Irrational emotional attachments to useless inanimate objects

[bull]

Every once in a while I try to clean things up around the garage and am frequently faced with having to get rid of Charger parts I removed during the restoration process. Today after about three years I finally got tired of kicking the original park brake cables around the RV pad while trying to rake up leaves. The rusty old things are seized up and useless but I still had a hard time tossing them. It took me 10 minutes to commit to it and even then I took the P-clamp and bolt off the one cable to save for... what I don't know. My original bumpers, torsion bars and leaf springs are still out there. The attic and garage still house plenty of old parts.

Am I nuts? I know this stuff is garbage and the attachment to them makes no sense at all but I guess I think of them as relics from the muscle car era when Mopar ruled the streets. I think about some guy in Hamtramck, Michigan back in December of 1967 grabbing these new parts off a rack and putting them on my car. They're special.

The garbage man comes in the morning. I may have to go fish those cables out before I leave for work.

[JB400]

You're not nuts.  You're a gearhead

[mrsskip68]

Your not nuts! Im a bit of a squirel, meaning i hate when chuck ,"chucks" parts. I tend to hold onto good bolts,  nuts, washers, etc. I cant help it!!!!!!!! I know they will come handy some day. .........................
...maybe it's a muscle car disorder? Lol!

[A383Wing]

maybe you should try "chucking" Chuck, Lisa....you might sleep better

[mrsskip68]

maybe you should try "chucking" Chuck, Lisa....you might sleep better

No chance. I love him! Cant help it! 

[Ghoste]

I think most of us have the same problem Bull.

[bill440rt]

Don't feel bad. I've got sh*t all over the place, too! 

[chargerboy69]

I do not like crap laying around.  If it is junk, it goes in the trash, if it has some value, I Craigslist it.

[ws23rt]

I am the same way and it is irrational.  For me it goes beyond car parts.
For some time now I have been tossing stuff and if the toss mood is not strong enough I just relocate the stuff.
A few weeks ago I had several hundred pounds of old magazines in the back of the truck going to recycle and pulled out a cycle world issue from the eighties.  Hmm this is good  ---
It takes will power but when the stuff is gone I feel some relief.
I must keep going and it's for the kids.  I don't want them to have to deal with all my crap when my time it up.

[Old Moparz]

I have a handful of dumb crap that's lived in a box, or sits on a shelf for years. Duplicate car parts I saved as spare parts don't count, like 2 or 3 extra grilles for my Satellite, a couple of hoods, doors, etc., for various cars I have. I had saved them when they were plentiful in junkyards & weren't being reproduced. Do I need them now? Probably not since the cars aren't daily drivers like they used to be. They were cheap when I got them & are worth more now so if I sell it I made some extra cash.

Some things I saved knowing that someone could use it & just couldn't toss it away. Good example is a '67 Barracuda I parted. I had a '68 & the parts car was only $100 delivered to my house. I stripped it, saved a few things that I needed for my car & sold almost all the remaining parts. The fenders & deck lid were rough but they weren't reproduced & still had good areas on them. Now after taking up space in my garage attic a guy is supposed to come get all 3 items tomorrow for the $35 I am asking.

I don't "get attached" to stuff like this, but I hate to see things go to the scrap heap if someone can make use of it. My Grandmother was close to me & lived through the depression & instilled similar values in me. Sometimes it's good, but sometimes it can be a curse.   

[twodko]

As does Lisa I keep all reusable hardware. At some point I end up reusing it.
I'm also a big user of CL for those items that can be used again but I have no use for.

The next items I still use and could never part with. The guy who raised me was a carpenter. I have an early fiberglass handled Ewing hammer and two full size Stanley hand saws, one crosscut the other a finish cut. These tools are at least 45 years old.

The wood handles on the saws still have our last name written with abalone bone pounded in drilled holes. Remember that?

[bull]

I am the same way and it is irrational.  For me it goes beyond car parts.
For some time now I have been tossing stuff and if the toss mood is not strong enough I just relocate the stuff.

Same here. Somehow picking it up, sweeping the dirt out from under it and restacking it nicely makes it seem as if it's been dealt with.

[Tilar]

It's normal and not just with Charger parts. I restored a 1940 John Deere "B" that my grandpa bought new in 1940 and I still have a couple of the old parts... Like the original clutch hub that will never ever be used again, Mainly because I broke the damn thing getting it off... But for some reason I still have it.

I have so many of those "that might come in handy some day" items that if I managed to find a use for one every day from now on I would have to live to be 118 to use them all up. 

[ws23rt]

This is a topic that goes way beyond us car guys.  When I visit my kids place and see how they are doing about their garage/ storage compartment.  My question about what's up with that gets answered with well that's new junk.
They get rid of stuff to clear space for the new junk.  The cars are forever outside

[Fred]

And if they had a ten car garage the cars would still be outside. It's amazing how quickly one can fill good space with junk.

When we first bought our place I thought the outbuilding (separate from the two, two car garages) was heaven sent, so much space, I'll actually be able to store things with plenty of space remaining, easy to find everything at a glance. Well that was many years ago and this last year I've decided enough is enough and have been clearing out everything stored in case it will be used again but hasn't been this past 30 years. Boy, does it feel good to have room again.

My problem is, we go out to buy something new because the old needs replacing but because it's not broken and there's really nothing wrong with the old after all, I store it. I had banana lounges shoved up on one of the shelves that no one has pulled down in thirty years. get the picture?
Once I actually turfed it all, it was a relief.
Same with the magazines, except for a handful of favourites, they're all gone now and the wife has done the same. We've actually got some empty draws in the house now.

[Fred]

Did I mention photos? Hundreds and thousands of photos that no one ever looks at. Some so bad you wouldn't want to look at them and you wonder what possessed to take them in the first place. Turfed out 2/3 at least.

[Ponch ®]

could be worse, brah...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-15-hottest-objectum-sexual-relationships

[fy469rtse]

Bull , I'm the same have kept everything, but the good news is that I put that 440 source water pump on E bay and it sold lol  there's hope for al the crap , paint those cables up and put them on Craig's list ,