Thinking about RC

[Badcrumble 4203]

It is said that men think about a certain subject every few seconds, however, while I wait for my wife and son to get changed after his swimming lesson I have been doing my usual catch up on RC forum updates.

It struck me (not for the first time) that I spend more time thinking about RC rather than actually doing anything.

This morning I have already run through elements of my

- M05-RA next steps

- TL01 pick-up (been on hold since last summer)

- Scratch build truck (been amassing parts and think it through since last May)

Thinking  back, yesterday I considered the state of my son’s Dual Hunter, dampers on my M04, a stretch CR-01 and my wife’s Mini build.

Is this common amongst TCers?

Or do you only think about RC when you sit down to do it?
Or does the thinking about it decrease if you actually DO something?!!!

[Re-Bugged 10147]

Yep, I can relate. I also spend a lot of time thinking about doing (RC stuff that is 😉).  Trouble is I’m very time poor to actually get things done. I tend to jot down ideas in a note pad at work otherwise it’s long forgotten before I get to it. 
Looking on positive side though thinking is free. 

[Superluminal 3750]

Mostly for me, more thinking leads to more spending money .

[futureworks 864]

52 minutes ago, Superluminal said:

Mostly for me, more thinking leads to more spending money .

Yup, that’s about the size of it. To much thinking about RC leads me to creating new ideas, followed by research, and then spending! I end up with too many projects conceived and/or ready to get going, and very little time actually doing the doing!

a very relatable topic, thanks @Badcrumble

[Juls1 1661]

I spend more time thinking rc and spending money on it than actually tinkering, and I spent 10x more time tinkering than driving... soooo.... yeah. If I didn’t want to think or tinker I’d buy more rtr stuff. Tamiya was my first 3 RC’s so regardless of how crap Tamiya stuff can be, I still love it for the tinkering. 

[Badcrumble 4203]

2 hours ago, futureworks said:

Yup, that’s about the size of it. To much thinking about RC leads me to creating new ideas, followed by research, and then spending! I end up with too many projects conceived and/or ready to get going, and very little time actually doing the doing!

a very relatable topic, thanks @Badcrumble

This has been me up until recently.

I have gone beyond a tipping point, now I find it easier to say ‘no’ to myself on new projects, I have so many queued up.

@Re-Bugged, I have paper lists, emails I myself, notebooks and Excel sheets.

All good fun!

[SuperChamp82 743]

Thinking x booze x eBay = paying over x 4 

Thinking - booze x eBay = regrets / 4 

Thinking alone ? All good 😬

Until booze ...

[KEV THE REV 2319]

I tend to think about work and RC things when I go to bed as it is very peacful and quiet so I can get some clear thinking time . There is also the walk round the supermarket on shopping day - plenty of time to zone out and tune in to RC thoughts until the inevitable reality check of "do we need toilet rolls" or something similar

[Fabia130vRS 2098]

It starts my creative thinking, if I dont have to figure something unique on my rc cars it is really calming. Mostly if something need to be done which is not ‘as per manual’ it gets usually exhausting until I actually get to do it, and then while I am at it, a new idea comes to my mind.

 

so basically if something is on the ‘To Do list’ I think about it all the time, as for example, I find myself in a hardware store buying house goods... I usually first check up if there is anything I could use on my RC cars, second the priority why I came to the hardware store. 
 

TC made me do it... until I met all the champs here, it wasnt like this. 

[toyolien 4680]

I'm glad it's not just me that has projects and parts for projects queuing up! I also have notepads and spreadsheets with part numbers on for various builds. It's all good fun, and I find it quite therapeutic.

[Big Jon 684]

I do this for a living. 

I think about RC a lot.

[Juggular 4964]

At some point, there will be so many projects, you won't know what to think anymore.  

Even befuddled by RC is a part of the hobby. 

 

[ALEXKYRIAK 1046]

2 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

I find myself in a hardware store buying house goods... I usually first check up if there is anything I could use on my RC cars, second the priority why I came to the hardware store. 

Wow LOL this is sooo true. 😆  I’ve actually forgotten to buy the thing I went there in the first place for because of this... ‘condition’. 

