Reply To: [unofficial weekender] Old folks home

[a27cromwell 3188xp 2]

Getting old sucks . You don’t realize that all the dumb ass things you did to your body in the past will catch with you . Hence the aches and pains of arthritis in various joints . One minute you can balance on a kitchen chair and stretch up to change a lightbulb , the next you hurt bending over to slip on your shoes . But at least being retired you have time to get all those figures painted and kits built , if you feel motivated to do so. I go through phases were I’ll be at my hobby bench from breakfast to bedtime pretty much 3 – 4 weeks straight , then all on a sudden its on the sofa watching a TV show box set or two . I find the trick is to have more than one interest so you don’t get bored . I mostly build 28mm Russians with some Canadians and Germans for variety of color .  I also have a variety of different kits of tanks , planes , boats , fantasy figures in various scales if I need a change of pace . Hell I’ve even got some foot tall resin garden gnomes from the Dollar Store to paint up for my Daughter’s garden .   If I want to avoid the hobby bench , I’ve got a ton of DVD movies and box sets to waste my time on . Plus , I’ve got a stack of CDs that I’ve bought over the last year to listen to , and a ton of reference books to page through .  Just received that massive 800 page KV book from Tankograd that is going to show me all the things I forgot to add to the3 KV kits I built .

I do have family close by , 4 kids with their spouses and kids within 200 miles . We don’t have to see each other every week , in fact one daughter I only see 2 -3 times a year , but everybody’s doing well . I hate clingy families , your grown up , get on with your life .  You can visit me on my birthday and I’ll buy you lunch . LOL

I do have a group of guys in my age range ( 40 – 70 ) who get together for lunch every Saturday to bitch about the world in general and how it was so much better when we were younger . All are involved in the hobby scene in some way ( GW , Trains , RPGs , model kits ) so we have common language . So we talk about new kits , washes , hobby tools etc . And once in a while we’ll carpool to hobby/ train /RPG  show in Edmonton or Calgary hitting various hobby shops on the way . I figure I’ll never finish building all the kits I have ( got 2 plastic & 3 resin on order at the moment )  and I told my kids that getting rid of the almost 200 tanks I’ve got built when I die is their problem .  Not true , actually I’ve made a list of which books to give to which guys and one of my friends will coordinate the whole deal . No reason to have all your books and hobby stuff tossed in the bin once you’re gone because your family has no idea who would want them or their value . Always sad to see some old guys lifelong collection of trains thrown in a box at a yard sale for $20.