OK...I needed a small nut with a bolt that fit 'cause the self-tapping
screw needed to fix the final thing on the washer stripped. Hubby is at
work.
I went down to the scary and mysterious place called his workshop and
started looking.

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can

or

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the lair
is asking too much.

Please, no cussing!

Debi

Debi wrote:

OK...I needed a small nut with a bolt that fit 'cause the self-tapping
screw needed to fix the final thing on the washer stripped. Hubby is at
work.
I went down to the scary and mysterious place called his workshop and
started looking.

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can

or

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the lair
is asking too much.

Please, no cussing!

Debi

Hi,
Ever heard of hell box? I have one, LOL!
All I know is most of time I can find a piece I need in there.

In article .com,
Debi wrote:

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

That's three questions. And if you have to ask it, you shouldn't be in
his shop.

Debi wrote:
OK...I needed a small nut with a bolt that fit 'cause the self-tapping
screw needed to fix the final thing on the washer stripped. Hubby is at
work.
I went down to the scary and mysterious place called his workshop and
started looking.

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can

or

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the lair
is asking too much.

Please, no cussing!

Debi

One big can and alongside it is an empty, large tin basin for dumping
and sorting. Keeps me in the shop in the shade on a hot day vice in
and right back out to bend over a hot engine.

Harry K

"Debi" wrote in message
oups.com...
OK...I needed a small nut with a bolt that fit 'cause the self-tapping
screw needed to fix the final thing on the washer stripped. Hubby is at
work.
I went down to the scary and mysterious place called his workshop and
started looking.

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can

or

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the lair
is asking too much.

Male responding.

Your husband is a busy man.

Like most of us there are sorted ones and the ones to be sorted when he has
some spare time.

The unsorted bin is larger than the sorted ones.

Even if he had the time what would you say if he was in the shop playing
with his nuts? )))

But never throw any of it away because for sure you will need that exact
part before the month is over.

--
Colbyt
One picture can be worth a 1000 words.
Post yours at www.ImageGenie.net for FREE.

Debi wrote:
OK...I needed a small nut with a bolt that fit 'cause the self-tapping
screw needed to fix the final thing on the washer stripped. Hubby is at
work.
I went down to the scary and mysterious place called his workshop and
started looking.

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can

or

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the lair
is asking too much.

Please, no cussing!

Debi

You are braver than my wife. BIG coffee cans. The only time things are
sorted is when there is a large quantity of one thing. Usually whats in
the cans are the various odd and ends. Sometimes I find what I want,
often I cant. Sometimes I go the hardware store thinking I need say a
10-24x1" machine screw. When I am there I often second guess myself. Is
1" really long enough? crap, maybe its not 10-24, better get 1/4-20 and
8-32 while I'm at it in 1", 3/4", 1-1/4" etc. Extra nut or two for each,
a few washers. When I'm done I have spent $2.00 when I could have spent
$.37.

I do this because I measure job complexity in number of trips to the
store. I look at a job and say ah - thats a 2 trip job, or a 1 trip job
or a zero trip job. I like zero trip jobs. The worst are 1 trip jobs
that end up being 5 trip jobs.

Stay out of his shop.

coffee can? i got a five gallon bucket! no wait. two five gallon
buckets.

I have several plastic (and metal) drawer bins, in these I have most of my
hardware sorted. Next to them I have a large plastic pretzel container that
I throw bit and pieces into, when I have no projects on hand I still have
something to keep me occupied and SWMBO thinks I'm hard at work in my shop
and thus stays out of my hair!

Searcher

Thanks for all the interesting replies. There's a lot of diversity out
there. We never throw any spare parts away - thats why we have
Grandpa's and Dads nuts. Don't even go there

I can't stay out of "his" shop. You might have noticed that it was me
putting the washer back together after removing the clutch assembly,
having it rebuilt, and putting it back in.

Hubby has macular degeneration and will likely lose the rest of his
sight in a couple years. He is only 55, and lost his driving
priveledges this year. I'm doing work I never thought I could do, but
have been learning a lot.

