First Annual Berny Memorial Group Build

Glad to know you are still alive Mike! It is not like you to not chime in for so long!

Ken

Ouch, good luck with the dishwasher Ken, gee what a hassle.

Recently did a dishwasher and right after a garbage disposal. Disposal was a pain cause the original one was smaller and the original PVC was too short and about 10 degrees off; talk about a pain in the keyster!! Tried using that flex stuff to cheat a little but the SOB leaked like a sieve.Better part of a whole weekend wasted. If I never look underneath the kitchen sink again I’m fine with that.

Kind of a tough weekend. Attended the memorial service for my friend who took his own life. I don’t think it really sunk in until I saw how his family was struggling to accept what happened.

Not much done otherwise.

I’ve done more than my share of dishwashers, disposals, faucets, etc. Never seem to get by without at least two or three extra trips to the hardware store.

Jim: Gee, sorry to hear that. Hope his family are doing ok.

Just to add another slice to the bad news sandwich. Found out yesterday that my partner may have crohn’s disease. She still has to have the tests, but the specialist is 90% sure its that. Its a nasty nasty disease, i watched my best mate wither away and come damn close to dying in hospital because of it. But hes a really severe case where my missus has a middle of the range case.

If your interested have a look here about it.

en.wikipedia.org/…/Crohn&

Hi Jim,

I have never had to go through that. I have lost close friends, but not by their own hands. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling. I hope this sad time passes quickly for you.

Ken

Hi Mike,

That is sad news. I hope that the specialist is 100% wrong. I wish the best for your partner. Keep us informed about what you find out.

Ken

Got a blister once, changing a faucet…

Jim, any reasons why your pal ditched life?

That’s a very serious messed up mind. Any idea why he couldn’t handle that?

The last suicide news I got, an associate’s last message was that he couldn’t

deal with mother’s cancer death. i think that was a headline, not a reason.

I’m dealing with a guy dying of cancer, he is fighting…he knows he

will lose, but Berny fought to the end.

Can’t judge guys, and why they do what they do.

Dom

Mikey;

What a slice;

Life does that to us alright. Many days, it’s all sunshine and normal stuff,

almost boring.

Then the real tags hit us, days of hurt and trouble.

Can’t run from them.

Soldier on Mikey, what else can we do.

Sorry to here about your pal, I lost a pal to cancer, very sick memories,

as you know.

Best,

Dom

Cliff,

Havoc looks great from here!

Love that last sepia shot!

Hey what are those hills in the background?

Dom

I think a big part of it was a failed marriage to the person who was his high school sweetheart, and he also lost his mother an aunt he was very close to just a short time ago as well. Plus, from what I heard, he had battled the demons of depression for a long time. It’s hard to judge somebody until you have walked in his steps. Depression is a tough thing to deal with, and not something one can turn on or off. This is a demon I have fought as well, though I have never had it to the point of wanting to do something like that. It the main reason I stay clear of drinking. I can’t handle the effects it has on my moods. Though it’s hard for me to come to grips with what my friend did, I can understand all too well what took him there.

One of my therapies is to keep busy, with things such as…model airplane building!

Jim

Some days, you run out of things to do, and you think “well, thats it then” i hit that point a few times. Struggled to find a reason to carry on. Im only 27, but ive been through my fair share of depression and crap. Its an insidious nasty horrible disease of the mind. Sometimes you dont realize your depressed until your reaching for the knife.

Its gloomy to talk about. I find the best way to get through it is to think of the last time i smiled.

I’ll try to turn it around here since I seemed to start it off.

Getting closer and closer:

Lots of hardware for my “dump truck” to carry:

I’m adding the Bullpups to the outer pylons, just to add some more interest. An ECM pod probably would have been more appropriate, but…

Epoxied the PE panels to the inside of the avionics bay doors. I’m actually going to paint those to match my bays. PE color seemed too bright to me.

All the gear doors in place finally:

I need to put a drop of clear epoxy where that light should be where you see the silver spot behind the front gear bay. (Behind the shiny black part.

I also decided to close my canopy, but not cement it.There were some clearance issues when I tried to figure how to mount it open. I figure I can always lift it off to show off the cockpit.

I know someone with crohn’s. His seems to be in remission right now and is doing well, though I know he has had a go of it in the past. I hope for the best for your partner, Mikey.

Jim

Ack, that sucks Mike, praying either the diagnosis is wrong or it’s a mild form.

Wish I had something inspiring to say but when life kicks me in the head over and over I refuse to lie down and die. Mostly since that would be allowing life to win and I’m too mean-spirited, cussed, and just plain hateful to let life win. You might screw me over life but you won’t take me down easy you son of something I can’t say on this forum…

Dom: Thanks! I’d be happier with her if I didn’t have to use a paper clip to prop her up but hey- life happens eh?

Jim: She looks better with each photo! The yellow warning stripes are really eye-catching in all that camo green and grey.

Mikey, I have lost 4 people that I knew through suicide and each one was different but all the same in a way. None did I really see coming; they all hid it pretty well. I think everyone has a different breaking point. For some losing their job, others, girlfriend dumps them, whatever. It rarely if ever makes sense to those of us on the “outside” and although I can’t condone it I do understand. Keeping as busy as possible after is a good idea. Okay to remember and think of them but I avoided dwelling on it cause ultimately not something we can see from their point of view…

One last word on it. Heard the best description yet.

Depression is like a tornado, there’s nothing you can do but sit and wait. And finally when the storm is over…You are left with the destruction. The scars on your body, the puffy eyes from crying, the exhaustion from fighting a losing battle. Its consuming.

But on to brighter things. That corsair looks amazing. Ive been wanting to build one for a while, but im not keen on the regular grey and white paint schemes. Theyre so boring.

I hear you Jim:

Sorry to hear a guy lost his childhood sweetheart, doesn’t get more painful than that.

The more I hear about clinical depression, the more I am trending towards the idea that it is psychological in outcome, but has a huge physical imbalance as input. The emotional anguish is often a result of the physical problem.

The perfect storm. Very saddened to hear about your pal Jim.

Also glad to hear you are dealing with your own demons, your work is looking real good, thank gosh for the the airplane kits.

Dom

Mikey:

“Life’s a bowl of s**t, when you think of it.”

I know you’ve had some real downers, but when it gets really bad, you may

want to think about how awful life is for us when you are in the tank.

I always ask myself, in times of doubt, about whether or not I am agreeing with the feeling.

The answer I always get back is that, no, I don’t want to feel this bad, lead me to a better place.

It is a disease of the mind, but that’s the rub, most often it is a physical problem, not caused by emotion, but mind and emotion are the damaged and so we feel sick, experience that emptiness, and anxiety at even living.

Smiling is good, it sends positive signals back into the mind in a reverse-engineering way. Thinking about happiness and all the pleasure we get at a new kit or building fights the demons.

Best not to feed the demons, they want your destruction. Always a good time to build ordnance projects, and send some payment back.[:@][6][:)][:D]

Every time I see my stash, I have to smile.[:D]

Dom

Paper clip?

What paper Clip?..LOL…

In war, paper clips can be the difference between life and death!!!

I love paper clips!![:D]

Cliff, are those Appalachian hills? I am jealous.

Yeah, i agree, even the depressed want to feel good, and I’ld rather fight and be shanked in the ribs than give up myself. When i was a kid, I broke my right radius bone, grean-stick.

the doctor asked me “why are you laughing?” and I answered “because it hurts so much!”

Laughing and crying are physiologically almost identical. Laughing was my way of trying to re-gain control.

nuff said.

Dom