Clutter Day

Every few years I have to admit to the fact that I am a collector. I see something and my mind immediately sees a use for that thing. I pack it away and after a couple of years I wonder why I am keeping it. To be honest, the majority of objects that catch my eye are put into good use. For example the neighbours next door threw a solid oak cupboard out for the garbage collector. I saw this as a treasure as it was put together by screw nails and contained over $150 in good solid oak boards to say nothing about the box of inch and a half screws. You see my problem. I like to recycle.

However yesterday I started my cleanup and got as far as clearing my work bench. Every item I picked up to assess and throw caused me some pain as there was value in the product. I made a rule that anything I had for over three years deserved to be tossed. Mostly I tossed but some particular items survived. I have 8 hammers. 9 handsaws and fifty screwdrivers. It is hard to toss them when they are in perfect shape. We decided to offer all the discards to family and then they go to the Salvation Army Store.

Items that the girls throw from the confines of the house sometimes survive for a while in the garage as I might have use for them. Electronic items like boom boxes and old record players along with hand controls for TVs which we no longer use and cables by the dozen will make it to the  recycle boxes at our landfill this year.

As much as I am on a roll there comes into play the careful checking from my wife to see I don't throw away anything good. In my mind everything is good but we just don't need it. I am inspired by that horrible TV show called hoarding. Most of us have just a touch of that disease but time and space control it.We have quite a bit of space and I have time so I must use willpower to control the urge to see treasure in trash.

It will take me several days to complete my task with the eventual reward of seeing the garage floor and painting it with a clean coat of grey paint. Time is wasting so I must get to work. Perhaps a picture will convince me to make this a yearly ritual.