Your other hobbies

[UltraMega]

Anything non PC related that you're into, post about it here.

 

I have had an aquarium for about 16 years. At this point, it takes care of itself. The plants keep the water clean and the fish poop makes plant food.

 

Currently I have some Kirbensis cichlids that I am trying to breed. They are mouth broaders which means they sometimes carry their young around in their mouth. It's fun to watch when it happens. 

 

The angelfish recently died, had it for about 5 years. Pretty long life for an aquarium fish.

 

Current:

 

Edited May 29 by UltraMega

[SoloCamo]

I grew up in basically a zoo with a dog, multiple cats, salt water reef tanks, amazon river style fresh water tanks, bite you badly fish tanks (lionfish, niger trigger fish, wrasses, etc.) amazon parrots, parakeets (bred them as well), cockatiels, turtles, anoles,  ferrets... I can go on.

 

That said,  since I've been out of my family's house I've only ever had fresh water fish.  Unfortunately I have not had luck aside from an amano shrimp that I swear was related to godzilla because it survived everything and anything.  My girlfriend has  a thing for bettas (tangerine kois especially) and we've had multiple but it's like over the last few years the ones being sold are extremely inbred and they die very easily.  I've never had such problems in the past.  Right now we are down to a micro tank (3.7g) with nothing in it but drift wood. 

 

That said, I've picked up gardening recently and aside from my cherry tomatoe plant not doing well in the humidity down here all are doing well.  Ghost pepper, Cubanelle pepper, hungarian hotwax pepper, orchid, peppermint, basil, snake plant, dusty millers, and I forget the rest off the top of my head.

 

Aside from that, anything automotive... but my budget doesn't let that hobby thrive outside of just fixing issues that come up with my daily driver.  I've got what is now a project 1988 Jeep Comanche but again, money is the reason it sits.

 

 

Edited May 29 by SoloCamo

[Cerberus]

6 minutes ago, SoloCamo said:

 I've got what is now a project 1988 Jeep Comanche but again, money is the reason it sits.

 

 

I had a '87 2wd 4.0 with the BA10 trans

 

paid $500 for it, it had a stop sign as a drivers floor board and the exhaust was cut at the crossover bend

 

only needed it as a "dump run truck" when we were remodeling. Ran like a beast.

[SoloCamo]

33 minutes ago, Cerberus said:

I had a '87 2wd 4.0 with the BA10 trans

 

paid $500 for it, it had a stop sign as a drivers floor board and the exhaust was cut at the crossover bend

 

only needed it as a "dump run truck" when we were remodeling. Ran like a beast.

 

Funny, my first vehicle was a 1987 SporTruck with the same config, 2wd with the BA10 5 speed.  That transmission was made out of glass though.  Unfortunately a drunk driver tboned that truck while it was parked in the drive way, launched it a good 30 feet and if it wasn't for a large tree it would have went right into the bedroom where my elderly neighbor was sleeping.  Oddly enough the drunk driver that hit it was the wrester "Bam Bam Bigelow's" niece.  It took the police an hour to get to the scene and she very much was sobered up by then so no charges were filed and I think she got wreckless driving at most.   She had to be going at least 70mph around the curve (35mph speed limit) to understeer across the yard like she did.

 

Anyways, that's how I ended up with the 1988.  Same config, a SporTruck model with the 4.0 but it had the bulletproof toyota AW4 4-speed automatic instead.   I get offers on it all the time but sentimental value and all that, plus it's a Florida  rust free truck (besides some surface rust).

Edited May 29 by SoloCamo

[Sir Beregond]

Tabletop gaming and tabletop RPGs. We do things like GURPs and World of Darkness. Used to do DnD, but frankly it just keeps getting worse with each version. We switch to Pathfinder 2nd Edition and like that much better than the last DnD 5E session we did. I'm probably the newest one to tabletop in the group since I didn't grow up playing that, but it's a lot of fun. I'm running my first campaign in PF2E.  Some nights we also just do board games and have fun with those too. Lots of 4-5 player stuff.

