Renovations

[Visionary (David)]

We are in the throws of some dramatic renovations. Some old termite damage has necessitated the replacement of the entire kitchen floor, joists & all! That isn't my story....
My wife has been moving a lot of "stuff" after one particularly heavy day she said, "David, I knew you had a goodly collection of Astronomy gear, but I had no idea how much you actually had"! I store all the packaging/marketing-stuff for my Astro gear in a dehumidified cupboard, so that if I ever need to sell the gear the packaging is there & two the packaging is in excellent condition. A similar strategy is used for the gear itself, but it's stepped up a notch and stored within airtight Pelican cases with dehumidifying gel.
Of course, my Wife's shock was due to the fact that in her eyes there appeared to be twice as much Astro gear than I actually own, she had counted every box twice! Has anyone else gone through the mortifying experience of their better half discovering just how much Astro gear you have accumulated?

[doppler (Rick)]

Mine has only seen a third of my astro stuff at a single time and thinks its way too much. I have them spread around in cupboards and sheds, all the scopes look the same to her so unless we move she will never know.

[_Jimmy (Loren James)]

You know how you have those days where you just notice something. It's been there for ages but you are only just noticing now.

That was my experience for the better half. I stated the year with x equipment then 8 months down the track it's like I just went on a spending spree over the last week

I guess that's similar to yours counting everything twice and realising its a lot anyway.

[Visionary (David)]

Originally Posted by _Jimmy

You know how you have those days where you just notice something. It's been there for ages but you are only just noticing now.

That was my experience for the better half. I stated the year with x equipment then 8 months down the track it's like I just went on a spending spree over the last week

I guess that's similar to yours counting everything twice and realising its a lot anyway.

Yes, even at 1/2 it's still way too much

[Sconesbie (Scott)]

I saw something once that said "when I die, I'm frightened my wife will sell my fishing gear for what I told her I paid for for it". Same goes for astro gear I suppose.

[xelasnave]

I thought marriage was a meeting of minds and a sharing of all things.
Why the need to hide anything from ones partner?
I hope none of you call upon her to be frugal so as to provide savings that finance hobby purchases.
I am thinking of a chap who held his family to a very tight budget yet he raced motor cycles as a hobby and now he is a lonley old man.
alex

[Wavytone]

I have three principles:

- if something comes in, something else must go - of similar size. We live in an big apartment and thankfully have a big storage cage but even so, space is finite.

- The LEAN principle: stuff that isn't being used after a month goes to storage. What hasn't been used in a year goes out, either to family, a worthy cause, or sold.

- Wavy's Corollary - the scope you use is the one to keep. What isn't used must go while its worth something. This applies to mounts, tripods and eyepieces (at one point the tripods were breeding downstairs, I swear).

Wife had noticed I was buying gear but also realised I was selling everything else to buy the "scope of a lifetime" when that became available. I have since added a note to my will so she will know what its really worth and how to sell it if need be.

[doppler (Rick)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

I hope none of you call upon her to be frugal so as to provide savings that finance hobby purchases.

Mine is a garage sale addict she spends more than me (with my astro purchases) on "bargains" that she doesn't really need, but she can't understand why I "need" so many different scopes when one should be enough. At least we are both happy with what we do.

Originally Posted by Wavytone

- The LEAN principle: stuff that isn't being used after a month goes to storage. What hasn't been used in a year goes out, either to family, a worthy cause, or sold.

You must get a lot of good weather there, we go for months on end here without any scope time.