Sad Times

[David Simpson]

I suppose that being past 3 score years & ten myself, one suffers more sadness than expected when asked by a widow to clear out some old tools & equipment from an old(85 ish) radio pal's workshop, prior to the family making multiple trips to the local skip site.
Such was a visit last night. A mixture of ancient test equipment & modern. Old tools, some - such as old (Edwardian ?) drawing instruments in need of corrosion & rust removal, and a rusty wee tinny containing a complete set of lovely BA sockets & spanners.
Plus - a lovely old Murphy A122 which I had restored for him about 3 years ago, but sadly had been left un-used on a shelf & was covered in dust, and a bit scratched. But, the poor chap had been in decline since then.
I suppose that similar tasks have been, & will be, carried out by other Forum folk.

Regards, David

[HamishBoxer]

Not easy David you have my sympathy with that job.

[McMurdo]

I suspect when the nicknacks of someone recently departed goes to a good home, it means a lot more to the remaining family than they let on. For example my late uncle's cantilever toolbox is now my main home toolbox and my Auntie never fails to mention how he would be so pleased to know it was still being used. I think she is pretty pleased about it herself.

[paulsherwin]

Sadly, you do have to be fairly brutal when clearing effects like this, or nothing ever gets done. This is probably harder for forum members than the general public, as most of us have a hoarding instinct to some extent and don't enjoy throwing things away.

[David Simpson]

As you say, Paul, sad but somewhat brutal. As in fact there was a potential Berlingo van load of stuff which had Gumtree possibilities. Household DIY tools, shelving, steel cabinets & cupboards, general household DIY spares, etc. But thankfully, a young bereaved family member is taking everything to the skip site in his trailer. And my Berlingo remains empty.
The small amount of stuff I took away has revealed some old intriguing items of test equipment, which I'll reveal in the T/Eq sub-forum.
Right enough Kevin, his widow was really pleased that some of his treasured stuff was going to myself, and another chum. In fact the guy wasn't a vintage radio enthusiast, but had worked amongst electrical & radio equipment all his life, and latterly we were both colleagues & retirees from Scottish Hydro-Electric.

Regards, David

[David G4EBT]

I've just had the sad task of clearing out the garage of a neighbour who passed away a week short of his 80th birthday. His son said he didn't want any tools or equipment so it would all go to the tip unless any of it was of use to me. I said I didn't personally need any of the tools but I knew who be most grateful to have them, namely 'Tools With a Mission'. ('TWAM').

It's a charity which collects and refurbishes tools, puts them into kits and they go out to Kenya, where people are trained in carpentry, bricklaying, electrical work and car mechanic skills and women are trained in dressmaking, all with the aim of enabling them to be self-sufficient, earn a living and to have a better quality of life. There are local TWAM volunteer collectors in many locations throughout the UK who collect the tools and send them down to Ipswich where they're refurbished and put into kits. (There's one five miles from me).

I've spend several days clearing my late neighbour's garage and have taken a full car load of tools of every kind to the local TWAM collector, including garden forks, spades, rakes and hoes. (Needless to say, they don't need lawnmowers, hedge trimmers and lawn rakes!). As Secretary of the local woodturning society, members often donate tools that either they or friends and neighbours no longer need, so each month we usually get quite a few things donated to pass on to TWAM.

Well worthwhile to support:

https://www.twam.uk/donatetools

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/175d3...0f4cdae267.pdf

Personally, because I've always been active in woodworking, woodturning, metalworking, vintage radio, DIY, including plumbing, bricklaying, electrical work etc, I've got quite a diverse selection of tools, including some from my apprenticeship in the 1950s for skills and techniques which have long since been obsolete, but which hold sentimental value for me as a link to my past. Also, quite a lot of timber, metals, plastics and so forth, on the basis of 'it might come in handy'.

I really ought to start clearing out, but don't have many tools that don't get used from time to time, and others that get use almost daily.

There is also an organisation 'Tools for Self Reliance' who I believe collect and refurbish tools.

[MrBungle]

Thanks for the heads up on that charity David. I'm tasked with "appropriately disposing" of a whole workshop at some point unfortunately in the near future. I can deal with the electronic and amateur radio equipment (most of which I will probably hoard until it's my turn) but the tools I was at a loss with. That's perfect.

