OT - Horology / Did you pick up a new interest or hobby during the lockdowns?
Yes, I know. Get your giggles out.
As we all know, the pandemic and resultant lockdowns have significantly disrupted the ability to do a number of the things we loved to do and were used to doing. At the same time, this has resulted in a rare opportunity to start something new and different. For me, the last six months has seen a growing obsession with vintage watch and close, and their repair and restoration. Initially, this was supposed to be a post asking whether there were other MGoReaders who shared that interest and would be willing to share some of their experiences, suggestions for someone new to the craft, etc. But then I thought that this particular interest is ridiculously niche, and it might be more of an interesting discussion to see whether anyone else has taken up a new interest that they wouldn't have but for the lockdowns, and if so, what and why.
Avatar checks out.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
I have always been a casual Chess player, but it has become my Covid hobby. I made an account on Chess.com and have been playing quite a few 10 minute games on there. I am still nothing great but my rating is almost up to 1100.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
That's amazing to someone like me who was in a similar place and peaked out at like, 900.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:42 PM ^
I stopped playing chess competitively at the end of high school. (Nothing great--ended up with USCF rating of 1627.) About a year ago, after decades of not playing chess at all, I took up playing some games online. But I haven't adjusted well to the short time controls--I'm still usually in the mindset of calculating on every move (after the first few of the opening), which apparently isn't the best route for 10-minute games. Forget about 5-minute games or faster. I do like some of the instructional videos on chess.com, though.
That's what I've done a lot, except I play the bots. Have you watched 'The Queens Gambit?' That was my motivation to get back into it; I was on the Chess team back in high school and it brought back those feelings of being in a tournament.
I also started playing a lot of chess during lockdown. I started on Chess.com but since switched to primarily Lichess. But I mostly play very fast bullet (1 minute) and blitz (3 minute) games.
I'm a little shy of 1600 in bullet on Lichess.
I also spend way more time than I should watching Chess streamers like Eric Rosen, Levy Rozman (Gotham Chess) or Hikaru on Youtube.
I'm big on watching Agadmator's channel, he's pretty interesting.
April 30th, 2021 at 11:55 PM ^
Yes! He provides good coverage of grandmasters' games.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:09 PM ^
I purchased a Strumstick about ten years ago at a Bluegrass fair in Dahlonega, GA. The thing sat in my closet for nine years and I finally dusted it off and got it professionally tuned. I’ve been pickin’ at it for a while now and having fun.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:09 PM ^
I've always played golf, but it's become an obsession over the last year. I spent the winter out west so I could play. I'll walk 18 before work, it's a great way to casually exercise, I usually get in 7-9 miles.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:10 PM ^
I have gotten more into golf. I technically started the summer before the pandemic but last year I bought my first set of cheapo clubs and I really enjoy it so far. I get now why its so popular! You are always striving for perfection but even the pros never achieve that. You can hit one beautiful shot and ten terrible ones but that one nice one keeps you coming back.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
If you can hit one perfect, you can hit 10 that way. It’s in you, keep at it.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:11 PM ^
We moved to the edge of the country last summer. I have a creek bordering my backyard with lots of distance between us and all the neighbors. I've gotten into birding. Ebirds.org allows you to report your sightings and tracks them for you. They, in turn, use that information for research. As of last night, with the arrival of White-throated Sparrows, I have now recorded 50 different species. They range from the common House Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse and Chickadee to the more uncommon Kingfisher, Wood Duck and Blue Heron. I had a family of White-capped Sparrows overwinter and kept getting questioned from ebird about whether I truly saw these birds or not, because they don't spend the winters up north. I had to send them a picture before they'd believe me.
Good for you. Once you really get into birding more and start to go out searching for certain species Ebird enables you to go in and see where that bird was seen and when locally. Also, if you're thinking about going to a particular park or preserve to look for birds, you can check ahead of time what people are seeing.
You're probably referring to either White Throated or White Crowned sparrows. Both birds have black and white striped heads. Either one can spend winters up in Michigan, but the White Throated is much more likely to be seen. I however had a couple White Crowned's this winter near Ann Arbor.
My son and I have really enjoyed birding together using the Audobon Field Guide. I can't wait to look into Ebird. Thanks!
