Accumulation

[Calamity Jane]

Are you an accumulator?

I never think of myself that way, I don't have a lot of stuff, really. But today, I went over to the ex's house to get some of my things that just didn't get moved last winter, and I realized that I have a whole bunch of crap. Stuff that I've never even unpacked since I moved out of my apartment when I got married. Rolling Stone magazines from the early 80's, Rick Springfield albums, posters from high school - my senior pictures, for gods' sake.

And then there's the boxes of fabric and patterns and kids' crafts, and cross stitch patterns and supplies. I'm not even going to go into the boxes of books, that's a thread in itself.

My van is FULL of stuff, and I need to unload it all into the garage where I'm sure it'll sit until next time I move.

And then tomorrow, I'll make another trek to his house to finally finish the moving out process.

Ugh.

It's funny, because I'm ruthless when it comes to getting rid of clothes that don't fit or are worn out. I get rid of horse equipment that's no longer useful to me, even if it's relatively new, I rarely keep furniture that's no longer what I want.

But these other things - I just keep carting them from location to location.

I should probably have a yard sale, but I'm really too lazy and selfish with my time.

Are you a keeper or a thrower awayer?

 

[ClaudiusMaximus]

1 + 1= 1 (mod 1)

 

[warrior queen]

i used to be a keeper, now i'm a throw away-er.

i'm so fucking minimal now, i'm zen!

 

[unregistered]

 

[Aphrodisiac]

Are you a keeper or a thrower awayer?

I would say I am a little bit of both , we recently remodeled my house and when we had to pack a lot of our stuff for the renovations I realized how much stuff I had .. so before I moved back in I went through all the boxes and tossed so much stuff.

Though there are some things such as old birthday cards and some pictures that I can not throw away, maybe next time we do some spring cleaning or something I will toss them...

 

[Calamity Jane]

maybe next time we do some spring cleaning or something I will toss them...

Ahhh yes, there's always next time. lol

I think part of the problem is that the ex's house is huge. So, it was easy to think that I didn't have all that much stuff, because it was spread out over 3000 sq feet.

Even after splitting the stuff in the divorce, trying to cram my stuff, and the stuff the kids brought with into a 950 sq foot town house is more difficult than I ever imagined.

 

[killallhippies]

teeball anyone?

i'm a loser. i try to keep stuff, but i always either break it or lose it. still, i have a lot of crap.

 

[Tathagata]

i used to be a keeper, now i'm a throw away-er.

i'm so fucking minimal now, i'm zen!

That's cool

congrats

 

[The Heretic]

Are you an accumulator?

No - I'm a pack rat.

But not as bad as my father or my grandfather was. It has more to do with the lack of incentive to go through crap and throw out the junk than it does towards keeping junk. I just put stuff in a box rather than deal with it. When I move then I go through it and throw most of it out.

The funny thing was the last time I moved I would put stuff in the dumpster, and by the next load most the old stuff would be gone. Recycled I guess - but who really wants an old JC Penny 8 track stereo? Even if it was "quadrophonic" (the early version of surround sound)?

 

[Silverlily]

Twenty-one years as an Army brat and four years active duty, I'm a thrower, a brutal one. My darling husband on the other hand, must have a PhD in packrat.

 

[ksmybuttons]

After almost 17 years in the same house, I would say that I have more than my share of accumulation.

This winter, our goal is to gut the basement and bring it back into a usable space. We have already filled a dumpster. My problem is that I may use it or it has memories attached, or I could sell it and get money or it has value for someday.

Then there are the boxes from my childhood and the boxes from college and the boxes and boxes and boxes.

I am in the divesting state rather than the accumulation state.

 

[warrior queen]

my mother, on the other hand, is the complete opposite to me.
she's a bower-bird - sees something shiny or potentially useful, and has to pick it up and keep it forever.
i go visit her house, and even though she has 3 bedrooms, i have to sleep on the sofa! (and that's after i clean all the piles of newsclippings of it!)

 

[Calamity Jane]

Re: Re: Accumulation

but who really wants an old JC Penny 8 track stereo? Even if it was "quadrophonic" (the early version of surround sound)?

OMG, my mom would kill for one if it still worked! She's got boxes of 8 tracks in the basement. LOL

I have albums and I've never owned a turn table. Cassettes, and no cassette player. It's ridiculous.

I'm not too bad though, I guess. The building that I work in has been utilized by the company that I work for for more than 50 years. You wanna talk about people who never throw ANYTHING away - there's an entire floor of the building that's just storage. They could make a fortune on Ebay with some of the stuff that's just taking up space up there.

 

[warrior queen]

That's cool

congrats

i could, quite literally, live out of a suitcase now.
the only thing is, i'd have nowhere to keep my shoe collection
(shoes are my downfall - just call me imelda!)

