Useless Conversation

[Paelos]

Japanese people are hard to find in Georgia.

Heh, so true. We have a large Korean population, but I don't think I've ever met anyone here from Japan.

[Viin]

Yeah, I'm not terribly sure.  I spent some time majoring in Aviation Mgmt, and previously Aerospace Eng, and have always wanted to fly, but that's outside what I can do at the moment.  Maybe later.  Plane ownership seems out of reach.  Similar issue with racing a car, which I would have liked to have (tried to) made a career in.  If I get bored with those things, it's harder to sell off the hardware.

Time budget is the typical "outside business/family hours" while money is harder to pin down.  $300 for golf clubs is OK.  Much more than that and I'll want to make sure I'm actually going to engage in the hobby.

Aviation is expensive. Probably $500/week to fly two hours a week with an instructor.
If you like "technical" hobbies, then I would recommend scuba diving at a local school. Also gives you an excuse to go somewhere tropical for vacation for your open water dive. Kids can do it if they are at least 13.

You can "race" a car pretty cheap, if you want to do open track days (you have some good tracks near you). A full race car is expensive, but something fun on the track isn't that bad.

Other options: any kind of martial art (Koreans abound? Tae Kwon Do), restoring an old car, build an airplane  , go back to school, develop something for Kickstarter...

Of course, these are things I'm currently dabbling in or wish I was - YMMV.

[Paelos]

Hobbies I like in Atlanta other than golf:

- Bowling
- Braves games with friends and clients
- Boating at the lakes
- Martinis and IMAX
- Cooking classes

[Sjofn]

Japanese people are hard to find in Georgia.

Heh, so true. We have a large Korean population, but I don't think I've ever met anyone here from Japan.

Well, korean people love kendo too, if my dojo is anything to go by.

[Salamok]

Yeah, I'm not terribly sure.  I spent some time majoring in Aviation Mgmt, and previously Aerospace Eng, and have always wanted to fly, but that's outside what I can do at the moment.  Maybe later.  Plane ownership seems out of reach.  Similar issue with racing a car, which I would have liked to have (tried to) made a career in.  If I get bored with those things, it's harder to sell off the hardware.

Time budget is the typical "outside business/family hours" while money is harder to pin down.  $300 for golf clubs is OK.  Much more than that and I'll want to make sure I'm actually going to engage in the hobby.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_view_%28radio_control%29

[Yegolev]

I don't like water.

Good suggestions, though.

[Signe]

What do you mean you don't like water?  Do you mean drinking water or bathing water?  Or the ocean?  If it's drinking water, you can flavour it with stuff like lemon, lime or whisky.  If it's the other kind of water you can get one of these:



I'd SO go for a ride in one of those!

You have options.

[Yegolev]

Do you mean drinking water or bathing water?

I never understood why so many people ask this.

[Nebu]

I don't like bathing water.  The thought of laying in a pool of my own filth seems icky. 

[Yegolev]

I suppose I can say that I have an unnatural fear of drowning.

[Merusk]

I don't like bathing water.  The thought of laying in a pool of my own filth seems icky. 

who wants some Nevu  stew. 

[Ingmar]

I suppose I can say that I have an unnatural fear of drowning.

That is totally not unnatural.

By the way, being beaten with sticks does appear to be an available hobby for you, depending on how close you are to this place: http://www.georgiakendo.net/

[Yegolev]

That's 51 miles in entirely the wrong direction.  If it was west of Atlanta, I could do it.  There is a kung-fu place that is closer, but "shao-lin" tends to attract weirdos.  Aikido is probably more my speed, did that a few years ago with the wife.

[Signe]

When my brother in law finished up his black belt in Karate, he tried a few other sorts and then started taking classes in Judo.  He LOVED it.  Now he's doing some kind of sword fighting or something.  He also likes that but I think Judo has been his favourite so far.  And he's 49 so no crying about age!  He does have to go about 40 mins for the sword fighting so he probably doesn't go as often as he wants.  There's something just not appetising about taking up a rather exhausting hobby, I guess, and then having to travel that long to relax.  Maybe you could consider moving to some place civilised.  I'd trade you but I don't actually have a house.