He can't see well enough to put a screw in the hole. Don't go there
either)

I was a chemist in industry for 26 years, and always was a bit
obsessive about keeping an organized workspace. Dad taught me to clean
my tools when I was done with them and put them back where I got them.
I will not be using his favorite concept though, rest his soul...the
pegboard with the outlines painted of what hangs there. Too much like
chalk lines around a body (LOL)

I guess I will not whine about it, and work on it when I have "spare
time". I like the concept of a "Hell Box". No matter how organized you
get, there has to be one place to throw the things that just don't fit
any category.

Thanks again for the lively discussion..
Debi

Debi wrote:
OK...I needed a small nut with a bolt that fit 'cause the
self-tapping screw needed to fix the final thing on the washer
stripped. Hubby is at work. I went down to the scary and mysterious
place called his workshop and started looking.

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can

or

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the
lair is asking too much.

Please, no cussing!

Debi

My dad recycled peanut butter jars to hold the hardware. Being see thru
no labels were needed to find something on the shelf.

"Debi" wrote in message
oups.com...

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the lair
is asking too much.

Please, no cussing!

Debi


My "miscellaneous" stuff ends up in the bottom of a large tool tote for a
few months at a time. Then, I start having nightmares about it and I sort it
into one of those cabinets with little drawers. It still doesn't help - half
the time I don't have exactly the hardware I need.

Debi Call you hubbys eye doc. My aunt is legally blind in one eye and
they have a brand new treatment that MAY help your hubby. The perodic
injection can help or may in some cases restore sight.

Debi wrote:

OK...I needed a small nut with a bolt that fit 'cause the self-tapping
screw needed to fix the final thing on the washer stripped. Hubby is at
work.
I went down to the scary and mysterious place called his workshop and
started looking.

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

No, it's a basket on the shelf in the laundry room. No basement or
garage. Gorgeous wicker trunk in dining room is for the really big
stuff - wrenches, pry bars, etc. Front closet for the average stuff,
including duplicate power tools.
or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can

or

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Those I inherited from my mother were, of course, sorted, put in jars,
and arranged according to size. Almost time to dust them ) Women, I
am convinced, find things visually or by ESP. Men have a magnet that
pulls them toward the needed item, as they NEVER know where they left it
or where I put it when I put it away.

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the lair
is asking too much.

About as much chance as getting his approval to clean off the top of his
dresser. Just did it recently, and filled a plastic storage bin with
the refuse/tools/sales slips/ rusted Leathermans, etc.

The cold solderer he accused me of losing was on the back seat of my
car. It either walked out there to go for a ride with me, or HE LEFT IT
THERE!

Please, no cussing!

Then don't stir up old enmity ) Only cussing is when I ask "Where did
you f------ leave it!!!!?!!??? )

MY tools are in bins under the bed in the guest bedroom, camouflaged
with a dainty dust ruffle. He wouldn't go near them ) My mom had her
own workshop, until she died at age 82. Who has time to dig through
hubby's pile of stuff to find a tool?

Debi

Some time ago, the local KMART had a sale on
1/2 pint and 1-pint square freezer containers.
( ten for a buck ??? )

I bought a bunch, built a wall-shelf to hold 'em.
They're PERFECT !

They hold a fair amount of hardware,
you can write on the front with a marker,
they won't break if you drop 'em.

I've never understood why a guy'll spend
hundreds of dollars for tools, but they'll dick around with
jars, cans, and cardboard boxes to hold hardware.

BTW;
I waited way too long, but I finally
threw out all of my slotted wood screws.


On 7 Apr 2006 16:51:00 -0700, "Debi" wrote:
Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can


rj

"Debi" wrote:

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

I keep them the same way my father did, in a paint roller pan. This way
they can be spread out when searching through the pile.
--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth

I like all the neat ideas.

The nut and bold I found sort of worked. It threaded nicely just in my
hand, but when put under tension to hold the clamp tight, it didn't
tighten down. sigh One trip to home despot.
I think I will try to sort them this summer when I am sitting outside
on the porch...good light and a nice breeze. I have been feeding
babyfood meat to the old cat (recovering from dental work) and have
lots of babyfood jars.

