I got my first dirty look from the wife on a Model Train purchase.

[eja]

... she encourages me to make it as simple and small as possible, looking forward to ease of maintenance in my super senior years, which seems reasonable.

A warning .. if you think you will have more time to work on the RR after you retire ... well do not count on it !!

[peteski]

Peteski--There's an old Country Western song about the perfect relationship, "Live close by.....visit often."

Yup - that works really well!

[ednadolski]

"Live close by.....visit often."

"... and leave early." 

Ed

[peteski]

"... and leave early." 

Ed

Neah, you got it all wrong.  Not "leave early", but "spend the night".    But I guess that can also mean "leave early", as in "early in the morning". 

I don't know if mods are watching, but this thread is a perfect Crew Lounge material.

[woodone]

LAN, your first bad look from your wife?
You must be new to model railroading ?
I get one about once a week. LOL

[robert3985]

Been single now for over 25 years.  Best friends with my ex (100% Platonic).  We share our Grandma and Grandpa duties and she doesn't give one whit about my model railroad activities or expenses, and I don't care that she's at church five times a week doing whatever.

Perfect!   

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[wm3798]

I had a great layout in the attic when I was married, because I couldn't stand being downstairs. 
Now I have a mediocre layout in the corner of my office, and she notices when I make progress on some bit of it, usually to quiz me about what work I was procrastinating when I ballasted that stretch of track, or painted that building.

All in good fun.

Last winter, she took up making hand crafted soap, and it took about 6 weeks for her to outspend me on what I had accumulated over 8 years.  And her soap racks, materials storage, and show displays take up about three times as much room as my hollow core door!

As for new purchase reactions, N scale will always have the advantage of fitting into a brief case, or a coat pocket.  And since I work from home, I pick up the mail, so many, many small boxes just disappear before anyone gets home from work!  Plus, I usually have to step over large boxes on the front stoop that are full of soap molds, buckets of oil, and other such things, so all's fair in love and war!



And we've been happily not married for 8 years now.  Seems to me that even when co-habitating, keeping the arrangement more or less voluntary makes for a much more convivial and respectful relationship. 

Lee

[Point353]

Last winter, she took up making hand crafted soap, ...

Here's a soap "recipe" for her to try: https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/pine-tar-soap-recipe/

[learmoia]

SO I told my wife about this thread, and she laughed.....
"I didn't care that you bought it.. I just thought it was weird that you bought something just for the box"

Anytime I ask her about making a big Model Train purchase usually >$1,000.. her only question is: "Are all of the bills going to be paid at the end of the month?"

~Ian

[ednadolski]

Not "leave early", but "spend the night". 

Ryby i goście pachną po trzech dniach.

Ed

[peteski]

Ryby i goście pachną po trzech dniach.

Ed

Ewwww!  Gross!  We do take showers you know. 
And you probably meant śmierdzą not pachną.  One of the nuances of the Polish language.

[ednadolski]

Ewwww!  Gross!  We do take showers you know. 

I think it's more about guests getting on the nerves of the hosts.

And you probably meant śmierdzą not pachną.  One of the nuances of the Polish language.

Quite possible, I just go thru the translator.  What are the meaning and correct usages of each?

My mother-in-law was a native Pole (she and her husband escape Poland during the war) but she is gone for some time now.   My father was second-generation American, and he would speak some Polish when I was small.  So I've heard a little, but never used it much, or learned how to write it.

Ed

[Maletrain]

Gotta be careful with those automatic language translators - they can really screw-up idioms and colloquialisms.  I wonder if they will someday create a misunderstanding that actually starts a conflict.  Taking professional humans out of the picture of inter-cultural interactions and substituting the Internet and Facebook with "regular people" sounds like the recipe for unnecessary incitement.

[peteski]

I think it's more about guests getting on the nerves of the hosts.

Quite possible, I just go thru the translator.  What are the meaning and correct usages of each?

My mother-in-law was a native Pole (she and her husband escape Poland during the war) but she is gone for some time now.   My father was second-generation American, and he would speak some Polish when I was small.  So I've heard a little, but never used it much, or learned how to write it.

Ed

As I understand your statement in English is "Fish and guests stink after (hanging around) for three days".

The word "pachną" means "smell", which us usually used for pleasant or neutral smells.  So while I understand what you were saying, a much better word to use in that statement would be "śmierdzą", which means "stink" (very specifically an unpleasant smell).  Like I said, a small nuance.

Maybe before translation your English version was "fish and guests smell after three days" instead of "fish and guests stink after three days".  I suspect the 2nd version would have been translated better.  But in English the word "smell" is often used to describe stench (not so in Polish).

[parkrrrr]

Maybe before translation your English version was "fish and guests smell after three days" instead of "fish and guests stink after three days".  I suspect the 2nd version would have been translated better.  But in English the word "smell" is often used to describe stench (not so in Polish).

It's an aphorism from Ben Franklin: "Fish and visitors stink after three days."