Sprue Cutters Union 24: Pet Peeves

This week, Jon wants to know how the people around us can annoy us, what pushes our buttons?

- What do other modelers do that gets under your skin? -

I actually had to go look up the meaning of "pet peeves". As non-English speaker, it's a term I've encountered before (in a book or movie), but not to a point where I really grasped it's full meaning.

As a modeller, I know full well that my skill is "average". This can be interpreted as a negative thing, but it is not. It means I am happy with the results I'm getting, knowing that I could try to take it further, but not feeling the need to achieve perfection. I see my skill improving with each model I make, and I do try to push myself a little each time, but I know myself well enough that if I aim too high, I will loose interest and not continue.

How does this relate to this week's topic? It means I'm finding it really hard to find how a fellow modeller could annoy me or get under my skin. I know my models aren't perfect. I am aware of their flaws and where I could have done better but didn't bother. I challenge you to find a point of criticism in my models that I do not know myself. Of course I am open to suggestions about making things better, easier or more realistic. Destructive criticism has no effect on me. Rivet counters? I'm an out-of-the-box builder, go blame the kit maker. Colour purists? I work with what I have and looks close enough.

This all doesn't mean I never worry about how I'm going to do something, or obsess about some stupid detail. It just means that if YOU feel the need to trash my or another's work, you're probably (over)compensating for a lack of confidence or the fact that you live in your mother's basement.

I guess I just have a thick skin, somewhat relaxed attitude and a good sense of confidence. I know what I can, how it relates to others and what I should aim for. I'll never be a guru or first-prize winner. It wouldn't be "me" anymore.

Now, if we were to move away from modelling, into the everyday world, or the workplace, I could probably come up with stuff that get's me all riled up and argumentative, but that was not today's question :-)

EDIT : you know what DOES annoy me? Blogger-templates that look differently in the editor-window than in the end result. How hard is it to get some WYSIWYG these days?! I had to post this three times to get it right. Thank god I know my way around HTML so I can fiddle with the source.

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Maybe other Union members are less lucky with their surroundings? Read for yourself :

• The Eternal Wargamer