Dad had a bunch of lids screwed to a 2x4 hanging in the shop, and just
took down a jar when he needed what he could see what was in it, got
out what he needed,and then screwed the jar bAck on the lid. He had big
and little jars. The plastic boxes sound great for things too big to
fit in the little jars. I guess seeing the jars put up like that brings
back fond memories.

I'm gonna paint my 2x4 pink..LOL And a matching "hell box".

Hallerbe...he has the "dry" form of mac degeneration. They can't do
anything about it yet, but Cornell is working on a computer chip eye
implant that actually hooks into the optic nerve. I hope your aunt does
well!
Debi

In article . com, Debi
wrote:

Dad had a bunch of lids screwed to a 2x4 hanging in the shop, and just
took down a jar when he needed what he could see what was in it, got
out what he needed,and then screwed the jar bAck on the lid. He had big
and little jars. The plastic boxes sound great for things too big to
fit in the little jars. I guess seeing the jars put up like that brings
back fond memories.

25, 50, 100, CD/DVD containers. Screw the base to the underside of a
cabinet, fill the cap, attach. Remove the spindle if desired.

On 7 Apr 2006 16:51:00 -0700, "Debi"
wrote:

OK...I needed a small nut with a bolt that fit 'cause the self-tapping
screw needed to fix the final thing on the washer stripped. Hubby is at
work.
I went down to the scary and mysterious place called his workshop and
started looking.

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can

or

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Male.

I have a couple coffee cans, and a baking soda can, and a Hershey's
Cocoa plastic box as sold today and some other things.

But mostly I use plastic 8oz margarine containers, and some 16 oz.

I have an 8 oz for little or tiny screws with nuts.
an 8 oz for nuts alone.
a 16 oz for common sizes of screw with nuts.
a 16 oz for screws without nuts.
an 8 oz for speed nuts
an 8 oz for cap nuts
an 8 oz for wire nuts.

And I have loads of stuff that isn't sorted yet.

I know what is in the unsorted stuff too.

Leave the man alone.

It's very satisfying and convenient that I almost always have the
stuff I need without going to the store, especially when the store is
closed.

I have separate containers for AC plugs, audio plugs and sockets,
strain reliefs, grommets, nails, brads, keys, tubes (anything more
tubular than anything else), gears, non-metal washers, big metal
washers, small metal washers, lock washers, and about 25 more.

I have separate boxes for clocks and motors, relays, wall warts,
bigger transformers, lamp parts including sockets and harps, 110 volt
parts including switches and receptacles, and about 8 other boxes.

4 cartons of receiving tubes, with about 12 total trays, almost all
sorted and tested and marked on the side what the reading was. Almost
all used but used tubes but most test well and all will fill an empty
space. The first 500 came from the city incinerator in Queens NY.
Apparently someone cleaned out a tv repair store. Most were in the
small boxes the size of one tube, lying on the ground, not in any
bigger box. My roommate whent there to dump something and told me
about them, so Sunday night at 10 or 11, that's where I was.

5 egg-crate sized cartons of camping equipment, with contents as
marked.

Lots more stuff, but there is always lots of stuff unsorted.

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the lair
is asking too much.

Absolutely.

I had a first date once and for some reason we stopped by my house
before dinner. She had a good job at Social Security and she expected
her next job to be regional administrator, chief of one the 10 areas
in the country. And she was quite young to be so high up.

And I showed her around the house and she looked at the boxes of stuff
on the shelves I had built, and said "No wife is going to let you keep
all this stuff." I said "We'll just have to get a bigger house"
meaning one room bigger for my storage. And I could afford that, even
without her presumably large income. But I already knew we wouldn't
ever go out again.

It doesn't matter if my stuff is more organized than maybe your
husband's is. It's the arrogance of her to assume she has the right
to set the level of organization or amount for me. If his stuff isn't
in the dining, living, bedroom, kitchen, laundry room, and you have
space to relax like in the living room, leave him alone.

