Poll: Do You Still Have Stuff From W*rk Days?

[easysurfer]

I confess, though I've been FIRE'd for over three years, I still haven't parted from a few w*rk items.

No, I don't mean a company badge or key, but stuff like a couple of textbooks that I bought while in college and my trusty flow-chart template that served me well in college and my work.

Why I still keep them? Maybe it's sentimental reason? Or maybe it's "just in case?"

How about you?

 

[Midpack]

I still have some stuff, but I haven't looked at any of it in over a year. It will probably end up in the trash, but for now it's on an unused out of the way shelf, so why not. I've been happily decluttering for several years, but there's still plenty of stuff I could just throw away if I needed the space. If/when we move, none of it will make the trip.

If I go back to work one day hopefully it'll be a completely different line of work, so the old stuff won't be of any use. If I wanted to delve into that stuff, I wouldn't have left to begin with...

 

[mickeyd]

Way too many neckties and suits. Been thinking of sticking them in a consignment store, but I can't get up enough motivation to get that done. So they continue to hang...the suits/ties that is.

 

[FIREd]

I purged a lot of my work stuff when I downsized earlier this year. I have kept my diplomas and a bound copy of my PhD dissertation. I may also have a few work files buried somewhere in my computer, but I think that's it. Everything else (books, molecular models, lab coats, papers, presentations, prototypes, etc...) has been discarded.

Even if I needed the money, I would never go back to doing what I used to do. Not that it was so bad, but it's a chapter of my life that is closed.

 

[W2R]

Of course I do! I spent a huge chunk of my life at work. I have kept a lot of stuff for sentimental reasons, and a lot more "just because".

My upper left desk drawer is full of ego related mementos, and when I feel glum and like I never accomplished anything I can look in there and fool myself for a little while.

I also have a big sack of papers related to the retirement process and documenting everything, in the back of a closet. My awards and training certificates are in there, too. So, if they ever come back to me and say "oops, our mistake, you really didn't qualify to retire" or some such thing, I can prove that I earned and deserve my teeny-tiny pension and met the qualifications to retire. Not likely, but then I am a worrier by nature.

I have about three shelves of old oceanography books, including copies of my Ph.D dissertation and other publications that I wrote or co-authored. I did give away most of the old books and all of the old journals to a science library, though. When decluttering I threw out my class notes dating back 45 years (I had kept all of them so that was hard to do, but I am happy to say that I don't miss them).

Flow-chart template? I not only have that, I still have my SLIDERULE.

For security reasons I couldn't keep my badge, and surrendering it on my way out of the building, on my last day of work, was the only time during the retirement process that I wept a little. Got over that fast, though. I have NO work clothes suitable for a formal meeting any more.

 

[marko]

My co was big on logo'd handouts: hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, golf stuff, etc etc. Got a draw full! Plus, sentimental stuff....33 years, you build up a lot of sentiment (and stuff)

 

[MBAustin]

Although I got rid of most of the contents of several boxes of w*rk stuff recently while remodeling a closet, I kept a few things: a couple of notebooks of training material, writing portfolios with logo (they still come in handy), some interesting articles I had clipped and filed, etc.

Oh, and my souvenir IBM 2314 disk platter, salvaged from a piece of 1970s-era equipment I decommissioned in 1991. Bigger than an LP, held about 2mb of data. My how things have changed.

 

[bbbamI]

(snip)My co was big on logo'd handouts: hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, golf stuff, etc etc.

Mine too. Seems like the only thing I didn't get was co logo underwear.

Add to that..pens, books, drinking glasses...

I finally threw away my reviews, certificates, awards and recommendations. I do still have my resume on my puter tho.

The things I enjoy the most are pics I've taken over the years at co functions. I made a lot of great friends and we still keep in touch. I have a few presents that were given to me by coworkers and my direct reports. ....this is one of my favorites...

 

[donheff]

I have a box of junk in the garage I haven't looked at in years. I also realized I still have a photo ID in my wallet that identifies me as a "Federal Emergency Response Official" but it expired three years ago.

 

[scrabbler1]

I have some textbooks from college but I don't consider them "work" items, per se.

I do have some freebie and other items from my work days. One is a handy tote bag I still use often today. Just because it has my old company logo on doesn't mean it isn't useful. I even have an old yo-yo my company gave out in the 1990s. I might still have an old coffee mug around somewhere with the cmpany logo from when we moved from Manhattan to Jersey City back in 2001.