[CambridgeWorks]

Over 20 years ago I was asked if I would help clearing a deceased G8... "shack" . I was warned it was a big task. Big was an understatement. It was a small 2 bed wooden bungalow, a railway wagon and a lean to. One bedroom was filled about 4 feet high to the doorway. The other similar, but a tiny gap near the door. This was pre ebay and we had to be ruthless. Everything from complete 18 set to a steel trunk full of cut off wire erie and larger carbon resistors. That was a 2 man lift into the skip.
Overall, I had several part van loads to take to rallies to sell. Including a brand new boxed Collins TCS. There were at least 2 skips filled. Overall, us two spent 39 man-days at the premises! I still have one or two mementoes from that "shack". The consolation was that this amateur really loved his hobby and obtained huge plessure from it.
Rob

[boxdoctor]

Another thank you for that info David.
I have quite a collection of tools etc. that comes under their "wanted" heading, and no potential legatees for it. I hate seeing good stuff go in the skip, so I'll get that one sorted whilst I am still able.
Things are pretty desperate in most parts of Africa, so some good may be done somewhere. Tony.

[David Simpson]

That's a very good useful link regarding TWAM, David. I'll look into it.
Cottingham Eh ? I used to occasionally go to a pub there back in the early 60's, whilst serving at RAF Leconfield on the S & R Helicopters. Happy days.

Regards, David

[woodchips]

This is foolish.

If it really is going to the tip then sort it into scrap, iron and steel, clean aluminium, irony aluminium with other tramp metals, clean copper, clean brass and other non-ferrous copper alloys, and cable with all the connectors cut off.

Clean aluminium is £600 tonne, irony £200 tonne, clean copper £4500 tonne, brass £2500 tonne and cable £1000 tonne. You will be amazed just how quickly the value goes up.

[Sean Williams]

Nice idea Bob, but having had to do this more times than I care to remember, there is a finite limit on how much effort can be expended in these cases.

Above all there is the bereaved family to consider - while having a nice cheque to add to the estate makes good financial sense, the actual hardship of seeing a lifetime's collecting reduced to several grades of scrap metal could only serve to add to the sadness.

Some years back a colleague and I had to clear the storage area of a very prolific collector of military electronics, along with several other storage areas in the family home.

We removed around 4 tons of salvageable equipment, but sent at least the same out for collection by the local scrap dealer - all of this with the blessing of the family - they just wanted the equipment (and stress) removed.

It is so difficult to maximise the value for an estate, while being as discrete and respectful to the bereaved.

Passing off unwanted items as charitable donations is a superb solution.

[Maarten]

I agree. When I pick up stuff this way, I'm always respectful and that also pays off sometimes when you're offered some additional interesting items. Also, when clearing the house for a family member with Alzheimer, I've notice how upset my aunt and cousin were, after a friend of this family member had collected the computer equipment he was promised and apparently hadn't shown much respect.

Originally Posted by woodchips

irony £200 tonne

Isn't that ironic

Also, price goes up with gold content. Especially computer boards and processors fetch decent scrap prices.

[MotorBikeLes]

I knew a chap for a few years, but he developed dementia (he was a lifelong diabetic) and his daughter asked me to help. She moved him into her flat for the duration, with them both returning after clearing and restoring. I personally took away loads of scrap (stainless steel, alloy and some bronze. I also took about four carloads of copper etc to the scrapyards yielding her over £1,000. Six full skips were required, and I myself threw about 10 "Avo 8 sized" instruments into one of them, together with some 500 series Tek scopes.. I sold various machines for her, including an ex-U-boat lathe (according to Frank a few years earlier), a pillar drill, and I bought a small USA made horizontal miller. Quite a few motor cycle bits came my way as reward for helping. Lovely 3 bed house now all the full rooms have been emptied and redecorated. He died about 2 years later, barely knowing anybody.
Les.

[Radio Wrangler]

There's also the men's sheds movement which might be a more local option for seeing tools re-used.

Commisserations, David, it's not a pleasant task, but I hope you'll soon be able to look back on the good memories of your pal.


David

[dave walsh]

We are all in the middle of this one way or another but given the reference to irony, it was a problem that most people never had or could even contemplate until only half a century ago On average, people didn't live very long even after the Second World War, they didn't have much disposable income or spare time when working six days a week so the other two main factors didn't apply either. Basically you needed to be relatively well off to accumulate or live at a time when things were relatively cheap in society.

I recall a time when a broken glass or plate would be very significant-not now! All the make do and mend culture of thrift [interesting as it is to us and prominent in this kind of electronic activity] was a survival technique originally. Even richer middle class people had a culture of buying quality items and passing them on to the next generation. That doesn't work now in our fast consumer culture. Those in the Aristocracy could keep everything but they didn't do it for the sake of history, they could just lose all the stuff within a huge building! It's frustrating if you have very little space I appreciate but there maybe a protective factor there. That said, it's very easy to speculate in psychological terms but most people have a clear idea of why they have a stack of stuff [like me for example-of course] and enjoy the process even when it's somewhat hard work. It can get out of control though, like anything else that you might need or enjoy not always the same thing].

