The Don Maslin Software Archive

[Scott Stevens]

On Sat, 14 May 2005 18:17:26 -0700 (PDT)
Tom Jennings <tomj at wps.com> wrote:

> On Sat, 14 May 2005, Vernon Wright wrote:
> 
> > I AM NOT SUGGESTING ACTION AT THIS POINT. I AM
> > SUGGESTING A DISCUSSION WITHIN THIS GROUP (WHERE DON
> > SPENT MOST OF HIS ONLINE TIME), FOLLOWED BY A GROUP
> > DECISION TO BE IMPLEMENTED. (For that purpose, I will
> > be turning on individual messages instead of the
> > digest
> > form in which I read this group.)
> 
> It's cause for serious personal reflection -- are you a 
> packrat (as Don apparently was) or a collector?
> 
> Packrat syndrome is serious, the cliche is a house filled with
> bundled newspapers and magazines stacked to the ceiling, that
> falls on the elderly 'rat, killing them, etc.
> 
> This actually happened to the owner of the house some friends of
> mine bought. The guy have one million (1e6) antique railroad items
> (as inventoried by the club he belonged to post-death).
> 
> It's not very funny; he was in ill health, lived alone, told no
> one what he had, etc, some thing happened to him as he was
> arriving home [he got hurt in some way I cannot recall], stumbled
> in his house, piles fell on him, his family found him a few days
> later but he died from his injuries.
> 
> This is essentially what Don did. I know someone else with
> packratitis. I suspect it's rampant in this list.
> 
> Make a goddamn will or just an informal letter, give a copy to
> your spousal unit/family/friends/enemies, post it on your website,
> whatever.
> 

I guess I'm trying to figure out what your 'packrat vs. collector'
comment at the front has to do with the rest of your comment.  Is there
some higher, more-esteemed thing called a 'collector' that is superior
to a packrat?  I agree that organized and managed collections are
better.  I just don't know where to draw the line without coming off
like we're labeling (self-labeling) ourselves with some sort of clinical
disorder and/or stepping up onto a pedestal.