Bill,
I am glad you brought up the issue. Jeff Johnson offered a perfect answer that
I cannot improve on. But I'm glad to see that I am not the only one who has
the wife, family, and Triumph hobby competition. My solution has been to spend
less time and money on my hobby now than I did several years ago. I have a
good dry garage, so what I have isn't going down hill. I have to plan my work
very carefully so that when I do have a little time and money to spend, I get
the most from it. What I don't get done today will get done tomorrow. This
works for me because my wife does not take offense to the wasted garage space.
But she used to get a little testy about the amount of time I spent in the
garage. Everybody has to weigh their own situation and come up with his or her
own solution. What works for me would not work for the person who has a spouse
who couldn't stand to have junk piled up in the garage and basement.
We just have to remember that the reason for any hobby usually isn't 100% for
the enjoyment of the hobby, but for the enjoyment of other people with similar
interest. I have found that my reduction in time working on my Triumphs has
not reduced my enjoyment of the people in our local Triumph club and the people
here on the list. I have no time limit on my projects. What I don't get done
this year will get done next. What doesn't get done in several years may end
up waiting till I retire. And you know what, if I die and it doesn't get done,
it really doesn't matter. Somebody 50 years from now will have the joy of
discovering a neat OLD Triumph (or 2 or 3) that they can rebuild. In the mean
time, I have enjoyed my life. And my wife and kids have enjoyed me (I haven't
spent all my time in the garage). Life is about who you leave behind happy,
not what you leave behind.
Creig Houghtaling
St. Louis, MO
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