Unusual Hobbies (other than Roadgeekery)

[sammi]

I am also a fan of public transit. Even if we have a car, I still need to take public transit to get myself to school.

Only a few months ago (when class started in September) did I start taking the TTC regularly, but now I've made a transit log of every route I've ever done, which includes what route, the bus/streetcar/train car's fleet number, the time on, time off, number of stops, and any unusual occurences along the way (I record passenger assistance alarms, announcements of trains being taken out of service at the most arbitrary times, by how much time I miss the train when transferring, etc.).

And I have a copy of the TTC Subway Rider Efficiency Guide, which is basically a map of every station exit from the platform level. Very useful during rush hour mornings when I have to race against hundreds of other people getting off at Bloor.

I now also have a complete map of Finch station, the one I regularly use to enter the subway system from my place. Every escalator, elevator, staircase, street exit, bus bay, etc. so if I have to go to <insert place here>, I know which bus at which platform to take, and which form of vertical transportation I need to take to get there.

Also, who the hell is SPUI?

[Dr Frankenstein]

Also, who the hell is SPUI?

NE2, I believe.

[NE2]

SPUI's the one with his hand up me arse.

[jeffandnicole]

Christmas lights, as in the programming to music.  If you've seen the email forwards and the youtube clips of lights flashing to music, that's exactly what I'm talking about.  Simply hook up a small transmitter to the volume output of my PC, and the music (or any other sound from the computer) gets broadcasted to cars outside the house watching the lights.  I should post a few videos here of some of the handywork.  My goal is to have the lights up by Thanksgiving, but I've been under the weather for the past week, and with the weather being cold & wet here lately, I'll be lucky to have the lights functioning by the end of this weekend.

[Scott5114]

Well, collecting comics or matchbook covers is not that unusual.  I do, however, like to watch friends beat each other with sticks

Now THAT is weird.

I like the guy in the background. He looks super bored.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

At one time I tracked bills. Euro bills, as it is the easiest currency to track here . I may restart soon.

Now I'm tracking tropical cyclones (Hurricanes, typhoons). I was very impressed with hurricane Sandy last year, and with the powerful typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) earlier this month.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Well, collecting comics or matchbook covers is not that unusual.  I do, however, like to watch friends beat each other with sticks

Now THAT is weird.

I like the guy in the background. He looks super bored.

And I make the armour for people who hit each other with sticks, and blades.

www.jamesriverarmoury.com

I also raise ducks for an income.

[texaskdog]

Also I like to realign sports league and replay their seasons, using random numbers.  I started with my own regional league, then projected out the USFL (up to 2001 so far), and working on the NFL geographic replay (up to 1988).  Of course then I discovered fantasy football this year which being a statistics junkie has been a lot of fun.  Little knowledge and my first year in, and we're 8-4 and headed for the playoffs!

[kphoger]

Part of my long absence on here (say, the last year of it or do) has been due to my participation in another forum–a forum dedicated to my latest interest, traditional wet shaving. I now shave with a safety razor using double-edge blades, make my own lather using a brush, and own an assortment of creams and soaps from around the world.

[2Co5_14]

I am an Adult Fan of Lego (AFOL).  Building Lego layouts and browsing all of the online MOCs (My Own Creations) that others have done probably takes up more of my time than roadgeeking.  I do spend more time on the AARoads forum than my limited number of posts would suggest, though.

My interest in Lego of course started off as a kid.  I would build town layouts complete with traffic lights and freeway interchanges (this was also one of my first roadgeek activities).  As an adult my interests have moved more to Lego Classic Space models (spaceships, bases, etc...)

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Unusual hobbies?  I buy old (pre-1990) sets of Christmas lights any chance I get.

CB radios aren't really a thing anymore, so I suppose that could be considered unusual these days.  I have 7 CBs and am always looking to acquire more.

I suppose being 30 and still being into model trains could be seen as unusual.

[cjk374]

I suppose being 30 and still being into model trains could be seen as unusual.

No way!  I would have a layout up and running...and I had one for a few years until my child was about 2 or 3...but now I don't have the space or the money.

There are people of all ages with model train layouts.  Not strange at all.

[Pete from Boston]

Unusual hobbies?  I buy old (pre-1990) sets of Christmas lights any chance I get.

I probably saved a few of my parents' very old sets, but I'd be afraid of burning my house down if I used them.  Are old lights safe?

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Just don't string too many sets together and you'll be fine.  They didn't have fuses in the plugs before the mid '80s, for the most part.  As a result, most of the fires started by these lights were started by the wiring overheating and subsequently catching fire, rather than just the heat of the bulbs.

[freebrickproductions]

I have a few.
I'm a pretty avid railfan and "crossing-fan". I'm probably more interested in crossing signals than the trains themselves. I actually help make webpages for a site for railroad crossings around the US (and somewhat around the world, but it doesn't go much farther than a couple of crossings in Canada, the UK, and Australia).
I like looking at and collecting traffic lights as well, but I'm not sure if this counts.
I also like looking at HVAC units and collecting fans.
Another thing that I like to do is LEGOs and model railroading.
I'm also somewhat of an urban explorer, but I prefer looking at abandoned infrastructure (abandoned railroads, roads, traffic lights, sign posts, etc.) than abandoned buildings. Partially because going into abandoned buildings would be detrimental to my health as I have a dust allergy.
I also like browsing Google Street View in my free time.
EDIT: Another thing that I forgot to mention is that I'm also interested in outdoor/indoor warning sirens.

