Collections

I would like to step out of the aviation topic for awhile, given nobody reads this anyway, and talk about collecting.

There are people in this world that have extensive collections of virtually everything. There's a guy somewhere that has a very very large collection of GI Joe action figures and vehicles and things, all unopened and in their original packaging.

I find that very sad.

I have a few collections, but of a different sort. I have a large rack of video cassettes and DVDs, and every single one of them is unwrapped and has been watched at least once. Our collection isn't a load of useless junk that we have for the sake of having it; we use and love our entire video library. It's a considerable collection; all told we have over a thousand movies and episodes of TV shows, not counting the huge box of VHS tapes we recorded off of HBO for more than half of my life.

Another example is my collection of Clive Cussler novels. I have an extensive collection of Dirk Pitt adventures; I'm only missing four. I've re-read several of them, particularly Inca Gold and my very favorite, Sahara. I collect them because I enjoy reading them. I have a desire to never own an autographed first edition of any of the books, and I'll willingly trade any of my three hardcovers (Valhalla Rising, Trojan Odyssey and Arctic Drift) for their paperback equivilants.

A signed hardcover is wasted on me. I would wear it out reading the book and ignore the autograph. There's only so many books Mr. Cussler is going to autograph, so those should go to the people that really want them. Just give me the $6 paperback found in any random Walden's and I will enjoy it. In fact, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Cussler for the many many hours of enjoyment I have gotten from his cheap paperbacks.

That's why I find it sad that there are people that never unwrap some of their collections. I mean, okay I understand museums, but there are people that have personal collections, like the GI Joe guy up there. It's almost tragic that those toys aren't taken out and played with.

Another collection that I'll fight you over is my collection of aviation books. Even though it is outdated and somewhat inaccurate at this point, my copy of Jeppesen's Private Pilot Manual is among my most prized posessions. Even though it is an instructional textbook for Private Pilots, and I've been one for four years now, I still refer to it all the time. I would like to have shelves and shelves of aviation books, and a coffee table full of things like "Fighters of WWII" and such, in a dedicated room built into my hangar/flight school I'll eventually own, so that all of my students and customers can just come and hang out. That's a big problem with aviation, you feel like you need a reason to go to the airport. Well, I want one of those reasons to be "to read about flying."

That collection--my current and modest library of aviation references--is much loved. You can tell by the four pages that are falling out of my 1977 model Cessna 172N POH, and the worn-out binding of the aforementioned Private Pilot Manual. I bought my Flight Instructor manual used and it shows--it's bent. The book doesn't lay flat.

Big shelves of fun movies, fun novels and great reference books filled with wonderful knowledge...does a more wonderful thing exist? Throw in a nice DVD/VHS deck, a great TV with sound system and a big, comfy leather chair/sofa and you've got yourself a deal. Hmm, maybe I should spend more time up at the public library.