Ninja Turtle Tackle Box, Laptop With Doss Operating System, and Not-a-Tent in the Tent Bag

Saturday was the day to start the "almost final" purging of the garage. We aren't touching the tools until the very last round. So really, there isn't a lot of stuff to go through. Not like for those who have been in the same house/garage for many years. Not like those who can't park a car in a two-car garage. Still, most of the stuff in our garage isn't going with us, and sorting is required to determine where it is going.

Bill is a normal (mostly) person, so he doesn't "enjoy" going through boxes of stuff and having to decide the fate of each item. Unlike his weird wife who loves doing that. I do have realistic expectations of others though, so I "share the joy" in small doses. I had purged the majority of my garage stuff already, so Bill agreed to tackle some of his remaining boxes until he didn't feel like doing it anymore. Good plan.

It always takes longer than you think, but we got through most everything in just over two hours. The heat and humidity both rose quickly so we were back in the air-conditioned house by 11 AM.

Garage stuff is different than house stuff. It carries different memories. In this case, mostly outdoor memories and "project" memories. Fishing poles and camp stoves. Canvas tarps and ice chests. Yards of speaker wire and co-ax cable. Computer parts and multiple connectors. An interesting mix of survivor-man and nerd emerged from the boxes - how could I not love this guy?!

Garage stuff

While he sorted and tossed, I emptied a cupboard that we could start re-stocking with items we absolutely know we are taking with us. It felt like another milestone, although having that cupboard wasn't on any list. Most are things that will be stored in bins, like cold weather gloves and life vests, but it was still fun for me to be "loading" the RV :-) .

"Fun" might be a stretch for Bill, but we had a good laugh over some of the items. His "little" boys' plastic lantern and canteen, and the Ninja Turtle tackle box that I considered keeping for myself - hard to believe any of those men were ever that young. He has two "vintage" laptops, and although one no longer has a power cord, the other he was able to power up. A Texas Instruments laptop - very small and weighs more than my 17" Toshiba - with a doss operating system. The default date is January 1, 1989! We both agreed we have room in the storage trunk to keep it - just because.

Our biggest laugh came from one of our kid's (where most of those big laughs come from) treasures. Stored with sleeping bags and an air mattress was a pup tent in a nice carrying bag. Bill didn't recognize it and neither did I, but it was the perfect size to stow in the rig for "visiting" kids. I added it to the cupboard. Later, I thought I should probably make sure it has all the parts to set it up before we just take it with us. When I pulled out the dirty beach towel, shorts, socks and underwear we both cracked up! We quickly figured out which kid and which probable event created this unique combination. So we don't have a cool pup tent - but can you imagine if we had hauled it around and then pulled it out for someone to sleep in??? Or better yet, lent it to a fellow camper out of the goodness of our hearts?

Sometimes when you're going through old memories you make some great new ones!