.
The far right corner of the basement from Hell now has shelves.
.
.
And useless crap things have started to be shelved.
.
.
A closer look reveals a myriad of treasure well worth the hard dirty work and expense.
.
.
What’s on that shelf?
.
.
Saucers without teacups, teacups without saucers, glasses lifted from bar rooms, and a soup thermos with a hole in the bottom. If that isn’t worth the two thousand dollars he’s spent to date? I don’t know what is.
.
.
Moving down the shelf, we have boxes of nails and screws and a Paymaster check embossing machine… which I might have to give a spin if this project continues.
.
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Around the bend… the next area to be cleaned (and hopefully emptied) contains a 3,000 ton ( I’m exaggerating but that’s how heavy it felt when I helped him move it down there years ago) scale complete with weights and a rusty old rag can filled with dirty old rags.
What is his emotional attachment to this crap? It’s been sitting there for decades.. unused, forgotten and collecting dust but he won’t part with it and gets cranky when I suggest it’s time to let go.
.
.
Granted, every once in a while there’s something interesting. I pulled an old sheet off this antique radio precariously balanced on another can of rags. The dial spins you from one country to another. Early on line chatting?
.
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On the way back upstairs I saw that he’d raided my sandwich bags and hung numerous pieces of junk from the main beam.
If anyone needs a dry rotted plastic shuttlecock in its original packaging from the ‘70’s?
I’m your girl.
🥴
River's world..... 
Oh, dang. I was looking for one from the 80s.
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Give me a week. I’m sure there’s one down there somewhere…
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On the bright side, if the end of the world ever happens, you guys will have cutting edge technology for listening in on what other countries are up to 😃😃😃 Oh! And shelves to sleep on if you are relegated to the basement because sleeping upstairs could attract zombies 😃😃😃
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Maybe. But I haven’t completely ruled out a zombie colony living down there yet, so stay tuned.
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Well they’d have plenty to keep themselves occupied. Um, besides eating people, DO zombies need anything to keep themselves occupied??? 🤔
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I don’t know. And don’t think I want to find out…
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Me neither… 😬 As you might have noticed, though, I am a little obsessed with zombies. Not sure what that says about me 🤔🤔🤔
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Moolah spent on a holey soup thermos may be money down the drain….
Bu on the whole, if such baubles keeps him out of trouble, isn’t it worth the pain?
😀
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I used to think it was a harmless hobby. Better than gambling, hunting or binge drinking… but as more and more space is filled? I’m beginning to wonder.
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I know he won’t sell those bottles, but I do know that someone will buy them if he ever does. I have a friend who collects them and some of them are worth a bit of money. I’m still optimistic. Give it Hell, my man.
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He loves his bottles, and has already had local people offer to buy them. So far he’s not interested in selling.
😟
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I know lots of bottles, as well as other objects, are dug up from long disused outhouses. I understand why people would rather buy them from your husband.
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Who dug them up from old bottle dumps. But no outhouses… that I know of.
😳
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I didn’t know of such a thing as a bottle dump. Why not?
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Oh, that’s where all the true collectors find their treasures up here. Old houses in Maine always had a spot on the property where they threw and buried household trash. Pure gold.
😉
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We have them around here too. A lot of outhouses in the south ended up guarding valuables during the Civil War,. I guess people who ended up losing everything they had, including their outhouses, weren’t about to give it up to some carpetbagger.
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Maybe he’s getting ready for a visit from American Pickers:
https://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers
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If only… but no.
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I’ll watch that episode.
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Makes me so glad that I am a less is more person. At least it is becoming somewhat organized.
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The older I get the less I want. But being married to my husband makes that a daily challenge.
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You know, reading these blog posts of your junk…..I mean treasure filled basement make my OCD flare up. I’m now contemplating cleaning out my garage of my son’s crap, I mean things and taking a lot of it to donate.
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I’m happy to inspire you to clear clutter. If only I could do the same with my spouse….
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I’ve been wanting to ask, but wasn’t sure if there was some plan. Now I know there is no plan, so: What colour did you want the wall painted? Just in case, you know, you ever want to sell the old house and move into something smaller? It would look so much more salable.
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The walls in the basement are cement and he’s covering them with tri fold blue insulation. There will be no paint.
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No drywall? It kinda looks like drywall. My poir eyesight.
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No. It’s an unfinished space.
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“What is his emotional attachment to this crap?” I wouldn’t ask that question out loud!!!!!
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I’m hoping he loves me more than that rusty bucket of rags, but….
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I like the semi-organizing. At least you will be able to see what he has.
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I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
🤣
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Instead of chaos, you’ve got organized chaos. Progress?
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So he says…
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Oh man, too much. Yeah the insulation/ceiling/shelves are all decent work but if only your husband went into the antique business. I look forward to your post of perimeter filled shelves of useless junk and a big open space. 😅🤣
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It’s not possible to build enough shelves to actually clear empty spaces, he has too much stuff. At this point I’d be happy with wider paths.
🥴
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I haven’t played badminton in for-ever, so I’ll pass on that sweet deal for the fossilized shuttlecock. If I raided my wife’s inventory of sandwich bags I’d lose a hand.
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It’s not so much the raiding as the not telling me emptied the box.
😠
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What? You don’t want a dry rotted plastic shuttlecock in its original packaging?! Your loss Bruce! I’ll take it off your hands Rivs – how does $200 bucks sound? Send international money order and shuttlecock to PO Box…
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$200 sounds great. It’s yours! If it survives the shipping that is…
🤣
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Not just rags or dirty rags, those cans were designed to hold oily rags. Rags that might spontaneously combust if thrown into an ordinary can.
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I stand corrected. But it’s still rusty…
😉
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