Friday, May 24, 2013

Miscellaneous Electronics Graveyard

Like a lot of Americans, I have a lot of electronics in my household.  My husband and I both work in the IT field, so we're probably worse than some people in that regard.  We have a lot of computers, printers and other accessories that we use for our business and personal needs.

Have you ever found that you have a pile of electrical cords and other miscellaneous pieces of electronics, all jumbled together, and you don't know what it all is?  If you find yourself losing track of what each cord actually is used for, it helps a lot to label them (we have a Brother label printer).  If you remember to label each cord that comes with a new gadget, you'll never forget where it belongs.

You'll want to be fairly specific, for future reference on those labels.  Putting a label on a camera charging cord that just says "camera charger" is not going to help you if you have 5 of them.  Using the brand or model name on that label will really help in that case - "Panasonic A123 camera charger" for example.

Labeling each cord is also helpful when you have a power strip under your desk with 10 things plugged into it and need to unplug just one - how do you know which one?  If you put your label near the plug end, you'll be able to tell which one is your printer vs. laptop vs. monitor, etc. and it will be no big deal.  Of course if you have to get down on the floor and crawl under your desk just to get to the plugs, I can't help with that...

Periodically, I try to purge out the excess and either sell or donate what we no longer use.  It's nice if I can include the cords and instructions with it.  Labeling makes that possible.

I'd like to avoid having what I call an "electronics graveyard" in my household.  You know, that pile of pieces that are not complete and can't be matched up with the rest of their components?  Personally, if I end up with a pile like that, my first instinct is to pitch it all.  I mean, really, if I don't know what goes to what, or don't even remember its original function, what is the point of keeping it around?  At that point it's just meaningless clutter and I certainly don't need to fill up my house with that stuff!