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Post by questa on Jul 4, 2021 0:36:57 GMT
On the hoarding v collecting topic. I used to collect the little "Matchbox" veteran and vintage cars back in the '70s. They were beautifully copied from real vehicles in various motor museums and were housed in glass cabinets. I loved them. Then they started making commercial vehicles, each bearing the livery of a company, and professional collectors moved in.
With them came the nit-picking of minor deviations in manufacture and prices got to be ridiculous. What had been under $2 in the shop was now $10 and if it had a 'history' even more. I had 135 of them after 25 years of collecting but not worth much because the early ones had lost their boxes. I did get a lucky break when a model was painted in the livery for an old business and contained the phrase "supplier to the Prince of Wales". The current PoW objected so the little vans got recalled for a make-over...except mine which was at sea. 1990 seemed to look like a good year to sell so my Matchbox collection went to a chap in S Africa and I was $4000 richer
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Post by lugg on Jul 13, 2021 19:47:00 GMT
I guess this is about the most appropriate thread to post our sad tale of woe and overwhelmingly sad news of how the dread of how to simplify and coordinate the packing up and or discarding all our "stuff" in preparation for our home renovation project. We had settled on which contractor we wanted to use but, he had told us we had to have the roof replaced before they could begin the work. The closing of my family's property conjointly with my brother was set for May 5th and I had given my brother power of attorney to sign for me. In the meantime, I was trying to renegotiate our home owner's insurance who precipitously had jacked up the premium $4.000 USD stating that we had to have hail and wind damage coverage along with the structure and contents coverage. And, so, I basically told them to F off with the intention of exploring other options. On May 4th, the day before the closing of the NY property we were outside having our coffee with our garden helper and friend. A thunderstorm was about to pour down upon us and we thought that maybe we had to postpone the garden work for another day. As we were sitting there, a young woman who had just moved into an apartment on the second story of the house began waving her arms frantically. We just assumed she was saying hello. Then we heard her say, "I think your house is on fire". At this point it gets a little blurry as everything happened so quickly. The whole back of the upstairs master bedroom was ablaze and beyond using a fire extinguisher. Nearby neighbors frantically began hosing down the adjacent houses in an attempt to keep them from catching on fire etc. I was told later that the response time from NOFD was 8 minutes but, it seemed like an eternity to me before they arrived. The cause was deemed electrical. It was pouring down rain and people came out from everywhere as I stood like a zombie as the whole thing unfolded. 14 Fire trucks and 44 fire personnel were at the scene along with all the aforementioned neighbors and friends along with the f'n TV news crews who seemed to come out of nowhere. We stayed with a neighbor for about a week and then had to leave there and relocated to another neighbor's for a week while we awaited a move to an apartment in the neighborhood that was offered to us on the day of the fire but was just finishing up renovations. All this with our two animals in tow. We have since then got 2 other quotes on rebuilding and the lowest bid was $650.000USD that didn't include a roof ($10,000) or exterior paint job. The estimated time it would take to do all this was a year and a half, right at the start of hurricane season. We were able to salvage some furniture that was downstairs and almost all our kitchen gear. We decided in fairly short order that we cannot endure a rebuilding and are presently "house hunting" in the area where houses that are desirable to us are being grabbed up in less than a day. Each day since has been a challenge and we are both weary and exhausted. And so, our hoarding dilemma has been resolved as we trudge forward on into a whole new chapter of leaving our home of 34 years during the same week the home of my birth was sold only to be demolished by the buyers to build whatever the fuck they are building. Oh Casimira I am so sorry, that must have been such a terrible experience coupled with selling your family home. I missed this when you posted.
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Post by casimira on Jul 14, 2021 1:33:56 GMT
'Tis okay dearheart. We all sometimes miss posts like this and I really don't want to "milk" it but felt the need to post it as it is/was a major event. Grazie.
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Hoarding
Jul 21, 2021 14:55:49 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kimby on Jul 21, 2021 14:55:49 GMT
I returned from Iceland with a trove of maps and brochures that I picked up along the way. I have a collection of manila envelopes filled with this sort of stuff from each of 20-30 vacations. Can’t part with it, likely to be obsolete if I ever look at it again. However, maps are cheap souvenirs…
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 21, 2021 15:06:18 GMT
I finally learned to throw away most of that stuff, but it was extremely difficult. But it's true -- it is so obsolete that it is basically useless and you actually never go back to look at the brochures and maps again unless someone asks you a paculiar question about that trip you took 12 years ago.
