Hobbies and Interests

[Alan]

What do you guys do for fun? Cars, books, anything?

I read a good bit. I also keep my car meticulously clean. I don't know if that is really a hobby but I spend a lot of time on it. Something about a clean ride makes me feel good. I'm getting it professionally detailed this week. I do it once a year.

What does everyone do for fun?

 

[harold01]

Mine is cutting gemstones and leaving my car dirty for months at a time as the mud on the road to work each day makes it pretty pointless to wash everyday

 

[Alan]

Mine is cutting gemstones and leaving my car dirty for months at a time as the mud on the road to work each day makes it pretty pointless to wash everyday

I get that. In spring I tend to focus on the inside and let the pollen sit. Kind of pointless to fight it.

 

[Madtuna]

Used to be a keen parachutist but haven’t jumped in many years. Have a mate in town who also used to jump and were tossing up whether we have the balls to take it up again.
Undecided yet, as at 60 I don’t bounce like I used to.

 

[harold01]

I could never understand why someboby would jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane whilst in the air

 

[Madtuna]

I could never understand why someboby would jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane whilst in the air

Most aviation accidents happen while landing….best to get out beforehand and avoid the unnecessary risk

 

[Alan]

Most aviation accidents happen while landing….best to get out beforehand and avoid the unnecessary risk

Smart! I get the concern with aging. It's got to be hard on your knees, but I'd still give it a go.

 

[SilverSurfer]

I'm really into surfing and anything watersports. I used to surf year round in the snow etc but i'm getting too old for that now haha
Awhile back i had been taking classes to be a Glider Pilot but got pulled in other directions. Without an engine its kinda like hang gliding with only having one shot at the landing . Hoping to pickup the classes again soon and complete the pilot license.
My gf tells me that i also like housework projects but i can't remember getting interested in that hobby lol

 

[Alan]

I'm really into surfing and anything watersports. I used to surf year round in the snow etc but i'm getting too old for that now haha
Awhile back i had been taking classes to be a Glider Pilot but got pulled in other directions. Without an engine its kinda like hang gliding with only having one shot at the landing . Hoping to pickup the classes again soon and complete the pilot license.
My gf tells me that i also like housework projects but i can't remember getting interested in that hobby lol

The older I get the more I despise cold water. Just painful. I understand now why my parents didn't want to play in it when I was a kid. Someday my kids will understand too.

It's the nature of things.

Where all have you surfed? I knew a guy that went to college on the coast so he didn't have to stop surfing.

 

[SilverSurfer]

Yeah I completely agree.. cold water is brutal. Worst part is the surf is usually the best in the winter, but its just not enjoyable anymore where I live with needing a fullsuit, gloves, boots and hood.
I haven't traveled international much, but I've surfed most places in the USA.. Maui, SoCal, Outer Banks, Florida. Costa Rica has been on my bucket list for a long time

 

[M.A. Buth]

Recently I have started to explore the many local mines (all shut down for decades now) and search for fossiles and minerals and sometimes even ores. It is a great exercise to climb our mountains and cross the dense forrests. I use a metaldetector sometimes and each trip I come home with another "treasure" (My wife sees that a bit differently , with all those boxes filled with rocks and "trash").
Here is part of one if my trips to a nearby silvermine. Some iron made objects. They could be from the Romans or even Celtics. Iron nail the chain and piece probably from a plow. The right one is a thin copper piece, maybe from a bracelet:

Here is a website with other Roman agricultural objects. The chain looks quite similiar
https://www.antike-tischkultur.de/landwirtschaftwerkzeugpflug.html

Another great find is this boulder. Later found out it could be made of clay and be a catapult "bullet" also most like form the Roman empire age where the Romans where in our area around the year 200 BC to around the year 400)

 

[Otto]

Mine is cutting gemstones and leaving my car dirty for months at a time as the mud on the road to work each day makes it pretty pointless to wash everyday

do you cab or facet

 

[Otto]

i have spent many years establishing a periodic table of elements collection, and outdoors i grow cacti and other xeroscape plants

 

[Otto]

Recently I have started to explore the many local mines (all shut down for decades now) and search for fossiles and minerals and sometimes even ores. It is a great exercise to climb our mountains and cross the dense forrests. I use a metaldetector sometimes and each trip I come home with another "treasure" (My wife sees that a bit differently , with all those boxes filled with rocks and "trash").

unfortunately in australia, we dont have the history for that sort of thing, but i am pretty keen on the fossils and minerals etc. i do some stacked macroimaging of microminerals and play with chemical extractions of metals.

 

[M.A. Buth]

unfortunately in australia, we dont have the history for that sort of thing, but i am pretty keen on the fossils and minerals etc. i do some stacked macroimaging of microminerals and play with chemical extractions of metals.

Australia is my dream destination for fossils and minerals! You have awesome, very, very old fossils, and as for ores and minerals, it is a dream for any enthusiast. Only my wife is hard to convince because of the many poisonous jellyfish, snakes, spiders, crocodiles—you name it!
But once I retire, New Zealand and Australia are definitely on my list!