What is your "other" expensive hobby?

[Stephanie B]

Last winter, my health went sideways. Fully recovered, but the bottom line was I’m done flying airplanes.

So I’m lacking another expensive hobby.

Sorry to hear that, Stephanie. But I'm glad you're fully recovered.

I think you've made a very down to earth decision. (With apologies in advance to @Casual Friday who knows that I'm just having some fun messing with him.)

Ah, eff him. That was a decent pun.

(Don't know if anyone's interested in a '47 Stinson, but they can PM me if they are.)

[TC215]

Last winter, my health went sideways. Fully recovered, but the bottom line was I’m done flying airplanes.

So I’m lacking another expensive hobby.

Sorry to hear. That’s one of my biggest fears.

[revchuck38]

I'm a road cyclist. My bikes are relatively inexpensive - I've only got about $3k in my primary one - but I invest in software and use. I spend >$2k/year on coaching and at least that much on travel and related expenses to do cool rides in cool places. I'm a sea-level flatlander who likes to climb; last year's big things were a week in Colorado Springs which included climbing Pikes Peak on my bike and a trip to Utah to ride from Logan to Jackson Hole, WY - 204 miles and 8.5k of climbing in 12 hours, including a monumental bonk at ~140 miles into the ride. Last year's total miles were 9k, because I mostly stopped riding in September to run.

[Casual Friday]

Sorry to hear that, Stephanie. But I'm glad you're fully recovered.

I think you've made a very down to earth decision. (With apologies in advance to @Casual Friday who knows that I'm just having some fun messing with him.)

Not your best work, but from the worst.

[fuse]

I absolutely understand. My wife and I have had several conversations around getting a baby leopard gecko again, or possibly a snake (likely one of the small australian pythons), but we haven't been able to actually do it yet. On the one hand, I genuinely miss our leopard gecko, but on the other, I'm not sure I want to take on the emotional attachment or responsibility of another pet right now. I'll probably keep on going using the money excuse for a while, and then eventually cave.



Yeah, it's hard to take losing an animal, and unless you're going to have a pet elephant or tortoise, you're highly likely to outlive it. Of course, if you do have one of those few animals that lives longer than humans, you have to figure out how to provide for its care when *you* die, which is a whole other can of worms.



That, in theory at least, is a major plus to reptiles; most geckos can live 15-25 years, and some snakes are good for 30-40+. They're not "cuddly," and they're obviously not for everyone, but as long as they don't catch some weird disease and you provide the correct environment for them, they'll be with you for a lot longer than a dog/cat/other mammal. There are some birds that typically have pretty long lifespans, too, but they're also not for everyone; I'm definitely not a bird person.

No joke, a friend at work owned a piranha fish for 19 years. Got it in high school, moved with it 4 times. It just died this week, unexpectedly. Although Google says most have an expected lifespan of 8-12 years, so I reckon he was old.

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[Rex G]

Revisiting this thread, at this time, is not helping me to resist the recent resurgence of the urge to buy a musical instrument. As a kid, I had the piano lessons lessons, taught by the interim music minister at the church, and in junior high school, I was in the band for two years; sixth and seventh grade. The limit on available elective classes, in the schedule, meant that I had to choose between band and journalism, in the eighth grade, a tough choice; I went with journalism, as it was an enriched/honors-type course. In high school, I went the ag/FFA route, rather than try to re-enter the band program. In hindsight, I so very much wish I had tried to get into the orchestra program, in high school.

Of course, with no substantial money of my own, I was compelled to use a handed-down clarinet to play in the band, rather than one of the cooler instruments. The fingering of a woodwind would probably return to my reflexes more quickly, than other types of readily-portable instruments, so is an all-else-being-equal place to start looking, but nothing is written in stone.

Edited to add: My wife is supportive, within reason. Her father was a violinist, with the Chicago and Houston symphonies.

[Grey]

Knives. Custom, production, fixed and folder. Sigh...

I was in to knives until I could buy guns... knives lost their appeal quick when I compared what I could buy with the custom knife cash I used to spend...

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[Duelist]

Revisiting this thread, at this time, is not helping me to resist the recent resurgence of the urge to buy a musical instrument. As a kid, I had the piano lessons lessons, taught by the interim music minister at the church, and in junior high school, I was in the band for two years; sixth and seventh grade. The limit on available elective classes, in the schedule, meant that I had to choose between band and journalism, in the eighth grade, a tough choice; I went with journalism, as it was an enriched/honors-type course. In high school, I went the ag/FFA route, rather than try to re-enter the band program. In hindsight, I so very much wish I had tried to get into the orchestra program, in high school.

Of course, with no substantial money of my own, I was compelled to use a handed-down clarinet to play in the band, rather than one of the cooler instruments. The fingering of a woodwind would probably return to my reflexes more quickly, than other types of readily-portable instruments, so is an all-else-being-equal place to start looking, but nothing is written in stone.

Edited to add: My wife is supportive, within reason. Her father was a violinist, with the Chicago and Houston symphonies.

Pick an instrument, sign up for private lessons with a teacher at your local community college or music school. Adults starting instruments as a hobby is a great thing!

Probably a good idea to wait till you talk to that teacher to pick out and buy an instrument, if it is an instrument you know little about. They will be able to make useful recommendations for you.

[Robinson]

I was into guitars before I developed serious hearing loss and tinnitus. That probably contributed to the problems. Anyway, now that I have hearing aids that also protect my ears I might be able to play again -- but I will probably never start up again.

A Les Paul and an ES-330, both with P90 pickups, were a couple of my favorites. I wish I'd kept the ES-330.

[Lex Luthier]

I was into guitars before I developed serious hearing loss and tinnitus. That probably contributed to the problems. Anyway, now that I have hearing aids that also protect my ears I might be able to play again -- but I will probably never start up again.

A Les Paul and an ES-330, both with P90 pickups, were a couple of my favorites. I wish I'd kept the ES-330.

Very cool. ES-330s are one of my favorites too. I play a reissue Epiphone Casino, myself.
If you are feeling froggy, try one of the Heritage H-530s.
Made by former Gibson Craftsmen in the original Kalamazoo facility, they are the best versions of the ES-330 I have yet played. I would put them up against any of the golden age Gibsons for playability and construction quality.