At 10:31 30-07-98 -0700, Sam Ismail wrote:
>On Wed, 29 Jul 1998, Uncle Roger wrote:
>
>> So, I guess my question is, how to others store their collection? Keep in
>> mind that I'm in San Francisco, and that Earthquakes are an issue. Thanks!
>
>Unfortunately, mine is all stored in big heaps, one unit stacked upon the
>next. I have little things like laptops and cables and crap like that in
>boxes to make them stackable. Big things like S-100 and PDP boxen are
>stacked about 5 or 6 feet high with an unstackable terminal to cap it off.
>Little things are crammed into whatever nooks and crannies are left over.
>Things like ASR33's are always a problem. I had shelf space at one point
>but it is now taken up by the all-in-one systems like the PETs and Lisa
>and some terminals. Now all the shelf space is crammed.
>
>Its a nightmare.
Amen brother! I'm STILL trying to get all the accumulation of 'stuff' moved
out of our old house into the newer house. 21 years worth of 'stuff'. Two
weekends ago, a work colleague and I spent 4 hours on that Saturday
afternoon moving only *part* of my library. That work consisted of two full
loads in my wife's Jeep Cherokee and our friend's Ford Ranger SUV. Books
and old magazines are really heavy to move up two flights of stairs. I
think we got maybe a third of the library moved. We were almost dead after
that. Bev and I have been making small trips in the evenings after supper
to take the antique radio collection and tools over to the house and we're
making a little bit of headway at that. If we had originally hauled
_everything_ over in one or two shots, stuff would be piled up in such a
manner I could not ever sort and arrange it properly.
I guess the lesson learned here for us is to consider what we keep and pass
on to someone else stuff we really should not.
Another lesson is _don't_ pack it in so danged tight that if we do have to
move (or more regrettably, have to pickup after an earthquake or flood)
that the moving task is nearly impossible to do. Also, I cannot find stuff
that I _know_ I had put away in the pile.
I can't believe all the crap I'm dragging out that I squirrelled away over
the last two decades. A part of it is actually heading for the dumpster and
most of you would certainly agree if you see it.
>
>I don't recommend this sort of storage arrangement. I don't know where
>anything is and couldn't get at it anyway even if I did. But it allows me
>to store the massive amounts of computer junk I have until I can find a
>suitable space to do it justice.
Agreed re: not recommended! I thought we could find a house with more
space for my stuff but nothing that was an affordable price came up for us
around here. The new place is just a little bit smaller, now I'm having to
sort out stuff to sell, swap or otherwise get rid of. As I said before,
some of the old computer stuff I need to divest will be mentioned to you
folks first.
>
>What I recommend to Roger is to first, add an extra support to your
>shelves, and make sure you are anchoring them properly with drywall
>anchors (if you are mounting the shelves to drywall). Then, pack your
>laptops and such inside boxes with some foam in between. That way, if
>there is another episode, or an earthquake hits and the computers fall, at
>least they will be moderately protected from damaging each other when they
>hit the floor. You also might want to consider getting some netting to
>prevent the boxes from falling in the first place (in an earthquake at
>least). I imagine this would cost some bucks but maybe Target has a good
>net material cheap in the garden section. Try Home Depot for ideas also.
Good suggestions. The other msg in this thread mentioned chicken wire as a
netting-type material too. Although we don't have a real earthquake problem
in Western NY State we still do feel them once in a while. Tornados and
blizzards are the natural problems we have to deal with more often.
I do make sure my shelves are tied to a wall, rafters/floor joists above
them or simply themselves together in a mutually supportive manner just in
case. If a moderately Big One ever occurred out here, we would be in great
trouble as the earth deep down is quite solid and even small local quakes
would hurt us more. That Madrid Fault in the Midwest is being watched with
a wary eye by some earthquake specialists at the Eathquake Center at the
University of Buffalo. Jamestown is sitting on the same tectonic plate. We
even feel a jiggle from 3.5 quakes that hit 400 or more miles away out east
of here. I know what a 3.6 is as I sat in the dinning room of my best
friend and her husband's house up in Orinda, California when one hit in
August, '87 centered about 10 or 20 miles away. I really hope and pray that
you folks on the Left Coast are not hurt by any nasty quakes that occur.
Regards,
--Chris
-- --
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA
Member of Antique Wireless Association
URL:
http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/
Received on Fri Jul 31 1998 - 08:09:13 BST