Monday, September 13, 2010

How Much Is Enough Stuff?

By Bob Proctor

My brother, who lives in the capital city of California, used to be a faithful garage sale attendee. His own garage was jam-packed with stuff he'd found at 'an unbelievable bargain'. His house was full too. When he moved to a smaller place he had to rent two full-sized storage units just for his 'extra' stuff!

When he came home one day with an armful of leaflet holders I questioned his buying tactics. He is well known for getting good deals (able bargainer) and, in fact, he had picked up these plastic displays for zero... zip... nada. I figured he had something in mind.

I asked what his intentions were for these plastic advertising displays and he wasn't sure. Maybe they could be useful in advertising his own sale, which was being planned for 'sometime' in the future. That sounded like an idea. It was about time to clear out some of the stuff that had been accumulating where a person should have been able to park a car. After all, it WAS a triple-garage space.

He met a nice woman and eventually moved in with her, necessitating the vacating of his previous premises for the new tenant... me! Since it was to be my home away from home he left nearly all the furniture and appliances, since his girlfriend already had all this stuff. It made my transition a whole lot easier too. I also inherited the garage full of 'stuff', which he promised would be removed post-haste.

A man of his word, it wasn't long before the truck showed up and started clearing things out. He had to rent two large storage lockers to hold all the stuff (and they were packed right to the ceiling). When he was done I was actually able to pull my car into the space. The California sun is harsh and was causing my beautiful British racing green paint job to fade before its time.

I appreciated the fact that he saw fit to leave some of his well-maintained clothes in one of the closets, all hung with care on nice wooden hangers. Our being the same size when growing up was always a bonus for me. Both of my brothers provided me with quality 'hand-me-downs'.

Today, five years later, I live halfway around the globe, having relocated from Sacramento to Cebu. Before I moved out he had to come to the house and cart everything to ANOTHER storage facility, where he rented two more units. Maybe it's finally time for him to have that garage sale of his own! - 40726

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