I just watched one last night. I find it interesting because the human mind intrigues me. I find it amazing that a life-even can cause you or I to get bummed for a few days, but can cause someone like that to start hoarding, or drinking, or shooting up, or something else.
I did drive a rental Lumina once that almost made me want to drink the pain away though.
Hoarders is great, another one to watch if you want to feel a little better about yourself is "Strange Addiction." People who eat nail polish, sniff pine sol 24/7, etc and are killing themselves in the process....really quite entertaining
Anti-stance wrote: In reply to Woody: Man, I don't think I could do a job that involved me going into people's homes for that reason.
When you respond to 911 calls for a living, you get to see people who have dropped their defenses. They find themselves in a situation that they can no longer manage and have finally thrown in the towel and asked for help. You get a very vivid look into their world. Eventually, you come to the realization that everyone has a bit of insanity inside them, it just manifests itself in different forms. The most "normal" looking people in the world have something that they keep hidden 99% of the time. Insanity becomes the true reality.
For god's sake, look at us
My g/f likes to accuse me of being a hoarder... my usual response to this is, "because I'm never home long enough to berkeleying clean!"
But in all seriousness, for us there was simply a big difference in how we grew up. Her parents have lived in the same house since 1961 (10 years before she was born). For her, "home" has been a constant "place".
I moved around a lot when I was younger, sometimes never staying anywhere for more than 6 months. So for me, my "things" were my constant, since the "place" was constantly changing. Since wherever my "things" were was "home", I place an increased level of importance on my things, regardless of their true value. Hell, I still have toys in my attic we brought back from Okinawa back in 1975.
I also inherited my childhood when my mother remarried, moved out and transferred the house she had bought 2 years prior to me, including most of the contents. For example, many of the dishes I use were my parents' wedding presents and I've known them since birth. It's hard to let go of stuff like that.
There are times when I panic at the thought of my house burning down or otherwise getting destroyed... and other times I wonder if such an occurance wouldn't be a huge historical weight being removed.
Ian F wrote: For example, many of the dishes I use were my parents' wedding presents and I've known them since birth. It's hard to let go of stuff like that.
See I find that interesting, I'm going to feel bad, I guess, about tossing a bunch of my grandpa's stuff that my dad saved.............but I don't have any emotional attachement to it, or really anything my parents have left over either. (Both my parents are still alive, realized that sounded kinda strange)
I don't see the point of just endlessly keeping stuff in a box somewhere.
If I haven't seen or used it in a year or two, it gets tossed.
Ian F wrote: There are times when I panic at the thought of my house burning down or otherwise getting destroyed... and other times I wonder if such an occurance wouldn't be a huge historical weight being removed.
Personally, I think it would be the latter.
z31maniac wrote: Personally, I think it would be the latter.
I'm sure it would be after a bit of (a lot of...) annoyance. Hell, replacing my tools alone would suck beyond words. Not to mention the dozen or so guitars. My books. But like I said, most kids leave the nest, I was left the nest... so my life is a bit ass-backwards in that regard. When your mom tosses something you haven't touched in 20 years, you don't think about it as much, "I'm sorry dear... I tossed that years ago..." In my case, I'm faced with tossing stuff my mom hasn't looked at in 20 years... it's kinda weird at times. I do go through purging sessions once in awhile. Some years ago, I filled a 12 yard dumpster with crap from the ages. I do actually throw stuff away. A lot stuff, really. It just seems like it multiplies when I'm not looking.
Ian F wrote: For example, many of the dishes I use were my parents' wedding presents and I've known them since birth. It's hard to let go of stuff like that.
I don't see that as "hoarding". In my pre-teen years you could get "points" at the grocery store and then redeem the points for dinnerware. With a family to feed my mother could get a couple pieces each week. That dinnerware was our "every day" dishes at home just about as long as I can remember.
My mother collected enough of it that she was able to give my brother and I each a 12 place set when we moved out of the house after college.
It became our everyday dishes when the wife and I got married and still is today, 44 years later although it is now down to 6 complete settings.
I sometimes wish my place would burn down. Honestly- so I could get a fresh start. I have so many "things" that i've collected, little hobbies, stuff like that, it's probably starting to be a problem.
Did anyone catch the dude (host?) from Hoarders on Stern a little while ago??? I don't watch the show, but Stern's interview was so morbidly fascinating.
He said that it's pretty much guaranteed that there is a house like that in every neighborhood in this country. Odds are good there's one filled with human feces as well---he sees one a week.
That is just chilling. 
I was listening to an episode of the Adam Corolla show tonight (couple week old episode) with that guy on it. He was talking about one house that he removed 40,000lbs of human feces from.
EvanB wrote: I was listening to an episode of the Adam Corolla show tonight (couple week old episode) with that guy on it. He was talking about one house that he removed 40,000lbs of human feces from.
Yeah, he talked about the same one on Stern. I'm ghoulishly intrigued that this is such a common occurrence.
It's intriguing until you have to go inside their house.
I keep way to much stuff in the garage at least. Then I think, "am I ever really going to use a 2/3 worn out set if brake pads? If I'm doing all the work I'll just buy new ones".
Also, how do they abreaveate Freak Show Network to "TLC"?
Joey
seeming as how Joey was just in my garage, I was afraid this post was exposing my hoarding to the world...
joey48442 wrote: Also, how do they abreaveate Freak Show Network to "TLC"?
Yeah, they've lowered the bar so far that it's buried.
WTF happened to "The Learning Channel"???
Proof that intelligent audiences don't generate profit for networks. 
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