Art & Inspiration Do as I say, not as I do.

I'm guilty.
Have been posting on other peoples threads about having too much stuff and leaving it to others to do something with when we p***. My posts reflect the downsize aspect and get rid of items to make it easier for family.
What have I done this May?
Drug home 6 30's Ford front end,a pair of 30's Chevrolet cowls and the remains of a '29 Desoto. 35 mag wheels and 70 plus 50's-60's steel wheels.
The topper was this weekend. A friend from wayyyy back died and the family asked if I wanted his old car magazine collection.
Bear in mind I have close to 8,000 already.
I say sure. I'll take them.
40 bankers boxes later they are in my shed. They average 120-125 magazines each so do the math.
At 100 per box that's 4,000. My guess is that it's closer to 5,000.
Let that sink in.
The illogical portion of my brain say that if I sold all of them at $1 each I would do ok.
The logical side laughs at the thought. You old hoarder... you'll die with them still sitting there.
So,do as I say. Downsize,p*** along those old parts and stuff you've kept for years.
Don't do as I do and rationalize that a few more magazines or bits of cars can't be a bad thing.
Did I mention I found a old building full of Ford Model A parts.

 

very humorous and very sad all at the same time - see person talking to another saying that he needs to down size ASAP - the other guy is putting a finger in his ears saying La-La-La - then a Mother/Wife standing the background with a big stick ready to clobber the La-La guy - best duck now

 

My grandfather had a free-standing garage close to the house, which was full. Attic, too. Behind it, he built a 24' x 50 garage. When it got full, he added a 13' x 50' wing down one side. Inside were a Pierce Arrow, a Peerless, a Marmon, a Nash, a DeSoto, and several Packards. He had license plates, parts, tools, machines, one of his son's Metropolitans, and a bunch of miscellaneous stuff, too. He filled it - think Cubic Footage.

I arrived there the night of the day he died, and I knew for certain at that point that the Old Saying is really true: you really can't take it with you. Of course, during the long three days of getting through all of that funereal process, I could just take my bourbon and go out there and sit and visit with him.

I've been really good at getting smaller over the last few years . . . until I dragged home two Packards in the last few months and have committed to go to get another one in two weeks. And am trying to get a reply on yet another which is for sale. And inquired after some good looking front end sheet metal today.

Apples don't fall too far from trees . . . .

 

I fixed my habit last week, broke my leg, can barely haul myself around now

 

This should be ***led "The Horders thread"

 

My dad hoarded cars and motorcycles but didn't p*** the gene down to me. One old car at a time works for me. I tend to give away parts I am not likely to use and don't want projects sitting outside. It partly comes from living on boats for 26 years. (Not much storage space) though I always managed to keep a hot rod or muscle car at the boatyards where I worked. Not to mention several boats... Hopefully my two boys will divvy up all my tools when I go.

 

Define a hoarder.

 

I donated all my car magazines to the VA hospital. If someone can get their mind off whatever put them there, for a few minutes, I'm happy.

Downsized the baseball cards to a single 792 box. Mixed them all up, bundled 6" stacks, took them to a little league tournament, handed them out. Took about 15 min to get rid of 30-40,000.

Id moved that stuff to 4 different houses and never did anything with them.

 

I'm going thru all my dads hoarded stuff now, in his pole barn I bought. My mom's house has a ton of stuff too. He's in ho****e. Most of his 'treasures' are getting thrown out just due to sheer amounts. I don't have time to dig thru it all, even if I did have the inclination, which I also lack. I don't have tons of stuff laying around, specifically because I saw how dad was. Good intentions, but never did anything with it all. Just piled up stuff.

I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do, but I tell you what, it really does make your family miserable after you're gone to deal with it, and most of it gets thrown out. Better to see it go to someone who will use, enjoy, and carry it forward, than end up in the dump....

Just my two cents.

 

When mom p***ed over , we used an auction house that came and boxed up everything we didn't keep and hauled it off and put it on their on line auction. Took a few weeks and a check showed up in the mail.

