When you have 'too many Telescopes' ....

[Alan White]

Last light while eating Dinner, dear Mrs W suddenly took stock of just how much Astro Kit was sat in the Dining Room, My bad on that one!
It was pronounced 'You have too many Telescopes' and I think you should sell some...... which was greeted by shock on my part and a look of slight panic.

The recent aquisition of Big Red, so close to the Vixen SD103, both collection trips that Mrs W joined me upon have seeded this train of thought.

I have to say having two 103 sized scopes is clearly a bit odd, but driven by circumstances, but really everything else has its place.
I forsee that the Khazi must grow to store (aka hide) these treasures from the accounting person at home.

I never buy without discussion, never hide anything, we do open and honest and only buy if I have the money and its not needed for anything else,
but sometimes bringing it all together can be a bit risky!

I presume others have found themselves with such a proclamation and how have you dealt with it, more for everyones entertainment than anything else now...

 

[Alan White]

And after posting, I have just realised she missed the Eyepieces in that accounting.......
Runs to hide things in cupboard from Dining Room.... 🤣

[Simon Pepper]

Yep! Just the other day the wife asked that question about how much money I have spent on AP gear and to her horror it was more than the kitchen which included a wall down here and there! Needless to say she was not best pleased with this and has caused some tension! I am now in a position where any new first lights can no longer be shared on the gram as she has full visibility of that. She has also demanded that we finally roll our incomes into one which is probably long overdue I have just been putting that off 😂

[Swoop1]

The age old quandry- how many scopes/ eyepieces/cameras does an astronomer need?

Two answers-

a) N+1 where N is the number of scopes/ eyepieces/cameras owned by the astronomer 

b) S-1 where S is the number of scopes/ eyepieces/cameras that would cause the astronomers Significant Other to kick them out of the house.

I could not possibly advise as to which is your correct answer....

[cajen2]

No, most of us have "not enough telescopes"! 😉

[Stu1smartcookie]

Alan , i now feel responsible 😃.. please  tell Mrs W that i had absolutely NO part in it and i was forced to sell Big Red to you .. you can sweeten it by saying no money was actually involved changing hands in person . After all online payments don't count .... do they ? lol 

 Sometimes feel a little guilty when i look at what i've bought and changed , but , i always try to square it by letting Mrs Smartcookie know she can always buy what she wants ... be it a new frac , newt or mak ... i'm not fussy 😃

[Carbon Brush]

27 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Runs to hide things in cupboard from Dining Room.... 

Yet another reason for building an observatory🤣

[Mr Spock]

You'll have more room for the scopes when she moves out... 

[Coco]

My wife asked what that central heating boiler was doing in the garage pointing at my solid tube 12" dob.

[Saganite]

My wife and I have separate bank accounts from which we feed the joint account, so the questions never arise.

I culled my telescope collection last summer, from  five down to two by choice,  and I feel much happier about it. Both scopes are now permanently mounted so I no longer need to agonise over which to use....🙂

[Elp]

How many shoes do they own?

[Telescope40]

1 minute ago, Elp said:

How many shoes do they own?

You beat me to it @Elp

- thinking back on my ex partner.
 

Im happily single these days. I will comment no further. 
 

John 

[Captain Scarlet]

A perfect example of the concept of “critical mass”. Keep everything apart and separate, you’re fine. Inadvertently bring it all too close together … 💥 

[Rusted]

Two words: Therapeutic accumulation.

Astronomy is a low risk, non-contact, socially non-cohesive, relatively non-competitive sport.
It usually keeps the participant within earshot. In case of spider freeing emergencies or a desperate need for spare tea consumption.
Compare this to white water canoeing, motor racing, surfing, climbing, diving and/or parachuting. As in: "Would you rather I ....?"

Q.E.D.

 

[cajen2]

19 minutes ago, Rusted said:

Two words: Therapeutic accumulation.

