[redsniper]

Learn to shoot.

[Nuke]

Seriously, guys, do you have any real life hobbies?  I can't remember the last time I was bored with anything.  Here is what I like to do when I'm not doing FreeSpace, in no particular order...

1) Legos
2) Model trains
3) Model airplanes
4) Model rocketry
5) Amateur electronics
6) Reading
7) Puzzles (the kind you spread out on a table, not stuff like Sudoku)
8) Other computer games
9) Marble tracks
10) Watching movies

Honestly, I'd love to have extra free time.  I'd get to do more stuff.

1, 3, 5, and 10
id do 4 but you cant get model rocket motors here.

really i have too many ****ing hobbies. i have 3 large containers full of legos, mostly technic. my closet is a hanger for my r/c heli and my r/c plane. though something gets broke every time i fly, and its usually a $20+ fix, so that is ****ing expensive. amateur electronics is something im getting better at (thanks to arduino). i built an r/c receiver board from scratch, it uses an arduino programmed mcu to receive data from a cheap wireless module, does some packet decoding and then powers an h-bridge and up to 6 servos. i mostly use it in my lego projects. the transmitter is just my arduino board with a joystick shield and a transmitter module that matches the receiver. i watch movies, but since we dont have a decent theater here, im stuck with what comes on basic cable.

aside from those ive been doing lots of hunting and fishing in the summer months.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I list "doing nothing" as my hobby. It's more time-consuming than writing or playing computer games.

[Nuke]

of course staring at the ceiling always takes precedence these days

[Goober5000]

I'm no longer working on BWO and that's been the case for years. I left it with BlackDove who has carried on the noble tradition (it's been 10 years it can be a tradition ) of trying to finish it.

Doesn't mean you can't resume some duties, even if not in a leadership capacity.

[Klaustrophobia]

i play video games WAY too goddamn much.  my RL friends suck and hardly ever do anything.  for a couple years as school i played soccer almost daily.  these days it's pretty much just PC and watching hockey/movies on TV.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Well, as long as you're content...

[StarSlayer]

Well since I just got back from it:

Horseback Riding (English Saddle)

Also:
Kendo
A mixed historical melee class (ranges around European systems like German longsword, sword and buckler and Eastern traditions such as Chinese Staff and Broadsword, Eskrima)
running
scale models
miniatures (I've got some 40K stuff kicking round, but I'm angling towards Napoleonics)
cooking
drawing (Diaspora stuff plus my own personal stuff)
reading (I can rip through books if I get a good series)
quality time with the dogs
video games


I'm looking to fit indoor rock climbing and a hand to hand combat system in the near future when I can get the time.  In the spring I'm considering taking some classes then springing for a motorcycle; it would be a fun, cheaper supplement for the truck.  In the long term I'd like to go through some firearms training but thats farther down the line.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I also do a lot of walking and a bit of jogging. I can spend hours walking along the beach. Twice, I covered 12 km in about 6 hours.

[Dilmah G]

If you've got cash to kill, and I mean serious cash to kill, you could try learning to fly.

[Klaustrophobia]

I also do a lot of walking and a bit of jogging. I can spend hours walking along the beach. Twice, I covered 12 km in about 6 hours.

i'll probably end up doing a lot of that once i move to VA beach. 

[Unknown Target]

If you've got cash to kill, and I mean serious cash to kill, you could try learning to fly.

Seconded. My licence is one of my proudest achievements. It does cost a lot of money though. If you want to go up a few times, make friends with a pilot or go to the airfield and ask for an intro flight - it's usually around $50 and depending on the place will last from 30 minutes to an hour. Or you can split the plane rental with a pilot buddy and go up (I do that a lot with friends).

[Dilmah G]

Yeah, I have a few family friends who are pilots, and when I was younger I used to be able to right seat for free. I'm still to get my license as my logged hours are under the required minimum (if I'd logged all of my hours, I'd probably be more experienced than my instructor, who looks not a day older than I ) and working a fair bit like I had to to pay for it earlier isn't as viable as I thought it would be in my final years of school.

As an alternative to powered flying, gliding is also very, very good. I've been recommended it by all the ex-Air Force blokes I've talked to, as it's a cheaper and easier way of getting really good stick/rudder coordination, good lookout, and attitude flying ability in a few hours. And on top of that, it's one of the simpler and cheaper ways to unwind.

But yeah, I agree, a nice trial intro flight is a good use of your time, if anyone's interested.

[Pred the Penguin]

Definitely interested, will be getting to that in a year or so.

Also played soccer a lot a year ago... but now there are too many damned school restrictions.

I've a huge box of lego that haven't in a long long while... maybe I should get back into it.

I also play cello... music is a good stress reliever.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I want to build and maintain a massive Pla-rail toy train network, but I don't have the money or space to allow for it. Something like this, or maybe something more complex.

I used to have a small, two-train network when I was younger, but that was when I lived in a larger house, and because I was still very young, I couldn't manage the upkeep of it and broke a few connections. It was fun to see the trains run around as a pastime, though.

[perihelion]

Legos.  Seriously.

I broke out some legos for the first time in years and just started building for about a week straight.  Few things get my creative juices flowing as much as building with legos.  I'm trying to teach my daughter the basics, but she's still a bit young for it (just turned 4).  I cannot begin to describe how good it felt to build again after so long.  I was hunched up in a ball on the floor with various wings and panels organized by color in a pinwheel around me.  I ached for days afterwards.  It was beautiful.  Life-affirming.  I highly recommend it.

That and music.  I'm pretty bad at taking my own advice here, but pick up and instrument and learn to play.  Anything that gives you a space to create in.  I like legos and music specifically because there is so much room to be creative.  Unlike plastic models and such where there is a definite end-result you are aiming for, with music and legos you never know where you are going to end up.  My last lego ship had an original idea, but the final result was as much due to me running out of certain pieces as anything else!

[Pred the Penguin]

Yup, that does it... I'm definitely going back to lego.

[ssmit132]

I must do something with that big container full...

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Lego? Now that's a good hobby...

Admittedly, I've not played with it for about ten years.

[IceFire]

I know a guy who collects new Lego and he's my age. Apparently it's still a blast to put together. I should go see if my old Lego pieces are still around.