Keeping things is a luxury for the strong. You have to have money, space and backbone. That stuff you can still get on eBay wasn’t saved by the faint of heart.
Both of our parents passed on within a year or two. Fortunately, I had just added an outbuilding. I rented a giant “y’all haul” and consolidated everything, Then…..we bought a bigger house.
I was always a proponent of the significant pile method of filing. If you haven’t touched a pile on your desk in 6 months then throw it out, because nobody cares.
Helped a friend move; he put a bunch of boxes in the garage, wrote dates on them. Why? “If I haven’t opened them in five years I’ll get rid of them!” I asked him five years later what happened to the boxes. “I opened them, looked at what was inside, closed them and wrote a new date.”
Really? I don’t recall the last time I’ve seen that phrase. Someday, I’ll need to follow Arlo’s advice, but I guess as long as I still have the space and don’t need it…
If you haven’t looked at what’s in the box in years, don’t start now because you’ll decide you really “need” to keep it. Arlo is on the right track. To the curb…
I still have my daughter’s rocking horse. She wanted me to keep it for her til she had her own children. She doesn’t, and says she never will. Now what?
Ruthless efficiency is usually associated with layoffs. In 1995 the plant where I worked reduced staff from 1100 to 497 in a day based on some idiot who claimed that the number of workers should be determined by the number of megawatts a plant produced. The fact that a “smaller” plant has the same number of components to maintain (just scaled down) didn’t factor into it. It took a few years before the reduced maintenance started causing issues but management refused to believe it until a catastrophic failure occurred that cost millions.
Momentos from my childhood that my Mom saved; my Mom’s artwork from when she was in high school; all these things have great importance to me. But when I’m gone, their importance falls off a cliff. Slightly interesting to my kids, perhaps, but after them: value = zero. Unless your ancestor is Herman Melville and those are all his letters, give that box the heave-ho.
I did that once when clearing out for divorce. Regretted it a few years later when i figured out what was in those two boxes. The worst was that one of my daughter’s gifts from her grandpa was gone forever. Bad show.
When cleaning out my parents’ home and getting it ready to sell, I opened up hundreds of boxes that they had in their basement. Some of the boxes hadn’t been opened in 20 or 30 years. Inside the boxes? All kinds of stuff from the 1940’s and 50’s. I sold it to an antique store and made thousand dollars.
As a real estate lawyer, I once represented a couple in a house purchase who moved every two years due to work relocation. They had a rule that if a box was still unopened since the last move, they threw it out without even looking inside.
Never just toss, always look. I found several thousands of dollars worth of US Government bonds in my parents boxes. Took a while, but I was able to have them cashed out to their estate.
Uh, word of advice. Check them to be on the safe side. I’m having a habit of leaving money in envelopes then leaving the envelopes alone for months end, soon forgetting what I put in them.
mddshubby2005 10 months ago
I haven’t opened my emergency first aid kit in years, Arlo, but I still need what’s inside.
Da'Dad 10 months ago
Kind of cute the way Arlo thinks he’s in charge.
charliefarmrhere 10 months ago
But that box is where you put valuable antiques for checking out later.
Ruth Brown 10 months ago
Tempting, but always look in the box.
ericbrower 10 months ago
Im suspicious. It seems he doesn’t want her to see what’s in some of these boxes.
seismic-2 Premium Member 10 months ago
Maybe from time to time you did need what’s inside the box, but you couldn’t remember where you put it.
Rhetorical_Question 10 months ago
Didn’t Arlo retired?
Lyrak 10 months ago
If they end up throwing away Gene’s baby clothes or early art projects, they’ll never get over it.
figuratively speaking 10 months ago
Efficiency is ruthless or it’s not efficient.
Out of the Past 10 months ago
Keeping things is a luxury for the strong. You have to have money, space and backbone. That stuff you can still get on eBay wasn’t saved by the faint of heart.
assrdood 10 months ago
Both of our parents passed on within a year or two. Fortunately, I had just added an outbuilding. I rented a giant “y’all haul” and consolidated everything, Then…..we bought a bigger house.
ddjg 10 months ago
Ominous . .
Meg: Cute as a Raccoon 10 months ago
“Ruthless efficiency” didn’t work too well for Monty Python’s Spanish Inquisition. (somebody has to comment with the follow up)
Econ01 10 months ago
I was always a proponent of the significant pile method of filing. If you haven’t touched a pile on your desk in 6 months then throw it out, because nobody cares.
kingbrlee Premium Member 10 months ago
Maybe it’s the box with the home made VCR movies in it. You better check it out Arlo!
joe.altmaier 10 months ago
Helped a friend move; he put a bunch of boxes in the garage, wrote dates on them. Why? “If I haven’t opened them in five years I’ll get rid of them!” I asked him five years later what happened to the boxes. “I opened them, looked at what was inside, closed them and wrote a new date.”
