[rescue] Interest in Heathkit kit?

[Mouse]

>>>> [...] Heathkit IM-1202 [...]
>>> Forgive me, but I think you'll very likely regret getting rid of
>>> that.
>> Why would I regret it?  [...]

> You may not regret it, but I bet that sometime in the future, you
> will.  I hear it All. The. Time. from people, getting rid of things
> that were important to them before they (the people) became old and
> sentimental.

I'm already semi-old (I turned 57 this past summer) and I'm finding
myself becoming less sentimental, not more, as time passes.  Perhaps
that trend will reverse at some point.  I'm aspie enough to think that
emotional maturation has been severely delayed for me (as compared to a
neurotypical); it's possible that I'm now doing growth most people do
in their 20s and 30s, and in another few decades will find myself where
typical neurotypicals[%] are in their 50s and 60s.  But I'm seeing
other trends that make me suspect that's not how it'll play out.

[%] To the extent that there are such things.

> And this is something that you built with your own hands, which makes
> it a lot more likely that it grow in importance to you as time goes
> by.

Also possible.  But I am finding the resources (time, money, mental
energy, difficulty finding things because they're buried there) soaked
up by warehousing things without using them are weighing heavier and
heavier on the keep/go balance as time goes by.

If I were using it regularly?  No question, keep it.  But I've got the
Fluke - which also has some emotional attachment, of a different sort -
and I don't find myself using the Heathkit even in an occasional "hey,
the Heathkit can do this, let's use it for fun" way.

It does have the advantage that I understand its operation in ways I
don't understand the Fluke's.  That would affect repairability.  But
that's an entirely pragmatic thing, not an emotional thing.

> Now, I know you, you're gonna say "No no no, not me, [you're] crazy",
> sure.

No, not really.  I guess you don't know me all that well after all -
maybe I've changed more in the past few years than I sometimes think.

It's a fair concern, and one I've been dealing with for damn near every
piece of kit of any sort I've been letting go of.

> And it's certainly possible that you won't regret it.  But it has
> happened to me, and a whole lot of other people that I know.

It's happened to me in the past.

A few times.

But I am _routinely_ finding myself happier for having less clutter,
more space, and less mental energy drain, thanks to the things I have
stopped letting own me.  (Truly has it been said "you don't own your
stuff - your stuff owns you".  And not just in Soviet Russia jokes.)

So I'm entirely willing to accept the occasional regret for the sake of
the routine benefits.

> It's a multimeter...it's probably not going to make or break your
> living situation.  Just sayin'. ;)  I'd hate to see you kick yourself
> later on.

Thank you for the concern and the warning.  If I'd been getting forced
into this by, oh, say, having trouble finding the money to pay the
storage people each month?  Then the warning would be much more likely
to be on target.  But I think I've actually changed, become
significantly less of a hoarder, and would rather see something, even
something I have that much connection to, go to someone who will
appreciate and use it rather than just sitting in my storage unit not
even collecting dust (dust accumulation happens _really_ slowly there).

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