I don't get it?

[littletoes]

uh....maybe I'm crazy...but why buy something when you have no idea-What? Where? Who? Why?....just for the sake of buying???

Hmmmmm.....I've a friend, and maybe it's because he makes too much money...but he buys/builds/pays a gunsmith/mechanic, puts his heart into it....then in a few months/weeks/whatever-sells everything like it meant nothing to him at all, and it doesn't-now, yet then-it was all he talked about, thought about, couldn't get it off his mind!

Kinda crazy, and to even think on it...it just plain seems crazy to me. Like there is some expectation of satisfaction "to come...", yet it never does, so they head on to the next conquest/topic....goal?

Guys, Please! I'm not being onry here, I deifinitly am not trying to be controversial here either. If you can explain the disease to me, it would be interesting to hear.

My "Gun-Buddy" (and he is a good friend!), has since moved on to "cars" now...and has dumped his life into an old Nova....then two of them....then he got a third....and then he sold one off....then the other (never finishing one).....now he is dumping his heart into this third wagon.....1st he starts off "sain"....with it going to be a daily driver....(and I watch it happening again), it's now to become a rod, with all the super-wazoo front end, rear end, engine, ******, etc. With an engine that was going to be the factory 6-banger, then a 300+ HP V-8 327, now its an aluminum blocked 350 with over 500 ponies...

Now, I understand the "Evolution" thing, many have to "build/work" on things till we eventually have either the money, or get to our goal-and yes goals "chang". I understand THAT......yet I know without a doubt IT WILL NEVER GET FINISHED. His "dream" will change yet again, and he will sell it all, after thousands have been invested, and next week it will be something else. The parts will never get installed....it will never run.

Its the buying and selling.....and I don't get it.

It has to be a disease.

When we were shooting competitively-he built hundreds of guns, each one at a time. Had some of the best "equipment" on earth....yet not ONE was ever fired, it ended up sold, and on to the next conquest...he'd even part them out (just like the cars), especially after his Wife would put her foot down, and enough money had been spent....everything would be for sell then, and for a few days he would be sullen.....till the next project-and they would always start out secret, till it went crazy.....

 

[In The Doghouse]

Whew! This is exhausting and I think a symptom of excessive disposable income and/or debt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[larry_g]

I understand this perfectly as I am the same, minus the excess money part. For us it is the journey not the destination that is the important thing. If I develop something a lot of times I will take it to the point of knowing it will work and then never finish it.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[ssentt]

Its called OCD....Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Some have more money to feed the compulsion than others.....thats all. My son went through it with cars and trucks for awhile till he ran out of money. I have it at times too, lately its been ratchets. LOL

 

[DocsMachine]

Why is this even a question? Some of us like the doing as much or even more than the having.

Some of us love working on cars, building a hot engine or fine-tuning a quality suspension, but don't really have the room to store extra cars, or have little or no interest in racing the car. So we build it, drive it for a while, then sell it to help finance the next build.

That's, like, the whole premise behind Krass & Bernie.

Doc.

 

[Trucky]

it is the journey not the destination

Bingo.

I'm currently on screwdrivers... from flashlights (SureFire.. the SO of the flashlight world) and knives (Benchmade... also in a similar position). EDC, yanno?

 

[thinmac]

I don't always have the money to go quite that far, but if I did I think I would do the same thing. As it is I get focused on things for finite amounts of time and then move on, I just don't buy everything I'm reading about.

As you're picking up a new hobby, there's tons to learn. You can read about it on the web, get books, pick the brains of friends who know more, and hang out on forums full of obsessed fanatics. The first time you work on a new car, for example, you have to figure out how each thing goes together, the tricks to make everything easy, and all that. Same thing for firearms (done that one, too) - you can read and read for weeks about the ballistics of common ammunition and only scratch the surface.

Once I've done it once, though, I know how to do it and it's boring. Work is about doing the same thing every day, even if you're lucky and have a job that keeps you thinking. Hobbies, for me, about about trying and learning new things. After I've learned as much as I fee like learning about something there's no point in doing it anymore, so I go find something new to learn about.

 

[ChevyEFI]

Well, is he pulling a profit on the cars? Not a lot of people are good at that. Or the guns?

I'm the exact opposite; I never see selling a car and "growing up" and barely see myself getting a late model. Except for the keeping the wife in one of course.

I can definitely see the "project figured out; fun is gone" factor. Like Larry said, designing something to suit a goal is fun; once you know you can make something no one else has, what's the point unless it is able to be sold profitably?

It's definitely curious to see your friend do the same thing over a long period of time. What changes have you seen, other than the change from arms to cars?

