Teach me about your special interest(s)

Post Reply New Topic

Yes. Yes they are.

I feel for rats because there is a common stereotype that all rats are diseased, but that is not true. Pet rats are just as safe and clean as any other pet.
I'll tell you a cute little story of what my rats did the other day. I was playing a game with them by giving them 3 Rice Krispies, and the game was to put a Rice Krispie between the bars in one of the corners of the cage and they have to both try and get it, and the one who gets 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 3 wins the game. They playfully pushed each other to get the Rice Krispies, but the grey rat happened to win because he got all 3 rice Krispies. They knew the game was over when there were no more Rice Krispies, and the white rat didn't like losing, so he literally pushed the poor grey rat making him squeak, then scuttled off as if to sulk for not winning the game. That is rather clever if you know what I mean.

I have two main special interests.

My primary special interest: Railways and model railways.
I have liked trains since I was in my pram. These days I have matured as I know what I like after being in the hobby all my life. The maturity has brought me to the stage of specializing where I design and build my own items. I also buy appropiate kits if I can afford them, though as I have many unmade kits to finish, and I also have not had much of annincome in the recent past... I have not actually purchased a kit for several years.

The same goes for my secondary special interest: bicycles, pedal cycles of various types and cycling in general.
Is another hooby I have had since I was a child. I am more into the mechanical side of things and the bicycle set up etc. I have matured in this hobby to be a traditionalist (See next paragraph which will explain more).

In employment, rarely have I ever worked in positions that don't relate to these two main hobbies, having had several jobs in various positions in the cycle industry and one job whilst on the railways.
My preference in the cycle industry was on the mechanical side as I could work behind the scenes. I have been repairing, servicing and PDI'ing as well as assembling bikes since I was around 17 though officially I was 18... Though from a child onwards I was completing more minor repairs from the age of about 8 or 9 when I used to change bent wheel axles or change brake cables or brake blocks etc.
So after many years of experience in both the mechanical side and the cycling side where I used to race mountain bikes and I also did a little road time trialing... Along with many touring runs etc... I became quite useful in setting bikes up "Just right" so cyclists could compete in events. Whilst in the first cycle shop, where I recieved two years of on the job training, I also learnt many skills such as assessing crash damaged bicycles for insurance claims so the bikes could be rebuilt or salvaged if applicable after there had been an accident. This involved a carefulinspection of the frames and forks for trueness and checking for any cracks or damage to the frame and forks would not weaken the integrity of the machine. I remember one insurance claim where the insurance company insisted the bicycle had to be rebuilt and the total cost was only £20 less thena new replacement bike would cost... Where the bike had been involved in a shed fire and the frame and forks were completely black and about 75% of the bike had to be replaced. Both us as mechanics, the owner of the bike and my boss contacted the insurance company and showed them and they would not have it. The bike had to be rebuilt in its fire blackened state. It had no paint left on the frame! So that's what we did. New wheels. New seat... Almost new everything! Today due to big grants, bicycles are sold far cheaper then most of the parts. Today just a set of forks comes to over half the new bicycles value. But in those days things were different.

As I have matured, I have turned into a traditionalist in both the hobbies that I have. I habe been there and done that through most aspects of both the hobbies, and to be honest, I found there was so much customer exploitation going on from the various manufacturers who sought to take advantage of "We put up te prices because we can" attitude... Which I don't believe is right. So my solution is to spread the news that one does not have to spend too much to follow red herring fashion crazes in the hobbies to get success. One just needs to learn a bit from the "Old hands" in the hobby who have been there and done that... One will save a fortune and be just as satisfied and happy.

My current special interest is the SCP Foundation. Here is a decent description. Here is the site itself. And of course some SCPs...

SCP-022 The Morgue
SCP-049 Plague Doctor
SCP-106 The Old Man
SCP-173 The Sculpture
SCP-610 The Flesh that Hates

I could go on, and on and on, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Wow. Those are pretty interesting--I've never seen that creative of a format for internet horror fiction. r/nosleep is fun but this seems impressive!

Classic TV shows. Hogan's Heroes and The Monkees are my absolute favourite. The music of the 1960s British Invasion, especially The Kinks and The Beatles. Mod culture, Swinging London and Carnaby Street. The Hippie Movement. Am I a Mod Hippie or a Hippie Mod?

My special interests involve environmental-related concerns e.g., environmental-friendly practices esp. with the concerns of global climate change.

LINK discusses a 'Triple Bottom Line' - that is augmenting social and environmental factors in business and remaining financially profitable.

Look to Scandinavian Countries, and parts of Western Europe to glean examples of generating value with environmental, and social models in the loop.

I'll add another special interest which might augment a 'Triple Bottom Line' model - Artificial Intelligence (AI) TECH. can further augment financially profitable social, and environmental factors.

In the future, might we have a 'Quadruple Bottom Line' in which TECH. adds one more layer to the 'Triple Bottom Line' - complete with cool acronyms, and graphic designs of processes?

(LINK) Triple Bottom Line -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line

Entomology - Ever see a mysterious insect around your house and wonder what it is? This is a great visual identification resource for North American species: https://bugguide.net/

Sumo wrestling - One week from today is the start of the Kyushu basho (November tournament). Here is a video about the rules of the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMANOt2Jw88

Here are some videos speculating on who in the top division might be contenders for the cup:
https://youtu.be/WW1K4OQEDII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqSAh9unP-Y

Here are links to some channels where you can watch the tournament for free starting Next Sunday (11/10):
https://www.youtube.com/user/Kintamayama
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzZ8v5JF3IyxLWOCGKpcP0g

Currently, and a long term interest... Criminal profiling, forensics and serial killers.
Also photography.