Yet another box from the porch

Another box from the porch. I've lost track of how many this is -- and can't be bothered to go back and count.

As with all of them, they've been on the porch for so long that I'd forgotten what was in there:  in this case, I don't even remember the history behind them -- I can only infer.

This one doesn't seem to have been damaged by the weather, like some of the other boxes.  An odd mish-mash of leftovers from old projects (that's where the extra roll of flyscreen went!!!), and garage sale tools.

Not sure about the little blue whisk broom and dustpan.  Likewise, the green (fairly heavy-duty!) dishwashing gloves -- luckily, with no holes nibbled in them.

Ignoring the things that are obvious...

Back row:  hammer; rusty file; a partial tin of varnish.

Next group:  three metal plates, with screws; double-pulley; plastic bowl with misc. screws and such; non-steel wrench (to use when the risk of sparks might cause a fire, e.g. among flammable gasses); a masonry-style hammer head.

Front row:  small metal clamp; divider (with broken tip, will need to grind the ends to match again); two types of calliper; flatblade screwdriver bit; nail puller; stubby ball-peen hammer; black strip of velcro; chisel; screwdriver; two more chisels; pruning shears.

Such treasures!

Gonna give the dividers and callipes to a colleague that does things around the house (after I clean up the rust, and re-grind the ends):  I have more callipers than I need.

I've slowed waaaay down, over the years, in buying misc. hand tools:  now I'm doing the opposite -- giving away my excess.

That said:  last month I picked up a nice-looking chisel for cheap, at an antique shop.  It's actually a stubby lathe chisel, which I'll use as a kind of "parting tool". 
  

--GG

A box of books

Went through another box from the porch today:  a box of paperback books from The Lady's grandmother's house.  Unfortunately, due to the heat and humidity, some of the covers were stuck to each other.  But at least none of the books had their edges eaten by bugs.

I also started on another box, which has folders of photocopied journal articles -- one folder per criminological theory.  Some of the folders I recycled the whole thing (but first checked the title of each article); for three of the folders I kept three or four articles, but recycled the rest.  Still more to go from that box -- but, some other day.


--GG

Four more boxes

Four more boxes:

-A box of un-paired socks -- although it turns out that they weren't all un-paired:  I made seven pairs for myself, and five for The Lady; other onesies look familiar, and might have pairs in our current basket of un-paired socks.

-A box apparently from the laundry room:  a plastic yogurt container of about 20 connectors for a "build a cube" set of home storage shelves; a kit for "dry cleaning in your clothes drier"; two plastic bags for "storing clothes compactly by sucking the air out of the bag full of clothes" (they tend to leak, so inflate over time; I cut them open and am using them as dropcloths for messy work); two little kid plastic placemats (put them through they washing machine with the mis-matched socks, then hung up to dry); and a soft-sided insulated shoulder bag, for picnics and such (also put through the washing machine, then hung up to dry). 

-A narrow box with three mostly-empty three-ring binders:  tossed the binders (dirty, rusty, and uses US paper sizes not AU); kept the colored plastic "section dividers" from the larger binder, to use as colored gels (also put through the washing machine, in a separate load, with the un-paired socks). Also had a (stained) dish towel, and an orange unlabelled floppy disk (will destroy and discard).

-The final box was a heartbreaker:  it was mostly drawings I'd done in middle school and high school; unfortunately the bottom of the box had got wet, which attracted termites (wet wood pulp!) -- so most of the drawings were damaged.  Most were largely salvageable, though - or else I didn't care about them.  The box also had a round stained glass of a duck (about the size of a large serving platter; am giving to a friend of The Girl), a plastic thing of my initials that I made years ago; a (damaged) "League of Heroes" pennant I made in middle school or high school (during my "super hero" period); some strands of musical notes that are Christmas tree or party decorations (not worth salvaging); a Ramones postcard that I used to have on the wall (the bottom corner is gone, but will keep the postcard); and three Christian decorative metal etched(?) pictures that were a fad in the early 90s. 

