backofanenvelope

Perhaps less is more when you are older.

I couldn't agree more and the older I get the less I want and like you I am interested in the operational side and would be happy with a plank of wood and a timesaver layout without any scenery as I can make that up in my head, like some of those US OPS layouts who never put scenery on, although with the location I have chosen this maybe a bit hard to get by, but once I get track and electrics done it wont stop me having "fun"

Ok one last question, as I feared items have been won by foreign buyer and although I have opted out of GSP there seems no way out of it apart from marking items dispatched but I am guessing they want their costs no matter what. I did try and tell the buyer that there maybe no way out of it and offered to end auction and re-auction at later date but it has gone through.

What do my learned friends think?

Well thankfully I am now out of it, well I will being 48 hrs! and have learnt a lesson and will stick to UK sales unless requested.

It only takes them 72hrs to stop it!  > so going to advise bidder and relist when its blown over..

Ok I will cancel auction and opt out of GSP and then ask  if they want to rebid..

With a couple of days to go Ill have to go through all listings to see which ones I GSP'd and Im guessing buyers will be pissed off for ending auction.

Jeez, thats extortion! if I had known this I wouldn't have gone down GSP..

Ok this is a bit of a problem as I have offered it and have bids on from someone in Canada. Once offered is it mandatory to use it?

Well, just when things are on the up..... it has been a bad few weeks due to an incident at work for me, but this could be something that affects the rest of my life!

 

I work in an A&E department and between Christmas and New year I was on the receiving end of a "needle stick injury"

Just to make things even better....this was an extra shift to help fund some of the new Peco Bullhead track....

 

Model railways are currently helping me keep my sanity along with my good lady wife.

 

Arr!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ian

Jeez Ian that is scary!! I hope its all clear.. Like I have said before, and agree with you about Model Railways keeping one sane, well me sane-ish

A declutter is very good for the soul.  On TV programmes about hoarding (not suggesting you're in this league, although my own loft could be the subject of a documentary), the OCD-like hoarding behaviour is stated to be a form of control, just like an eating disorder.  Ironically, being surrounded by so much stuff and not knowing which of them, which all have an intended use, to deal with first, is a huge stresser.

Yes it has taken most of my life to reach the point when I realised I am actually happier with less.. and thankfully no, I am not a hoarder unlike my parents. I am not planning to live in a room with 3 things but certainly it helps my mental state if I don't have clutter around me. Anyway first item sold on ebay tonight and I just can't wait to get rid of it ALL!..

Just come back to this thread as I have been under the clouds a bit recently and haven't really spent much time on here or anywhere else on the whole. I have even stopped looking at FB for the moment as I felt a mixture of indifference and positive dislike for much of the content. I know when these things happen all interest in railway modelling disappears. I'm not sure what flipped the switch but the clouds have parted and in that moment of clarity I have decided to flog off all my railway related stuff apart from one scale and for the moment locale and it has/is giving me the feeling of a breath of fresh air, in fact somewhat freeing in that I don't keep looking at the boxes of stuff I have be lugging around in some cases for decades and feel guilty that I have not done anything with it. Periodically I get to a point where I think I will chuck it all but thankfully I manage to get myself back from the edge and know that it is the one constant through life that has given joy as I think I have said before. I have started to embrace the less is more mantra or what ever they call it at the moment and have been trying to follow some advice given about order and cleanliness helping the mind feel relaxed. Funny really when for most of my life I have tried to avoid order.. for me modelling is like riding a wave, stand up as it approaches, ride it whilst one can and then know when to get off and wait for the next one.

Anyway in the process of selling of collections of things that I either have no space for or interest in any more I have managed to find enough mojo to consider a small layout for the stock I am keeping and with the proceeds of the purge maybe able to buy some ready made boards so I don't have to get the energy to build some kac-handed efforts of my own.

Finally in comment to previous posters I am trying to listen to more music as I for so long never listened to anything and I had drives full of music where as now I am narrowing it down to what I like and want to listen to and I have found a new joy music by Phillip Glass and Steve Reich it as a hypnotic quality..
 

I find that I can use music to influence my mojo, especially when I’m in one of those listless moods and struggling to get stuck into anything. Easy to listen to, flowing music works best for me.

The TV series, just finished, "The Detectorists" articulated this perfectly and is a minor masterpiece.  It might have been about metal detecting as a hobby, but the characters could just have easily been interested and slightly obsessive about railway modelling, birdwatching, fishing, classic motorbikes.....  Their partners didn't "get" their hobby, gently ribbed them about it but were supportive and saw that it did them all a great deal of good.

 
And the Detectorists, this has to be one of my all time favour TV programs ever! So understated and visually beautiful, it conjures up so many memories.. Mackenzie Crook is very talented and I look forward to more of his work being on the telly.

Thanks for replying CT I will endeavour not to fubar it up if they are successful. 

Hello,

Just a brief question as I have done a search on here and with eBay community pages but am really non the wiser as I have never shipped abroad. For a few items I have added will ship abroad but didn't think about buyer could get multiple things. Yes I know its probably me being dim but I don't see where you can specify combined postage? Or is that when the action is sold? I am assuming it is possible but then I read a load of posts on the community pages which left me even more confused.

Would some one who has experience of this comment as I am not sure whether I should withdraw auction and just make it UK only.

Thanks for any advice.

T.

Sell off *everything* that I am likely never to use which is 97.8% of the stuff I have and have less distractions. Start afresh and concentrate on the stuff I DO want to model.

Build a small compact portable layout I can complete and play with.

Stop slacking.

Get out more for walks and chase the clouds away.

I have a problem with blanket stats that cover a population. Recently I found out that my daily calorific intake should be approx 1950cals and not the daily 2500 for a man meaning for rather too long I have mistakenly be thinking that I needed more to merely "survive" and don't get me started on BMI. Anyway I am on *my* way to a happier and healthier future it may just take longer than I expected!

Well done on weight loss as I know how hard it is, truly a moment on the lips......

Sorry for blurry pic. Is this any good? what do people think?

Hi Ian, I have two suitable PSUs which are 12v - 1.25A Output which matches the Sprog site information. If your interested let me know on PM

Regards

Tom

Ok I am going to go through them and find out there capacities and if any can be of use.. I'll post list tomorrow

Ian, I have literally two carrier bags of PSU's I am going to dispose of probably down the local Recycle place or whatever there called now. If you like I can probably find you one in them, let me know if your interested?

Regards

Tom

Great pics thanks a lot for posting Paul. Looks like a lot of fun for a weekend.

I am very much looking forward to my copy of MRJ 257 arriving and reading it, so that I can make a serious and grown-up contribution to this thread.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I have been lurking on the thread and have picked up on some interesting thoughts and actions from it thanks guys. For me I know when things are bad that I can't even be bothered to come on here as an example as I think all my efforts are a waste of time and that most things in life are generally pointless. However in the last couple of years through being introduced to CBT I am starting to be able to spot triggers and try to do something about it even if that is to accept the current state and to know it will pass at some point. This hobby has been one constant strand through my life and although at times I think due to inactivity to pack it all in but somehow I keep coming back and even if I am just browsing on here I feel that is keeping the thread going as I always seem to have a reason for that inactivity. Anyway enough of me I need to do some noodling on an idea I have for a challenge layout.

Best to all black dog sufferers and beaters.

Maybe a dumb question but why HO? isn't it cannibalising there HOm 

This has probably been done before but makes me laugh..

"nowt as queer as folk" as they say in these parts..