The 27 Hobbies

Once in awhile somebody asks me what I’m doing to keep busy as a retired person.  My stock answer is that I have 27 hobbies.  If they ask me to what they are I can’t list them extemporarily.  For this report I’m going to try to list 27 hobbies that keep me busy.  Since it’s my report I reserve the right to show sub categories as separate hobbies. 

Here goes (in no particular order so I’m using bullets instead of numbers):

·         Writing a blog – When I began Christine had just announced we were having a drought so I began the Lake Boren Drought Report.  The first day I posted she announced the drought was over.  Shortly after that I changed to a Rapid Transit Report because Newcastle will be among the last places to get rapid transit.

·         Using big words – long ago in High School pals of mine introduced me to “pusillanimous prevaricators” as a way to sound naughty without getting sent to the principal’s office.  What a concept.  Lots of big words do that.

·         Since the regular news is somewhat suspect I like to convert it to fit my own ideas.  Thus “making stuff up as I go along” is another hobby.  I have a fiction book started and at some point I’ll write “Al Explains Science.”

·         Watching progress on the library in Newcastle:  The structure is nearly complete and soon they will cover it with glass and wall board.  It’s supposed to open next fall.  I wonder if they’ll have my books.

·         Digital photography:  When I was a photographer in the Army and they had darkroom staff to develop my pictures.  I don’t do darkroom.  It’s dark and smelly.  Getting a good print is way too hard.  Then somebody invented digital photography and gave us Photoshop (and other digital editing programs).  It was like a dream come true.  I can do this.

·         Manipulating pixels to fit my own vision:  I can render my photos (in Photoshop) into many artistic formats.  I create paintings out of my own photos.

·         Personal computing: one prerequisite to becoming a reasonable photo editor is to understand the machine.  I’m not saying I’m any kind of expert but I know enough to get the software working.  That includes the editing, rendering, cataloging, and printing functions.

·         3D Photography: one of the biggest benefits of digital to me is that you can take two side by side photos (simulating two eyes) and align the images to produce 3D.  It’s fantastic.  Best of all is that the software that does that is FREE!!

·         Keeping the leaves out of the yar:.  This one is involuntary.  I’m required to exercise in order to keep some of my health issues at bay.  We have this Big Leaf Maple tree behind the house and I get lots of exercise each fall raking up the leaves.  We also have uncounted shrubs that require some kind of care and I get plenty of exercise doing that all year.

·         Walking around Lake Boren: It turns out that a brisk two mile walk around Lake Boren gives me my daily quota of exercise.  It’s a nice break from yard maintenance.  It also provides an update of the changing Newcastle landscape.

·         Bird watching: We have about 924 species in North America but I haven’t seen them all yet.  It’s a challenge because some of them occur in very small areas.  For example the cave swallow can only be found in south Texas.  Texas!  Rick Perry lives there.

·         Cow watching: Cows are easier than birds in that they tend to remain somewhat stationary.  If you see a black and white cow it’s probably a mix unless there’s a sign on the fence announcing “Purebred Holsteins” or something.  So it’s easy to do but hard to get a Life List.

·         Antique tractors: Long ago farmers used horses and oxen (cows).  The advantage was they helped fertilize the fields.  The problem was you had to feed and water them whether they worked or not.  That included keeping them alive during harsh winters when nothing was growing.  Along came people like Holt, Deere, and Oliver building tractors.  You could park them in the barn for winter and in spring change the oil and add fuel and off you go.  Boy is that an over simplification.

·         Antique trucks: When I was a boy in Kansas the highway ran right through town.  Many big rigs had the Diamond-T badge and forever after I refer to a big rig as a “Diamond-T.”  I still visit truck stops across the country and just wander along the rows of Diamond-Ts.

·         Classic Cars: America has a fantastic history of car design.  My first car was an Oldsmobile.  They don’t make those anymore but I’ll always remember that 1948 Olds and its connection to the originals.

·         Museums that honor classic ancient mechanical designs: Cars, trucks, tractors, airplanes, and other metal objects are in museums.  There’s Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska; Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana; Central Washington Agriculture Museum in Union Gap, Washington; and Museum of Flight in Seattle.  These are favorites; there are hundreds of others.

·         Scientific American: A monthly magazine whose title makes you think they know about science.  OK, they try, but they often get it wrong.  For example they say nothing can go faster than light.  Did you see Star Wars?  They make a lot of mistakes about things on the ground too. 

·         Genealogy: Looking up old ancestors.  I’ve been doing this for years and it’s even better now.  I think the most important lesson is that names and dates are just part of it.  You need to study peoples’ history.  Were your ancestors participants in one of the big migrations?  If so it tells you a lot about how they lived, why they moved, and what was on TV in 1567.

·         Volunteering: For some reason us retired folks need to get out and participate.  I was at the National Archives in Seattle for a couple years.  I enjoyed helping folks find their ancestors.  Now help the Ag Museum in Union Gap.  See how some of these hobbies relate?

·         Construction projects: Right now I’m watching condos and the library in Newcastle.  I also follow the “progress” on several other projects such as the Alaska Way Viaduct, light rail to Bellevue, and the SR 520 Floating Bridge.

·         Making fake Good-To-Go passes.  These won’t work and if you get caught it can cost you a bundle.  But the good news is I’ve yet to sell one, so don’t worry.

·         Maintenance of the machine: As I get older I find it takes more time and effort just to stay even.  I take pills, exercise, and rub stuff on my skin.  A sub-category is dealing with insurance which is a big waste of time.

·         Taking care of the house work: As a retired person with a working wife it’s my job to clean.  That includes KP after meals.  I like to eat out.

·         Keeping up with the 21^st Century: I have a facebook page and a smart phone.  Both have me baffled.

·         Visiting the woods: We have an old cabin in the mountains that we visit several times during the warm months.  No phone or internet.  Three days is about all I can stand.

·         Reading other blogs such as the Schoonover Farm and Wonkette.  One keeps me up to date on the kid and the other teaches me new phrases.  Very entertaining.

·         Watching football: I don’t have a fantasy team and I don’t go to games.  Too expensive.  But I watch these overpaid prima donnas beat each other up on TV.

There: 27!  See why I can’t just list them on the spur of the moment?  You would probably combine some of these into single hobbies and my definition of “hobby” is pretty loose, but you get the picture.

Al