Me too. Today was a perfect example. After two perfect days on the lake and a third one planned for today, I got up early to tackle a "little" rotted trim house project. Back from Lowes with the supplies by 8:30, couldn't find my cat's paw- went to close by hardware store to buy new one, back at 9:00- no-can't be- no sign of my frickin' claw hammer or it's back-up. Refused to go back out- looked for an hour- found all three boxes of bike handlebar tape, the second two being purchased after not being able to find the others when I wanted to retape my bike bars (still not done!). Gave up at about 11, used my small ball peen with the loose head for the trim project (always right where it's supposed to be). Oh, found my old cat's paw. 11:30 my wife tells me the couple planning on going out on boat today have cancelled. Good thing, finished up trim project in time to order pizza for early dinner and quick trip to boat to get food that would have gone bad left in ice box. Waiting for toilet to clog worse than what just the plunger will handle- I'm sure to find 2 claw hammers while looking for the auger and listening to my wife ask me if I think we ought to call a real plumber.
Stuff accumulates
- Thread starter Ross
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We are planning a Dock Rummage sale with the proceeds going to charity. "One man's trash is anothers treasure." P.S. Not just nuts and bolts but stuff like cleats, hinges, dock lines, and other stuff, as well as a couple of jars of 304 , 316, and Hastalloy nuts, bolts, washers, and spacers. (For example I never got rid of my 22lb Bruce when I stepped up in boat size, finally my wife will be relieved for me to get it out of the attic!
Ms. Weasel says "as well as the 36" teak and zebra wood ships wheel that you had to have and hung in our bedroom for 12 years"....
Weasel
Ms. Weasel says "as well as the 36" teak and zebra wood ships wheel that you had to have and hung in our bedroom for 12 years"....
Weasel
I'm a pack rat who simply can't throw away any boat part, screw or boat that still has some usable life in it. I've even got a bunch of brass stuff that I know I'll likely never use, but wouldn't depart with it without a gun to my head. My justification for keeping all this stuff is (a) my father was a product of the depression and I was raised that you never throw anything away that you might be able to use someday and (b) part of sailing that I enjoy is buying old day sailers, fixing them up and selling them. I figure I'll eventually find a place for some of those parts on a future project. That of course ignores the fact that I'll be removing previous hardware from the new project and storing it.
When I was a contractor, that described me exactly! When I moved, I left a lot of it behind, but kept far too much.
On the boat, anything loose has to go into either a "hardware" toolbox, or into a larger plastic box. Periodically, I take overflow home for safekeeping...
On the boat, anything loose has to go into either a "hardware" toolbox, or into a larger plastic box. Periodically, I take overflow home for safekeeping...
When I had three five gallon pails Nancy wanted to know what we could do with it. We have an old unused cedar chest from my first marriage and I suggested that we just fill it like a pirates treasure chest and leave it for our heirs. we had a good laugh about that and dumped them in a dumpster.
We live aboard and we have a storage unit. We just relocated, so we got rid of 2/3 of our stuff in the unit. Our solution is if we don't use it in a year, it's going away... unless it's a sentimental thing for our future house. It's good to have spare parts, but if you're paying more to store them then they cost - I'd ditch it.
My leftover material and old parts that seem valuable accumulate in the garage. Keeping inventory is tuff. Yesterday I needed a piece of wood to manufacture something on my sailboat. Instead of hunting through the garage, I went to the home improvement store, and now the left over piece is in the garage, too. On the positive side... Last night I realized that I needed a knob or handle, so I went to the home improvement store again. While I was there, something made me think of some small brass cleats that were in one of my plastic, spare parts bins in the garage. Just the thing! This morning I retrieved them. Sometimes I do use the accumulated stuff, but not so often. Every year I throw stuff out that has accumulated or donate it to the marine flea market.
shop cleanup
i had two five gallon buckets of this kind of stuff. i collected coffee cans, jars and soup cans to start the project. one cold winter week, i spent the nights separating screws from bolts from nuts from washers from "what's this for"? then i separated big ones and small ones. bolts were separated metric to standard. a few adult beverages helped pass the time. i had an old file cabinet that now has the cans lining the drawers and very easy to find what i'm looking for. my hardware store visits are way down.
No! this stuff is more like a cat. It just lives here with me and frequently gets under foot . Sometimes it is comforting to have and sometimes it is actually useful. When I want to do something I often have to move it and it does demand its own space. lol
My wife has been complaining about the boat stuff in the backyard so long and loud, she had me convinced. I hooked up my utility trailer with the intention of hauling off a trailer load. After throwing a few pieces of rotted wood on the trailer, I couldn't find anything else that I wanted to throw away. I called my wife for help but each time she pointed to some useless junk and said "what about that", I had a darn good reason to keep it. I went to the dump with the trailer practically empty and the yard looks the same.
Ross,
I had to build an additional shed to house the stuff that was over flowing from the old shed.....no help for it I'm afraid.
Larry
I had to build an additional shed to house the stuff that was over flowing from the old shed.....no help for it I'm afraid.
Larry
There comes a time when men must decide whether to continue to accumulate or to divest. I stopped at a yard sale one day years ago and there was a mountain of stuff on display. I remarked that it looked like they had faced the need to have a yard sale or build an addition. They laughed and agreed. I put a dozen carbide saw blades out at the curb for the first takers and I will decide about a bunch of other stuff over the next few days.
Watching "Hoarders" helps me let stuff go. Not enough of it and at a slow rate, but better that than nothing! Of course, I'll end up wishing I had something I'd donated or tossed a week after I've gotten rid of it, but it is better than being buried alive.
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