I had just finished up writing my last post and I was kind of staring off into the distance thinking about making breakfast when I realized that I was blankly staring at my Mug Boss. All of a sudden, I kind of thought that my fishing bucket was the first I have ever mentioned my obsession with that style of organizer. So, I searched and could not find any reference to Mug Boss. Sure enough, I never had.
I suppose that I have nothing to really prove but I thought that I had evidence right in front of me about how hard I have fallen for this idea. The picture is the Mug boss on my desk but I also have them on my bench in the garage and somewhere in the shed that is going to become my workshop.
The Mug Boss fits around a ‘standard’ sized mug. These days, mugs come in all kinds of sizes but it used to be most mugs were the same size. “You know it when you see it” is kind of my answer. Speaking of mugs, they are almost a revolving door in my house. Every new decorating whim gets a new set of mugs. Out with the old and in with the new and let’s be honest, there are only so many mugs you can house and use. For that reason, my most sentimental mugs that do not fit in the decorating motif typically get the Mug Boss duties. It is kind of a win/win where I still hold onto the memories while still keeping it useful.
As an example, you cannot see it but this mug came from my CH2M Hill days. Not only did I work there but my dad did for his entire career. One of the founders came up with a set of guidelines called “The Little Yellow Book” which is why the mug is yellow. And since we worked at the original office, there was a lot of ownership in the wellbeing of a 30,000 employee company. Even though I only worked there about four years, I admired the spirit of many of the long tenured employees. For various reasons I never fully adopted the same mentality but my dad did. It does make me feel good to think about such an engineering juggernaut with ‘can do’ spirit came out of my small home town and my dad was part of that.
You know that I am a sentimental sucker. Why else would I go on and on about about a former workplace that I was happy to leave? Enough of that. I have three of these things and if I had another mug that was on the outs, I would probably have another one. The one in the picture is on my desk. It holds the things that I use (or used to) at my desk. I won’t go through everything but writing instruments, a pocket knife, multi-tool, screwdrivers, speedloaders for my pellet rifle when I used to shoot every day, etc.
When I have a shop bench again, I have one for marking and measuring in my shop. That would be regular pencils, sharpies, wax pencils, precision measuring as well as some kind of utility knife. The one I had on my garage bench holds similar type items for the types of activities that will happen in the garage. That would be things like food preservation, reloading, and simple home projects. Each one of the mugs have a similar story to what I shared above hidden under the canvas pockets.
Unlike the ‘Fishing Boss’, the ‘Mug Boss’ is still available at a street price for around $10 from many retailers. I would consider it a novelty item appealing to people like myself. That would be tool/gear oriented people that have a desire to organize their desktop or bench with pens, pencils and small tools. Despite it being a novelty, it is a very useful one that kind of shows your personality without being too over the top. People that know will get it immediately and those that don’t will just see the utility of it.
We are getting to that time of year again and I would say that this is an excellent stocking stuffer. To me, the good thing is that if you already have one I am certain that a use can be had for another.
| Score | Advantages | Disadvantages | |
| Value | 5/5 | Ten dollars and a mug to have what you need at hand | Will likely have to order rather than pickup at a retailer |
| Quality | 5/5 | Never worn one out | Doesn’t fit all mug shapes equally as well |
| Performance | 5/5 | Multi sized pockets to hold different shaped items | Mug shape constricts what can be held. |
End Your Programming Routine: As I am in the very slow process of putting my new spaces together, I find myself looking for the box that holds my Mug Boss very often. I want that bit holder or a sharpie because this is where I kept them. My shop just got wired a couple of weeks ago and my wife already has projects for me. I told her that I will do the bare minimum of organization for this first couple of projects. It is absolutely critical to me to know where stuff my is. Plus where else do pencils with no erasers go? To the Mug Boss of course.
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