Astronomy is a low risk, non-contact, socially non-cohesive, relatively non-competitive sport.
It usually keeps the participant within earshot. In case of spider freeing emergencies or a desperate need for spare tea consumption.
Compare this to white water canoeing, motor racing, surfing, climbing, diving and/or parachuting. As in: "Would you rather I ....?"

Q.E.D.

 

All true.....but I'm not quite so sure about 'non-competitive' 😛 There are those for whom competition in gear is the air they breathe....

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

All true.....but I'm not quite so sure about 'non-competitive' 😛 There are those for whom competition in gear is the air they breathe....

This is very true

[Space Hopper]

I only have the one scope presently.

Years ago, i think the most i had were 5 or 6.

And if i were to get another, well, i'd just be looking after it, it would be 'a society scope' 😉

[Grump Martian]

I have a number of old 1970's telescopes which have been decommissioned. But the war department still include these in currently used assetts. So I attempt to persuade her that these are not to be included in my current list of three refractors. This is a negative slant on more purchases. I could always just buy one and would probably return home to changed door lock. Lol

[doublevodka]

1 hour ago, Coco said:

My wife asked what that central heating boiler was doing in the garage pointing at my solid tube 12" dob.

I think you are onto a winner for us all there, camouflage! 😂

"No darling, its' not another telescope, it's a water heater/recycling bin/hazardous material container" 

[mikeDnight]

10 minutes ago, Grump Martian said:

I have a number of old 1970's telescopes which have been decommissioned. But the war department still include these in currently used assetts. So I attempt to persuade her that these are not to be included in my current list of three refractors. This is a negative slant on more purchases. I could always just buy one and would probably return home to changed door lock. Lol

I'm not encouraging dishonesty,  but a number of years ago I learned of a man with a similar problem. I was browsing Stockport Binocular & Telescope Centre, when the owner said to me "We've just had a chap call in with a self printed winning raffle ticket that he apparently got from us." He'd asked the owner if he'd post the winning ticket to his home address so that his wife would open the envelope and reveal the surprise win to her equally surprised husband. The reason he went to such lengths is that he'd been admiring a brand new Tal 4" refractor on display in the shop window and needed a way of getting it past his wife without suspicion. He paid for the scope up front and simply waited for the good news. Brilliant really!

[Stu]

Magnus has it right. Never let the little blighters appear in the same room at the same time.

Second rule is make sure they are all white, that way you can generally get away with pretending they are all the same scope, hence the importance of rule number one 🤣. If she says it looks bigger than it did before, use the Father Ted principle and just say it was further away last time. This is one reason I’ve never got a ‘Big Red’ 152mm f5.9, despite really wanting one! If it all goes pear shaped, then go to her wardrobe and count the shoes and handbags 🤣

Until comparatively recently I paid the whole mortgage plus bills, with my dear lady buying the food and covering little Stu’s costs. I work on the principle that if the house is being provided for and other normal requirements, then I am allowed a bit of cash for my hobbies. I don’t smoke or drink, or go out much so I don’t think I’m too unreasonable.

[Coco]

My wife's thrifty, she only wears that top & shoes she's had for ages.

[Guest]

I am lucky, the wife has no issues with our three telescopes....one of which is hers.  I actually have more of the issue of the scopes taking up space in my garage which also doubles as my wood shop. 

[Carbon Brush]

I sold a 120mm F8 refractor a few years ago. Not a small scope that can be hidden easily.
It was little used, complete with original boxes.

I met up with the buyer in a pub car park, late at night, after he finished his work shift.

The transaction was very hurried, no inspection, no questions, just a bundle of notes pushed into my hand.
He took the scope & accessories. Explaining he could not take the boxes.

He had only a few minutes to rush home and get the scope hidden inside before his wife got home🤣

[maw lod qan]

This could fit in with the old joke amongst the country men over here.

The wife said if I don't stop buying fishing equipment and guns she's going to leave me.

I sure will miss her cooking.