Tell us about your hobbies

[Links2k]

I’ve been retired for a little over three years now. Time still goes by extremely fast. I try as much as humanly possible to avoid stress while attempting to remain positive about everything. Life is truly short and working is overrated. 
 

I guess the only negative to retiring somewhat early is that everyone I enjoy spending time with still works. I don’t get lonely, because I’m an introvert, but I’d like it if more friends and family had this freedom. 
 

Anyway, besides guns I also enjoy flying my DJI drone, goofing around with my Traxxas rc 4x4, online poker, news, history, driving my Teryx sxs, military and civilian flight simulation and most importantly, quiet time. I’m looking forward to spring, because I really enjoy swimming. Swimming really helps with my arthritis. I’m a home body, but I travel internationally only because my wife loves to travel. The benefit of traveling outside of the country is seeing historic landmarks and enjoying native culture. 
 

Thanks for reading and feel free to share anything that brings you peace of mind and pleasure. 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Links2k

[leroy]

I understand Brother... Been retired for 17 years.  I love outdoor photography and do it alot.  I enjoy being outdoors.  I also volunteer a bit at church.  The most important thing is not to get sad n depressed.  I watched my older brother decide he was worthless because he retired.  He is now gone home.  

My advice; hunt several things ya like n go do em.  Buddy around with your buddies as ya can.  Quit worrying about age and enjoy...

leroy...

76 year old kid n loading specialist.

[Shorty]

I still have many many years before I can retire, but i find day hikes relieve any stress/anxiety and relaxes the mind.   There are plenty of easy trails within a hour of your home to try (I'm in the same area).  It should help some with the arthritis too.

[Gurn]

Not retired but spend some of my free time restoring vintage Geiger counters. 
https://youtube.com/@GeigerCounterVirtualMuseum

I also work on old radios. 

[Links2k]

5 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Not retired but spend some of my free time restoring vintage Geiger counters. 
https://youtube.com/@GeigerCounterVirtualMuseum

I also work on old radios. 

That’s definitely a most interesting and unique hobby. 

[Raoul]

Done

Edited April 6, 2023 by Raoul

[NoBanStan]

I'm boring and do what most people do I think

Jeeper - So parts and light offroading (still paying for it)

Firearms - Obviously. I really enjoy refinishing old military issue firearms. The more cosmo, the better.

IT stuff - gaming, tech, etc. Though because i've seen behind the curtain for 19 years, I don't do IoT devices

Traveling - specifically in the jeep. Just... getting out into the woods or backroads i've never driven

Church - Whatever is needed, whenever it's need. We do a lot of community assistance. I may be on a mission trip soon

Cars in general - I like to tinker. I would love to restore one. Maybe restomod, but i need a larger garage first

 

I picture myself traveling a bit but ultimately I want 20 acres of woods, a one story house for the wife myself. That way I can leave it to the kids when it's time. But the big thing for me is going to be volunteer work I think. Finding some way to pay it forward because I've learned so much in this life already that I can give to others.

Whatever I do, I would like it too lead to a headstone that says....."he was a pretty good dude".

 

[Links2k]

38 minutes ago, NoBanStan said:

Whatever I do, I would like it to lead to a headstone that says....."he was a pretty good dude".

 

Right on!

[Erik88]

I enjoy working on my vehicles. Until 5 years ago I had never changed my own oil. Last weekend I replaced my lower control arms on my truck. It took me 8 hours but I enjoyed the challenge. Still not sure I'm brave enough to attempt the timing belt. 

I bought an electric dirt bike last year that I've enjoyed riding and also working on it.  

My wife and I enjoy traveling (her more than me). Last year we went to Spain. This year we're going to Finland and Estonia. 

I also enjoy working on my house. I'm trying to work up the motivation to lay tile. 

 

[Erik88]

21 hours ago, Links2k said:

military and civilian flight simulation

Tell me more about this. Are you using Microsoft flight simulator?

[maroonandwhite]

1 hour ago, NoBanStan said:

 Though because i've seen behind the curtain for 19 years, I don't do IoT devices.

I’d love to hear more on this. Maybe in PM to not derail the thread. If you are willing.

