Expensive Hobbies

[StevieP]

Yes, like I said, I might have a board game problem.

Oh my gosh I am actually quite envious of that collection - I see you have the Godfather game! :) Mine are, currently, just piled up on the dining room floor. There's a lot in this house I need to go through, sort out thoroughly and organise a lot better!

[StevieP]

I've got an old Nintendo 64 with a controller and about 5 games. You guys know anyone who might be interested?

Unfortunately they wouldn't work for me over here without some sort of convertor... I have made the mistake in the past of buying Nintendo cartridges from America only to find they don't work in my system here... otherwise I'd jump at the chance. You may be able to sell them to a retro games store though - one thing I do know is that they seem to be a lot more prevalent in the States than they are over here!

[WalterB]

Yeah, it might be the same issue as with Video tapes and, I think, DVD's. The planet is somehow divided into "areas." All I can guess is that it's something to do with technology. One example I know is that In England, the power line (the 'mains') voltage is 120 VAC, but the frequency is only 50 CPS (Cycles Per Second) while the United States is 60 CPS. So playing a Music CD made for America, but played in England, for example, will sound slow. So I'm sure there's something going on to allow different electronics devises to play in different countries.

[lance_s]

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Have you seen any of the Calvin and Hobbes strips regarding assembling model jets?

No, I don't believe I have.

My model building days ended long before Gene Rodenberry thought up Star Trek.

[ErikB]

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Have you seen any of the Calvin and Hobbes strips regarding assembling model jets?

No, I don't believe I have.

My model building days ended long before Gene Rodenberry thought up Star Trek.

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[lance_s]

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Have you seen any of the Calvin and Hobbes strips regarding assembling model jets?

No, I don't believe I have.

My model building days ended long before Gene Rodenberry thought up Star Trek.

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Yes, I can totally relate. Thx.

[ErikB]

That all sounds so cool ErikB - even though you say you didn't have the skills with the glassblowing or the pottery, at least you gave it a shot and took the classes! Did you get to keep anything that you created?

Thanks!

I kept a lot of stuff, although I think I have misplaced some of it. There were a few attempts at water-fountain basins that cracked and were tossed.

The other day I hastily took some pictures of some of the things I found in a box, but I noticed that I hadn't cleaned anything off. The coming
week looks pretty poor weather-wise, but perhaps I will clean off what I have, find some of the hot-glass stuff, and make a better set
of photos. In the meantime, here is what I have:

Pottery:

Warm Glass:


sandblasting the back of a mirror using vinyl sheets (if I remember correctly)

sandblasting plate glass with a pattern using UV-sensitive sheets, a printer, and a UV light

melting a bunch of sliced-up glass into a brick, then slicing the brick into tiles and fusing them:

cutting a bear out of glass, fusing it to a fancy circular bottom piece, fusing a clear glass top piece, and slumping into a bowl mold:

and, using a bunch of steps, combining mica powder, base glass, dichroic glass squares, sandblasting, and a gold kemper pen to make this:

[greggl]

I used to collect comic books but that got way too expensive. When I started most were about $1.00 each (shows how long ago that was lol) but now they can easily be $5-$6 a book or more. I used to get about 30 or so a month so that just got too expensive too fast. Today you can subscribe to DC's web site and read most everything they put out for about $7 a month. You just have to wait about 6 months between when the book is published and when they put it on line.

I also play video games but only buy a couple of big titles a year now. Again subscriptions can cut the cost way down. Both microsoft and sony have hundreds of games you can play for one small monthly fee instead of having to buy every game.

[WalterB]

That's all very good work. Especially the glass work. The closest I can come to that was rock-cutting while I was in Alaska. Someone had made a small lapidary shop at our site, so I played with it a bit. Cut a few pretty rocks. Tried to make some shapes, but I needed more practice, I guess, lol.

Best I can offer at the moment is my marble amusement park, lol. The car requires more effort, but it's coming along. I would expect another week.

[Davest]

Wow, Erik and Walt, you guys are talented! I am definitely more of a Calvin-level hobbyist.

