I have to give a big ditto on the photos. Many are the times when I thought well that joint or seam is good to my old eyes. Then I took a photo and the Grand Canyon appeared. Back to the putty and sanding stick again. And the use of a flash or fill flash can really pick up flaws. Sometimes it has taken three or more attempts to get something looking right. So the camera has become yet one more tool in my modeling efforts.
Well I revisited my eye specialist early this AM, some thirty days after the events started, and here it is 6 PM and I still can't see good without some fuzziness, and pupils are still like saucers, but I've been blessed in that my sight is going to be okay to the point of no, or very minimal loss. No retinal damage and things seem to be very slowly healing up to the point that the episodes of flashing LEDs in the corner of the one eye have almost abated. Asked the Doc about what could be done to prevent this, thinking of the other eye, and he flatly stated "Don't Get Old"!! So I will be staying with N Scale but the Nn3 endeavors are still up in the air. May end up, if at all with a simple mine run, from mine to ore processor, with a single loco and some ore cars. All run off a 9 volt battery and a small homemade throttle if I do it at all. Being laid up the time hasn't gone to waste in that I pretty much have established the retirement layout plan and still doing some adjustments to it. I've also taken the time to start going through the structures I have and sorting out those structures that are just too big, or won't work on the layout. And have managed to thin down the collection to the point that I now have one large Rubbermaid tote that is empty. I also have gone through some of my small loco and critter collection and thinned out what won't make it through a turnout, and totally scrapped one of my modules, only saving parts that could be re-used later. In short I have done some serious thinking about the what and where I'm doing and going and getting a lot leaner and meaner, and trouble free. Some of my early steam will get eventually scrapped, mostly Bmann stuff, and the motors, crank pins, etc., will get put in the parts box. I will also end up eventually thinning out my diesel fleet down to the best performing, pretty much leaving me with the 1st generation Kato Fs, Atlas RS units, and LL FAs and SWs. I know it goes contrary to the theory that the one who has the most toys when they pass but I've decided that I don't need more than enough to populate the layout, either as all steam or diesel, or a combination of both. Some of the excess, if it is in decent shape, will probably get put up for sale here. A number of building kits that I figure are excess, I'll probably eventually donate to Trainboard to put up for auction to raise funds. So as I slowly get back into the swing of things it will be with a complete sea change so to speak.
John - I'm pleased that your eyesight is going to be OK. Having been through an eyesight scare myself, I can relate to the good feeling that things aren't as bad as they might have seemed. Wishing you continued good fortune, Jeff
Hooray. Great news, John. We'll be looking forward now to further adventures coming from your modeling bench!
Great news, John! I have developed gelatinous masses in the vitreous of both eyes. They make almost every daily activity difficult. It's like looking at the sky through rapidly moving clouds. They may resolve over time, but it's been three years now. After Kay's problems with a detached retina, which led to the loss of most of the vision in one eye, I am not about to have a vitrectomy. I have been frustrated beyond words these years but will continue as it is not the size, but the disturbances in my vision. Getting old was great until the last few years.
Thanks all for the kind comments the last month or so. But probably for the better it has forced me to rethink my directions and what I was slowly leaning toward is becoming reality as I stated in the post. One of my questions to the Doc was will the other eye follow this one. And it is almost a 100% certainty that it will, just when. Hopefully I will be a lot better prepared for that happening and hopefully get through it okay. As far as pending projects I have three kits dug out of my storage box that have potential for the next layout. The Walthers Service Tank Structures kit will become the marine fuel depot, and a Bachmann Plus Coaling and Sand Complex will get built as I am very unhappy with the quality of several coaling towers I have that were pre-assembled, or should I say glue thrown at the parts, and the parts thrown at each other in assembly. Last is a small mill that I got at a white elephant table that seems to have a small enough footprint to be used. Even though I'm thinning a few of my critters out, mostly older small steam, I plan on building one more with my remaining Kato 11-105 chassis and that will be a self propelled weed sprayer that I have a few photos of in one of my SP&S books. I've got some new steamers setting in a box that are just awaiting decals, or a tender change, but I don't anticipate doing much more this year other than modifying a few structures. I still have an urge to recreate my first N scale steamer which was a docksider 0-4-0 converted into a cab forward. And the upgrading of the Bmann 4-4-0s to better pick-up remains on the burner. However once I see the results of the new Atlas 4-4-0 loco that may get dropped and those scrapped. I have detail parts on those including modified MT pilots that will get tranferred to the Atlas locos.
I was sorry to hear this, Pete. I wondered why I wasn't seeing so much of your work lately. By gelatinous masses do you mean floaters? I get those. They do seem to come in cycles. I know, age sneaks up really fast. I've been having trouble with my eyes, as I said before--a lot of my modeling the last couple of years is done in kind of a haze and only when I photograph it can I see it really well--but this week things are suddenly getting a lot worse. I just finished two months in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, and maybe that's why I'm suddenly having so many problems. If so, hopefully I'll get better over the next couple of months.
Chaya, Thanks for your concern. These are what I'd call "super-floaters." They occupy fully one-third or more of the visual field in each eye, apart from the other large floaters that I've had since I was a child. One in my right eye is anchored at one point, so it sweeps across my vision when I read. I don't know if the anchor point makes it a floater or some other defect. The left eye one is just a large blob. When the two coincide over my centers of acuity, I have trouble, especially when driving. My doctors and I are waiting to see if one or both will re-absorb. My decreased activity is first due to an unexpected divorce, then a new love, and a move from Albuquerque to southwestern Ohio. The layout eventually came with me, in pieces, to be fit in a larger space. As I have said, I bought a 2000 square foot train room that happened to have a house on top. But then more life events intervened, and my partner Kay inherited two houses in northern Alabama, and one in New Orleans (along with a host of southern cousins she'd never heard of, and wanted a piece of the estate.) We are still in the process of deciding where to put the old/new layout, and where exactly we want to live. And then Kay had some serious health problems beyond the problems with her eye. Second, I've been trying to see if a business venture building N-Scale ships will be viable. I'm about ready to introduce the line, which I promised for July. So I've been building masters, making molds, casting parts--and generally getting frustrated about manufacturing problems that keep cropping up. As I said earlier, if this were easier, a lot of people would be doing it. I am determined to see this through. Third, the decrease is also due to my growing disinterest in forums. This is not a criticism of Trainboard, but each forum has its own special interests and character. I'll PM you about how the Hitler/Bachmann controversy started a downward spiral for me (thanks for your public support, BTW). I WAS spending too much time on forums, and not enough time on modeling or other aspects of my life. Hyperbaric treatment of that length is usually for very serious conditions. I hope you are OK!
We spent four years living in Northern Alabama (Huntsville). Having lived all of our lives in the west (64 years for me) we looked at it as an adventure. The people were wonderful. It is lush and green. On the negative side, it is the black hole of model railroading, especially N scale. Once a month I drove 2 hours and 10 minutes to an op session. Then he moved to Mobile, 5 hours away. My LHS was Trainmaster in Buford GA, 5 hours away. Now I'm back in Colorado, like a pig in mud.
