# What's on your desk? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 18, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743 "2004-02-18T04:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/1 "2004-02-18T04:55:56Z")
inspired by [so, what’s on your key ring?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=240147) and posted at the drop of a hat. What is on your desk? (Apart from the obvious - monitor,keyboard,mououse) Work desktop is a bit dull I’m afraid - two phones (one handsfree), a stapler, some documents, post-its, a can of coke, celotape, tv-remote, mouse-mat (not being used), pen _thing_ (one of those ones like the giant’s causeway in ireland), anti-stress kit (‘bang head here’), black sponge, empty quality-street tin, two more mouse mats, a floppy disk, a cup, a world atlas, the end of a mobile phone recharger. At home (from memory), reciever for wireless keyboard and mouse, couple of glasses (most probably have milk gunk in the bottom), wedding invitation, couple of budget pc game boxes, used batteries, red biro, pile of case-less cds (online documentation for populous, Queen Greatest hits, and others), various miscelaneous bits of paper stuffed under the monitor. And yours? ---
**Author:** ![zephyrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/35a633/32.png) [@zephyrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zephyrine)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/2 "2004-02-18T05:17:22Z")
Laptop; mouse; modem; metal box with CDs and floppies; two lamps; wooden box with assorted paperwork, pens, scissors etc.; box of pens; box of pencils; cell phone; house phone (working); house phone (broken); cat; mug; ashtray; cigarettes; lighter; paperweight; book; bottle of water. It’s not a very big desk. I can’t see what color it is anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/3 "2004-02-18T05:23:52Z")
Work desk is too big a freakin’ mess at the moment to begin to describe… Home is a _little_ better: besides the utilitarian (minty waxed dental floss, lip balm, erasers, pens, rulers, etc,), there are the odd bits: - a (hopefully defused) 1915 Mills Bomb (better known as a hand grenade); - a brass 1 pdr shell case from the Boer War, doing service as a pen-holder; - a stack of WWI and WW2 photo postcards awaiting scanning to go on eBay; - my late father’s ex- Royal Canadian Mounted Police fingerprint magnifying glass; - a circa WWI “Erinmore’s” Cigarette Tobacco Tin, full of old buttons and odd coins; - a “Robbie the Reindeer” Xmas ornament that came with the DVD; - an “Italian Job” paperweight that came with the computer mousepad that says “You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” Ah, comedy. - a 1964 GI Joe Junior Shaver Kit which I should have sent out to the lucky eBay winner tonight, but I am too lazy to box up and go out into the rain to the post office (which is now closed, anyway); - a pair of cloth puttees (those khaki cloth things that our grandfathers wound round their calves in the army to keep dust and cobras out of their army boots. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/4 "2004-02-18T05:25:14Z")
On top: Gorgeous new gigantic monitor, speakers, tower, empty bottle of Mic. Light x 4, half a McDonald’s coke, a coaster… Level 2: Router, cable modem, keys, cigs, assorted things I’ve found in my pockets over the last week or so. Bottom shelf: Game CDs, a huge stack of blank CD-Rs, Windows XP Setup guide, and a package of Tic Tacs. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/5 "2004-02-18T05:45:17Z")
On my desk: An old lamp that used to belong to my grandfather. A rubberband ball Several pocketknives with the screwdrivers out An empty cup that used to have water in it A handheld “Freecell” game A 5.25 inch floppy disc (In case you’re wondering, it was used as a prop in a home movie some friends of mine made. I kept it because old computer equipment is cool) An issue of PC World Magazine A rubik’s cube A Spanish-English dictionary A piece of paper with the Alt codes for a, e, i, o, and u with circumflexes, accents, graves and various other characters A GTA: Vice City CD Various notes and maps for the languages I’m creating, and the world they’ll go in A bone (a deer bone a friend found at summer camp a few years ago) An empty tin of Altoids The Lord of the Rings book Several packs of several different kinds of gum and, a label maker ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/6 "2004-02-18T05:53:30Z")
