Days 78 - 82 Lots of Stuff

I had MAJOR Internet problems this week.  Everything has finally been resolved but it took a LOT longer than I might have hoped.  Quite amazing to see how much you rely on the Internet and email!!  On the positive side, I got to talk to lots of interesting Bell technicians in many different parts of the world!!

So.... I need to do some catching up on reporting my throwing stuff out!  Here goes...  We've got an old router that we no longer need.  (One of the things Bell sent along was a new modem whereby I don't need an extra router!) 

Then there's a travel clock that I have never, ever used.  I take my cell phone with me everywhere.  Who needs an extra clock?  The battery is dead, I don't need to buy another one!

Another foot of books!!  There will be many more feet of books we're not reading and don't need anymore.  Future movers of the Ivany household are thanking us now!!

A couple of pairs of socks that I've been meaning to get rid of for awhile.  Have you got any socks that need to be pitched out.  These are beyond darning...if anyone darns socks anymore!

And finally, a broken bicycle pump.  We've got another one.  We bought it because this one broke down.  But it never made it to the garbage.  Not sure why not, but out it goes now.

So, there you have it, caught up, faster internet connection, slightly emptier house!!

77th Day - One Big Honking Pile of Used Clothing

The girls are getting in on the blog.  Jilli has somehow expanded her  'space' to two rooms our our house now that Kimberly has flown the coop.  Jilli has an incredible pile of clothes.  And I mean PILE!!  (She's a teenager after all.)  But she said she wanted to get in on the throwing out act.  Here it is. Thank you, Jilli. We send this kind of stuff to the Diabetes Association.  They make money off it (good for them!)  We're happy to get rid of it.

Here's the 76th item - A Mass of Old Wires and Plugs

I was tempted to go looking for a trombone to toss out (76 trombones led the big parade...  Do you know Music Man??!)  Instead I will chuck this mass of old wires and plugs and chargers.  I'm tossing out plugs here for devices I can no longer find and no longer remember.  Raises a good question.  How much more junk do I have that is totally, completely useless??  The answer is  "LOTS!!"

75th Piece Of Junk To Go - A Couple Of Old Lights

When we moved into our first house in Brampton in 1987 these lights had been left by the original owner.  I used them for a few years but when we moved in 1996 we just didn't need them anywhere anymore.  I have no use for them.  I'll send them to the local recycler and see if someone else in town can make use of a pair of 30 year old lights!!

On Day 74 - An Old Doggy Lamp

This lamp was on our kitchen table in Vancouver in the 60's!!  Who knows where it was before that??!!  I had it in a bedroom in Regina for a number of years.  Another bedroom in Willowdale.  And then the dining area of my first apartment in Brampton.  But it's shot.  Wires stiff and just worn out.  It hasn't worked for years.  It must be put to rest!!  Woof, woof!

Bag of Bolts on the 73rd Day!!

This is where things could get interesting.  Allow me to be sexist and say that any guy with a garage or basement had got to have bags and boxes and drawers full of screws, bolts, nuts, washers, and assorted doo-dads.  I, like every other stereotypical guy, have tons of that stuff.  I came across this bag with nuts and bolts (most of which are bent!), and some ancient, and I mean ancient washers for a tap.  They were so brittle I could snap them with my fingers!!  Bye-bye bag.  You've got some brothers who will be joining you soon.  I think I have WEEKS worth of useless stuff like this!!

Day #72 - Motorola CB Speakers

You never know what treasures you'll find when you're looking to throw stuff out.  Here are a couple of speakers that I picked up when I was working for the City of Hamilton Stores Department back before I was married, back in a summer job in the early 80's!!  They were replacing all the CB radios in the maintenance vehicles and there were speakers left over.  I've used them through the years for outdoors speakers when we have a party but the sound is getting pretty awful.  They served their purpose in life well.  Now, off they go to Motorola heaven.

