I Need A Hobby.................
#21
Senior Member
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Location: Horse and Buggy, PA
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If you're really interested in photography I have taught others by using Photography by Barbara London and John Upton. It's old school but great for the fundamentals which are more important than photoshop. Something like a refurbished Canon Rebel XSI would be a fine camera to start with. The kit lens or a standard 50mm f/1.8 would be all you need to get started.
I also homebrew and find it to be an extraordinary hobby, just wish I had more time for it. One could never get bored with this as you grow into all-grain brewing.
I also homebrew and find it to be an extraordinary hobby, just wish I had more time for it. One could never get bored with this as you grow into all-grain brewing.
#23
Slowest Progress Ever
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Location: The coal ridden hills of Pennsylvania
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+1 on home brewing.
Build and fly Rc aircraft.
Exercise...a lot.
Get good shoes and start running, several miles a day.
Go to a climbing gym and conquer every wall in the place.
Or maybe you're dressed out about life and it causes you to indulge in doing nothing?
Watch this video, and maybe you'll have a better outlook...
Build and fly Rc aircraft.
Exercise...a lot.
Get good shoes and start running, several miles a day.
Go to a climbing gym and conquer every wall in the place.
Or maybe you're dressed out about life and it causes you to indulge in doing nothing?
Watch this video, and maybe you'll have a better outlook...
#24
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 1,163
Total Cats: 12
They're Effexor, and Seroquil (the major two). With my dosages and administration they work as anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, and sleep meds. Before the pills, I would regularly go 3-4 days with no sleep, walking around, counting things and finding non-existent relationships and patterns. The official medical term was "psychotic".
It was super fun (and also super not-fun), but I prefer my life post-pills, compared to pre-pills. The pills are staying. My doctor knows about the side effects, but she says (in nicer, more caring words), "you're on the lowest side effect pills that are somewhat-working, deal with it". They do burn out my stamina though. And I need to drink LOTS of water to keep my kidneys/liver clean.
#27
Please have an open mind here... guns.
I have a few friends who are unassuming computer nerds that shoot guns for relaxation... and I'm not talking about dressing up like a spec-ops soldier and kicking down doors.
These guys belong to a new generation of gun-geeks. There's just as much math and science involved in long-range shooting than any other technical sport you can name. The equipment is specialized and the sky is the limit when it comes to the challenge (and the wallet). I'm talking about guys who can shoot holes in their holes at 1000yds as a warmup.
The basics.... after a few weeks or months of homework, you settle on a particular cartridge you want to shoot. Then you spend another few weeks settling on a custom gunmaker who will build you what you want. While you wait for your gun to arrive, you learn everything there is about making your own ammo.
Then you buy all the stuff you need for that and get started.
When the gun arrives, you take it to the range and start working through your ammo. When you find the particular combination of powder, bullet, primer that works in your particular gun, you begin to realize that the weapon is far more capable than you are.
So you book a weekend at a shooting school, which opens your eyes to a level of "geek" that Joe Perez has dreams about reaching. In the end, the challenge doesn't even revolve around "guns"... it's simply the same challenge anybody is faced with when they want to reach 99.999% perfection between man and machine.
As you get better, the challenge is obviously to shoot longer and longer distances accurately. But there are dozens of different long-range calibers, and dozens of different platforms to shoot from. There are competition series just like SCCA racing for shooting.
If you want to bury yourself in this "hobby" a respectable 1000yd gun, scope, spotting scope, targets, all the reloading equipment, cases, rest, etc... call it $7500.
And to put the icing on the cake... nothing you buy depreciates in value more than a few percent. You'll get 90-95% of your investment back if you ever decide to get out of the hobby.
I have a few friends who are unassuming computer nerds that shoot guns for relaxation... and I'm not talking about dressing up like a spec-ops soldier and kicking down doors.
These guys belong to a new generation of gun-geeks. There's just as much math and science involved in long-range shooting than any other technical sport you can name. The equipment is specialized and the sky is the limit when it comes to the challenge (and the wallet). I'm talking about guys who can shoot holes in their holes at 1000yds as a warmup.
The basics.... after a few weeks or months of homework, you settle on a particular cartridge you want to shoot. Then you spend another few weeks settling on a custom gunmaker who will build you what you want. While you wait for your gun to arrive, you learn everything there is about making your own ammo.
Then you buy all the stuff you need for that and get started.
When the gun arrives, you take it to the range and start working through your ammo. When you find the particular combination of powder, bullet, primer that works in your particular gun, you begin to realize that the weapon is far more capable than you are.
