Unusual Hobbies (other than Roadgeekery)

[triplemultiplex]

I'll admit to being a Trekker.  Not a very good one, mind you.  I've been going through the entire DS9 series and I've seen so few of them, it's like I'm watching a brand new show. I think I'm at the point where they're about to introduce The Dominion in a serious way.  I've been so much more about TNG because there's a lot more syndication out there in cable land.  But thanks to the power of the web, I'm going through the entirety of the three Next Generation era shows this summer.

I'm also way into South Park.  Trey Parker and Matt Stone are goddamn geniuses.  The lamest episodes of South Park are 10 times better than most of the comedy shlock on TV these days.   Due to its production schedule, the show is a total stream of consciousness from the creators.  It's the only other thing I discuss with other people on the internets.  Certain episodes of this show are the standard by which I judge all others.  It's even great when they lampoon something I like.
Shablagoo!

[vtk]

Shablagoo!

Isn't that a Simlish word?

[triplemultiplex]

Shablagoo!

Isn't that a Simlish word?

That's the catchphrase of Mintberry Crunch.
The power of mint and berries, yet with a satisfying, tasty crunch!

[vtk]

Shablagoo!

Isn't that a Simlish word?

That's the catchphrase of Mintberry Crunch.
The power of mint and berries, yet with a satisfying, tasty crunch!

I guess that word didn't stick in my mind. I still say Mint Berry Crunch sounds like a possibly marketable cereal.  I don't recall if anyone in the episode said that, however.

[nexus73]

Star Trek.  Cars.  Football.  Dining.  Military history.  Gaming.  Nothing is unusual about those hobbies of mine.  Now let's look at shortwave radio.  It's not that big a hobby anymore so it has gone into the less usual than in the past kind of hobby category. 

What I do to make it unusual is in the collecting of Grundigs.  In hand is a 5088 (top of the line table model from 1957), a Satellit 6001/210 Woodie (best portable of it's time-1970-and still highly regarded). two Mini 300's (amazing for their size) and an FR-200 dynamo crank survival multiband radio with a flashlight.  Strangely enough I didn't start off with the idea of being a Grundig grabber, it just worked out that way!  I have given away for presents two Mini 300's and a Traveler-series with a G8 set aside for my nephew when he graduates from the US Naval Academy next summer. 

One of the Mini 300's is orange and I am waiting to get a black one.  Then I will play mix it up with the parts using the two colors and then put on an Oregon State sticker on each one, followed by adding orange and black headphones.  No one else will have anything like it!

Other shortwave radios: A Sony ICF-2010, which is acclaimed as the best ever portable SW radio ever made, and a Realistic DX-440, which isn't a half-bad unit either. 

For a radio accessory I have a radio room clock, which has the silent periods marked off.  Remember the sinking of the Titanic?  Right after that, the US Congress passed a law requiring a radio watch be kept on 500 Khz with the 15th through 18th minutes and the 45th through 48th minutes being the silent periods so even if a ship was dismasted or had a low powered signal for other reasons, their Morse code distress call could be heard.  Shortly after that an international treaty did the same thing.  Red areas on the radio room clocks marked off the silent periods as well as the 4 seconds with 1 second of silence intervals for those sending out the SOS's.  Later on when voice communication tech had gotten to a higher quality, the 2182 Khz frequency was set aside with it's split silent periods running from the top of the hour to the 3 minute mark and the other silent period was from the 30th to the 33rd minute.  This section of a radio room clock was marked in green.  Radio operators on ships were required to log their observance of each silent period.

Being an accessories maven is another part of my radio hobby and that adds a bit of uniqueness to how I go about it.  The DX-440 has the original owner's manual, an AC adapter, an adapter plug to go into the now-obsolete RCA-style plug so it can handle miniplugs and an external windup antenna from Sangean, who also made this radio.  I also plan on adding a Radio Shack amplified antenna (plus I'll go find an AC adapter for it) and then for sound reinforcement, a computer sound system so the FM stereo can be heard in stereo.

The Grundig Satellit came with the very hard to find AM external antenna plug.  I added in a DIN to miniplug cable so one could play an iPod or any other audio-generating device through it.  Also in hand is a repair kit containing the belt and two bulbs from a German who specializes in such items.  The real find was getting the SSB adapter for this radio.  Only one has been on eBay this year and I snagged it!  Add in a mono to stereo miniplug for using headphones (plug in stereo phones and all you will hear is one channel if you don't use the adapter) to the list of goodies that go with my Satellit.

