Acquiring stuff
My camera’s been missing for a couple of weeks now. I don’t know if I hid it somehow while moving furniture, if Maggie put it somewhere safe while clearing up, or if some handyman walked off with it. In any case, I haven’t been able to take pictures for a while, which was especially hard this weekend. With a hurricane off the coast, the surf in Florida was amazing. Maggie brought her camera but it’s not as nice as mine.
Not as nice as mine was, anyway. I’ve been thinking for a while about upgrading to a low-end digital SLR so that I can actually manage aperture and focal depth. Since my old camera is missing in action, I decided to take the plunge and buy a Nikon D40.
This morning, I spent some time catching up on work that I missed while on vacation this past weekend, including finding the forms for my quarterly taxes. In the process, I reminded of how much stuff I have. There are still some things that I need in there, but most of it has been boxed up for over a month without a problem. In addition to things from my parents’ house that I still need to sort through, I have a lot of papers, a lot of books, and a lot of electronics.
Ignoring my (lost, lamented) camera, I have another camera with case, a wireless Internet card, a couple of keyboards, an extra monitor, a desktop computer, and 3 laptops in various states of disrepair. I also have an old XBox along with a dancepad and a bunch of games. Do I really need to add a fancy camera to the family?
And that’s just the stuff I don’t use anymore! I have even more stuff that I use regularly. The sad part is that I think I have twice as much stuff I don’t use as stuff that I do use.
On the other hand, that’s good news in that I can reduce my clutter by more than half without impacting my life one whit. Some things will have to be recycled or donated to Goodwill, but some of it I can probably sell. I’ve done pretty well selling hardcovers through Amazon and Craigslist is good for older electronics. Maybe I’ll even follow along in Greeen Sheeep’s footsteps and clear my clutter out one box at a time.
Of course, then I’ll have to get a camera to take pictures of everything…
Andy said,
September 4, 2008 @ 12:07 am
I’m surprised you waited until after moving! When I was moving in May, I gave away a lot of things then while people were still around that were very willing to take my stuff. I sold about 20 things on ebay then also, that I knew would get a decent amount of money from. When I moved from our temporary sublet in August, I went through everything I owned, and made a big list of items for freecycle, and suddenly had 2 boxes less of stuff. It’s a good feeling to know that what I own now is only what I want to own.
Melinda said,
September 4, 2008 @ 12:12 pm
I lost my tripod in the move! You might try to obtain a camera on Freecycle - I’ve seen several posted lately. And you can also get rid of all that extra clutter there, too. ; )
Will said,
September 4, 2008 @ 3:46 pm
Andy: We actually got rid of a lot of stuff before the move. Most of it was Goodwill donations, but I did get rid of some old textbooks through Amazon.
Some of it I hung on to because I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d want it here at the new place. I also had some boxes from home in NC that I hadn’t had time to sort before we moved.
And some of it I’m just not quite sure how to get rid of. What do I do with an old, broken laptop?
Melinda: I’ve been keeping an eye on Freecycle (mostly for furnitute) and haven’t seen any digital cameras. I do have an old, old digital camera and Maggie has a similar one so I’m not totally without. I feel like I’ve done about as much as I can to improve without getting a better camera, so I really do want an SLR (not that an SLR will automatically make me better, but it does give me much more control).
Once I get stuff more sorted, I’ll definitely start posting things to Freecycle. I’m sure someone can use these things!
greeen sheeep said,
September 4, 2008 @ 9:16 pm
Will, I am amazed at how much stuff I have been able to get rid of without missing it. It is all about streamlining in our house these days. We only need a few things that we use often and the rest is out of here. Makes life much more simple and efficient. Plus, I do not want to be stuck in the house all winter looking at it!
As soon as you buy that new camera you will find your old one.
Be brave, cut the crap and clear the clutter!