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By Castor & Pollux
Sapmail, date unknown.

We've decided it's our turn to have a whinge, and to quote an old adage 'If the hat fits, wear it'. Now don't worry, we'll know if the bone is pointing at you, because a conscience is very hard to subdue and if you read something that fits you to a 'T' the culprit quickly stops reading and has a furtive look around to see if anybody is staring at them. We're talking about SAPMA membership fees. You know, that paltry twenty-five bucks the committee has unashamedly asked you to pay every year, damn their eyes to hell and gone!

Now we all know times are hard, boo hoo, sniff sniff, but there seems to be a constant discrepancy between the number of 'members' who turn up at meetings and those who supposedly have paid their fees. We have discounted the prospective NEW members who are quite welcome to attend two or three meets to give us a go before they pay, but not those people who consistently turn up and have not, if ever, paid.

Yes, you know who you are!

The committee tells us that when an 'ex' member is approached as subtly as possible about fees, the range of excuses has to be heard to be believed, notwithstanding that they were just overheard bragging about paying a king's ransom for the latest hi-tech injection moulded whatever! Poor thing!

It's quite clear that some people just won't pay and leave the financial burden to those that do. Maybe it's a case of not knowing what they get for their money? Well the short answer to that is you get a CLUB, and believe us when we say 'things ain't cheap'. The committee needs to be ever vigilant to remain in the black financially and pressure is building to up the ante. Yearly ongoing costs and charges keep escalating and include venue hire for club meets, venue hire and trophy subsidies for the competition, insurance for public liability, etc, trestle hire, printing costs, and PO Box hire. That short list constitutes only the most obvious costs. The miscellaneous costs that occur over a year are too numerous to mention, and we must not forget the assets purchasedas well you know, things like a cupboard, an urn, a couple of trestles and lots of other doodads that go to make a club meet comfortable. And last but by no means least, each and every member gets up to 10% discount at all plastic model hobby shops displaying our club logo and that's a tidy saving when you're buying as many kits as we two do.

So come on you Shylocks out there, do the right thing and pay your money, the committee has been telling us since last July that subs are due on the 1st January this year. It won't hurt, we promise!

Now, to those who are 'thicker than some' we would like to say that as regard to our articles, at no stage have we ever stated or implied that we are in possession of some or all the facts, let alone a modicum of truth. We shoot from the lip and make no apologies for our opinions. We don't give a hoot, so there! What we do ask is for feedback and pot-stirring comment to enlighten us and all other readers in the error of our ways.

Well that's about all we've got this time, remember to keep your opinions coming, argue with us if you like, we would love to read more letters to the Ed. about what and how you feel about modelling no matter how remote it may seem, and like that famous sports quote 'Just do it!'

Bye for now.

Castor and Pollux.

PS

• Hey Pollux, have you paid your subs yet?
• Ah hell no, I forgot last month and I can't afford it this meet. I've just had a blowout on my credit card, you remember all that stuff I ordered from OS, Castor, well it's on its way and I've been king hit with a huge payment, so I'm broke.
• So what are you going to say to the committee this time Pollux?
• Ah ha, I've got a cunning plan. I'm going to ask the committee if....

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