I don't know if I can top anyone else's anecdote, but since I have so
enjoyed reading all these tales of the "weird and wacky" I thought I'd
reply with my own.  In a previous job working in RM for county
government, one of the challenging department to assist was the
Sheriff's Office's.  I learned to closely check the contents of boxes
they provided for shredding as along with the half-eaten lunches and
assorted other garbage, I at various time found evidence bags containing
drug paraphernalia, big bags of GVM (green vegetable matter), gas masks,
automobile license plates, and LIVE AMMO.  One record center I worked in
was a converted commissary refrigerator room that still had the double
doors that would slam shut together with the pull of a cord, and another
records center was a former jail with iron bars for doors and the boxes
stored right on the old inmate bunks (and decorated with jailhouse
graffiti on the walls).  My working conditions are somewhat better these
days . . .

Andrew Penta
Records Officer
Records Management Division,
Clark County General Services Dept. 
ext. 4009, or (360) 397-2191
e-mail:  [log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Patti Kraatz
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 6:55 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [RM] The weird and wacky

Have fun with this....I've been asked to speak to a group of clerical
staff. Their onsite RM person does lots of training so my idea is make
it fun, include 1) weird things RM's find in boxes 2) obscure
information we keep tucked away in case it's needed e.g. how much a wet
box weighs.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has had weird experiences. Even things
found that proved valuable e.g. our HR Dept had no employee records
pre-dating Regional gov't formation but we found old payroll records
that proved start dates of a few employees who were then able to retire
early (I obviously was not among them).

Patti Kraatz
Coordinator, Information Mgmt & Archives Council & Administrative
Services 2nd Floor, 150 Frederick St.
Ph: 575-4725    Fax: 575-4481
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