I know that when some people are stressed they eat food. (I know this because I am one of them!). Other people relieve their stress by buying something that they don't need, but which makes them feels good. On my wife's advice I tried this today ... and it worked!
I won't bore you with all the details, but I was supposed to take my father to the hospital today to have his chest X-Rayed ... but when I arrived at his care home this morning he was just too weak and tired as a result of the various ailments that are afflicting him to make the trip, so I cancelled the appointment.
After discussing the matter at some length with the manager of the care home, she contacted the local doctor. The latter prescribed a stronger antibiotic in the hope that this would combat the main infection that my father has, and I took the prescription to the local pharmacy. The pharmacy was unable to dispense the antibiotic immediately, so I went for a short walk around the local shops to fill the time until the prescription was ready to be collected.
A few doors along the road from the pharmacy was a charity shop (it raises money for the local children’s hospice), and in the window was a large box entitled ‘Mini Wheels Military Force’ … so heeding my wife’s advice, I bought it for the massive sum of £5.50.
Although the box is labelled ‘1:72 Scale Plastic Playset’, the stuff inside is a mixture of scales. Most of the vehicles are 1:87th-scale and the aircraft seem to be approximately 1:100th-scale, whereas the figures are 35mm tall. That said, there is enough useful stuff in the box to form the basis of one small modern army (and air force) that I can use with my BIG BOARD PORTABLE WARGAME rules.
I was surprised at how much this single purchase helped to raise my spirits on a day when things otherwise appeared to be quite bleak ... and I will certainly look out for similar things to buy the next time I am feeling stressed by circumstances over which I have little or no control.
As to my father ... well the doctor managed to make a house-call whilst I was still at the care home and it has been decided to see if my father will respond to the new stronger antibiotics he has been prescribed. So for the next few days it is going to be a case of 'wait and see' what happens.
I won't bore you with all the details, but I was supposed to take my father to the hospital today to have his chest X-Rayed ... but when I arrived at his care home this morning he was just too weak and tired as a result of the various ailments that are afflicting him to make the trip, so I cancelled the appointment.
After discussing the matter at some length with the manager of the care home, she contacted the local doctor. The latter prescribed a stronger antibiotic in the hope that this would combat the main infection that my father has, and I took the prescription to the local pharmacy. The pharmacy was unable to dispense the antibiotic immediately, so I went for a short walk around the local shops to fill the time until the prescription was ready to be collected.
A few doors along the road from the pharmacy was a charity shop (it raises money for the local children’s hospice), and in the window was a large box entitled ‘Mini Wheels Military Force’ … so heeding my wife’s advice, I bought it for the massive sum of £5.50.
Although the box is labelled ‘1:72 Scale Plastic Playset’, the stuff inside is a mixture of scales. Most of the vehicles are 1:87th-scale and the aircraft seem to be approximately 1:100th-scale, whereas the figures are 35mm tall. That said, there is enough useful stuff in the box to form the basis of one small modern army (and air force) that I can use with my BIG BOARD PORTABLE WARGAME rules.
I was surprised at how much this single purchase helped to raise my spirits on a day when things otherwise appeared to be quite bleak ... and I will certainly look out for similar things to buy the next time I am feeling stressed by circumstances over which I have little or no control.
As to my father ... well the doctor managed to make a house-call whilst I was still at the care home and it has been decided to see if my father will respond to the new stronger antibiotics he has been prescribed. So for the next few days it is going to be a case of 'wait and see' what happens.
Maybe you should have bought two sets Bob!
ReplyDeleteJim
Jim Duncan,
ReplyDeleteIf they had had two (or more!) I would have bought them! Unfortunately, they only had the one set ... but I shall keep looking for more.
All the best,
Bob
What a great way to start a new period! Now we need stats for Missiles!...and Missile defense systems. and jets!
ReplyDeleteI see sets like this on occasion. I mat have to take the bait.
-Steve
Ooh. There's some useful stuff in the box! Good spot.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
ReplyDeleteNow there has got to be a game or two in that little lot for sure!
Very nice find indeed.
All the best,
DC
Steven Page,
ReplyDeleteIt was an impulse buy ... and I wish I had been able to buy several sets.
I am not sure how I could use the missiles or jet aircraft with the rules as they stand at the moment but ... you never know!
All the best,
Bob
Tim Gow,
ReplyDeleteI will certainly be on the lookout for more sets. In particular the vehicles have a lot of potential as they are generic-looking enough to be almost any nationality in origin.
All the best,
Bob
David Crook,
ReplyDeleteThinking about the wargaming uses I can put the various components to helped me get through what could have been an otherwise very trying day.
All the best,
Bob
Charity shops are goldmines!
ReplyDeleteThe Dancing Cake Tin,
ReplyDeleteA truth that I have discovered today ... and I will be visiting more of them in due course.
All the best,
Bob
Good buy, and good luck!
ReplyDeleteFitz-Badger,
ReplyDeleteThanks ... on both counts!
All the best,
Bob
Bob, just such a purchase can send your game in a fun new direction..I just received a box of plastic WWII infantry from China...at 32mm these strange little guys will have to do service with some odd scaled armour ...but it's all for the sake of the game and when all is said and done a little scale discrepancy is no big deal!
ReplyDeleteLittlejohn,
ReplyDeleteYou are quite right. It is only a game, after all, and who cares if the figures and vehicles are not quite in scale?
The answer is that the people who would care are probably not going to use the rules anyway! (They would be far too lacking in detail to suit their wargaming palates!)
All the best,
Bob
Retail therapy. I've tried it myself occasionally, although that tended to be more a zillion years ago when I was playing chess (chess books) and not wargaming. I think that for L5-50 (roughly $12 in our money, I think), I would have grabbed them myself, whether I was in need of retail therapy or not.
ReplyDeleteSplendid buy brimming with potentialities- can't wait to see what you come up with..
ReplyDelete.
best wishes
Alan
Archduke Piccolo,
ReplyDeleteIn the past I have tended not to buy stuff (other than food) when I am feeling stressed ... with the result that I have little to show for my money except for a larger waistband.
This purchase seemed like such a bargain that buying it made perfect sense ... and even if I don't use all of the stuff in the box, it has given me something to blog about.
I understand that the original box sold for about £20.00 (= US$30.00); even at that price I would have been tempted ... although not quite so much.
All the best,
Bob
Tradgardmastare (Alan),
ReplyDeleteI am not quite sure if I will use everything 'as is' or modify it first. Certainly one or two of the aircraft could do with a bit of a paint job and I am not sure how I am going to use the missiles ... but I can have lots of fun thinking about it.
All the best,
Bob
Sorry to hear about your father's continuing health issues. Some new toys sounds like a better stress break than some other things, and you contributed to charity to boot!
ReplyDeleteMissiles and toy soldiers bring some of my childhood play-sets to mind. Good memories.
-Ross
Ross Mac,
ReplyDeleteI think that the best way to describe my father's condition is that the inevitable is no longer beyond the horizon but on it ... and closing.
The new toys have lots of potential ... and the fact that the money went to charity was a great bonus.
I am not sure what I am going to do with the missiles ... but I am sure that something will occur to me.
All the best,
Bob