71st Day - Dining Room Table Wheels

OK... we are settling into a nice routine with throwing stuff out.  Someone wondered how I could just throw one thing out at a time. They'd be more inclined to pitch a whole bunch of stuff at once.  To each their own.  For me, one day at a time, means I'm throwing out stuff that's been sitting around here for a long time and it's all pretty painless.

Here are some wheels from a dining room table that we got rid of a couple of years ago.  We took the wheels off 20 years ago when we picked up that ancient, through not very antique, dining room set.  I have had these flipping wheels in my garage for 20 years!!  The table is long gone.  And now these are just gone.

For the 70th Day - Two TV Antennas

The plural for a TV antenna is antennas.  In biology it would be antennae.  Here's more from the garage!!  A couple of  TV antennas that I used years ago when we didn't have cable TV!  The kids were young.  We didn't have time to watch much TV.  It's a slightly different world today when it comes to cable or digital TV or the internet.  I don't think I'm going back to needing a TV antenna anytime soon.  Out they go, after sitting in the garage for years!!!  But like John said today, "Watch out, you'll throw something out and then find out the next week that you need it!"  I just can't see needing these antennas very soon!

Item #69 - Old Spot Lights

Spring has come to Georgetown.  I was  taking down my Christmas lights today.  One neighbour said "Wait, it's only April!"  Another said "Why not leave them up till Christmas?"  Gotta love your neighbours!  When putting the lights away I came across these two spot lights.  Haven't used them for years.  Paint is peeling, wires are fraying, they're a safety risk.  If I'm not going to use them I don't need to keep them in the garage.  I gotta tell you, there's a whole pile of stuff in the garage that needs to get thrown out.  (Please note: the picture was taken OUTSIDE!  It was warm outside today. Woo-hoo!)

Day 68 - 16 Inches of Books

Some of you who know me know how much I LOVE books.  So throwing out 16 inches of books is a BIG deal.  Some of these will go to the church.  The rest will go for recycling.  Books are interesting these days.  With the onslaught of the Internet, e-readers, Google scanning millions of books, etc. you wonder just what will happen to the book.  But I know what will happen to these books.  I don't need them anymore.  And let me give you some advance warning...over the next 297 days you'll be seeing many more inches of books finding a new home!!

It's Day 67 - Old Keyboard And An Old Toque!!

I thought I had pitched out all my electronic stuff but came across another ancient keyboard (the techies will note that this one doesn't even have a USB plug, it's that old!)  And I thought I had pitched out all my old toques, but Liz came across another one, this delightful green chapeau.  Winter is finally over in Southern Ontario.  I won't need any more toques and I haven't worn this one for years.  A keyboard and a toque.  Not sure how they go together, other than they are leaving my house together!!  The toque to the clothing recycler; the keyboard to the electronics recycler.

#66 - Very Dusty Ceramic Pancho Villa

I know what you're saying.  Every house needs a ceramic Pancho Villa.  Well, let me buck the trend.  My parents lived in Mexico for 5 years and I'm sure they are the source of dusty Pancho.  But they've been back in Canada over 20 years now.  Pancho just doesn't have the same appeal to me for some odd reason.  Out he goes.  Adios, Pancho!

Someone commented that I've got 300 items left to throw out in my year long quest.  That's a lot of stuff yet to go!!  I wonder if I'll make it.  I mean, how many Pancho Villa's can one man own??!!

65th stuff on the 65th day - A Bunch of DVD's

While picking up a DVD for a study group at church I came across a great deal.  $10 gets you as many DVD's as you can watch in a month, you just take them out one at a time.  This is Blockbuster responding to Netflix!  But then Liz saw a deal where you bring in any DVD and they'll give you a $3 or $4 credit!!  We have TONS of DVD's that we don't watch.  Liz took these ones in, got a nice little credit, and pre-ordered the Justin Bieber movie with the credit.  Oh nooooo...  You realize what this means, don't you?!  That's right.  I'm moving out!  Maybe I can clear out some more DVD's, get a huge credit at Blockbuster, and live there.

Caught up from my Holidays!! Day 64 - Items 61 - 64!!