 

One thing I'd like to take back up is piano. I took lessons growing up but didn't get far since I started it as a teenager. I do really enjoy playing though so I'd love to pick it up again. Would need to invest in a properly graded weighted key digital piano if I do.

 

I don't really consider anything I do with my car a hobby and I don't know how to do much past the basics. Got burned once and started learning how to do all my own basic maintenance, mostly out of spite because I was pissed. But that's about it.

[EHW Ai]

7 hours ago, UltraMega said:

Anything non PC related that you're into, post about it here.

 

I have had an aquarium for about 16 years. At this point, it takes care of itself. The plants keep the water clean and the fish poop makes plant food.

 

Currently I have some Kirbensis cichlids that I am trying to breed. They are mouth broaders which means they sometimes carry their young around in their mouth. It's fun to watch when it happens. 

 

The angelfish recently died, had it for about 5 years. Pretty long life for an aquarium fish.

 

Current:

 

 

That's a really nice freshwater tank.

 

Had one as a kid (8-17 years old), but it was nowhere near that nice.

 

Also did saltwater back in the early 2000's, which was far more work (and far more expensive).

 

[Fluxmaven]

Outdoorsy stuff like cycling, kayaking, and target shooting. These have been out of the rotation for a while but I want to get back into them. Can also toss walking/hiking into the mix. 

 

I enjoy thrifting and antiquing. Now that most stuff is built with planned obsolescence and designed to be disposable, I really enjoy finding neat older things that were designed to last.  

 

I love music. I still have collections on vinyl, cassette, and CD. Enjoy going to concerts and festivals. I have played drums off and on for over half my life at this point. I have a compact drum set in my bedroom that I'd like to play more, but acoustic drums are ignorantly loud and I don't live alone.

 

16" bass drum next to an ITX rig for a sense of scale.

 

I'm also into cars and motorcycles. I like modifying things and also do my own maintenance and repairs. I haven't owned an actual motorcycle in a couple years, but my roommate and I bought the cheapest 50cc scooters we could find to fart around town on.

 

My current fleet of projects:

2015 Ford Mustang

1997 Mazda Miata

1984 BMW 323i

1996 Yamaha Razz

 

 

 

 

[UltraMega]

8 hours ago, SoloCamo said:

I grew up in basically a zoo with a dog, multiple cats, salt water reef tanks, amazon river style fresh water tanks, bite you badly fish tanks (lionfish, niger trigger fish, wrasses, etc.) amazon parrots, parakeets (bred them as well), cockatiels, turtles, anoles,  ferrets... I can go on.

 

That said,  since I've been out of my family's house I've only ever had fresh water fish.  Unfortunately I have not had luck aside from an amano shrimp that I swear was related to godzilla because it survived everything and anything.  My girlfriend has  a thing for bettas (tangerine kois especially) and we've had multiple but it's like over the last few years the ones being sold are extremely inbred and they die very easily.  I've never had such problems in the past.  Right now we are down to a micro tank (3.7g) with nothing in it but drift wood. 

 

That said, I've picked up gardening recently and aside from my cherry tomatoe plant not doing well in the humidity down here all are doing well.  Ghost pepper, Cubanelle pepper, hungarian hotwax pepper, orchid, peppermint, basil, snake plant, dusty millers, and I forget the rest off the top of my head.

 

Aside from that, anything automotive... but my budget doesn't let that hobby thrive outside of just fixing issues that come up with my daily driver.  I've got what is now a project 1988 Jeep Comanche but again, money is the reason it sits.

 

 

I've had the same experience with betas. They never live very long in my tank. 

 

Got any pics of your tank? 

5 hours ago, iamjanco said:

 

That's a really nice freshwater tank.

 

Had one as a kid (8-17 years old), but it was nowhere near that nice.

 

Also did saltwater back in the early 2000's, which was far more work (and far more expensive).

 

 

Thanks. I wish I could take more credit but I don't really do much with it. The plants do all the work. 

