A professional guide to hoarding - and scouting for an observatory position

[h0ughy]

Yep just before christmas Alan Meehan came to visit and measure up a pier for his observatory, so since I had a Pier and no home we measured up mine and what he needed. Thats when we got busted :scared: :whistle:. My darling wife came outside just as we had placed the eq6 on the pier looking at the height ( and of course the positioning in my yard for a observatory). She is a wonderful woman - but has the brain of an elephant - she never forgets (or forgives) and those words came haunting me - sure you can have an observatory right after you clean up the garage and your rooms up the back.

OK I admit that I am a horder, I don’t throw away much in computer gear (I still have a ISA controller card and 5 ¼” floppy drive), or astro mags, computer mags and the such. I have too much gear that I will be having a garage sale in the new year. Now must pluck up the courage to set the date and clean out everything. Geez I even have an electrostatic Mutoh IP510 pen plotter which is near new but 17 years old!!! Only used this 33 times :rofl: cost me $1700 now I would have to pay to have it removed!! I have my dad’s golf clubs, which I have only used once since his passing (7 years ago) so I admit I have a hording problem. Is there a cure, I don’t know but I have heaps of astro gear – so much so that I have no room to even get into the “office”. I have a pentium3 500 computer I have not used in more than 6 years, and another AMD 2400 with over a terabyte of storage I haven’t turned on for 2 years (I just moved into laptops and left it). So now I will hoard a few cardboard boxes and pack the good stuff in them for a garage sale and the rest of the “stuff” – pay council to mind them for me for eternity!!!

But I digress far too much. Look at this wonderful pier and its possible new location. I took up the offer from Steve Bain in 2006 and bought one – it is a wonderful hoarding prize!!! I hope to finally have this installed before this time next year Steve (if you are reading this). The model in the pics is of course Alan Meehan (I know you were all looking forward to a blonde babe in bikinis, but hey, Al looks better at night :rofl::rofl::scared:!!!!

[avandonk]

H0ughy I don't think you have any problems. Everything you have done sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I have a three bedroom house and sleep in the lounge room as all the bedrooms have irreplaceable valuable stuff in them. I had to empty the master bedroom of 'stuff' so my daughter could stay for a week or so just recently. She said that she knew how highly I thought of her after she saw all the junk (her word) that I had moved so she could have a room to sleep in.

You never know when anything will come in handy. So never throw away or sell anything! It is alright to donate to a fellow hoarder as the item is not lost for all time!

It might help though if you pander to her irrational demands and that way you could install the pier and build the observatory. Then just put the stuff back where it belongs.

Bert

[xelasnave]

A good fire takes care of hoarded treasure... after lamenting the loss of many years of treasure collection in the last bush fires I find that nothing that was lost is now remembered and certainly I have not found myself saying .."now if only I had such and such my world would be a better place"..
I realised these things had no value because they would never have been sold and would never be used..they were in fact a burden not only cluttering floor space but cluttering my mind.

I am happy to be free of the responsibility of looking after all that treasure..the energy I would waste moving things from one place to another, the cleaning, the maintenance etc all seems so stupid in retrospect.

I recommend the simple life and concentrating on the present not the past.

Too many "things" not only clutter floor space but they clutter your mind...how much time is wasted on a visit to ones treasure trove..pick up this ..look at that..feel guilty that you have not fixed this or that..run off on a meaningless project that is irrelevant in the now.

Have a garage sale, trim down, free yourself of the burden that is treasure and concentrate on the future that sees an observatory that will be used completed.

best wishes
alex

[astro_nutt]

hOughy....garage sale first!!!!!before you throw it..er..part with it by other means!!!...then build!!!...been there...done that..and now I have MORE room for stuff!!!...but still no observatory!!!
Cheers!!!

[xelasnave]

I was charged with the sale of a house owned by a horder..a friend of my parents who was a...collector... you could not walk in the halls of that house because of the stuff stored to the ceiling...he slept on a small lounge and had less kitchen left than on a racing boat...well what could be sold was sold, what was not was given away and what was left was thrown out... the departed did not benefit from one item of treasure and lived in horrible conditions ..placing the value of his treasure above the value of his life style which was the acquiring of more treasure...it was a sickness so many have yet only a little more extreme because he had no fire in his life.
alex

[h0ughy]

LOL thanks for the support Bert!!! I have shared some of my astro stuff so that I can have some room (Lee has my C8 + case and a set of guide rings).

[h0ughy]

Ok will follow your advice:thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

thanks for the feedback - but it was fun collecting it:whistle:

[RB]

LOL H0ughy, you sure we're not twins?

:whistle:

[h0ughy]

:whistle::rofl:maybe;)

[acropolite]

Make that triplets.... My biggest problem is that a lot of the stuff I have, HRH won't let me throw out. She insists we should garage sale it and I'm not all that keen on garage sales due to the risk of post sale burglary.

