Heelychat, the forum for heelys, the shoes with wheels - View topic

Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 220 Location: idaho

Just wondering what other hobbies people have.
In the winter i snowboard as much as humanly possible and when the snow melts i pull out the dirt bike and ride almost every weekend.

I collect Star Wars toys...

Its a great way to invest money (in something that will never pay it back unless you go vintage, and even then that stuff has it's price set so you won't make a profit) as well as get exercise (because I heel in every WalMart, Target, KMart, Toys 'R Us, etc).

My more conventional hobby is I like to drag race. I start with a stock car and I build it up to race, and when I get bored with it or I don't want to put any more money into it I sell it and get something new.

Like right now I am on my 3rd built car ('05 Scion tC) which sometime soon I get to drop my first parts into it -tear- It makes me so happy seein' my little guy post 15.3 in the 1/4th mile up here in the mountains with nothing done to it but a tune and a fuel regulator pump (and now a light weight flywheel, racing clutch, and short shifter but I haven't timed it). For those who don't know, where I live, add another second to your quarter mile and you'll know what your car can do in Colorado Razz

sports wise is soccer. Other than that, i love my nintedo games, hanging with friends, the normal. O, and hiking or going through woods.

Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: UK

Oh dear, this is going to be a difficult one for me to answer with any one thing. I cannot simply say "my other hobby is xxxx" because that hobby (whatever it is) is not set. If you're the sort who doesn't like long posts, please look away now. Smile

You see, I'm a bit different to a lot of people, in many ways. I don't have "hobbies" in the same way most people do - or maybe I do, but I go about them in a different way.

I "dabble" in a lot of little hobbies rather than having one that seems to be a permanent hobby, so far except for the heelys of course - that's why I mentioned somewhere that it's weird (for me) how long I've been into heelys now.

Now, how best to describe what I mean . . . *puts on thinking cap*

OK, this is how my brother (a computer programmer) described me once: and it's from one of the subjects I dabbled in: history of computing: There was a term used in MIT back in the early days of computing where they said that if you get interested in something and try to understand everything there is to know about that thing, you are "hacking" that subject, for instance it would be correct to say that for the present I am "hacking" heeling and heelys: I want to learn and know everything about them: all the different kinds and all the different tricks and all the possible materials for making wheels out of and all the possible types and position of grindplate, even those that aren't manufactured, such as ones with grindplates on the heel, and why they don't do it that way, and if it would work, and what the pro's and cons would be, and so on, and so forth.

So you see, to "hack" something, by the original definition, simply means to try to have the absolute best understanding of something you can. When it came to computer systems, this eventually meant that some people, in order to better understand the systems they were playing with, they had to circumvent a few annoying security measures purely because those security measures were hindering their learning. And the media picked up on that and that's why the word "hacker" got a bad name: the original spirit of hacking frowned upon damaging a system, even if it didn't care about the rules of who should have access to what: the goal was an entirely intellectual journey of discovery.

Essentially, that is the best way to describe my "other hobby." It's hacking. Not in the modern sense, and not even necessarily with computers (although I have dabbled field in that of course, since it's my job) but I like "hacking" (attempting to understand things to a great level of detail).

Previous subjects I have "hacked" (to varying degrees, and therefore am still studying some) are: Electronics, History of Computing, Alcohol and other legal "highs/intoxicants," Physical fitness training, Astrophysics, Air conditioning Systems, Lasers, Cars, etc. But of course, I don't know as much about some of these things as some people do, so I can't be said to have truly "hacked" all of them, but yes, some of them I studied in pretty great detail, and others a little less. For instance I've just started dabbling in learning about religions (something I never did before because I simply hadn't had time to learn). I've read the New Testament of the Bible and the Sura's of the Qu'ran etc, and am thinking about learning about the other major religions and their texts. Not because I believe in them all (usually that's not even possible, they forbid it LOL), just because I am trying to understand religion, and this "god" (or "these gods") many people spend a lot of time going on about.