 

For a long time I had the wooden box that I made as a light fixture. Since my tank is an odd shape, there were no good lighting fixtures I could buy back in the day that would fit well and have enough lighting to work well with plants. But now that LEDs are so prevalent, I got an LED strip that works great with the plants. 

[Slaughtahouse]

Similar to Flux

 

I like outdoors. Grew up with motocross when I lived outside of the city.  Honda, Kawasaki, back to Honda. When I was younger, I would ride every weekend. Typically just trail riding or mucking about in the farm fields. Would definitly kayak more if I were close to a lake or had property by a lake. Maybe when I am older

 

For the past 10 years, I've been cycling. Hobby / recreational. I'm doing a charity ride soon (+200km).  Riding a Specialized Tarmac, carbon wheels, carbon frame. It's stupid light. Longest ride I've done (back packing) was approx. 600km. Would like to do more cycling if possible. 

 

Last but not least, drumming as well. Mainly off for similar reasons. Noise is the big one XD. Pearl Vision VMX (Maple). Good intermediate / budget kit. Specs below

• 8", 10" , 12" toms
• 14 and 16 or 18" (I think 18") floor toms
• 22" kick
• DW3000 double kick pedals
• Zildjian A-Customs (kit)
  • 14" + 18" crashes
  • 20" ride
  • 10" splash
  • 14" Hi-hat

 

I shared this photo last year as I replaced all the tom heads (skins). A drum dial and some moon gel is really all you need to make your drums sound good but I like playing with different heads for different sounds. If Flux's kit = ITX, mine is E-ATX  

Edited May 31 by Slaughtahouse

[EHW Ai]

2 hours ago, UltraMega said:

Got any pics of your tank?

 

Up until 2007, I did. Then a fire pretty much destroyed everything I had, included all my prized possessions and important papers at the time.

 

I  recovered most of the documents I needed by way of various agencies, but irreplaceable keepsakes like, e.g., photos and negatives, were gone forever. Many photos, negatives, and slides were lost, all predating the turn of the century.

 

Anyway, the tanks weren't necessarily anything to brag about, as the freshwater was ten gallons and the reef tank was 72 gallons. I enjoyed them both and maintained healthy environments for their occupants while I had them.

 

These days I still do photography, but mostly using my cellphone as my eyes aren't what they used to be. Still have a Nikon D700, D810, and Z6, and quite the collection of lenses.

 

 

 

[SoloCamo]

3 hours ago, UltraMega said:

I've had the same experience with betas. They never live very long in my tank. 

 

Got any pics of your tank? 

 

It's funny, the longest lasting Betta I had was a Veiltail rescue from Walmarts piss poor treatment.  The little plastic container was brown to the point you couldn't even see the fish.  He lived many years in a 10 gallon tank.  All my "special" and expensive Betta's since have been a disaster.  

 

As far as my tank, I unfortunately do not have any pics at the moment and it's certainly in no condition that I'd be proud of to show at the moment with no inhabitants.  We are going to try another Veiltale Betta in the coming month or so so I'll follow up with pics.

 

That said... here is a pic of Mr. Cranky face (that wasn't his name, but I did call him Mr. Fishington) in the tank when I was adjusting the lighting schedule, so please excuse the disgusting excess hair algae at the time of the shot.  He looked angry but he was by the far the smartest and most lively Betta we've ever had, but again, unfortunately taken too soon as have all lhe recent Bettas.

 

Edited May 30 by SoloCamo

[Fluxmaven]

14 hours ago, Slaughtahouse said:

If Flux's kit = ITX, mine is E-ATX  

 

You've got a really nice setup. Our drum line in high school was all Pearl. We beat the hell out of that stuff and it took it like a champ. 

 

I also have a "standard ATX kit" in the attic After I pieced the little kit together I bought an entire setup just for some of the cymbals and hardware. 

 

 

The high hats are the one thing that have survived multiple moves and downsizing over the years. Vintage Avedis Zildjan that are probably older than me. 

 

Sabian B8 splash, crash, and ride are honestly not bad for entry level cymbals. 