 

[Calamity Jane]

my mother, on the other hand, is the complete opposite to me.
she's a bower-bird - sees something shiny or potentially useful, and has to pick it up and keep it forever.
i go visit her house, and even though she has 3 bedrooms, i have to sleep on the sofa! (and that's after i clean all the piles of newsclippings of it!)

bahahahaha! This is totally my mom. My step-dad built her a studio above the garage last summer, just so she'd have somewhere to put some furniture that she'd purchased at auction. But then, she decided that the fainting couch and stuff just didn't 'go' up there, so she bought new furniture for the studio and the fainting couch is still in a corner of the living room.

She bought a 18 place setting set of china at an antique store a couple of weeks ago. But it's still sitting at the store, because she doesn't have a big enough china cabinet to keep it in, so she needs to wait until she finds the right cabinet. Though, even when she finds it, she's not sure where to put it because she just got new furniture for all the guest rooms, and there are already two china cabinets in the dining room.

 

[Silverlily]

I'm not too bad though, I guess. The building that I work in has been utilized by the company that I work for for more than 50 years. You wanna talk about people who never throw ANYTHING away - there's an entire floor of the building that's just storage. They could make a fortune on Ebay with some of the stuff that's just taking up space up there.

Ugh, I worked for people like that one summer. Only this woman kept the cardboard rings from masking tape, the empty ones. Her justification was we might need them.


For what??

 

[The Heretic]

Re: Re: Re: Accumulation

OMG, my mom would kill for one if it still worked! She's got boxes of 8 tracks in the basement. LOL

I don't think the 8 track portion still worked, and the rest of it just barely. I suppose some electronics gadgeteer could find salvageable parts in it, but there comes a time to just throw junk out - not accumulate it. That thing was one of my ex's and mine first major purchases. We got it on a time payment plan about 30 years ago at JCP for $120 when we were desparately poor.

 

[mxslicer]

1 + 1= 1 (mod 1)

There is no 1 in mod 1.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Ugh, I worked for people like that one summer. Only this woman kept the cardboard rings from masking tape, the empty ones. Her justification was we might need them.


For what??

Umm.... LOL

My kids have been known to use them as looms for round pot holders, the ring on which to build a dream catcher, tambourines...

 

[shyly curious]

Tools, books, building supplies, boat equipment, art supplies, camping gear, motorcycling gear are my packrat-ish downfall. There is a sound reason I have 4 tents and 6 sleeping bags.

I have 1 couch, 2 chairs, 2 small tables, 2 drafting tables, 1 bed.


My parents keep cleaning their house and trying to fob off stuff onto me. They'll show up at my work and leave bags and boxes of stuff in my car in the middle of the day. My sister lives too far away to obsorb her fair share. Rumor has it my parents have their eyes on the second floor of my barn ...

Latest message from them is that I have 200 ft of pressure treated 2x6's to pick up at their place. Guess I'll have to design something to use them for.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Tools, books, building supplies, boat equipment, art supplies, camping gear, motorcycling gear are my packrat-ish downfall. There is a sound reason I have 4 tents and 6 sleeping bags.

I have 1 couch, 2 chairs, 2 small tables, 2 drafting tables, 1 bed.

I'm not going into the camping gear, any more than I'm going into the books. And he got custody of all of the tools/woodworking stuff.

My garage is just gonna be packed full.

 

[Epiphany]

I'm a keeper! (In more ways than one)


I have so much stuff that it's not even funny. I still have stuff at the house I grew up in, and in the house I lived in while I was married....hell, my hope chest is still in my exes house!

 

[Calamity Jane]

I still have stuff at the house I grew up in, and in the house I lived in while I was married....hell, my hope chest is still in my exes house!

I think that finally, I don't have anything left at mom's house. Except some of my child hood toys that I should probably put on Ebay. Does Masters of the Universe stuff go for anything?

 

[shyly curious]

I'm not going into the camping gear, any more than I'm going into the books. And he got custody of all of the tools/woodworking stuff.

My garage is just gonna be packed full.

You're lucky, you live south, you don't have snowshoes and winter ice climbing gear, x-country skis and boots, (and spares for visitors), ice skates, and such. (do you?)

I'm not going to admit the total level of tools, but I can build a house or a boat from scratch starting with a standing tree and handle everystep along the way. Plus metal working tools as well. And tractor fixing tools and mechanic tools as well.

Some people laugh at me as I only have two wine glasses, ...



but I have two sawzalls.

 

[gravyrug]

Ugh, I worked for people like that one summer. Only this woman kept the cardboard rings from masking tape, the empty ones. Her justification was we might need them.


For what??

Okay, I can totally top this one. My Step-Grandmother-in-Law (aka, Demon Bitch from Hell) was an ungodly packrat. One time, my wife was helping clean out her bathroom, and found 17 empty toothpast tubes that her grandmother was saving "because she might need them someday". And there's more. Sometime later, by brother-in-law was in his grandmother's attic looking for something, and came across a wooden Whitman's Sampler box. It was extremely cool. Inside, however, he found...























17 toothpast tube caps.