The road to hell is paved with...

Good intentions. I have many of them. Like saving money. Making use of unused space. (I know, I know, why is it a good intention to use up space? Something to do with making the most of a small home... or just squeezing everything into it.)
I have some not-so-good impulses too. Like the urge to savour a Sweet and Salty bar while waiting in line at Costco.
All of which led me to discard an almost-full carton of granola bars today.
I was cleaning out the cupboard above our basement stairs, which extends far beyond my reach. With the help of 5-iron, I extracted all the balled-up grocery bags and groceries that had settled back there.
Among them, a dusty carton of granola bars. No best-before date. The dust was a clue, but I hate to throw out food so I called the manufacturer to inquire. "Um, ma'am," the rep said, "those bars were manufactured in 2009, and we like them to be consumed within 9 months, so, I'm sorry, they're just too old." She was very apologetic. "It happens to all of us," she said sympathetically. Collectively, what a waste.
Into the garbage they went, along with the unopened jar of salsa that expired in 2009(!), etc.
I wondered if I should take my chances with the microwave popcorn that expired last week, but decided to just stop poisoning my body with these chemicals anyway.
I'm somewhat perplexed by the unopened bag of oats, which I bought on sale last spring, just before summer came and I stopped eating hot cereal. Best before date now passed. Ingredients: 100% oats. Dry oats don't last forever...?
I'm coming around to the view that "storage" and "sale" are mixed blessings at best, perhaps better avoided.

Busy Bee

Oops, I haven't posted in weeks. So what have I been doing? Some serious clutter-busting! I've become a familiar face at the Salvation Army, my garbage men (so far they're all men) must hate me, and I'm still trying to make a go of consignment and on-line classifieds (hence I'm on-line).
Yesterday I bought a bottle of wine just to persuade my local liquor store to give me some of its empty boxes. Do I need to add that the wine got opened before the boxes got filled?
Anyway, no time to post -- the clutter is calling...