The salvaged drawings are inside, drying on various flat surfaces.  In a few days I'll brush off the dust and grit with a soft brush, and figure out a better way of storing them.


--GG

Completed the one-thirds and shot some footage

A little bit during my lunch break, and the rest after work:  finished the remaining one-thirds of that box of The Lady's project from about 1997.

After work, I shot some footage for Father's Day for my dad, for this coming weekend:  The Girl is using my "good" camera and my "good" tripod (nothing fancy; but it's solid).  But both D4Darious and ponysmasher (YouTube guys that discuss filmmaking) say that you shouldn't let your lack of gear keep you from shooting movies.

So, I used my AU$98 off-brand GoPro, and my AU$15 (not very good) tripod, and shot some slo-mo, backwards footage of the kids. It came out pretty well -- esp. since B1 (Blondie Boy) suggested that it would be more interesting to drop the word cards instead of set them down (like I had envisioned) -- and then The Girl expanded on that by suggesting they throw them up in the air.


The editing was by The Girl, on her computer:  I think I went too cheap with my used PC last time:  it only has 2GB RAM, so even though that's enough for recording and for editing audio, when I try to do video work it seizes up.  I've been meaning to pick up some more (old!) RAM -- but then COVID-19 came around.  Plus, I think the most I could fit in would be 4GB -- and I'd like to shot for at least 8GB.


--GG

Two and a half more boxes

Went through two and a half more boxes from the porch.

-One was a small collection of gardening things:  a hose spray nozzle, a black plastic pot, a larger pot, a box of "plant food" powder inside the larger pot; one pair of gardening gloves (unused; still on the store cardboard hangtag), about four pairs of used gardening gloves, a short rope, a small pair of (slightly rusty) scissors, and a plastic gardening trowel.  All would have been from the house immediately before this one -- about twelve years ago.

-One that had notes from a project I worked on about 2002; and class notes from The Lady's graduate-level classes in 1997 and 1998:  all of which got recycled.

-I'm about two-thirds of the way through a larger box, with a bunch of binders, plus file folders, and some bound government publications -- all from the late '90s.  Everything in the box thus far is either a government publication (twenty years out of date; probably available online as a PDF), or else notes and paperwork from a project that The Lady worked on around 1997 or 1998.


I'm about two (and a third) boxes away from being able to sweep off that section of the porch -- for the first time in years!  Currently it has bits of dried leaves -- plus those boxes; and some chunks of week that have been "seasoning" for five or eight years.


--GG

One more porch box

Finished going through one more box from the porch.  Been picking away at this for the last few days.  This one was full of photocopied academic journal articles -- mostly for my dissertation, but with a few "miscellaneous".

Kept about ten; recycled the rest.


--GG

Clearing off the porch

Ten to twelve years ago, we moved to this house.  Because our old house was nearby, instead of hiring a moving company or even a moving truck, we hauled things over in a zillion trips, using a small trailer and the back seat.

Near the end of the task, there were about twelve boxes still to go.  Two family members, in an effort to be helpful, brought them across and put them on my (large, covered) porch.  Although that did complete the job, it also fell into the "inertia trap":  once things are set down, it takes a lot of effort to get them moving again.

Because we had moved 99.9% of our belongings in a short period, the inside of the house was a jumble -- so, there wasn't a good place to move the additional boxes to:  I'd been waiting to carve out a spot, and then bring the new boxes over.  But, now that they were over, and "placed" -- well, other tasks were of higher priority.

And now it's twelve years later.  And, starting a few weekends ago, I've finally got around to chipping away at the (now covered with dried leaves) boxes.

Two weekends ago I went through two boxes, and recycled a bunch of lecture notes from classes I taught, and classes I took.  Also a bunch of photocopied journal articles that contributed to my long-forgotten dissertation.

Midway through this last week I opened up a small box:  two small piggybanks filled with pennies (actually, one was a metal pop can), and a bunch of odds and ends -- including a molded plastic hand that I used to use as a letter holder (e.g. for bills) (I think I got it at a garage sale).