Well, well, well...finally caught up and out goes a nice little pile of stuff.

1.  A bunch of card games we don't play anymore.  (Actually we had 3 Uno games!) 
2.  Parts for a freezer ice maker
3.  DVD games we don't play
4.  A game of Dogopoly that we never played and a puzzle that we've done enough time.
5.  An old set of keys that I think we gave to the girls to play keys with!!
     This is a total of 5 blocks of items but I'm just counting it as 4 because I had to catch up on things.  Hopefully I'll be back to 1 item per day.  I'm starting to notice emptier shelves, cleaner shelves!  Let's hope we don't fill them up again.

Day 62 - Items #57, #58, #59, #60 Check it out!!

OK, I'm catching up.  I figure I'll be all caught up tomorrow!!  Here are the latest items to find their way OUT of the Ivany household!  You've got an old mouse that I've had in a drawer in my desk for years because...you never know when you'll need a replacement mouse.  And then there are three speakers that are part of a surround sound system that we got rid of a long time ago.  Kept these because...you never know when you'll need some extra speakers.  And then there is a pile of old Mexican pesos.  These are pre-1993 when the currency was re-valued.  They are worth nothing.  But I kept them because....you never know when you'll need some extra pesos!!  And finally, some Christmas light nails and hangers for a style of lights that we haven't used for years.  But I kept them because...you never know when you'll need some extra Christmas light nails and hangers. 

There's a bit of a theme here.  In the past I've hung on to all kinds of junk because I never know when I might need them.  The reality is that a lot of the stuff I save, I'll never, ever use!!  Lesson learned.  Junk gone!!

Day 60 - Items #55 and #56

I'm hoping to be caught up by the weekend!!  Here are 4 boots that are being thrown out.  Yeah...it's 4 boots but I'm going to count them as 2 items.  Is that OK?  Liz passed these on to me saying "Here, take a picture of these and let's get rid of them!"  I always oblige my wife!  They're perfectly good boots but no one wears them here anymore.  We'll find a good home for them.  Out they go.

Items #53 & #54 - Travel Shoe Shine Kit and Battery Charger

Two more things going out today.  First there is a travel shoe shine kit.  You wouldn't believe the dust that was gathering on this baby!  I do polish my shoes but I do it at home before I travel.  I saved the shoe polish but I don't need the travel kit.  And then there is this ancient, and I mean ancient, battery charger.  Sitting it a cupboard above the washing machine, it hasn't seen the light of day for years!!  We don't use batteries in the same way we did years ago.  This can go.  Say...we're getting more shelf space around the house these days!

Item 52 on Day 57 - Slide Sorter

I'll get caught up soon but only 1 item today.  It's a slide sorter!!  And I've got 2 of them.  This thing takes us back to a time when you could take either slides or prints on your camera.  I lived in Regina and had to mail my Kodak slide film to Brampton to be processed.  Years later I would live in Brampton, not far from the old Kodak plant!!  I still have lots of slides that need sorting but I sure don't need 2 slide sorters.  This is the smaller one.  I wouldn't have used this at all in the last....20 years or so!  It can go!!

Day 55 - Items #46-51!!! Various Items - See Below!

OK.  I'm trying to catch up!!  I went through my closet and I'm throwing out a whole bunch of stuff to try and make up for my holidays and days I needed to catch up on..

Here we go!!

# 46 - A couple of white shirts that are really getting a bit frayed around the edges!







#47 -  4 Short sleeve shirts - Yes, there are 4 items but I'm only counting them as 1!!











#48 - 5 T-shirts.  I have so many t-shirts.  I think enough for almost 1 per day for a month!!  I can calmly say good-bye to these ones.












#49 - A very tight pair of shorts!  I know... you'd probably like to see me in these but , believe me, it is not a pretty sight!!






















#50 - A Pair of Black Shoes - They are kinda tight.  Kinda worn out.  And now, kinda in the garbage!!















