Stuff

[Standing Wolf]

I was stopped at a light the other day and an apparently homeless couple, each with a large wheeled cart - not shopping carts, but more like those big carts that they have at the home improvement stores to move large or heavy objects - overflowing with containers, suitcases and miscellaneous stuff were waiting to cross the street.

It got me thinking about the human impulse to collect, store and haul around physical objects. The tendency affects different individuals to a greater or lesser extent, of course, but few are completely immune. I guess the extreme examples are the sorts of people featured on that Hoarders show. Some of those folks are downright scary. I actually watch a few episodes of that show occasionally just to keep my own collecting impulses in check.

Here's George Carlin's classic take on 'Stuff'.



In an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon takes his girlfriend to his secret storage space, where he has neatly arranged every single thing he has ever owned.



I'm guilty of squirreling away objects, sometimes even whole collections of things, and then forgetting about them. I mentioned elsewhere that I'm going through the thousands of books, most of them boxed up, in my finished basement, trying to get them organized and (hopefully) a lot of them donated and out of the house. I filled a dozen boxes with books to give away in the first couple of days, and that's just scratching the surface. I've also got probably twenty boxes out in the garage, and filled bookcases all over the house. More books than I could read if I lived to be a hundred and twenty. Realistically, I could drop dead of a heart attack or be hit head-on by a truck next week and I certainly don't want to leave it for my family to deal with.

I guess it's like they say about losing weight - you didn't gain it all at once, so it's unrealistic to suppose that you're going to lose it quickly. It has taken me most of my adult life to accumulate all those books, along with the other stuff - the baseball memorabilia, the old police shooting medals that I collected for years, the superhero statues, etc. - so it is bound to take some time getting rid of most of it and getting down to a more reasonable level of "stuff".

[Hoosier8]

Yeah, I have to much stuff and want to simplify.

[Trish]

I've moved 3 times in the last 6 years. Every time I moved it was to a smaller place. I purged a lot of my miscellaneous stuff. My parents would not be considered hoarders but I think they are definitely professional pack rats. A couple years back I had made a commitment to myself to help my parents get rid of their unwanted stuff. I would go up each weekend and work 6 - 8 hours organizing, taking inventory, researching the market value, boxing up, cleaning their house and putting the items identified to be tossed, donated or given away in a designated area. I did this for several months. The whole time my father moaned and groaned that I was trying to trick him into selling his house. It was a nightmare. While I was traveling I learned from my sister that my dad had gone to a local auction and had replaced the junk that I had worked so hard to get rid of.

I never went back for the purpose of helping them get things organized.

I don't understand how some can live with boxes and junk piled all over the place. It's hard to see.

Good luck with your project. You'll feel good once you start seeing progress.

[Chris]

I move things around the house, from one wall to another, one room to another, always rearranging and in the process throwing unused junk away or donating it somewhere.

[Cletus]

I'm guilty of squirreling away objects, sometimes even whole collections of things, and then forgetting about them.

Yeah, I heard about some guy who has like 130,000 baseball bats.

Some people...

[Don]

I was stopped at a light the other day and an apparently homeless couple, each with a large wheeled cart - not shopping carts, but more like those big carts that they have at the home improvement stores to move large or heavy objects - overflowing with containers, suitcases and miscellaneous stuff were waiting to cross the street.

It got me thinking about the human impulse to collect, store and haul around physical objects. The tendency affects different individuals to a greater or lesser extent, of course, but few are completely immune. I guess the extreme examples are the sorts of people featured on that Hoarders show. Some of those folks are downright scary. I actually watch a few episodes of that show occasionally just to keep my own collecting impulses in check.

Here's George Carlin's classic take on 'Stuff'.



In an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon takes his girlfriend to his secret storage space, where he has neatly arranged every single thing he has ever owned.



I'm guilty of squirreling away objects, sometimes even whole collections of things, and then forgetting about them. I mentioned elsewhere that I'm going through the thousands of books, most of them boxed up, in my finished basement, trying to get them organized and (hopefully) a lot of them donated and out of the house. I filled a dozen boxes with books to give away in the first couple of days, and that's just scratching the surface. I've also got probably twenty boxes out in the garage, and filled bookcases all over the house. More books than I could read if I lived to be a hundred and twenty. Realistically, I could drop dead of a heart attack or be hit head-on by a truck next week and I certainly don't want to leave it for my family to deal with.

I guess it's like they say about losing weight - you didn't gain it all at once, so it's unrealistic to suppose that you're going to lose it quickly. It has taken me most of my adult life to accumulate all those books, along with the other stuff - the baseball memorabilia, the old police shooting medals that I collected for years, the superhero statues, etc. - so it is bound to take some time getting rid of most of it and getting down to a more reasonable level of "stuff".

When I saw the topic title I thought you might be talking about how the Chiefs stuffed the Cardinals today. I don't really have too much stuff but I don't have enough room for more. I want more better stuff and new stuff so I have to get rid of some stuff. I usually just give some away to the under stuffed and a few who would like some stuff but can't really afford it.

[silvereyes]

I was stopped at a light the other day and an apparently homeless couple, each with a large wheeled cart - not shopping carts, but more like those big carts that they have at the home improvement stores to move large or heavy objects - overflowing with containers, suitcases and miscellaneous stuff were waiting to cross the street.

It got me thinking about the human impulse to collect, store and haul around physical objects. The tendency affects different individuals to a greater or lesser extent, of course, but few are completely immune. I guess the extreme examples are the sorts of people featured on that Hoarders show. Some of those folks are downright scary. I actually watch a few episodes of that show occasionally just to keep my own collecting impulses in check.