DaBump Premium Member 10 months ago
Really? I don’t recall the last time I’ve seen that phrase. Someday, I’ll need to follow Arlo’s advice, but I guess as long as I still have the space and don’t need it…
darthopper Premium Member 10 months ago
uh oh…one of those boxes has old comics worth 10s of thousands $$$$
RonnieAThompson Premium Member 10 months ago
I predict that he will regret no opening the box(es). Stay safe and well my friends.
Gameguy49 Premium Member 10 months ago
One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Put everything in the yard sale, give it a chance to find a new home.
Just-me 10 months ago
If you haven’t looked at what’s in the box in years, don’t start now because you’ll decide you really “need” to keep it. Arlo is on the right track. To the curb…
NCGalFromNJ 10 months ago
Why isn’t the box labled?
DawnQuinn1 10 months ago
I still have my daughter’s rocking horse. She wanted me to keep it for her til she had her own children. She doesn’t, and says she never will. Now what?
mepowell 10 months ago
A big box buried in my parent’s garage turned out to contain 12 smaller boxes of family photos, some a century old.
ScullyUFO 10 months ago
Taken to its logical conclusion, we would all be living in giant warehouses with mountains of our ancestors posessions.
MuddyUSA Premium Member 10 months ago
Ruthless efficiency should have started years ago…….
dhmorton 10 months ago
So, who’s Ruth? And, why are things more efficient when she’s not there?
raybarb44 10 months ago
Good attitude but there could be later regrets…..
mourdac Premium Member 10 months ago
My friend’s rule was if a box was still unopened from a previous move when he was doing it again, it got tossed. Or 25 years, whichever came first.
Flatlander, purveyor of fine covfefe 10 months ago
Don’t chuck the box marked d b cooper
Bill The Nuke 10 months ago
Ruthless efficiency is usually associated with layoffs. In 1995 the plant where I worked reduced staff from 1100 to 497 in a day based on some idiot who claimed that the number of workers should be determined by the number of megawatts a plant produced. The fact that a “smaller” plant has the same number of components to maintain (just scaled down) didn’t factor into it. It took a few years before the reduced maintenance started causing issues but management refused to believe it until a catastrophic failure occurred that cost millions.
becida 10 months ago
You have to look in each box because you just don’t know..
elgrecousa Premium Member 10 months ago
My question is why isn’t Janis up in the attic sorting things out?
sobrown51 10 months ago
Too bad those sealed boxes contained all grandma’s accumulated silver place settings and candlesticks now worth 10’s of thousands in silver value.
Spoonbone 10 months ago
Momentos from my childhood that my Mom saved; my Mom’s artwork from when she was in high school; all these things have great importance to me. But when I’m gone, their importance falls off a cliff. Slightly interesting to my kids, perhaps, but after them: value = zero. Unless your ancestor is Herman Melville and those are all his letters, give that box the heave-ho.
BWR 10 months ago
I don’t know anyone named Ruth. I guess I’m always Ruthless.
David Huie Green ForceIsAUsefulFiction 10 months ago
“So that’s where I left all my gold coins. Maybe we should go through the boxes first.”
darthnul 10 months ago
How long before they peek at the box and Arlo changes his mind?
mrwalker008 10 months ago
Neither will I. Oh, the horror.
ron 10 months ago
I did that once when clearing out for divorce. Regretted it a few years later when i figured out what was in those two boxes. The worst was that one of my daughter’s gifts from her grandpa was gone forever. Bad show.
Jwhitcomb1966 10 months ago
When cleaning out my parents’ home and getting it ready to sell, I opened up hundreds of boxes that they had in their basement. Some of the boxes hadn’t been opened in 20 or 30 years. Inside the boxes? All kinds of stuff from the 1940’s and 50’s. I sold it to an antique store and made thousand dollars.
jarvisloop 10 months ago
The big question: Are they truly preparing to move, or are they preparing for the inevitable and trying to reduce what Gene will have to endure?
Brent Rosenthal Premium Member 10 months ago
As a real estate lawyer, I once represented a couple in a house purchase who moved every two years due to work relocation. They had a rule that if a box was still unopened since the last move, they threw it out without even looking inside.
gammaguy 10 months ago
Once again, Arlo is trying to prevent Ruth from influencing their decisions.
CoffeeBob Premium Member 10 months ago
Never just toss, always look. I found several thousands of dollars worth of US Government bonds in my parents boxes. Took a while, but I was able to have them cashed out to their estate.
I’mStandingRightHere 10 months ago
Which box has Janis’s fabled yellow bikini?
ajakimber425 10 months ago
Uh, word of advice. Check them to be on the safe side. I’m having a habit of leaving money in envelopes then leaving the envelopes alone for months end, soon forgetting what I put in them.