The Trouble with Tribbles

Recently a new computer system brought about a cascade of change. I had had my desk and computer downstairs in our unfinished basement. It is a quite and roomy place for me to do my studies. Soon the junk that piles up, over took my desk and I was unable to concentrate on studies there. So, I bought a cabinet, turned it into a computer desk and put it upstairs, where I could study, and if I left a mess on my desk, I could just close the doors and it would all disappear! :-) Then came the new computer. I rebuilt the system I had on my desk downstairs, and the wife wanted it put in the new desk. It fit in the cabinet perfectly! This had the unintended effect of displaceing all my school books however. So I was banished to the basement once more. This is when I discovered the true meaning of the old Star Trek episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles". I had moved out of the basement because the junk had started to crowd my desk. By the time I got back down there, the junk had piled up on it, around it, and was twice as thick everywhere else. Not even the wide path to my desk was visible any more. Just getting to my desk was something like running the gauntlet! Could the concept of lovable, furry, innocent tribbles have been inspired by junk? You know the kind... it is the fodder of every garage sale. It is the life blood of every U-Store-It. It is the reason no American can actualy park thier car in the space built for the car to be parked in. Tribbe like junk, the stuff that is not good enough to be used, yet somehow too good to be thrown away or given to someone else. These days I am overly blessed with tribble like junk! I clean out my shop, carting off a thousand pounds of the stuff, and before I can return home, some new collection has turned up to occupy the space. I clean out the basement and before long a whole new generatoin of tribbles has grown up in the place. It seams like these days that I am either filling up the trailer for a trip to the dump, or planing my next trip. Which only leaves me with one question... Could the rapid proliferation of junk be caused by our frequent visits to WalMart? Or is that why we always have four cans full of garbage when the trashman comes around each week? Either way... all this business of sorting through piles of junk to pick out the things that need to be saved from the things that needs to be tossed out has serious put me behind in my homework. At least I did manage to clear a path to the desk, and clear it off. I am still looking at numerious piles of odds and ends that I cast suspicious looks at often. One false move, one sign that it is multiplying before my eyes and it is all going to go to the trash! As soon as I can get around to it, that is. Spring Break might afford me an opportunity. :-)