 

10" SJC snare. 10, 12" Gretsch catalina maple toms. Hero drum works 16" mini bass. Pdp double pedal. 

 

11 hours ago, iamjanco said:

These days I still do photography, but mostly using my cellphone as my eyes aren't what they used to be.

 

With how good cell phone cameras have gotten, it's a lot easier to skip lugging around the "real" cameras. 

 

The important part is to get out and take pictures. If you have a good eye for composition, you could take better pictures with a baked potato than a clueless person with a Leica. 

Edited May 30 by Fluxmaven

[Huzzug]

5 hours ago, iamjanco said:

These days I still do photography, but mostly using my cellphone as my eyes aren't what they used to be. Still have a Nikon D700, D810, and Z6, and quite the collection of lenses.

 

 

 

I forfeit my 4090ti. You can sell it to Pookie. I want your lense collection. 

[Slaughtahouse]

6 hours ago, Fluxmaven said:

 

You've got a really nice setup. Our drum line in high school was all Pearl. We beat the hell out of that stuff and it took it like a champ. 

 

I also have a "standard ATX kit" in the attic After I pieced the little kit together I bought an entire setup just for some of the cymbals and hardware. 

 

 

The high hats are the one thing that have survived multiple moves and downsizing over the years. Vintage Avedis Zildjan that are probably older than me. 

 

Sabian B8 splash, crash, and ride are honestly not bad for entry level cymbals. 

 

10" SJC snare. 10, 12" Gretch catalina maple toms. Hero drum works 16" mini bass. Pdp double pedal. 

 

 

With how good cell phone cameras have gotten, it's a lot easier to skip lugging around the "real" cameras. 

 

The important part is to get out and take pictures. If you have a good eye for composition, you could take better pictures with a baked potato than a clueless person with a Leica. 

 

My first cymbals were the B8’s  

 

I still have most of them stored off to the side. Forgot that they’re heavy AF. They can really take a beating  

 

I used to have a Zildjian oriental china in this setup but it completely cracked in half. Would get into a double bass groove and hammer at it a bit too relentlessly. I’d love to have budget to pick each and every cymbal individually but both the B8’s and A Customs came in pretty affordable kits.

 

I googled your Avedis hi hats and they look super swanky! Im sure they sound great  

 

Edited May 30 by Slaughtahouse

[SoloCamo]

I used to be a percussionist but gave it up years ago.  My GF bought me an electric drum kit to light that fire again but it's just not the same, I'm sure my neighbors wouldn't appreciate a proper kit anyways though.

Edited May 30 by SoloCamo

[Fluxmaven]

I've tried electric kits as well as mutes, mesh heads etc. nothing feels as good as the real thing.

 

I don't play as hard as I used to, but I've cracked and keyholed a few cymbals over the years. If I get to a point where I'm playing more I will slowly upgrade, but I'm happy with what I have for now. 

 

Most spare funds have been going into car stuff lately 

[Avacado]

15 minutes ago, Fluxmaven said:

Most spare funds have been going into car stuff lately 

And degenerate activities from last week. 

[Fluxmaven]

2 minutes ago, Avacado said:

And degenerate activities from last week. 

Shhh don't go telling people about our special encounters 

[EHW Ai]

12 hours ago, Fluxmaven said:

With how good cell phone cameras have gotten, it's a lot easier to skip lugging around the "real" cameras. 

 

The important part is to get out and take pictures. If you have a good eye for composition, you could take better pictures with a baked potato than a clueless person with a Leica. 

 

Plenty of people into the hobby still lug their gear around (see Fred Miranda's photography site); but those days are sadly behind me now.

 

As for the potato vs. Leica thing, yeah, we used to say that high-end gear wouldn't necessarily make you a great photographer, that a skilled photographer could take great pix with a Kodak Brownie (from the e.g., Ansel Adams school of thought). Others asking "does it take good pix" often resulted in raised eyebrows and a statement along those lines.