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Post by casimira on Jul 30, 2021 19:05:22 GMT
This morning while sorting through boxes and boxes of "stuff" that was in a part of the house where we shoved everything. The idea being that we would do something with various items. Lots of fabric, photos (some that were of good times 30 or so years ago), old Mardi Gras costumes, lampshades, framed prints etc. I was ruthless in tossing out 95% of it. One particular item was 4 "report cards" from elementary school that my mother had saved and I found in her house and saved. Did I keep them? The answer is yes.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 30, 2021 19:31:09 GMT
We have sorted through every cupboard, the shed, the attic and the garage. I reckon I've thrown out, taken to charity shops or given away 2/3 of what I found. It's very cathartic.
Caught Jeff putting 2 bags of receipts, tickets, pamphlets and brochures collected during our cruises (over 10 years ago)back up into the loft *sigh*
Today he was putting empty equipment boxes and bags of flex, connectors...2 old hoovers (that he PROMISED to put in the skip), a broken computer, a broken DVD player and probably some other nonsense INTO our lovely tidy loft....aaaurgh! ('well it MIGHT come in handy' he says). I give up.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 30, 2021 19:37:26 GMT
I had trouble throwing away all of my old tickets, theatre programmes, brochures and pamphlets, too, but I felt much better when they were gone. Would I have wanted to leaf through them on my death bed? I think I'll have more important things to worry about when the time comes.
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Post by casimira on Jul 30, 2021 19:42:40 GMT
Take heart Cheery that you are not alone with your husband doing what he did. I had a helper to assist me and she followed my instructions as to what to keep and what to go as the bags became quite heavy, too heavy for me. Along comes my husband and he started "no, no, no, I want to keep that". We bickered over several items and my helper was highly amused by our theatrics. I had already been there two hours, in the scorching heat with no ventilation and was in no mood to even try and compromise with him. He got away with a few things but all and all I "won" in the end.
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Post by bjd on Jul 31, 2021 5:50:43 GMT
The problem is that you can't reason with emotional "decisions". You can't actually discuss what on earth you can do with two broken vacuum cleaners or broken DVD players. My husband isn't quite at that stage but he does keep a lot of stuff I would throw out. He always thinks that broken parts will come in handy to fix something else and on very rare occasions, they do.
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Post by casimira on Jul 31, 2021 15:12:08 GMT
The problem is that you can't reason with emotional "decisions". You can't actually discuss what on earth you can do with two broken vacuum cleaners or broken DVD players. My husband isn't quite at that stage but he does keep a lot of stuff I would throw out. He always thinks that broken parts will come in handy to fix something else and on very rare occasions, they do. In the case of my husband, it's "stuff" that is related to his deceased sister who died in 1995. She was very involved in a Carnival krewe/organization and there is all manner of stuff, plaques, rhinestone crown and scepter when she was queen the year before her untimely death, and more. I understand on one level but how long can one hang onto this stuff? It's a tough call. I did agree to keep the rhinestone crown and scepter as they can be featured as a conversation piece somewhere in the house. I am not that heartless and they are pretty cool looking.
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Post by casimira on Nov 2, 2021 21:15:37 GMT
This week is "demo week". A crew over there doing salvaging of all building materials that can be used (not for our house but, for future projects of their own, floor boards etc.), The pieces we wanted had already been taken out and are in storage. The chimney was supposed to be taken down in the meantime but, it doesn't look like it's going to happen today.
There was one member of the crew who "discovered" a slew of boxes and the like and brought them out. Items that I thought were long gone. Old family photos and some art work I hadn't seen in years (one watercolor I had been looking for years now suddenly reappeared. Initially, I wasn't sure I wanted or desired any more "stuff' as I am trying to purge. And so, I told him I appreciated his efforts but, couldn't take away anymore, bless his heart. Each time he produced another box, he had the look of a child on a scavenger hunt holding the prize and I didn't have the heart to tell him to please stop. It wasn't easy because each box contained at least one "gem" worth saving. I'm exhausted...
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Hoarding
Nov 3, 2021 1:53:20 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kimby on Nov 3, 2021 1:53:20 GMT
After the losses you have suffered and the likely callousing of your heart to protect yourself against further hurts, I hope you were able to accept the unexpected gift of getting some of your treasures back, casi. You DID go through all the boxes, right?
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 3, 2021 2:50:11 GMT
Oh Casimira! I can completely understand your ambivalence about the found boxes. Even though there might be treasures therein, I could well imagine your putting that bunch of stuff aside until some future time.
I am ecstatic to hear that the demolition has finally started!
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Post by bjd on Nov 3, 2021 8:08:33 GMT
Yes, it's good that things are finally moving. I hope the building goes faster than the demolition.Unlike Kimby, I would not have looked in the boxes.
The other evening my husband started to rearrange books. We have a small house now, too many books and they are sort of spread in various rooms. At one point, when we were trying to empty moving boxes, I ended up trying to arrange in some logical order, but there are so many books that will never be read again. It turns out that we have several copies of some books, and even two paperback copies of Paul Theroux's Great Railway Bazaar, which I found as a hardcover in a book box in Bayonne a few weeks ago and read with great pleasure. I had totally forgotten about it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 3, 2021 11:30:23 GMT
Once you start filling boxes of stuff (without moving to a different address), you can consider the boxes to be a coffin for the contents after no more than a year.