[jjjnettie]

I am so very glad to find I'm not the only hoarder here.
I have the "Great Wall of Boxes" in the big shed, under our house is stored more boxes and books, I have so many books. But I can't get rid of them.
All this stuff is essential and non throwawayable. Still, it's not as much as I used to have.

If you feel you need help to cope with overwhelming clutter, I highly recommend this website.
http://www.flylady.net/pages/flyinglessons.asp
It's full of tips on how to declutter and keep your home tidy and clean.
When you register, you will be sent daily emails outlining your daily decluttering mission.

[h0ughy]

If anyone ever shows that to my wife I will grind their optics with a belt sander and a roughcut belt:scared: thats danger territory there;)

JJJ I thank you for your suggestion and shudder at the consequences. I need to find the yellow brick road and get some courage…..LOL. it will be painful, but necessary, sorta like cutting off ones leg so to speak – you can function after it but not well

and congrats on the 3k posts JJJ

[Lee]

Well done Dave - admitting you have a problem is the first step! I must say I am an anti-hoarder - if I find something I was keeping, haven't needed it in the past 6 months, aren't likely to use it in the next 6 months, and its not saleable..... in the bin! :)
Your C8 is safe and well!

[h0ughy]

:scared:I am glad its safe;). Now need a home for the vixen, the 10" LX200R and the losmandy :whistle:;)

[Starkler]

Im a bit in the same boat except that if I throw out all my acquired crap I wont have anything left :(

[erick]

I refuse to admit!


However, the failure of my router last week led to it being piled up in the corridor, together with the previous router and dsl modem, together with the 56k modem - well some of them still work! And I found this nifty monitor base with a nice set of stereo speakers built in right up top of the shelves.....

All in the corridor until I decide what next.

I'll keep all the power cords and power bricks. You never know when you'll need a few dozen power cords!

[leon]

Although not computers and astro stuff, when we closed our baby shop we had heaps of stuff left over even after drastic reductions in price.

We gave the lot to the foster families free of charge, now that is a good feeling. and they deserve so much more.

Leon

[h0ughy]

Well I made a start, this was yesterdays effort. The biggest joke was I went to the tip, and arrived at 3.03pm , the joke was they shut at 3pm. So I came home and loaded up more stuff, even filled the car. Off soon with this load.

My wife was indeed shocked - she even offered to help sweep and dust for me (wont knock that back). I can tell you you guys don't want to know what is within that pile!!!!!

[jjjnettie]

I feel for you Dave.
My sister helped me with my shed earlier this year, I threw away so much "good" stuff. But once you've tossed the first couple of things away, it just gets slightly easier.
Congratulations on the effort.

Ta too for the congrats, 3000 hey, not as much as some though.

[acropolite]

Don't fall for it h0ughy, HRH does the same, it's merely a ploy to establish control and monitoring operations....:P

[davidpretorius]

well done Houghy........just think................at the end of the tunnel is an observatory that has all those awesome extra benefits.........lockable ( ie no kids / wife)................sound proofed ( ie no kids / wife)........astro mates only ( ie no kids / wife ).

I cant see anything in that trailer that offers the same benefits???

[h0ughy]

:whistle:no kids / wife:rofl:


I will take up the offer as cleaning is her forte;)

[h0ughy]

I see your point, but I cant refuse:help:

[h0ughy]

the only thing i saved on the PC's were the HDD's. Will look at them one rainy day

[davidpretorius]

thats easy, order an ethos and a RCx400 16". the house would be spotless after that rain storm finished

[RB]

LOL Houghy, I'd offer you a place to store your stuff here but I'm in the same boat as you, The Titanic, I believe.......:lol:

[GTB_an_Owl]

you should have kept the m/bs and cards Dave and taken them to the scrap metal yard - worth dollars i believe


geoff

[Ric]

I have heard that too Geoff, they extract the gold and other rare metal that are used.

Houghy you might have enough in that trailor for a Sirius dome. ;)

Cheers

[h0ughy]

oh well I have a few spots clean now, transfer my astro gear to that area for now. then work on the rest

[h0ughy]

that explains why the guys at the tip were helping me unload the gear LOL:lol::shrug:

[h0ughy]

but I can see the life raft Andrew:rofl::rofl:

[RB]

I believe that's The Lusitania from afar......:scared:

[h0ughy]

ok a bit of scrounging on works web site and I find the Exempt Development code (http://www.ncc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/5309/exempt_dev_guide.pdf) - excerpts from this are as shown:

Sheds, lawn lockers, green-houses, cubby houses, gazebos
Construction and use of sheds, lawn lockers, greenhouses, cubbyhouses, gazebos or other freestanding structures of a similar nature used in association with the occupation of a dwelling.
Number • Maximum of one such structure per dwelling.
Siting • Not located between the dwelling and the street alignment.
• Located wholly within the boundaries of the allotment.
• At least 0.6 metre from any property boundary.
• At least 1.0 metre from any sewer main.
• Does not encroach upon any easement, pipeline or watercourse.
Trees • Consent has been given for any necessary pruning, cutting down, removal or destruction of trees to allow the development.
Dimensions • Maximum height of 2.4 metres above existing ground level.
• Maximum area of 7 square metres.
Stormwater • Does not restrict the flow of stormwater or floodwaters.
Heritage • The development is carried out on land that does not have a heritage item situated on it.
Bush fire • The development is carried out on land that is not bush fire prone land.