[Snakecharmed]

In general, taking more pictures is important to get a shot when you otherwise wouldn't have, but a phone isn't going to give you the shot when you're trying to capture something under highly specific conditions that exceed its physical limitations.

 

No amount of post-processing is going to fix the resolution or flash overexposure from a Motorola Razr V3 VPotato. However, a modern flagship phone is also no potato.

 

I don't consider myself a great or even good photographer, but I own the least amount of mid-high quality gear that is good enough to cover most shooting scenarios to the point where I can only criticize myself (and the full overcast cloud cover during last month's solar eclipse, until the miraculous final minute of totality when I fired off 7 auto-bracketed shots during the longest cloud break window of about 15 seconds) if the results aren't as good as I would like.

 

I'm of the mindset that I strive to minimize/remove technical impediments so the onus is on me if I don't produce a good result. But that doesn't mean I go out and buy a Canon EOS R3 or an RF 100-300mm F2.8 L IS because there is no way I can maximize that body or lens on my best day.

 

I actually hate it when people think that I must be good because of my gear. My gear sets the ceiling, not the floor. The floor is still going to be leaving your lens cap on. My actual abilities are somewhere in the middle. In my case, the only reason the body looks more substantial is because of the battery grip so I have portrait shooting controls and more battery power.

 

I have to give credit to people who excelled (or still excel) as film photographers, because they can't fire off hundreds of shots blind to their memory card, pick out the best one, and post-process it to look as ideal as people's imaginations.

Edited May 31 by Snakecharmed

[Fluxmaven]

16 hours ago, Snakecharmed said:

In general, taking more pictures is important to get a shot when you otherwise wouldn't have, but a phone isn't going to give you the shot when you're trying to capture something under highly specific conditions that exceed its physical limitations.

 

No amount of post-processing is going to fix the resolution or flash overexposure from a Motorola Razr V3 VPotato. However, a modern flagship phone is also no potato.

 

I don't consider myself a great or even good photographer, but I own the least amount of mid-high quality gear that is good enough to cover most shooting scenarios to the point where I can only criticize myself (and the full overcast cloud cover during last month's solar eclipse, until the miraculous final minute of totality when I fired off 7 auto-bracketed shots during the longest cloud break window of about 15 seconds) if the results aren't as good as I would like.

 

I'm of the mindset that I strive to minimize/remove technical impediments so the onus is on me if I don't produce a good result. But that doesn't mean I go out and buy a Canon EOS R3 or an RF 100-300mm F2.8 L IS because there is no way I can maximize that body or lens on my best day.

 

I actually hate it when people think that I must be good because of my gear. My gear sets the ceiling, not the floor. The floor is still going to be leaving your lens cap on. My actual abilities are somewhere in the middle. In my case, the only reason the body looks more substantial is because of the battery grip so I have portrait shooting controls and more battery power.

 

I have to give credit to people who excelled (or still excel) as film photographers, because they can't fire off hundreds of shots blind to their memory card, pick out the best one, and post-process it to look as ideal as people's imaginations.

 

My comment was mostly just meant as encouragement. I'm glad that Jan can still enjoy photography even if it means leaving the good gear at home. I'm pretty sure he has an S23 or S24 Ultra which in pro mode gives enough flexibility to capture pretty darn decent shots. 

 

I also wouldn't call myself a good photographer even though I've taken both film and digital courses as part of my BFA. My digital course was mostly taught by a graduate assistant. They were of the newer train of thought of shoot bracketed and just fire off as many photos as possible and find the best thing to work with in post. The film instructor put more emphasis on "doing the editing with the camera". Taking time to meter and get the exposure as close as you could and putting thought into every shot to spend less time in the dark room.  I do enjoy photography and it might make it's way back into my list of "non-PC hobbies".