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Post by mich64 on Nov 3, 2021 16:28:29 GMT
We cleaned out a closet yesterday and it felt great! I had been putting if off for far too long and this morning I have gone back upstairs a few times to just look at how neat and organized the closet is again.
We found a few large gift bags stuffed back in a corner (which I thought were just stuffed with tissue wrap) that contained 3 old cell phones and all their charges and also a bunch of cables we have no idea what they were for. There was also baskets up on the shelf containing old ornaments, no treasures or anything of worth keeping. The bags and baskets are now gone, the shelves now only contain luggage and extra blankets.
So I whole heartedly agree with your boxes comment Kerouac, but I will add bags and baskets!
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 3, 2021 17:09:50 GMT
this morning I have gone back upstairs a few times to just look at how neat and organized the closet is again. Ha! I recently reorganized all the drawers & closets upstairs and have been doing the same thing. Well, it's partly to pat myself on the back, and partly because I know there is more that could be done.
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Post by mich64 on Nov 5, 2021 0:24:00 GMT
Well, it's partly to pat myself on the back, and partly because I know there is more that could be done. Agree! It has motivated us to get our final two dressers done as well. Then that will complete the purge. I wanted to get to the point where if we wished to move, we would not be packing things we no longer need, we are almost there!
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Hoarding
Nov 5, 2021 10:05:23 GMT
via mobile
Post by whatagain on Nov 5, 2021 10:05:23 GMT
I went to a friend's house yesterday. She suffers from hiarding disease. Her garage is full since years, she managed to close the door recently... Her mother was luving downstairs, she passed away 3 years ago no you camtput a foot in it. Her verandah is no longer accessible and she invited me upstairs to have a drink. Well it was crowded space. ...
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Post by casimira on Nov 27, 2021 18:36:52 GMT
I received an e-mail last evening about a "pop up" art market sale located very close to where we are living. Many desirable items; vintage art pottery (ROSEVILLE!!!!), many items of jewelry hand crafted by two or three local metalsmiths, and plants. I had planned on going but resisted at the last moment. I had to reason with myself and ask, "C., do you really need any more stuff?" Really?" It was with great restraint that I resisted going and I'm giving myself a huge pat on the back while in the back of my brain I am thinking, "maybe it's not too late. There may be some really cool stuff left..."
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2021 22:27:51 GMT
Go. go go go go gogogogogogogo. Maybe I'm not the right person to weigh in on this.
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Post by casimira on Mar 26, 2022 16:57:04 GMT
What I had feared would happen is occurring. Little by little, as small as this place we are currently living in, I have begun accumulating "stuff". Mostly books but other things as well. It seems unavoidable. I guess once a hoarder, always a hoarder. I try to be ruthless and have to some degree but, when I look at the coffee table and other tabletops, I see that I am not being ruthless enough.
I will try harder. In the meantime, I sit here gazing at the piles with the thought that I will sort through them this weekend. We shall see.
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Hoarding
Mar 27, 2022 1:36:19 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kimby on Mar 27, 2022 1:36:19 GMT
There is rarely a decluttering task too small for procrastination!
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Post by Kimby on Apr 4, 2022 18:51:41 GMT
So my archivist-hoarding tendencies have been rewarded. A rezoning request has come in for part of my little valley that I remembered participating in the original zoning hearings maybe 30 years ago. I went excavating in the closet that contains boxes and boxes of old stuff, and shor nuff! There it was, perfectly preserved. It should help a great deal in the battle against this ill-advised project.
Mr. Kimby groans, because he knows I will be even less likely to actually throw anything away after this.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 1, 2022 20:01:15 GMT
My beloved is always commenting about all my 'stuff' Especially my crafting materials....however I was in his garage yesterday...aside from the telescopes which belong to me as well as him everything else is his STUFF! TEN guitars...two keyboards, computers, laptop..you cant see the other side which has my old kitchen units full of tools...tool boxes etc....
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 1, 2022 20:05:16 GMT
oh and two banjos...and a slide guitar set up on an old ironing board. One of the guitars is mine but I rarely play it...AND I realised that he's pinched my acrylic paint set and has used all of the white.....gggrrrr
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 1, 2022 20:19:01 GMT
Oh, he's not a hoarder at all.
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Post by bjd on Jun 2, 2022 6:13:12 GMT
Cheery, you could always ask your husband what he thinks your sons will do with all his guitars and "stuff" when he is gone. Will they sell them off or just scrap them?
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Post by fumobici on Jun 2, 2022 13:44:44 GMT
Didn't see any vintage Fenders, Gibsons, or Martins, so at least there seem to be no great sums tied up.
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