Too many interests. No real hobby...

[dclamp]

I have come to the realization that I have way too many interests without any specific hobby or interest.

My generic interest lie in the following fields: technology, construction, law enforcement, firearms. And within those, my interests differ more.

- Technology I like everything from programming, networking, repair, server management, radio hardware, telecom, HAM, arduino, etc
- Construction Is from home improvement to new room building
- Law enforcement: field work, dispatching, Community Services
- Etc.

How am I to decide what to do in life when I like doing all of those things. I also forgot about Technical Theatre. So many different things.

Anyone else have way too many interests?

[InvisibleDuncan]

Why limit yourself to a hobby? It sounds to me like you have all the necessary interests to become a master criminal.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Yeah! Just get yourself a long-haired white cat and a monocle. You could have it all.

Seriously, though, I don't think you should be even slightly disturbed by your diversity of interests. Sure, there are people who dedicate their lives to some archane hobby, but the bulk of people have lots of different things going on. It doesn't make you a bad person, or dissolute, or any such thing. It just means that you have more interests. You may not get to master all of them, but that's life. We simply don't have enough time in our lives to do all the things that would be worth doing. If I could live for several centuries, I'd spend a year staring at a rock. Oddly, I have heard of somebody who did essentially that, but I just can't devote that much time to staring at a rock. I did spend several hours contemplating a rock one time, and found it to be quite interesting. There is more going on in a square meter of forest than we could comprehend in our lifetimes, and there was more happening on that rock than I could study. One thing I learned from that is that I spend more time looking closely at the ground when I get the opportunity. I don't get the opportunity all that often, though.

So, I have the programming as a hobby (and now a job). Some robotics, but that has largely fallen away as I have an interesting coding project engaging all my spare time. I also do long distance backpacking, sailing, caving (though not for several years, since I'm in the wrong place for that), fishing, unusual landscaping/gardening, home renovations, and so on. I can't get to them all, but so what. At least one of them started as a hobby and is now a vocation. That's life. The variety of your interests just means you aren't boring.

[dilettante]

A long term job (can we even say "career" anymore in the age of disposable labor?), home ownership, and a family can work wonders in focusing your energies. Once you start having kids be glad if you can still get out for a movie or some fishing now and then. If you have a house and garden to maintain forget about that too.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Yeah, that's what I've noticed, too, and I intend to keep that a second-hand observation.

[dilettante]

There's a lot to be said for living single and childless in a big Tupperware house sited on sand.

Nothing to take your time and energy: no mowing, good drainage, nothing to break, and just hose it out monthly for cleaning.

[techgnome]

pfffft! It's all about time management... I don't usually have trouble finding the time to get out on the water with the kayak... at the moment the only thing that prevents me is timing the tides correctly so that I'm not having to work against the currents too much. If I want to go down river, I go shortly before low tide... so that when I'm ready to turn around and head back, I'm going back in with the rising tide and the current flows backwards... if I want to go upriver, then I go shortly before high tide, so that I can come back down river as the tide flows back out. Time for my hobbies isn't usually the problem... it's either money or space. and in the case of my model railroad, indecision on the layout.... :P

-tg

[Steve R Jones]

Jack of All Trades - Master of None

[homer13j]

and in the case of my model railroad, indecision on the layout.... :P

Worthless without pictures! All I have is a tiny little streetcar (tram) layout still under construction.

Plus two dirt bikes (no, one is NOT enough), a shifter kart, and I'm in a band. Yeah, too many hobbies...

[techgnome]

http://pbjrr.net/ - it's been a while since I've updated it though... the building that will be used as city hall is about 80% complete now... meanwhile some situational changes has momentarily forced me to box things up... I've got some new layout design plans in the works for an l-shaped layout... but ran into a technical issue that I'm still working on (there's a clearance issue where a couple of the tracks cross over in the back corner.)

-tg

[Shaggy Hiker]

That looks like it's on an outdoors deck.

[techgnome]

Some shots were... at the time I was living at the in-laws, so it was really the only space I had at the time to lay things out... now in my own house, with a room that has room... just need to figure out what the shape and the layout is going to be...

