As a bachelor, I’m not one to normally post on these kinds of threads, but I recall a funny post about the subject matter (I think it was posted here, but I couldn’t find it).
Anyways, it goes like this:
Imagine your significant other likes toasters. They like them so much that they build little models of toasters. They buy magazines about toasters. They watch hours long movies about toasters. They go out with their camera and take pictures of toasters. They go to toaster shows, talk about toasters with other toaster people, attend seminars about toasters, and buy toaster memorobilia. They join a club about model toasters, and have model toaster operation sessions where they try to emulate real toasters. They go to toaster musuems and base your vacations around seeing…more…toasters!!!
Makes you wonder why any non-train person puts up with us, doesn’t it? [(-D]
I am lucky my wife doesnt complain about anything.No matter what she will tag along if I want to see some historical site a old station or right of way.Her only order is to use a mat if I am doing some modeling on the kitchen table.The only time she looked annoyed with me had nothing to do with trains. I was stationed in England and wanted to see Stonehedge.She was 7 months pregnant and her only comment was “You took me all this way to see a pile of rocks”.Guess I cant blame her
If Athearn made toasters, they’d have dropped their Blue Box toaster kits a few years ago and made everything RTT (Ready To Toast).
If MTH made toasters, there would be three different ways to operate the toaster. The MTH propietary toaster system would be rich in features, but totally incompatible with other operating systems. No other manufacturer would use the MTH TOS (Toaster Operating System).
If Walthers made toasters, they’d make more toasters than anyone else and they would also carry other toaster brands. However, they would be out of toasters most of the time.
If BLI made toasters, they’d announce an incredible variety of toasters to be made, a few of which would actually go into production (eventually).
If Bachmann made toasters, they’d be generally cheaper th
My wife doesn’t give me grief about any aspect of my hobbies. In fact, she encourages me to pursue them since she knows hobbies are a great way to reduce stress. Of course I reciprocate, because I know that her hobbies help to reduce her stress level. And heaven knows we both have enough stress in our lives without creating more for each other!
That said, we both try to be reasonable about our hobby time and money expenditures, and we both also realize that at any given time there may be other more important and/or more immediate priorities. In those instances, hobbies definitely take a back seat.
I think the “secret”, although it’s really not very secret because it’s true in all relationships, is to be reasonable and willing to compromise.
I was quite blunt. I said we have 4 bedrooms. We use one as a bedroom and one as an office/studio/study. I said I am taking over the other bedrooms! The layout is in one and the shop is in the other. Nothing is ever said about my expenditures for the railroad. I leave my MRRs all over the house. In the bathroom and living room mostly but sometimes in the aforementioned bedroom. No complaints! I have a silent partner.
Now the reality. Everything above is true. But I am like Jeff. Devoutly single for almost 51 years. My empire is limited only because I do not qualify for Gov’t Grants. I do have Gov’t Mule though.[:D]
I am single also. And my layout is in the living, dining room. All my working life I fought for time for my hobbies and fretted about not enough time for my hobbies. Now retired it is so easy to waste time horribly. I do work on my layout but with a lot of newspaper reading breaks.
My wife is a jewel, she gives me no grief at all about my hobby and in fact she encourages it. She’ll occasionally put some money in my Pay Pal account and I’ll get an email saying it is for my trains. Right now my hobby time is split between trips to the basement and yard work, but she has never once complained about how much time I spend on model railroading.
I can feel trouble coming on with mine…but she gets strangely offended when I so much as mention the idea of stitched photo backdrops. How can you want to make most of the scene of something you hate? (She wants to paint the backdrops, the lovely artist)
I have no objection, since she’s working on an illustration degree, bachelor of design…
Good point! I did my duty and brought her home. Believe me, taking her to the wine tastings or on a day trip somewhere are worth their weight in gold![:D]
My wife is actually pretty good about my model railroad hobby. She has allowed me to have a “train room” in the last 3 houses (even if it was an unfinished basement). She does "buy’ me the latest Fine Scale Miniature kit for Christmas the last 8 years.[:D]
She has gone with me to Cass Scenic Railroad, Great Smoky Mountain Railroad and on 2 excursions. I do get “the look” when something comes via UPS or FedEx. Brass is a real “no-no”. I would have been great helping smuggle slaves with the “underground railroad” or helping the Jewish people avoid the Nazis during WWII. But, in all of these scenarios, the good guy (or gal) does get caught once in a while.
Please, no comments about the “underground railroad” and avoiding capture by the Nazis. These were not meant as political comments or to in any manner demean the valor of those brave individuals who did such honorable deeds.
Nope no sister in her immediate family, sorry. But she did in fact ride with me on the Cass Scenic Railroad two years ago and she loved every minute of it…what’s not to like riding a steam locomotive through some beautiful country in West Virginia? But not just any steam locomotive but a Shay! But like you, the only brass thing in our house is cook-ware. A brass locomotive might be pushing things for me. [:-^]
I agree, I’m only 45 minutes away from Picton, Ontario which has tons of wineries around. A few times a year I take the wife down there for the day visiting half a dozen or more wineries. She usually buys three or four hundred bucks worth of wine on our trips but it’s well worth it to me. [:P]
Well I am not the drinking type, so my wife does not have to worry about me hanging around in bars but I do get her ok to hang out in the shed and work on the layout. Her reasoning is I am home and she knows where I am and that I am not out getting into trouble. My son is still too young to work on the layout with me but he likes to watch what I do. Also she likes to garden and I really dont care for that activity. So I build trains, she gardens and soon I get to build my trains in the garden, but that is going to come later when we can put some more money aside.