I have an unfortunate tendency to amass large amounts of all kinds of stuff, notably books, tapes, CD's, instruments, and tools. I lived for almost a year in a Dodge van with my husband, two dogs, and a traveling leather shop, and it was crowded, to say the least. We moved from a three-room apartment to a three-bedroom house, and it took us less than a year to fill up the whole house and the basement. Every time a charity group calls for donations, I say yes and clean out a few more bags of extraneous stuff and outgrown children's clothes, but there is always more to fill up the space. Every day I carry a backpack, a briefcase, and a bag or two of assorted stuff I might need that day. The up side is that if anybody needs anything, I've probably got it. As teenager, I was very impressed by the character Sam in "Lord of the Rings". Whenever the group was in danger and needed some extra food or equipment, Sam would save the day by saying, "I just happen to have one of those! I put it in my pack because I thought we might need it." So now I am known as "Sam" in certain circles.