 

[battlegraduate09]

I know people like this. Like mentioned, its the journey. One of my best friends were even so bad that it was the same with girls. He would say whatever they wanted to hear, get them to agree to a date and even if it was ONLY dinner or a movie, he was over it. Said it was the thrill of the hunt that he liked, not settling down. Odd to me because im the opposite. I pour everything i have into my trucks and cars and couldnt sell them if i had to. I run out of room for things quickly.

 

[PugetDude]

Littletoes, for some the journey IS the destination.

 

[Zeke]

Its called OCD....Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Some have more money to feed the compulsion than others.....thats all. My son went through it with cars and trucks for awhile till he ran out of money. I have it at times too, lately its been ratchets. LOL

Or it's a form of ADD. I have that. Used to be I had ADHD, but I got old and it's tough to be hyperactive anymore.

I went (or am going through) a metal working phase. I have always been a metal bodyman on the side, but I decided to get into wrought iron work. Bought a bunch of forming tools, built s few things and I'm not all that interested anymore.

The only way I'm different is that I have little money and I shop the hell out of deals. So, it could take me a year to get all that's on my list. And, I don't sell stuff off easily.

 

[Tarheelgarage]

I know what your buddy is going through as I have had the same problem in the past. It did not deal with tools, cars, etc, but women. I was always trying out the newer, low mileage models while owning an older model.

It came to an abrupt halt when the older model found out about the extended test drive of the younger, high energy model. Cost me many $s and persuaded me to give up that hobby...

 

[woody 73]

I watch this show on tv called fast & loud it is about a man and his partner at least I think that is his partner; anyways he buys cars that they fix and then he flips them.

Now the funny part is sometimes he makes a good profit and other times he ends up losing his shirt in the deal, he kind of reminds me of an obsessive type personality.

Don't get me wrong he enjoys very much what he is doing and he must be making enough money to buy a large shop and have a few full time workers so he is doing something right.

I say if it makes you happy why not go for it, life is too short and before you know it life will come to an end.

 

[treimers]

Or it's a form of ADD. I have that. ...The only way I'm different is that I have little money and I shop the hell out of deals. So, it could take me a year to get all that's on my list. And, I don't sell stuff off easily.

Yup -- that explains it exactly to me -- aside from the fact that this guy has lots of money.

Some ADD folks often will get really really down
into just one thing - pursue it to an incredible degree, then suddenly, like a squirrel, totally drop it for the next thing.

My flavor is more to doing something I don't have full justification for -
Perfect example is this table saw router extension I'm building.

I just want to do it -- partly, because I don't work that well with handheld operations, and because I've got the jonesing for routing things a bit.

But I don't have the justification that some people would need before diving into it, like deciding that before doing the table extension, I have to absolutely have proof that I'm going to do lots and lots of routing work for the next 10 years.

I often start in on something and don't finish it for a long time because I've
gotten distracted by something else.
Point in case, I have a Dunlap grinder torn down right now, but I'm distracted with the router table and a Delta drill press I want to clean up.

Different folks ADD manifests in different ways -- sounds like your friend
has the version that gets him just going absolutely _all the way_ overboard
on something, then BAM, on to the next one.

I know a lot of computer programmers who are that way -- 30-40 hours straight through coding on something, 3 days of sleep, then they never again touch what they just put 30 hours into.... they're on to some new passionate idea, and equally headed to put 30 more hours into never-quite-finishing it.

And it IS 95% ADD -- take it from those of us that have that ability/challenge -- those who do not aren't really qualified to spot it as easily...

 

[littletoes]

Oh yea, you guys have nailed it.

I totally get the building, I enjoy that, but my buddy hires everything out....which I don't get. He talks all about the building, and what he's bought to have installed-to the ninth degree. Then after about nine months or so, it's all for sale.

It's like he's "Burnt-out", and needs money....then comes along the next "thing".

Guess I just got to keep looking past it.....it is hard never seeing anything getting finished, or ever seeing it driven.

 

[4x4gearhead]

I remember reading a long time ago that the way we want things all the time works in such a way that when you want something, the feeling of enjoying whatever it is once you have it only lasts a short time and our brains will just move onto the next thing. I have found this to be kind of true. I see it in most people I know, and of course some way worse than others. I find that sometimes I am this way also, definitely not to the extent your friend is though. To be honest I think its just the way we are.

 

[Steevo]

Over the course of the past 40 or so years, I have pursued a number of hobbies. Some, I dabbled in, and some I immersed myself in, learning everything I could about it and acquiring as much of the necessary paraphernalia as available funds would allow. I have at one time or another had sizable collections of firearms, fly fishing equipment, motorcycles and associated gear, a Jeep and "Jeeping" accessories, radio controlled aircraft, woodworking machinery, etc. If one were to observe from a distance, and compress time, it would probably appear that I jumped into and out of hobbies, and spent too much money on them. In reality, most of the investment rolled from hobby to hobby through calculated buying and selling opportunities, such as a Colt revolver I once purchased for $150, fired a thousand times or so, and traded for two RC airplanes and radios, and boxes of spares and replacement parts, which I flew, crashed, flew some more and sold for $400 (keeping all the spares).

