Losing grip – corona edition
Corona edition it is, and no beer joke about it.
A couple of weeks ago, I thought about it, but decided not to comment too much on the ongoing pandemic in this column. Since corona is all over the news, and all over everything, I wanted to keep this column clean – sterile, if you get my drift. Well, today it is gloves and face mask off, time to get dirty. Figuratively speaking, of course. I will address this elephant in my room, and then be done with it.
I once wrote that I ”My main purpose of writing today’s column is simple: to raise money. It works like this: I write columns, I get paid, I can then use said money to buy stuff.” Well, let me tell you, after more than forty columns under my belt, and less spare time than I used to have, the money I make writing this column just doesn’t cut it anymore. Not by themselves, they don’t make it worthwhile. There’s only so many hours in a week, a lot of things that I need to do, and a lot of things that I want to do.
When I first started writing, I was eagerly hoping and almost expecting that I would get a lot of stuff for free. That certainly was a motivator, the thought of getting boxes of shiny stuff without having to pay for them. Well, that hasn’t happened yet, and although there’s still hope, that hope doesn’t keep me writing anymore.
Drifting truly is a lot of fun and a great way to relax, but since I started writing this column, I actually drift less. It’s very simple: some of the time I used to spend driving, I now have to spend writing. I do both in my spare time, so if I spend more time on one, there’s less time for the other. Hence, the actual drifting as such, does not keep the column going.
My regular job, is in intensive care and anesthetics. The covid-19 virus hasn’t really taken off where I live, but we have every reason to expect that it will be very, very, very busy within the next few weeks. We are already short on face masks, and so have started to wear military issue gas masks around covid patients. It’s bizarre. It has nothing to do with this column. My column doesn’t help my work in any way, or the other way around. Drifting is a good way to let go of some steam though.
In short: there’s a lot of reasons not to spend time writing this column. Then why do it? I have actually thought about it, and it boils down to two things.
First, I want to give something back. RC cars, in all their different guises, have brought me and my kids a lot of joy. First when I was a kid myself, and the last couple of years as a daddy with children of my own. I have gotten a lot of help from different forums, and I have been an avid reader of BigSquid for a couple of years now. Still am. When I first started discussing this column with Brian, I said that I wasn’t an expert, but an enthusiast, and that is still true. Cubby is an expert, and so are Jeremy and Doug. I am not, but I do love the hobby, and am a decent writer. And that, I believe, is the little something that I can give back to the great RC community: a couple of minutes of reading enjoyment every week. A small bit of uncomplicated fun. No input needed, no questions asked. You’re welcome, and I hope you enjoy it.
Secondly, and that reason is recent: to maintain a semblance of normal, in a world that is everything but. With this pandemic turning a lot of lives upside down, people being asked to self isolate, and jobs being lost, I believe a lot of us just want things to return to normal again. We appreciate what still is normal more than ever before. To me, part of normal, is BigSquid. It’s one of the very few (three) sites I have checked on just about every day for the past couple of years, and I like to think that’s true for quite a few people out there. Right now, BigSquid and its columns, is a bit of normal, in an otherwise crazy world. To make it stay that way, I keep on drifting, and I keep on writing. I enjoy drifting, I enjoy writing, and I hope you enjoy the column.
Stay safe.
PS. Thumbs up for the Pro-Line face shield!
To read another column, one that is actually on the topic of RC, click the link.
