but look at the way all the cables are neatly rolled up and stored in so many lovley plastic boxes. How are they arranged, alphabetically? by maplin/RS catalogue number? grouped together for the same device? Maybe you should group them chronologically then every 5 years throw out the oldest box, unless of course it has something of historical importance in like a lead for a betamax video or minidisk player ;-)

Emma H, you're so right. Each cable is neatly coiled and fastened with a cable tie and grouped by function. But I *am* a bit worried that they're not sorted properly. I was wondering about RFID tags and maybe a database to track them. Hmm, better get to work. (Also, wouldn't it be cool if somewhere in there I had a lead to connect your minidisc player directly to your betamax VCR? Cable nirvana.)

I hate to be picky, but what you've got is a spelling problem. Shouldn't that be "hoarding"?

I've got boxes of old cables too, but not nearly so many or nearly so neat!

My partner had hoarding issues when we first got together, e.g. 16 keyboards (mostly rescued from skips) piled up in a cupboard. None of them were ever used... I reckon if you haven't used it for a year then you might as well chuck it/pass it on - but then I am an extreme minimalist and can hardly bring myself to keep books if I haven't looked at them recently ;)

Try freecycle to get rid of it - be warned you may end up with more junk though! I have ended up with a balcony of demijohns due to freecycle.

Balcony of Demijohns, Book Six in the Freecycle Saga. I can distinctly see myself taking in exciting junk for possible future use.