Apart from guns, I like playing guitar and am just starting out with amateur photography. I’ve bought some nice photography gear that is a couple years old and “outdated”.  

[Links2k]

2 hours ago, Erik88 said:

Tell me more about this. Are you using Microsoft flight simulator?

Yes, I’m using MSFS 2020 for civilian flights and DCS for military flights. I’ve spent so much money on peripherals in the last three months it’s embarrassing. 

 

1 hour ago, maroonandwhite said:

I’d love to hear more on this. Maybe in PM to not derail the thread. If you are willing.

Apart from guns, I like playing guitar and am just starting out with amateur photography. I’ve bought some nice photography gear that is a couple years old and “outdated”.  

He can share it here. It’s very interesting. 

[Links2k]

2 hours ago, Erik88 said:

 

I bought an electric dirt bike last year that I've enjoyed riding and also working on it.  

My wife and I enjoy traveling (her more than me). Last year we went to Spain. This year we're going to Finland and Estonia. 

 

 

I love motorcycles. My last bike was a 2003 Honda Racing Erion Edition with a tune and exhaust.  I decked it out with matching tank skins/seat covers and I had multiple Vanson leathers, Shoei helmets and  Joe Rocket  outfits to wear when I was out and about. I’m always doing too much. A guy drove overnight from South Carolina to get it, because I sold it at a ridiculous price. I’m considering a Harley Tri-glide so I can spend more time with my brother and his club. Two wheelers are now out of my league. 
 

If it wasn’t for wives we would never leave home. I only join her on international trips so I can splurge on hotels with swim out pools or ridiculous amenities. She does domestic trips with her girlfriends.  She a fanatical line dancer.  That’s a whole story unto itself.

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by Links2k
Added video

[NoBanStan]

3 hours ago, maroonandwhite said:

I’d love to hear more on this. Maybe in PM to not derail the thread. If you are willing.

Apart from guns, I like playing guitar and am just starting out with amateur photography. I’ve bought some nice photography gear that is a couple years old and “outdated”.  

 

1 hour ago, Links2k said:

Yes, I’m using MSFS 2020 for civilian flights and DCS for military flights. I’ve spent so much money on peripherals in the last three months it’s embarrassing. 

 

He can share it here. It’s very interesting. 

I wrote this response 2-3 times, trying not to sound preachy. I don't think I'll achieve that here, but here goes

1. 99% of IoT devices are imported junk with no business on your wifi. There are no controls around this stuff and how secure it is. Even major players like Samsung have been found to have some sketchy stuff in their smart TVs. How much should we trust XaoBing "branded" LED light strips that hook into our wifi? There are no task forces out there monitoring what kind of chips are put in these devices or where they're shipping off data.

2. Anything with a mic is recording. Anything with a camera is recording or snapping pictures. Period.

3. The developers who write the code for most of these devices are being pushed by a business to get it out the door ASAP! You can thank Microsoft for the iterative deployment methodology (release unfinished, fix it later.. presumably).

4. There are been quite a few attacks on US infrastructure from IoT botnets. About 5 years ago, the entire eastern half of the US couldn't get to the internet for several hours because there was an army of thermostats, lightbulbs, etc all attacking the DNS servers in the East.

5. Even if the device comes from a major provider with a dedicated Cyber Security division (and don't hate on me cyber guys), but most of them suck. Sure, there are some white/grey hats out there doing God's work... but most of these people only do paperwork and talk about controls, mitigation, etc. Half of them don't even understand the tech they're supposed to oversee. There's just a policy that says... hackers should not hack us, so.... we're good. Legal approves.

6. Most companies will get away with whatever they want until they are caught. Look at facebook. They're quite literally watching EVERYTHING you do online. Finally, someone will realize "hhey, you're taking my <whatever>" and sue. Then they'll just settle and put that in their 500 page Eula for no one to read.

7. Lastly, on a different note. The older I get, the less tech I want. I think it's making people soft. The day I retire, my phone is going right into a pond.... well, cept youtube i guess. Otherwise i couldn't fix a car.

