Addiction – Elevators in the Kitchen

Elevators in the kitchen.

“Addiction is the continued repetition of a behavior despite adverse consequences, or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors” according to Wikipedia.  Wikipedia of course, is the ultimate source for all that is true in the universe, so we must believe this to be correct.  But, we are not here to debate the qualities of online information sources, we are here to talk about trains.

According to the definition, I am addicted.  I continue to assemble railroad structure kits, despite the adverse consequences – the breaking of fragile parts as they are cut off the sprue, glue were there shouldn’t be glue, losing a critical small part into the carpet..  I continue to install and purchase decoder equipped locomotives, only to have to tinker with the sound settings and sometimes even the wheels and trucks so that they perform as they should..  You get the idea.  We all face similar issues yet continue to repeat our behavior of indulging in model railroading.  Apparently, addiction can be enjoyable – something Wikipedia left out of their definition!

Withdrawal goes hand in hand with addiction.  This is not to be confused with social withdrawal, withdrawal of funds from your bank, or that other withdrawal that supposedly decreases the chance of impregnating your female partner.  No, I am talking about the withdrawal symptoms that occur when you are not able to indulge in something you enjoy – like your favorite hobby.  Merriam-Webster defines this kind of withdrawal as “the syndrome of often painful physical and psychological symptoms that follows discontinuance of an addicting drug.”

“Where is he going with all this?,” you may be asking.  I had to stop and think about it myself.  What started me on this rant was I am unable to visit my layout right now because of recent orthopedic surgery.  The layout is downstairs and I am upstairs, and right now this is a fairly substantial barrier.  So, to keep from going into withdrawal of the kind I’ve quoted from Merriam-Webster, I am working on assembling various kits at my kitchen table (in between frequent visits to lay down and elevate my foot).

My wife is none too happy having to share our kitchen table with my glue, paints, tools and kits, but she does realize it is temporary.  In fact, she has made it quite clear that it is temporary.  “As soon as your foot heals, this is all going back to the basement!”   I can’t wait to get back down there myself, and put my elevators and other assembled kits on the layout, where they belong.

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