On top of the desk: Computer, Monitor, bunch of cdroms and floppy disks, pencil cup, a coke glass with the coke bears on it, an imported MicroAqua with jellyfish in it, four packages of crayons, a cd stomper, a box of checks, ibuprophen(one full bottle, one empty), St. John’s Wort, a glow-in-the-dark frog, a lamp with an alien fetus in it, a scrunchie, a box of Q-Tips, a candle, a button, a picture from 19 years ago, and a paint brush. Shelf one: Aproximately 200 cassettes, 6 spindles of CD-Rs with assorted things burned on them, white noise machine Shelf two: Big floppies case, several cd-rom games, a box of photos, a cd case, and a box of gel pens. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/7 "2004-02-18T06:28:32Z")
I’m at a big workstation-type desk, so there’s a lot of stuff on it! Surface: - digital camera in dock connected to USB port - non-working calculator - spindle of blank CD-Rs - 48 CD-Rs made, awaiting inserts and filing - various candies: saltwater taffy, candy canes from Xmas, caramels, Smarties, Riesen, starlight mints - pens, pencils, markers, scissors, several miniature screwdrivers - 45 RPM record adapter - nail clippers, toenail clippers - my watch - tobacco and papers and filters, ashtray, 4 lighters - tea mug and electric mug warmer - old paintbrush that I use to dust off the monitor and desk - a tube of Orajel from months ago when I had a toothache - 41 cents in change - alarm clock - a Q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol (used to clean the heads on my tape deck) - some medicine - a nickel metal hydride battery - various scraps of paper with stuff written on them - two pins - a coaster - a nail file - stereo integrated amplifier - input expander box - equalizer - custom signal splitter/combiner - tape deck - scanner - printer - swing-arm lamp for the desk, other swing-arm lamp for the turntable - three shelves with myriad items (light bulb, my $400 glasses that I can’t wear, a pencil sharpener, a mini-Milky Way chocolate thingy from Hallowe’en, some salt licorice, a cassette tape, various papers, booklets, a box of odds and ends, etc. etc.) Underneath the surface: - really good Hi-Fi VCR - outboard video capture device - computer tower - backup stereo amplifier - other tape deck - old mono VCR - old, old turntable that runs 78 speed that I’ll never use And that’s just about it! Wasn’t that truly fascinating? No, I didn’t think so, either. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/8 "2004-02-18T06:42:47Z")
- Way too many papers - Computer and computer-related stuff - Coffee mug - Large plastic cup - Several filing boxes with various client-related materials - Several Japanese-English dictionaries - A French-English dictionary - An electric fan - 3 CDs (Steely Dan, Dave Brubeck, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra) - 2 large balls made of rubber bands - A copy of _Into the Wild_ - A copy of _Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and the American Cultural Imagination_ - A few old issues of _Scientific American_ - Several pens On the floor next to my desk there are: - 2 briefcases - 2 5kg dumbbells - A copy of _MovieHound’s Golden Movie Retriever, 2003 edition_ ---
**Author:** ![happylittlevegemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@happylittlevegemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happylittlevegemite)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/9 "2004-02-18T06:42:52Z")
A piece of mail from uni (an invoice for $0.00) A CD containing statistics software Something breakable wrapped in newspaper (don’t know what it is, I just moved house) The outer mug of a Decor Frosty Mug A plastic cup with the remains of flavoured milk drying on the bottom A mobile phone The wrapper of a Kraft Cheestik An empty chocolate Yogo container with a sticky spoon still inside. An empty beer bottle A glass half full of Coke A stack of mail for the previous residents of this house A nearly empty bottle of tomato sauce A tomato sauce smeared plate A book, the star trek next gen companion (the new updated one, that includes nemesis) An old New Scientist magazine being used as a mouse pad because I haven’t found mine yet (I’m not fully unpacked) urgh, that’s disgusting, I just realised how much food related refuse litters my desk! I have to go clean up! ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/10 "2004-02-18T06:54:30Z")