[Re-Bugged 10147]

4 hours ago, KEV THE REV said:

"do we need toilet rolls" 

If there’s women in the house you can never have to many toilet rolls 👍🏻

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

6 hours ago, Badcrumble said:

This has been me up until recently.

I have gone beyond a tipping point, now I find it easier to say ‘no’ to myself on new projects, I have so many queued up.

@Re-Bugged, I have paper lists, emails I myself, notebooks and Excel sheets.

All good fun!

Yes!  I have some spreadsheets of inventory, planned chassis-body pairings for the future, parts shortages, parts to watch for, etc.

When my wife and I go to the local bookstore I usually wander over to the magazine rack and browse through all the hot rod and muscle car magazines looking for inspiration for future paint jobs.

I work for a 1:1 vehicle OEM now, so sometimes I daydream about Tamiya releasing models of our future products; they already have a few of ours in production now.

[ACCEL 2014]

If aint buildn i aint happy!

[Saito2 6686]

9 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

If there’s women in the house you can never have to many toilet rolls 👍🏻

The good part is if you take the leftover cardboard "spools" and cut them in half, they make good stands to elevate your shelfers thus preventing tire flat spotting.

It would be easier to list the times I not thinking about RC. Its always in the back of my mind somewhere, waiting to be called to the front the second my direct attention isn't required. You'd be surprised what you can accomplish when your mind is on something else, lol. Its probably the last thing I think about at night and the first thing I think about in the morning if nothing more pressing is happening. RC thoughts are also a "safe place" for my mind to reside, which reduces stress.

[KEV THE REV 2319]

17 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

If there’s women in the house you can never have to many toilet rolls 👍🏻

Boy you said it :)

[markbt73 5316]

I'm constantly thinking about my hobbies, not just RC, at least on some level. It keeps my mind occupied and focused, so I don't wander off mentally. Thinking about stuff I want to do later, while I'm doing things I have to do, makes it easier to focus on what I'm actually doing, strange as that sounds. If I'm not looking forward to something, I get cranky and bogged down thinking about how much I don't want to work and actually get less done.

A friend of mine who is similarly afflicted put it best a couple of years ago: my mind is like an excitable puppy. You can train it to do what you want, but you have to give it plenty of acceptable toys to play with, or else it will start chewing on the furniture.

RC cars are a great hobby to have for someone like me, because they're so intricate and inherently mechanical. You can spend a lot of time tinkering with stuff in your mind without ever turning a screwdriver. This is especially true of the older designs, with their mechanical weirdness and their higher parts counts.

But I'm also rediscovering the joys of static model building, and the patience and focus required to do it right. I find that I really enjoy getting lost in all the little details, and once I get going, I can get an almost meditative state, where everything else just slips away. (At least, until some part doesn't fit right, or I discover that I don't have a certain color of paint that I need...)

But yeah, the wheels are always turning, so to speak.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Just got out of a boring status meeting at work; most of the time I was thinking about different shades of paint and chrome effects for the next body shell...

Email on my phone tells me some of my most recent parts purchases have shipped...

#rclife

[KEV THE REV 2319]

14 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

so I don't wander off mentally

I mentally wander off quite a bit

[Badcrumble 4203]

2 hours ago, markbt73 said:

my mind is like an excitable puppy. You can train it to do what you want, but you have to give it plenty of acceptable toys to play with, or else it will start chewing on the furniture.

...You can spend a lot of time tinkering with stuff in your mind without ever turning a screwdriver.

I think that nails it for me. My work goes through quiet spells - it is either boom or bust. Today was a bust in the afternoon so I spent my time listing tasks on a number of builds. The good thing was, I didn’t spend anything (though I came close).

[Re-Bugged 10147]

On 2/17/2020 at 7:42 PM, Saito2 said:

The good part is if you take the leftover cardboard "spools" and cut them in half, they make good stands to elevate your shelfers thus preventing tire flat spotting.

 

I just need to get to them before our Mini Fox Terrier does though, she loves running around the house with one in her mouth or playing catch with it. Fortunately she doesn't chew them  but they do end up a bit soggy to be able to hold up an RC car 

[Saito2 6686]

Our Airdale Terrier did the same thing bitd. Is it bad my eyes saw the words "Mini Fox" in your post first and instantly began thinking Tamtech Foxes and Mini 4wd Foxes from Tamiya?