Time?

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AfterBurners

Well-Known Member
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Location
Southern Calif
It seems now that I started my new full time job, finally no more contracts, it seems my time is limited. I love my hobbies building rockets and nitro RC trucks, but wow the weekends really fly and other obligations. I was thinking of selling off my RC stuff, but decided not to because I have too much money invested. What I need to do is move out of southern calif and go someplace where there’s more open land and less people. Anyone else have the same dilemma with not enough time?
 
Yes. Wife and Kids and working full-time. Really puts a stress on my rocket time. And I understand too many people in California
 
the older you get, the faster time seems to 'fly by'

it feels like yesterday was Monday!

And, the busier you are, the more varied your tasks, the faster the day seems to progress..
 
I keep a 60gal. South American Cichlid tank that takes up some time. And my wife makes us going to Disneyland every other month a hobby.

P.S. do you see all 4 fish? They never pose all together.

1229171257.jpg
 
I'm just coming back and testing the waters after taking 15 years or so to be "too busy with work" and raise kids.
 
Do you guys have multiple hobbies as well? I think it's good to have a few. You get tired of one you can do the other(s).
I limit myself to two spendy hobbies. I'd like to work on firearm stuff and truck stuff; but rockets and blacksmithing take up those two slots.

If I give up one of those two, I must replace it with one of the others. Works for me, anyhoo.
 
I thought after my kids moved out I would have more time since I wasn't going to band concerts, football games, and track and cross country meets constantly. I'm still too busy.
 
Very limited time, so only one hobby for now. Fortunately, I can share rocketry with my kids.
 
I have multiple hobies, but they all rotate around.

Like, this year, wile I plan to attend rocket launches, I'm not planning to build any new rockets. I'll fix & finish the ones I have.

I plan to build a slew of other things I have partially finished & lined up..
Lego (#2 hobby) and I have two shows coming up
Finish (90% done) a little wooden 'robot musical box' (Robotime model - Music Box Orpheus - https://www.robotime.com/products/ )
A 1:60 'strip on bulkhead' wood model of Capt. Cook's Endeavour (Artisania model) That is gonna take a while!!
A GP 'Slow Poke sporty 40' to cover, and to get back into flying R/C this year.
The wife's doll house..
A CG Chipmunk to build (started last Christmas, half eth fuse & tail feathers built)
and house stuff..

I have more than enough to keep me busy, keep me occupied!
 
Anyone else have the same dilemma with not enough time?

Sure.
But that is also why this is a hobby, not an obligation.

If higher priorities and obligations get in the way of spending time on rocketry - don't sweat it!
As long as you make at least one launch per calendar year and/or build one new rocket in the similar time frame - you are still in it.

Remember, it's just a hobby!

a
 
I Used to race RC Boats and fly rockets- these days with a wife that hasn't been able to work in 2years due to a debilitating disease , I rarely get to even fly once or twice a year- boats have not been wet in waaay too long- nor have I raced with my buds. You miss it , and its hard- but I can tell you from experience - DO NOT sell your stuff. Tuck it away for a "better day " it WILL come back around, not to mention - you never get your investment back- it owes you nothing and cost you nothing sitting on a shelf. :wink:
Sell it and want to get back in - your starting from scratch - think about it. That said , if your stuff sucked and needed upgraded-:rolleyes:
 
I'm in the same boat. I work more than full time and seem to have to many hobbies. I always feel like I'm neglecting one hobby when doing another. I wish I didn't need to sleep.
 
I still remember an elementary teacher talking about the future.. about jobs we'll most likely have / want / get..

(We are talking mid 70's here..)

With automation, with other 'advances' in technology, with the need for about 50% of us service the general population in some way, we will mostly likely start to see a 4 day work week.. When we get into the 2000's a 3 day week-end will probably be the norm..

If only!
 
No.

Only experience will bring you the knowledge of balance. You have to learn what you need and don't. Free time for ones self is a must for stress relief and to remember where you came from.

The hardest part is to shed laziness and maximize multitasking.

You'll figure it out.

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I Used to race RC Boats and fly rockets- these days with a wife that hasn't been able to work in 2years due to a debilitating disease , I rarely get to even fly once or twice a year- boats have not been wet in waaay too long- nor have I raced with my buds. You miss it , and its hard- but I can tell you from experience - DO NOT sell your stuff. Tuck it away for a "better day " it WILL come back around, not to mention - you never get your investment back- it owes you nothing and cost you nothing sitting on a shelf. :wink:
Sell it and want to get back in - your starting from scratch - think about it. That said , if your stuff sucked and needed upgraded-:rolleyes:
Good point!
 
My dilemma, which I've enjoyed saying: "When I was young I had all the time and no money for the hobby, now I have the money - and no time"

I grew up an avid scale modeler (plastic) as it was affordable, and living overseas we were somewhat isolated from other American kids, so the parents could keep us busy giving us model kits.
Stateside I got into rocketry after being introduced to it by schoolmates. After I began supporting myself with a career - I got into RC aircraft as well, mostly larger sailplanes and nitro power, transitioning to modern electric.
Now the problem is I have to divide my time between them all, and the club members in each hobby - wonder where I am half the time LOL.

The wife says I have too many hobbies.
But I won't sell off my kit collection in each hobby, even though I've come to the unhappy conclusion I'll never get them all done, - but I like the variety, and when seasonal weather doesn't permit the outdoor hobbies I need the shut in ones.....
 