I’m combining two desks here - both AnthroCarts, one a corner unit with my computer stuff on it, the other a longer unit for papers and other things. -Yellow legal pad w/ to-do list -This month’s AJR (American Journalism Review) -This month’s Consumer Reports -Assignment sheet from the paper for this week’s story -Various pens and pencils -Limited Edition Fresh Mint Tic-Tacs (nearly empty) -Pica pole and proportional wheel -Three-hole punch -A copy of Ken Auletta’s “Backstory” that I got in the mail today, I’m about halfway through the article on Raines -iPod and headphones -Cell phone -Mini tape recorder -Empty plate -Barometer/thermometer/hygrometer (A belated Christmas present, came with the book mentioned above) -Two MST3K DVD’s (Mitchell and Eegah!) -Deposit envelopes and slips for the bank -Adobe Classroom-in-a-Book for InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator -Various CD’s -AP Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law -Some index cards -My wallet -My keys -Phillips screwdriver -Toenail clipper -Lava lamp I think that’s it. And that’s after I cleaned it off today! Oh, and brownie points to anyone who can guess my major. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/11 "2004-02-18T12:28:07Z")
Mostly paperwork, I wasn’t gonna post here 'coz my desk is so dull\*, but just looking I noticed. Blue pen, check. Green pen, check. Red pen, check. 2B pencil, check. Yellow highlighter, check. Pink highlighter, check. Papers marked up with blue/red/green/yellow/pink, yup. I don’t actually carry them around in my shirt pocket, but I have become Dilbert. _yes, I have a spider-plant on my desk_\*. \*\*slightly less conventionally I also have a lemon grass plant, but that’s temporary. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/12 "2004-02-18T12:42:48Z")
Top shelf: -Books -Printer -6 CD towers -Stereo -Mike Peca bobblehead -Business card holder -4x6 Photo I took of Rick DiPietro at a road game in Buffalo back in October Bottom shelf: -Speakers -Monitor / Mouse -12" Jason Voorhees figure (From Friday the 13th Part 3) -Cube calendar (an annual gift from a business contact) -a half-empty Tim Horton’s coffee (XL w/MILK, not cream) -a wire & circuit board extracted from a keyboard -another desktop calendar -2 empty travel mugs (I really should throw one out, and take the other home) -My phone -My portable CD wallet -Pencil cup -“John Lennon Unseen Archives” book -one of those stress-squuezy things shaped like a brain -a stack of papers I can’t seem to work my way through -a ruler ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/13 "2004-02-18T13:43:55Z")
_ **Please pass this post for one more exciting** _\* -Work phone -Assorted papers, mostly printed out code. -Phone list (Bruce is x29, btw) -Pencil _and_ pen. Oooo! -Case for my wireless card. -The manual for [my new cell phone](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=239790&page=1&pp=50). -Big Pad -Little pad. Whee! ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/14 "2004-02-18T13:59:31Z")
aside from a G4, 17" monitor, mouse etc: -work phone, on do not disturb as it rings when theres more than one line busy at the switchboard/reception -a bottle of water -a wrist rest silicone gel thing - a Harry Potter Style guide -some pens - abot a million CD-ROMs, all to due with work - a scalpel - an intray, full of stuff to do with work (printed e-mails etc) I couldn’t care less about -a notepad -a calendar clock, in a box ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/15 "2004-02-18T14:28:18Z")
On the top shelf- digital camera and carrying case vase that has pencils in it prescription lotion for my daughter Mickey Mouse glasses ( two of them ) bills a container of chocolate covered bridge mix ( EWWWW) my printer On the bottom shelf monitor speakers Webster’s dictionary pictures in frames pictures not in frames CD’s games a necklace chap stick calculator notebook last years tax info this years tax info used check book my old Sam’s club card clock bottle of mint flavored Rolaids and a glass of water. ---
**Author:** ![swannguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@swannguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swannguy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/16 "2004-02-18T18:22:40Z")
Currently my desk… 2 speakers bottle of evian 4 writing pads bunch of pens/pencils/markers 1 GYBE, 2 Bright Eyes and 1 Neutral Milk Hotel CD tape dispenser stapler Cold-Eeze and Luden’s My SD Secret Santa coffee mug 4 big-ass reports I need review for potential fraud at our domestic properties cd player company’s 75-year anniversary mug ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/17 "2004-02-18T19:13:48Z")
