Those of you who know me are no doubt aware that I'm in the middle of a house-move. Psychologists say that moving house is a very stressful time and is "right up there" with bereavement. It's been a few years since I last moved property and I'd forgotten a key point of the stress - sacrifice.
Sacrifice of the normal day-to-day routine, of making do with the minimum of necessities, of severing close ties with neighbours, the element of "not knowing" and the decluttering/dumping/selling of personal items.

Last night I made the decision to declutter. I took "saphire", my linux box offline. The decision was made infinitely easier by the failure of the PSU fan a week earlier. It has been laying dormant ever since and whilst I could take the time this weekend to repair it I have to face facts, I don't really "need" it up and running for now, the laptop is satisfying all my linux needs. It can wait until we get to the new house. So, I cleared the monitor from the desk, removed the box from under the table and stacked them neatly in the corridor ready for boxing.

This weekend I imagine I will have to say "goodbye" to many things temporarily and permanently and I'll be boxing a lot more items that I don't really "need" until much later.