The most unusual accessory is one not normally associated with shortwave radio.  I use Dr. Dre Beats Pro headphones.  Why?  Their clarity is so outstanding!  A lot of muddled audio as heard through the speakers becomes clear as a bell when using these high end headphones.

Also in hand is an Uniden BC590 scanner, a Lasonic 931 boombox. a Pioneer SX450 home stereo, a GE AM/FM clock radio with battery backup and a Citizen AM/FM CD player portable.  You can't swing a dead cat in my place without hitting a radio, I guarantee it!  In my car is a high end combination of Pioneer and Alpine car audio equipment.  The iPod hooks up to it as well.  Yup, you want to hear something, I'll have something for you to hear...LOL!

My radio background is CB, ham, broadcast and military.  It is one of the great loves of my life since I was a child.  It seemed like such a miracle, voices out of the air and from all over the world.  Today the net has supplanted so many forms of old-fashioned radio for communicating but I still love what radio represents and the men who made radio, both on the tech and programming end. 

Remember, there was a time in history when listening to foreign broadcasts merited the death penalty in some nations and the immediacy of radio was combined with propaganda geniuses like Josef Goebbels to lead a people to war and ruin.  Our nation (the US) was not blameless in it's radio practices either as the Radio Free Europe broadcasts encouraged the Hungarians to rebel against Communist rule in 1956.  Eisenhower didn't back the rebellion and the Soviets smashed it in bloody fashion.  So much for our big mouths, all talk and then we balked.  The Hungarians paid in blood for that oops.  The real masters of smooth talking deception were not so much political as commercial.  Madison Avenue sold a lot of goods (and hokum) to the American population via radio. 

Radio was literally a matter of life and death for this planet.  If I ever had to broadcast the Emergency War Orders back in the 70's, none of us would be alive today.  The EWO is what would have sent in the B-52's, FB-111's and ICBM's to wipe out the Soviets.  Even if they had never retaliated, there would have been so much dust raised that a nuclear winter would have wiped out the human population and the radiation would have just been a finishing touch.  Radio setups included the Survivable Low Frequency Communications System, radios broadcasting the go codes on some Minutemen missiles, 4 main stations for the Alfa/Bravo network ran by SAC (Strategic Air Command), a whole host of lower powered overseas stations and the ever-present Looking Glass plane which was also equipped to handle missile launches as well as handling radio communications in event of a nuclear war.

With so many facets to radio, how can it be seen as anything but a subject of intense interest for those who love it?  Alas, those numbers are declining.  Once again we see the old adage that the only constant is change at work!  What makes it funny is how high tech radio technology has become and there is more of it coming out all the time, yet it seems that radio itself has precious little interest paid to it.  Bluetooth, WiFi, satellite, G3/G4 cellular, HD Radio, FRS and more have come down the pike.  People use these devices in the billions but you won't find much of a hobby relating to these new ways of utilizing the RF spectrum.

Rick

[ghYHZ]

Take Trains, Planes, Transit and Ferries........add Geek and that's me.

Also like to hike and ATV ride old abandoned RR right-of-ways

[Special K]

Disc golf.

[Rushmeister]

Kinda unusual:  I have quite a collection of cuff links -- probably over 100 pairs.  (Even my closest friends probably aren't aware that I'm afflicted so.)

Not unusual:  Postage stamps.

[kphoger]

I'm also into:
* Computer programming (often as an artistic tool)
* Nudism

I'm a repressed nudist, by which I mean my wife is not one and there are no clubs in the vicinity that either (a) allow single guys, or (b) are clothing-optional to where my wife could keep her clothes on.  This is something I very much keep to myself, as nudism is most certainly not widely accepted in the Christian church, especially our branch of it (Southern Baptist).  My first foray was nude bowling in Oak Park, Illinois.  The most enjoyable was skinny-sailing with a guy on Kentucky Lake.

Most of my other hobbies are either fairly normal or roadgeeky in nature.  I used to do a fair amount of hitchhiking, but haven't done that for 4½ years now.  My longest and most enjoyable hitchhike was across Upper Michigan, down through the lower peninsula, and over to Chicago–it was a just-for-fun weekend trip during the summer of 2006.

I recently purchased a molcajete, which is a Mexican mortar and pestle.  So I've recently taken to making guacamole and different kinds of salsa.  The problem is, I get a hankering to make salsa more often than we cook Mexican food.