So you book a weekend at a shooting school, which opens your eyes to a level of "geek" that Joe Perez has dreams about reaching. In the end, the challenge doesn't even revolve around "guns"... it's simply the same challenge anybody is faced with when they want to reach 99.999% perfection between man and machine.
As you get better, the challenge is obviously to shoot longer and longer distances accurately. But there are dozens of different long-range calibers, and dozens of different platforms to shoot from. There are competition series just like SCCA racing for shooting.
If you want to bury yourself in this "hobby" a respectable 1000yd gun, scope, spotting scope, targets, all the reloading equipment, cases, rest, etc... call it $7500.
And to put the icing on the cake... nothing you buy depreciates in value more than a few percent. You'll get 90-95% of your investment back if you ever decide to get out of the hobby.
#29
Slowest Progress Ever
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: The coal ridden hills of Pennsylvania
Posts: 6,025
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Good call. Guns were my hobby for many years. Precise target shooting is like painting a portrait.
That's just the beginning...try reloading. That is the icing on the cake.
That's just the beginning...try reloading. That is the icing on the cake.
#31
Elite Member
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Taos, New mexico
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I have too many hobbies. These are my favorite things currently
-snowboarding (the most fun a human being can possibly have)
-mountain biking (amazing workout. Very fun and rewarding, Much easier on the knees/joints than running. **** road bikings just as good, I just live in the mountains.)
-longboarding (ton of fun with cheap entry)
-cars, working on them, driving them (this is obvious)
-motorcycles, working/driving on them (can be more fun than cars at times)
-guns (expensive)
-building anything (have some properly? Build **** on it!)
-snowboarding (the most fun a human being can possibly have)
-mountain biking (amazing workout. Very fun and rewarding, Much easier on the knees/joints than running. **** road bikings just as good, I just live in the mountains.)
-longboarding (ton of fun with cheap entry)
-cars, working on them, driving them (this is obvious)
-motorcycles, working/driving on them (can be more fun than cars at times)
-guns (expensive)
-building anything (have some properly? Build **** on it!)
#32
Also in the broken and sometimes on pills club. Back and ankle messed up.
-mountain bikes (a bit out of shape but working on it)
-my dog keeps me relatively active. If I take her out a lot and then stop she makes me go outside and do stuff.
-chasing the wife around naked, oiled up, with a chicken mask
-rube goldberg machines (as soon as my house is done it's on my list)
-my dad does photography
-video games (not active, but hey F it)
-stalking a random person or play bet she doesn't notice me following her games
-extreme showering
-go for walks. Find an ice cream shop or coffee place near by and walk to it.
-I know if you do car work all day you probably don't want to when you get home for fun.
-mountain bikes (a bit out of shape but working on it)
-my dog keeps me relatively active. If I take her out a lot and then stop she makes me go outside and do stuff.
-chasing the wife around naked, oiled up, with a chicken mask
-rube goldberg machines (as soon as my house is done it's on my list)
-my dad does photography
-video games (not active, but hey F it)
-stalking a random person or play bet she doesn't notice me following her games
-extreme showering
-go for walks. Find an ice cream shop or coffee place near by and walk to it.
-I know if you do car work all day you probably don't want to when you get home for fun.
#34
Photograph has always interested me. But don't I need a bunch of lenses and a good camera? Or has digital made lens collections obsolete? How does one get started? Can I just go buy a digital camera from bestbuy, download photoshop, and go to town? Or is it more complicated then that?
Starting out, I would recommend one fixed focal length lens and a simple DSLR body that lets you control a few parameters: ISO, white balance, aperture (f stop), and shutter speed. The beauty of digital is there are no running costs, like getting film developed. Just shoot photos, see how they are and shoot some more.
Home brewing is fun, but there is a lot of downtime, and I think photography would fit the bill of what you are looking for better. Not that I would dissuade you from trying it, but it is more of a few hours here, few hours there kind of thing. Photography can be as much or as little as you make of it. And you can pick it up or put it down whenever you like. Also, besides DSLR bodies, most other components hold their values pretty well.
#38
Boost Pope
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
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Funny you mention this. I was just looking at the course offerings for the spring semester at Palomar College. Both WLD-100 (Welding I) and WLD-115 (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, aka TIG) are totally full and waitlisted.
I really want to learn how to TIG weld properly, from a professional, but I'll be damned it I can actually find a place to do it!
I really want to learn how to TIG weld properly, from a professional, but I'll be damned it I can actually find a place to do it!