OK now that only limits me to 7m2 that I can use so when you read the next bit - a dog house can be 10m2 - go figure.

Animal shelters
Construction and use of aviaries, kennels, hutches, poultry sheds or similar buildings (other than horse stables) used to house domestic animals in association with a lawful dwelling.
Number • Maximum of one animal shelter per dwelling.
Siting • Sited in accordance with clause 17 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Local Government (Orders) Regulation 1999.
• Not located between the dwelling and the street alignment.
• At least 0.9 metre from any property boundary.
• At least 1.0 metre from any sewer main.
• Does not encroach upon any easement, Council pipeline or watercourse.
• Located so as not to be visible from any public road.
Trees • Consent has been given for any necessary pruning, cutting down, removal or destruction of trees to allow the development.
Dimensions • Maximum height of 2.4 metres above existing ground level.
• Maximum area of 10 square metres.
Heritage • The development is carried out on land that does not have a heritage item situated on it.
Bush fire • The development is carried out on land that is not bush fire prone land.



SO that it it will be an animal shelter :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :whistle: now you buggers help me think up a name - I could always end up in THE DOG HOUSE :whistle: :D

[Lee]

Surely you can duck and weave around the councils requirements Dave?? ;)
What size floor plan are you considering??

[xstream]

"H0ughy's Woof Inn". :P :lol:

[h0ughy]

well with this limitation a 3 x 3m but a 3 x 4.5 would be better:whistle:

[h0ughy]

:rofl::rofl: what about the DOG star kennel.....:rofl:

[Ric]

Or the "Canis Major Retreat" for a "Sirius" fun time. :doh:

[Lee]

What does getting approval cost/involve??

[h0ughy]

full DA approval - notifying the neighbours and if they object then it doesn't go ahead unless i appeal through the Land and environment court. also cost me a small fortune in fees and insurance for construction - including certification fees and engineering fees for a report saying it is a stable and safe structure. as well as these blasted new energy and environmental laws of meeting emission reduction standards etc........ i don't want the hassle. a 3 x 3 might do and allow me to squeeze in a second pier

[Lee]

What I thought.... no wonder prices are so high for construction projects now. Emission reduction for an observatory - cut down on the curry! :lol:

[h0ughy]

:rofl::rofl::rofl:


well my workshop is now clean - my room and garage to go:whistle: and order take out vindaloo

[spacezebra]

Well done David

How many Brownie Points did you earn?





Cheers Petra

[astroron]

I feel sorry for you Dave:(having to go through all that crap:mad2: I am glad I live in the bush and can almost build what I like:)

[h0ughy]

none -just the right to coexist on the planet with my wife, and the right to think I can now get a slab.......:whistle:;)

[h0ughy]

:sadeyes:i wished i was there too Ron, believe me I do:D

[Glenhuon]

These council regulations always make me think of that song from a few years back. "Little Boxes on the Hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky" :doh:

Best of Luck Houghy

[h0ughy]

:D:D:DI have received one of my new piers:thumbsup:. This one is for the EQ6. LOL and here is the kicker - it was delivered by Greyhound:rofl::whistle: Many thanks Steve. My original pier as in post 1 is going to Alan, I can't own 3 piers can I:help: I have one left being fixed up for the G11, that will come soon. (I still have a bit of the room left to clean in the Office but I can see the floor:whistle:):):):)

BTW some details on the pier - i got two of them from Steve Bain of Southern cross piers (http://www.southerncrosspiers.com.au/about.htm) fame. They are rated to lift 100kg and you need to supply your own power supply to it. The lowest height of adjustable pier is 700mm, when it is up fully you can add another 500mm to the height. now if i set the top of the concrete or the base of the pier hight to 300 above the floor level of the observatory then adding the 700 mm will get me to about a metre, then I still have another 500m left to tinker with to get a horizon if I need one, or just leave it lowered. i get the best of both worlds:D (this pier is almost identical to the piertech one, just has the extra bits Made in Australia!!)

I am still tossing up what to do, if I use the shed I was given for nothing which is 2.92x2x2.06h at gable or just go out and get a 3x3x2.06 or build one from scratch to that size? :help:

[Lee]

I think you should go for the 3x3 mate..... build or buy, depends on how handy you are!
Doesn't matter though - the clouds are never going to budge anyway! :(

[h0ughy]

you might be right, the weather is pretty bad with no letup. I might have to go the 3x3.

Might get the C8 back too, its been that long that my oldtimers might make me forget i own one, LOL:rofl::whistle: