These are my favorite things
June 30th, 2008 by ShaunaChildhood possessions. Jewelry from old sweethearts. Photos before the days of digital cameras.
Some folks lovingly hold on to such items as they journey into adulthood. But as we accumulate more items over the years, where do you draw the line between becoming a pack rat and cherishing memories?
Do you keep that “perfect attendance” certificate from the fifth grade? How about that trophy from your days in the band?
Or ever imagine something of yours turning up 50 years later that was found by a stranger?
—–
Woman gets back ring she lost in lake in 1954
Associated Press
LUDINGTON, Mich. — A woman who lost her class ring in Lake Michigan in 1954 has it back, thanks to a metal-detector hobbyist.
Robert Savage told the Ludington Daily News for a story Saturday that he found the ring about 12 years ago but only recently began looking for its owner.
He did a bit of detective work by looking at the initials and the year on the ring. He found a Ludington High yearbook for 1955 and found that Jan Pedersen was the only person in the class with the right initials.
Now Jan Zacharda, she says she had forgotten about the ring she lost at Ludington State Park. And she’s even more puzzled that Savage found it in a lake about a dozen miles away.
Zacharda now wears the ring on her index finger, where it fits better.
—–
Ever lose something that miraculously turned up years later? Or ever find something that you barely remember why you kept in the first place?
How do you decide when to toss out possessions from years past? Are there some items that you absolutely have to keep — whether to display, store or to show your great-grandkids?
Tags: class ring, lost and found, memories, possessions
June 30th, 2008 at 7:26 am
I still get high school senior portraits, framed in foldout cardboard, da kine you wrote long story in the back and gave to your bestest of friends. I old, the pictures all black and white. Will never toss’em.
I get plenty baseball cards! Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Sandy Koufax. Old kine. and talk about old kine, I get plenty 45’s too (vinyl records in ada words). Taking up plenty space and angers the missus. What I going do, they’re classics!
June 30th, 2008 at 7:27 am
How about a Chess Champion trophy from my eighth grade?
My youngest’s hockey jerseys from twice being state champs and a national runner up. I plan to have them mounted in a frame with the medals and present them to him sometime in the future.
Remember Gizmo from the movie Gremlins? I still have the one that my son carried around when he was a toddler.
I still have my work shirt from the gas station that I use to work at during high school. Wear it when changing oil.
June 30th, 2008 at 7:29 am
I wish we could find the jade pendant that my wife lost while we were walking in the neighborhood. Her mom gave it to her and it was a very dark jade that old Chinese ladies would notice right away. Perhaps it will re-appear on a future walk.
My son found an old peace symbol pin in one of my stored box of old stuff and wanted it. It was from my 60’s hippie days but was too nostalgic to give up yet. It’s a good thing I threw away all my pipes and paraphernalia. Maybe I’ll put it in my will just for him.
June 30th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I’m sentimental. I used to save my old birthday cards. Now, I keep them for a year, unless it’s a handmade card (my mom and aunties are rubber stamp addicts) - then I keep it for a while or give it to one of them to use as “inspiration.”
And yes, I do have my old awards from the grade school days, medals and whatnot from band, UH football memorabilia (that’s always a keeper), etc. My dad is good at finding ways to frame things, make portfolios and other thing-a-jigs to keep my stuff together neatly.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:22 am
i gotta get rid of some of my hats. i think i hold on to them too long.
idk…i’m a sucker for buying all kine hats. name brand apparel, sports teams, concerts, ski lodges, golf courses, etc.
but i don’t consider myself a hat “collector”…..more like a hat accumulator.
hey….anybody want to buy a vintage KPOI 98Rock hat?
June 30th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I have a longboard from the early 60’s, 45 rpm records and even some 78 rpm’s.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I still have my trophies from little league baseball. A ton of LPs that I plan to convert to digital. Someday.
Faded photographs - covered now with lines and creases. Tickets torn in half - memories in bits and pieces. Traces of love, long ago, that didn’t work out right.
Oh sorry, got carried away…
But some of my pack rat things are coming in handy now - like the 1972 KPOI song chart on the Midlife Crisis blog.
“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”
June 30th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
One of my roommates in college brought me a handcarved keychain from her study-abroad in Peru. When I got back to Hawaii, it fell off the keys at the beach, and I couldn’t find it in the sand. About a month later, my little sisters and I went back to the same beach, and my sister found it! The metal part was all rusted by then, but what are the odds!? So cool.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I still got a few beta tapes but are there any beta players left in this world? I just got a vhs/dvd recorder combo from Costco last week and started to transfer my early 1990’s home vhs tapes to dvd. I have a ton of tapes so I might get it done in a year or two.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I also still have my baseball trophy’s, band medals, old prom pictures that you collected from your friends, and love notes from back in the day when people wrote with pen and paper to say “check here if you like go out wit me”…… i don’t know why i still have it, guess when i moved away my parents just put it in a box and stored it in a dark corner.
it is true to the last word….that one mans junk is another mans treasure.!
June 30th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Still get report cards from elementry school days….M you know how long ago that.
Get one juke box with 45″s inside, not working to good though, also one round phone booth with the phone still inside and working….anybody intersted in taking-um off my hands for free….let me know…..not the report cards though…
June 30th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Rodney, I had to go look for your blog with da ‘72 KPOI list - wow, major collectors’ item! Nothing like a song list to set off the memory bank.
“One man’s trash, …treasure” - that’s why get Ebay! No truer words spoken. But unfortunately in my case, I put this twist on it - “one man’s treasure is his wife’s trash”. I hiding stuffs all over the place.
June 30th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
@Tankobu - “one man’s treasure is his wife’s trash” OMG, truer words were never spoken. If my wife had her way, our house would be empty.
No can help! My family are pack rats! I cannot fight genetics! 
She comes from a family of “purgers” so, I guess opposites attract?
Slowly, I’m turning her. For example, now she saves the container the Costco chicken Caesar salad comes in. Cause you never know when that buggah will come in handy.
I purged a lot of stuff before i moved into the new house, but still have lots more to purge. Choke comics and sports cards, magazines, and other “priceless treasures.”
Now I’m buying tools, Wii stuff, more toys!
My wife follows close behind with the trash can. hehehe
June 30th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
BananaFysh: Marvel or DC? I have some old Spidey and Fantastic Four lying around somewhere.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
hemajang: We used to have a lot of beta tapes also. It’s filled with performances from all the lessons I took growing up: baton, hula, ballet, color guard, dance, you name it! Don’t know if we finally just dumped the tapes cause we couldn’t convert them. I gotta figure out how to transfer all my VHS tapes to DVD also. But there’s no time!!
And sorry to hear that the jade pendant was lost. That sounds pretty…
Caryn: Isn’t that a weird feeling to find something after revisiting the spot? It makes you wonder if it’s just coincidence or a sign that you weren’t meant to part with that item… or maybe I’m reading more into it than there really is…
NKHEA: So where do you store all these report cards? Did you keep them cause you got all straight As?
Tankobu: That’s so funny you’re hiding stuff all over the place!!
anklebiters: That would be a nice gift to your son. I wonder if kids nowadays appreciate that kind of stuff…
RuSs: I never saw love notes like that! That’s cute. So do you reread them now and then to reminisce about how many hearts you broke?
Or were those letters that you wrote and never sent? Hah! Just kidding! 
Kelli: I used to keep old birthday cards also but then it got to be just too much… i actually have a lot of stickers and most of them don’t even stick anymore!
Rodney: All your collections probably come in handy now for your blog.
M: Rodney was just explaining to me about rpm’s vs. records…
opso: Do you wear the hats or just accumulate them? BTW, don’t know if hats are allowed at Ruth’s Chris…
June 30th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Shauna:
I have 100’s of hours of camcorder videos of my son’s 9 years of playing hockey..the games I missed I can count on one hand. I’m about 1/2 way through the process of transferring it to DVDs. It brings back memories watching some of it as I transfer it. I’m sure he’ll appreciate the mounted jerseys as he was asking about them the other day
.Xmas is not too far away….
June 30th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I forgot to add that i have alot of tools, for some reason i dont throw away tools…….its a mechanic thang….mmmmm, ill throw away those letters if you write me a check note letter
June 30th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Shauna…..both
after i buy/acquire a new cap….i sometimes wear it….or not….for a few months until the novelty wears off. then i chuck it in my hat accumulation box.
i dunno….is it just me? but i think chicks that wear caps look hot.
Ruth’s Chris might not allow hats…..but Queen Bee does.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Talented, aren’t you? Or just easily bored?
I don’t have room to keep too much stuff so all the printed matter gets scanned and saved on a DVD. For anything that doesn’t fit on the scanner, I take a few pictures and save those before I throw it out. Just waiting for the day Walmart starts selling a home holograph machine.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
BananaFysh - We must’ve shared the same gene pool. And our wives must’ve shared their own gene pool too. I keep things because I’ll never know when I’ll need one again and it might not be readily available. Plus, they allow me to relive my past. Purgers say “if you haven’t picked it up in over a year, you don’t need it”. What are you talking about? Of course I don’t need it - I want it! I want to pick it up years later and let it take me back to the days of my youth. What will that salad container do for you? (of course, I just think that last line and don’t really say it out loud).
anklebiters - I still have a couple of my old Windward Volkswagen work shirts from when I was in high school/college too. Get one pair of the old work pants too - but the bugga went shrink! Cuz no ways I got fatter.
My wife and I just picked up some old comics from a garage sale. Not that old - mid 70’s - but still good fun to look at the old advertisements. Hmm… I think I smell a MLC blog entry coming up
July 1st, 2008 at 12:19 am
@Teejay - oh man, I got all kinds of comics. Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, you name it. Collected for over 20 years. I just have WAY too much now.
@RuSs - I agree, no can throw away tools! That seems wrong to even entertain that idea. Sell or give away, but never throw away.
I still have a lot of stuff from high school, like papers and stuff, and need to purge. Hard to part with my drawings from drafting class though. Some of the English papers I think I need to toss though.
Gotta save my medals I earned in riflery too… I medaled at states! whoo-hoo! I’m SURE whoever I leave it to would just LOVE it. 
hehe
July 1st, 2008 at 12:49 am
opso, yeah, i got lots of hats too. i love hats. but gotta be flex fit or fitted kine. and clothes. got tons of clothes. if i was a girl (or if shauna was a guy) i think she would raid my closet. and then there’s dvds. i can’t seem to rent them. i have to own them. besides, if you watch them more than 2 times (which i always do) it’s cheaper right? of course with all the hats, clothes, and dvds, it makes collecting DUST easier. ugh. i hate that. but i just invested in a new dust buster. man, that’s good stuff.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:38 am
aaah! DVD’s! how could I forget!?! I buy way too many of those.
I’m like you, L8-10 - no such thing as rent.
plus, I rarely go to the movies, cause it’ll be out on dvd in a couple of months anyways. So, I can go out to movies w/ my wife, 2 tickets + drinks + popcorn > dvd purchase.
Plus, I HATE the people at the movies for the most part. Bunch of boorish slobs who don’t have the decency to STFU. Talking on the cell. Kicking the chairs. Putting feet up on chairs. Walking in and out to get more food.
Mo’ better I just stay home, keep the blood pressure down.
I guess I’m getting a little grouchy in my old age.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:22 am
jeez louise…..you guys no go sleep or what?
heh BF…..good rant.
and about dvd’s. do you folks find yourself watching a movie on tv that you have the dvd for? and KEEP ON watching the tv version instead of popping in your dvd? WWD?
July 1st, 2008 at 8:34 am
sleep? wuzzat?
Hehe, I totally do that, opso. Whenever Shawshank is on, I watch um on tv, even though would be better in every way to bus’ out the dvd. Better picture and sound, no commercials, can pause for bathroom break, etc. Just lazy, I guess.
So, i dunno WWD?!?
July 1st, 2008 at 8:51 am
Wait a minute here! Wassup with all the WWD!?!? Are you guys getting paid on the side?? You better be slipping me in his one, too!
I’m gonna check later!! 
What the Pluck: Reveal yourself!
L8-10: Forget your closet, I want details on that dust buster!!
BananaFysh: How can you pass on movie popcorn and icees?!?
anklebiters: Keep us posted on your son’s reaction when he gets the gift!
RuSs: Keep checking your mailbox. Haha!
Rodney: But you gotta have a big house to store all that stuff! The rule of thumb for tossing out old clothes is if you didn’t wear it in 6 months, right?
opso: Can you find the perfect hat for Queen Bee?
July 1st, 2008 at 10:46 am
sleep? oh yeah, if i remember what “sleep” is, i think i did that back in january so i’m good for a few more months. haha!
yeah, all these “WWDs” on this blog…brah, wassup wi—errr, i mean, that is so ODD to no END!
yeah, that just isn’t the same……..sorry queen bee.
opso and bananafish, oh yeah, guilty on watching the reruns on tv when the dvd is sitting there 5 feet away. wonder why that is. that would be a good seinfeld episode. or maybe blog topic, like brah, wassup wi—i mean, that dvd thing is soooo ODD!
shauna–haha, dust buster ‘eh? well i got it for my car at first…you know, those pesky leaves and pebbles that get tracked in…but then it was good for my tiny bedroom too since it’s a waste to buss out the huge dyson vacuum or whatever my housemate has…..knowing you, you probably got one dyson for every 10 square feet in your place…you know, can’t mix the bedroom dust with the living room dust, etc, etc. hahahaha.
