Paper Power

I'm on a mission to make more room in my home. Some things are hard to sort out. Others just require a certain resolution. Take my files, for instance. I got rid of a filing cabinet last year when I had my floors redone. I bought a couple of filing drawers that would fit under the desk in my sewing room. At the time I thought I could simply transfer the files from one place to the other--not a problem. Well there was a problem: the new filing drawers were a smaller size than the old ones. I don't mean that they just had less capacity. The actual files were shorter, so my old hanging files wouldn't fit on the new rails. Suddenly tackling my files was just too hard. They've been stacked in boxes under my desk ever since. This week I've been ruthless. Here's my power tool: A heavy-duty paper shredder and a simple decision that any bills pre-2005 are definitely not required. Nor are dockets for non-tax-deductible items. Four bags of shredded paper later and there's a lot more room to move around here. The shredded paper is used by my favourite pet shop for their animal cages. It seems quite appropriate that some of the old complications of my life should become toilet paper for cute furry beasts.