[Chimpy]

Got a new back tire on my motorcycle this afternoon. Going from an almost bald tire to a new one with a better tread design made it so much better to ride.

[Yegolev]

New tires are a special sort of joy.  I need to get my car working.

[rattran]

My new tires are now entirely covered with red Georgia mud. Thanks combination of rain and shitty fair site with bogs and sinkholes in the alleged roads!! On the plus side, my neighbors booths are now covered with red Georgia mud from my new tires.

[Yegolev]

"alleged roads"

[HaemishM]

Aikido is probably more my speed, did that a few years ago with the wife.

I took a mixture of Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido (which is the Korean version of Akido) and it was damn good fun. If you like bruising and exercise that is, but since you are talking about gold, physical exertion doesn't seem to be an issue.

[craan]

Does anyone do any boxing either with a trainer or at a gym?  There is a boxing studio near me and I was thinking of checking it out.  While I have some idea of what signs to look for in a gym or personal trainer, I know zilch about boxing.  But it looks fun.

[Viin]

I did a little boxing a few years ago, it's pretty fun as an exercise (no sparring) but man is it super tiring.

Personal trainers in particular just need to be experienced (prevent injuries, know how to rotate muscle groups, etc) and not assholes.

[Hawkbit]

Finished up my PHP web architecture course, next up is application development using Ruby on Rails.  I was hoping it was going to be in Python, but Ruby's okay I suppose.  I keep expecting to have a moment of enlightenment.  Still waiting.

[Engels]

Where are you taking these courses Hawkbit? Somewhere in Seattle?

[Merusk]

Hey Sky, check this out:

http://www.geek.com/news/physics-exploiting-axe-splits-wood-in-record-time-1591725/

Though the vid is from 2008 so you've probably bought and sold two or three by now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jDR_2Zsr40#t=64

[Hawkbit]

Where are you taking these courses Hawkbit? Somewhere in Seattle?

I live in Seattle, but attend Franklin University from Ohio.  It's a 100 year old school that is transitioning to online degrees.  I was fairly suspect of online degrees and I still have my reservations about distance learning.  However, they've done a pretty good job acclimating me to the technology/business education and their degrees are legit. 

I'm getting pretty amped about graduating.  I only have five classes left:  Statistics, jquery/ajaj/json, applications development, UX/HCI and my capstone.  I'm really ready to get my life back at the end of this year.

[Lantyssa]

Hey Sky, check this out:

http://www.geek.com/news/physics-exploiting-axe-splits-wood-in-record-time-1591725/

That's pretty cool.  I need a fireplace now.

[Yegolev]

That's a lot of euros for one ax.

[Sky]

Yeah I saw that. Seems really gimmicky, I don't like the guy's form as it seems like you'd develop back issues.

[Rishathra]

Wasn't that the point of it, though?  Since the axe reduces recoil and requires less direct force to split the log, wouldn't back issues from 'poor form' be less of a problem?

[Cyrrex]

Yeah, it honestly looked like he was applying very little force.  Did it say how much the thing weighed.

In any event, I was impressed.

[Bunk]

1.9 kg head (4.237 lbs)

Just the idea of an axe that wants to rotate on impact frightens me though.

[Yegolev]

I might consider it if there is a comparison video using a traditional ax on the same log.  Because wood.

[Signe]

I found the most perfect pressie for my nephew, Alexander!  He even looks a bit like the sprog on the right.  They're from a shop on Etsy if anyone has any kids lying about who need hats.

[Cyrrex]

1.9 kg head (4.237 lbs)

Just the idea of an axe that wants to rotate on impact frightens me though.

Well, if you have to swing it really hard, then sure.  But it doesn't look like he is.  Who knows?  Would be fun to try one.

[Signe]

Hooray for that axe link because I saw THIS! 

Loot Crate is Bausome, for real.