Frazz by Jef Mallett for January 27, 2025

Proof of past achievements?

I have a lot of “stuff” that I’m just not ready to get rid of. Table saw, galoshes, an old console type record player (well, that one, I’d give away if it weren’t under a half ton of other stuff). I bet Caulfield has a favorite old toy of some kind (mine was a plush rabbit, my son’s was “Nip” the plush alligator) that he’s not willing to take 6 pictures of and stash ’em in the cloud and trash the toy…

I am slowly working my way through all the “junk” I’ve moved all over the country over the last 30 yrs. My kids don’t want my stuff and I don’t need it. Throw it away, donate it or sell it.

If you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door, i.e., the one to the storage unit.

Here in central AZ, lots of retirees are moving in and the new housing developments provide a good sized house on a small sized lot so no room for those travel trailers people bought in hopes of cruising America. There are acres of these things parked behind security fences, fading in the Arizona sun.

Going through late wife’s craft stuff. Three pallets in basement

Because most of that stuff won’t fit through your usb drive.

George Carlin had something to say about that.

The cloud rejected my extra bed springs and unused book shelves.

Because people can’t give things up. A large part of my unit is old school papers from the kids and stuff my wife thinks might be needed someday.

With all the space for stuff going online, there’s no room for all the physical stuff.

Lived in the same house without a basement, attic, garage or tool shed (I’ve been procrastinating) since the late 90’s. My “guest bedroom” also stores my kitchen appliances and doubles as my tool shed and attic should my house guests ever desire to fight off the zombie apocalypse with an electric pole saw, musical instruments and rice cooker.

I’ve been a tool-user, -collector, and -maker since I was seven. In my professional life, 99% of my tools were digital, and “space” for them was a little easier to manage (if still a non-trivial issue). Owning a home, and caring about its upkeep and improvement is a fiendishly expensive endeavor if you must pay for tradesmen to come out and do it for you, as most of my colleagues do. While that is good for the local economy, I prefer to support it at a more granular level (scrapyards, lumber/hardware stores). But if I can modify or repurpose something that I already have, the expense rapidly approaches zero. That assumes my skill & experience came free (which they decidedly did not) but anything that I don’t have to buy is a win. And I totally control the scope and quality of the finished work.

I’ve never rented a storage unit, but I do have a couple of shipping containers, one each for re-purposable wood, metal, and books. It’s rare that I don’t find what I need in them. The need for them was a major consideration when we moved from our Stepfordian subdivision house (with all of its HOA covenants) to our modest little place in the woods on the lake. You have to know what’s really important.

Mostly the rise in storage units has come at the exact same time as the rise in homelessness. Yes, they are connected. The connection is the lack of housing options for people and rents rising faster than inflation due to the demand for housing.

Caulfield is to Frazz as Elmo is to Sesame Street…

What’s baffling is why people pay more for the storage than the stuff is worth.

The place where I was born no longer can be found on the map, the schools I attended no longer have the same names and evidence of my past existence is scattered over two continents. Historical relics are important to me.

You can list stuff online, but physical items are going to need a physical place to store them.

Funny how that is Caulfield. As much as possible all of my important documents I scanned and stored in the cloud, the rest I could not scan are in a medium sized safe along with my doomsday stuff ;)

Amen

Everything in storage is not there until death. I have a bunch of stuff in storage.

1. some people have a garage full of stuff and park their cars outside. I park my cars in the garage.

2. Yes, there are some things in storage that I could get rid of if I made the effort. Other things, no way.

3. Some things have been there a long time. But sometimes I want something and will go and get it from storage.

4. Some of the things there are truly valuable (for money or information). Some I have dreams of future use, even if it may never happen.