[realjd]

With so many facets to radio, how can it be seen as anything but a subject of intense interest for those who love it?  Alas, those numbers are declining.  Once again we see the old adage that the only constant is change at work!  What makes it funny is how high tech radio technology has become and there is more of it coming out all the time, yet it seems that radio itself has precious little interest paid to it.  Bluetooth, WiFi, satellite, G3/G4 cellular, HD Radio, FRS and more have come down the pike.  People use these devices in the billions but you won't find much of a hobby relating to these new ways of utilizing the RF spectrum.

Like any other tech, as the technology matures and becomes a commodity, the hobbyist interest shifts. It's partly due to the fact that, as technology matures, it also becomes complex to the point where tinkering becomes near impossible. In the RF examples you name, things like Wifi and Bluetooth are well defined protocols that don't lend themselves to hobbyists at the RF level. Instead, the hobbyists are creating devices that use the underlying technologies in novel ways.

Look at how Arduinos changed the electronics hobby a few years ago. Now that people aren't having to sit around with a soldering iron and a perf board for hours at a time getting an embedded processor up and running, they're able to spend that energy coming up with increasingly interesting applications. Programming is similar. Few people know (or care) about assembly programming anymore, but the result is that they can create programs in higher level languages that would be near impossible to do in assembly directly.

[agentsteel53]

all my hobbies seem to be tangentially road-related: driving a lot, collecting route markers, landscape photography, defecating...

[kphoger]

all my hobbies seem to be tangentially road-related: driving a lot, collecting route markers, landscape photography, defecating...

...photographing feces on the road...

[NYYPhil777]

Other than roadgeeking (taking mini-road trips, using SignMaker, thinking of fantasy freeways and odd interchanges), here's mine:
1. History (especially alternate history)
2. Playing SimCity (3000 Unlimited, 4, and Societies)
3. Pinball and Playing PS3
4. Writing and Drawing
5. Writing Music Parodies (though I must admit, I'll never be as good as Weird Al Yankovic )

I'll admit to being a Trekker.  Not a very good one, mind you.  I've been going through the entire DS9 series and I've seen so few of them, it's like I'm watching a brand new show. I think I'm at the point where they're about to introduce The Dominion in a serious way.  I've been so much more about TNG because there's a lot more syndication out there in cable land.  But thanks to the power of the web, I'm going through the entirety of the three Next Generation era shows this summer.

I'm also way into South Park.  Trey Parker and Matt Stone are goddamn geniuses.  The lamest episodes of South Park are 10 times better than most of the comedy shlock on TV these days.   Due to its production schedule, the show is a total stream of consciousness from the creators.  It's the only other thing I discuss with other people on the internets.  Certain episodes of this show are the standard by which I judge all others.  It's even great when they lampoon something I like.
Shablagoo!

On Kurumi's website, search I-570 South Park. Very funny script!
Happy Roadgeeking,
NYYPhil777

[texaskdog]

I made a fake football league and use random numbers to decide winners and losers.  Phase 2 of this is I've projected the USFL and done the same.  Currently up to 1989.

[BigMattFromTexas]

I guess my "hobby" would be working out... I think it might be more of an addiction... I love it. I regularly run just like 5 miles. Now that I've started two-a-days for football, I'm working out A LOT! Not really unusual, maybe increasingly unusual in the U.S. though..
BigMatt

[kphoger]

Is anyone else on here a wine fan?  By which I mean you know more about what you like than "red or white", can pick a wine based on what food it will be served with, have held a serious conversation with a liquor store employee, etc.

[agentsteel53]

Is anyone else on here a wine fan?  By which I mean you know more about what you like than "red or white", can pick a wine based on what food it will be served with, have held a serious conversation with a liquor store employee, etc.

not with wine but yes with beer, and I am also learning to appreciate the subtleties of various styles of liquor as well - mainly whiskey and tequila.  (also, am getting into making surprisingly delicious mixed drinks based on just the items I have at hand!)

[triplemultiplex]

On Kurumi's website, search I-570 South Park. Very funny script!

I read that many years ago and I think I even saved it. (checks folders)  Yup, looks like I grabbed it some 10 years back.  It's very much an old school fanfic.  There's even lines for those kids Terrance and Fossey, the boys from the first few episodes who called everything gay and aren't even around as background characters anymore.

It's kind of ironic that some years later they did an episode where the boys had to stop an Indian casino from building a superhighway through South Park. (7th season, "Red Man's Greed")

[NYYPhil777]

I made a fake football league and use random numbers to decide winners and losers.  Phase 2 of this is I've projected the USFL and done the same.  Currently up to 1989.

