Who has hobbies other than photography?

[rfaspen]

Wow. I played with Linux starting 1991. Kept a hybrid network at home and " linked" into the university network I worked at. All was great untill they one day didn't recognize one of the IP addresses. I got in mild trouble, but I honestly didn't know I did anything wrong. Those were "the early years".


Went back to my network logs.....they spent many (!) days trying to hack into my home network. Never did of course. That's how good my security was. Theirs, on the other hand,.........I invoke my 5th amendment right.

 

[Mos6502]

The comments about pipe smoking do have me thinking. I do find it interesting that pipe smoking is considered a hobby, whereas cigarettes are not. But I also can see how pipe smoking would be a hobby, whereas cigarettes rarely meet the qualifications to be considered such. Cigarette smokers largely stick to a favorite brand and show little interest in smoking or cigarettes outside of getting their fix. Pipers on the other hand seem to revel in collecting pipes and tobaccos, trying new things out, experimenting with different techniques. Many don't even smoke everyday, it is literally a leisure activity for many. I have probably a dozen pipes, each different, and a couple different "favorite" tobaccos. Occasionally I might go to the shop and get a little bag of something "different" just to try it out. When I run out of tobacco, it may be weeks or even months before I restock. Once I didn't even pick up a pipe for over a year, because I didn't feel like making a trip to get more tobacco. Whereas when I was a cigarette smoker, if I ran out, I had to buy more immediately. With the pipes, smoking is more of a by-product of collecting, rather than the main pursuit. That said, it's got to be my least interesting "hobby".

 

[peterm1]

I mentioned earlier that for a time (before I suffered a spinal stenosis which limited me somewhat) I practiced iaido - a Japanese martial art involving swords. And I mentioned that as an offshoot of this I took to repairing the swords we used (known as "iaito" - a practice sword with a blunt edge) to help fellow practitioners. I did this as a friendly gesture to fellow members of the dojo and did not charge them. But for me the pay-off was not monetary - it was the opportunity to learn skills that eventually after many years allowed me to graduate to actual "Nihonto" - vintage Japanese swords sometimes 400-500 years old. I do not work on the blade itself but rather on the koshirae (the handle, the scabbard, the hand guard etc which are attached to the sword blade to make it an artistic whole. My work is still far from perfect, but I am getting there. The old saying about having " An infinite capacity for taking pains" being the source of real ability is true - and this is the very attribute exercised by Japanese craftsmen - and I would suggest the nation as a whole.


A couple of examples.

 

[peterm1]

.......................and a photo from many years past when I used the same skills on muzzle loading rifles.

 

[wlewisiii]

Those are both beautiful. My best swords are actually Chinese style ( jian and straight dao) that I got from LK Chen who are dedicated to recreating very historically accurate swords from the Han, Tang and other eras of Chinese history.

As for a flintlock, I only have a TC Firestorm. Synthetic stock, modern steel barrel, a plug designed for using fake black pellets. It's nice in it's way but I need a proper Baker like Pedersoli is coming out with 🙂

 

[agentlossing]

Anytime a flintlock gets posted I get hot and bothered...

Though I need to find a left-handed one, since I shoot left-eye. I haven't fired a right-handed flintlock rifle, but I'm guessing I wouldn't like it!

 

[Dogman]

Peter, I'm sorry about your back issues. I also have spinal stenosis and it has progressed significantly. I'm now unable to ambulate without a cane and I can only walk for very short distances. It's a bitch ain't it!

Best wishes.




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[oldhaven]

I had stenosis in my 50’s and it was debilitating and painful. I had a laminectomy 20 years ago and it turned me into a young man again. (Until I got old anyway) No back pain since. It seems like a drastic surgery, but I found it very worth it.

 

[Dogman]

That would be good, oldhaven. But I've been told I'm not a candidate for spine surgery due to number of levels involved. Would if I could.

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[peterm1]

Peter, I'm sorry about your back issues. I also have spinal stenosis and it has progressed significantly. I'm now unable to ambulate without a cane and I can only walk for very short distances. It's a bitch ain't it!

Best wishes.




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And I am sorry to hear about your back issues too. Yep it's a bitch. I was lucky in one sense - I never knew I had it till it suddenly became acute and resulted in a trip to Emergency. It forced me to have a "decompression and fusion" of the spinal area affected. Luckily this stopped further progression. But it left me with ongoing neuropathy which is not much fun. Gettin' old's a bitch! 😕

 

[peterm1]

I had stenosis in my 50’s and it was debilitating and painful. I had a laminectomy 20 years ago and it turned me into a young man again. (Until I got old anyway) No back pain since. It seems like a drastic surgery, but I found it very worth it.

I too had much the same surgery (though here in Oz it was given a different technical name - a "decompression and fusion", not sure why, but I understand it to be basically the same kind of thing. ). It fixed the cause but by then considerable damage had been done to nerves so it left me with some residual pain and issues and slight disability. I have had surgery a few times in my life but I don't think I have ever felt pain worse than when I first came out of anesthesia. Wow it was a doozy. Turns out hacking into your spinal column with high grade carpenter's equipment is painful! Go figure. 🙂

 

[peterm1]

Anytime a flintlock gets posted I get hot and bothered...

Though I need to find a left-handed one, since I shoot left-eye. I haven't fired a right-handed flintlock rifle, but I'm guessing I wouldn't like it!

Messing about with flintlocks is kind of fun. I don't do it anymore (here in Oz firearms are now strictly regulated so I found other "bloke" things to keep me occupied. 🙂 I have no idea where my skills in working on such things came from - perhaps its attention to detail and having an artistic temperament which causes me to focus on making them as authentic as I could.