Lately, I've been waging a battle every day to eke out some time to do things that I haven't had a chance to for a while. Work has been hectic of late, with several weeks of 7-day, 12 hours per non-stop action. When I do get a "regular" week, by the time I get home I'm usually cooked–I'll grab a quick bite, check the e-mails, watch a show on TV, and whip up a quick blog post. By that time, I'm about out. But, in this economic climate–in any economic climate, for that matter–having a job is a good thing, and if it means that I have to go for a few months at full tilt, well, so be it.
I had time last year, but the circumstances were not ideal–I was working part-time after being laid off at my full time job the previous year. The work was definitely less stressful–going from the rush-rush of corporate aviation to working a hobby shop did me some good, as I had time to decompress a bit–but even so, I was working six days a week, 10, sometimes 12 hours a day. Prior to finding the hobby shop gig, I had all sorts of time on my hands–not working at all will do that–and I got a jump on several projects before I got hooked up with the hobby shop. But hobby shop pay only goes so far, and soon enough I found myself back chasing sparks on corporate jets…
So, what kind of things do I want to do? Well, there's this list we have here at the house that needs to get pared down. We're slowly working on it, but there's a lot left to do, including the construction of some bookshelves–which requires the purchase of some tooling first, buying a few items for the house (a chainsaw and gutters, for starters), re-landscaping the yard, and a few other things.
There is also some stuff we'd like to get so we can pursue some of our other hobbies, like building a reloading bench for our collection of World War Two battle rifles. Sure, .30-06 is available commercially, but I wouldn't put modern loads through anything we have. And then what do you do when you need .303 British? Pay out the nose or roll yer own. Same goes for 5.56 NATO. Part of that list also included the technology upgrade we made a month or so ago when we took the advice of Margaret Easley and Kimberley Joseph and went to satellite Interwebs service. So far, so good on that front…
Then there's my model stuff–I have, by my count, six or seven projects going, and they all need to get done before I'm starting anything else. There's a 1/48 scale Macchi C.200 that was sent to me for review back in 2005 (and I did get the in-box review done, but the full build has dragged on for various reasons) and is nearly ready for paint–has been since maybe last July; a 1/700 scale USS Cowpens (CVL-25) that I'm converting from Dragon's kit–and now they come out with the same ships in 1/350, sometimes there is no justice!; a 1/48 scale A-10A in the "Cool Snow Hog '82" winter camouflage scheme; a 1/35 StuG IV that is a group build for our AMPS Chapter and one which I'm still playing around with various methods to do scale zimmerit; a 1/72 scale Ki-100 that needs paint–a friend of mine did the hard part, he put the model together and all I need to do is finish it (but I'll need to find a tailwheel first–D'oh!); and a pair of 1/144 scale AAVP's that will eventually wind up in the cargo hold of a C-17A that is on the "when all else is done, start this" list.
Then there are the long-term residents of the "to finish" pile: a Monogram F-106A kit that has been under construction–and destruction–and rebuilding since at least 1996; 120mm resin figure of a U-2/SR-71/Space Shuttle pilot that has been in work nearly as long as the F-106; another 120mm resin figure of Neil Armstrong on the Moon; a 1/144 scale Minicraft Boeing 757-200 destined to wear Ethiopian Airlines' classic livery; and a 1/144 scale Minicraft Boeing 707-320 that wants to be a Braniff "Jelly Bean". If I was into practice bleeding, I could continue on with my scratchbuilt 1/48 scale Pilatus Turbo Porter–but with Roden's kits available, why?
And finally, there are things I've said I want to do with this blog–scan my collection of various and sundry photographs, update more frequently, etc.
All I need is a 32 hour day. And an eight and a half day week…
Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.