[ErikB]

Wow, Erik and Walt, you guys are talented! I am definitely more of a Calvin-level hobbyist.

Thanks Davest! In my case, the glass, the glass industry, and the instructor are mostly responsible.

Glass looks great anyway. The fancy patterns and shiny bits you just buy or download. And the instructor took care of setting the temperature and timing of the firing in the kiln for each step.

[WalterB]

Lol, it's just something to keep me busy, even if it is sitting down. I started with plastic cars when I was a kid. In my 12's Dad built up a nice model railroad set in my room upstairs. He finished off the whole attic as a bedroom for me, so it covered the whole house. I loved the train set.

Then I moved on to planes. Didn't do anything until I went to Alaska in 1970. Then did a few model cars.

[StevieP]

Both Erik and Walt thank you so much for sharing the photos of your work! Amazing stuff... a lot more impressive than the photos of the Lego sets I've built that I post to instagram! :)

[TheShaft]

Golf. 'nuff said...

[ErikB]

I remembered that I also took a jewelry class at the art museum where I did the pottery. So, I probably have a bracelet and an unfinished pendant somewhere.

And, I realized that I DO have an expensive hobby that I do currently: feeding the outdoor birds!

[lance_s]

I remembered that I also took a jewelry class at the art museum where I did the pottery. So, I probably have a bracelet and an unfinished pendant somewhere.

And, I realized that I DO have an expensive hobby that I do currently: feeding the outdoor birds!

Steps for a beautiful new lawn:

1. Remove old turf.
2. Fix any grade issues.
3. Apply fertilizer, lime, organic matter, etc.
4. Rake smooth and firm.
5. Spread grass seed.
6. Sit back and wait.

Of course, the same end result can be obtained much more efficiently simply by placing the seed directly in a bird feeder.

[ErikB]

I remembered that I also took a jewelry class at the art museum where I did the pottery. So, I probably have a bracelet and an unfinished pendant somewhere.

And, I realized that I DO have an expensive hobby that I do currently: feeding the outdoor birds!

Steps for a beautiful new lawn:

1. Remove old turf.
2. Fix any grade issues.
3. Apply fertilizer, lime, organic matter, etc.
4. Rake smooth and firm.
5. Spread grass seed.
6. Sit back and wait.

Of course, the same end result can be obtained much more efficiently simply by placing the seed directly in a bird feeder.

Not a bad plan! There were a few years where the seeds actually ended up getting planted and sprouted. I don't know whether they were also provided with a fertilizer load. I had some pretty nice Sunflowers one year, a nice Indian Thistle plant another year. This year a whole bunch of different plants sprouted right near the bird feeder, but the lawn guys nailed most of them last Friday. The millet directly under the feeder made it long enough to go to seed, though.

[StevieP]

I have actually stopped feeding the birds in the garden because when I put anything out these big jackdaws swoop in and break the feeders trying to get the seed or suet balls out! So sorry little finches and tits (hehe) but the jackdaws have spoiled things for you! I do still leave out food and water each night for hedgehogs... I have had up to three visit at once some evenings and they really do get through their food! I get special hedgehog food which costs about £8 a bag... and they aren't big bags!

[WalterB]

I fed my birds here, mainly in the winter. I had one bird feeder that was Dad's. But the pigeons could land on it and the smaller birds couldn't get in. So I found one with a little different design, much smaller perches. So the pigeons would go to the old one and the smaller birds go to the newer one. I need to get back to that this winter.

You hardly see a bird around here. But, put food out? They seem to come here from Toledo, fer crissakes. There might be 20 or more buzzing around trying to get food, lol

[StevieP]

Recently received the Limited Run Games collector's edition of Return of the Obra Dinn, a game I already owned digitally on another platform, but now for Playstation with all sorts of lovely items included. The only real issue I have with getting things via Limited Run games is you pre-order them before it's even manufactured... so I bought this set last Summer and received it this month! Sometimes I forget what I ordered... which makes a nice surprise when it turns up a year later!