Just thought I’d start something different , we’re based all over, have a common interest etc etc. I was curious when taking train sim out the way what other interests people have. This is my new covid acquired hobby, a big large money pit that give the government lots of money and me lots of smiles. I’ve been using it as a daily but also as something to explore the green lanes with and some pay and play days. Doesn’t have to be a car thread, what’s your hobbies or toys?
My other hobbies are modelling (both in terms of collecting pre-built models and building kits), aviation (civil and military), and armored vehicles. I'm also an F1 fan
That’s pretty cool. I used to love building airfix, my sister used to love unbuilding them with extreme violence
12-string electric guitars for me. A marvellous invention that precious few guitar manufacturers make these days. I just wish I had some money to buy more of them, especially some vintage ones. I do have a really cheap one that I plan on putting some expensive pickups in one day as the guitar is fine but the pickups are terrible.
I’ve played guitar for 35 years, although only got into 12-strings around 5 years ago and now wonder why I hadn’t before. I had been in bands about 30 years ago but now just play at home and write music for my own pleasure. I have two of my guitars, a 6 string and a 12 string, leaning up against the second seat of the sofa for instant easy access while Mrs Stujoy has to sit on a chair across the room. All my other guitars have to live upstairs, otherwise they would all be in the living room on stands, looking pretty. I’ve got 5 electrics, 3 acoustics and a bass and I want more!
I have too many money pits and not enough time (or money) Gaming in general (mostly PC but also Xbox), and I build my own PCs (due for mobo/CPU upgrade right now actually) Cars (Toyotas in particular) Photography
I used to have a few Toyotas myself Hiro Protagonist The cars had been my weakness , I tend to always end up with big ones to get my height in . Had a nice Toyota aristo a few years back I wish I hadn't sold with the twin turbo supra engine in. Before my venture back to Land Rover I had a Lexus ls430 which had more tech in 2004 than the one above. Glad I'm not feeding it though with petrol prices as they are now mind you
I used to be heavily into amateur/shortwave radio until the internet came along. I still collect old radio electronics books and old radios when I can find them. I also like open reel tape decks since one was my first major purchase as a teenager. As far as cars go, I too have owned a number of Toyotas over the years, starting with one of the earliest Corollas. I've owned 2 or 3 RAV4's and I guess I just like the brand. They last forever. Few years ago I sold a 94 Corolla and, far as I know, it's still on the road.
Recently (start of this year) got into reading, up until this point I never read a book in my life and never planned to. But I decided to set a year goal of at the very least starting to read the Harry Potter book series, so far I’ve read the first 2 and up to around a third way through the 3rd one Apart from that I also have a coin collection which I put together with anything I find out of the ordinary from special 50p to US dollars I come across I also collect landmarks from places I’ve been to such as the Eiffel tower and Big Ben (Elizabethan Clock Tower)
We've had a grand total of 9, not including parts cars. In order (all manual); 1997 AE102 Corolla (my first car, inherited from my dad) - 7AFE 1981 KE55 Corolla (wife's first car) - 4KC 1986 AE82 Corolla - 4AGE 1988 ST162 Celica - 3SGE 1996 JZZ30 Soarer - 1JZGTE 1999 SXV20 Camry - 5SFE 1998 AE102 Corolla (my second car, in in pieces in the garage in the middle of an engine conversion) - 7AFE, soon to be 2ZZGE 2018 ZRE182 Corolla - 2ZRFE 2006 ZZE122 Corolla wagon (my third and current car) - 1ZZFE
Another Toyota fan here. MR2's to be precise. Have owned 3 in the past, when I lived in the UK, two Mk1's and a Mk2. Sadly I don't have them anymore. All were used both on the road and for Track Days. My second Mk1 went on to be converted into a race car by a friend. I miss it. Most of my time these days is spent cycling and hiking and hopefully now that restrictions are easing, a lot more travelling.
A good friend of mine has an mr2 in his garden. He bought a second for the turbo engine then cut the car with the back of it now forming a bbq and engine cover the lid
I've got an original U.K 1988 Celica GT4 ST165, quite a rare thing now. Needs a fair bit of work doing which will happen one day. I was into my 4x4's, had a series of Jeep's over the years and had lots of muddy fun in them. I do regret selling the last one I had but I do not miss having to run it, 10-15mpg would be ruinously expensive now.