</rantoff>

 

 

[maroonandwhite]

Thanks for that.  Pretty much confirms all the things I’ve always wondered.  I was actually considering ditching all of my IoT stuff yesterday but mainly because when the power blinks, all of my smart lights turn on and wake me up.  The settings are supposed to revert back to the prior state before an outage but they don’t. I guess they need to be on so they can report back when the power grid is back up………

[TNBuck2]

I'm 53 and was off work for about 18 months after I moved to Clarksville after being in Knoxville for 20+ years. I got a taste of what retirement looks like... man, the days go by so fast compared to when you are working, lol. We finished building a house in 2019 which had some projects that we left undone so I could finish them as I got time. Woodworking and guns are my two hobbies and the woodworking/DIY stuff  is about the only thing I get to do right now. The shooting complex has been closed for almost the entire time I have lived here so I really don't get to shoot like I thought I would be able to. Really want to learn to shoot at distance at some point, right now I'd settle for about 100 yards at an outdoor range to just be able to sight in my scopes. 

I've recently gone back to work 2 days a week, lucky that my wife has an amazing job with great benefits that allows me to do so... and I'm building a garage/pool storage building and framing it myself. Also finishing out my basement and building a bar down there. The amount of money I have spent  in woodworking and DIY tools is crazy, but I have the space for most of it and after the building is done I'll be able to get the zero turn and garden tools out of "my garage" and have even more room for the woodworking stuff.

[TNBuck2]

10 hours ago, Erik88 said:

I enjoy working on my vehicles. Until 5 years ago I had never changed my own oil. Last weekend I replaced my lower control arms on my truck. It took me 8 hours but I enjoyed the challenge. Still not sure I'm brave enough to attempt the timing belt. 

 

Changing my own oil is something I've never done, which is crazy when I think about it because I do almost everything around the house myself, including other car/truck stuff. My neighbor borrowed my strap wrench (that I bought for a plumbing project) yesterday to change his oil, and I  thought to myself that I'm going to change my own oil next time. Definitely need to start doing this myself!

[RED333]

1 hour ago, TNBuck2 said:

Changing my own oil

I HATE CRAWLING ON THE GROUND!!! The wife took years to understand this, if I had a lift it I would do the oil changes on all our cars, and the neighbors as well.

[TNBuck2]

1 hour ago, RED333 said:

I HATE CRAWLING ON THE GROUND!!! The wife took years to understand this, if I had a lift it I would do the oil changes on all our cars, and the neighbors as well.

Ha, me too. I might have to rethink this DIY job!

[peejman]

I'm married with kids and I work for a living do my primary hobby is sleeping. 

When I'm not doing that....  I like to ride my motorcycle, play guitar, ride my bicycle, coach my kids sports teams, and I dabble in photography. I also do most of my vehicle maintenance.... spent most of yesterday helping a buddy try to get the big block in his truck running.  It's got carb issues we weren't able to solve. 

 

I'd like to think I still shoot and collect guns, but there's not much time or money for that these days. 

[Daniel]

18 hours ago, Erik88 said:

I enjoy working on my vehicles. Until 5 years ago I had never changed my own oil. Last weekend I replaced my lower control arms on my truck. It took me 8 hours but I enjoyed the challenge. Still not sure I'm brave enough to attempt the timing belt. 

I bought an electric dirt bike last year that I've enjoyed riding and also working on it.  

My wife and I enjoy traveling (her more than me). Last year we went to Spain. This year we're going to Finland and Estonia. 

I also enjoy working on my house. I'm trying to work up the motivation to lay tile. 

 

I did some adjustable control arms, front and back, on my jeep this weekend.  

[Pain103]

On 3/3/2023 at 11:22 PM, Links2k said:

 

Anyway, besides guns I also enjoy flying my DJI drone, 

What drone do you have? I use to fly a Mini SE for my last department and loved it. I'm thinking about getting back into it and buying my own, but I think I would go bigger.

[Links2k]

21 minutes ago, Pain103 said:

What drone do you have? I use to fly a Mini SE for my last department and loved it. I'm thinking about getting back into it and buying my own, but I think I would go bigger.

Mavic2 with the smart controller