If you are anywhere near Shropshire I have a few old auto Seikos that you can practice cleaning.
Happily give them a go once I've got my skills and confidence up fella.
How much do you spend per month on your hobbies?
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Happily give them a go once I've got my skills and confidence up fella.
I sleep, I get up and go to work, I post on here a bit, and then GOTO 10.What do you actually do then?
Nothing wrong with having hobbies that don't really cost anything, but if you're just working to earn money for "nothing" then that sounds like a very miserable existence
Pretty tired after work most days, don't really have the energy to do stuff like gym or the mental energy to be all that creative. Just bushwhacked most of the time. Don't fancy much bar sitting here and annoying you guys
Do you plan to do this until you pop your clogs?I sleep, I get up and go to work, I post on here a bit, and then GOTO 10.
Pretty tired after work most days, don't really have the energy to do stuff like gym or the mental energy to be all that creative. Just bushwhacked most of the time. Don't fancy much bar sitting here and annoying you guys
Well by the time I reach today's retirement age retirement age will have been raised to 150
So, yes?Tbh, when I look at my peers I don't see them doing much different except they take holidays abroad occasionally, which I'm not fussed about.
But we don't talk about hobbies or stuff. I think 99% of their time (and money) is spent raising kids.
Don't many people only really have time for hobbies when they retire?
Well by the time I reach today's retirement age retirement age will have been raised to 150
Tbh, when I look at my peers I don't see them doing much different except they take holidays abroad occasionally, which I'm not fussed about.
But we don't talk about hobbies or stuff. I think 99% of their time (and money) is spent raising kids.
Don't many people only really have time for hobbies when they retire?
Depends if you're willing to make time for them or not, if you're happy doing that then fair enough I guess, just doesn't seem a very healthy work/life balance
I would be willing to bet that most people in this country (as in the USA) don't have a healthy work/life balance. We are a nation that puts work first and foremost in our lives, and it's not like you can choose to not work.
Even those who earn a small fortune spend most of their lives working. The difference is they can retire early. The rest of us work all the time and do so until we "pop our clogs". I don't see that as being abnormal. Seems the done thing in the UK.
Are you happy being "most people"?
That assumes one has the power to be anything else, or to somehow defeat the system. The system demands that most people to spend their lives working for the benefit of a few. But that's another thread.
I took up clay pigeon shooting in 1984 and packed it up in 2019 due to right eye packing up -Never had so much dosh in my bank account as I have now. I am now a grumpy old man - can't see straight -hands don't work - If only we had a reset button.
I target shoot rifles.
I might get a shotgun at some point.
Gonna try and get a .303 bolt action Lee Enfield next, so temptes to get a German K98, but it fires 8mm mauser, and I just think getting the dies etc to reload is going to be a pain in the ass.
I got a bolt action rifle that shoots .44 magnum that is good fun.
Mostly .22 though as it's cheap (ish), last Saturday spent £190 on 1500 CCI Tactical that'll do me a couple of months.
Soldato
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I'd agree with the work life balance, I've a few friends that complain of having no time to do anything other than work or sleep.
But it's simply not the case and most of the time it's just laziness and a complete lack of self discipline.
One friend in particular is terrible for it, his career isn't a physically demanding one, nor does he work silly hours (0800-1700) moans because of a lack of time to do things he may enjoy, or complains about weight gain and being unable to do anything about it with no time.
Yet has plowed over 400 hrs into starfield..
I find it completely infuriating.
I know that's not the case of everybody, and some people genuinely do have very little time, but I'd wager almost all could pursue other activities in reality.
For me my work/life balance is paramount to a happy, healthy life.
It doesn't have to be something big, it could be simply enjoying a nice 10 minute walk, but I really believe we should all do SOMETHING.
But it's simply not the case and most of the time it's just laziness and a complete lack of self discipline.
One friend in particular is terrible for it, his career isn't a physically demanding one, nor does he work silly hours (0800-1700) moans because of a lack of time to do things he may enjoy, or complains about weight gain and being unable to do anything about it with no time.
Yet has plowed over 400 hrs into starfield..
I find it completely infuriating.
I know that's not the case of everybody, and some people genuinely do have very little time, but I'd wager almost all could pursue other activities in reality.
For me my work/life balance is paramount to a happy, healthy life.
It doesn't have to be something big, it could be simply enjoying a nice 10 minute walk, but I really believe we should all do SOMETHING.
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If you're working 0800-1700 and realistically the only thing you can fit in is a 10-minute walk, that's not work life balanced at all, is it.
Don't forget that the hours outside work are going to be in darkness much of the year. And maybe the things people would really want to do can't be fitted into a couple hours of an evening.
Realistically, when you're working all the daylight hours, and you're mentally or physically fatigued after (and still need to do chores/cook/clean, etc). Well in that case... what are you really going to have capacity to do afterwards?
That's why for so many people the week is a slog and the only time you really have "off" is the weekend.
Soldato
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I do see what you're saying Fox I really do and I understand that it certainly isn't easy, especially with a house, a family and all the responsibilities and tasks that need doing day to day.
