Worldly goods

I went to an estate sale today with my Dad. It struck me as odd, because my dad is coming to live with me and we're been packing up and cleaning up his house (which was my grandma's house) and the same types of items were in the house that the sale was at. End tables from the same era, sewing machines, old computers, glasses, dishes, etc... Most of it I would think is junk. There was a cake stand that is also a punch bowl and I have one of those in my cabinet that dad had me move over.

What struck me the most was how much JUNK people collect. My Dad's house has some 60 years worth of junk, nothing great, nothing good. Old glass jars, my grandma collected some 200+ and kept them. None of them antique, just old. Cleaning this stuff out is a nightmare.

Dad collects collectible cars (1:24 scale), pocket knives (he likes peanuts), and that's about it. At least those aren't junk, they have real worth. A limited edition peanut knife worth $10.00 is different than someone collecting rocks or seashells.

The lady who lived at the house who had the estate sale, she literally had some 5000 seashells she had kept. She had tons of rocks, it was crazy. She sewed, and had a cabinet full of sewing patterns.

The only items of interest to me were records (I love music), books, and two pieces of carnival glass... I've got glass candle holders... but not any really nice ones. Hopefully when Dad goes back tomorrow he can pick them up for me. They were $20.00 for the two of them and very pretty.

People spend their lives accumulating stuff. Some items you don't use, and I think you should get rid of or give to friends... some items like tools will sit around for years without being used but their value doesn't really decline... I really like digital music, because it doesn't take up much physical space compared to CD's or Records... but it doesn't have the same permanence either. A hard drive can get wiped, a CD-R or DVD-R ruined... yet vinyl if kept in a cool environment will last, so will CD's.

I still don't understand why we spend our lives accumulating junk. I need to go into the attic and sort through everything because I need to weed out the junk! Organized stuff doesn't seem so bad, but most people aren't organized. I need to endeavor to be better organized, to keep drawers clear of junk... It seems like everything needs a place, or it needs to go.

Fixing up the Blog

Okay, it took some massaging... but I FINALLY got the Thingamablog configured the way I want it.

I thought it was great initially, and when I tested it with Firefox it looked great.

Since I don't use IE, I never tested it with that. Well, I check the page and it didn't look good with IE at all.

So I spent about an hour or two recoding some things to show things the way I wanted it.

mrbun.com

Well, as anyone who read recent entries knows my life has gone through a lot of low spots this year.

In order to be able to post more often, and update the site more often I have finally switched to using Thingamablog. This takes my site in a different direction and will make it easier to maintain.

I've kept the original header and look and feel for consistency since the original site is now just a link off the main header menu. I'm keeping the old site for archival purposes as some of my entries about my bikes have proven to be useful to fellow motorcyclists... and I do not want to try and erase the past because Marie decided she wanted to be single and we went through a divorce this year.

She and I agreed to remain friends, and we still are. It's still hard for me to look back at photos, think about past memories, and know that there won't be anymore made with her and that our lives as husband and wife are over.

I've moved on, and accept it as reality and know that there will be more memories and that life goes on.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be posting more often here.

You can also check out some blog entries on myspace.com. I have a page there at http://myspace.com/misterbun