I'm in the same predicament... Being unmarried, I haven't had a significant other to rein me in, so as a result I live in a 3000 sq. ft. house, most of which is used for storage. I do manage to keep "paths" clear through each room, though. When I first bought the house (~10 years ago), I built an 800 sq ft. garage with the intention of using it as a workshop. Unfortunately, I filled the garage within less than a year (from scratch...). What's really frightening is that when I bought the house, I was really starting completely destroyed in a house fire (long story concerning theft, home invasion and arson...), leaving me with the clothes on my back and little else. The problem is, I _like_ collecting odball systems. I truely believe in preserving the history of the development of computer architectures, and the accompanying enabling technology, and (except for this group, and 1 or 2 private computer museums/clubs) perceive of very little actually being done in the public sector to achieve that goal. I can't say that I actually specialize (although most of my systems consist of SGI, Sun and DEC gear). I've always justified my acquisitions to myself by convincing myself that I was going to net everything together and use 'em for software R&D (AI stuff). If I can ever manage to get a broadband network hookup (another horror story) the I'd like to begin work on an online systems archive. I've finally reached the point, however, when I feel as if I've stepped over an invisible line that separates the rational from the irrational. I finally feel uncomfortable in my home, and I am trying to exert some control over myself. I recently turned down a SparcCenter 2000 (sans CPU boards). I'm quite proud of that (although I don't know if I would have been able to resist it if it had been a 2000E with cpus :-) My current approach is to try to thin out the mess by packing the truck up with stuff I know I'll never get around to, and taking it to a local computer surplus store. No, I'm not selling it to them... I'm _giving_ it to them. They then sort out the stuff they want (out of my sight, thank god) and scrap what they consider useless. In return, they will often cut me a deal on any items they get that seem to be interesting. I'm beginning to believe that the urge to "collect", left unrestricted, can eventually be just as damaging to an individual as an uncontrolled urge to gamble or drink. Perhaps this is just another manifestation of a variant of obsessive/compulsive disorder... Or then again, it could be just plain, ole-fashioned fun :) -al- -acorda(a)1bigred.com