

Leaving comments in real life - jgrahamc
http://blog.jgc.org/2011/11/leaving-comments-in-real-life.html

======
eps
There was a great anecdote (or perhaps an urban legend). Back when Mir space
station was still operational, one of its crews lost something. What it was
exactly doesn't matter, but they looked _everywhere_. Twice, and then some.
Out of utter desperation and puzzled beyond belief they started peeling off
parts of the cabin walls and looking underneath. And what do you know - under
one panel there was a folded piece of paper that said "It is not here. We
already looked." Signed by another crew from a year ago. Apparently they also
lost something, but were thoughtful enough to leave a note.

So, yeah, notes are great... even if not terribly useful :)

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raju
Nice post.

I do the same for "accessories" - for e.g if I buy a desk and assemble it - I
then take a zip-lock bag, put in the wrenches, extra screws, fasteners, what-
have-you, and tape it to the desk where you can't see it (usually on the back,
or bottom if possible).

I do this for almost everything I own - I even tape the instruction manuals to
the back of appliances.

This way, I don't have random items floating around the apartment, and I know
if I need to fix, replace, or dissemble anything, I know I don't have to hunt
around.

I guess this is an extension of jgrahamc's idea - take pictures as you
assemble, fix, dismantle stuff, and put them in the zip-lock bag. Saved me
endless head-scratching in the past.

~~~
mirkules
Heh, I do the exact same thing. Especially with Ikea furniture - I would tape
the wrenches, manuals, etc somewhere not easily noticeable.

Another thing I do is behind my TV, or in the back of my computer, I create
little paper tags that I tape onto the power cables. So, in case I need to
unplug something from the wall, I don't need to trace the connection to know
if I'm going to unplug the TV and lose all my presets, or just the floor lamp.

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nathanb
This seems like a brilliant use case for augmented reality. If I could look at
something and have my HUD display "turn this valve to disable all water flow
to the upstairs" from the previous owner of my house (or from the contractor
who plumbed the house, though who am I kidding?), that would be really cool.

~~~
lurker17
We can't even get people to leave a copy of the appliance manuals when they
move.

/waiting for new fridge to be delivered, no thanks to previous owner.

~~~
hammock
Good practice to leave the manual on top of the appliance, e.g. fridge, water
heater, furnace, etc. Or put them all in one drawer.

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ErrantX
Just do it for _everything_ \- I have a tiddlywiki [1] full of notes about how
to fix/install/setup/tune etc. things on my computers.

This started after I spent hours figuring out how to fix a network problem the
the Nth time last year :) Now all I have to do is search the Wiki.

1\. <http://www.tiddlywiki.com/>

~~~
tomjen3
Unfortunately I tend to use a number of different devices to connect to work
with.

So no tiddlywiki for me :(

~~~
ErrantX
Dropbox it for cross-machine access :) (& I also tag entries if it relates to
a specific device)

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dazzawazza
If you do this, and you should, then please do it with a permanent marker as
opposed to pencil or biro. In 10 years it will not fade away leaving a
tantalising tag with no information.

I refer you to my home fuse box :(

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mwexler
I've done this (read: had to do this to save my sanity) for years now.
Learnings: Most inks (like inkjet printers, pen inks, and even pencils) fade
(esp if in light for extended time) and laser toner will stick to other
surfaces in heat, so like another poster mentioned, sharpie perm marker is
usually the best option. Yellow sticky notes do not stick after years, sadly.
Duct tape is great, electrical tape often gets gummy and peels (at least, the
cheap kind I buy).

~~~
polyfractal
I'm a fountain pen fanatic, mostly because they are awesome to write with and
improve your handwriting. One of the perks is that you can use archival grade
ink.

My favorite are Noodler's Inks (<http://noodlersink.com/>). Forgive their
1995-esque website, they make fantastic fountain pen ink. Their Bulletproof
line is not only archival quality, but also nigh-impossible to remove from
paper.

And their Heart of Darkness black ink is like peering into the very abyss
itself.

~~~
mwexler
Very true. Conversely, the water-based "won't stain your clothing" ink fades
very quickly, which is pretty bad for archiving. Perhaps you can guess which
one I used when I "commented" things around my house a few years ago.

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mhb
My washing machine has a water filter?

~~~
X-Istence
Glad I am not the only one with that reaction. Now I must find out and clean
it if necessary.

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sixtofour
The oil change people do that when they put the little see through sticky on
the top of your windshield.