In my final weeks, I took home a lot of scrap paper I generated because I can print on the other (blank) side if I am using it only for my own in-home stuff. I must have taken home at least 1,000 sheets and am still working them down. I have some reformatted blank floppy diskettes which were handy with backing up small files before I had a PC which had a CD-W drive and before thumb drives came out. My current PC doesn't even have a floppy drive.

My company got rid of its jacket-and-tie dress code back in 1998, so I have not worn the formal attire much in the last 14 years, other than weddings and funerals and wakes.

 

[Nemo2]

Left my suits hanging in a closet in Riyadh.......all I have is my name, in English & Arabic, on a plastic desktop nameplate.

 

[Bluemoon]

When I retired I stopped wearing a watch and jewelry (except for my jade pendant & earrings), I gave away all but 3 of my ties and dress shirts (which probably don't fit now). I don't own any more suits or sportjackets and have just 1 pair of dress slacks. I also stopped getting hair cuts. I think I kept my made in Korea wooden desktop nameplate. I also kept a business card holder that I used for doctors, etc. business cards.

 

[MichaelB]

I had a fair amount of stuff. Awards and achievement stuff, some group photos. These things have sentimental value and represent the many positive aspects of my 25 year relationship with mega-corp. Also lots of financial and legal documents covering the last 3 or 4 years of my employment which I kept for tax purposes.

 

[REWahoo]

I voted "other".

I think I have some of the old awards and stuff in a box up in the attic somewhere. I do have a bunch of old logo shirts I wear for yard work and oil changes...

 

[imoldernu]

Other:
College diploma, Swimming medals/trophies, Army Commission and Discharge, and still, "indefinite" ID card, US Army Inf.
Not much from 30 years of District and Nat'l Retail management. (11 household moves). Two biggest nat'l retailers.
Until last year... had full file cabinet of records from my own business... '86 to '89. (Was afraid of IRS).
And... folders, notebooks and endless spreadsheets... (plans for retirement).

Interesting thread.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Way too many neckties and suits. Been thinking of sticking them in a consignment store, but I can't get up enough motivation to get that done. So they continue to hang...the suits/ties that is.

I still have a couple suits, probably (I know) don't fit , but I'll keep them anyway. You know the only thing that changes in men's style is the width of the ties.

 

[steelyman]

Yes. The desire to not work.

 

[Dawg52]

I still have a few business cards. But that's about it.

 

[unclemick]

I voted other. Katrina took care of everything plus saving on moving expenses.

Books, Sliderules - straight and circular, TI 30, suits, ties, awards, pictures, etc.

Heh heh heh - I did send away and replace my College Degree - go Huskies.

 

[Danmar]

Not much. lost weight so the suits went. Couple of ties that I never wear. maybe a few business cards to remind me what a "big shot" I was. Lot's of documentation re my retirement/pension, to make sure I get what they promised. Been 6 years and work memories are really starting to fade.

 

[NW-Bound]

I still have plenty of stuff from past work. They are mostly in digital form, hence take no room, though some are in floppies and would be difficult to extract. And then, the software that understands these files may only run under old Windows versions, etc...

Oh, but I still have the most important thing from the old time, which I would never want to lose.

It's MONEY!

 

[pb4uski]

I didn't keep much. A logo leather portfolio and laptop bag and a handful of reference materials (though most of our key reference materials were electronic). A thumb drive with a lot of old docs and emails. I thought that I had kept a few lucites from some deals I worked on but I don't see them here so I must have chucked them (or they are in a box in the attic).

 

[RunningBum]

A few programming books, in case I need them for volunteer work. Some awards and useful logo stuff like t-shirts, a cooler, etc. I dumped all the manuals and documents specific to my job.

 

[Semiretired2008]

I started several years ago converting everything to digital, scanning and more scanning and then shredding the paper versions. I had a copy of every paper or article I had ever written (over 100 boxes of paper)...

Eventually I came to the realization that I am never going to use them again so I started shredding and forgetting about the digitization unless it made a mark some where in life... I now have one 2 drawer filing cabinet, two boxes and 6 CDs...

Books, Magazines, Paperbacks - the same. I went from having enough books to fill up a 6 x 10 enclosed trailer to the top (almost every book I have ever read) to keeping maybe 100 of the best - the ones that might be worth something someday (already sold a few)...

Now I am tackling the other side... Nick Nacks and Furniture... A long road ahead - these have to be approved by the better half in my life (LOL) I was in total control with the stuff stated above...

 

[meierlde]

Flow-chart template? I not only have that, I still have my SLIDERULE.

I have my log log slide rule as well as my grandfathers 20 inch rule. Both are now museum pieces. Also have awards, as well as backpacks etc from various conferences, and a couple of notebooks from courses at work.