Some easy to implement simple points to break the pattern and to solve the disease on ones own power:
1. if you store stuff for over 1 year you don't need it at all
2. if you store stuff more than 2 years you are storing it for someone else
3. tidying a room/house/barn is not moving stuff from one shelf to another. Tidying = getting rid of stuff
4. you think having 12 bicycles/amplifiers etc. is practical. Are you going to use them all?
5. being handy and able to repair is not the same as hoarding
6. happiness is not in having material stuff, happiness is in the simple things in life
7. all possession is a burden needing cleaning, maintenance, repair, insurance so time, labour and costs. Multiply by the number of items.
8. junk you gather is simply junk. No normal person will see any value in junk like you do. When you die your junk is disposed off without any remorse. The junk has become a burden to your loved ones. Now explain the purpose of the junk to yourself.
Also in the familiar pattern: having pets in the already filled up place. Not 1 but several of course. Preferably the type that causes even more necessary cleaning and maintenance (that already was lacking).
1. if you store stuff for over 1 year you don't need it at all
2. if you store stuff more than 2 years you are storing it for someone else
3. tidying a room/house/barn is not moving stuff from one shelf to another. Tidying = getting rid of stuff
4. you think having 12 bicycles/amplifiers etc. is practical. Are you going to use them all?
5. being handy and able to repair is not the same as hoarding
6. happiness is not in having material stuff, happiness is in the simple things in life
7. all possession is a burden needing cleaning, maintenance, repair, insurance so time, labour and costs. Multiply by the number of items.
8. junk you gather is simply junk. No normal person will see any value in junk like you do. When you die your junk is disposed off without any remorse. The junk has become a burden to your loved ones. Now explain the purpose of the junk to yourself.
Also in the familiar pattern: having pets in the already filled up place. Not 1 but several of course. Preferably the type that causes even more necessary cleaning and maintenance (that already was lacking).
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Dont agree with #1 at all. I’ve picked up projects after 10 years. And I’m using tools which were in storage that long, and didn’t have to go BUY them to work on the new house. And yes, I am storing the contents of the old place for a year or two, until completed. I didn’t see the sense in selling it all off at a loss (or trashing completely) to refurnish later. There will be even more projects picked up again when I’m done with the house and quit work entirely. I kind of see the warehouse full of electronics are part of retirement savings - purchased when the prices were lower, and now much of it can’t be found at any price unless they’re fakes.
I even brought the boat with me, and it hasn’t moved off the old property since 08. But I don’t have to buy one, ever.
I have used 12 amplifiers at the same time before. A practice I may very well return to doing when I say goodbye to the job. 12 more may be on the way, too.
Sure, I’ll probably cull out a lot of stuff when it’s not a fire drill. The time to do that is as each space is finished out and deciding what goes back in, and what goes to the dump. If I was culling as I went along the move would still be ongoing, and the house not on the market yet. If I dumped it all, add another 20 grand at the end.
”The simple things in life” are not free. They require a minimum standard of living, and time to do something besides your job(s). And the cooperation of those around you, that, without money, you are not likely to get. Being locked in a room in silence does not get one the simple things in life that makes it worth living. It’s prison. Usually there are bars on the window to help remind you.
I even brought the boat with me, and it hasn’t moved off the old property since 08. But I don’t have to buy one, ever.
I have used 12 amplifiers at the same time before. A practice I may very well return to doing when I say goodbye to the job. 12 more may be on the way, too.
Sure, I’ll probably cull out a lot of stuff when it’s not a fire drill. The time to do that is as each space is finished out and deciding what goes back in, and what goes to the dump. If I was culling as I went along the move would still be ongoing, and the house not on the market yet. If I dumped it all, add another 20 grand at the end.
”The simple things in life” are not free. They require a minimum standard of living, and time to do something besides your job(s). And the cooperation of those around you, that, without money, you are not likely to get. Being locked in a room in silence does not get one the simple things in life that makes it worth living. It’s prison. Usually there are bars on the window to help remind you.
