this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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Mine would be creating pen and paper ciphers for my made up secret communication needs.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (11 children)

Buying keyboards... I just had a moment where I made an impulse decision where I spent 200$ usd on one. It's my 7th keyboard and I know it's not gonna be the last. I'm not even a touch typer... Something weird is going on

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (9 children)
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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

I collect wrist watches and intend on learning watch repair soon ish

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Sim racing isn't necessarily too quirky or obscure but I do it to maintain some sort of maybe possibly ADHD. Doing laps around a track really helps with getting myself used to focusing.

It's especially helpful because each lap around a race track tends to be only 1 - 2 minutes, which is a relatively easy amount of time to keep focus at any one point in time, but keeping it up for consecutive laps and remaining consistent as time builds up in small increments is a different kind of joy to me.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Fixing small things. My friends or family need something fixed that doesn't require a professional. I like figuring out how to fix things or at least providing a temporary solution. I do it because I'm helping someone, also I'm building my skill set. A basic search of answers and videos teaching me how to do it properly most times is easy to find. If not I find a way to create a safe temporary solution until they can have one come in. Very fulfilling, especially if you like a challenge.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Hah, I like your hobby actually.

I've actually managed to upgrade Cistercian Numerals from decimal to hexadecimal, while still being backwards compatible.

https://youtu.be/9p55Qgt7Ciw

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I am something of a skills collector: Bicycles (roadie/former amateur racer), cars (mods/engines/paint), composite prototyping, metal machining, home foundry metal casting, embedded programming, analog and digital electronics design, reverse engineering, KiCAD, PCB etching, motor controls, python, CPP, Forth, woodworking, Linux desktop, Linux kernel deep dives, computing hardware, open source software, Dune, Asimov, SciFi, astronomy, telescopes, designing and building optics, 3D printing, CAD design, FreeCAD, Blender, cooking better than the best restaurant foods, Asian cuisine, psychology

I am a generalist, but a swiss army knife, I know about and do a lot, but I am like the worst scissors you've ever attempted to carry and use. I can get the job done, but am well aware I am not a master of any of these.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Sim racing.

It’s difficult to talk about it without people dismissing it as just a video game with a steering wheel.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In addition to general learning which might be my favourite, I have multiple.

Maybe the most niche is a historical reenactment and historical costuming. Latter usually based on extant garments or garment finds. I try to get as close to the original in techniques, tools and materials using the best evidence I can find.

I also plan things that will never happen. I decorate houses and apartments on paper. I make extensive plans for travel that I can never afford unless I win in Lottory. Which I even never play.

I spend absolutely too much time playing with spreadsheets.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (10 children)

I build and optimize molecules using computational chemistry software for fun.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Handspinning. I do a lot of fiber crafts.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I'll say me writting my homebrew DnD world. It goes in pair with me using ObsidianMD, I love the tool i'm using and i'm having fun specifically in the making of polical cities more than in the making of combat senarios. My mom knows about it and sometimes asks, Dad finds it stupid, and I don't talk about it with anyone I used to atlk about what I write to two friends, but they are coming to my session in september so now I have no one esle to bring it up

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Similar to another reply about shorthand, I practice with my own steno-typing keyboard I 3D printed as a hobby. I'm steno-typing this very message! (Very slowly)

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Lockpicking tends to be my most misunderstood hobby/interest.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Writing fanfiction

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Running. Ok, I know it's not obscure, however, if you say you're a runner, or that it's a hobby, you're frequently met with hostility, or people trying to talk you out of it. The amount of times people have said "running is bad for you, you need to stop" is insane.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

listening to number stations

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I love plushies. I have an ever growing collection and love just browsing plushies of all sorts when I'm online. I just really like cute things. But as a 28 year old man with a beard, it's safe to say I'm not exactly the spiting image of a plushie collector, and most people are definitely not interested in talking at length about it with me.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

[email protected] is my latest obsession: Friends, family, and colleagues are tired of hearing me talk about ebikes.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I race RC cars.

Seems simple enough but there’s always follow up questions that inevitably take the conversation from interesting to β€˜in the weeds’.

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