Letting Go of Junk

Some where I remember reading the words of a prophet or spiritualist who said "rid yourself of the possessions of your mind". I think these are very wise words, words to live by, perhaps even a path to follow. But in my case, I think it would be best to start with baby steps, and to that end here is my first attempt down this enlightened pathway. I mean if Alcoholics Anonymous has 12 steps, how can anything possibly work with only one step. So here's my first step at letting go of Junk.....

"Rid yourself of the possessions of your garage!"

To that end, Nancy and I spent last weekend trying to get rid of a bunch of junk.....we rented a 20 x 10 storage building....and just about filled it up. What did this accomplish? My bet is that I have to move this shit again in less than 6 months; moreover, I will probably rent a huge semi-truck and trailor to haul this shit across the country. On top of that, I now have a $120 per month charge to store this crapola.

For years now, these possessions have had control of the garage;
1. Three or Four 8 person camping tents.
2. 30-40 Coleman lanterns, (I'll explain later)
3. Portions of a 2006 R1 Yamaha
4. Portions of a 1947 Chrysler New Yorker
5. Portions of a 2004 Honda VTX 1800
6. Antique stereo equipment....dating back to college days
7. Four Sets of Golf Clubs.
8. At least 5 sets of mechanics tools including Jacks, Jack Stands, Motorcycle Jacks, Wrenches, Welders, two battery chargers, 5 tool boxes, a couple of powersaws, a couple of drill sets, plumbing supplies etc.
9. Junk Furniture - that Nancy bought.

Do you see a trend developing here? Yep, you got it.....it's the damn junk furniture Nancy keeps dragging into this house that is busting the budget and making the garage uninhabitable. We're going to have a talk about this right now. Seriously.

Well, I'm glad we got that straightened out. Nancy agreed that she had gone overboard when she spent $100 on a Chinese-made end table. Now what is going to happen next? I think I will make a few course corrections......

1. I am probabaly nearly too old and decrepit to do too much more camping. Further, I can't see me rallying 30 of my best friends to spend a night under the stars in one of 4 tents I purchased on ebay. At a minimum - 3 of these beauties have got to go.....4 would probably be a better number.

2. Yeah, and there for a while I got hung up on the idea that I, and I alone, should repair every Coleman Lantern I could find. I can't remember when that vision came to me - it may have been the fall-out of never making it all the way to Eagle Scout. In any case, I'll cut myself back to a single Coleman - the rest can go to EBay.

3. And about the Yamaha R-1 Motorycycle Parts, well, about a year and a half ago I fancied myself a Motorcycle Racer and decided I needed a 180 horsepower crotch rocket to demonstate my skills. I had the thing about a month, when I demonstrated my skills right into a ditch, after taking a curve way too fast. Here's another crazy idea "let's race motorcycles for fun and profit!". What's left of this can go in the trash. Thank God, this little beast didn't finish me off.

4. Along with a few of my other misconceptions, I fancied myself quite the mechanic and set about restoring a 1947 Chrysler New Yorker. Well, this project took me parts of the last 7 years, and I have just about got it - but the truth is; it has cost me a fortune. And I'd love to get rid of it, before I have to hire a real mechanic to fix it again. I'll get this sold by Christmas at the latest.

5. Portions of a Honda VTX 1800 Motorcycle - well this one started out innocently enough, I bought this bike for my Sister. All it needed was some cosmetic work, when I got it. But by the time I had got through with the cosmetics, it needed real help. We finally sent it away, and got it running - oh well....more money down the toilet...and more left over parts in the garage. The left over parts can go. The VTX will be sold by Christmas. I bought my sister a nice bike that fits her better anyhow.

6. The stereo equipment, now honestly, that could happen to anyone. Unfortunately, it just keeps happening to me.

7. Four Sets of Golf Clubs - This is completely out of control. First, the only two good balls I ever hit playing golf was the day I stepped on the rake. So how do I wind up with 4 sets of clubs.... easy....it's Nancy again. First, off she has her own set of clubs which her family bought her, which she considers "priceless". A little hard to fault her for that. However, we have a set of men's "lefties" which we have because of her brother is left handed. So there's two sets of clubs for Nancy. I only have one set of clubs, except for the set that John Miller gave me - and since he is a well known author and expert in ABM I have kept these for all of these years. Unfortunately, the lefties, and John Miller's hand me downs are going to the Good Will tomorrow. Unless I here from some avid collectors of golfing memorobilia.

8. I finally figured it out. I am not a mechanic, my Dad was a mechanic. If Dad had any talent at mechanics, it was not passed down to me. Neither, am I a carpenter, my dear Grandpa Roberts was a carpenter. He did not pass down one ounce of carpenter ability to my Dad, and Dad must have passed me down even less than that. I am not an electrician, I don't even understand electricity. I need to leave these things alone. I am going to try and sell all of these damn tools this weekend, before I hurt myself!

Let me know if you need anything - as for me - I'm Letting Go!

All the best,

Mike