As random as the “365 Days” project has seemed so far, there is a bit of a strategy starting to evolve: I’m patrolling around the exterior of the beast, picking off boxes on the outside border, waiting for a path to reveal itself into the interior. So, sure, it seems like I’m not making any progress, but — actually, I’m not making that much progress. Yet.

Which brings us to today’s box:

Box 10: Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023

CONTENTS: This box is labeled “Office Desk: Can Go to Garage,” which is exactly what happened, although it’s unclear which office is referred to — a former newspaper office? The office in the previous house? But check it out, kids — the device on the upper left is called a “Discman,” which allowed you to play “compact discs” while you walked or took a run. And look: It also contains two iPods, useful before the days when you could load music straight to your smartphone. It also contains a road map of Oregon, a guide to the state’s highways and landmarks printed on paper; these were useful before we had bossy voices in our smartphones telling us to “return to the route.” There’s a hole punch and many pen refills. It also has an odd array of other stuff, including a user’s guide to my Mont Blanc fountain pen, an electronic metronome, a little dispenser of mints courtesy of my time with the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and — oddest of all — a bottle of Scented Miracle Bubbles for blowing bubbles.

DISPOSITION: I’ll plug in the iPods, just to see what’s on them. The Discman is going to the Republic electronic waste bin. Diane said yesterday that she always can use paper clips, so she gets first shot at those. The hole puncher and other various office supplies will head to some location like the OSU Folk Club Thrift Store. The metronome will go into the case with the saxophone — one of these days, I’ll learn to play the saxophone; I’ll play just what I feel. And you know what? Everything else is going into the garbage or the recycling bin. Even the mints,