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Modelling mojo and state of mind


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On 31/07/2019 at 21:32, The Johnster said:

I'm sticking with the idea that all debt is inherently bad, thank you.  In other words, if I haven't got the money to pay for it, I can't afford it and therefore don't have it.  This is not right for everyone of course but bitter experience has proved it to be right for me, more than once.  If you take on a debt, it is on the assumption that your circumstances will remain conducive to paying it off at the agreed rate for the time the debt lasts, in other words a gamble if you don't have a crystal ball and can't see what's coming around the corner.  A divorce, job loss, and serious illness, all matters beyond my direct control, scuppered me big time, and for a long time.

 

Additionally, you have to pay interest, which is simply a method by which you can make people who already have more money than you have even more money than you, for which you pay.  

 

This is something that bothers me about the lending culture today. For example we see lots of car adverts, many of them specify the monthy 'rental' cost and various hire/purchase options. My car cost £2750, I paid cash and paid all the other bits up front. Apart from fuel and the usual bits, I've probably spent about £4k in total, all in the readies. No loans, no hire purchase crap. It had a DMF failure not long ago but all in all, it was worth getting it fixed.

 

Now if I walk into a dealership they'll convince me I can afford £15k and then some on a brand new car that'll be worth half that in a couple of years anyway. Even at that, the 15k car will be low spec, slower and generally an 'unknown' factor. I don't know how well its been put together and its not even bedded in.

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1 hour ago, Coldgunner said:

My car cost £2750, I paid cash and paid all the other bits up front. Apart from fuel and the usual bits, I've probably spent about £4k in total, all in the readies. No loans, no hire purchase crap. It had a DMF failure not long ago but all in all, it was worth getting it fixed.

 

Now if I walk into a dealership they'll convince me I can afford £15k and then some on a brand new car that'll be worth half that in a couple of years anyway. Even at that, the 15k car will be low spec, slower and generally an 'unknown' factor. I don't know how well its been put together and its not even bedded in.

A couple of years ago I overheard someone on the train complaining they needed to sell their Merc convertible; the best offer they'd had was £20k but there was still £27k outstanding on the loan.  I did a quick addition in my head and realised that all the cars I'd bought in 25 years of driving came to quite a bit less than that.

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2 hours ago, Coldgunner said:

 

This is something that bothers me about the lending culture today. For example we see lots of car adverts, many of them specify the monthy 'rental' cost and various hire/purchase options. My car cost £2750, I paid cash and paid all the other bits up front. Apart from fuel and the usual bits, I've probably spent about £4k in total, all in the readies. No loans, no hire purchase crap. It had a DMF failure not long ago but all in all, it was worth getting it fixed.

 

Now if I walk into a dealership they'll convince me I can afford £15k and then some on a brand new car that'll be worth half that in a couple of years anyway. Even at that, the 15k car will be low spec, slower and generally an 'unknown' factor. I don't know how well its been put together and its not even bedded in.

Funny enough, your post came with an advert inserted for Skoda SUV, complete with credit terms that mean you are left with a next to worthless car in the time you've paid off the credit.  If they are giving it that much of a hard sell, they must be making money out of the punters!

 

Not sure about lending culture 'today', though; I'm not too many years shy of my 3 score and 10 and it's been like this as long as I can remember!  The system seems to work as follows; if you can afford the item, we'll let you have credit, but not if you can't afford it and need credit to buy it at all.  The credit terms mean you have more money in your pocket than if you'd saved up, but it's a pretty transparent con when you add the figures up.  It doesn't bother me too much when it's cars or other consumer luxuries, but it is the principle principle behind mortgages, in other words everybody's home.  Even relatively well paid folk can't afford to buy homes and have to sign up to the 30 year treadmill that ensures that the only way they'll ever be able to buy anything else is on credit.  It is the interest that makes the profit, not the item.

 

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On 31/07/2019 at 15:57, Norm81 said:

Just to cheer the rest of you up, if my recently unexpectedly made redundant wife doesn’t get a new job by the end of the year I’ll be forced to sell up to pay the bills and leave the hobby.