Today I went through three more boxes:  one had a bunch of photocopied journal articles for my dissertation: I saved three or four of them, and recycled the rest.  It also had my "human subjects" paperwork, and permission forms for accessing the restricted survey data that I used for my dissertation:  long since unnecessary.

The second box had the vinyl "bag from the trunk" from the car we drove in Seattle:  it was more like a tray with compartments than a "bag".  It had a few wrenches, some rope, a partial roll of TP (just in case you got stuck somewhere), some matches, a tire gauge, a compass...  a whole lot of car-related miscellaneous.  It also had the cloth bag of marbles that my mom had sewn for me when I was a kid (so that's where it went...!!!), plus other minor miscellaneous (e.g. a bunch of those plastic "report covers" we used in high school and college, when turning in papers; the edges were water-damaged, so the recycled or threw them away -- depending on the material). 

The box also had a white, opaque shower curtain with a few paint splatters:  I think had originally been a drop-cloth for painting, and then  I'd included it with the "car kit", in case I ever had to crawl under the car in wet weather, while wearing decent clothes).  But I'll run it through the laundry, then put it with my "filming gear", to hang in front of lights to soften them.

And the third box had a bunch of hangers of various sorts -- some of them really good quality (e.g. wooden pants hangers).  Kind of weird to have on your porch for twelve years.  Included was three cloth-covered kid-sized hangers with faces on them, which I remembered from my childhood.    


So, some interesting finds.  A few more boxes to go.  Just trying to get over the inertia, and pick away at the jumbled contents of our house, in the areas where I can make a difference.

But, it's going to be a long slog:  twelve years of accumulation and entropy can't be addressed in a week.

But, I'm making progress.


--GG

Journals journals journals

In addition to going through my CDs, and going through my books -- I'd already culled a bunch of DVDs a year or two ago -- I'm also getting rid of nearly all of my academic journals.

When I thought I'd be a professor, I was emulating what professors did:  subscribing to scholarly journals, and letting them accumulate on the shelves.  But now that I've accepted that I'm not going to be a professor, I don't need them -- and they're taking up valuable space.

I haven't kept track of how many I've gone through -- and I'm not sure how many I have total (stashes of them keep popping up!) -- but I estimate I had around 100 issues of various journals.  So far I've gone through about 30 -- and kept one... plus another where I tore out a specific article, then recycled the rest.

I can't bear to just recycle the whole lot without looking -- while waiting for webpages to load (and etc.), I've glanced through each one before recycling it:  using the "Pete Guest" approach (one of my professors in graduate school), I read the titles (usually 8-12 articles per issue).  Among the ones that sound interesting -- and often, none of them sound interesting!!! -- I'll read the abstract (the summary at the start of the article), which usually includes the "punchline" (the main finding).  For the very, very few that are particularly interesting, I'll actually glance through the article itself.

I usually go through 1-3 journals a night.


Between the book purging and the journal-clearing, there's now a few sections of carpet in front of the "main bookcase" that haven't been exposed in years:  a good feeling.

My aim is that I'll clear enough room that I can actually set up my recording gear properly -- such that I can record when the mood strikes me -- rather than having to spend 10-15 minutes setting everything up. 

Chipping away...


--GG

Offloading books

I'm picking away at our piles of possessions, in a non-linear, not completely logical way.  But -- I figure every little bit helps.

Over the last few months I've got rid of a few guitars and amps.  And, as mentioned in an earlier post, I'm going through my CDs -- some of which I've been carrying around since the mid-'90s, figuring "Well, maybe my tastes will change."  But they haven't.  ;)

My latest thing is going through all of my (and The Lady's) books.  I have a bunch of textbooks and "scholarly" books from when I was in graduate school -- many of which I picked up from the "free pile" in the hallway outside the professors' offices.  But, I've never got around to reading them -- and it's been 10-20 years.  And I've accepted that I'm not going to be a professor -- so I don't really need them.  So, for each one I'd open it to the middle, plus some other places, and read a few sentences:  nearly always I'd go "Urgh".  Into the "Donate" pile.

