In response to mfsob:
I'm afraid most of the comments, about our wives is done for laughs. If we (or they) were really that bad, we'd be divorced. Although, there are, a few of us, who are, most of us are exaggerating.
The only time I really got in real trouble, was when I E-mailed a 5meg picture, meant for our granddaughter. She was still on a dialup service, at that time, and it took her over half an hour to download it. Since the model was located in our Arizona room, and she could view it at anytime, she wanted to know why. At the top of her lungs. I still haven't completely lived it down.
For most of us the real problems are words (i.e. "You paid $5, for that? I can barely see it !!!" or "Very nice. (think of cat purring) Now. Where do you plan to put it?" With appropriate glower. And then there's sarcastic, "WOW ! That's less than a Lotus GT. ......... If you leave off the pin stripping.")
The actual problem is not the models. It's the time. If you spend excess time on a model, you're not spending it with her. And that's HER time.
Remember, time spent with her is good. Time spent in another room is time away from her, and, is bad.
Ten hours, with her reading or watching TV, while you work on your model is "Good" time. Two hours, out in the shop, working on your model, is very bad, and will cost you.
As you age things may slowly change. "Will you take that out to the garage and do it?" a) " you're distracting me.", b) " the glue/paint stinks", c) "You're talking to yourself, again." or d) "That mess is NOT staying on the coffee table in MY living room."
If she keeps you long enough (she is one of the Saints), you will hear "You see those paint spots on the rug? You see the glue stains on the coffee table?" (there will be other errors pointed out, but you get the picture) "Well. I'm getting a new rug and coffee table (etc.) and I will not have you destroy them. Move all your model stuff out to the garage (or work shop), you can work on your models out there."
At this point you're home free. If you remember to do a few minor things.
1) Pick a one hour TV show that you can both watch. (News is good) and watch it with her everyday. Make it a ritual. Maybe have dinner at the same time, a "two bird with one stone", kind of thing. It can earn you many hours of model time.
2) Watch at least three TV (or rental movies) a week with her. It doesn't matter what the plot is, just make sure you don't go to sleep too fast. This isn't worth as many points, as a ritual, but well worth the effort, in the long haul.
Increasiing the number of movies, and programs, will increase you're standing. Until you become a Saint, giving up models, altogether. So there are limits
3) And this is important. Sooner or later she'll come out to your model space. Unless you're an obsessive, clean freak, her first words will be; "How do you work in this mess?" Followed by; "How do you find anything?" No answer is required for either question, a shrug will do. However the next two questions are NOT rhetoric and require an answer. And it better be correct. Your life may depend on it being correct. Those questions are 1) "You don't bring anyone out here, do you?" Forget everything you ever heard about truth and honesty, the correct answer is "NO". This question is on par with "Are you cheating on me with my sister/best friend?" The stakes may be just as high. Assuming you survive this question. Question 2) will be "Don't you think you should clean it up?" There are two possible answers, that will allow you to survive. First, "Sure". This is not a lie. You're just agreeing with her, it probably does need cleaning.
The second possible answer is "You're right. It'd make things a lot easier to find." This is the better answer. Not only are you not lying (Although you'll probably never do it) but you're also saying that you're grateful for her insight and intelligence. And, that without her brilliance, you'd have never thought of it, by yourself.
See? The girls aren't near as bad as we make them out to be.
Mike K.