Found Things

Next month we'll have been here two years. Where has the time gone? Anyhoo, for one reason or another, today was a sorting out day.

Ever noticed how, after moving house, things in boxes tend to stay in boxes? Especially things you rarely use. Or even never use. And if you never use them, why do you have them? The answer, as every hoarder knows, is "because you might need them."

So the space in the kitchen where the old boiler used to sit has been occupied, since the old boiler moved out in December 2006, by six plastic tubs; their contents largely indeterminate, except that I was vaguely aware one contained power tools and another heavy tools (chisels, lump hammers and the like). The others had "stuff" in them.

Having completed the lounge (the last job - putting the door back on - was accomplished this morning before I moved on to "sorting out") I needed somewhere to store all the decorating tools. Previously they'd lived under a sheet in one corner of the dining room, but the "new" dining room is destined to be a bit posher than the old, so that is no longer an option. They needed to share space in the kitchen and this was the driver for the sort out.

Well. How many times have I needed a 7mm drill bit since we moved in? And how many times have I shrugged, made do with the next closest in my toolbag (6.5mm) and gingerly hammered the wall plugs into the too-small hole? I lost count. Guess what I found at the bottom of one of the tubs? Correct. Doesn't look like it's even been used, but I suppose I must have used it once, at least. It's in my drill box now. Probably won't need it again :-\

Found a load of other junk too. My Sennheiser headphones - the ones I bought when I was 17 for use with my original portable stereo. I've dragged these from house to house for 35 years, my emotional connection to the memories of their use too strong to allow me to let them go. When did I last use them? I have no idea, but I certainly haven't plugged them into anything since I left the Village, and I don't remember using them even there, so my best guess is they haven't transmitted music since before 1988. About a hundred and fifty times heavier than anything on the market today, and a hundred and fifty times worse sound quality too, I shouldn't wonder. Not to mention I could probably pick up a replacement set of cans on eBay for not much more than a tenner. All of this logic still conflicted with my emotional attachment to these sad, dusty relics of my youth. But I couldn't deny that their time had come. I put them in the pile to go to the tip.

Wasn't easy though.

Amazingly the sort-out left us with three empty plastic tubs, two full of stuff for the loft and one containing current, usable tools that will remain in the kitchen until I build a tool cupboard, alongside the decorating box. End result: seven boxes (including the decorating one) condensed to two. Job done.