Here's George Carlin's classic take on 'Stuff'.



In an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon takes his girlfriend to his secret storage space, where he has neatly arranged every single thing he has ever owned.



I'm guilty of squirreling away objects, sometimes even whole collections of things, and then forgetting about them. I mentioned elsewhere that I'm going through the thousands of books, most of them boxed up, in my finished basement, trying to get them organized and (hopefully) a lot of them donated and out of the house. I filled a dozen boxes with books to give away in the first couple of days, and that's just scratching the surface. I've also got probably twenty boxes out in the garage, and filled bookcases all over the house. More books than I could read if I lived to be a hundred and twenty. Realistically, I could drop dead of a heart attack or be hit head-on by a truck next week and I certainly don't want to leave it for my family to deal with.

I guess it's like they say about losing weight - you didn't gain it all at once, so it's unrealistic to suppose that you're going to lose it quickly. It has taken me most of my adult life to accumulate all those books, along with the other stuff - the baseball memorabilia, the old police shooting medals that I collected for years, the superhero statues, etc. - so it is bound to take some time getting rid of most of it and getting down to a more reasonable level of "stuff".

When mom died so unexpectly my sisters and i had to go through all my parents stuff so we could put the house for sale. Now, we knew it was going a huge, sad undertaking but we werent at all prepared to find some of the " stuff" they kept all these years. All four of us did lots of crying that week. It's not the usual things that you know you are going to find stashed around...it's the little things that we found that was the hardest to see. (I am tearing up even while typing this out. )

One thing that i found stashed in the very bottom of her jewelry box literally knocked me to floor crying even harder. I had it cupped in my hand and my other hand on top so I didnt drop and lose any of its contents. My sisters all came over around me asking what was wrong, what i found. I couldnt even answer because i was crying so hard. I just held my hands out and lifted my top hand. All three of them did what i did. Sat and cried passing it around. What was so precious and dear to my mom in that little box? It was 4 tiny little baggies like jewelers use. There was one for each of us with our names on them. Inside each one were our first lost baby teeth. It was already late at night by then thankfully....because we werent going to get anything else done. All four of us sat there crying and talking and just hugging each other....horribly lost and sad but grateful that we had each other. We sat there for hours reminiscing about the fun times we had going on the various roadtrips and vacations. That was the first time in the time span since we felt mom's last heartbeat that I realized that it is okay to laugh and smile when talking about mom. She wouldnt want us to only feel sadness or guilt thinking or talking about her. My mom loved to smile and laugh...even at herself. My best friend since we were in the 6th grade made the 8 hour drive to mom's funeral service. In the "memory book" we had out for everyone to sign and leave little notes about mom Debbie wrote, "We will miss that radiant smile down here but Heaven just brighter because of it."
Mom's birthday was last Wednesday. I bought some yellow roses (her favorite) and drove to where i did her ashes and one by one watched them drift out to the sea on the waves. Oh, how she loved going there! She and daddy would spend hours there sitting in the boat and fishing. My mom's last painting she did was a depiction of her and daddy in the boat at sunset. She titled it, "Our Kind of Heaven." It really was, too.

Sorry yall. Sometimes one little memory causes dozens more.

[Tahuyaman]

I'm getting rid of a lot of stuff lately. Some stuff I haul out to the street and put a Free sign on it. Someone always takes it.

I make a dump run about twice a month for the stuff I think isn't worth anything. I take a lot of stuff to Goodwill. If I have a tool which I haven't used in a year, I take it to Goodwill. Unless it has an engine on it like an old lawn mower or roto tiller. In that case I put the Free sign on it.


At any rate, I'm clearing up a lot of room in my basement and shed by getting rid of stuff I don't need any more.

[Standing Wolf]

Yeah, I heard about some guy who has like 130,000 baseball bats.

Some people...

It's only 1,600, I'll have you know.

Mike Whiteside, co-owner of Black Dog Salvage in Roanoke, featured on Salvage Dawgs, once said, "I'm not a hoarder. I'm a Resources Manager." Thinking about having that put on a t-shirt.

[Standing Wolf]

I'm getting rid of a lot of stuff lately. Some stuff I haul out to the street and put a Free sign on it. Someone always takes it.

I make a dump run about twice a month for the stuff I think isn't worth anything. I take a lot of stuff to Goodwill. If I have a tool which I haven't used in a year, I take it to Goodwill. Unless it has an engine on it like an old lawn mower or roto tiller. In that case I put the Free sign on it.


At any rate, I'm clearing up a lot of room in my basement and shed by getting rid of stuff I don't need any more.

Talk about bad timing. Just as I'm getting started on getting the library sorted out and getting rid of a lot of books, the local Arizona Humane Society thrift shops have stopped taking and selling books. My second choice, and the outfit I guess I'll go with, is the Visiting Nurse Service book sale, which I think is in February. And they will come and pick the books up if I call them.

Every three months, the City of Phoenix does a bulk trash pickup, and - like you say - whatever you put out on the curb, if it has any potential value to anyone, it will be gone very quickly, long before the city trucks come. We even see pickups with Sonora license plates making the rounds. People put out some amazing things, particularly in the "better" parts of town. I will confess to stopping every so often and picking up those large plastic milk crates when people toss them out, because they're great for sorting and organizing the landscaping materials, rocks and so forth, that the wife has in the side yard.