Friday, February 20, 2009

Hi, my name is Chris, and I am a packrat

I'm at the point in my life when I realize certain things I got from my parents and family. I got my height from both grandfathers, one at 6'2 and the other at 6'5, I got this frankenstein brow from my grandpa on dads side and this curly hair from pappy on moms side. I got my humor from my grandma, I got my over planning and grey hair from my mom, and I got the packrat gene from BOTH my parents.

I laugh when I go over there and mom starts going through the attic. "do you need any ice cube trays?","sure mom, how many ya got?", "ummm, would 12 be enough?". Do you want this belt that was yours when you were 12? How about your dads old trolling motor that burnt up in '79? Seriously, their attic is stuffed with things that havent seen daylight in 20 years. Mom has dishes they haven't used since I was in diapers, dads concrete tools that havent been touched since '99, and clothes that no one has seen since Jackie Onassis set the trends. Dads old shed has parts from a motor we rebuild when I was in jr. high, 12 different hardhats, a croquet set that hasn't been set up in 35 years, the origional hubcaps from the '75 F100, and studded snow tires off the '69 Impala. I tell dad he collects junk, he says he saves good stuff. I make fun of him and what they have kept, then he looks at me and asks what is in MY garage........*gulp*....he knows, that damn packrat gene is in my blood.

Today I was in the garage setting a few things up for the rooster butchering tomorrow, and started a bit of cleaning. I sat aside boxes, bins, bottles, and baskets of "good stuff". Do I REALLY need to keep the blades from the bandsaw I sold 5 years ago? Sure! I might get another one someday. Do I really need these 30 year old rusty coleman lanterns? Sure! They were dads, and someday I wanna rebuild them even though it will cost me more than it would to buy new ones. ( I have the rings and tiepin dad wore when he was dating mom AND the lanterns we used to catch catfish...Oh I do love sentimental momento's) Do I really need this starter from a craftsman tractor I havent had since 2000? Hey, someone might need it sometime and I can save the day. What about those two 4x8x1 foot deep shelf units full of coffee cans filled with misc nuts, washers, screws, nails, hooks, bolts, washers, and wire staples. Ya know, someday I'll get that load of 1971 white paneling from someone on freecycle, and I'll have that 5 pounds of white paneling nails to hang it! And get rid of that 5 gallon bucket of galvanized roofing nails? NEVER! Pffft who needs an air nailer, I'd much rather use these babies so I can drop one and find it later embedded in my kneecap. Now, everyone knows that having ONE shovel is handy, so since I have EIGHT, I'm ready for anything. THREE post hole diggers? Of course, I might have a lotta holes to dig sometime. And finally, that box full of 6x10 inch scrap pieces of fencing. Ya never know when I might have to repair a small hole in the rabbit hutch or chicken run.
I'm glad that I don't collect junk like my folks have, I only keep things that I can use! By the way, does anyone have spare room to store this old gocart frame I just found? Someday I might wanna build a gocart,I need a gocart, I want a gocart, I wish I had a motor for a gocart, damn I need wheels for this gocart. Well......I'll just keep this frame and maybe someday I'll get the motor and wheels, and the steering wheel, and the linkage, and the throttle cables, and the clutch..........someone help me. LOL

9 comments:

ChristyACB said...

I think that gene is required for a true homesteader! But it is nice that unlike most of us, you admit it in a humorous way :)

Aimee said...

my husband has the gene. I am the opposite. I aspire to live in an empty cardboard box.

Carolyn Evans-Dean said...

I, too, am a packrat. I just hate to throw a perfectly good ANYTHING away! It never fails...When I do get rid of something, I find a use for it within the next 6 months. I just need to live some place where I can have a barn to put all of the stuff.

Leasmom said...

Oh my god Chris, that is my nightmare that I'll end up like my mom a packrat worst than you and your parents put together. She pays the largest storage monthly-(nearly $200 a month to hold her stuff), half of my garage is filled with clothes from the 80's-(when she started collecting), some with the tags still on them from stores that no longer exist. She has everything from my daughters baby stuff to my nieces $1 store plastic baby bath stored away. Every gift we gave her, every picture etc. When my mom went blind I went through nearly every box she had in her basement and I left nearly all of it there. She literally through canned goods, clothes and bathroom supplies in a box together. Yet she still has the large storage she pays for, my garage and her apartment filled. She has all of her closests in her apartment filled and she has her apartment storage area filled. She is trying today to part with some of her clothes, she will come to my house and decide she can't find anything while taking bags of old clothes with her and then will go buy more at the thrift store or regular store. I told her before we moved she'll have to go through the bags in my garage. She can't fit the clothes they are either too big or too small so lets get rid of them. I guarantee you the bag she does get rid of will be tiny. Thats why I go through the house and freecycle things away as much as possible...I'm hoping my daughter won't get it but she does try to hold on to paper etc. Oh god!

Andrea said...

2 words...Springfield Freecycle.

My husband had that same packrat gene, but I got rid of it on freecycle one day while he was at work : )

ThrtnWmsFam said...

I have the gene. My Hubby has the gene. We need help!

FarmerGeek said...

LMAO... you were right, Chris. That is exactly what we were talking about. You never know when those will come in handy!

Carolyn said...

Hi Chris.
Just surfing the blogs and came across you. Just wanted to say Hi and nice blog. It seems we have a few things in common, so I am adding you to my favorite list!

Carolyn

scoutinlife said...

Lol good post!

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