 

This thread falls under the category of "Get rid of your stuff, because I want more!"

I've actually been cleaning up. A year ago I had 6 vehicles parked in my side yard, not counting the 4 personal vehicles. Some of those had been here nearly 20 years! A week ago, there was nothing there except 1 of the 4 personal vehicles (2 drivers on the driveway, my winter beater on the side yard, the the last project that is nearly road worthy in the garage, it will be plated June 1) When the project proves it roadworthy, the beater will be going away as well. I was actually able to mow that side yard without mowing around anything for a few weeks!

So we went on vacation, when we got home, my daughter parked a camper in the side yard, and next week my son will be bringing over one of his projects. Neither of them can stand to see that side yard without vehicles on it! The camper is suppose to go away with in a week or so, and my son's project will only be here for a couple of weeks while we finished up some odds and ends he can't do at his place (he doesn't have the equipment for his garage yet). I guess we will see how all that works out.

About a month ago I took a truck load of non-HAMB friendly stuff to a non-HAMB swap meet and came home with pretty much an empty truck. I have another truck load to haul off to another swap meet next month (if its still going), and I expect to come home with an empty truck again, what doesn't sell cheap will be s****ped. I have a couple loads of s**** to haul in before winter hit again, and we may get another big dumpster in here to go another round with the house junk in the ba*****t.

I really am cleaning up the hoard. Gene

 

To all the hoarders out there....
THANK YOU!!! Thanks for saving things. I can only imagine how much less would be in the hands of us today had it not been for hoarders, thrifty people, etc.
If everyone threw everything away like they do now days we wouldn't have as much to work with.

 

Like others I have too much. The easy stuff is everything I took off or changed on our 56 Ford Victoria. The problem is all the 302 GMC engine parts. Cranks, blocks, heads, tin parts, flywheels, and all the internal parts for way too many engines I’ll never build. I live in a small tract house and still park 2 cars in the garage. Major problem weight, nothing is light weight.

 

How the HAMB has changed. before it was save it, don`t s**** it.

 

OK, so I was also on the "get rid of anything you don't need" band wagon and I did great for about 2 years. Said my 34 coupe [top of my bucket list] was my last hot rod.....right.
Then we moved and I got a bigger garage sooooooooooo, I bought a 50 Pontiac project. Now I need to do some repairs on the 34's rear axle but with the 50 Pontiac in it's stall and my wifey's Chrysler in her stall I don't even have room to get the back tires/wheels off the 34!!! I had more room when I only had a single car garage!

 

I wish I had more room and time. I say keep the best stuff you can. WWII trench art, historic print, family stuff.
When it's gone, IT'S GONE !

 

That's the way I feel. I don't have a lot of stuff compared to others on here, but I try to save good parts. If I use them great, if not they go down the road. But I do have a few cars waiting their turn, if I get them for a good price now that's less I need to buy when I'm retired.

 

I buy and sell a lot of car parts. The cowls I mentioned are in the cl***ifieds here and the DeSoto bits and pieces ended up in the hands of a restorer. All the parts will be advertised,buying more of those items is just adding to the inventory. I am s****ping a lot of the junk that hasn’t sold in the last few years. I just had to laugh at myself for the magazines. Nobody needs that many but I just have a weakness for the dang things.

 

I understand the problem, don't have the answer, but if it makes you happy, go for it. Something I heard/read years ago, "In the end it doesn't matter if you had a dollar or owe a dollar, we all end up the same, in a box/ground or an Urn, life is not a dress rehearsal, enjoy your trip" The wife/children are happier if you had the dollar, but IMO if you did your job as a Dad/Parent your kid's won't need your dollar, mine do not, all 5 successful career/money wise, my greatest/proudest achievement in life. I have given thought on this, Is it because of me or in spite of me. Hmm......... probably all their Mothers doing. Like you and many I've downsized once when I retired/moved, that's when I became aware the wife and I are hoarders, not TV program level but way too much stuff, now in process of whittling down "stuff" again. I am thankful and grateful to still be here enjoying life and the HAMB with my coffee.