We all know how mentally and physically draining work can be at times, even if you enjoy your job, but I still think its possible to find time to do something you enjoy after, even if it's not exactly what you had in mind.
My point is that the focus should be on what you can do, rather than what you can't I suppose.
My line of work can be physically and mentally demanding, but even at times when we've been up all night, not slept and been hammered, I'll still find time to do something, the work life balance doesn't have to be something done in quantity, but rather quality.
As an example if we've had a rough time in work, day or night, with some negative outcomes, the first thing I do when home is get a cuppa and head to the garage for 15 minutes to have a reset.
With the bike racing it's two days a month, the rest I'm working, being a husband and a dad, but that's all I need for my work/life balance.
Maybe it's me and I'm just being narrow minded because of the way I do it.
Take a longer lunch break and finish later or start earlier. Most places should allow that.
The point is that there are options, it seems like a waste of life to do nothing but work. You can't blame the system entirely for that.
I'd start with some form of exercise, ironically it'll give you more energy/motivation to do other stuff. Turn that 10 minute walk into a 30 minute lunch time work out of some sort. That's a really easy lifestyle choice/change to make and it's free or very low cost (skipping rope/running shoes). People need to see exercise as not an optional thing to do, it should be a priority, the science backs this up, it's doesn't even have to be every day. You do have to force yourself to do it, everyone battles with the "CBA" attitude, especially when you're starting out/after relapsing.
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Soldato
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I race 1/10th scale RC buggies. I try and go to one meeting per week, spend on average about £250 per month (about 6% of take home pay), probably £100 of that goes on tyres and other consumables, the rest goes into a pot for larger items like cars and electronics.
It's a fantastic hobby, some people get do go a bit bonkers on the costs though (I know people spending 1K+ per month)
I don't think I'd ever give it up, I'd just run a cheaper class, a local club run a "Rally Spec" night that I sometimes go to and I've had the same set of tyres on the car for 12 months and not broken anything. GT12 or Tamiya mini would be another cheaper class I'd move too if needed as well.
Some of the really big events can cost a bit of wedge though, I'm going to the MKGP next year and I expect I'll need to save about £800 to cover the event for hotels/travel/consumables/car prep
It's a fantastic hobby, some people get do go a bit bonkers on the costs though (I know people spending 1K+ per month)
I don't think I'd ever give it up, I'd just run a cheaper class, a local club run a "Rally Spec" night that I sometimes go to and I've had the same set of tyres on the car for 12 months and not broken anything. GT12 or Tamiya mini would be another cheaper class I'd move too if needed as well.
Some of the really big events can cost a bit of wedge though, I'm going to the MKGP next year and I expect I'll need to save about £800 to cover the event for hotels/travel/consumables/car prep
Costs nothing to follow the Twitter thread here. The value is incredible.
I'm probably living @413x nightmare (which one I hear you ask?) as I mostly live vicariously through my children. Off to rugby training with number 1 shortly. Around £200 a month for the children's clubs apparently but that is wife maths so could be anything.
I used to buy a lot of wine but not so much at the moment. Recent purchases for personal enjoyment include a new computer for Cyberpunk et al., new Meater version even though my original one works perfectly fine. Think that's about it.
I'm probably living @413x nightmare (which one I hear you ask?) as I mostly live vicariously through my children. Off to rugby training with number 1 shortly. Around £200 a month for the children's clubs apparently but that is wife maths so could be anything.
I used to buy a lot of wine but not so much at the moment. Recent purchases for personal enjoyment include a new computer for Cyberpunk et al., new Meater version even though my original one works perfectly fine. Think that's about it.
This just isn't true.
I preface this with having no kids. So I accept that evenings are often a write of with kids.
I can prepack my car with my kayak and leave at 1730. I can be at the beach at 1845. I can be on the water for 1900 and I can have a good 2.5/3 hours on the water.
It absolutely can be done especially in the summer.
Of course not everyone has a beach. But walking/cycling/gym is easy enough too.
DnD is after work in Thursdays and get a good 3-4 hour session in.
I'm also terrible for wasting time. I can't manage to do this more than 2 or 3 times a week. It takes work for me to be mentally organised. And I accept on those busy weeks often the house turns into a mess. I'll eat and leave the plates out etc. But I'd rather that and do stuff than keep a tidy house and not allow fun.
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Hitches and bows? A fellow knot aficionado I see
I get that work can be fatiguing, and while my job isn't physically demanding at all, it can be very mentally draining at times, but - while it may seem counterintuitive - doing something you enjoy in your spare time (rather than just vegging on the sofa or going straight to bed) will re-energise you rather than add to that tiredness, whether it's physical exercise, or just using your brain-power in a completely different direction, as another poster has said, it gives you something of a reset.
Having kids does mean evenings are limited in what I can do, but after they're in bed, even if I'm mentally exhausted after a day of dealing with ****** code, if I get "in the zone" I can quite easily get lost in playing "music" for a few hours and feel all the better for it (even if i'm not very good and nothing productive comes from it, the creative and learning process is invigorating)
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