Llikewise, various sci-fi and fantasy books that I picked up in the '90s and early 2000s -- because I "used to be into sci-fi and fantasy" -- and they were inexpensive when I bought them (garage sales, etc.).  But -- I opened them in the middle, and:  "Eh".  (Over the years I've come to appreciate clever turns of phrase:  these are just "functional".)  So: donate.

As of today, I've taken 15 boxes of books to the local used bookstore guy -- who had to shut down his shop -- like so many other businesses -- during the COVID-19 lockdowns.  I haven't asked for any store credit:  I've just given them to him.  (I originally wasn't going to give him the textbooks, because so many used bookstores don't accept textbooks -- but he says he'll take them:  okay; sure!)

So far I've donated 15 boxes of books; I've used a variety of boxes (different sizes), but I estimate 15 books per box:  that's 225 books.  If he sells them for an average of $3-$5 each, that's $675 to $1125 of pure profit -- and I'm okay with that.

I have seven more boxes of books in the car, and am about 40% through all of the books in the house.  However, these first rounds of books are mostly mine:  I've been handing The Lady's books to her to review, and she's divested of the obvious ones -- but still needs to look through the ambiguous ones. 

But although The Lady will probably end up keeping most of hers (largely mysteries), I think we'll still crank out about 10-15 more boxes of books.

Oh:  plus that "cookbook" shelf just outside the kitchen:  she's talked about going through that.  I wouldn't be surprised if she got rid of half of those -- which would be another 2-3 boxes.


Anyhow: in the end we'll get rid of 20%, maybe up to 30%, of our books.  Which gives you a sense of how many books we're keeping.


It's gratifying:  I don't like having "double layers" of books (where the front row blocks the back row), because then you lose track of what you have behind (and they're hard to get to).  And I also don't like having books piled sideways on top of other books.  So I'm in the process of eliminating both of those situations.


--GG

Major purge of VHS tapes

I moved here to Australia over 15 years ago -- and am finally going through my file boxes of (U.S. format) VHS videotapes.  Have so far gone through five boxes; kept 1 box's worth, binned 4.  I think I have about six more boxes to go.

They've been under our baby grand piano all this time, so not really in the way -- but I just figured "Eh", and started doing it.

(Related note:  I'm on vacation this week, as is The Lady.  We were going to do a great big de-cluttering, and send a bunch of things to the thrift stores -- except  that due to the C-19 situation, all the thrift stores are closed.  We're still going to do the de-cluttering -- but I really hate to just throw away a bunch of useful stuff.  Maybe just put it in bags, and pile it under the carport...?)

Have tossed a bunch of tapes of t.v. shows that I taped off the air:  Greatest American Hero, Wonder Woman, Ed (bowling alley lawyer, from Stuckybowl), Friends, Seinfeld, Smallviille, Dark Angel, and a bunch of episodes of the Jon Stewart show (back when he was a talk show host, not a political commentator). Figured that anything that I could get on DVD -- but haven't yet -- means that I'm apparently not interested.  And some of them (e.g. Friends) I already have on DVD, anyhow.

I had also taped segments of talk shows (e.g. Letterman) that had interviews with people I was interested in, or performances by bands I like:  I can probably find most of those on YouTube, if I liked -- and I never went back and re-watched those, so:  bin.

I also found a few "personal" videotapes -- e.g. a music video that Guitar Cousin and I shot, circa 1991, for one of his songs -- and also a music video I did for a song I wrote for my girlfriend at the time (The Great Green Bean - TGGB).  Also two tapes shot by a guy that Old Roommate and I briefly roomed with (or maybe **I** shot them, using his camcorder?  The notes on the tape don't say).

