So, apart from the rowing . . .

[Yambo]

. . . what do you get up to?

As I'm retired and now single I thought it best to have something to do with my time so I have a few hobbies that I can fill it with. I've always enjoyed shooting so I head up into the woods now and again and put holes in bits of card or anything else that I can use as a target. I have an underlever air rifle that is a bit more than twice as powerful as allowed in the UK (it's about 28 ftlbs where the legal max in the UK is 12 ftlbs) and will drop a rabbit easily at 50 metres.

For about 35 years before I came to Turkey I kept and bred tropical fish and last year I picked up a decent sized tank so that I get some use out of all the aquarium kit I brought with me 6 years ago. Unfortunately the water here isn't great so I don't indulge in my real passion which is breeding Symphosodon Discus. To do that I'd have to get a reverse osmosis filter and start preparing lots of suitable water which at the moment isn't feasible but I'm now breeding angelfish and some kribs (with more than one tank now) and there is a reasonable market.

I also make model boats which usually end up in bars and restaurants in the village. I'm just about to start another (I have two others on the go as well) which I intend to keep but you never know, if someone makes me an offer . . . We get some lovely clear nights here so now and again you'll find me outside late at night with a rather large pair of binoculars. Some time back I considered a decent telescope and camera with the thought of doing a bit of astrophotography but I bought a rowing machine instead. That certainly gets more use than a telescope would and is better for the old body so was a better idea. Most of this takes place in the winter months though. The summers are wonderful and I get a steady flow of visitors during the summer so my boat workshop has to revert to a bedroom and as I live 2 minutes walk from the Med I tend to get wet quite a bit in the summer.

So any others fill some time with hobbies?

[Daz]

wow, you sound like me, I love fish keeping, have kept planted tropical tanks for a few years (decommissioned and given to my sister now), wanting to progress to reef keeping I have a sumped system that is totally "dry" waiting for me to be able to afford all the other bits and pieces before I set it up.

Have a hankering after getting into astro-photography in a big way but again, finances mean a pair of binoculars is as far as it gets at the moment. Also used to enjoy tinkering with rc nitro cars, would like one day to explore rc boats and planes and while not quite handmade models, is close enough for the similarities lol

A friend is trying to teach me carp angling, although not going out often is a bit of a hindrance to that lol

I suppose aside from that I am trying to make my new hobby getting fit and of course the c2 rower is going to be a big part of that, I think my hobby will consist of trying to up my distances over the next few months, but the whole c2 logbook and meterboard is a great motivation tool for that.

I also am desperate to get into hiking/wild camping, but for the moment rather pedestrian (pun intended) walks around local reservoirs at night time will have to suffice lol

[Thomas W-P]

Good thread.

I'm chair of governors for the local primary school, which is hugely time consuming but hugely rewarding. I'm also a total geek and experiment with programming and electronics. I also take responsibility for a well known indoor rowing website (volunteers gratefully accepted). My family is still young however and they take up a lot of time.
I'm also in the throws of setting up a business so am playing with various scientific ideas. Rowing time is a premium at the moment but that's one of my hobbies too.

[Wolfmiester]

I play golf occasionally.
If I had an endless pot of money I'd ski for 6 months and golf for 6 months.
I'd love an aquarium. I got as far as buying a book about it. But my wife convinced me I don't have the patience (I didn't realise the tank would need cleaning every week!).
Together we love travel and visit anywhere and everywhere whenever we can.
Combined with a love of gastronomic delights it's a good excuse to visit.

[strider77]

I am a bit of a jock so most of my hobbies are sports related.

Badminton is a relatively new hobby, have been playing it once a week for the last few years with a mate who is about 6 levels better than me, I spend all the time running around and he just places the shuttle where I can't get it

I used to be a runner but various excuses over the years have stopped me doing this, however I intend to get my trainers on again as soon as the weather improves, also I really enjoy cycling so I am going to get my Trek out, clean and oil it and have a go at that too.

Swimming is another enjoyable hobby and my aim is to get back into going on Monday nights to my local pool as Monday is a rest day from the erg normally.

I enjoy reading Scandinavian Thrillers and have read all of JO Nesbo's books, most of Henning Mankell's as well as the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. Always on the lookout for an engaging read.

Have trried and enjoyed Yoga and Tai Chi over the years too.

Thats enough from me , next.........

[Grobi]

Apart from erging many of my other interests are also sports related.

I row on the water in the summer, I used to do races but stopped that in 2005. I just didn't want to spend an entire weekend rowing in the rain or waiting for my race in the rain

I also used to run, finished five half marathons (the quickest in 1:43h), then stopped that in favour of cycling and erging.

