Leisure

autocoupler · September 21, 2015, 07:41:43 AM

Got up early this morning and took a walk by the bay as the sun rose above the horizon, absolutely magnificent. Damn it's great being retired, a bit like taking a long sicky and not reporting in :yahoo:

ausjack · September 21, 2015, 07:51:45 AM

Don't worry auto the novelty will soon wear off mate and then you'll be like me and looking for things to break the boredom :dash1:

so enjoy it while it lasts :winkextra:

Coiny Chris · September 21, 2015, 08:23:26 AM

Hello,

My Job finished a week ago, I had a dream that I had forgotten and went to work. The main thing is stay busy.

autocoupler · September 21, 2015, 11:26:02 AM

Quote from: 'ausjack' pid='79728' dateline='1442787705'Don't worry auto the novelty will soon wear off mate and then you'll be like me and looking for things to break the boredom :dash1:

so enjoy it while it lasts :winkextra:

Maybe the case AJ, but nah hope not anyway, have a few interests although the Wife may add to that list now that I'm home more :heat: :grin: :laugh2: Many years ago I had an interest in model railways, and after a lifetime of working on the real one I can feel a reemergence coming on :blush: And when I'm heading south to see the rellies at Coffs I might drop in at Grafton and say g'day.

Quote from: 'Coiny Chris' pid='79730' dateline='1442789606'Hello,

My Job finished a week ago, I had a dream that I had forgotten and went to work. The main thing is stay busy.

Hope you find something else CC if that's what you want. Reference to your dream, I worked with a guy once who actually did that :laugh2:

ausjack · September 21, 2015, 11:39:34 AM

Cool, that'd be awesome and your always welcome any time auto :friends: They had a model train display down at the aerodrome a few weeks ago

autocoupler · September 21, 2015, 02:14:05 PM

Quote from: 'ausjack' pid='79741' dateline='1442801374'They had a model train display down at the aerodrome a few weeks ago

That's pretty apt, when I was a kid they called the daily passenger service the "Flyer"

OK, that's good AJ, probably won't be till the new year sometime but will let you know when. :good:

ausjack · September 21, 2015, 05:49:53 PM

Quote from: 'autocoupler' pid='79745' dateline='1442810645'
Quote from: 'ausjack' pid='79741' dateline='1442801374'They had a model train display down at the aerodrome a few weeks ago

That's pretty apt, when I was a kid they called the daily passenger service the "Flyer" OK, that's good AJ, probably won't be till the new year sometime but will let you know when. :good:

Any time mate, be really good to catch up :friends:

robbiegal · September 21, 2015, 06:06:26 PM

Quote from: 'autocoupler' pid='79725' dateline='1442787103'Got up early this morning and took a walk by the bay as the sun rose above the horizon, absolutely magnificent. Damn it's great being retired, a bit like taking a long sicky and not reporting in :yahoo:

always soak up those special moments
they are what makes life so beautiful and at times awesome

the long sicky is even better!!

robbiegal · September 22, 2015, 07:48:20 AM

Quote from: 'robbiegal' pid='79750' dateline='1442824586'always soak up those special moments
they are what makes life so beautiful and at times awesome

the long sicky is even better!!

Yeah RG, I agree with that and remember you commenting in another thread about your lingering thoughts of finishing up. Spring is a nice time of the year up our way so I chose then to pull the pin, but if I lived in Canberra the weather may have encouraged me to finish in the autumn and enjoy some long wintery sleep ins. :sleepy:
[/quote]

yes - it beckons me - gets stronger every day
taking 2 months LSL to have a break and think about it, having done
24 years in health this year so I think that in a nut shell - I have been here long enough or perhaps too long .....
so used to be owned by a govvie department and being a part of the machinery of government
when I walk through the hospital I feel and am a part of it all
i'd miss that a great deal

we'll see after my break
though by week 2 i'll probably be ... hell yeah - I'm OUT ha ha

Fulvio · September 23, 2015, 03:18:01 PM

Quote from: 'Unicorn' pid='79806' dateline='1442987019'Or this one ..... :angel:

"Where we're going, we don't NEED roads!" :diablo:

Unicorn · September 23, 2015, 03:20:43 PM

Going loco perhaps? :mocking:

Fulvio · September 23, 2015, 03:49:21 PM

Quote from: 'Unicorn' pid='79809' dateline='1442987443'Going loco perhaps? :mocking:

Yup! :crazy_pilot:

Robster · September 26, 2015, 01:53:46 AM

How cool.! You are a man of many 'Stations" Fulvio. :angel:

Fulvio · September 26, 2015, 02:14:39 AM

Quote from: 'Robster' pid='79981' dateline='1443198226'How cool.! You are a man of many 'Stations" Fulvio. :angel:

Heh, you have no idea. :angel:

Dunno that I'd call having a wide spectrum of interests 'cool' as such though.

Fulvio · September 26, 2015, 11:12:34 PM

Quote from: 'autocoupler' pid='80019' dateline='1443272083'not that I've ever been a member of any club really, coins or model railways.

For the thirty bucks or so most clubs charge, its well worth it. And all clubs are dying. We've got members on the committees of many different types of clubs, and they all report the same thing... membership dropping and aging, attendances a fraction of what they were, and expenses rising. Clubs are in deep trouble, with many on the brink of collapse unless they built strong reserves back in the day.

MICOM, the computer club I'm Treasurer of, is one member away from being permanently in the red. Quite a fall from the 1,800 members I got it up to during my Presidency to the current 11, and two of those not yet renewed.

MMRS, the model railway club, always had a cap of 75 and a long waiting list. At a guess, I saw about 30 name badges on the board last night, and six members showed up. None of them actually remembered the waiting list.

MNS, the coin club, is losing members through attrition. Betty is now 100, and she's outlived most of her fellow members who joined around the same time. We do get up to 20 to a meeting, but we're mostly in the red financially, and nobody's getting any younger.

I could go on, but the story is the same everywhere. Social clubs, hobby clubs, even sporting clubs, which used to be unheard of.

Everyone blames the internet of course. And I can understand why. I was meant to be at a meeting tonight, but here I am instead. I really couldn't be bothered with an hour's drive across town, ten bucks to attend, and the drive home again. So I saved maybe $25 all up, and the club lost $10. Back in the day, I was good for some $500 a year, as were many others. Now its more like $20 each, and a lot have even stopped renewing. Thankfully I built a $25,000 war chest which could carry us for decades, but the writing's on the wall I think.

And the thing is, clubs provide things the internet can't.

Social contact for starters. Conversations you just don't have here in cyberspace. Look at this place... I've met maybe a dozen forum members (a couple which I really regret, but that's another story). I talk regularly to AJ, Goldy, AC and family, and Splock. I see a couple of others at MNS meetings and coin shows. And I've had the odd phone call or email conversation here and there. But for the most part, I don't know you lot from a bar of soap. Whereas I know all the members who come to physical meetings. Some better than others, yes, but definitely enough to get a feel for who they all are and what they know.

And expertise. ACF members are very generous with their knowledge. But you can't replace the hands-on approach. Not to mention the practical side of holding something in your hand instead of just looking at pictures (no matter how good they are), and having someone explain things in real time.

And when it comes to model railroad clubs, there's also the impracticality of building a large layout on your own, let alone having the space to put it. OK, there is always the problem of the commons, but how many people have exemplary skills to produce a masterpiece? Especially in the 20 or 30 areas of expertise it takes to do the job right?

I tellya, club membership is money well spent. Everyone should belong to at least one club of some kind (and I don't mean the RACV or NRMA, unless its a full membership), AND put something in occasionally as well.