Before I retired, there was one house that had junk cars/parts all over the front yard. People felt free to dump their junk in his yard. The city eventually made him get rid of it, he simply took it to his fenced backyard and piled it out there. If people are dumping your front porch, they are trespassing at minimum, and dumping is also illegal. Forget the dog, get a camera and video recorder, maybe a few cameras. Your neighbors will appreciate if you get rid of junk they can see from their house, and the town you live in won't declare your house a nuisance.
I just can't believe that wherever you live doesn't have some type of electronics recycling program, even if it's once a year? Maybe start a go fund me page and your neighbors will pitch in?
I just can't believe that wherever you live doesn't have some type of electronics recycling program, even if it's once a year? Maybe start a go fund me page and your neighbors will pitch in?
Then fix it or part it out.
Hate to say this, but you got yourself into this mess, so now you have to take personal responsibility for getting yourself out of it. Sucks, but such is life.
Sure. Create an environmental disaster for someone else to deal with later. See my comment earlier about personal responsibility.
It's not denial either.
I suggest double-checking to see if you have an electronics recycler near your place. Then rent a U-haul and haul the stuff there. There are also services that make a living getting rid of junk. 1-800-GOT-JUNK sticks in my mind. A quick glance reveals that they charge a per-item fee for small appliances, which I'm guessing includes stereo equipment. But if you took the gear apart, you could probably work around that. Then you'd have boxes with electronic waste and not appliances. The scrap metal could be sold or given to a scrap metal dealer. Steel is practically worthless, but aluminum could have value.
Regardless of how you choose to clear your porch, it will take work from your side. And likely some money too.
I've given some things away through Kijijii (the Canadian equivalent of Craigslist), but those were things in good working order that were worth having. I just didn't need them anymore and they didn't have enough value that I wanted to spend my time trying to sell them.
Tom
You're starting to sound like my dad. 🙂 He instilled #1 in me at a fairly early age.
I think there is room for exceptions here, though. I won't throw out my 32 mm wrench just because I haven't used it in a year. But I do think it's worth contemplating whether an item actually adds value to your life or if you just keep it to have it. "It might be good for something" ... one day ... a day that never comes.
Moving is a good way to get rid of junk. First there's the pre-packing purge. Then after the move, if you haven't opened the box for a few months toss it! Some have gone through that exercise without moving. Just pack up your stuff as if you were going to move and unpack it as needed.
I spent much of my childhood taking apart old TVs, receivers, computers, etc. for the parts. After all, they were good parts. Transformers, heat sinks, motors, stepper motors, you name it. All of that went to the junkyard when I moved across the pond. How much of it do you think I wish I still had? That's right! None of it!
Tom
Just about every time when i tougth this or that i propably will not need anymore, and i got rid of it, guess what happend?
Shortly after...i would have had a need for it!
If that is not strange...what is?
Shortly after...i would have had a need for it!
If that is not strange...what is?
That is circular reasoning confirming the bias that it was right after all.
We had a boat but never used it. Guess what!? The day after we sold it we wanted to make a tour on the river! 😉
We had a boat but never used it. Guess what!? The day after we sold it we wanted to make a tour on the river! 😉
Passed on a Garrard wheel drive TT with a Shure M44 / apparently operational needle in it, for $10 today. Another day I would have taken it just for the cartridge, dumping the TT parts. Decided to leave it for someone else to have....
No one on ebay is buying my Denon DL-80 MC cartridge, without needle. Guess if it's not plug 'n play, nobody wants it; so much extra trouble to get a needle elsewhere. One of the attractions of the M44; it actually had a needle - rarely does one find a TT in a thrift that doesnt have the needle busted clean off.