At school time I used to do race cycling but about five years ago I changed to mountainbiking. I try to go to lake Garda in Italy at least once a year and to spend a long weekend on the mountainbike there. It's a great place for biking (and eating btw.).

In the winter I (try to) go into the alps for skiing. I started skiing at the age of six, stopped it during university (no money) and picked it up again afterwards.

I also used to ride my motorbike but sold that one last summer after fifteen years (very much to the joy of my parents by the way).

Time and money allowing I also like to travel. I've visited some very remote and strange places in the past (Galapagos archipel, Bhutan, Tibet, India, Nepal, Kenia, Namibia, South Africa, Manchester ) from which I took back home new and inspiring impressions that will hopefully last for a lifetime.

Working in the automotive industry I'm also happy that I made a profession out of my hobby, so I'm always interested in cars and driving them around in a nice scenery (the alps or Italy for example).

Being an engineer I'm interested in technical/mechanical stuff. This brought me to (mechanical) watches. I like beautiful watches (not necessarily the well known and expensive brands). I like the beauty of them and the fact that these tiny and complex mechanical masterpieces work reliably under changing enviromental influeces (temperature, moisture, shock,...).

I used to do some dancing also, went to several dancing classes for a couple of years but stopped that after my dancing device decided to get pregnant (not by me!).

Over to the next one...

[billwright]

We have two Working Cocker Spaniels ( Finlay - 3 yrs and Bertie - 1 yr). We are members of two pheasant shooting groups and we go beating with the dogs twice a week in the shooting season (October to February). We use the dogs mainly for flushing the birds out from cover but sometimes for retrieving at the end of a drive where the pick up dogs have missed a fallen bird.

To get the dogs to any acceptable standard takes a great deal of time and patience and training and we have spent long periods in the close season getting them to work as individuals and more lately as a pair. So each day we spend at least 2 x 45 minute sessions with them where we have play sessions and work sessions intermingled to keep their interest and fitness intact. They need to be fit as a shoot day can typically involve 7-8 hours of hard work for the dogs as they battle through bramble and blackthorn to raise the game. They are hard workers and will literally work until they drop (in Finlay's case, that has happened twice but he recovers very quickly and I always stop him for the day if it happens.) We obviously try to anticipate the wind down and stop them early.

They pair of them are real beauties and are very attached to us ( as we are to them). It's impossible to start the day without a smile when we are greeted by such cheerful companions. They have the same parents and are exactly two years apart. They will even sit in the chair beside us as we exercise on the Erg or Wattbike and seem fascinated by the whole performance.

Just out of the river after a winter swim. Finlay on the right.

Bertie & Finlay Web.jpg (38.38 KiB) Viewed 2183 times

Bill

[Wolfmiester]

Bill, I confess you have me there.
I'm not a dog lover (almost the opposite), but I think I may have just been converted ...

[zootMutant]

I run a website devoted to "Old Time Radio".

http://www.otrplotspot.com

I listen to old radio shows and publish brief plot summaries and reviews. The bulk of the shows are from the U.S, 1930-1970, in the Science Fiction/Fantasy and Horror/Supernatural genres, but I also include programs from other time periods, genres, and countries... as the mood strikes me.

[I have shows from 1970-2013... I have shows from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Canada and the UK... I have shows in the Action/Adventure and Drama genres.]

I also have a modest Listening Booth which I update every fortnight (except for the serials which I update weekly).

From my website homepage:

Greetings. After 10 years, and many thousands of hours, Jeff is retiring as webmaster from this site.

Jeff and I share a love of Old Time Radio - there is something truly magical about sitting in a darkened room, with your eyes closed, and letting words paint pictures in your mind. But if you are new to Old Time Radio, where do you start? Well, Jeff created this site partly to help others answer that question. Here you will find plot summaries of over 1,500 episodes from nearly 50 different radio series from 1937 to the present... in addition to CD cover art that Jeff created... covers from old pulp magazines... reviews and recommendations from other fans... a modest listening booth... and a catalogue of famous authors' work.

It seemed a shame to let all that hard work just disappear. So, Jeff has graciously allowed me to take over this site so I can continue to provide this content to others... in the hope that this old art form won't be lost forever.

Now, this whole concept might seem strange to someone in the UK, where the BBC still produce some of the best programmes around, but audio drama is mostly dead in the U.S. and has been for some time.

If you are even remotely interested in audio drama, I encourage you to take a look... or shoot me a line with any questions. (Recommendations? How to get started? Where to collect free "public domain" recordings? Links to other sources? Dramatizations of stories from your favourite author?)