To do this, of course, requires that I have lots of free time with which to explore these subjects, and that, of course, requires that I only work part time (either just a few hours a week, or work half year on, half year off, like they do on some seasonal jobs) and it often helps to have a job (like security for instance) where most of the time I can sit and read (or surf the net or do whatever is needed for the learning) rather actually have to be doing anything FOR the job. I am lucky enough to have had these kinds of job for most of my life, however part time work pays a lot less of course, so I sometimes have to be extremely careful with money, saving every penny when the subjects I am hacking are not expensive (like learning a language) so that I can spend all the cash when the subjects I am hacking do have expenses (like the initial cost of trying/buying all the different kinds of Heelys). And of course, sometimes I just like to spend money, as anyone does, but I never like taking loans so I tend to only spend what I've saved.

Other things I'd like to hack but haven't yet gotten around to are: more "highs", russian language and culture, medical science (the human body), Indian languages. Some of these will probably require visits to the actual places, which will mean I'll need to save up again, but I'm good at that when I need to be, so one day...

And this "hacking" is my other hobby, in a way my only hobby, and probably essentially, the story of my life: I initially trained to university level in a field that helps me do this kind of "studying" in a methodical way, which kind of helps in some situations, but I found that none of the preset syllabuses of any official course of education suited me, so I prefer to learn my own way.

One problem is some of the things I learn about or want to learn about are dangerous, or sometimes even things that private citizens are not allowed to know in one country or another. . . even tho I only want to know for good or intellectual reasons, and have no desire to use the knowledge to do harm, but of course, some people will worry if other people start researching some things for instance, so some of the things I hack or want to hack, I'd best either keep to myself, or get a job in the field so I am then licensed to study if for legit reasons. An example of this may be firearms (a friend of mine is currently studying this subject and has legally got himself a license and some guns, but in the UK the laws are pretty restrictive on firearms, so it's hard for me to learn as much as I'd like). There's other even more risky things I know or would like to know, but like I say, despite me being a nice sort of person, if I told you about them, people would probably worry, so it's probably best to leave it at that LOL. And so this "dabbling in many subjects" has led me to have lots of different jobs over the years, and never a real single "career" like many people I know have. I can't really say "I'm a programmer" because although I may have held that job for a while when it suited me, it wasn't "me" and not what I do or always do or always want to do. There seems to be no ONE THING that I can say is "my job" or "my other hobby" or "my anything." In that sense I'm peripatetic. One minute I'm mad keen on some esoteric branch of science, the next it's heelys. And I never know what it will be and when, until it hits me.

And of course, when studying one thing, it makes me aware of other fields of knowledge that I want to hack, so overall, despite many of the subjects being inter-related, this "hobby" of mine of endeavouring (but of course, not always succeeding) to "hack" subjects is something that will last a lifetime, and could last far longer if I had more time. For an example of how one subject leads me into another, getting into Heelys meant I met you guys, and that meant I now would be curious to learn about America (that's why I was trying all those American snack-foods a while back).

Of course, I've had to learn to stop myself from talking like ^this^ in real life, rapidly going from point to point and subject to subject with seemingly no end to the thoughts and words, or people seem to think I'm crazy. Laughing

Maybe I am.

But yeah, I gotta run to work now and do some more reading, and heeling practise of course, so I better leave it at that. Smile

Basically, I don't have an "other hobby." My "other hobby" is having lots of other hobbies, some of which I'm extremely knowledgeable about and may even have finished studying (although that's rare of course) and most of which I still have tons to learn about. Smile

Joined: 03 Jan 2007 Posts: 469 Location: Ol' Virginny

I hear you on the high alt. racing, Mav. I've bought quite a few "high altitude" Corrado supercharger (G60/Lysholm) pulleys to run at sea-level to get the tad bit of extra boost.

I'm also into cars big time (mainly VWs and Jeeps) but my thing isn't really racing. I like to buy a stock car, dump TONS of money into it, drive it for 6 months, and sell it at a huge loss. Gotta wonder why I'm not homeless right now!! Hahaha. Just bought a Passat Wagon 1.8T with a tiptronic. Just got it chipped, too. Good fun > can't wait to dump it on it's nuts and put some nice euro wheels on it. I'm still waiting to lift my Jeep. The way gas prices are... I'm just not ready to lose that mileage.