July 1st, 2008 at 10:49 am
bananafysh, oh yeah, that whole cost thing for the movies. that’s true. easy to spend $30-$40 at the movies plus more if we go to DnBs after. but like shauna mentioned, hard to pass up the movie popcorn and arare. and if you go to restaurant row where the movies are cheap (but pretty much out on dvds already) you can pump all the butter on your own popcorn
hahaha. you know, i can have a little bit of “popcorn with my butter” action…
July 1st, 2008 at 11:34 am
Shauna - getting irritated at the movies trumps the Icee and popcorn. And I LOVE Icee and popcorn. I tired turn around to ask people to stop kicking my chair or to stop talking. Used to be, a turn-around-with-stink-eye was enough, but now, no phase.
People seem to be of the opinion now, “Well, I paid for a ticket, so I can do whatever I want.”
Wassu- uh, I mean, that is just rude! It bothers me to no ENDS! [hm. dunno about that one. 
]
See, look, I getting a nuhas just thinking about it.
oh boy, I dunno how I would do with the “pump your own butter” concept. Does it come with a side of angioplasty as well?
Oh, and Dyson FTW! I love my Dyson!
July 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Bananafysh:
Dyson, is that the vacuum cleaner?
July 1st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Yup, Dyson, the vacuum. It really sucks. In a good way, though.
It’s extremely well engineered. I showed mine to a few friends, and got them to buy it too. I never even get a commission. I should have though! I totally sold them on it.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Bananfysh:
My friend has been trying to get me to buy one for the last two years. She has one and swears by it. I’m glad it wasn’t a Kirby that she has!!! Me, I just can’t see spending $500 on a vacuum cleaner. If it was a car part or electronics, I wouldn’t need to think about it twice, but a vacuum cleaner? I told her who is going to notice that my $75 (I just bought a new Bissell recently as my 15 year old vc bit the dust) vacuum didn’t pick up the .0005 micron dust particles?
My house is mostly tile anyways. I think I need a $500 mop, know where I can purchase one? 
Dyson is a very good product irregardless of my unwillingness to buy one.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pm
@anklebiters - For me, the thing that sold me on the Dyson was to vacuum with your old machine, then go over the same place w/ the Dyson. For me, the old Hoover was just not cutting it, and then I see the cannister in the Dyson start to fill with dust. Unreal! Plus, no need worry about buying bags and filters. The one I got has 2 lifetime HEPA filters. I know what you thinking: “Eh, if lifetime filter, how come you need 2?” hehe I thought the exact same thing. Here’s the reason - after you wash the filter, it takes 24 hours to dry. In the meantime, you put in the other filter, and you is good to go. I tell you, these guys are smart.
Maybe you no need the Dyson, if you get mostly tile floor, but we use it as a broom replacement. Set the Dyson to smooth floor, and go at it. Still gotta mop though.
Oh, and your $500 mop? It exists:
http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2666938
Hey, it’s electronics!
Buy now, for sure!
July 1st, 2008 at 3:03 pm
BananaFysh-
I’m just like you and the movies but I still go for my son. We recently went to Kung Fu Panda and a family of six came in. The kids sat two rows in front of us and were making a racket while the parents were sitting next to me and my son. They didn’t want to sit next to their own kids cause they were making too much noise. They finally had to pull the loudest one away and asked if we could move down one so they could put the brat next to them. No can. Every single movie I’ve been to I have a horror story about bad behavior. Sad.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I guess going to the movies does suck sometimes. These kids keep texting on their cell phones and so the light from the screen can be a distraction. When I go to the movies, I usually pick the seats where there is no one already behind me. Of course that doesn’t always work but the theaters are pretty big so it’s not like you’re always THAT close to people. Plus, the popcorn keeps me happy.
Unless my date uses his dirty hands to eat and doesn’t keep picking from the same place! Grr. 
Hmm, I might want this Dyson vacuum cleaner also! I got one of those cheap, super-loud ones that smell like something is burning if you use it continuously for 15 minutes. Which ironically, what is the point if it’s not even picking up the dust?!?
July 1st, 2008 at 7:01 pm
And thanks Banana for slipping me in…
It didn’t go unnoticed. Coincidentally, the WWD man himself just came through the newsroom!
July 1st, 2008 at 7:37 pm
BananaFysh:
Sounds tempting…..but I’ll need two, while one is charging the other can be cleaning the 2nd floor. Another Dyson moment….
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:05 am
I wish I didn’t get irritated so easily. It would make enjoying the movies soooo much easier. Ooh, movie pet peeve #94 - when you’re sitting in a near empty theater, and some doofus sits RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.
