Thread: Pathological collecting

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

I had no choice but to clean 31 years of academic dross out of my office when I retired.
I worked so awful dang hard to create most of it, to toss it was hard (at first). Books, lecture notes, unlabelled jars of specimens, old paper grade records = it all HAD TO GO.

I am facing the same problem in 7 months time. 30+ years of "stuff", including things like rare radioactive samples and several large pieces of equipment that no one else will have a use for. I also have a substantial pile of stuff adopted from two colleagues who passed away in the last 3 years. Fortunately I adopted digital data formats early on so my physical paper stash is relatively small. I still have all of the email I have sent and quite a bit of what has been sent to me since 1994 all on my laptop (19 Gb). I am trying to hand over as much potentially useful stuff as possible to someone who might use it before I go as I know that most of it will end up in a skip. I have recently adopted the approach of trying to get rid of something every few days.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

Best of all Chris, I don't remember what I threw out!

Me neither. A few years ago I got rid of all my books, a collection that I had started when I was a teenager and bought a Kindle. No one wants books at any price but I finally found someone to take my National Geographic collection that I started in 1964 and a lot of issues that went back into the 1940's. I had read it all many times and all they did was collect dust and take up space. My kids would have turfed them anyway so I just saved them the trouble. I found some old books the other day that emerged from hiding and it occurred to me that there was an enormous amount of money sitting in a cardboard box. They went into the bin as well.

We live in a consumer driven society these days, when I was a boy the stuff just did not exist so you could not buy it. I like spending money but I am very selective these days and buy what I need and nothing more. Large companies are inventing more and more ways to separate us from money for stuff that we don't need because if they don't the whole consumer driven economy will collapse. Look at what is happening now, people are not buying the trivial consumer goods they were a few years ago and the retailers just don't get the message. End of rant, I feel better now

Just the other day I was thinking about the number of storage facilities that are springing up in towns across Australia (and the world for that matter). You know, the building block covered with "garage" sized sheds that people lease to there "stuff" in. Why are we doing it? Is this the result of consumerism?
OK there will be cases where people are in transit from one house to another and have to store their stuff until the new place is ready for them. But how many times have you heard people say "I've got a....but its in storage". Are we accumulating far more than we need?
On the positive side its creating wealth for the owners of the storage facility offering these sheds at a rate that ends up giving them more return for that house block than they could get from renting one house.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

We live in a consumer driven society these days, when I was a boy the stuff just did not exist so you could not buy it. I like spending money but I am very selective these days and buy what I need and nothing more. Large companies are inventing more and more ways to separate us from money for stuff that we don't need because if they don't the whole consumer driven economy will collapse. Look at what is happening now, people are not buying the trivial consumer goods they were a few years ago and the retailers just don't get the message. End of rant, I feel better now

I agree 100%. Just look at what people put on the kerbside rubbish these days. The sheer volume and quality of what is being put out is now similar to what I was seeing in some places in the US 10-15 years ago. There is also an increasing amount of stuff being made that is specifically designed to last for a few years and then it either falls apart or is out of date and "no longer compatible". Both, but especially the latter give me the tom-titts. OTOH engineered obsolescence has the benefit of not being stuck with expensive unsafe 1950's energy hungry technology. i.e. being stuck with a vehicle that gets 8 mpg for 50 years?

I agree with a lot said here regarding clearing out we have done it a few times over the years. We both have said no to so much of late Sue her fibers me wood and some tooling. Just not enough hours in the day, we don't move as fast as when even 35yrs old. So what we have will do still some of that is destined to be passed on or tossed.


Now saying this it brings to the fore that if e do toss things that are collectable worth a few $$ now and they end up as land fill this is how things become even worth more as there are fewer about for collectors to have in their collection. Mind you world population has a little to do with it.

People that come to mind who are great collectors.

Governments around the world Museums, Art galleries and Libraries. Literally Billions of dollars worth hidden and we thought Hitler was bad.

Private collectors.
Royalty again world wide
Auto Museums
Private art galleries and as above in gov situ.

Mum and dad horders yes you and me.

On thing is Chris is right on the money with in an instant its all worthless, a fire, earth quake, or nuc and were all ash.

We try to be polite and call the forgetful bits = geezer moments. Same as when you're younger and they're called "brain fatrz".
The blissful serenity of it all is that I don't remember having the crap in the first place.

I moonlighted in the F/X business for 20+ years. You cannot conceive of the warehouse of stuff I had. Mythbusters is a joke. But, it paid off in that day and time. New guys couldn't understand what it all was worth until after I filled a couple of bins. Was a hell of thing to wean myself off theatrical shows I'd worked annually for 10+ years.

