+FluxCapacitor Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Hello everyone, I was curious as to what everyone else does for fun. I know the reef tank hobby is why we're all here but what other hobbies are you into or have you been into? Mine are: *BMX *Early mitsu turbo cars (91 Eagle Talon, 90 Mitsu Eclipse, 89 Dodge Colt GT) *Painting either with spray paint or with brushes on a canvas. *Linux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Playing basketball is my other main distraction. I play about 3x/week these days when the body allows it. I may be picking up golf soon as I know the body won't hold out forever with basketball. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Kayaking (w/fishing some of the time), rock climbing, mountain and CX biking, paintball, skiing (snow), golf, working on my house which my family has started to call the farm... Used to play soccer a lot but injuries were starting to catch up and not go away, so currently on hiatus. Also travel a lot, still have family property up in Colorado as well, so try and spend as much time up there as I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfrench Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Sounds like we're all a bunch of injured athletes. Former basketball player and I did some MMA in college. Add seems uti be the trend a few injuries made those hobbies no longer options. Current interests include easier mountain biking, nothing higher than blues snow boarding, and board games. I also paint miniatures for tabletop and board games. So, pretty much went from badass to embracing my nerdy side :-) Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 (edited) I home brew, my wife and I love scuba diving and traveling to new places, wood burning and other wood working, skiing/snowboarding, I used to fish more but no longer have the time, gardening and DIY home improvements. I have far too many hobbies for how rarely I'm actually home. I work harder on the weekends than I do during the week trying to fit as much in as possible before I go back out of town [emoji28] Edited June 9, 2016 by Gig 'em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Road biking (used to race but don't have enough time to train anymore), mountain biking, scuba diving, work. That's kinda the sum total of my awake time at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christyef Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Welding and like to build things. Anything really. Anything I see or think I want, I try to build myself bc it's more fun and way cheaper than buying it. I like to draw and paint. Work. And I Spend a lot of time w/ my dogs Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JoseZ Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Soccer, sleeping, and Xbox. Not necessarily in that order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Soccer, sleeping, and Xbox. Not in that necessarily in that order.What happened to creeping? [emoji14] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Honestly reefing is taking up most of my time and all of my brain space right now. Still get out on the road bike every now and then, but after the MS150 is over, I take a break, and then it's 100+ for a couple of months, so I've really got to make an effort to get my miles in. Buddy is trying to get me to do the Hotter'n Hell again, but not sure if I'm up for it. Oddly enough, the 100mi is the least of the issues - getting a crew together to drive to Wichita Falls and rent a room/take a camper for Fri and Sat is a MUCH bigger pain in the rear than the ride. Not sure I get on the slopes enough to call snowboarding a hobby, but still get at least 1 trip to the mountains each winter. In the fall, I'm part of a good sized tailgate crew down in San Marcos. Prepping food, cooking, setting up and tearing down takes a ton of time and effort - I typically start on Thurs for a Sat game. Make at least 1 away game every year too - UH, Tulsa and Florida State the last couple of years, aiming for Appalachian St this year and definitely going to Boulder next year for the CU game. Need to get scuba certified for sure. Always wanted to, and there's really no reason not to. Not really a hobby, but I follow Formula1 and dork out pretty hard about it. Wake up early on Sunday race days and wear my team shirt, even though I'm watching alone on my couch... Sounds like we're all a bunch of injured athletes. That definitely killed two of my main interests. I played lacrosse through college and then men's league until I suffered a pretty bad foot injury. I was already getting slower due to age (34) and the kids coming out of college were noticeably quicker and faster - being a wiley vet only goes so far! By the time I recovered from my injury at 36, I just wasn't competitive. Played in the TXST-SWT alumni game at age 40 just to prove I could, but won't be lacing them up anytime soon. I was wakeboarding a ton at that time as well, getting behind the boat 3 or 4 times a week. By the time I came back, my friends w/ boats had infants or were working deals in other towns so all my mooch riding dried up, and when I could get out there, I was always busting up my left shoulder (the arm I hold the handle w/ and gets jerked out when you crash). I miss being young and agile. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 My wife says my hobby is collecting hobbies. Currently I'm still into my reef tanks, scuba diving, and trike (three-wheeled bicycle) riding (<-- yes, nerd). I'm a software engineer and work on several open source projects when I'm not gaming (Xbox, PC). I also do a little gardening and woodworking, but with a wife pursuing her PHd my spare time is still at a minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FluxCapacitor Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 Wow, I'm seriously impressed but, at the same time, not surprised by how active everyone here is. I definitely can feel what everyone's saying about the injured athlete thing. I'm WAY less "gutsy" than I used to be on my BMX. I will jump the dirt jumps up north in Walnut Creek but I usually don't try to do anything too impressive. It's just fun/good exercise for me when I can get out there to do it. I also forgot to mention I'm "kinda good" (cough) at Street Fighter. Does anyone want to play for money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 My "bmx" rig. Haven't taken it off any sweet jumps though... Has a new black DK stem, and I bought black rims, but only 32h because I'm stoopid. Need to order the 36h and hubs and get the new wheels built. This project is the one most impacted by my tank. It's definitely taken a backseat the last year or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JoseZ Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Soccer, sleeping, and Xbox. Not in that necessarily in that order.What happened to creeping? [emoji14] Had to give it up for a bit to make time for this reefing stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Just trying to throw me off the trail. I'm on to you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 My other hobbies are fairly drab compared to most here. No extreme sports or activities. When I'm NOT thinking about, reading about, or working on the tank... I like to think about, read about or work on the following: Gardening, all types. I like dabbling in soil mixtures, vegetable growing, ornamental plants ect. I have a fascination with carnivorous plants but this region isn't great for them outdoors and I don't have the time or resources to do a lot of indoor or greenhouse cultivation of carnivorous plants. Weight lifting. I'm no mr universe, but I've been an on/off avid weight lifter for the better part of the last 10 years. I have bad feet, ankles, and knees so I can't do a lot of cross training/running type stuff but I do love lifting and martial arts. Studied and practiced a bit over the years and follow MMA fairly closely, all the way back when it was bare knuckle and you could wear shoes, to now where everyone is an athlete first and fighter second. Disc golf. I used to play a ton. Daily. For years. Most often alone. Never competed or anything just love playing. Though since growing our family more my time to play has all but disappeared. Lastly, my favorite next to reefing, is the collecting, study, tasting, and overall experience of fine spirits. I have a love for single malt scotch whisky, the peatier the better. I also appreciate a good small batch/single barrel bourbon and a nice aged rum. But scotch is my number 1. I am not an alcoholic and I almost never even get buzzed, but I love enjoying a scotch whenever I can. Tonight I'm working on a lovely Ardbeg Uigeadeal while doing some late night housecleaning. I am what some would call a scotch snob. Scotch drinkers are kind of labeled whisky snobs alone, but I take it a step further. I generally avoid buying anything that is chill-filtered and uses E150 caramel coloring. I also despise the new fad of non age stated scotch. It's destroying the industry from a quality standpoint. It is an excuse to put 4 year old scotch in a bottle with a ton of artificial color, give it a fancy name, and charge a fortune for it. Yes the bottle I'm sampling tonight is a non-age stated variety, and they're not all garbage, but it's a bad trend. You won't find me buying any of the new Macallans for instance. Not because they cost too much, but because if I'm going to pay $100+ for a bottle, it better be as natural of a product as I can get, and sport an age statement. Older doesn't always mean better, but transparency of what is in the bottle is something that has been lost in the industry. I digress Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FluxCapacitor Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 (edited) ^^ Very interesting.... I too like single malt scotch neat. I haven't explored it enough to know what a peatier scotch is like but I can say I've had some "islay" ones before that I didn't like at all. They had a very strong almost burnt wood flavor to them.... not easy to sip at all. Do you have any recommendations for an amateur? I'm guilty of buying macallans sometimes.... not very often though. Bobcat - is that a PK? Here's our bikes. The gold/blue one is Bry's and the other two are mine. The gold one and the red one are both Sunday bikes and the gray one is a Standard Trailboss w/ 21" top tube still period specific to the early 2000's in terms of what parts are installed on it. I did see you the other day as you went into Just Reef and I should have said hi and introduced myself. Aaron said it was you as you were walking up. You may be able to improve the feel/handling of your bike a bit by making the handlebars parallel with the headtube/forks and lowering the seat a bit. I'm not talking about jacking the seat post all the way down into