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Old 18th Feb 2019, 12:53 pm   #41
dave walsh
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Default Re: Sad Times

Yes that is the other side of the coin Woodchips-very well put and I very much have the same attitude! I'm still going to get things more manageable though as, in a way, we have to think about "self" preservation as well and not imagine that we are still decades younger. That's why I referred to Royalty some time back. A lot of older men won't give up on driving even when they could or it's not essential to their life style or location. That's a different problem related to self image but connected with not acknowledging the "pile" taking over!

As a related aside, a program from the "Collectaholics" series is repeated on BBC2 today at 2-15pm. It's a chap with four buildings full of Computer Stuff.

Dave
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Old 18th Feb 2019, 7:41 pm   #42
woodchips
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Default Re: Sad Times

After a couple of rotations around the field with the dogs, I find I can't get this out of my mind.

Current thoughts are: if no one you know wants it then don't do anything, why beat yourself up over something that you are not going to know anything about; if people do want stuff then just give it to them; keep buying, this is the most important thing to do, keeps you awake and alive.

I think the most important thing is not to sell or otherwise dispose of something and then anguish over the fact that the recipient doesn't seem to care. The "I paid 3s6d for that and carried it all the way down Tottenham Court Road" will start to dig into you, and in the end ruin your life.

I still have all my course notes etc from Crossbar telephone exchanges I installed in the 70's. I don't read them, but every time I see them on the book shelf I smile to myself and think back to what made my fault finding expertise. Straight in the bin when I am gone, but as of now they are a gentle reminder of when I was good at something.
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Old 19th Feb 2019, 1:11 pm   #43
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Default Re: Sad Times

In reply to woodchips I still have notes from University courses of the early 70's - went through them recently weeding out the dross and for the first time have read the handouts. Most enlightening - if only I'd bothered back then - LOL. Most though of my collecting was done in a frenzy a decade or so back when I discovered that the lovely test instruments that used to cost 29 guineas back in 1965 and that you drooled over hopelessly back in the day were now available on the internet auction sites for low prices - you could have everything you ever wanted for very little money. So I did - but forgot about needing space for it!! So it's all rather crammed in but I DO love having it. Add a few other collected items besides radio and there is not a lot of room for the humans in this house although it is organised/properly stored and I don't have to climb up over piles of Practical Wireless to go to bed. As for what happens to it after I'm gone - as I said my wife is counting the cash already but it won't be worrying me.
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Old 19th Feb 2019, 1:30 pm   #44
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Default Re: Sad Times

Hello,

This I suppose is a tad off topic, but on topic so to speak.

Last year both my parents passed way within three months of each other and I did the final house clearance with the help of the British Heart Foundation (BHF) last Wednesday. The BHF take the whole lot and if it’s ok it’s sold in either the large household items store or the smaller high street shop, but stuff that is out of date or just don’t meet modern electrical standards they are automatically recycled – so for the BHF a collection of old radios or similar would be automatically recycled via a transfer depot.

My parents weren’t at all electrically minded – they couldn’t identify a capacitor if it jumped out in front of them, but with what I’d call a run of the mill load of “normal” household stuff they’d amassed whist living in the house for 41 years was hard enough (being an only child don't help either) without a collection of radios and related stuff as I have!

We have ended up with what we call memory box’s comprising of a couple of 12L Really Useful Box’s with items which we knew meant something to my mum and dad.

Doing the house clearance made me think about my stuff and letting people know what’s what and placing the seeds for a memory box concept whist I can.

As I said the BHF were fussy with the electrical items and if it didn’t have a “modern” plug or showed any signs of wear it was sent to be recycled, and because of this I have to find a home for my late mums “modern” 20-year-old Singer Sewing Machine and Overlocker which the BHF said would be recycled – I just couldn’t let them have the indignity of such a fate – I did think of Gumtree, Freecycle and eBay etc., but I’d like them to go to a good home for free where they would be loved and used.... Alright, is there anyone on the forum who’s into sewing as well as radios and electronics – they could be useful for making speaker cloth and ornate turntable mats

Regards
Terry
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Old 19th Feb 2019, 4:17 pm   #45
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Sad Times

I had to clear my parents' house a few years ago as an only child, and can certainly confirm it's a grim and stressful business. You have my sympathy.

A number of charities will accept electricals including sewing machines. It's worth contacting your local hospice charity as they may have a central warehouse which processes this sort of stuff, with volunteers doing PAT testing.

