The great junk transfer is coming • Hacker News Board

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#231

Post by s1mon » Wed, May 25, 2022, 9:50 AM UTC

iamben wrote: post #201

My mother is very pragmatic about this. She took me and my brother aside and (to paraphrase) said "You don't need sentimental a attachment to these things. Keep a few bits if you want, get rid of everything else. But this, this and this are valuable and you should get them properly appraised and then use the money for something you need. The rest shift as you want." As someone who's fairly minimal (and definitely doe…

Be careful with appraisers. They essentially make money by making you feel like your collection of stuff is worth something and worth insuring. If you get things appraised multiple times over many years, you better believe that they will come up with higher values each year, otherwise you won't feel good about continuing to use that appraiser in the future.

Then when you actually try to sell the item(s), you will discover that they are only worth what someone will pay you for them (minus the time it takes to find the buyer and manage the transaction).

The "good china" that they got for their wedding with the fancy pattern - no younger people want it, especially if it's not in great condition and complete. The silverware is only worth something if they are solid silver - for their value to melt down - not as cutlery or a collectable (and those knives - the handles are hollow).

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#232

Post by matth3 » Wed, May 25, 2022, 9:57 AM UTC

verve_rat wrote: post #118

nlnn wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some woodworkers still use manual drills (I own two, along with a brace and bit). They're useful for very exact/delicate work, quiet drilling, and for getting into awkward places where an electric drill doesn't fit.

Yeah, I'm just starting out in woodworking as a hobby and a brace and bit is something I'm considering putting on the wishlist. The useless tools might have been a treasure trove to the right person.

Like most hand woodworking tools, the brace and bit is incredibly satisfying to use, especially with a decent set of augers.

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#233

Post by flybrand » Wed, May 25, 2022, 9:59 AM UTC

paganel wrote: post #199

dhosek wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel a bit that way about my life’s accumulation of books. I suspect that the vast majority will end up getting donated to the library book sale after I die (plenty of worn and ancient paperbacks). I have made a point of pre-segregating the books that will likely have a notable resale value, but those are not many. Perhaps when I’m older but not too old I may spend some time trying to connect some of the specialize…

Hopefully all of my (by now many) physical books will get donated to the village library from where my mother grew up and where my parents live right now. I remember I borrowed a David Copperfield translation and never returned it, that happened about ~30 years ago. I still feel guilty about it from time to time.

Libraries Are over run - few take donations.

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#234

Post by matth3 » Wed, May 25, 2022, 10:00 AM UTC

Freak_NL wrote: post #154

debbiedowner wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are some examples of the obsolete tools? I can imagine a manual hand drill...

Look at what gets put out at jumble/rummage sales and charity shops. In addition to what others posted, I see a lot of rusty screwdrivers (Phillips and slot) which everyone already has (and most of the time you're using Pozidriv or Torx anyway) and rusty spade drills. Every once in a while you spot a good one before someone else does (pincers, a good vintage cast-iron hacksaw frame for €5, a pristine sheet metal clam…

Snapped up by collectors if they are desirable enough, check out the going rate for pre 1960s hand planes or vintage Snap On socket sets in obsolete sizes!

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#235

Post by flybrand » Wed, May 25, 2022, 10:00 AM UTC

danielodievich wrote: post #64

flybrand wrote: post #8

When FiL passed away there were multiple buildings on their 50 acres full of stuff. Both he and MiL were only children. Everything over 200 yrs had flowed to them. “Priceless heirlooms” weren’t of interest to anyone. Auctions led to junk dealers. There is a hopelessness in realizing that lifetimes of activity were of little value, that nobody even knew what many objects were. I felt like the girl in the movie Labyrin…

Nice use of "kipple" in a sentence. Props and respect!!!

Labyrinth and Kipple in same post; my recall of hoarding tropes is complete.

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#236

Post by substation13 » Wed, May 25, 2022, 10:01 AM UTC

jseban wrote: post #198

hiq wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good argument for living in a small place rather than a house as big as you can possibly afford.

I don't see what the big deal is to be honest, just a harmless hobby to collect random trinkets, it gives people joy, and you can just get rid of it when they die. I don't see what the harm is

Opportunity cost is high. Acquiring the trinkets in the moment feels great but leads to long term challenges.

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#237

Post by zokier » Wed, May 25, 2022, 10:07 AM UTC

One thing I don't see discussed is how increased longevity means that the inheritors are also older. This means that they have more and more of their own junk to deal with. Even the grandchildren are getting relatively old these days; it is different situation to receive stuff from grandparents when you are just getting your own home set up vs really already having everything you possibly could want

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#238

Post by maffydub » Wed, May 25, 2022, 10:09 AM UTC

My grandmother died about 8 years ago. One of the things I took when helping clear out her house was a white plastic chopping board - it was probably pretty cheap to buy, but I just hadn't got one at the time. I still use it almost every day... and remember her.

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#239

Post by FooHentai » Wed, May 25, 2022, 10:16 AM UTC

basisword wrote: post #217

Is it just me or is that article written by, and this thread full of, assholes? Your parents are dead and you’re complaining about having to sort through their stuff and deal with their horrible taste in furniture? If you don’t want to deal with it have it all collected and sent to landfill and get on with your life. I’m genuinely surprised at how miserable and selfish sounding a lot (not all) of the people in this t…

I found out overnight my dad passed away. Here's the thing - I might come here and post some thoughts about the big clutter horde at his place that'll need to be sorted out. I'm certainly not coming here to talk about how I feel about my dad passing away. Because.. why would I do that? Who are you people to me? Who am I, or my dad, to any of you? It would be pretty weird to do the latter, not the former. One is a shareable likely relateable situation with the potential for insight and interesting discussion. The other is a personal matter that doesnt belong on a generic online commenting platform. I think most people understand this.

Re: The great junk transfer is coming

#240

Post by sokoloff » Wed, May 25, 2022, 10:21 AM UTC

bentcorner wrote: post #86

SoftTalker wrote: post #10

After having to deal with all the stuff my parents left behind I swore to myself that I would not do the same thing to my kids. It's easy to say "just throw it out" but so many items have nostalgia and memories attached. Yet if I hadn't had to sort through it all, I never would have missed that stuff. I need to get on it. I'm not getting younger.

My dad is getting older and even though he doesn't say it I can tell he's contemplating his own mortality. He recently asked me if I'd like to take the old Vic-20, C-64 and Apple 2e off his hands. We have a lot of very fond memories we made together with that technology and it played a part of who I am today. But frankly I don't have the room nor do I have the time to do anything with that stuff. It'd just sit in a b…

I wish I’d archived the contents of the floppies from my old 8-bit days. They would fit on the smallest SD card* now, and I would have like to reminisce and laugh at myself for things that were hard for me at 12.

* - not appropriate archival medium, of course.