Funny you should mention that. I'm taking advantage of my coming retirement by doing a little house cleaning, too. I'm systematically going through all my stuff and throwing everything out I can't immediately justify keeping. And I don't even retire until next week. I'm getting a little head start.

I've developed a triage system: keep, shitcan, or I-don't-know. And everything in the latter category gets triaged again when I start the next day. I try to do a little each day.

It seems I've only made a dent in my accumlated belongings, but I can already feel the process accelerating. The more I discard, the more I realize I don't need, and the more Mme Reclus feels guilty and has to throw out her surplus, too. And I find that the stuff we leave with the garbage by the curb rarely gets carried away by the sanitation truck...urban scavengers come by before the City and help us recycle our old gear. I hate things going to waste, especially when someone else can benefit by it.

Our first computer, a PeoplePC 6 Gig machine we bought in '98, is still operational, and I almost got rid of it, but I got it started and it works, so I've kept it as a backup word processor so I can continue my writing in case our current machines crap out and we can't afford to replace them. We added a peripheral CD burner to it, so it can create and save files. No need for the internet. And the printer, which still works just fine, is unnecessary too. It wound up on the curb with two spare cartridges of ink. Good riddance.

Once I'm off work Goodwill and Faith Farm are going to be seeing a lot of me. The Reclus' have enough clothes they haven't been able to squeeze into for years to deck out a Haitian village in style.