A roaring 20

The best laid plans …

“He worked in a toothpaste factory, where he sat all day long at a bench and screwed the little caps onto the tops of the tubes of toothpaste after the tubes had been filled.” -Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

I know, I know, I didn’t use a punny title for issue 19 last week. I was proofing it the day before and I kept thinking I was missing something. But no matter how many drafts and test emails I read and reread, I just had a brain 💨 that prevented me from catching the error. As newsletters can be prone to rewriting history just as any other medium, I’ll retroactively say that since 19 was a forgettable age this was purely intentional. Besides, you and I will know the truth, right?

As to the Charlie and The Chocolate Factory quote, it immediately came to mind as I was collating my thoughts on how my photo digitizing adventure at the library went last week. More on this in a few panels. 👇

-John

Moving Forward

Catch this week’s episode any prior week’s episode on Spotify.

Moving Forward is also available on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, CastBox, Pocket Casts, Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor), and Audible.

Some things I learned this week:

• I need to read calendar appointments more carefully.

• I really love discovering new library branches.

• Flatbed scanners are tricky and slow but have great resolution.

• I’m going to have to hunker down and invest in a high speed scanner and do this myself if I want to make significant headway with photo decluttering.

Check out the most recent episodes of Moving Forward:

• MF 470 : Inspiring individuals: Dr. Lauren Zimski (mid-season finale)

• MF 469 : Inspiring individuals: Angelo Spenillo 🎸

Report back

Scan and go putter along very slowly

As promised, I’m reporting back on my foray into photo purging and decluttering; using resources at the library. Truth be told, I didn’t have a great start that day. I glanced at the address on my phone and as with the missing pun title for issue 19, my brain skipped a few beats and only read part of the address; wrongly filling in the rest. As I parked my car at the branch I thought I was supposed to go to, I saw I was two minutes ahead of schedule. I proudly walked in with my box-o-photos, spotted a friendly library, and let her know I was there for my 9:30 am appointment. I should have known that something was off by her quizzical expression. Then she looked at the big box I was lugging around, realized why I was there, and explained, “ahh, you want the other branch.”

After thanking her and fumbling my way out of that library, I called the correct branch and another pleasant librarian answered. I apologized for the mix up, letting her know I would be arriving a little late. I expected to hear an admonishing “tsk tsk, we’re going to have to cancel your appointment, there’s a line for this you know” (memories of grade school) but instead, she was super nice about it, even offering a very unnecessary sympathy apology for my mishap - librarians really are awesome people.

I hit the road and arrived at the correct branch twenty minutes later. I had never been to this one before and of course, had I looked at my appointment more closely, I could have saved even more time as it was closer than the first one I went to by mistake.

The same librarian I spoke to on the phone was there and turned out to be the digitization specialist. She took the time to educate my luddite self on how the scanner and software worked. I appreciated how thorough she was and I enjoyed learning more about this process. What I didn’t expect was that they had a flatbed scanner rather than a top-loader. If you’re unfamiliar with scanners, flatbeds resemble a photocopier, in which you lay down your photos face-down, close the cover, and scan using software controls. Since photos come in all shapes and sizes, flatbed scanners require you to make lots of adjustments, including cropping out excess space. The other type of scanner is a top-loader, in which you feed it a stack and the machine automatically scans them regardless of size. I don’t know why my brain decided today was a good day to play practical jokes, but not only did I get the address wrong, I assumed they had a top loading scanner. As if reading my thoughts, the librarian smiled and said “Yeah, we don’t have a top-loading scanner. I’m hoping it’s in the budget for next year.”

The next few hours didn’t exactly fly by, but they didn’t crawl either. The scanner produced very high quality digital reproductions, which I offloaded onto my high capacity thumb drive. Before I knew it, the clock hit 12:30 and I had scanned approximately 60 photos; hardly a dent in the box. What am I talking about, that’s not even a scratch. I made another appointment, which I’m keeping, but soon realized that given the sheer volume of photos I have, this method would be too slow and tedious; requiring weeks, if not months of appointments to get through half of them.

After doing some research, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and invest in a top-loading scanner. Based on online reviews, and YouTube videos (if you’re interested in learning more on this topic, I recommend Wayne Fox’s YouTube channel), I’m going to go with the Epson FastFoto FF-680W scanner (affiliate paid link); reportedly the fastest top-loading print-to-digital scanner on the market. It can handle 36 photos at a time, and does both sides; something I didn’t bother trying with the flatbed. While pricey, this is a cheaper alternative than using a professional service. The FF-680W also rates higher in digital quality than other, less expensive top-loading models. It can also handle documents, which is a big plus. This means I’ll have a use for it after I’m done purging photos and will help keep my regular paper clutter to a minimum.

That said, I still plan to use this library’s station because 1) I fell in love with this branch, and 2) flatbed scanners are better for higher quality / resolution scans, and can handle negatives, which many top-loaders can’t. As I have several larger photos, including B&W prints, and a bunch of negatives, this justifies using a flatbed for those specialty materials. The top-loader will be for the standard 5×7s and 4×5s, which comprise most of the physical prints I have.

So there you have it. Even though I violated my late great property professor’s rule of not making assumptions: twice in the same day at that (Professor Brown, I promise your lesson will sink into my thick head one day), it all worked out. And wouldn’t you know it, I just knocked over my drink. Looks like mishaps come in threes.

Available now at my bookstore on Pangobooks

I certainly could have used some of this kind of advice before driving to the wrong branch

Quirky reads 📚

Some great books to fill your summer hours.

[Affiliate disclosure: these are affiliate links to Amazon through which I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.]

• City on Fire by Don Winslow (****)

• City of Dreams by Don Winslow (****)

• Shōgun, Part One by James Clavell (****)

Follow me on Goodreads for book recommendations and to see what else I’m reading.

Upcoming

Summer is around the corner and so is my next writing and self-publishing class!

Upcoming

Learn how to declutter your closet and drawers while starting a side business at the same time!

Resources

Teach a man to fish, you know the rest (if you don’t, check these out).

• Book a coaching call with me on Clarity.

• Follow me on Goodreads for book recommendations.

• Check out one of my favorite daily newsletters Morning Brew (affiliate referral link).

Books

I wrote most of these so spruce up your home library and look smart in the process.

• The Poshmark Guide for Individuals and Small Businesses (Paperback, Kindle, Audible) 

• The Poshmark Guide for Individuals and Small Businesses (Apple audiobooks)

• The Poshmark Journal for Individuals and Small Businesses

• The Corporate Cliches Adult Coloring Book

• I Am a Professional Metalhead (audiobook) (Audible affiliate link) written by Angelo Spenillo, narrated by John Lim

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Affiliate disclosure

Note: Links to Amazon and Audible products are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.