I wasn’t gonna go here, but… Work Desk: Computer, monitor, speakers, power strip, headphones, mike (I was thinking of Net2Phone, but…ehh), and wedding picture, plus stuffed paisley frog and gecko on top of these things. CD-ROMs, paper clip dispensers (one plastic, one fancy marble one with my company’s logo), coffee cup and coffee warmer, water bottle, telephone, pen holder, kleenex, post-its, loose pens, stapler, note pads, lab notebooks, little model motorcycle, small screwdriver, lab samples, stray doorstop, zip disk, quarantine labels, coffee maker, coffee filters, coffee grinder, coffee beans, digital thermometer (needs to go back to the lab), clock radio, desk calendar, tape dispenser, three-hole punch, coin box, ink stamps, stamp pad, catalogs, whetstone, honing oil, small bottle of isopropanol, food coloring, more lab notebooks, old shipping temperature monitor, labels, folders, paperbacks, keys, ball of string, paper trays (in-box type things), a six-inch high “shred pile,” and oh my god, the papers. Mind you, I actually have TWO desks in my cubicle; I have also infested the empty cubicle next door, but I’m not going to… yes I am. Boxes. Empty boxes, boxes of “ASQ Golden Gate Section” coffee mugs, a box of filters, a box of temperature records, a box of financial records (for ASQ Golden Gate Section), two boxes of defunct drug stability samples, a box of old San Francisco Chronicle Book Reviews (which I swear I will go through and write down the books that caught my eye…in 1995), and a shoebox, with shoes that I plan to wear when I wear out the ones in the filing cabinet (very soon, but not that soon, because I only wear them when I’ve ridden my motocycle to work). Um, stuffed animals from Circus-Circus in Reno, empty plastic bags (for pulling drug stability samples), ASQ newsletters, and piles and piles of files on drug products. Home desk, from memory. Computer, monitor, speakers, printer, power strip, CDs, Zips, floppies, paid bills, unpaid bills, bank statements, magazines, letters, coin sorters, coin wrappers, wrapped coins, unwrapped and unsorted coins, desk blotters, pens, pen holder, dirty dishes, notepad, remotes for my stereo, pictures of my wife, and stuff I can’t remember because I haven’t seen it in days. More paper. I need a secretary. And a maid. And about 30 extra hours in every week. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/18 "2004-02-18T19:21:53Z")
[I’m on my laptop not at my desk] Big Table. A copy of the **Bacchae** large green/red/yellow/burgundy-glass tiffany lamp My Coffee. Sorry so boring…but I’m in the Library ☹ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/19 "2004-02-18T19:34:40Z")
Two desks at work. Desk 1: keyboard, monitor (Cubs hat on monitor), printer, pile of pens, calculator, stack of videotaped student projects, pile of misc. papers, photo of me and fiancee. Desk 2: Tray set (labeled **In, In Deeper, and Alligators! Thousands of them!),** piles of student papers, Debate trophy from USC 1992, Clouseau Pez dispenser, phone, desk calender, tape dispenser, stapler, model guillotine, jar full of M&Ms, 3 packs of Post-It notes, photo of me and fiancee, today’s LA Times. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743/20 "2004-02-18T19:40:51Z")
My home desk is a mess, mostly piles of paper and a few books at hand for immediate reference. Here at work, lots of fairly clear desk space with relatively little paper clutter and, on the actual work-area part of the desk: - A 3-cup teapot and tea cup. - A Star Trek page-a-day calendar. - 2 hobbits dressed as orcs (Sam is standing on one of the computer speakers; Frodo is sitting on top of the monitor). - A tiny ceramic figure on the other computer speaker that is often mistaken for Buddha, but is actually a circus strongman. - Multi-frame picture containing photos of nieces and nephews. On the long surface that stretches along the other wall toward the windows: - That new DVD drive that the tech staff will get around to installing for me one of these days. - Candy jar half-filled with cough drops. - Rolodex next to the phone. - Plug-in tea kettle. - A 3-hole puncher. - A tape dispenser. - Lots of zip discs and their cases scattered liberally around. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-desk/229743.md?page=2)