I think tasers should be allowed in movie theaters. 
re: Dyson. I personally don’t know anyone who owns one and doesn’t like it. The biggest gripes I hear, are that it’s expensive, and that it’s hard to push/pull on thick carpet. Oh, and newer versions have cool features the old models don’t have. Maybe can pick one up from Sharper Image? I think everything in the store is marked down…
@anklebiters - I read that some of the Tsai-kos own Roombas, and that they like them. I dunno about the Scoobas, though. Looks pretty cool. Write us a review after you buy one!
“And thanks Banana for slipping me in…”
hehehe 
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:20 am
““And thanks Banana for slipping me in…”
hehehe ;)”
ha-laaaa bananafysh…naughty!
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:16 am
hey man, just quoting.
I don’t make the news, I just report it.
I can’t help it if Shauna speaks in double entendre.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Banana, there you go again reading more into it. Just showing my appreciation for your smooth entrance… into WWD. One more time, please? Just can’t get enough.
Regarding the movies, if some idiot HAS to pick the seat in front of you, kick your feet up on the chair next to him. Make sure it gets close to his face!
Kinda mean but not like there aren’t other seats available. I found that the loud sighing and stink eye doesn’t work anymore, as you said.
anklebiters: I find it ODD that you need to have two filters. What are the ODDS that you have to vacuum as the other one is recharging? Unless you like to do all your cleaning on one day?
Speaking of cleaning, it’s my day off so yay, I get to clean all day!
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:22 pm
well people sitting in the front of you is not so bad with the stadium seating…but i do hate when people put their feet/shoes on the seats in front of them. basically you’re putting your head/hair/clean hat on a dirty chair with mud/poop/gum that someone else has tracked in…i guess shauna can be blamed for that
hehe. ahhhh, dirty seat backs, just another thing that shauna (aka monk, from the tv show) has to worry about!
on a side note, why is it that the smallest/tiniest girls find the meanest ways to antagonize people?
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:41 pm
hey honda boy (why not mercedes? nah, just kidding!): Me antagonize people??
Only if the idiot sits in front of me when there are tons of seats elsewhere. Don’t forget the shoe would also be dirty from flushing the toilet seat. Cause who touches the lever with their hand? Haha! Hey, were you the guy in front of me when I went to see “Wanted”? 
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Honda si boy: you’re right about the stadium seating. I remember the Cinerama, Waikiki I, II, and III, the Varsity and others that had almost a flat seating layout. I miss the screen size but not the old interiors and junk seats without the cup holders. Also miss the organ player in the Waikiki III.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
teejay, oh yeah, hear hear, i forgot about the cup holders! good point, can’t live without ‘em! i’m sure ms. queen bee (shauna) must love those since she loves them in her cars too!
shauna, mercedes are nice cars…but just not as fun to drive as a 6-speed, shifty, tight, hug-the-corners si…besides, i’m a 5-6 asian boy in hawaii with a fade-hair cut and backwards hat…what else would i drive?!?!?!?!?!
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:50 pm
+1 on stadium seating.
so much better than flat seating.
I think Shauna speaks in double entendre to antagonize me. You should see my water bill, cause of all the cold showers I gotta take!
“Don’t forget the shoe would also be dirty from flushing the toilet seat.” Ho wow, why you gotta flush the whole seat down? Kinda wasteful, huh? I guess your shoe would be dirty if you use it to cram the whole seat into the toilet.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
BF, hahahahaha, damn, i didn’t even catch that one. and i’m always on the lookout to call her on an error…her being an editor of hawaii’s #1 paper and all!
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Shauna:
If I buy two Scoobas, one for each floor, my cleaning lady will become angry, as she will be out of a job
I asked her today about buying the Dyson for her to use, she told me to “save the money and spend the $500 on her this Xmas as she can do a better job. You don’t need it to vacuum what little carpeting you have in your home anyways”. The boss speaks!!! She’s a riot….
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:33 am
Oh crap, (excuse the pun!) I didn’t mean to say toilet seat!! You guys are good!
anklebiters: You have a cleaning lady? Wow!! It’s funny when people rather have the cash value over the item… That’s what some people say to receiving a big flower arrangement…
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:33 pm
it differs for everyone but personally, i like cash the best. you can get what you want or save it for a rainy day (or a nice new condo or mercedes or dyson or scooba) instead of trying to fit that huge sculpture of a pink hippopotamus with flames and ribbons coming out of its back that your aunt mary gave you for your last birthday into your living room decor that features classic and contemporary furnishings…. hahahaha.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Shauna:
I value my free time over cash :-)..she cleans everything and does the wash and ironing sometimes if I hadn’t done so.. What she does in 5 hours, it’ll take me the weekend. I have better things to do!!! She’s a keeper thou!!! Kinda reminds me of Berta on 2 1/2 men, her dry humor.