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My father worked on old cars in his garage after work and on the weekends. On the weekend, friends would flow through for a chat and to help out a bit. Sometime

by gexla 5y ago

My father worked on old cars in his garage after work and on the weekends. On the weekend, friends would flow through for a chat and to help out a bit. Sometimes a friend would bring over one of their own projects. Dad's shop was a minor social hub. He never seemed to finish any of his projects, but I'm not sure that was the point. He wanted something to work on during his spare time. This isn't for everyone, of course. He had loads of money sunk into tools and he needed a house with a shop (larger than a garage.) He did get some return by flipping some of his projects.

john_cogs 5y ago
I don't trust myself to do car repairs without Googling the steps or watching YouTube videos. :)
- EamonnMR 5y ago
  Still worth it!
13of40 5y ago
Along these same lines, buy a used, trailerable sailboat. You probably won't do as much sailing as you expect, but you can spend lots of afternoons doing little upgrades and repairs.
joeman1000 5y ago
This is a great thought. Some of my most memorable times have been wrestling with my old project car in the shed with some music playing. It doesn’t matter if you don’t do an expert job, but what matters is the effort and learning.
matt_s 5y ago
I have become interested in woodworking and have built some picture frames, shelves, shop furniture and have other projects in mind. I do enjoy heading out into the garage, turning on some music on and just doing stuff with my hands. Your thoughts here about your father are enlightening because the experience of just doing something is what I enjoy. I need to focus less on the outcomes and more about spending time because I enjoy it. There are a lot of online narratives (maybe more so in hacker forums like this) about how so-and-so started making a thing and now they quit their day job and do that professionally. Or in woodworking there are a lot of YT channels where the potential of replacing day job is there. My goal should be focused on happiness being in the shop and if some usable piece of woodworking is the output that is a bonus.
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  I was surprised by how much I learned on a recent episode of the “ologies” podcast on “eudemonology” - science of happiness. [0] evidentally a big factor in people’s happiness is whether they feel that they have adaquete free time. So maybe just having a hobby is just recognizing that you have some amount of time to yourself. Good episode. [0] https://www.alieward.com/ologies/eudemonology https://www.alieward.com/ologies/eudemonology

by gexla 5y ago

john_cogs 5y ago

I don't trust myself to do car repairs without Googling the steps or watching YouTube videos. :)

EamonnMR 5y ago
Still worth it!

13of40 5y ago

Along these same lines, buy a used, trailerable sailboat. You probably won't do as much sailing as you expect, but you can spend lots of afternoons doing little upgrades and repairs.

joeman1000 5y ago

This is a great thought. Some of my most memorable times have been wrestling with my old project car in the shed with some music playing. It doesn’t matter if you don’t do an expert job, but what matters is the effort and learning.

matt_s 5y ago

I have become interested in woodworking and have built some picture frames, shelves, shop furniture and have other projects in mind. I do enjoy heading out into the garage, turning on some music on and just doing stuff with my hands. Your thoughts here about your father are enlightening because the experience of just doing something is what I enjoy. I need to focus less on the outcomes and more about spending time because I enjoy it. There are a lot of online narratives (maybe more so in hacker forums like this) about how so-and-so started making a thing and now they quit their day job and do that professionally. Or in woodworking there are a lot of YT channels where the potential of replacing day job is there. My goal should be focused on happiness being in the shop and if some usable piece of woodworking is the output that is a bonus.

jazzyjackson 5y ago
I was surprised by how much I learned on a recent episode of the “ologies” podcast on “eudemonology” - science of happiness. [0] evidentally a big factor in people’s happiness is whether they feel that they have adaquete free time. So maybe just having a hobby is just recognizing that you have some amount of time to yourself. Good episode. [0] https://www.alieward.com/ologies/eudemonology https://www.alieward.com/ologies/eudemonology