I did that once when made redundant , but to be honest it was a waste of time as the second hand value of the models made no dent on my mortgage. Should have kept them and found a better way 

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I was in this situation 30 years ago and kept the boxes containing the stock I’d rescued for several decades pending sufficient stability to build another layout, moving from unsuitable flat to unsuitable flat.  Only to find when I resuscitated it that I was no longer prepared to accept wagons with moulded handbrake levers and none of my locos worked for very long (Mainline split chassis disease).  The only thing surviving from those days on my current layout are some wagon and van bodies on new Bachmann or Parkside chassis.  An Airfix prairie ran for a year or so then self-destroyed it’s slide bars, that had presumably gone brittle.  

 

Most of what I’d tried to save ended up in the bin anyway, and it was all very depressing, but the outcome is reliable running of modern standard RTR models, and an eventually happy bunny!

Edited by The Johnster
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When you guys get pi##ed off go to this for some light entertainment (if you haven't already)

 http://www.railcam.uk/partners/NRYorkROC1.php?fbclid=IwAR3YmcVWkHQdAhMvekwjCg7znSKJK7Jriy5gYvMIGf62t7bsBe1hx_JzVzw

 

Quite addictive but also very calming, especially at about 02.30 on a rainy night!!!!!.

ATB to you all for the weekend.

Phil

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On 09/08/2019 at 17:43, Mallard60022 said:

When you guys get pi##ed off go to this for some light entertainment (if you haven't already)

 http://www.railcam.uk/partners/NRYorkROC1.php?fbclid=IwAR3YmcVWkHQdAhMvekwjCg7znSKJK7Jriy5gYvMIGf62t7bsBe1hx_JzVzw

 

Quite addictive but also very calming, especially at about 02.30 on a rainy night!!!!!.

ATB to you all for the weekend.

Phil

 

Thank you for that!  Pleasant surprise to visit the link this morning (09:31 on the 11th) to see Galatea simmering away!

Edited by jafcreasey
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On 09/08/2019 at 04:27, rob D2 said:

I did that once when made redundant , but to be honest it was a waste of time as the second hand value of the models made no dent on my mortgage. Should have kept them and found a better way 

As I have a few sound fitted diesels it probably would put a dent in the bills for a month or two. She's been making applications and next week is her third interview, she's accepted a zero hours job for now that starts tomorrow. The problem with zero hours is income not guaranteed.

 

Might take the time to thin out the fleet a little though as I'm sure there is some surplus in there.

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The disadvantage of being retired is that you have to manage on a low and fixed income, but the advantage is that they can't make you redundant, it's a job for life and there's no way out of it alive!  I worked out roughly the other day that I spend about 10% of my low and fixed income on model railways as an overall ball park average; I bet Pete Waterman doesn't spend proportionallly as much as me!

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II might like the idea of being retired, but not  having to manage on a low and fixed income anytime soon. 

I can see things getting messy and expensive in the near-medium term, with anything imported costing more. 

So will carry on working for a while.

 

I've just had fitted and paid for my 3rd dental implant so fully equipped with teeth again. An expensive pastime, the implant rods being the most expensive bits of non-precious metal one is likely to buy. An alternative purchase could have been a Silverlink live steam loco or two [a 3.5. Inch Duchess is $7995] but I don't have anywhere to keep or run one without buying a 4x4 and trailer too! Quality of life & wellbeing wins out. 

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Retiring wasn’t a decision, it was forced by a health issue.  But it was, despite the drop in income, the best decision I was ever forced to make; I have no doubt that I’d be dead or insane (or both) by now if I’d attempted to carry on working.  Money is important, but not as important as life!

 

This is of course an easier decision to make if you have no family/dependents! 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Its all fun in the job hunting world...

 

... NOT!

 

Except the governement, they can piss right off! Universal Credit is such a hokey system its unbelievable. Designed purely to save the government money by giving out less. Not to mention the contempt the staff treat you with and the depressing state of their premises. I'm lucky enough to have some life savings I am trying to not touch, but you get penalised for having any savings whatsoever. I've I'd not bothered saving and blew it all, I'd be eligible for more.

 

I am also looking forward to thew inevitable 'advice' on how to job hunt and their expectation that I will spend 35hours a week doing so. I'm sorry, that's not how job hunting works. 2/3 hours a day max and you've covered every site and every advert.

 

Not a happy bunny.

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Mojo a Go-Go!

 

I've finally got some 1:1 scale civil engineering done, with one course of blocks to lay. This will allow the accurate marking out of the shed foundations proper. Nearly, if all, of the shed base is 'in stock' so not only is the material free gratis, but the usage of said material will also free up some much needed space. After this, There is a power feed trench 'twixt house & shed to be dug out, and then.....