#51 - 2 Long Sleeved Shirts - The winter is passed (or at least we hope so).  I've got a few long sleeved shirts I can get rid of .  Here are two!!

We'll be caught up soon!!!!

52nd day - Stuff #44 and #45

Still catching up from my holidays.  Went into the garage looking for something to throw out.  Stuff just jumped out at me!!  Like this wicker-sleigh-card-holder-type-thingy along with an old, old, old pair of winter shoes that I've used in the last few years when visiting my daughter's horse in the barn.  The shoes are in worse shape than they look.  To be honest, I think I've worn them twice a year for the last 5 years!!  I've got other shoes/boots I can wear when I visit Molly.  The shoes go to the garbage.  The wicker-sleigh-card-holder-type-thingy will find a new home through our local recycler, WasteWise!

Hmmm.... Day 51, Items 42 and 43 - 3 Toques!!

Well...I recently got back from 10 days vacation in Florida.  Hot sun, warm sand, blue ocean, red skin!!  But I'm way behind in my Throwing Stuff Out!!  Looks like I'm going to have to pick up the pace and throw out 2 or 3 things a day for a while.  Here we are on Day 51 and I'm only up to items 42 and 43.  I'm saying these 3 toques count as 2 items because I had that poll going.  The top vote-getter was the wizard's toque.  Out it goes.  In the meantime I found another nondescript blue toque, so I'm going to throw 2 of those toques and count them for 1 item.  Is that OK with you??!!  Back in the saddle after a great holiday, ready to get going on chucking stuff away.  One thing I'd like to pitch is my snow shovel.  We had like a foot of snow today, March 23rd!!  Sheesh!  Oh, Canada....!!

Throwing Stuff Out is On Vacation - But Vote in the Poll!!

We're on holiday in Florida until March 20th.  I thought I would get ahead of the game and get a week's worth of stuff thrown out but it just wasn't to be.  I will have to make up for it when I get back.  We'll have Double Days!!  In the meantime, you can participate in my Toque Poll.  Which toque should I throw out?  You have to sign in to be able to vote but you can vote for as many toques as you would like to see tossed out!!  Lemme know what you think.  See you after March 20th!!

41st Day, 41st item - Another Pair of Gloves

Came across these gloves when I was looking for something else.  They're pretty grotty.  They were great for a number of years and maybe had one more good season in them.  But they were hiding in a drawer downstairs.  I hadn't seen them for a couple of years.  I've got enough gloves to keep me warm.  I'll say good-bye to these before they fall apart and I will hope that, by sacrificing them, winter will all of a sudden come to a complete stop in Southern Ontario!!

40 days, 40 nights, 40 items!! - A DVD Player

The days are going by, the items are piling up, the house is emptying out....sort of.  Just want to keep this thing going.  Here's a DVD player that hasn't worked for a long, long time.  For some reason we've got 3 DVD players (one of those I've taken to the church), 1 portable DVD player, and a couple of laptops that can play DVD's.  And that's not counting this busted DVD player.  We don't have enough eyes in the house to watch all the devices that can play DVD's.  We kept this one thinking we might take it in to get it fixed.  But there's something about the obsolescence of technology that just doesn't make it worthwhile to fix things.  No point here.  Out she goes.

Day 39 - A Perfectly Good Golf Shirt

Well...it's perfectly good but it doesn't fit!!  I won it at one of those Silent Auctions at a community fundraiser.  This golf shirt came with another golf shirt and a dozen golf balls.  What I didn't realize when I was bidding on this baby was that it is XXXL!!  Yup, triple extra large!  Try as I might flex my muscles I just couldn't fit into it.  I'll try and pass it on to some of my... uh... larger... er... more filled out friends.  I've had this shirt for 4 months, just sitting on a chair.  Please go sit on someone else's chair!

38th piece of stuff - Clothes From Lindsay

It's only a little pile but it's a great start!!  My daughter, Lindsay has seen me taking pictures of miscellaneous bits of detritus and bric-a-brac and has decided to get into the act.  A cleaning of her room (which happens at least bi-annually!!) yielded this small pile of clothing.  We'll give it to people who might be able to use it.  We'll be glad for a little less stuff in the house.  Well done, Lindsay.  Puts of my going through my cupboard for at least one more day!