No one on ebay is buying my Denon DL-80 MC cartridge, without needle. Guess if it's not plug 'n play, nobody wants it; so much extra trouble to get a needle elsewhere. One of the attractions of the M44; it actually had a needle - rarely does one find a TT in a thrift that doesnt have the needle busted clean off.
I try to keep stuff only if I can realistically envision it being used or sold for a decent amount, have donated much that probably could have been sold because I don’t want to deal with the clientele who buy the junk, or deal with the junk laying around.
Can you take the transformers out of the lower end stuff, keep some of the nicer stuff if you can use them in projects later?
Or if you’re just not into working on stuff or due to lack of potential customers for the finished products, make a larger hole in the yard!
I keep a couple of the popular big box store integrated home theatre amplifier/tuners around for friends and family that may need something. The extra ones get sent to Goodwill, as they arrive! The ones with actual transformers that will likely last another 30 years are the only ones Ithat might stay. Most are setup with built in Bluetooth and are left on indefinitely somewhere.
Can you take the transformers out of the lower end stuff, keep some of the nicer stuff if you can use them in projects later?
Or if you’re just not into working on stuff or due to lack of potential customers for the finished products, make a larger hole in the yard!
I keep a couple of the popular big box store integrated home theatre amplifier/tuners around for friends and family that may need something. The extra ones get sent to Goodwill, as they arrive! The ones with actual transformers that will likely last another 30 years are the only ones Ithat might stay. Most are setup with built in Bluetooth and are left on indefinitely somewhere.
Of course. Why would I buy a cartridge without a needle for $50 when I can pay $60 to get one with a needle?
Tom
The pattern:
"One can buy a second one just for the needle for 40$, make 1 out of 2 and sell the now repaired cartridge for 80$. That's business!
Why would a civilized person do that to fellow citizens and animals? They got it coming because you liked to gather junk?
"One can buy a second one just for the needle for 40$, make 1 out of 2 and sell the now repaired cartridge for 80$. That's business!
That would be a felony here as then the ground is polluted with heavy metals that in their turn pollute groundwater. Groundwater that eventually turns up in rivers and/or drinking water.
Why would a civilized person do that to fellow citizens and animals? They got it coming because you liked to gather junk?
Yes this happens to me often...but...I've realised that I only feel the need because I have handled it so recently !
Had I not then I would not have known it was in the 'resource box' and would not have felt the need 🙂
Now I send it to the recyclers and forget it...totally forget it.. and I am free to work on the things that will bring me joy.
You mean that having 29 amplifiers, all of them in top shape -vintage ones all got rebuilt- is not normal?
Yikes... I guess I shouldn't count the preamps?
Maybe my wife is right? We don't need to build two more rooms?
At least I only got ONE turntable..
I got rid of an Akai GX- F95 cassette deck once.... damn! I kick myself for having done that.
Rent a dumpster. A small one will hold about 3 cubic yards and cost about $100 in my neck of the woods; I'd assume more rural parts of the US might be cheaper.
Reality: Buy two broken cartridges for $40/each + shipping. Spend hours turning two broken cartridges into one working cartridge. List the fixed cartridge for sale at $80 and wait for months for it to sell at $65 after haggling. Maybe that's some people's idea of a good time... Now, if you could sell the repaired cartridge at $300 you'd have a business. 🙂
Don't get me wrong. I do commend efforts to repair and reuse. My 2010 Apple MacBook Pro that I use as a music server is on its third battery and is still going. But unless the repaired item has value to you, you're usually better off tossing it. If you don't have time to repair it, get rid of it.
Tom
I dunno. Because it's a Denon? A MC? A DL80, vs a DL8? The other competing stylus-less ones you'd have to wait to ship from Japan? It's a long-shot, but doesnt cost me anything to leave the listing up indefinitely.
However, intellectually analogous to OPs dilemma; how long to keep something for sale with no takers, before pitch to garbage can / recycle / thrift and take down the listing? I think it's been over a year on that one. Takes up very little shelf space on one hand... Improbable success on the other.
