living room/dining room:

I went and tried to count the boxes (most are bankers box size) now in the living room/dining room:

14 - mostly new office supplies
18 - Christmas related including decorations, trains, turkey roaster, serving plates, little stuffed animals I used to put out
7 - Lego blocks, little chairs, board and lawn games for kids (DS)

3 - blankets, afghans, bed cover

28 - my parents or DS and my stuff mainly to scan but also some pictures and photos, the little dishes I found today and photos are here too
3 - large boxes that are all mixed up that I still need to go thru

1 - stuffed and overflowing - wedding invitations, informals, and I'm not sure what else - hopefully the list of people we invited to our wedding, probably some photos

4 - DH mom
40 - DH projects, awards, files, archives, some pictures, some disks
6 - videos, film, and audio tapes
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124 boxes

Tomorrow I need to call to have estimates for painting. We are going to stick with the same colors as what we have now (light beige on walls, white for trim or cabinets).  Most of the ceilings were recently painted, but two rooms need ceilings - maybe three.  I'll have to do a walk thru.

I'm excited to have the party, but wish it could be in the fall so I didn't have to stop the processing of the boxes and going thru things.  I wanted to have things fixed and updated in the house next year after going thru things.  But now we decided to cut back on changes we were thinking of doing and just do maintaining. Since I want the interior to be painted, it would be silly to pay for the kitchen cabinets to be painted and then to have them all replaced the following year.  So I will keep what we have.  There is one change I can make that will add a nice bit of adjustable shelving.  The old microwave and wall oven can be pulled out and then a door made to cover the hole (and the brackets installed for the adjustable shelves).

So before the party hope to have interior painted, a few faucets replaced, carpets cleaned, old oven removed and door installed with brackets for moveable shelves inside.  Oh I'll have to make a list later.  Going out for breakfast with an old friend today - couldn't sleep thinking about those moles in the yard.  I'd better try to sleep again now for a while...