the frame as far as it can go like all the new kiddos are doing. I like to sit down when I ride my bmx because I don't use it only for doing tricks and jumps... it's also a means of enjoying the outdoors. It frequently gets taken to the trails in the green belt and I'm no stranger to bombing dirt trail hills that should be way too rocky for a suspensionless bmx bike. Someone older than me gave me a good tip a long time ago when I was still young and scared of doing bigger jumps. They told me, "Take your hand off the brakes." I couldn't believe how right they were.... you get so used to using them as a crutch and allowing yourself to chicken out on stuff instead of committing. Anyway, I'm rambling.... BMX is a great hobby and I'm considering getting into racing since they built a track up in Pfugerville. Racing is also a little "safer" in terms of other things you could do on a bmx. Edited June 11, 2016 by FluxCapacitor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 It's an SE OM Flyer - 26". That's funny about Just Reef - I wondered why Aaron called me by my screen name instead of actual name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 ^^ Very interesting.... I too like single malt scotch neat. I haven't explored it enough to know what a peatier scotch is like but I can say I've had some "islay" ones before that I didn't like at all. They had a very strong almost burnt wood flavor to them.... not easy to sip at all. Do you have any recommendations for an amateur? I'm guilty of buying macallans sometimes.... not very often though. The Islay single malts are the peaty ones. Peat refers to the sphagnum peat bogs they dig from on the island of Islay off the southwest coast of Scotland. They dry and burn the peat bricks and the smoke infuses into/dries out the malted barley they ferment and distill. That smokey ash flavor will convey all the way to the finished product. I hesitate to even call it an acquired taste. You either love it or hate it. And if you hate it, you CAN develop a taste for it over time but generally it has to be forced. For me it's a fantastic flavor and aroma. To each their own. My favorites. However. Naturally, not all single malt scotch is Peated. If you're wanting to get your hands on something more entry level in price and flavor, look into The Balvenie distillery. I've never had a single bad Balvenie scotch. They're all fantastic even the base level 12 year Balvenie Doublewood. It's fairly light bodied with a touch of citrus and dried fruit flavor from the short finish in sherry barrels. When I crave something on the lighter or sweeter side, that's the one I go for. Yes...there's some chill-filtration and artificial color going on, but the quality of the spirit and cask management at Balvenie is spectacular. And they have the longest running/oldest master distiller/taster in the industry as well. One of my absolute favorite glasses of scotch I've ever had period was The Balvenie 17 year old Doublewood. Not cheap but spectacularly well balanced and amazing flavor. I actually like it a lot more than their 21 year Port wood finish which costs almost twice as much. Older is not always better Another good single malt to look into is Aberlour. Very similar ideals with that distillery as well, though they tend to go a little heavier on sherry cask maturation (whereas Balvenie is all over the map, but primarily use ex-bourbon casks). Aberlour will also be super easy on the palate and be slightly sweet and have some fruit flavours. The entry (age stated of course usually 12 year) offerings from the mega giant distilleries like Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, macallan, ect are drinkable, but honestly, their operations are just too huge and they lack subtlety in the final product. Kind of like comparing a nice top shelf bourbon like a single barrel 4 roses, to say your standard white label Jim beam. Kind of the same process to make the juice, but the attention to detail vs mass quantity difference is apparent. Hope that helps. I can talk scotch all day to the same degree I can talk reefs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 I haven't gotten into scotch yet, but I love me some bourbon! We should have a reef tank/tasting session. Kind of like the ARC happy hour, but more on the higher end! One of my "hobbies" got out of hand today. Been working on replacing all the windows of my house with double paned Windows and ended up starting a bathroom remodel while replacing a window today. I've been secretly wanting to remodel this bathroom, but don't tell my wife I wanted this to happen! 8 hours later... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Remember to use stainless steel nails on the hardi backer at the tub and red guard those seams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Oh yeah, that red guard is some expensive goo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I recently retired from knockerball soccer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I recently retired from knockerball soccer. That was quite the epic career there Jimbo. [emoji6] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I recently retired from knockerball soccer. That was quite the epic career there Jimbo. [emoji6] At least I can say I went out on top. While I was in the ER my team won the playoff! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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