It is the guys with the trailer full of jet skis, another full of snowmobiles, a ski boat, a fifth wheel camper, a tricked out 4x4 truck, a hot rod car, and a garage full of dirt bikes and Harleys that make me crazy. 90% of that stuff is sitting unused at any given time.
In reality,

 

[Glacial_Speed]

Don't let him see the "Vises of Garage Journal" thread.

I suppose it's not entirely normal to sink totally into a project or hobby then sell it off for another in the span of a year or two, but I don't see it as entirely uncommon either.

It's probably better to have a hobby like cars or guns than gambling or drinking.

In some ways I envy his ability to let go and sell off the stuff. I'm not good at letting go of stuff. Things, realistically, I should have sold off five years ago, I still have but just don't want to let go of.

 

[imok]

I have done this with cars, guns, and flashlights, although I do not have excessive amounts of money. As I am getting older I wish I had bought more cars that I wanted. Looking back on life I realize that it has been so short. Everyone should try to do whatever makes them happy.

 

[Givl Reggin]

Looking back on life I realize that it has been so short.

Man, ain't that the truth!

I retired at 45, and now see I should have done it sooner. Not that I didn't enjoy working or the people I'd meet, but I had so many other things I wanted to do (hobbies).

 

[crewchief888]

It is the guys with the trailer full of jet skis, another full of snowmobiles, a ski boat, a fifth wheel camper, a tricked out 4x4 truck, a hot rod car, and a garage full of dirt bikes and Harleys that make me crazy. 90% of that stuff is sitting unused at any given time.
In reality,

i have a couple of buddies like this as well....


1 has a 2nd house, that he rents out,
just to store his "stuff" there, (in the 3 car, 2 story garage, and parking area)
he keeps his tow behind camper, 2, 1 ton PSD's and his harleys at the 2nd house, & parks his 29ft enclosed, car hauler, dump trailer and his motorhome where he works.

i've gone over there several times to scrounge through his "stuff" when i needed something for my s-10 blazer.
i'm always polite,
i give him a call after i get the stuff, and ask what he wants for it.

he still has a fresh BBC sitting on the stand for a truck that he sold to me in '00, as well as the short course off road race truck that was rolled in '01.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I call the affliction the "Shiny Object Syndrome".

 

[imok]

Man, ain't that the truth!

I retired at 45, and now see I should have done it sooner. Not that I didn't enjoy working or the people I'd meet, but I had so many other things I wanted to do (hobbies).

As I got older I felt like working was really interfering with my life, but not having an income would have been a lot worse. I retired at 52 and just hope I can stay healthy now so I can catch up on the hobbies.

 

[03protege]

I was this way about car audio equipment. While collecting gear for my next system build I would sell and "upgrade" what I had waiting to be installed at every chance I got. Probably 6-7 subs, several amps, and a few headunits.

I spent more time without a radio in my car than the awesome sound system I was shooting for.

So stupid, I guess at the time I was just not able to see what was happening.

 

[Givl Reggin]

As I got older I felt like working was really interfering with my life, but not having an income would have been a lot worse.

It takes a lot less "F-U"" money than you think and I spend like a drunken sailor on a 24-hour pass.

 

[treimers]

As I got older I felt like working was really interfering with my life, but not having an income would have been a lot worse. I retired at 52 and just hope I can stay healthy now so I can catch up on the hobbies.

You guys that can retire so young are lucky.

I make pretty good money, but I didn't marry at 18, didn't find the right one until I was 46, so now at 50 years old, I have a 5 and 7 year old.

I'll still be working hard trying to find $$big-money$$ for the college education that will be _required_ to make a living in another 25 years in this country.
The jobs/pay graphs over the last 30 years tell the story -- in this last recession, only those with college educations kept their income going level.
more than 90% of those without college lost income.
And of course, in reality we all lost income as compared to rise in cost of living, unless we're in the 1%er crowd. Most of us (who didn't do a term in Congress and get free healthcare for life) saw our healthcare costs skyrocket more than 400% in just three years, as we all pay for those people who don't carry insurance and just use the hospital ER as their doctor, and our insurance.


I'm not going to be able to 'retire' at 45, 50, or anything close to it.
I'm a professional IT engineer, but there's no retirement after 20 years in
with 100% pay and full medical bennies like so many in the unions or military get.

Never made $55 an hour with full medical for my grandchildren either, like so many in the auto factories or other unions did in the 70s (not that it's so good there, now)
That was the day, when 20-25 years could set you AND your entire family on easy street... those days are gone to the 1%ers now...