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Am I a hoarder?

Doggggboy said:
I know some auctions have people bidding higher than new for some things and that is truly maddening to watch, but I try to keep in mind who the auction sale is sometimes for. As far as I can tell the seller and the auction house both benefit, and if the buyer is happy with what they paid, they're probably happy too.
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Ya, half of me wanted to say that too. But the other half of me isn't happy. I miss the old days.
 
Susquatch said:
Ya, half of me wanted to say that too. But the other half of me isn't happy. I miss the old days.
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Yeah, back in your day a Molecular Chemistry Set had real molecules, and could be used to poison everyone in the house.

IMG_6642.jpeg
 
whydontu said:
Yeah, back in your day a Molecular Chemistry Set had real molecules, and could be used to poison everyone in the house.
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Chemistry set nothing! I was able to get cyanide insect killing bottles from my local drug store when I was making insect collections as a youngster. Bet you can't do that any more!!!
 
I mixed together (by volume luckily) saltpeter, sulfer and carbon. It made smoke but didn't burn very fast. I was maybe 14 years old?
 
I collected mercury and loved to roll it around in the palm of my hand. Amazing stuff. Always ended up with less than I started with.....

I also collected PCB oil from transformers. It was a great oil to use in other places. Usually had to wash it off with soap and water.

Everybody drove bikes back then without a Helmut. I still do.

I'm still here to tell about it.
 
Susquatch said:
I collected mercury and loved to roll it around in the palm of my hand. Amazing stuff. Always ended up with less than I started with.....

I also collected PCB oil from transformers. It was a great oil to use in other places. Usually had to wash it off with soap and water.

Everybody drove bikes back then without a Helmut. I still do.

I'm still here to tell about it.
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I managed to survive, lawn darts, bicycles with no helmets and riding in the back of the pick-up, and when I first started drinking coffee, the lids had no warning label suggesting that it may be hot.
I still can't believe that they once let common sense rule the day.......
 
My older brother had a pulp&paper scholarship to become a chemical engineer. He was a chem lab assistant, so on the weekends when he came home from university his backpack was usually filled with bottles of <stuff>. We kept the bottles in the garage. The garage had a dirt floor. We moved, and couldn’t figure out what to do with all the bottles? Well, why don’t we just dig a big hole in the middle of the garage floor, and just dump the bottles in the hole and backfill.

My guess is the neighbors never did figure out why their lawn died.
 
jcdammeyer said:
I mixed together (by volume luckily) saltpeter, sulfer and carbon. It made smoke but didn't burn very fast. I was maybe 14 years old?
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I remember the mix ratio was particular, get it right and it burnt really fast. At least that's how I remember.

Susquatch said:
I collected mercury and loved to roll it around in the palm of my hand
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Ya we did the same! Some of it was disposed of down the toilet. For years there was a blob of mercury at the bottom off the toilet that would appear once in a blue moon. It must have hung up somehow in the trap and occasionally it would drop to the bottom of the bowl.

I find it hilarious that so many of us had similar chemistry influenced childhoods.
 
DPittman said:
I remember the mix ratio was particular, get it right and it burnt really fast. At least that's how I remember.



Ya we did the same! Some of it was disposed of down the toilet. For years there was a blob of mercury at the bottom off the toilet that would appear once in a blue moon. It must have hung up somehow in the trap and occasionally it would drop to the bottom of the bowl.

I find it hilarious that so many of us had similar chemistry influenced childhoods.
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I think what made a lot of the difference, is that back then these things were not only available, but we were encouraged to experiment and learn from our successes and mistakes...... Now everything is a political liability from a safety standpoint
Who else remembers going down the toy isle and lusting over live steam engines and boilers, chemistry sets of all sizes, real tools that could cut real wood, and electrical kits where you made your own radio etc..... It's a sad stroll down the toy isle in this day and age........
.... I bought a 3 piece flycutter set today, whew, I feel better. :rolleyes:
 
Canadium said:
Chemistry set nothing! I was able to get cyanide insect killing bottles from my local drug store when I was making insect collections as a youngster. Bet you can't do that any more!!!
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I had a two pound jug of USP Grade, Potassium Cyanide crystals, for destroying beehives, when I was living in Moose Jaw. Walked in to the Pharmacy, told them why, and paid the man...

Called my friend, whose property the bees were kept on, suggested he look in the old trailer we used as the Bee Shop, a few years after I left. He said there were a fair few eyebrows went skywards when he turned it in at the Hazmat collection day! LOL! I bet.

The local Pharmacist, when I was in Grade school, had no issues with selling us Potassium Nitrate (saltpeter) to go with the sulphur we scrounged along the tracks, and the Charcoal we made! :)
Still have eight fingers, and two thumbs, too!
 
The older brother of a high school friend made up a batch of nitrogen triiodide.
Stable when wet (in ammonia). When the ammonia dries out, the remaining powder (the nitrogen triiodide) is very pressure sensitive, and produces a loud bang, and some purple smoke…
A little dab under a toilet seat, on the stairs, in a keyhole…
Great fun.
 
thestelster said:
I remember the time, 12 years ago, going through a divorce, closing down my shop, and having to move 1400sq.ft of equipment to my new house's 400sq.ft. garage! I was not in a good frame of mind!! I had to purge a lot of stuff into the 14 yard rented garbage bin. 30' of wooden benches, chairs, tables, old computers and printers. But what I regret to this day, was throwing out in that bin, a Mimik hydraulic tracing attachment, 10 gallon coolant reservoir and pump and a 16" faceplate:( Thinking....ach..I'll never use this stuff.

Yeah, so now I have hoarding tendencies!
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I would like to know the rent for a 1400 feet shop (garage) in your property.
 
whydontu said:
“ keep a list of what has been tossed”?

Jeez, now I get to add an Excel list? Would I have to add this action to my already-long list of OCDs?

Quick, hands up - who has multiple plastic bins full of short pieces of wire?
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me!I guess I'm a miser - I can hardly remember what I threw away because I thought I would use it at some point. Even small things such as the contact plate and spring of the waste contactor I will remove the collection and wait for it to be used - although many times I do not remember where to put it!!
 
a smile said:
I would like to know the rent for a 1400 feet shop (garage) in your property.
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My shop was at the north end of the city of Toronto in the town of Markham. Which, incidentally, has a huge Chinese population.

Back in 2012 the basic yearly expenses were:

-rent: $14,000
-Hydro (electricity): $1,400
-Gas (heating): $1,700
-telephone/internet: $1,900

And by now, I am pretty sure the cost has at least doubled!!
 
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