The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning Out My Old Cameras

This year I am embracing The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. 

This “process of clearing out unnecessary belongings can be undertaken at any age or life stage but should be done sooner than later, before others have to do it for you.”

In the photo, I’m with Omer Hecht of CatLABS of JP (Jamaica Plain), a local camera store that buys and sells cameras and also provides film processing. 

I’m holding my Minolta SRT-101, the camera I used when taking photos for the yearbook in high school and the student newspaper at UMass Amherst. It had a lot of years of good use. Omer is holding my Canon Powershot, the camera I first used when in addition to taking photos, I used to take videos back in the day. 

I used it when teaching as an example of using the camera that you have with you to shoot video. Back then, people didn’t even know that their cameras shot video. I also turned over my faithful Canon GL/2 miniDV video camera that was a mainstay of my video production and steaming business. 

Surprisingly I was fine with handing over all these cameras and more. Omar gave me what I consider a fair price and was a joy to work with and talk to. If you go in to CatLABS tell Omer that Steve sent you. 😉

National Grid has been repeatedly calling me from 617-469-2300

National Grid has been repeatedly calling me from 617-469-2300 with automated calls and hanging up on no answer, without leaving a voice mail. 

I Googled the phone number and got the image below. 

I deduced that it was time to replace my gas meter so I called them at their main phone number, 1-800-233-5325. After waiting 10 minutes, I spoke with a representative and scheduled my meter replacement. Gas meters are replaced every 7 years. It’s been 7 years. 

I left them feedback saying that the automated hangup calls were not helpful, and I would have appreciated an email notice that it was time to replace my meter. Also, they could have put a note on my online account. In addition, they could have sent me paper USPS mail. 

Also, it would be easier to schedule if they had an online scheduling system.