Twenty One Years Worth Of Wire

It is always difficult to discard wires. I’m not sure I can. I’m not that strong.

We have been in our house 21 years. That’s how long I’ve occupied my upstairs office. I’ve got a desk with a slot so tractor fed fanfold paper can slither up from below. Old school!

We’re doing a little spring cleaning/redecorating and for the first time my office is included. The floor is being refinished (or whatever the right word is). That means the furniture must leave… at least temporarily. Behind the furniture is 21 years of wires and cables.

I removed every strand, but it was like an archeological dig!

I found a parallel cable. It wasn’t connected to anything. It was just there hiding. Parallel cables used to be used for printers. Not recently.

There was a full charging stand for a Palm Pilot. It was also under stuff and unconnected.

I threw most of the wires in a big plastic box where they await repatriation. I suspect half are no longer needed. It is always difficult to discard wires. I’m not sure I can. I’m not that strong.

13 thoughts on “Twenty One Years Worth Of Wire”

  1. Just went through that myself, I figured if I haven’t used them in 20 years I probably won’t. We got rid of an Amiga 2000 too, remember those? they were hot stuff in their day. I couldn’t bear to throw out my very first computer though, my Apple II+ 🙂

  2. I have a box of wires. That’s all it is. USB, Ethernet, coax, you name it. I’m not even sure I still own the things they are supposed to attach. I’m not sure I have a parallel cable anymore, though!

  3. Geoff, I believe you and my husband are related when it comes to your home offices — or as I refer to it — the Man Cave! I can only imagine what we’ll find when the Man Cave at our house is dismantled! The worst part is NOTHING is ever thrown out! My husband believes all the wires, parts and more will be needed at some point in his lifetime! I’m happy to know that Helaine has been able to achieve what I can’t seem to make happen in this one room of our home! You’ll love your home office when all the new touches are completed.

    Once again I enjoy seeing you on Fox! Fox on Fox is the absolute best fit. We missed you! Congratulations once again Geoff.

  4. Oh dear, Jane, is your husband related to my husband? I can barely walk in his office and do my best to avoid it since it causes me great stress. I am certain I could remove something daily and he’d be unlikely to notice. However, every once in a great while he does actually use something that he saves “just in case”. One day….

  5. dont give in Geoff. Those old cables may still have an use. Not for there orginal purpose, but its amazing what can be reused. Once a Ham. always a ham.

  6. No box of wires at all for me but I should have, but I have tons of wires. I did have parallel cable an not sure where it is at the moment as I do remember parallel cables. I have unused wires as well and still have my old phone which has wires belonging to it and I’m not that strong either. people say that I am, but I am not that strong either!

  7. I actually had to sneak an old, broken activision set out because it might be an
    antique someday. Along with some old apple programming books, no mind you, none of us did any programming and the person saving it barely knows how to turn on a computer.

  8. Don’t throw any of them away!! I sorted through the wires and “stuff” I had in the basement where we used to have our office (I’m the tech geek in the family) and threw old cords etc. away. Then I went to hook up my scanner to the Mac — oops I threw out the power cable!

  9. I just gave away 2 boxes full of cords/cables, etc. Not only did I have parallel cables, I had serial cables. I was pretty sure they’re no longer in use – I haven’t had a computer with a serial port in forever!

  10. I did the same thing last year, ended up throwing all extra cables and what not in the junk box in my office closet and forgetting about them until I read this… I just pulled the box out of the closet and starting sorting through various, cables, wires, and parts in it.

    Among the more interesting things I’ve come across are a pair Seagate ST-255 40MB hard drives and set of LapLink cables still to the original Traveling Software vinyl travel bag and a 16KB ram pack for a Timex/Sinclair ZX-81!

  11. Hey Geoff, maybe this will help you rethink disposing of the old wires and tech stuff. This is out of the March 2011 issue of O Magazine. –“Technotrash – If you, like most of us, have amassed a collection of mysterious PC cables, CD-ROMS, and grubby old mice, check out GreenDisk, which safely recycles all this high-tech junk – plus CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, cassettes, and much more. (greendisk.com)”

  12. Geoff,
    Thanks for starting something. My husband died 3 yrs ago, but the bags and boxes of phone cable and computer wires etc,etc, remain, and I haven’t a clue what to keep and what to toss–figure I’ll leave it for my grandkids, when I vacate the house!
    Jeff’s remark about the Timex Sinclair reminded me that R’s first computer was a Timex and I think it may still be in my family’s attic, from when we moved back to Ct. in ’85. He taught himself computer on that.
    Thanks also to Lynn–above–for the address as I have been wondering what to do with all of those old 5″floppies and 3″discs–the portable drive we bought for them won’t speak to the computer. And I have loads of pictures on them from his first digital camera!! There ought to be a museum–or should I start one of my own.?

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