Yes, White-crowned. I said it wrong the first time I ID'd one and haven't been able to get it right in my head since. When you see them from behind, they remind me of a football player from the leather helmet era. I can picture one carrying a football under its wing running through the line.
I had a long e-mail conversation with Adam from ebird who told me I must have seen something else because White-crowned aren't supposed to spend the winters in SW MI. I had identified 6, 4 adults and 2 juveniles. I finally took some pictures and he left me alone.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:11 PM ^
I picked up golf after a 20 year break. Between better equipment, range finder, track man data, and smartphone video analysis I’ve played some of the best rounds of my life - and I was a good player when I quit.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:17 PM ^
I've gotten into a couple things:
- Formula 1
- Homemade focaccia
- Sedentary lifestyle
I've always liked racing, but after watching drive to survive on netflix i fell in love with formula 1.
Same here. Never thought I'd actually watch motorsports but here we are. The pure business core of the sport is fascinating.
My F1 interest was probably helped along by the directionless/poor states of the various football teams I like.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
Only if spending way too much time on the internet and arguing with strangers over minutia on CFB boards counts :/
April 29th, 2021 at 12:21 PM ^
How do you all have time for new hobbies?? I have been far busier during the pandemic than before. I have two kids at home during the day doing school (somehow virtual school is three 1-hour sessions) while I am trying to work. Since I accomplish little during the day, I end up working all evening. I am looking forward to the pandemic ending so I can go back to having hobbies.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
Part of what prompted my OP was the fact that my kids are starting back to school and so now I'm at that place where I can finally act on what I've been hoping to do for some time now. Hang in there!
April 29th, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
Thanks for the encouragement. I am very much looking forward to the fall when both kids go to school. For now, I will go back the hobby I picked up during the pandemic: day drinking.
somehow virtual school is three 1-hour sessions
There are a few reasons for this, although it depends on what grade your kids are in. I am a HS teacher and almost all HS now have moved to block scheduling, which means there are only 4-5 academic periods in a day in addition to things like lunch & some sort of home room/advisory period. The other 1-2 periods a day are study halls or academic support for kids falling behind. IMHO there is becoming an increasing disparity between students. On the one hand the more academic oriented kids taking AP courses have more expectations than ever before and many HS are also offering dual enrollment courses where they can gain college credit. The pressure to excel feels as though it's growing. On the other hand, the less academic oriented kids that don't wish to move onto college are doing less and less and teachers are less able to hold them accountable and are pressured more than ever by parents and administration to pass kids even if they are failing to meet the content standards dictated by the state. Teachers spend 75% of their time following up to with kids to simply do their work, scheduling them for individual or small group support, or providing IEP and 504 accommodations, etc. So long story short, the reason there is not a lot of "class time" for some is because a good chunk of kids don't do their work and teachers are forced to try and make them do their work in all sort of avenues and there is less time to actually teach. I blame the internet and smart phones. Many people, and especially young people, simply don't have the executive functioning skills to complete their work, complete it on time, and to do so independently (with just the support of class instruction), when they are distracted 24/7 by the internet and social media.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
You guys ever heard of auto-erotic asphyxiation?
April 29th, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
I got a smoker last spring, which has been a fun to experiment with, but it loses some of its luster when you can't share the food with others.
The other hobby is collecting/playing retro video games, which is an expensive hobby to get into as I'm am not the only one who has spare time, extra income, and a hankering for some nostalgia.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:27 PM ^
Like many have said in this thread, I picked up golf. I used to be a person who would golf 1 or 2 times a year as a social outing. Last summer I started golfing 2-3 times a week because a friend and I got hooked on the game. I'm a tall guy (6'5) so I got sized for clubs and my golf addiction has taken off. Last night I bought my daughter her first set of clubs so she can share in my addiction with me!
Also been putting a bit of work into my house. Built a deck last summer and just put in new flooring in my kitchen a couple weekends ago.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
I started carving cups from burls. This is the first one I made and the burl I carved it from. I'm up to 7 so far.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:32 PM ^
This is awesome!
April 29th, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
that's fantastic!
April 29th, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
really cool work, man!
I like it!
