We have too much

stuff. As a nation we have too much stuff and it would seem we have no place to put it.

I was driving down the road yesterday on my way to visit some friends. It's a road that I don't travel often and I noticed a big sign for a storage facility. It would have been hard to miss this sight seeing as it was 200 feet high with flashing neon. I suppose in some places a sign like that wouldn't stand out, but on a long country road it's pretty hard to miss.

I started thinking about all of the self-storage places that I see. When I started counting in mah head I realized that I know of probably 6 or 7. The one that I just saw yesterday is located in the town next to me which has about as many residents as my town. 6000ish. So I started thinking about it. Who the hell rents all of these places and what the heck are they putting in there?

Most floks live someplace, a house, an apartment or a condo. So my question then becomes, if you live someplace, why aren't you keeping your stuff where you live? The obvious answer, at least to me, is that you don't have enough room where you live to store all of your stuff. Yanno what? If you don't have room where you live for all of your stuff then you just have way to much stuff!

I understand the need to have some storage places. Perhaps you're moving and you need one for the short term. Maybe some relatives have passed away and you had to clean out their home. You might decide to take all the stuff and put it in storage until you decide what to do with it. That would account for maybe one storage place for thousands of people. It seems to me that storage places have become the new Dunkin Donuts. There's one on every corner.

I imagine that someone will say "it's stuff I'm not using but I might" Pfffftttt. I would lay down a fiver that people have stuff in storage facilities that hasn't seen the light of day for months. It's not like running to the basement or the garage to drag out the bread machine for Sunday dinner. You're not going to get in your car, see the attendant, get the key and then wade through boxes to dig out the bread machine. So why the hell are you keeping it, and why on earth would PAY to keep it?

I'm not a minimalist by any means. I like stuff and I have stuff but for the most part, I use the stuff I have. When I no longer use it then it's time to get rid of it. I rarely, if evah, form emotional attachments to stuff. I have no problem going through things periodically and getting rid of the things that I no longer find useful.

Mr. Twench and I don't share the same view in this matter. Mr. Twench would happily keep every piece of stuff he evah owned. Because, well, he might use it one day. We've had to lay down a few rules to avoid having to much stuff. We have a full sized basement and a double garage. Guess what? If the stuff you want doesn't fit nicely in one of those places then you need to get rid of something to make room.

You know that nice new chain saw Mr. Twench just purchased? It was purchased because the old chain saw just doesn't work well anymore. If you're lucky enough to get it started, the chances are that half way through your mission, the chain will fall off rendering it useless. I'm the kind of person who would come home with the new chain saw and immediately throw out the old one. I see no point in keeping stuff that doesn't work. Guess where the old chain saw is?

Yes, you guessed correctly it's in the garage. Why? Simple! One day Mr. Twench may tinker with it and make it work again. Or maybe in year or two the new chainsaw will break down and he'll get the broken part off of the old chainsaw. Or maybe.......................... yeah, you get the idea.

I've decided I'm going to dress up as a character in the Texas Chainsaw murders for Halloween. The best part of my costume will be the old chainsaw. I suspect that I may accidentally leave my prop at the party we attend.

It's either that or we'll have to rent a storage facility for it.