 

I totally agree in getting decent gear to make yourself the limiting factor. That said, It is still kind of sad when you see someone with a nice camera set on auto that will never be used to even 1/10th of it's capability. (Grandma that got sweet talked by the Best Buy salesman into the latest EOS Rebel kit)

 

 

[EHW Ai]

On 31/05/2024 at 16:46, Fluxmaven said:

 

My comment was mostly just meant as encouragement. I'm glad that Jan can still enjoy photography even if it means leaving the good gear at home. I'm pretty sure he has an S23 or S24 Ultra which in pro mode gives enough flexibility to capture pretty darn decent shots.

 

My eyes are pretty shot these days, but I do what I can with what I've still got in me; and yeah, I do own an S23 Ultra and took many of the pix of that menagerie I put together during the pandemic using it.

 

Anyway, I dug out a few pix that I took using a Nikon D700 some years back, which follow below; and if you haven't guessed by now, I also enjoy telling stories with my photos and other images, a habit I picked up over the years.

 

The Red Barn in Keene, NY, which has since been torn down because it was literally falling apart. I took the time to venture inside it to give others an idea of its innards:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy

 

 

Edited June 2 by iamjanco

[Kaz]

 

I fly planes with no engine.  The shoddy landscape picture quality is because my canopy was fogging up that day.

Last flight was 3 hours 15 minutes, my toes were so cold they were hurting.  Gliders don't have a heater!

[neurotix]

I thought we had a "post your other mistress" thread already which was essentially the same thing.

 

My hobbies include art, basketball, yoga, martial arts (those last three I can't do anymore because of my pain), studying philosophy (especially Chinese), learning Linux, listening to music on the stereo I built, systems and network security snd administration, soldering, retro gaming and collecting retro games, and probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting. Anyway, my biggest hobby is art. Watercolor, colored pencil, pencil sketches of faces, etc.

 

Captions below each.

 

Tiger lilies. Watercolor and watercolor pen.

 

 

Memorial for my Grandpa who passed away and had orange roses on his grave. He grew squash and strawberries and every year he'd give us some. Colored pencil.

 

Peonies. Watercolor and watercolor pen

 

 

My Assassin Cross in Ragnarok Online.

 

 

Colored pencil and ink. A character I made up named Aines

 

 

Ray Allen, Milwaukee Bucks player

 

 

 

Aines in full water color. This one was very meticulously done.

 

 

Tupac. Cheated and used a lightbox over a print off of it in grayscale

 

 

My soldering workbench. I don't do SMD for now. Just used occasionally to replace game cartridge save game batteries. I have recapped whole systems but desoldering with wick or a cheapy vacuum pump is a pain in the ass. I need to invest in a desoldering gun.

 

Also I have even more art than this in a folder, some of the work goes back to '01. Crazy that it's 23 years old. I can even distinctly creating each one, and so much time has passed.

Edited June 2 by neurotix

[UltraMega]

1 hour ago, neurotix said:

I thought we had a "post your other mistress" thread already which was essentially the same thing.

 

My hobbies include art, basketball, yoga, martial arts (those last three I can't do anymore because of my pain), studying philosophy (especially Chinese), learning Linux, listening to music on the stereo I built, systems and network security snd administration, soldering, retro gaming and collecting retro games, and probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting. Anyway, my biggest hobby is art. Watercolor, colored pencil, pencil sketches of faces, etc.

 

Captions below each.

 

Tiger lilies. Watercolor and watercolor pen.

 

 

Memorial for my Grandpa who passed away and had orange roses on his grave. He grew squash and strawberries and every year he'd give us some. Colored pencil.

 

Peonies. Watercolor and watercolor pen

 

 

My Assassin Cross in Ragnarok Online.

 

 

Colored pencil and ink. A character I made up named Aines

 

 

Ray Allen, Milwaukee Bucks player

 

 

 

Aines in full water color. This one was very meticulously done.

 

 

Tupac. Cheated and used a lightbox over a print off of it in grayscale

 

 

My soldering workbench. I don't do SMD for now. Just used occasionally to replace game cartridge save game batteries. I have recapped whole systems but desoldering with wick or a cheapy vacuum pump is a pain in the ass. I need to invest in a desoldering gun.

I think you're right. I forgot the name of that thread otherwise I would have just bumped it.