4 ms·

Growing up, I knew a guy, friend of my Dad's, who had an incredibly elaborate train set in his basement. It's clear he had thousands of hours invested in it.

Growing up, I knew a guy, friend of my Dad's, who had an incredibly elaborate train set in his basement. It's clear he had thousands of hours invested in it. I never got in to trains, but I do have a hobby video game coding project, and I'm struck by how similar it is to a model train hobby: * I work on it exclusively in the evenings after the kids are asleep * It relaxes me and gives me something to daydream about during work meetings * It'll never make me any money and it'll never be done The funny thing about my Dad's friend was, he hated showing off his trains. Very few people knew it existed, and even fewer had seen it; he only let me see it once, and my dad was his best friend for 40+ years. Back then I thought he was secretive, or afraid I'd break something. Now that I have my own pointless hobby, I think I understand him better. It's embarrassing to put so much time and thought into something and to have someone see it and say, "Neat! So, anyway..." I guess it's more valuable as a private solace than as a conversation piece.

m463 6y ago
I think it's nice, maybe even necessary, to have something that you enjoy, and maybe you're even good at, but you don't have to care about and doesn't have to become a responsibility. I had little hobby projects, and people were like - you should make this into a product. And I had to fight this sort of "am I too lazy to do it? am I afraid?" but really, I just needed something that didn't have a point. I also think there are a lot of things I didn't "get" as a kid. I remember trying golf as a kid, and I thought "this is so totally boring, why don't these guys ride bikes instead?" And it's only when you get (much) older do you realize people have so much responsibility that getting outside and walking around is a treasure. (of course it could be other things)
- ReactiveJelly 6y ago
  > people were like - you should make this into a product. And I had to fight this sort of "am I too lazy to do it? am I afraid?" but really, I just needed something that didn't have a point. I like the freedom of not having a point. Some programmers are accused of trying out new ideas at work and messing up the product. It's nice to try new ideas at home on throw-away projects that only live for a week.
rdtwo 6y ago
I have a saltwater tank and nobody else really understands it either. Same deal really

m463 6y ago

I think it's nice, maybe even necessary, to have something that you enjoy, and maybe you're even good at, but you don't have to care about and doesn't have to become a responsibility. I had little hobby projects, and people were like - you should make this into a product. And I had to fight this sort of "am I too lazy to do it? am I afraid?" but really, I just needed something that didn't have a point. I also think there are a lot of things I didn't "get" as a kid. I remember trying golf as a kid, and I thought "this is so totally boring, why don't these guys ride bikes instead?" And it's only when you get (much) older do you realize people have so much responsibility that getting outside and walking around is a treasure. (of course it could be other things)

ReactiveJelly 6y ago
> people were like - you should make this into a product. And I had to fight this sort of "am I too lazy to do it? am I afraid?" but really, I just needed something that didn't have a point. I like the freedom of not having a point. Some programmers are accused of trying out new ideas at work and messing up the product. It's nice to try new ideas at home on throw-away projects that only live for a week.

rdtwo 6y ago

I have a saltwater tank and nobody else really understands it either. Same deal really