On Dec19, 2011 I sat out front and watched a production of The Nutcracker Ballet that I had been a major part of (original design, etc) for some 20 years. Away for 10+ years. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about being there. All the oldies knew me. I had a wonderfully good time. And walked out. Tougher than any bone not to look back.

Here's my two bobs worth in reply to Colbra's question/statement!!
I just can't bear to see good useful stuff thrown out; especially older timber.
When I was little my dad would take one load of RUBBISH to the dump and always bring home a load of good useful stuff.
He built so much at home & around the house from the dump.
My training in the RAN was to use what we had to made do and thus a life time of collecting useful bits & pieces along with a whole stact of tools.
Just need a heaps bigger shed for sorting it all out & proper storage.
My wife helps me use up things with many projects for give away.
Pathological collecting or of an era that REUSED, RECYCLED & MADE DO.
Cheers, crowie

Well said Pete those are my principals on ….. Collecting / requisitioning / bartering and if all else fails parting with my money and buying it.
I too did collect from the local tip for some time until they realised there was money in it for them and put a stop to it all there is some great stuff there but now they recycle it.
It comes to my mind of your great collecting feat of acquiring that 100 year old church organ that timber would have been great to re-mill do you have any left now
Those ebony and Ivory keys would have been great in the model building side of things.
While I was away this time I managed to collect quite a bit of timber to mill the best find/ buy was a 2.5 meter bronze shaft out of an old launch the going price was $5.00 from Port Stephens Recycle Centre that was in January this year.
Col

I'm a junk collecting tragic too, and many times came back from the local tip with a withdrawal after leaving a deposit.
I recently moved house- and shed of course- and made the call that anything that wouldn't fit in the container I would toss. That is, one container for the shed and another for the house. A fair bit was returned to the tip, some was grabbed by others, and some I left on the property. The shed container was still packed to the gunwales, weighed in over 10tonne which I have managed to almost fit into a suburban block!
Yes I have a lot of cr*p, which I can't bring myself unload, as I know I'll be kicking myself that I had such-and-such, BUT... I like having a supply on hand, and the chances are I'll never use it all before I cark it, doesn't matter.
My process can be to search out a particular piece to suit the job, but other times the junk I have on hand will inspire me to make something. Or the timber, or the metal.
Pathological? Perhaps, but there's worse out there!!

Andy after reading the outcome of you moving and getting rid of your collection of useful pieces of equipment I have slipped into the depths of anxiety depression!...... At the very thought of that happen to me. and god forbit that may never happen to me.
Colbra

PS I am sure in time you will get more again

No matter how bad I am I know people (some on this forum) that are way worse than I am. I know this defence doesn't hold up in St Peter's court but it still makes me feel better.

Originally Posted by BobL

No matter how bad I am I know people (some on this forum) that are way worse than I am. I know this defence doesn't hold up in St Peter's court but it still makes me feel better.

Bob I think he may be a collector as well..... I know a mate of his was a carpenter.

Colbra

Yesterday I collected 3 x 50L blue plastic drums. I have already put one into operation as a metal fume bluing chamber.

Guy I got em from says he has a heap more so I'll be back!

I'm as guilty as the next for collecting stuff, although it does have to have an end use or potential use, the potential use tho can be a bit unknown, only today I needed some long nuts and long bolts for an adjustment arrangment I am working on atm, looking thru some tins I found exactly what I wanted these long nuts/bolts will be out of the old looms at the textile mill I worked at some 20 yrs ago,

I do wonder about which is the best option tho, to collect versus go and buy, there has been time and energy expended on keeping/storing/sorting the long nuts/bolts as there would be if I had of jumped in the car and gone to the nut shop and bought them, embodied energy kind of thing maybe? for me tho I like to have stuff on hand that I have collected so I don't have to jump in the car, when I do use it I justify (in my head) the collecting of stuff (and the consumed energy of the keeping) versus the consumed energy of the going and buying. I also dislike the interuption to the flow of whatever it is I am doing, although this might just be more justification to the collecting, maybe I am a hoarder!!! no, I can chuck stuff away or into the recycle bin

I too have a hospital bed I stripped all the extraneous stuff off to make it a bit more user friendly, mmm I wonder, that is a nice looking handle with a winding mechanism that moves the rod in and out....I wonder what I can use that for, I'll put it aside, I don't have a lot of space so it may have been moved few times, eventually it moved into the steel recycle pile and was recycled, I'll probably get it back again in the form of a bed frame that I will have spotted at the tip shop, mmm, I can use that, Is there a pattern emerging here


Pete