Bridge at South Wayside

[Tom]

I used to just put most of what I bought (except what I had said I was going the the LHS for) in the spare tire well of the Taurus wagon and leave it there until Saturday when the wife and small daughter would go the Mall for the day. Then I'd just bring the stuff into the house and down the stairs into the basement ... SAFE!!!

She was glad that I had the hobby and would spend my time in the basement and not ever go out "bar-hopping with the guys." On the other hand, she begrudged any money I spent on it. It was somehow different when she came home from "shopping at the Mall" with an armload of "bargains" she'd found on clothing. (I've been divorced now for thirteen years now and buy my own clothes ... I have not bought any more plaid shirts or pastel green shirts or double-knit slacks ... EUuuuuuuuu! I always hated that stuff, but I couldn't justify buying a new shirt of my choice when she had just bought me three that satisfied her taste in men's casual clothing. There was an understanding, though ... she was not, under any circumstance to buy anything that I might have to wear to the office -- that was totally my realm of responsibilty!

Anyway, I never felt guilty about my purchases or how they came into the house. The delay in bringing my hobby purchases into the house was like a game of sorts and eliminated my having to justify spending a couple bucks on myself once in a while. I worked very hard for my money, put in long hours, so that she could be a stay-at-home Mom with our daughter. I figured that I deserved the rewards of a few hobby items on occasion.

AMEN! My ex was the same way. I worked my butt off at Amtrak, and she worked hard too, but she was very frugal. I couldn't even get her to spend money on herself! It was always pay the bills we needed to pay and the rest goes into savings. While there is merit to that, still, is it really worth mending tube socks with toe holes in them versus buy another pack? I worked for long stretches on the midnight yard job, so I'd be home while she was at work, and more importantly when my 2 LHS's were open, and I ASSumed that since Athearn and MDC boxes all looked the same, that she wouldn't notice more adding up. I'd just add to the stack in the closet and figured I was getting away with it. What I didn't know was that when we split, she used that against me; she had been keeping inventory while I was at work at night and had a running list. Sick huh? And yeah, she DID use it against me when we had our big blowout. But ya know what? I still have the trains, the guy she left me for dumped her, but AFTER 2 little kids, she's miserable (she also happens to be my fiance's best friend) and she told me when I saw her last at 4th of July that she screwed up. I just grinned at her and let her suck on THAT statement for a while!

Funny thing is, Alicia does just as much train shopping as I do. She last night surprised me with my very first train set, the 1979 Bachmann "Bullet" MINT in the box, brand new. She had a friend of mine purchase it on his Ebay account when I was working in Michigan last week and had him drop it by last night. She's cool like that. Colleen though? Karma is eating her alive, hahahaha! Big breasts only get you so far in life honey...