[J N Winkler]

Part of my long absence on here (say, the last year of it or so) has been due to my participation in another forum–a forum dedicated to my latest interest, traditional wet shaving. I now shave with a safety razor using double-edge blades, make my own lather using a brush, and own an assortment of creams and soaps from around the world.

Welcome back!

I have been posting here a little less often recently since I have accepted maintenance responsibilities for a family vehicle fleet that includes a 2005 Toyota Camry and a 2009 Honda Fit as well as my 1994 Saturn SL2.  As a result, after a considerable hiatus I have gone back to an old hobby of borrowing factory service manuals so I can skim them and try to understand how various components are supposed to work.

The local public library has a good FSM collection.  When I started driving in the early nineties and became interested in cars in general, it was possible to borrow manuals for a cash deposit of $20 per volume.  Manuals were also considerably smaller (about the same size as a telephone directory for a medium-sized city for one model and any badge-engineered twins it might have) because electronic control was considerably less sophisticated.

In the intervening 20 years or so, however, the library has adopted a reference-only policy for the motor manuals, and the ones for newer cars are now much larger.  The repair manual for the Camry has grown in size from 1775 pages for the 1990 model year to 3889 for 2005; at least a thousand pages' worth of the latter can be attributed to additional diagnostic steps arising from OBD-II (introduced in 1996) and its requirement that trouble codes be set at the beginning rather than the end of component failure.  (The 2005 Camry does, however, have a Rube Goldberg air intake system.)

As a result of this bloat and restricted availability, I have had to learn how to navigate online access to service information (AllData and its competitors, as well as the auto manufacturers' Web-based subscription services), and look for other resources that are richer in the higher-level design knowledge I am interested in.  Much of my knowledge of how the automatic transmission works in my Saturn actually comes from the four patents that were granted for key parts of the operating logic, and my understanding of how Toyotas have evolved over the past 20 years comes from the "New Car Features" books that are published alongside the repair manuals to explain design innovations.

[DaBigE]

I have a few.
I'm a pretty avid railfan and "crossing-fan". I'm probably more interested in crossing signals than the trains themselves. I actually help make webpages for a site for railroad crossings around the US (and somewhat around the world, but it doesn't go much farther than a couple of crossings in Canada, the UK, and Australia).
I like looking at and collecting traffic lights as well, but I'm not sure if this counts.
I also like looking at HVAC units and collecting fans.
Another thing that I like to do is LEGOs and model railroading.
I'm also somewhat of an urban explorer, but I prefer looking at abandoned infrastructure (abandoned railroads, roads, traffic lights, sign posts, etc.) than abandoned buildings. Partially because going into abandoned buildings would be detrimental to my health as I have a dust allergy.
I also like browsing Google Street View in my free time.
EDIT: Another thing that I forgot to mention is that I'm also interested in outdoor/indoor warning sirens.

After reading that, I wonder if you're my long lost twin? Except for the HVAC/fan and abandoned buildings, the rest of the stuff fits me to a tee.

[slorydn1]

I don't know if being really into Mustangs is considered unusual or not but that's my main hobby/obsession:




Gray one is mine, the blue one is my wife's. I spend a good part of my time moderating a Mustang related forum, not sure if I am allowed to mention the name of it here so I won't.


I am also heavily into motorsports (from a fans point of view, anyway). My yearly calender of time off from work is heavily centered on race dates. The Daytona 500, the Memorial Day weekend triple (Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, Coke 600) and the Southern 500 Weekend (now back on Labor Day weekend where it belongs) are sacred holidays in my house, LOL.

[Pete from Boston]

I started with my own regional league, then projected out the USFL (up to 2001 so far)

Do you have to account for still paying Steve Young all that time?

[dcbjms]

Hmm, unusual.  Linguistics might count, as would certain forms of obscure folk/world music, I guess.

[freebrickproductions]

I have a few.
I'm a pretty avid railfan and "crossing-fan". I'm probably more interested in crossing signals than the trains themselves. I actually help make webpages for a site for railroad crossings around the US (and somewhat around the world, but it doesn't go much farther than a couple of crossings in Canada, the UK, and Australia).
I like looking at and collecting traffic lights as well, but I'm not sure if this counts.
I also like looking at HVAC units and collecting fans.
Another thing that I like to do is LEGOs and model railroading.
I'm also somewhat of an urban explorer, but I prefer looking at abandoned infrastructure (abandoned railroads, roads, traffic lights, sign posts, etc.) than abandoned buildings. Partially because going into abandoned buildings would be detrimental to my health as I have a dust allergy.
I also like browsing Google Street View in my free time.
EDIT: Another thing that I forgot to mention is that I'm also interested in outdoor/indoor warning sirens.

After reading that, I wonder if you're my long lost twin? Except for the HVAC/fan and abandoned buildings, the rest of the stuff fits me to a tee.

If one of your ancestors is from the Looney family, you might be!

[Pete from Boston]

Reading this list, it makes me feel like having a garden is unusual in this milieu.

[geocachingpirate]

Geocaching is a big one.  Weather and basketball and football are up at the top as well.
I've just gotten into progressive rock and classic rock, and I feel it will be a big part of my life. I'm 17 by the way.
Maps have always been in interest to me so that's why I like roads and would love to go all over the world.

[J N Winkler]

Reading this list, it makes me feel like having a garden is unusual in this milieu.

So are cooking and having an interest in single-origin 100% arabica coffees.

[kphoger]

Hmm, unusual.  Linguistics might count, as would certain forms of obscure folk/world music, I guess.

Both of those for me, too.