Why Blog?

For the past year, I've spent a solid chunk of time reading other people's blogs.  I really enjoy reading each story about how their layouts and other projects come together.  Recently I came across a blog post written by Chris Abbott, see the link below.

http://bobcatts2bits.blogspot.ca/2008/11/tinkerers-tale.html

This post got me thinking a lot about why I am writing a blog, probably because I draw a lot parallels with my own work.  My best quality with my builds is starting new projects, and my worst quality is finishing them.  I have probably dozens of projects in various states of completion.  Often, I will work on something until I hit some form of a sticking point, at which point it usually goes back in a box to sit.  Both projects I have presented thus far here have been in the works for more than a year, the SD40-2 for at least two.  In actually, its rare I actually finish a project.  A big reason I started this blog is to help create a form of accountability in regards to finishing stuff.

My second best quality is accumulating stuff.  In his blog Chris reflects on issues regarding his space constraints.  This connects with me as I currently face a space crunch as well.  When we moved into our current house last year, I had a large space for a layout and workshop.  However this summer my wife started a business that now occupies what was to be the train room.  Don't get me wrong, this arraignment was agreed on, there was not a hostile takeover.  There is space elsewhere in the house I can use, but is fairly full with stored items, so I have the opportunity in the future to build a layout.  In the meantime, I am stuck working out of boxes on whatever convenient space I can find.

The third major factor Chris discussed is time availability.  Time for hobbies is something I don't have much of.  With a full time job, helping my wife with her business, and raising my three year old daughter fills up the hours pretty effectively.  However, I try to make time when I can.  I also try share my interests with my daughter, building trains might catch on after all.

EMD's latest model, the offroad SD40-2

So hopefully this post will give you a little insight into my purpose of this blog.  Please feel free to comment or ask questions.  These sort of "philosophy" posts may happen from time to time, but they aren't something that will appear frequently.  As a final parallel with Chris' post, is for me, this blog is for me as much as its for anyone else.