Since I'm changing lives again, I'm cleaning out the garage - 48 years of accumulation. I've built a massive pile of electronic waste, including at least 13 laser and dot matrix printers. There are still 22 PCs and one S100 machine to move out, and a large pile of obsolete network equipment - and there seems no more room in the garage than when I started. All this, and much more, will have to be trucked away to an electronic waste recycling yard.

Now DD is coming down from Oregon, for at least 3 months while she sorts out her life. She's the one who told me, "Why do you get involved with rescues, why don't you try normal women?" Well, I am invisible to "normal" women - if they are single. So now she wants to be a rescue.

Of course I have a job for her. Denise moved out 3 times, and each time left all her worldly possessions in a corner of the garage (except her violin, which is in my closet) - plus everything I recovered from the board and care when she was sent away to die (quite a pile). I told DD she has to sort through it all, keep anything of value, take anything still useful up the hill to the donation center, and toss the rest. Then she can put in her own stuff. She doesn't know it yet, but she'll make many more trips up the hill with my stuff.

She won't be here until November, so by then there may be room in the trash bin to throw stuff out. Meanwhile, my trash bin is filled to the gills every week. Pick-up is Thursday, and the bin will be filled within 2 hours. Every day I stuff the fireplace with cardboard and light it off - sometimes 3 times a day. I haven't room for it in my trash bin.

Today, I pulled down all the Denise stuff to see what was under it. At the very bottom were bags of sand and cement. There was also a large cardboard box. This proved to have a bunch of ancient beer bottles in it, particularly 31 brilliant cobalt blue bottles from Apollo Lager, with fired-on labels. These sell for an average of $19.95 on eBay - that's over $600. Three have unbent caps so should go for more.

I have found a lot else I had no idea I owned, such as a laboratory grade microscope and a large HP pen plotter. I'll keep the scope, but the pen plotter goes into electronic waste.

I also found my 4X5 Speed Graphic press camera - worth from $300 to $550.

There are a whole lot of ancient computer magazines, which might be of value for someone, at least for shipping cost, but where could I contact such people? There are also 3 pre-electric portable sewing machines in their wood cases. I can contact collectors for those - they won't be hard to find.

Near the sewing machines are a bunch of full bottles, including several of 100 proof tequila - not the best tequila I have, but drinkable. Haven't inventoried that stuff yet. There's also a model of a renaissance period world globe in it's fancy wooden stand. I can't sell that because it's actually a full, sealed, and stamped bottle of Jim Beam Bourbon - and I don't have a liquor license. I'll have to drink it all before I can sell it, unless I can bootleg it somehow.

All in all, I expect to junk stuff that had an original purchase cost of at least $60,00.

Finally, when there's room, I'll moved in a collection of about 2000 music CDs, and a big pile of LPs and 78s. I've heard all the CDs - real heavy on Medieval Sephardic and Spanish, also English, French and German) - and about 500 are my own purchases - late 19th century to last month. I haven't had time to review the vinyl and wax.

I did pull out one 78 and played it (I had to buy a new high end turntable and a special cartridge to play 78s ). The one I pulled out is a gem, an original recording of "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" - a true classic if there ever was one. That new turntable (well, a few years old now), can not only play LPs, 78s, and 45s, it can play them backwards so you can hear the alien messages.

So, after the garage, there's the attic, and it's stuffed.

Anyway, our friend from Down Under needn't worry, I have lots more to post as I find time to do so - but IWeThey really should open up to a few new people, if suitable nut cases can be found.

There will still be plenty of clutter - detritus of at least a half dozen past lives, with precious mementos of each - plus the current one adding more stuff every day - but the computer stuff has to be reduced by 90% or so.

. . but nearly all the rest of my electronic waste is stuff I brought back from client's upgrades and move changes (39 years). Unfortunately, it all went very obsolete very fast. Some is new. I have a Digiboard, two Qume serial terminals, and a CRT monitor all in their original packaging.

Several of the PCs were in use here for a time - client cast-offs worked just fine running Linux and OS/2 (now ArcaOS). As they became old, there were always new ones coming in to replace them. Only in the last couple of years have I built new machines for myself.

It's in the huge mound of electronic waste waiting to be hauled away. It was given to me by a tax preparer in lieu of payment. Never did work for that guy again. Tax preparers are really cheap. Doctors, at least, will eventually pay you. Lawyers, of course, never pay, "So sue me".