Please, no cussing!

Twarn't easy, ma'am.

Debi

"Debi" wrote in message
ups.com...
I like all the neat ideas.

The nut and bold I found sort of worked. It threaded nicely just in my
hand, but when put under tension to hold the clamp tight, it didn't
tighten down. sigh One trip to home despot.
I think I will try to sort them this summer when I am sitting outside
on the porch...good light and a nice breeze. I have been feeding
babyfood meat to the old cat (recovering from dental work) and have
lots of babyfood jars.

Dad had a bunch of lids screwed to a 2x4 hanging in the shop, and just
took down a jar when he needed what he could see what was in it, got
out what he needed,and then screwed the jar bAck on the lid. He had big
and little jars. The plastic boxes sound great for things too big to
fit in the little jars. I guess seeing the jars put up like that brings
back fond memories.

I'm gonna paint my 2x4 pink..LOL And a matching "hell box".

Are these baby food jars glass or plastic? (not having kids, I honestly
don't know what standard issue is these days) IMHO, and others will disagree
with me, glass is a bad idea for parts storage. When one breaks, and they
WILL, those glass crumbs get in everything. And when you are pushing screws
around on the bench with your fingers, looking for just the right one, a
glass sliver is a very unpleasant suprise.

aem sends...

A woman posted a couple of years ago that she got tired of others
borrowing her tools and sometimes forgetting who owned them so she
painted all of them shocking pink (I think was the name) and then even
her husband refused to use any of them. The peanut butter and
rectangular mayonnaise jars seem destined to be shop holders of
jewels. Analogous to babyfood jars but larger scale.

On 8 Apr 2006 21:30:10 -0700, "Debi"
wrote:


I'm gonna paint my 2x4 pink..LOL And a matching "hell box".

Debi,

Use glass jars for storage. Yeah you might break one every 5 years or
so but you can see thru them and that is worth it. Bigger stuff goes
in coffee cans. Take a 9 by 12 baking pan and cut out one corner with
a pair of tin snips. This pan acts as a sorting container. Dump the
contents of a jar into the pan, shake it around till you find what you
want, then tilt the pan until the contents slide right back in the
jar. Works wonders. Sort stuff when you have time, keep everything and
try to remember when you put stuff, cause you will need it eventually.
If you throw something away, you will need it next week. I promise.
Really.



IOn 7 Apr 2006 16:51:00 -0700, "Debi"
wrote:

OK...I needed a small nut with a bolt that fit 'cause the self-tapping
screw needed to fix the final thing on the washer stripped. Hubby is at
work.
I went down to the scary and mysterious place called his workshop and
started looking.

Just one question .....sort of a poll.

Do you keep a coffee can of nuts (of all sizes and types), and one of
bolts (same combination) ? The cans started being filled by his
grandfather, and I added my Dad's collection when he passed.

or

Do you keep them all together in one huge can

or

do you SORT them and PAIR them up and store them in smaller
containers by size ranges??

Please separate your votes by male and female.

I want to know if asking hubby to assign some sort of order to the lair
is asking too much.

Please, no cussing!

Debi

Use glass jars for storage. Yeah you might break one every 5 years or
so but you can see thru them and that is worth it. Bigger stuff goes
in coffee cans. Take a 9 by 12 baking pan and cut out one corner with
a pair of tin snips. This pan acts as a sorting container. Dump the
contents of a jar into the pan, shake it around till you find what you
want, then tilt the pan until the contents slide right back in the
jar. Works wonders. Sort stuff when you have time, keep everything and
try to remember when you put stuff, cause you will need it eventually.
If you throw something away, you will need it next week. I promise.

A lot of food now comes in clear plastic jars, so there's no real
need to use glass. I not only use peanut butter jars for nuts
and smaller bolts, I also re-package wood-glue, machine-oil,
rubbing alcohol, distilled water, and anything else that doesn't
attack polystyrene or LDPE in used soda-bottles, just because
having a uniform size container means I can put shelves closer
together. Easier to store, easier to pour, and less leaking.