[Er... one of the consequences of running this site is that I no longer know how to spell. Half the time I spell in American, half the time in Canadian.]

[Paul Victory]

I enjoy reading Scandinavian Thrillers and have read all of JO Nesbo's books, most of Henning Mankell's as well as the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. Always on the lookout for an engaging read.

Apart from erging (which I'm doing a lot less of than I used to) and spending too much time on the internet, my main hobbies are watching sports (I know, I should be participating rather than watching) and reading. I'm an avid reader and could read 3 or 4 books a week when on holidays. I've just finished reading all five (so far) Song of Ice and Fire books by George RR Martin and can thoroughly recommend them to strider and anyone else who enjoys a good yarn.

As regards sports, I mainly watch football (COYS!), rugby and golf. But I'll also watch cricket, snooker, cycling, athletics, tennis and even the occasional grand prix.

I'm also something of a karaoke addict, although I mainly indulge this while on holidays in Portugal (another hobby of mine, I have an apartment in Alvor and go over as often as I can). My recent 60th birthday celebration was a karaoke party and I managed to make a total show of myself, so mission accomplished! (It's my party and I'll sing if I want to).

I used to play bridge and backgammon, but rarely find the time for either nowadays. I hope to take them both up again after I retire (whenever that might be) and I may even start playing golf again.

Paul V

[webberg]

Well some common ground.

When I'm not recovering from the latest injury or problem caused by playing too much football when I was younger I do try and stay fit. I'm very lucky that we live about two minutes from the gym and I can just "pop in" to do 30/45 minutes. For the last few months mainly spinning and walking uphill on a treadmill (surprisingly bloody hard!).

The whole family is considering getting bikes now that the weather has finally turned. My wife however has some issues with her hips and shoulders and I'm not sure that plan will come together.

When not exercising, I'm also a shooter. I do some live shoots (game birds mainly), deer and vermin. My daughter is a good shot and we regularly go out and pop a few rabbits (with a couple of slightly illegal air rifles) which we take to the local hunt pack. I also do a fair bit of long range shooting at Bisley (about 45 minutes away). Mainly 1,000 metres but sometimes a bit more. Longest shot to actually hit the target so far is a tad over 2k. Also shoot clays for the local club team. I have a AA handicap on the clays so rarely win the competition but it's good fun. My daughter and youngest son also shoot clays. I live in rural Hampshire so sometimes just walking in the countryside is the real pleasure.

Like Bill, I have two Cocker Spaniels (black and white). Not working dogs unfortunately. I take them out shooting sometimes. The bitch is quite good. The dog (her son) is just too stupid - typical Spaniel.

I read - a lot. Being a commuter (100 minutes each way door to door) gives me time. I am a science fiction fan but occasionally get into other stuff, like history, classics (just finished Gatsby - again), Iain Banks (sad news from him). I have read some of the Jo Nesbo. Sorry but I found them a bit slow and forumlaic. I also like to be able to guess who did it and Nesbo has a habit of bringing in a character at the last minute so the reader has no chance.

My other great love is music. The commuter thing helps. I have three iPod's and recycle one a week on average with a pick and mix from the server. We have a music library that is approaching 900 gigabytes now and is stored on its own server and accessed via a Sonos system. Has all sorts on it. Lots of classical, blues from the 20's and 30's, swing, jazz, (try the latest electro-swing by the way), bubblegum pop from about 1968 onwards, more indie bands than you can shake a stick at, hip hop, dub step, trance (massive Hard Core fan), garage stuff, some death metal, DJ sets. Basically I can find something to like in just about any music.

Our eldest son is a massive fan of music and runs a radio show at University called sub 40. Idea is to play songs with less than 40,000 YouTube hits. As such he and I swap music and playlists about twice a week. Having (now 3) teenagers at home keeps your music taste bang up to date.

We go to gigs as often as we can. This year so far, Biffy Clyro, Walk the Moon, Airborne Toxic Event, Caro Emerald. Coming up is Reading Festival, Green Day and Muse.

Don't do the gadget or computer thing. That's just a tool to access something else.

My wife and I like to travel. She is a keen (and quite good) skier. The kids are keen (and very good) skiers. I do ski but to be honest if I was told tomorrow I couldn't do it again, I wouldn't worry too much. Summer holidays have been either the Med (Italy and Sardinia recently) or the USA. This year is the USA - Virginia. When the kids finally leave us we hope to do more travel but that depends on finance and job.

I'm a football fan as well - Southampton FC. Season ticket holder and try to get to as many home games as I can. COYR!!

Bored you enough yet?