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My dilemma, which I've enjoyed saying: "When I was young I had all the time and no money for the hobby, now I have the money - and no time"

I grew up an avid scale modeler (plastic) as it was affordable, and living overseas we were somewhat isolated from other American kids, so the parents could keep us busy giving us model kits.
Stateside I got into rocketry after being introduced to it by schoolmates. After I began supporting myself with a career - I got into RC aircraft as well, mostly larger sailplanes and nitro power, transitioning to modern electric.
Now the problem is I have to divide my time between them all, and the club members in each hobby - wonder where I am half the time LOL.

The wife says I have too many hobbies.
But I won't sell off my kit collection in each hobby, even though I've come to the unhappy conclusion I'll never get them all done, - but I like the variety, and when seasonal weather doesn't permit the outdoor hobbies I need the shut in ones.....

Yeah I seriously doubt I'll sell off my stuff. I thought about it, but in the RC you take a big hit if you do. I love my hobbies and more importantly the opportunity to meet great people who share the same interests. I think if lived someplace a little more open I would enjoy it more. Not too mention I'd like to get into mountain bikes and do more hiking, but as I said before, Southern California is pretty crowded. Not to say there aren't places to go to enjoy the hobbies I have or activities I would like to do, but the drive is ridiculous to go anywhere and the time you spend on the road kills ya. Also my Siberian Husky has been a great addition to the pack. She's the 4 wd of all dogs. Very active and sociable. Might start bringing her to some launches ☺ I would love ve to live somewhere that I can pick up a hiking trail within a 5 or 10 minute drive, not over an hour.
 
It’s either time or money. I can never seem to have them both. I learned a new trick though, get a job that you enjoy. Takes the sting out of not being able to play with my toys.


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Yeah I seriously doubt I'll sell off my stuff. I thought about it, but in the RC you take a big hit if you do. I love my hobbies and more importantly the opportunity to meet great people who share the same interests. I think if lived someplace a little more open I would enjoy it more. Not too mention I'd like to get into mountain bikes and do more hiking, but as I said before, Southern California is pretty crowded. Not to say there aren't places to go to enjoy the hobbies I have or activities I would like to do, but the drive is ridiculous to go anywhere and the time you spend on the road kills ya. Also my Siberian Husky has been a great addition to the pack. She's the 4 wd of all dogs. Very active and sociable. Might start bringing her to some launches ☺ I would love ve to live somewhere that I can pick up a hiking trail within a 5 or 10 minute drive, not over an hour.

I had a lot of the same problems so I moved out of the nut farm. I have been in central Texas for a couple of months and you just can't believe the improvement in quality of life once you are out of the loony bin that is SoCal. My local launches are a very nice 40 minute drive on country roads and support up to an M motor. The RC flying field is about 20 minutes (The "official" field; I can fly on my own in any one of dozens of empty fields within minutes of my house). Lakes, fishing, shooting, all within a fifteen minute drive. Slower paced, nicer folks and a lot of open spaces. It's great.

I know it is hard to just pick up and move, but we had finally had enough. We made the move and wonder why we didn't do it sooner...
 
Pulled three all nights on four senior ME experimentation lab projects over this week. We were being tested over concepts with heat exchangers, beam deflections, vibrations, and internal combustion mechanical engineering Thermo cycles and complete combustion stoich balances. We fell over literally in lab class today from exhaustion. We fell over on concrete in lab. We were mumbling more time. Two guys were trying to learn English of all things. They were from Middle East and English is hard for them. I put 70 pages of data into excel and coded thirty equations for LVDT linear vibes lab. Tore apart a oxygen concentrator and read a 335 page tech manual. They want us to modify the damn thing in three weeks time or we fail and don't graduate. Thankfully I already did a senior design rocket project last year. This is just busy weed out work. We joked with professors, in ME lab, lab assignments win. Engineering students that had jobs were quitting them because of a lack of time. They gave us so much math crap it ate our time. It was just algebra and units. But you were so over whelmed with 60-70 page instructions and three to six hours of data collection with pages and countless hours of processing it to meaningful math models and statements. We were literally like dude this class isn't doable because of time limits. You don't even finish one lab and three more are assigned. Got two classes left to graduate and I don't know if I'll make it... I've done 14 hour car factory shift, internships that had more free time as full time.
 
I've taken to 10-15 minute segments of rocket time when I come home from work, or before going to bed. It's surprising how much progress can be made with snippets of time. I do have the luxury of leaving my stuff in place on a workbench that my kids can't reach yet :)
 
Sure.
But that is also why this is a hobby, not an obligation.

If higher priorities and obligations get in the way of spending time on rocketry - don't sweat it!
As long as you make at least one launch per calendar year and/or build one new rocket in the similar time frame - you are still in it.

Remember, it's just a hobby!

a

I wish I made that many...its been a couple years, but I'm working on it
 
I had a lot of the same problems so I moved out of the nut farm. I have been in central Texas for a couple of months and you just can't believe the improvement in quality of life once you are out of the loony bin that is SoCal. My local launches are a very nice 40 minute drive on country roads and support up to an M motor. The RC flying field is about 20 minutes (The "official" field; I can fly on my own in any one of dozens of empty fields within minutes of my house). Lakes, fishing, shooting, all within a fifteen minute drive. Slower paced, nicer folks and a lot of open spaces. It's great.

I know it is hard to just pick up and move, but we had finally had enough. We made the move and wonder why we didn't do it sooner...

I just started a new job and it has a lot of perks, plus I need to put some time in before I pick up and go, but when I do I'm going to look for the same type of quality you described.
 
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