On day 37 - Snorkels

We're getting ready to head to Florida for our annual March Break holiday.  As we started packing things up we came across these cheap, plastic snorkels.  They were a memento of a previous Florida holiday when we swam with dolphins at Discovery Cove.  It was an awesome experience.  Everyone got their souvenir snorkels as part of the package.  Home in the van.  Into the cupboard.  Where they stayed...and stayed...and stayed.  Not a lot of snorkeling going on in Georgetown.  We've got the pictures.  We don't need the snorkels.

Number 36 - Broom Handle

This, too, came out of the furnace room - a broom handle.  Now, any guy worth his salt will not just throw out a perfectly good broom handle.  You can always use it to screw into new brooms (which I haven't), you could use it to tie your tomato plants to (haven't done that either), you could use it to poke something that needed poking sometime, somewhere (still waiting for that).  The reality is, this little broom handle was sitting right next to two other broom handles which just happened to be screwed into brooms, rendering this little baby useless.  Oh, that and the fact that I'm sure I've got 3 more in the garage, but it's too cold to go into the garage!!

35th Day - Clothes Hanging Rod

I went into the furnace room recently on a mission to find things to throw out.  I was not disappointed.  The question may better be put "Is there anything worth keeping in the furnace room??!!"  Here's a little something.  No, it's not the chair that we threw out yesterday.  It's the thingamajig on the chair.  One of those cheap metal clothes hanging rods.  It's a short rod.  Must have come out of a closet where we changed things around.  I really don't know.  It's been in that furnace room for-EVER!  But not any more.  G'bye.  More to come from the furnace room, that's a for sure!

34 Days of Throwing Stuff Out - A Well Worn Chair

You saw a few days ago that I threw out an old, beat-up Obus Forme backrest.  It could go because I got a new office chair for Christmas that doesn't require extra back support.  What I hadn't thrown out, until now, was the actual old office chair.  Here it is, and here it goes.  (It's been a busy weekend.  Just getting today's junk in under the wire.  Whewww!!  I just couldn't go a day without throwing something out.  Not now!!)

Item #33 - A Jar of Hazelnut Spread

Now why would I be throwing out a jar of Hazelnut Spread?  How about because it's not good for you!!  My kids used to have this on toast in the morning.  I liked it every now and again.  Sure it was chocolate, but it was also hazelnuts.  Had to be good for you. Right?  Wrong-o!!  In one tablespoon of chocolate hazelnut spread there is 11 grams of sugar! A toast-full of hazelnut spread is the same as eating a whole chocolate bar.  Bleccch.  Who needs that in the morning? Go back to peanut butter!!  PB has 1 gram of sugar per tablespoon.  The non-processed stuff, even less!!  Happy Saturday!

Day 32 - A Turtleneck Sweater

Busy day today.  I was scrambling to find something to throw out.  I went to my closet and grabbed this turtleneck sweater.  It's a bit thin.  It's a bit scratchy.  It's a bit small.  And now, it's a bit gone!  I can see me tossing out a lot more in the way of clothing.  Hopefully the weekend will give me a chance to dig deeper into the recesses of the house and garage for more weird and wonderful tossable items.  Clothing is not that exciting, but I'm keeping my streak alive and there is something about cleaning out the clothes closet!!  Go have a look at yours!!

31 Days!! A Month!! Out Goes a Decent Pair of Gloves

I was waiting until today to call it a month!  I'm a bit surprised to have made it to one month.  I've thrown something out every day and really haven't made much of a dent in the pile of stuff that I have.  What I've noticed so far is that this discipline has helped me throw some things out that have been sitting around for a loooong time just waiting to be gotten rid of.  So, here goes a pair of gloves.  Never wore them.  A bit small.  Not much padding.  Would I ever throw them out?  Probably not, until..... Now!!