-Goedjn

"Goedjn" wrote in message
...
snipped
I not only use peanut butter jars for nuts
and smaller bolts,
-Goedjn

The peanut butter jar has become my favorite. I just wish the wife would
eat more of it.

I was going to Wally*World and paying almost a $ for a storage container
that I could haul on the truck. On average they lasted about a year. Now I
get a $ discount on the peanut butter and the jar is clear so the contents
are visible.


--
Colbyt
One picture can be worth a 1000 words.
Post yours at www.ImageGenie.net for FREE.

mm...
Thanks for the effort, sir. I don't mind a little cussing, but have
seen posts on here where folks really get attacked.

I am not a nagger. We both overlook a lot the other does, and that
helps us get along just dandy.

I want to explain to you that it isn't arrogance on my part that makes
me ask for some help and direction in organizing what is his work area
right now. I'ts a need to know...what is this, where do I find it, how
is it used if I don't know... kind of a map to the dungeon. He knows ,
just like you, where most of the stuff it. And why.

In a few years he will lose his remaining sight, and I will be the one
using most of the stuff there as I learn how to use it and what for.
I'm not nagging him, or forcing him into something he dosen't want to
do. He has most things nominally assigned to a toolbox...electric,
plumbing, electronics, ....like things in like places. I need to
separate out the huge boxes of "Thingies" we have gathered over the
years, and NUTS was just one symptom of the disorganization.

I know workspaces have been a great place to go and get away from the
wife and have some quiet time, but we have never been like that. We
usually work together on things. If I was losing my sight, he would
need to know where I keep sewing things and how to hem a pair of pants.
( although duct tape comes in colors, now, and makes great patches for
holes and holds a hem 'till you dry it) .

I asked the question in kind of a fit after searching around for a long
time, and wondered how other folks solve this storage problem. I guess
DIY always takes longer than we think it will when we figure the job.

We went into this marriage thing as a team 30 years ago...some of the
roles are changing as we age, but we are still the team.
It's a good thing you didn't marry the social security worker (LOL)

When we got married, we decided a 3 bedroom house would be best for us,
an we did not plan on having children. One for him, one for me, and one
for US. It has worked out really well.

Thanks for your comments, mm.
Debi

mm...
Thanks for the effort, sir. I don't mind a little cussing, but have
seen posts on here where folks really get attacked.

I am not a nagger. We both overlook a lot the other does, and that
helps us get along just dandy.

I want to explain to you that it isn't arrogance on my part that makes
me ask for some help and direction in organizing what is his work area
right now. I'ts a need to know...what is this, where do I find it, how
is it used if I don't know... kind of a map to the dungeon. He knows ,
just like you, where most of the stuff it. And why.

In a few years he will lose his remaining sight, and I will be the one
using most of the stuff there as I learn how to use it and what for.
I'm not nagging him, or forcing him into something he dosen't want to
do. He has most things nominally assigned to a toolbox...electric,
plumbing, electronics, ....like things in like places. I need to
separate out the huge boxes of "Thingies" we have gathered over the
years, and NUTS was just one symptom of the disorganization.

I know workspaces have been a great place to go and get away from the
wife and have some quiet time, but we have never been like that. We
usually work together on things. If I was losing my sight, he would
need to know where I keep sewing things and how to hem a pair of pants.
( although duct tape comes in colors, now, and makes great patches for
holes and holds a hem 'till you dry it) .

I asked the question in kind of a fit after searching around for a long
time, and wondered how other folks solve this storage problem. I guess
DIY always takes longer than we think it will when we figure the job.

We went into this marriage thing as a team 30 years ago...some of the
roles are changing as we age, but we are still the team.
It's a good thing you didn't marry the social security worker (LOL)

When we got married, we decided a 3 bedroom house would be best for us,
an we did not plan on having children. One for him, one for me, and one
for US. It has worked out really well.

Thanks for your comments, mm.
Debi

On 10 Apr 2006 18:37:11 -0700, "Debi"
wrote:

mm...
Thanks for the effort, sir. I don't mind a little cussing, but have
seen posts on here where folks really get attacked.