I'm also into R/C rockcrawling. I have a TLT1 with a Junfac Tracer chassis on custom links running a 55turn lathe motor. It'll crawl up a vertical wall!! I also currently have a Losi MicroT Desert Truck and have had MANY MANY other R/C cars/trucks in my day.

My new addicition is RockBand. I play drums and have a Wii so if you play RB2 on Wii... shoot me a friend code and I'll link ya.

Deez: What do you have thats SC? Also, I have a VW fetish, mostly for the GTI (I don't like the way the GTLs look). I almost bought on instead of the tC but the price was sexier then the look lol

As for ME's hobby, I think I can sum it up...

ME's other hobby is a never ending quest of knowledge of how things work (in both the mechanincal and the socilogical senses)

Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 220 Location: idaho

[quote]As for ME's hobby, I think I can sum it up...

ME's other hobby is a never ending quest of knowledge of how things work (in both the mechanincal and the socilogical senses)[/quote]

see that is MUCH easier that writing 12 paragraphs on the computer at work. lol

Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: UK

Yep, Mav's pretty much right. Smile

Although as people who know me will know, it's easier for me to write a load at work than at home: at work there's not much else I can do, whilst at home I'm always busy with one "hobby" or another. Very Happy

Plus, I like to do my own stuff at work, since I'm getting paid to do it whilst there LOL - but since I did say it was going to be a long post, you can't say I didn't give fair warning Razz

Not that I did write it at work. . . as I said near the end of my post I wrote it first thing in the morning before going to work, in fact it made me late, lol, not that anyone at my work gives a damn luckily. Very Happy

I could miss a day and they'd not notice and I'd still get paid LOL.

Joined: 10 Mar 2009 Posts: 51 Location: Bucharest Romania

yep... but anyone who's not blind and knows how to scroll will easily find that out Smile

Joined: 09 Nov 2008 Posts: 222 Location: claremore, OK

i colect star wars but mainly custom and stock lightsabers. im what youd call a lightsaber enthusiest im part of the NJ Jedi, and the new but unofficial OK Jedi.

i also yoyo, fingerboard/handboard, HEELY ovcorse, piano, i also colect zelda just not as mutch as star wars, other musical insterments ocarina hermanica sax ect. skateboard, scooter, bicicles, hiking, camping, games, i love spook walks, swiming, baseball, paint ball, air soft.

and i think thats it for now

Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: UK

If I remember right obiwan, you're also religious. . . that's kind of a hobby I guess? I mean if you think about it church is like a kind of club house where people with the same interest meet. Smile

Hehe, people might say religion is not a hobby, but I think it kinda is, but then I may be wrong of course, just my . . . well, I'll say "2 cents" because here "two pence" has an entirely different meaning LOL.

Joined: 09 Nov 2008 Posts: 222 Location: claremore, OK

Ya i was thinking about putting it up but then i thoght its a life style not mutch of a hobby.

Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: UK

True, although I suppose anything you enjoy enough becomes sort of a life style. Smile

I like heeling so much that instead of one shopping trip, I often make more frequent smaller trips to the shops, so that I only have a max of two shopping bags to take back to the car, which I can generally handle whilst heeling Very Happy

And when I go in the car, I generally now park as far from the store as possible, instead of as close as possible like I used to, and like everyone else still does, so that I can heel the whole length of the parking lot. Very Happy

I find it far better parking a long way from the store, always space, and the metallic paint gets scraped less often (less chance of cars being parked close, less clumsy people passing with trolleys to their cars, etc)

Heeling is becoming a religion for me - with a ton of benefits to life all around - health, fun, etc. Smile

Team Heelys - Northeast Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 781

Aha, know i havn't been here in a longg timee, but iz back Smile

Anyways, other than heelys i like to play guitar .. baseball, hockey, nd basketball.

Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 1391 Location: UK

WB MaccyBoy Smile