Just like dad down in the garage, unwilling to part with golf clubs that haven't seen a dimple on a golf ball in eons, so it goes with me and computer files. I've berated him over the years about getting rid of all the junk accumulating. My mom nags him too. I don't think he's nearly as bad as some stories I've heard, like the one where this old man's wife went missing for days, and she was eventually found dead, buried under a pile of boxes. They had so much stuff that it consumed all the rooms of their house. She was just trying to reach something at the top when it all came toppling down.
 
I know I won't physically get buried in a pile of data, but metaphorically I am suffocating under a deluge of 1's and 0's. It's easier to hold on to when the junk is virtual. Data has accumulated over years and years, and I can't bring myself to hit the delete button. Even when I do, it's ages again before I will empty the recycling bin. Cuz who knows? I just might need that 22 second video clip five years down the road, or the mp3 I've listened to once.
 
It's worse when traveling and snapping photos. The only ones I will send the way of the digital blackhole are those that are so blurry you can't make anything out (but not first without a thought "does that look artistic?"). With digital cameras we are free to snap away; there's no worrying about a waste of film. Problem is, in the end I wind up with a ratio of maybe two out of five good and usable shots. And that's on a good day. So why can't I bring myself to get rid of the crap?
 
I will burn CDs to back up my files. Then copy them to a portable hard drive for redundancy (what if the CD gets lost?). If they're particularly special I will send them off to family for safekeeping. If you let things continue like this, like I have, you end up with who knows what and where. So now I'm swimming in this pool of data.
 
It's time to consolidate. Get down to business. I've just gone out and picked up a 320 GB portable hard drive. That stack of burned CDs and half empty DVDs don't stand a chance. They're gonna be beer coasters by the time I'm through with them (well, no actually, not now that I'm married). Not to mention that obsolete hard drive - with a laughable 40 GB capacity - with data from a PC I had over two years ago.
 
Yep, we're taking back control of our digital lives. Stop the nonsense! The only question is, what happens if that new hard drive crashes?

How do you cope?