I’d started reading more myself the past few years. I used a lot of time on YouTube but the realised reading offered me something different. I always said I’d never have an interest in Harry Potter. I watched the films and then enjoyed the books far more having the visuals in my mind
Very cool. As fate would have it, immediately prior to seeing this post, I had been watching a very old Roger McG video. I recall thinking how scary that must be to play that on stage. I believe if I were tasked to play one on stage, the strings would have to be at least 2 weeks old, and the instrument in the room where it would be played for at least 4 hours before show time.. That would give me a fighting chance NOT to have to make an emergency tuning in the middle of a song. I suppose modern tuners being what they are, it's not such a scary prospect to this generation of players. Although Mr. T Man is in my top 3 songs ever - after seeing the video, I don't think I would have liked Roger very much, personally or as a band mate. Have a great day, and good luck with your new pickups (if you do it)
I fly Sim airplanes. I had logged over 1000 hours on those before trying out trains. I have flown all over the world (Sim). My favorite regions to fly were Coastal Alaska, Northern part of South America (Bogota area), Korea, Hong Kong area, San Francisco Bay area. The list is longer but I will spare you. So yeah, not sure what sparked my interest in trains but they certainly have their own seductive properties. One of my first observations upon taking up trains, and it has remained true, is how different the people are between the flying community and the train community. I would be hard pressed to quantify that openly.
I used to have a 12 string Rickenbacker like what Roger made famous but I couldn’t play what I wanted to play on it because for some reason they make them with a very narrow neck which isn’t really suitable for a 12 and like a lot of players I couldn’t get to grips with it. It was a beautiful instrument otherwise and after keeping for a while I sold it and bought three other guitars with the proceeds. One of them was the cheap 12 string I spoke of earlier which has a much wider neck and so much easier to play. I’ve played a 12-string acoustic in front of an audience and one string was out of tune. I was only playing one song, so had to live with it. Back in the old days when I played in a band it was always snapping a string I was worried about and I was obsessive about having fairly new strings on my guitar at the time, a nice Japanese made Ibanez, which was a proper string snapper. I traded it in for a Telecaster and haven’t snapped a single string on that.
My primary obsession is aviation. Digitally, I have much more time in flight sims than train sims, and it's recently become a career, as well, as I've founded a company doing flight sim development with a few other guys. Outside of the digital realm I'm currently working on getting my pilot's license, hoping for my first solo some time this spring. Can't really afford any hobbies other than that. Back before I had a kid, when I had more free time to travel on the weekends, I was really big into amateur motorsports, especially autocross. Did a lot of SCCA Solo 1 and 2 in the Texas area. I haven't done much of that recently but I'm still a bit of a gearhead and love me an M car. Recently picked up a '16 M4 convertible after being in an Alfa Romeo Giulia for a little while. It was a fun car, but I didn't love it as much as I loved my E36 and E46 M3s, so it felt like time to get back into one.
Very true, go into far more detail and not all the characters are as likeable as in the movies, either. I’m slowly working through the George RR Martin Game Of Thrones books, but it is a behemoth task. I’ve currently paused and started to read the Witcher books and enjoying The Last Kingdom, I need to start reading the books by Bernard Cromwell. My other main interest is getting out for a good vigorous walk most days. Now I’m retired and in my 60’s, keeping fit and healthy is the key to a long and quality life, or so my wife tells me…
Big F1 fan (Russell and Norris fan) but an interest in motorsport overall and have a habit of photographing/filming anything with a blue flashing light currently I seem to be addicted to omsi too.
I hear you Vern. I'm still early in the 40s club and whilst I know its not an exact science seeing my grandparents age I'm very much of the ilk that sitting around is bad, my remaining being the one that 88 lives independently, has an immaculate house, is still over 6ft and goes for a walk every day himself. I work from home so I sit a lot but i'm up 4-5 days a week in the gym at 5am doing a decent weights session. Waiting for the weather to pick up enough for me to chuck some money on a bike and do some more cycling again.
I have a few hobby grade RC cars that I became pretty obsessed with. I just have to drive them carefully before they become money pits