April 29th, 2021 at 12:32 PM ^
I wrote the rough draft of a book and learned how to crochet. I can make a Bunsen burner that doesn't look like shit and am quite pleased.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:34 PM ^
I picked up keto. Admittedly only started it about four months ago so it really didn't start when the lockdowns started, but I thought it was going to be a slog and would hate myself for it. I did paleo like six to seven years back and while I lost a ton of weight, I hated every minute of it and quit. Keto really has been easy for me to manage. I've lost 15-20 pounds so far, and honestly I don't miss bread or pasta all that much. Nowhere near as much as I thought I would. Minus meeting a buddy of mine at a sports bar to watch the NFC Championship game, I haven't had a beer since maybe Christmas. Haven't missed beer, either, and then I hardly drink any soda to begin with, so I'm not ingesting a bunch of unnecessary sugar.
I've been able to find a lot of substitutes for stuff I'd normally eat so I can still keep keto. CostCo makes these great cauliflower/egg crepe wraps that I buy a lot of, so I can still get my sandwich fix. Or I'll make lettuce wraps. We made almond flour air fried chicken tenders the other night that turned out really well. Been eating quite a lot of cauliflower. We still give ourselves one cheat night a month where we can just say "to hell with it, we're getting pizza," but thinking back to what I used to eat on any given day, there were a lot of empty carbs. Its no wonder I'd end a lot of nights feeling bloated and uncomfortable.
I'm probably 25-35 pounds away from the weight I'd like to be at so I'm not where I want to be, but I'm closer than I've been in quite a while.
My last blood test revealed that my blood sugar was slightly high so I eliminated most sugar and a lot of carbs from my diet. Not all, but a good 50%. I lost 13 pounds just from doing that, and am now at my pre-kids weight. I realized that a lot of my snacking was seemingly innocent food, like graham crackers, so when I cut out sugar, I also ended up cutting out snacking. I do eat pasta, but only whole wheat or high protein. I cut out a lot of the rice and potatoes, too. I've always loved carbs but seeing the weight loss has changed the way I think about food.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
i've been doing pottery, or, as my instructor has said, i've "sacrificed a bunch of clay to the kiln gods," to try to make a perfect coffee cup.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:47 PM ^
I found new ways to cope with loneliness and crippling anxiety.
April 29th, 2021 at 12:57 PM ^
I've definitely had the time experiment and try more recipes in the kitchen that I didn't really have time to try before
Yea. Depression.
My wife and I took up gardening. It brings me much more joy than I would have ever anticipated!
I tried to get into that this winter, but couldn’t get anything to grow.
I mostly used to free time to spend extra time disc golfing!
MGOBLOG.
It took the monotony out of working from home and saved my sanity of being shut in with my wife for the last year.
I actually seem to have grown a fondness for vegetable and herb gardening, and this spring, we're expanding into onions and a few other root vegetables, mainly to try and get a feel for what we might be able to grow in the yard. Last years, we planted a generous amount of herbs and found that some of them actually grow a little TOO well in our yard, although we ended up with a lot of fresh cilantro, mint, oregano and a few others.
Whiskey
Started putting out a LOT of videos. Made one for every single Michigan Football, Basketball, and Hockey this year. Helluva lot of effort into that.
A few programming projects, too. Made one to assist my video editing as a note taking / highlight extraction tool, as well as creating my portfolio website and starting up a mobile application again with a friend.
So, I've been surprisingly productive.
I started collecting rare plants. Mostly aroids, but also hoyas and rhipsalis. I have nearly 200 plants in now. Also have been able to sell cuttings of my plants to fund the hobby.
When the gyms shut down last March I set out to run 3 miles a day a few days a week. Then I decided to just do it every day until my body said "uh, no" figuring I'd get to maybe 10 days in a row.
At 50 days in a row, I was like "why not 100?" At 100, I said "why not 200?". At 200, I was just "eff it, let's go for 365." Ran through heat and smoke in California all summer, ice, snow, sleet all winter in DC, but finished up on Monday. Probably couldn't have done it without the pandemic because this is the longest stretch I've ever gone without getting even a minor cold-- all that hand washing and social distancing paid off.
3+ miles a day
365 consecutive days
0 excuses
Just did it :)
I did something similar. I ran at least 100 miles per month for 12 months but not every day. Had to do some long runs at the end of few months but it was worth it. Problem was that it burned me out from running and I didn't run the next 6 months. I'm just starting again now and it's painful to get back in running shape.