What other hobbies do you have

[AdrianF (Adrian)]

Following on from "what's your day job" what hobbies other than stargazing do you have?
I'll start ham radio (licenced since 82 vk4kl)
I ride a motorbike for relaxation (XVS1100)

Adrian

[Ric]

Golf (badly but I have fun)
Permaculture (more like a lifestyle than a hobby)

Cheers

[sheeny (Al)]

Oh... I have lots! All have been dominant at some point in my life...

Astronomy... obviously...

Motorcycling... too old for motorcross and enduros these days so I tour a little on my BMW R80 and I have a Montesa 315R trials bike for play.

Music... I have several guitars (a classical, a steel string, an acoustic bass, and electric and an amp), blues harps, occarinas, conga drums, clap sticks and an egg. I'm not playing often ATM, but it comes and goes.

Computer programming. I used to write articles about programming Microbees back in the good old days (basic, fortran, pascal, assembler and machine code). I dabble a little with VB these days... hence AlsReticle, etc.

Bushwalking, abseiling, canyoning and caving. Don't do as much as I used to as I now have a....

Hobby farm! Well its a place for my observatory out of town, and it has room for the girls to own and ride horses, and despite all the weeds that keep me busy chipping and spraying, its great!

When I was little I used to collect tractor pamphlets... I don't do that any more. I have an old IH 434 and few implements to keep me happy!

I never have a shortage of things to do...

Al.

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Hi,

Golf (handicap 36, the maximum )

DIY renovating, bathroom at present.

Cheers

[marki]

Bikes (Duc 851 SP3)
RC planes, choppers, cars.
Metal machining (stirling engines, scope bits etc).
Car racing and mechanics.
Guitars.
Woodworking.
Golf.
Camping and bush walking (been a while though)
Teaching secondary science .

Mark

[astronut (John)]

There are other hobbies??

[M54 (Molly)]

Painting,
a little woodworking and carving,
bushwalking and camping (not as much as the old days),
gardening,

and currently learning traditional african rythyms on djembe (so much fun!)

[stattonb (Statton)]

Poker if thats a hobbie lol

[that_guy (Tony)]

Chess, I love chess!!

[michaellxv (Michael)]

model trains
camping

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Motorcycles of both types
Road VFR800
Of road KLX450R

I took up off road a few years back, it has helped ease my frustrations when the weather is cloudy and rainy, you can still have fun riding a dirt bike!

[Wavytone]

Paragliding

Just 20 minutes from home I can fly at Long Reef, very convenient for a quick adrenalin fix. On a sunny day it is simply a gorgeous way to spend a morning

http://web.me.com/wx88/Site/Paragliding.html#7

And when i travel to Bright or Manilla I always take a scope as these are good for stargazing too.

[Suzy]

Fish keeping (Aquariums). I used to have 5, but so much work that I slowly cut down to one. I Have a large 5ft (450l) tank. I've had to learn over the years much on biology, plants and landscaping. Way too many fish in there at the moment as the tank is conducive to breeding. Cute to see little babies swimming with the grown ups.

Also do scrapbooking from time to time when I can be bothered. I find it very difficult when I'm studying (on a personal level) cosmology, to then get the creative side of my brain working for scrapbooking. I think those two oppose each other in the brain department!

I also love anything to do with the workings of audio/visual equipment. Circuit boards excite me. What's involved with the making of a speaker , manipulating my Yamaha amp (I have a top of the range monster) to do different things. There is not a piece of complicated equipment out there that I won't figure out. If I had my time over again I would be an Audio Engineer. By the way you wouldn't believe how much difference oxygen free copper cables can do to even an already great sounding system - just buying that excited me no end.

And I love planes, both commercial and war. It's a good day when I go to an airshow. I live near the Archerfield airport and it's thrilling when i'm driving down the road and a plane comes into land just above my car.

One time in my life I was heavily into cricket (I used to enjoy doing the stats as well and would have all the important stuff ready before tv showed it. Read books by the ton, wrote articles (for myself - cricket journo wanna be) wore cricket jewellery, so desperate for it I even attended club matches, and generally became a bit of a groupie. Was a hug part of my life. Was then a buzz when my cousin ended being fast bowler for Sri-Lanka, few perks there! Ended up consuming too much of my life and gave it up.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Used to be motorcycle-mad. Would never get off the thing. Ate on it. Parked it in the living room in case I needed to get to the kitchen quickly. Gave it up after a high-side (my second) in 2004: Broken arm, hip, leg, ribs and scapula. I miss it like hell, but even half an hour of riding leaves me in agony.

Used to be heavily into photography - no time anymore

Is reading a hobby? I read loads, but always have so its more like breathing. If I don't have something interesting to read I go nuts.

Recently taken up Archery. This is well-fun with just the right amount of danger involved (to other people ) to keep you on your toes!

[DavidU (Dave)]

Vintage watch collecting and wife listening (requires a major amount of effort)

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

I have to blame a lot of people here for this one another potentially expensive Hobby ie, Photography

Thanks GUYS

[snowyskiesau]

Photography - non astronomy, still learning.
Motorcyles - no longer an active rider but still have a bike/restoration project in the shed (Rickman Honda 750)
Machining - I have a small lathe and mill and make stuff out of metal, often in support of other hobbies.
Computers - although it's really a job, I spend far too much time in fronot of a computer.
Gardenng - at the moment I'm enjoying vegetables, fresh from the garden.

All this doesn't leave a lot of time for astronomy but I do occasionally get out the binoculars. Haven't used the telscope(s) in the last 12 months.

[that_guy (Tony)]

Why is there so many Motorcycle Enthusiasts??

[snowyskiesau]

Originally Posted by that_guy

Why is there so many Motorcycle Enthusiasts??

If you'd ever ridden one, you'd know!

[Ric]

I have to agree with with Geoff on that one.

I didn't list my motorbikes as a hobby as it's more of as lifestyle choice for me.

I'm a BMW enthusiast with a K75c (now being restored for classic rego and ride days) and a R1200c Cruiser same as ridden by James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies except mine is black and chrome. Hopefully I'll be able to find one of those 007 stickers where the 7 looks like a gun, small and tasteful across the top of the tank.

I could write another couple of pages so I'll stop now and return the thread back to it's normal programming.