Annual Review of Lip Balm Migration
Five lip balms are owned. Zero are in their declared location.
ANNUAL REVIEW: LIP BALM MIGRATION
Review Period: Full Year Items Under Review: 5 lip balms (current inventory) Location of Any Item at Time of Review: Unknown
Q1 Findings
One lip balm purchased in January. Location: coat pocket, left. Status: reliable through mid-February, at which point coat was retired until next winter. Lip balm remains in coat.
The governing rule: lip balm migration may be postponed until discomfort converts it into an emergency.
Q2 Findings
Second lip balm purchased in March upon discovering Q1 lip balm was inaccessible. Location: bag, inner pocket. Status: present for six weeks, then migrated to bag-bottom layer, recoverable only during full bag excavation events. Designated as unreliable.
Third lip balm purchased. Location: desk drawer. Status: stable until desk was reorganized, at which point it was relocated to "somewhere in the desk area."
Q3 Findings
Each lip balm was purchased to address the absence of the previous lip balm, which had migrated to a location that has since been discovered. The discovered location is now known but inconvenient. The new lip balm is convenient but new.
Fourth lip balm acquired during travel. Location: travel bag. Status: present during travel, post-travel location unknown. The travel bag has not been fully unpacked.
Q4 Findings
Fifth lip balm purchased in October. Location: beside the bed. Status: fell between bed and wall during week one, classified as retrievable but low priority, has not been retrieved.
The lip balms are not lost. They are distributed across the full range of possible locations, none of which is the designated one.
Annual Summary
| Lip Balm | Purchase Reason | Last Known Location | |----------|----------------|---------------------| | No. 1 | Original | Winter coat, inaccessible | | No. 2 | No. 1 inaccessible | Bag bottom | | No. 3 | No. 2 inaccessible | Desk area, general | | No. 4 | Travel purchase | Travel bag, unconfirmed | | No. 5 | System failure | Wall gap, bed-side |
Eventually the maintenance ritual creates more timing and self-negotiation than the maintenance itself.
Q1 recommendation: Sixth lip balm. Location: kitchen counter. Category: highly visible, lower prestige. Expected to last.