 

The shed; Tah Rah! No, not yet, still a little way to go. Photos soon....

 

Have a great weeek folks,

Ian.

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Bit of an update, have been offered a fix term contract and now get the satisfaction of telling the job centre to go do one. The JC were wanting me to go in every single week to provide them with updates on my job search and to 'coach' me on how to look for work.

 

Hate the Job Centre with a passion. They deliberately make things confusing and difficult to put you off. My advice for anyone who has to deal with them? Do so, but keep them at arms length. I only claimed to get what I'm entitled to after paying into the system.

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It's always been the same, based on my limited experience of having to visit the dole office/job centre between graduating Uni and starting the job I had accepted but which required security checks to be completed (12 weeks later....).  It was such a soul-destroying experience I vowed I would never allow myself to be in the same position again.  So far, so good (25 years later), but I appreciate that many people aren't as lucky.

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I got offered a new job today it’s further away but a promotion with a fixed salary and I won’t be doing nights anymore (which was really eating into my modelling mojo). Because the last thing I wanted to do on my day off was work on the railway because when I had a day because I was constantly tired. Fingers crossed I will be able to get back to modelling properly now. 

 

As a new job present my partner purchased the Hornby H class r3631 as a congratulation. And I her own words “a way of symbolising me working on my railway more often”. 

 

Big James 

Edited by Big James
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Further to my epic 'story' with the Job Centre.

 

Having gone through the 8 billion pages for applying, they now tell me I wouldn't get anything anyway, when they told me I would if I applied. Thankfully got a confirmed offer but the incompetence and duplication of that place is staggering. No wonder they heamorrage money.

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On 10/09/2019 at 19:52, Coldgunner said:

Further to my epic 'story' with the Job Centre.

 

Having gone through the 8 billion pages for applying, they now tell me I wouldn't get anything anyway, when they told me I would if I applied. Thankfully got a confirmed offer but the incompetence and duplication of that place is staggering. No wonder they heamorrage money.

Gotta play their game to get your £53.

 

Ive had to play it a couple of times, hated it, but it’s the principle of what I’d already paid in.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally, some wages have gone back in, I can top the savings back up. DWP also confirmed I'll be getting a payment, but 1/3 less due to me having some savings (which have been a little diminished of late). Finally able to afford the 220 steam oil I've been needing (bought 5L of the stuff!) for my live steam loco's. I can breathe again.

 

Hopefully the DWP actually pay attention to my change of circumstance notification, I wouldn't put it past them to make a cock up and try to sanction me for not showing up, even though I'm working now.

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I've not done any modelling in months, though I'd like to. 

 

I take on too many things but I am an idle fellow. Came home from a weeks holiday to find the workshop/home brewery flooded from a beer barrel that had built up too much pressure, a lot of clearing up to do. 

 

Then catching up with work and projects for other people. As I get older it all takes longer and I need a rest. So I wonder how I am ever going to get another layout project started and all those kits built!

 

Have thought about retiring to get more time but I'd rather be better off by working a few more years. So little time, so much to do [or not!].

 

Dava

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Dava, let's examine what you say.

 

You do modelling. I'll rephrase that;  you build railway models. You take on too many things. You work. You do projects for other people. You do home brewing. You probably maintain a house and garden, too. The last thing I am seeing is an "idle fellow".

 

We all reach an age when things take longer and we need a rest. Some reach that point in their mid 60s, their 70s, or even 80s.  After contracting an untreatable neurological disease to add to a lifelong chronic medical condition, I reached that stage aged just 56, though I cannot be officially classed as disabled in any way. Since then, the constant media battering telling us we are all living longer, are healthier, more active in our old age, and illnesses we do get are our own fault (wrong diet, lack of exercise, need to meet more people, napping during the day etc. etc.) seems to have been a conspiracy to get us to work until we drop, with less expectation of return, and to ask for less of society in general. "They" seem to want us all to feel that, no matter what we do, it is not enough, and we are all "idle fellows".  It certainly gave me a sense of shame, guilt, and inadequacy. Yes, I fell for it, but not any more.

 

By your casual phraseology, you seem to be in the early stages of slowing down, and should be well for a good while to come; but don't ignore it. I did because I thought I was too young to be slowing down, and it didn't half bite back. Work with it. Do what you want when you feel like it. Try not to get into the situation where you feel you can never give up work, because then, you never will.

 

You are not an idle fellow. Be kind to yourself.

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