The fourth of January - already?

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Well here it is, the fourth of January, already. I haven't the slightest idea where the other days have gone. Right after Christmas, my husband decided to build a model railroad.  Why? I have no idea. But since he's retired, he spends the better part of the day on his computer and the latter part watching TV, seldom getting out of his chair. So, I figured this would be a good hobby for him, get him moving. He was into photography, but since he developed emphysema, he can't go out and take pictures much anymore. Not that he did all that much to begin with - mostly (after spending a lot of money on camera equipment) he  read about it. I do have to admit the pictures he did take were excellent.

Anyway, he found some websites, found a layout he liked and I encouraged him to order it. While we were waiting for the track to be delivered, we found some hobbyshops and train shops in the area. So, off we went to the store and he bought a train. It wasn't in either of our plans to buy a train, he just wanted to check out the shop. But, it was on sale and he couldn't pass up the deal.

Of course once we got it home, we discovered it wasn't the scale he wanted. The track he purchased was for HO scale and the train was O scale. Much larger. It was, as I said, an excellent deal because the carton was crushed and marked down considerably. So now, we had a decision to make - take it back or cancel the track. Upon further research, we discovered the O scale accessories were very expensive. Not that HO was cheap by any means, but a lot less expensive. So I suggested we take it back.
But like every young boy (I know he's a grown man), my husband had fallen in love with this set and said he can have two scales. Of course he was right. I've seen several layouts with two scales. So we kept the train. Sunday, my son came over and took him to the Home Depot to purchase plywood and other wood to build the train table. Today is Tuesday and he still hasn't started it. So far he's been doing a lot of reading. Today the track arrived and I thought it might motivate him. Well, with the track came a book and yep, he's still reading. I'm beginning to think I should have just got him some books. It certainly would have been cheaper.
I guess he'll get to it one of these days, but gees, we're not getting any younger. You'd think he'd want it finished in his lifetime.