Time Traveling Pack Rat

My Second Most Faithful Reader installed seven additional Closetmaid shelves in my guest room closet over the Christmas break, so today I worked on going through boxes and boxes of stuff and determining where things should go.

Pack rat that I am, going through all the random things I've collected in boxes is almost like going back in time. I opened up an accordion file folder that I probably hadn't opened in over ten years and it was like opening up a time capsule that contained letters, grade reports, invoices, pay stubs, manuals, back-of-the-envelope diagrams that still trigger enough memories to recollect what they were and jewelry designs.

I found my old Sony Walkman radio-cassette player and it brought back memories of showing it off to relatives, when I first got it in the late 80s. It's very yellow, so it was pretty much love at first sight. I got a lot of use out of it and I believe it still works, even though the headphones look a little tired. I still have loads of cassettes and I have more German language tapes than I know what to do with. I also found taped recordings I made when I chose to interview people about death for a cultural anthropology assignment.

The worst part is knowing what to do with the things I don't want. I have great difficulties throwing things away that are perfectly good, but aren't my taste. Yes, I know there are plenty of places that accept things that are in good condition, but wouldn't it be easier to change my taste instead? That's a lot more practical. Even worse, there are things that I do like that are wearing out. Where do I draw the line? These are only issues for pack rats, aren't they?