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Ask HN: What are your hobbies? What do you do when you are not programming?
- thejrk 12y agoI turn a small profit by buying broken dirtbikes and fixing them to sell. Working on a machine with my hands and not a keyboard is therapeutic.
- caspercrf 12y agoWhere do you live? I'm in SoCal and it's hard to find a used bike that I can buy, fix, and sell for any profit. I love working on bikes to, I've been parting out my old dirt bike that the motor blew on and it was more profitable to part it out then it was to fix it and sell it as a running bike.
- thejrk 12y agoI guess that's one plus to living in AR. :)
- sciencesama 12y agoI buy and sell stuff from craigs list to ebay when i am not programming, its so much fun to see people buy stuff for a higher price... also i use dealmoon.com to buy stuff for cheap and sell it for a higher price....
- kayadx83 12y agoI'm in the hospital taking care of patients. And I do design for fun.
- MollyR 12y agoI play piano and guitar. I've been trying learn how to paint recently.
- enkiv2 12y agoI write fiction and make experimental music. (This bleeds into programming time, because I also make generative fiction and generative music).
- Stoo 12y agoI also write and make music, but not the generative kind. I'm interested in the generative fiction, what do you use and how does that work? What kind of stories come out of it?
- evandena 12y agoBrewing and consuming beer.
- dangrossman 12y agoI foster kittens for the local SPCA until they're old enough to be adopted.
- scmoore 12y agoI am learning to cook. I also work on bicycles for myself, friends and family (I used to be a bicycle mechanic.)
- FeymanFan78 12y agoMusic consisting of playing lead guitar in a band. Learning Voice, Drums and Piano as well. Have goal of performing live acoustically on guitar and vocals.
- mod 12y agoLately I hike, play some video games, and I've been building bows. Last summer I rode a motorcycle all the time--but I sold it this winter. I also mix in pool and poker when I have time for it--I'm a high-level player of both, better than I am at programming (my day job)!
- CamTin 12y agoVodka is my main hobby, but I also dabble in beer and various cheeses.
- stevekemp 12y agoI also enjoy a good cheese, but living in Scotland I stick to Whisky when it comes to spirits. But my main hobby is photographing cute people.
- caspercrf 12y agoI ride dirt bikes and race motocross. I also have a KTM Super Duke that I ride and commute with. I'm trying to find a way to make a business that has to do with my hobbies but not actually open a shop. On top of that, I trade stocks, futures, and options but nothing big, a couple grand to play with.
- yitchelle 12y agoSpend time with my kids and wife.
- penguinlinux 12y agoI love collecting old video game systems and games trying commodore 64 software on a real commodore 64 Playing with my raspberry py and arduino and Basic stamp exercise. Reading about old technology old computers.
- tpae 12y agoI go mountaineering. It's very challenging and teaches you life skills outside of a computer.
- jasonkester 12y agoQuoting me, from five years ago (since I don't think I could say it any better today): Rock Climbing, Surfing and Traveling (to do the first two) have always had a higher priority for me than programming computers, which would rank as my 4th hobby that also happens to pay my rent. I think the fact that most people classify those activities as "hobbies" says a lot about the lives we construct for ourselves: Spend 50 weeks per year doing something unpleasant so that you free up a couple weeks to do something you actually enjoy. If you enjoy your hobby as much as you say, why not find a way to devote at least half your time to it?
- DateK 12y agoFrom the money I saved from programming I have bought an old shop and turning it now into an art gallery and a party space. In the last few months I learned lot about plaster boards, concrete, garbage disposal, construction law, etc. Today at evening is the opening. My friend and colleague is a haykyo photographer. He is exhibiting his photos, 40 people will come.
- coreymaass 12y agoCongrats! That's an amazing accomplishment.
- jfella5 12y agoThats cool, where is your shop?
- hmahonen 12y agoReading, exercising and when weather allows, jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.
- joss82 12y agoI'm playing deep, interesting video games. Kerbal Space Program is one of my favourite. Also I walk a lot in Paris and around.
- Jemaclus 12y agoI read a lot -- over 100 books in 2014. What can I say? Commuting by train gives me plenty of time... It's also time to think: I've planned and written two novellas, none published. I'm also a shitty writer. :) No full-length novels, yet, but someday... Working on two new ones now, hopefully one will turn into a real novel. We'll see. In the last few years, I've taken up running and writing. I've run 10 half-marathons. My fiance is a triathlete, so I help her train for her Ironman competitions. I go to Nerd Nite (sf.nerdnite.com or eastbay.nerdnite.com for you Bay Area readers). Last night's was awesome -- who knew baseball, salami, and dynamite were such interesting topics? I cook as often as I can. I play guitar (very badly). I'm teaching myself piano (also very badly). I'm planning a wedding and house-hunting at the same time. It's so stressful, but the good kind. My fiance and I like to hike and go to the SPCA and play with the dogs. We people-watch at the park when the weather is nice. We plan monthly board game nights with a close group of nerdy friends, and weekly happy hours (even though I don't drink) with our more socially-minded friends. It sounds like I do a lot, but that's because most days, when that clock hits 5:00, 5:30, maybe 6:00, depending on how busy I am at work, I'm out. My philosophy is that work stays at work, and everything can wait until 8am tomorrow morning, except major emergencies, which happens maybe once a year. Work hard, play hard, do both separately. That's my philosophy.