Bereavement is a difficult process even in a minimalist environment [rare] but the addition of major tasks increases the pressure as we know. People throw things out without a thought in situations when they could perhaps do better [ie family photos/documents] but if you are overwhelmed there is little you can do really. On balance my sympathies are always with those who have a sense of regret, rather those who have no empathy with the past. Lennon was talking about political change not electronics but really an overall attitude of "When you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out" is more attractive. In the end it's probably not such a bad problem to have [for the deceased anyway].

I suppose "thinning" out is like giving up driving [ask Royalty] it's facing the future. I always enjoy asking Christians [without any animosity] why it says "Three Score and Ten" in the Bible? We are living longer on average now but Forum members are likely to have Computers still running well past their predicted span. Thirty five years was a good average until [again] very recently so where we meant/programmed to go much beyond double that really? An interesting question I've always thought. Sorry to depress you but at least your here to be depressed. On his 100th Birthday George Burns told well wishers "I'm very glad to be here" [pause for cigar...] "At my age I'm glad to be anywhere!"

Dave

My son has worked with African Charities. I will tell him about the re-cycled tools scheme!

[its ur aerial]

I often wonder what will happen to my Radio, test equipment and tools I have accumulated over 45 + years, when I go SK, not much point in passing it down, I have two lovely Daughters, but their respective partners would not know which end of a screwdriver to hold.
Ken, G6HZG VMARS.

[David Simpson]

Truth be told, this is the first time in my 12 years of vintage radio/electronics pursuits, or indeed my whole adult life, that I've experienced this situation at first hand. Yes, I've attended local ARS 2nd hand/junk sales where the bulk of the items have been of "silent key" status. But, to enter a deceased pal's radio sanctum & take away stuff is another matter. However, I see that a number of Forum guys have been in similar situations, and talking about it greatly helps. Thanks guys.

Regards, David

[G6Tanuki]

Originally Posted by dave walsh

People throw things out without a thought in situations when they could perhaps do better [ie family photos/documents] but if you are overwhelmed there is little you can do really.

It's often not a case of 'being overwhelmed', rather more a matter of pragmatism.

Faced with the need to sell the no-longer-lived-in home of a relative who's gone into-care to fund carehome-costs, or said home when the last-occupant has died, realism takes precedent over sentimentalism. I was in this situation a few years back; sure, I *could* have rented a van and taken a week off from proper paid-work (and had to pay for a hotel to live in while I was doing it...) to decant the decades of accrued parental cruft to some rented storage-space and then spent another few weeks going through the stuff, photographing it, listing it on Ebay - and after parcelling items up, posting them, dealing with the inevitable "It's not what you said/it arrived broken" challenges, all to get maybe £20 for a nondescript table-lamp or £10 for a canteen-of-cutlery - to be mercenarily-honest it's just not worth it. Equally, getting an auction-house to sell-off stuff - after transport, charges, listing-fees and VAT the £100 bid-price for a table turns into £15 to the estate - and you've spent several hours to achieve this pittance.

"Old stuff", unless it's got proper antique provenance, is a burden not a benefit. I spent a day, filled a couple of skips with parental cruft and was happy to see the back of it.

[MrBungle]

G6Tanuki: I totally agree. When my grandfather died in the late 80s, he left a lot of stuff behind. A 3 bedroom house full. We did what we thought was right and filtered it out into skips, called antique dealers up and ran car boot sale tables. It took a year to get rid of it all. The worst bit was nearing the end of one boot sale and previous 6 weeks of constantly reducing prices, nothing was selling, so we basically said "it's free; help yourselves". What happened? Absolutely nothing so we ended up driving straight from the boot sale to the tip and emptying a whole estate car of stuff and the decorators tables off. Someone intercepted the tables for a couple of quid. At the end, we made a loss on time and money.

I worry about myself sometimes and my children and wife. I knew too many people who didn't live as long as me and I'm not that old yet really. If anything was to happen to me, they would have no idea what to do with it and it would be a burden. I don't get a lot of time so I have thought about getting rid of everything bar a few essentials and living for the moment so to speak. I don't want them to have to go through this one day. Alas I tend to use this existential crisis as a poor justification to execute Occam's Razor and to buy something simple to replace a lot of other stuff, and then forget to get rid of that stuff because of the aforementioned effort and pittance for such items thus merely escalating the problem. I suspect the latter half of this point is how this stuff gets out of control.

Humans are funny creatures. I'll probably never get used to being one.