Unfortunately, I can't watch any of them here (in Australia):  in addition to no longer having a VHS player (our last one broke around 2006; haven't bothered to purchase a new one), the US and AU have different video systems -- and it would be really hard to find a U.S.-format player around here.  So I'll just wait until my next visit to Seattle.

And, I found a few videotapes of movies, as well as music videos (I used to belong to a "music videos of the month" kind of service, where I'd get a "mix tape" of music videos on videotape: we didn't have cable, and thus no MTV).  I haven't decided what to do with the tapes music videos yet:  some would be available on YouTube, but not all of them.  I'll probably keep them for now, and review them again in another few years (in total, they'll be less than one file box).

But the movies -- sadly -- are going in the bin:  none of them are rare, and I suspect that even most impoverished people these days (in Australia) have DVD players rather than video players:  so a VHS copy of "Singing in the Rain" or "It's a Wonderful Life" won't be in demand:  not worth saving for a year, then suitcasing back to the U.S. to donate to a thrift store.  But, I'm thinking of keeping the VHS copy of "This is Spinal Tap" -- just for the cover.  I'll display it on a shelf -- or maybe bring it in to work (when I go back to work -- rather than working from home!!!).


--GG


P.S.

The Difference Between NTSC and PAL
NTSC stands for National Television Standards Committee. PAL stands for Phase Alternating Line. NTSC is the standard broadcast format in the United States, while PAL is the standard broadcast format in Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia.

[...]
Most people will not be able to easily tell the difference between NTSC and PAL. The main difference starts with the electrical power system that runs behind the color transmissions. In the United States, electrical power is generated at 60 hertz. The signal behind the NTSC broadcast format is set to send out 60 fields per second. Most televisions use a interlaced system, so the NTSC signal sends out 30 lines of the image, followed by another 30 alternating lines. Basically, that results in 30 frames of a complete image appearing every single second.

In Europe and other countries, electrical power is generated at 50 hertz. Televisions that utilize PAL as the broadcast format only produce 25 frames of a complete image appearing every single second. This causes problems with the proper display of motion, as it makes actors move a bit faster because of the difference in frames per second that are showing movement. If you are trying to watch a PAL movie on a NTSC television, you need to add 5 frames per second, or the motion of the film will be very jerky or slow.

Resolution Quality

The other main difference between NTSC and PAL is resolution quality. While PAL produces fewer frames per second than NTSC, it produces more lines. An NTSC television will broadcast 525 lines of resolution, while a PAL television will broadcast 625 lines of resolution.

[...]

(Source: http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/buying-selling/the-difference-between-ntsc-and-pal.html)
.....

The cruel irony AKA poor timing

I've turned a personal corner, and have been slowly de-cluttering over the last year or so.  And starting a few weeks ago, I've really started to get into it.

And then:  C-19 -- and the corresponding shut-downs.


Previously, I'd been selling things on Gumtree.  But, I'm getting a little tired of that:  it involves front-end work (taking some photos; writing a description); ongoing work (responding to messages from potential buyers, most of whom are just tire-kickers; arranging meeting times with buyers, only to have them cancel); and about a year ago Gumtree started adding to your profile (without notice, and with no way of "opting out") a series of photos of "all the items [seller name] has successfully sold through Gumtree".  I do not want a series of diamond rings, or cell phones, or whatever burglary-worthy items, associated with my profile!

For all of those reasons -- as well as the long turn-around time, if you're trying to get a good price -- I've decided to just take my "good" items to the local chain pawn shop (who pays about one-fourth of what they plan on selling it for [fair enough; they're a retail business), and the "boring" items to the local thrift store.

But now -- we're supposed to minimize travel.  I feel bad going out to the local pawn shop (although:  maybe if I do it in a single, large transaction...). 

And the thrift shop (Aussies call the "op shops" -- opportunity shops) that I like going to is closed until further notice, due to C-19 (most of their volunteers are elderly).


So:  that's rather an impediment.

Can't stack it in the garage:  the garage is already full.


I'll think of something.


--GG