Same here, but I do it as part of my Super Bowl alternate histories.

[oscar]

I like to soak in hot springs, and also do county-counting (both in the U.S., and Canada where I am now for a few more weeks).  The latter is pretty close to roadgeekery, but all three interrelate.  I live on the opposite side of the country from the best hot springs in North America, which also tend to be in rural areas rather than near big cities and off the major highways, so my hot springing means lots of road travel.  It also meant I had a lot of counties under my belt when I got interested in county-counting around 2002, which encouraged me to pursue that hobby.  In turn, once I got serious about county-counting, that meant a lot of road trips (especially off the Interstates and other major roads) to snag additional counties and fill in the holes in my county map.

[texaskdog]

I made a fake football league and use random numbers to decide winners and losers.  Phase 2 of this is I've projected the USFL and done the same.  Currently up to 1989.

Same here, but I do it as part of my Super Bowl alternate histories.

Cool!  I'm playing 1989 right now.  Arizona Wranglers & Birmingham Stallions have been pretty dominant.  My 1989 Philadelphia Stars are 2-11.

[realjd]

Is anyone else on here a wine fan?  By which I mean you know more about what you like than "red or white", can pick a wine based on what food it will be served with, have held a serious conversation with a liquor store employee, etc.

Yep, I love wine. Malbec is probably my favorite. I'm not a big fan of white wines. I'm more into beer lately though and don't pay as much attention to wine as I used to.

not with wine but yes with beer, and I am also learning to appreciate the subtleties of various styles of liquor as well - mainly whiskey and tequila.  (also, am getting into making surprisingly delicious mixed drinks based on just the items I have at hand!)

Now we're talking. Makers Mark 46 is my go to mid-price bourbon lately, as is Evan Williams Single Barrel.

My favorite liquor is still a good dark rum though. The good ones taste almost like cognac.

[agentsteel53]

Now we're talking. Makers Mark 46 is my go to mid-price bourbon lately, as is Evan Williams Single Barrel.

never tried 46, though I did have some of the standard Makers yesterday.  have you ever tried Pendleton?  it's a Canadian whiskey (whisky?  I can never remember!) and is currently my favorite.

I've also never tried Evan Williams single barrel, but their generic black-label whiskey is the one we use at home as a mixer and to serve at parties.  I find it a lot smoother than the slightly more expensive Jim Beam.

My favorite liquor is still a good dark rum though. The good ones taste almost like cognac.

I'm not as much of a rum fan in general, but I did try, and enjoy Havana Club while down in Mexico the other day    I had the añejo especial, which is a "medium" as opposed to being truly dark, and I found it quite good.

my friend and I finished only half the bottle between us, so just before the US border crossing, one Pemex attendant got a very good tip!

[Brandon]

Interesting thread thus far.

Not quite so sure how odd my other hobbies are, but here goes.  Many of them seem to dovetail with each other.

I enjoy driving, even with traffic.  (Yes, I do have a manual transmission vehicle.)  I also enjoy music and have quite the CD collection (about 400 and counting).  I was even a DJ at the student-run radio station (WMTU) in college.  In that vein, I also enjoy ballroom dance (gotta do something with the music, eh?).  Been learning for a bit over 4 years now.  Great for exercise and posture.  I also enjoy model railroading, but it turns more into model "towning" with how I tend to do it.  I also enjoy travel, by car, boat, train, and plane - window seats are best to test oneself on where he is flying over.  I also have been enjoying sudoku and  ken-ken.  Ken-ken is much like sudoku, but the cells must also add, subtract, multiply, or divide to the number in the cell.

[Scott5114]

I collect decks of playing cards. Most of them tend to remain unused, though whatever is my current deck of choice (always a 100% plastic deck) gets used at biweekly poker games I host for my friends. (Currently I'm switching off between Cartamundi Ace cards and bridge size Copag 1547's.) I even built a felt table, which also gets used for board games on weeks that we do not play poker, to enhance the experience. I also have six decks of blackjack cards and all the equipment (shoe, discard container, chip racks, etc.) though of course we do not play for real money because the dealer's edge makes the game unfair.

My girlfriend has recently started collecting dice of all colors, sizes, and numbers of sides. Her most recent acquisition is a massive d20 (20-sided icosahedral die) that is about four inches tall that we found at a games store in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I quipped to her that with the cards and dice all we needed to do was get some slot machines and we would have the entire unholy trinity of casino games represented.