What Hobbies Do You Have? In this time of Covid-19 it is very useful for people to have a hobby. Mine is writing, but there are plenty of others out there. When I was a child, I used to collect bottle caps. People would buy sodas and drink them in the store or on their way. The soda was usually in an ice filled chest and there was a bottle opener on the side. The caps would drop into a holder and we kids would go to the candy store and ask the owner if we could take the caps and they always said yes. We would play games with them and try to win more. Eventually we moved on to baseball cards. There are so many things out there people collect, it boggles the mind. One of the first things which comes to mind are antiques. Antiques have become a big business. Many people have gone to jail for counterfeiting them. It is said, which I cannot confirm, half of all antiques sold on Ebay or even more may not be genuine. The percentage is even higher for American Civil War material. You really have to know what you are doing before getting into this, yet many rush in and regret it later when they find out what they bought years ago was just another fake. There is a difference between a collecting hobby and just a hobby. A hobby itself as you probably know can be bird watching and the such, or even writing as I do. It can even go further and it can entail going to or watching all of your favorite team’s games. The team games I am into but the bird watching is just not for me. Even watching certain television programs might be considered a hobby if you catch them every week. I am fascinated by The Treasure of Oak Island and never miss an episode. If you have extra money you could get into the hobby of collecting antique weapons. Before you do, you better check your state’s laws on what is considered an antique because you might need a license for a purchase. Again, counterfeits abound in this hobby. You could be the owner of an incredible sword made in Japan by one of the greats, or a weapon which was involved in the American Revolutionary War. Some of the ancient guns are quite interesting and were dangerous to shoot. Hobbies for men and women can differ, but many are the same. Quilting is a hobby some women enjoy and enjoyment is the main thing in a hobby. Who would want to do something they didn’t like for fun; it makes no sense? Another hobby which is dominated by women is knitting. There are a few men who do it, but it is mostly a woman’s hobby. Some of the hobbies shared more or less evenly between men and women are writing, reading, shooting, archery and playing an instrument to mention a few. A really great hobby is one which can be shared and enjoyed by both husband and wife. My dear departed wife and I would watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune every night. One doesn’t have to have a hobby which costs a lot of money. One hobby might be hiking different trails. It can be enjoyed by both sexes and doesn’t cost anything. Not only that, there are physical benefits to this hobby, it will get you into better shape. The same could be true for lifting weights and working out. Anyone can do it, I did it for many years in my youth. I attribute this to my long life. Actually, a hobby is anything you do repetitively and enjoy. Another hobby is traveling, which a lot of people do. My wife and I used to collect glasses from everywhere we went and had quite a collection at one time. The glasses had the name of the different places we went to. Another thing we enjoyed was going to different museums until it got hard for her to walk too long. While this might not seem like a hobby some people use it that way. I am talking about learning foreign languages. It certainly is not for everyone, but there are those who really enjoy it. If you like to eat out, you could try going to a different restaurant once a week until you tried most of the restaurants in your area and even then, you can branch out. If you have a big family this could get costly. Some people who are looking for a free hobby which will make them useful, volunteer for different things such as serving food in a soup kitchen to the less fortunate, others if they are young enough might volunteer to work at their local fire departments. With volunteering you do get some satisfaction. One hobby you might not think of grown people taking up is collecting antique toys. This is a popular hobby and some toys can have incredible prices. It depends on how many were made, and many times age and condition. One Hot Wheels toy, a pink van is valued at $175,000. Yes, you read that correctly. It is called the Beach Bomb. It had been in the possession of a Mattel employee for years. There are said to be only two like it, but some believe there is really only one. Don’t worry though, you can start off small and buy a set of 20 Hot Wheel Cars for only $8.00. In this age of technology new hobbies have sprung up. One of them is building computers. I have built quite a few myself. It used to be cheaper to build than buy, but all this has changed. It is a fun hobby, but unless you are trying to build a top of the line computer which would cost a fortune to buy, you can do better buying an assembled one. One of the reasons for this is the price of graphic cards. Decent ones cost so much buying them outside an assembled computer is just not cost effective in most cases. Along with this type of hobby we have experimenting with computers. You can purchase a full computer on a mother board for only a few dollars and adapt it to your pet project, if you know what you want to do. Some have created robotic arms. Others have created retro gaming systems. There is one good thing about the computer age, the instructions for almost building anything can be found online. Everyone should have some hobby to keep them sane in these trying times.
|