Lots also do house clearances, though they aren't really geared up to deal with specialist collections like radios and TVs. It's still better than dumping everything in skips though.

There's nothing wrong with disposing of old unwanted sewing machines via Freecycle/Freegle and they're likely to find a grateful taker who will use them. Even if they are taken by a dealer or car booter, they're still going to be saved from 'recycling'. My main sewing machine (1934 Singer 201K) came from Freegle. It's due for its annual oiling about now Sewing machines are useful things, if only for doing simple alterations and repairs.
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Old 19th Feb 2019, 4:39 pm   #46
boxdoctor
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Re post #44 Valvepower Terry:
I suspect that there may be a demand, albeit small, for overlocker machines still, as there are still quite a few people who are into dressmaking etc. I know that two of my late wife's friends used them when they worked in the "Rag Trade" as it was called, and bemoaned the fact that they could not afford S/H ones to have at home, after retirement, and thus make extra income. That was some years ago, but I'm sure there are still people out there who would gratefully have one if offered.
Knowing where to advertise them is the problem, I think. Tony.
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Old 19th Feb 2019, 8:27 pm   #47
AC/HL
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That sewing bee competition on TV is popular, bound to create a revival of interest in home sewing.
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Old 19th Feb 2019, 10:10 pm   #48
mark_in_manc
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Rather late to the party here - I too endorse 'Tools with a Mission' mentioned up-thread, but if you have a lawnmower to pass on (or indeed sewing machines etc) and TWAM don't have a collector near you, here's another outfit who do the same thing

https://workaid.org/how-to-help/donate-tools/

I'm young enough, but I don't worry about my old sh*te or indeed that belonging to my elderly parents. I want them to enjoy their home and all their memories and possessions to the last possible moment, and if my kids were to baulk at my taking the same attitude when my time comes, I might offer to leave the house to someone who _can_ be ars*d with a little inconvenience
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Old 21st Feb 2019, 11:59 am   #49
David Simpson
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Default Re: Sad Times

I suppose, to sum up all the responses to the thread, that we're mostly an aging vintage radio fraternity, who feel sadness at the passing of others, and who have concerns about our equipment/collection's future when we pass on.

But let's not get morbid, let's enjoy what we continue to do vintage radio-wise, and let's try & encourage other younger aspiring enthusiasts to follow in our footsteps.

Me - when I pop off - want my AVO VCM Mk3, my Marconi TF995A/5 & my CT446Mk2, and a book of Bishop/Actress quotes, laid on top of my coffin, to accompany me into the afterlife.

Regards, David.
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Old 22nd Feb 2019, 11:28 am   #50
cashaw1972
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Default Re: Sad Times

A few years back my aged father had broken his leg and was in the middle of downsizing and my brother-in-law had been given the task of moving his workshop to the new place. My father was a bit of a hoarder when it came to tools. But every one of his tools had a story, I remembered them from my childhood. The brace n' bit bought from army surplus in 1947, the wood plane which had belonged to his grandfather. Everything had some significance and also a place where it had resided forever in his workshop. Even after 40 years, I could locate a specific tool hidden at the back of some unmarked drawer. He had a tool for every occasion.

My brother-in-law took most of it to the tip but left him with the essentials. It's perhaps lucky that I wasn't there because I have the hoarder instinct as well. As for my father, I am not sure if he realizes how much has gone and when he can't find something assumes it must be "buried in one of the boxes"

But as you all say, some of these tools are heading on to be more than 100 years old and still provide perfect function, so if they can be used by others then donating is a great idea !
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Old 22nd Feb 2019, 9:17 pm   #51
Chris55000
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Hi!

I am 58 today and hope to be living long enough to enjoy fixing and using all the various many pieces of electronic gear I've acquired over the last (mainly) fifteen years, but if it looks it all becoming unusable to me due to ill health, unforseen blindness/central vision failure or simply having to live somewhere with no funds to store it, I hope there would be other Members on this Forum who would be able to care for it.

I was in the position of finding out afterwards, but not witnessing, 50 years of radio & TV stuff get ruthlessly skipped from my Dad's old house in Morecambe because Lancaster City Council condenmed it as "unsafe for human habitatation" – I think they were just waiting for their chance to compulsorily purchase the property for next to nothing and make a killing on it – it was once a five bedroom terraced house with en–suite amenities in all the bedrooms.

I do know myself and my sister never got the oppurtunity to examine many of the items that were taken away and destroyed, altho' my dad is actually still living, he has had go into residential care and would not be physically able to discuss anything radio related any more!

Chris Williams
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