What happened to BFRD?

[bfrd]

Hi guys!

Prompted by Scott and others who have provided a year-in-review, I thought I, too, would provide an update. It might explain why you have seen so little of me.

Like so many others, 2020 was a year to forget. It started great. My family and I attended one of the best hockey games, the Winter Classic in Dallas. The first few weeks were fine, but the writing was on the wall as far as COVID goes. Our local government announced a lock-down, and I moved into a home office. Working from home and I don't mix, and my productivity went downhill. Almost immediately after, my wife had to have emergency surgery. For the sake of her privacy, I'll say that there were some severe complications. Luckily, we are almost completely out of the woods with her health, but COVID still looms heavy. She is still immune-compromised, and the threat of either one of us getting sick is constant and unrelenting.

In the middle of that happening, my daughter was graduating high school during a pandemic. This meant that she missed out on the only "fun" parts of high school. It also meant that we had to keep my wife's condition a secret. We told her after her graduation so she could salvage what little was left to salvage. COVID also made her moving away to university a bit interesting.

Work-wise we were implementing a software project that was probably 3 years in the making. Trying to do this with a new staff member who was remote proved challenging. Oh, we also moved office buildings for an added speed-bump.

With life throwing everything it could at me, I could not find any focus on making models. I tried to sit down at the bench but couldn't get my mind in the right place. The Duck was the last thing I built (at least model-wise).

I will possibly embarrass Scott, but he and I chatted quite a bit, and his friendship and compassion helped me through a pretty rough stretch. This hobby and the friends that I have made are amazing. Even though the dumpster fire is still raging outside, at least there is some hope that the flames will be put out soon. I am looking forward to cleaning up my workbench and starting on a new model for the new year. I can't decide what to start on.

[Kevthemodeller]

Matt I'm really pleased to hear from you and glad to hear your good lady is on the mend

I think it's fair to say most of us have felt the fallout from Covid in one way or another and I for one was glad to see the back of 2020, sadly 21 isn't looking good at present but hope is on the horizon. One good thing about our hobby is we can leave it and go back to it at anytime and it's right where we left it

I'm sure you'll be back back at the bench soon enough, best wishes and stay safe mate

[digger303]

Always good to hear some good news.
Looking forward to your builds this year.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Wait, what??
I was helpful???


Ok more serious.
I have made great friends on the forum. Unfortunately the forum is dwindling and losing members
It is far better communication than FB IMHO as you get consistency of work, better contact and good relationships develop.
We need to keep things moving along here as it could easily be taken away from us. So everyone needs to participate more!!! myself included.
I must say Matthew has become a great friend I would otherwise never have met.
Such a stand up guy he could have been Canadian

[DRUMS01]

I second diggers comment...

Its nice to know that this form can be more than just building a model. I knew it in my heart, but it is really nice to hear some confirming remarks. Hey, perhaps we can use this to convince our spouses that this stuff is real therapy.....

Honey, I'm going to the therapist (and then he'd to the modeling table and forum).

Ben

[BigWall]

I'm glad to hear your wife is getting better. It was definitely a bad year but luckily my family has not been effected much. My situation is the opposite of yours. I have the health problems and my wife gets to deal with the mess it creates. Make sure you take care of yourself also. Hopefully you can get back to the bench and get the rest/therapy I'm sure you need.

I agree with the comment of the forum being better than FB. Hopefully it's able to continue on.

[bfrd]

Thanks for the positive comments (although, I wouldn't have expected anything different).