Too many areas of interest anyway, but a popular cliche is more eye-catching

What I have found lately is that many areas of my life in which I would dearly love to spend oodles of cash are collectively draining my resources, to the point where I'm reluctant to invest in any of them!

Airsoft is the most obvious one, but only because it is so easy to spend money on,and that there are so many

areas of specialisation that I could go into, but there are many more.

Nonetheless airsoft takes the biggest slice and has always taken the biggest slice, of my money at least.

Big fave at the moment is 1911-style pistols.

Pistols generally have been the focus of my collecting for quite a while; I was living up in Yorkshire a few years ago and had 5 AEGs and a shotgun to my name and only one pistol (my beloved TM Tac Master ). I sat down in the lounge one day, scraped a space between the unconscious partygoer from the previous night and the ubiquitous half-finished crate of cheap 'n' nasty beer, picked up my trusty, much-loved Beretta and thought `I really like pistols, me. Ah'm gonna go get me some more...`

Since then I haven't really looked back; I've now got over 50 handguns/machinepistols, and I'm sure that now the spectre of the VCRB has been dispelled by the exorcists of reason and much governmental lobbying that I'll quite likely have another 50 as time goes on.

Colt (and derivative) classic pistols like the 1911 invoke much respect, awe, and anal attention to detail and I can perfectly well appreciate why.

The SIG GSR two-tone calls to me like a demented sea siren and if it weren't for the fact that I have looooaads of other area of interest I would have one, maybe even two, already.

Decisions decisions: What Else could I have, hmm?

Well I have a pretty kickass shotgun collection - 8 or 9 so far and I could get;

the Maruzen M1100 revision, mmm, shell ejecting semi-auto shotgun...

the Tanaka M870 - its a Tanaka M870. Tanaka. M870. Tanaka. M- etc.

another Marui M3 shorty and another M3 S90, and swap the stocks. I love the M3 series and to have every configuration would be awesome, and look seriously badass up on my wall - I have 2 already...

the regular old M1100 in wood. Platoon, anyone? I thought so.

and plenty more besides...

Well, I have a pretty sweet Heckler & Koch collection, about 11-12 pieces so far and I could get plenty more, namely;

the SL-9, because the SL8 does look like a biathlon rifle not a military weapon, at the end of the day.

the HK416, to sate my lust for another Armalitesque gun at the same time as denying my need for an actual Armalite. Rather neat, I think you'll find.

the MP7s really look good in pairs; a compatriate to the one I have with a matching 190rd magazine would look sooooo cool

Well I've always loved Westerns, and at the moment I think I've got 7 guns that allow me to pretend to be Clint/Lee/Gary et al. But....

there's always room for more Single Action Army wheelgun goodness, and unless you have every damn version and size (yes, including a Buntline special ) the collection will never be complete!

KTW make the only M1873 still available in airsoft, and hey, it can't be worse than Marushin's self-destructing lemon-fest commonly known as their M1892!! This makes the KTW about the most reliable winchester rifle as its spring powered, and they make a Randall custom, too...

I need another Derringer. Or 6. You can't have too many Derringers Unless your name is Abe Lincoln, perhaps.

Well now, I seem to have this predilection for English rifles, although as of yet I have none So I will be needing the following;

an SA80, naturally. Getting the STAR AFV of course (might just order that now, in fact..) but then I'll need -

a regular SA80/L85. G&G looks nicely priced but I may get the ICS instead. Either way, a full-size '80 really should have a place in The Arsenal.

the FAL - yeah so its not *quite* an L1A1 but damnit its close anough. Much goodness to be had, plus its about a mile & a half long so I can use it when the TV remote breaks

a STEN to go with my BREN - except this one will be airsoft. Shoot 'n' Scoot up in Scotland make 'em; in fact they even make an airsoft BREN as well. Uh-oh...

Well I need more AEGS really, don't I?. I can't have all these guys come round to my place for a skirmish every fortnight only to use the same, small selection of rifles now, So I was thinking of adding;

VFC AKS74, because its small, cute, and metal. PLus I only have 2 AKs right now, and one of those is ancient and battered.

The SA80, HK416, and any others I have mentioned above, obviously.

the SRC RPK, because its an RPK that only costs £165! Mebbe there's a good reason for that actually ... but hey; it's an RPK!

the G36C - I would love to have 6 of these in a rack. It looks cool, minimises fiddling aound when most of your team members are using the same gun, and parts are 100% interchangeable. Nice.

the Classic Army AUG. Its a military AUG and a new Classic Army gun which means it is gonna totally rock. I just have to have one....

and loads more besides that lot.

And Berettas!! I've got almost all variants but I want more! And USPs!! and even more 1911s!!!

And thats just Airsoft!!!!

God. Motherfruitcaging. Damn.

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Other things I would love to throw money at right now are the various holidays I have semi-planned, I was going to see Sicily for the first time about now but that hasn't happened, I'm seriously hoping my first visit to South America wont go the same way as I'm dearly in love with the concept of the place, got a trip to Machu Picchu planned as well and thats a charity gig, details are here if anyone else is interested - http://www.action.org.uk/get_involved/trek...2005_images.php

Aside from that I am taking a good few months to see the other side of South America and I want to spend at least 3 months in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.

Thats gonna take some doing, especially as I'm new to solo travelling, but oh man am I looking forward to it!

Climbing is another big part of my life at the moment and I'm eager to take a few people up to the Peak district or somewhere in Wales and get some real-world climbing experience under our collective (and gracelessly expanding in my case, hence all the exercise) belts.

The climbing equipment itself could and inevitably will cost hundreds of pounds, so thats just what I need to really get started properly.

I want to curb my errant alcoholism and could really do with taking up a few more activities in the evenings; woodworking/cabinet making, Portuguese language, and boxercise classes were what I was thinking of buy it all takes money and dedication. Nonetheless I'm in a position where I kinda gotta do something with my free time or I'll die from alcohol-related diseases within 20 years - it really is as simple as that.

The other big bugger to sort out is driving: lessons are coming to around £65 a week and the insurance, Tax, cost of the car itself and of course the fuel are all extra drains on the old resources.

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And the reason for my concern is that I could do any one, two, or three of these things with ease - but have nothing to do with the others whatsoever. This is my little dilemma right now and I've poured lots of effort into each and every one, all of them are ambitions I wish to fulfill.

Damned ambition, it really can be a bit of a bugger at times

And with all the interests and ambitions I can see that I'm probably guilty of spreading myself too thin, trying to organise and mastermind slightly too many experiences and posessions while actually getting on with far too few.

Hey, that title isn't so inappropriate after all...