-tg

[Jacob Roman]

I too have too many interests but I actually have hobbies. Heres what I'm into that I do in my spare time when I feel like it:

• Skateboarding (Mostly freestyle but I do street skating too. Been skating for 19 years)
• Play guitar (I've been a metal head since highschool, and play a little bit of metal on guitar)
• DJ (Got a nice pair of turn tables with a mixer, and a 300 watt amp. And with my record collection, I can really start a party.)
• Play keyboards / synthesizers (Been playing that longer than guitar, so I'm a tad better on the synthesizers. Got a lot of software synths too)
• Recording / Editing / Remixing / and creating music (I use both Cubase 5 and Audacity to do that. And have some good recording equipment)
• Game console modification (I've done this twice with both the Atari 2600 and NES, and can modify any console to do whatever you want)
• Electronics repair (With my knowledge, soldering tools, parts, and skills, I can fix nearly everything)
• Collecting retro video games (I collect games for NES, Atari 2600, Super NES, Genesis, Wii, Playstation, PS2, Saturn, Atari 5200, N64, etc.)
• Audio (I'm into and knowledgeable audio/stereo related equipment, and have some nice home theater stuff. Can also do car audio.)
• Programming and Game Design (You all know this. Nuff said.)
• Gaming (It's my lifestyle. I'm a hardcore gamer. I play old as well as new. But mostly play World of Warcraft)

[Shaggy Hiker]

Game console modification (I've done this twice with both the Atari 2600 and NES, and can modify any console to do whatever you want)

I've got Moti on the line. He'd like you to modify a console in a particular way....

[homer13j]

http://pbjrr.net/ - it's been a while since I've updated it though... the building that will be used as city hall is about 80% complete now... meanwhile some situational changes has momentarily forced me to box things up... I've got some new layout design plans in the works for an l-shaped layout... but ran into a technical issue that I'm still working on (there's a clearance issue where a couple of the tracks cross over in the back corner.)

-tg

Cool. I like the name. One of these days I'm going to build something capable of running my growing fleet of electric locos under full catenary (I have the space, not the time), but those GE P-motors need at least a 30" minimum radius. Not going to run them on a 4X8 sheet of plywood...

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[Shaggy Hiker]

Fake caternaries, right? Or are you planning to re-route the electricity? That would be a total pain, but it would also be kind of cool.

I had some model trains when I was young. I'd like to do more of that, but I lack the space...unless I ran them all over the house, which would be fun.

[homer13j]

Fake caternaries, right? Or are you planning to re-route the electricity?

I would use live catenary if I was only going to run electrics, but I have steam & early diesel locos as well that will use the same tracks so the CUT layout will all be two-rail power.

Also planning to go to DCC (digital command & control) where each locomotive has a receiver that interprets a digital signal sent from a controller so multiple trains can run on the same tracks at different speeds & directions without the need to cut the rails into electrically isolated blocks. On top of that I recently discovered the Java Model Railroad Interface that can allow a computer to fully automate a layout including routing, signalling, etc. It's a whole 'nother hobby within a hobby. I'm wondering if techgnome knows anything about this or has done anything with it?

My streetcar layout runs off simple trolley wire, but the extremely sharp curves in city streets guarantees I'll never be able to run anything but streetcars and interurbans so all my trolley cars are wired for overhead pickup with both rails grounded just like the real thing. I'll post a photo or two when I get a chance.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I was going to ask about computer controlled switching, but then I decided not to bother: It HAS to exist. It's such an obvious thing to do.

[techgnome]

DCC has been around since the 70's... but didn't really take off until the late 90's when the operations were standardized. I currently do not have any locos that's are equipped as such. I will probably just stick with the old tried and true cab control.

Have heard of the JMRI... but I haven't looked into it. When it comes to model railroading I am content to just turn the trains on and let them run.

[wossname]

I was going to ask about computer controlled switching, but then I decided not to bother: It HAS to exist. It's such an obvious thing to do.

Easy enough to throw together from scratch in fact. With a USB-parallel port adaptor, a few 74HC595 chips and a handful of MOSFETs one could create a rather impressive switching setup with minimal work and very simple source code. A fun Sunday afternoon's work.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Wire in a flame thrower and it could be REALLY impressive.

Many years ago, when I was more of a pyro, I filled a model boxcar with lighter fluid (just the gas, not the liquid, which would have been REALLY hard), and lit it. The result was entertaining and not harmful to either the car or the observer. Some rather spectacular effects could be achieved with a little piezo sparker and a lighter. Probably not something to do indoors, though, except in controlled situations.

[homer13j]

Gomez approves of this thread...

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