I am not a nagger. We both overlook a lot the other does, and that
helps us get along just dandy.

I want to explain to you that it isn't arrogance on my part that makes
me ask for some help and direction in organizing what is his work area
right now. I'ts a need to know...what is this, where do I find it, how
is it used if I don't know... kind of a map to the dungeon. He knows ,
just like you, where most of the stuff it. And why.

I appreciate your reply. I read the start of some of your other
replies, and learned that your husband had vision problems, but
frankly, I haven't finished those posts yet, because my tolerance for
bad news has diminished a lot in the last few years. So maybe that's
why I didn't post again until now.

I understand your situation much better now. One of the reasons I
know what I have, and this may apply to your husband too, is that I
got it little by little, usually by stripping some device that I was
throwing away. Or by finding something. There are now too many
things to remember in detail, but there are still hundreds of things
that I can look at and remember a whole story. I also pride myself on
being able to find some little scrap of something on the street and
know what it comes from.

In a few years he will lose his remaining sight, and I will be the one
using most of the stuff there as I learn how to use it and what for.

I;m sure you'll do a good job.

I'm not nagging him, or forcing him into something he dosen't want to
do. He has most things nominally assigned to a toolbox...electric,
plumbing, electronics, ....like things in like places. I need to
separate out the huge boxes of "Thingies" we have gathered over the
years, and NUTS was just one symptom of the disorganization.

My last year of high school, instead of taking an acadmic course, I
took a year of auto-repair. We were in teams of three and somehow
ours turned out to be the best. One of the other guys had worked for
years in a garage, or something, and when we took apart the engine, as
assigned, he just threw everything in big coffee can. When it was
time to reassemble, he would figure out which bolt it was. My mother
had taught me to arrange the screws etc. in a pattern like they were
in when part of the device. So that's how I was in the habit of
putting things back togehter. But both systems work, is my point. It
will be good if things are organized, but like us and your husband,
there will be times when you'll search the unsorted pile on the hopes
that something is there.

A lot of my unsorted stuff is either repititions of what I have a lot
of already, sorted, or it's stuff that is big, and would take up a
whole third of the margarine container. In a way I should throw it
away, because I'm not likely to ever need it, but the stuff that I'm
likely to need, I can also buy at the store. It's these wierdly
shaped things that they don't sell anywhere, and when I need one of
them, I'm really glad I didn't throw it away. Now this might be only
once a year, or once every 5 years, but it is so satisfying to have a
suitable part, knowing I couldn't buy it anywhere.

But in most cases, if I don't have a screw or something, they do sell
them.

I know workspaces have been a great place to go and get away from the
wife and have some quiet time, but we have never been like that. We
usually work together on things. If I was losing my sight, he would
need to know where I keep sewing things and how to hem a pair of pants.

Of course.

( although duct tape comes in colors, now, and makes great patches for
holes and holds a hem 'till you dry it) .

I've tried that double stick iron on tape to do pants leg hems. It
doesn't work that well if there is more to catch my foot on, and if I
don't go all the way around, but maybe next time it will do better.
Or I could grow taller.

I asked the question in kind of a fit after searching around for a long
time, and wondered how other folks solve this storage problem. I guess
DIY always takes longer than we think it will when we figure the job.

We went into this marriage thing as a team 30 years ago...some of the
roles are changing as we age, but we are still the team.
====
It's a good thing you didn't marry the social security worker (LOL)

Team is exactly the word I've used many times in the past, and she
didn't seem like a team player. If I remembered her name, I could
probably find her on the social security website, to see if she did
get promoted, but I don't. I'm always curious about what happened to
people I've known.

When we got married, we decided a 3 bedroom house would be best for us,
an we did not plan on having children. One for him, one for me, and one
for US. It has worked out really well.

Good.

Thanks for your comments, mm.
Debi

Best wishes.

marson wrote:
coffee can? i got a five gallon bucket! no wait. two five gallon
buckets.

I save them for the other junk. Have about 6 or 7.