Hoarding

Well I use to be a hoarder of collecting old IT junk and the. Early this year I spent time getting a bin and throwing it to the rubbish tip.

I wouldn't say I'm a hoarder, but borderline pack-rat.

"Maybe this could be useful some day" ...

And when That Day comes, it only re-enforces my habits.

Case in point:
The sprayer head on a bottle of cleaner broke ...
Hey! I have an empty bottle and sprayer! (...or 20)

Those new ones with the hose embedded in the bottle are great - but it's been a long time since I've seen one that switches from Spray to Stream

My goal is to reduce my footprint. With every move that I do I have to ask myself if the item I’m touching is important and I intend to use it within the next six months if no is the answer to either of those questions then I donate it or trash it

I hoard things in my brain. Some are super cool... some not so much. Some are important...some not so much. I like the clutter of my brain.

In the real world... I don't hoard. I have a very few prized possessions which if I lost I would feel sad about... for a day or two.

I'm a sentimental fool. Mea Culpa.....no, Maxi Mea Culpa..!! I hoard things that mean something to me. I've got every Christmas and birthday card Amanda and - more recently - Megan have ever given me. I've even kept an old dress from my In-The-Closet years when I still wore dresses, because it holds memories of certain occasions. I still have all my teenage diaries (well locked away from possible prying eyes) and more photos taken at parties, on school trips, or just plain messing about with friends, than you can waggle a well-worn stick at.

Practical stuff I have no time for keeping. If it's of no further use in a functional sense it goes to the recycling centre.

I do, however, have some things that might be worth a few bob in a financial sense. Stuff that nowadays is called 'memorabilia' or 'collectibles'. F'rinstance: My mint-condition set of Nat West ceramic pigs, still with the original logo'd rubber stoppers in the bottom. My programme from when I was taken to see Cats on my birthday and a kind theatre staff member took it backstage after the show to get it signed. The autographs include cast members including Wayne Sleep (Quaxo), Seeta Indrani (Cassandra) and Myra Sands (Jennyanydots). When I first started using social media, I used "Jennyanydots" as a screen name. I can't think why I still don't, actually.

I have the full set of Roland Rat soft toys from the 1980s, although they're in "Significantly Much Played With" condition so not of great commercial value. But I still love Kevin the Gerbil.

I now collect soft toy Meerkats... a promotion by a comparison website here. I've nearly got them all. Meg wants to get them out and play with them, but I keep them in their original boxes and well out of the reach of little hands. They'll be hers one day and whether she converts them into cash or if she's inherited my sentimentality gene and keeps them will be up to her.

Collectibles are worth money, but memories are something money can't buy.

I am a recovering hoarder.

This may be a reflection of what is going on in my mind and all of the useless information it hoards. I find it very difficult to give up old thoughts, ideas, biases and prejudices. ...saving up for a lobotomy...


And ...and the day after I discard something I find a use for it.

Quite the opposite with me, actually. A few weeks ago I found a small piece of putty and rather than throw it away I actually put it somewhere because it might come in handy but guess what..?? None of my windows have since fallen out.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

chuckle

I'm kinda like this. If something hasn't been used in 6 months then i'll get rid of it. Unless it's of sentimental value. I did used to hoard IT stuff, cables, etc as you never know when you'd need them but things are so cheap now i got rid of all my old stuff. I don't like clutter, i don't really like ornaments either but keep what i have out of sentiment.

I think I am a hoarder because I love to collect things and it is very hard for me to throw things out..but, I am also a very clean person--lots of hoarders I have seen on t.v. are nasty--they have rats and roaches and rotten food and dog poop on the floor..just disgusting!! 8-]]

Yeah, I wouldn't call that hoarding... that's something else.
Maybe I'm cluttered, but clean.

... and those shows are just so we can feel better about ourselves.

"at least I'm not that bad"

Maybe your right!! 8-]]

Speaking of hoarding, collecting, gathering ...
Any Ohio TFSers interested in a fish tank - PM me for details