 

My parents moved into a senior living apartment complex last September. Mom is a minimalist, dad is a hoarder. He had a collection of several thousand gun, rifle, hunting and reloading magazines in the ba*****t. "They're worth a lot of money" is something we heard often when we tried to get him to shrink the collection. The day before they had their sale my sister, brother and I carried that collection up to the garage where the "important stuff" was staged for the sale. Some guy bid all the way up to $8 for the whole lot of magazines, then picked through them and maybe hauled away a couple dozen and left the rest behind. The remaining ones went into the dumpster.

I have a bit of that hoarder mentality, but have been working to sell, s**** or give away a lot of the stuff I'll never use. Slow going, but making progress.

 

I've sold and given away over 8,000 Hot Wheels in the past few years. Almost all my engine parts are gone. Old sheetmetal? Gone. Ya see, I wanna retire to the northwoods of Michigan when my kids are gona and on their own. Me, my wife, my dog Hank, tools and a cabin.

 

Give this option some thought, I have mentioned this before, when I downsized back in 2010 I had 30-40 years of car magazines, my son Jeff took the Open Wheel magazine set, all the others I gave to a friend, a fellow CarCrazy who took them to various nursing homes, VA centers, etc, for years, he's a good man and told me that it made a lot of old men happy, I gave away a ton of good "Stuff " I'm a big believer in payback/forward as I remember starting out with zip and some good people helped me out and have had good fortune in my lifetime, so I'm happy to share.

 

My dad wasn’t hoarder level but he certainly has a healthy start. His curated collection is mostly early Ford, from T parts through mid 70s muscle car. I know in his mind he had a plan for everything in the barn. Unfortunately he didn’t share a lot of details, and even more unfortunately wasn’t an immortal being. At some point my brothers and I will be clearing things out, we’re are still trying to decide the best path forward. S****ping anything will be an absolute last resort. He p***ed the restoration bug to all of us.

Besides local car clubs and online postings any suggestions on good ways to advertise while still trying to protect anonymity of the location? I like the auction house idea but have no clue how that process works.


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

This is a very timely thread. This has been weighing on my mind at an increasing rate.

Fortunately, I am not aware of having any imminent life threatening condition, other than advancing age and mortality, but it is high time to start doing what needs to be done.

EDIT: this occurred this morning….after the above comment was posted.








Ray

 

Dang...best wishes for a speedy recovery !

 

My dads a hoarder. His barns are full of junk but he also has alot of great pieces. He has no problem giving stuff away or selling items but he keeps buying more. He has alot of friends so people are always giving more stuff. I'll have to get a pic of his main hang out area some day and share. He enjoys it and if he's gone before me, my brothers and i will keep some of it and sell or give away the junk.

 

I have recently retired, and planned that my first major job is to sort out my workshop, parts, panels, etc.
What works for me is to put a crate of stuff on the bench, and have a s**** bin nearby. Then I work out how many times I have pulled these bits out and thought - "I'll use that one day"- but 40 years later, "that" day still hasn't come. Then the sound of "clunk" as it goes in the s**** bin makes me smile. But then again, I have planned on living until I am around 180, so I may just pull that stuff back out of the bin.

 

Hoarder - some ******* that has a pile of stuff just as big as yours, but his stuff is of no use to you.

 

I have sold the extra parts for vehicles I no longer own but have been getting more parts for the ones I have when the getting is good since they are no longer made. This winter I am going to set up at a local fleamarket to get rid of my Hot Wheels collection that is taking up too much space and could use the money for parts I could use.

 

Today a guy at work asks me if I want a 12’ Aluminum fishing boat and trailer. Ask what the price is. Free.... just get it Out of my yard.
Picking it up this weekend. Easy $300.
Being known as a junkman is good and bad.