Any Other Expensive Hobbies?

To me, Leica photography is not an expensive hobby if one doesn't buy

new and/or on impulse. I can sell any piece of my gear at break

even, at least; don't even mention inflation or the stock market. My

pic shooting is expensive depending on how much I shoot

 

If I had a permanent home, the Porsche would be one hobby I'd like to

explore. I am into cars.

 

My stereo was expensive on entry, but is cheap considering I bought

it 15-16 years ago. But got expensive yesterday with the $650

cartridge I just got from epay. But, I expect 15 more years of use.

 

My target shooting is expensive depending on how much I shoot (same

as above).

 

My bike is expensive as I built it piecemeal; can't get $500 for it

today. As an ongoing expense, it's cheap. I do my own maintenance.

No, not really. When starting a family 2 years back, I scaled down all my other areas of interest and focused on photography, but I do have a interested in mechanical (Swiss) watches, cars, and art & design in general. I have given up on expensive hifi systems (sold off my Bryston amp after only playing Baby Mozart on it for a year...), dreams of extensive world travel, mountain biking, downhill skiing, scuba diving etc, philosophy.

 

Family is my number 1, 2 and 3 priority.

I've been thinking about a new hobby. Well, an extension of the Leica fixation, actually - Leica shots from space.

 

All I need to do is save up the $20 million or so to pay the Russians for the ticket. Any suggestions on how to accellerate that process? I've thought about one of those beggar web sites - something like www.letsputralphinspace.com, but begging is soooo tacky. ;-)

my investments with nortel and martha stewart have proved to be costly :-)

 

guitars are pretty expensive, but like the leica, you can usually make back what you put into your purchase if you have top notch stuff.

 

am thinking of getting into hang gliding. that's very expensive when you look at the courses and licensing and hours of flying you need plus the purchase of a rig. may have to hold out on that one a little longer.

 

on the other hand, i have quite the pog collection, maybe those are worth something?

Yea...kids really do it to the hobbies! I too sold an expensive stereo because, as Patrick mentioned, it was mostly playing sleepytime music. Still, we replaced it with one of the Bose wave radio/CD players and it gives damned good sound for so small a package. The Alfa Romeo and Jetta have given way to a mini-van, and with good paperbacks now ranging upto $25.00, our library (we are both voracious readers) is growing at a much slower pace. Luckily I have all the camera gear I need so all I buy are expendables now. That and my wifes art (she paints) supplies ae about it.

My espresso machine was expensive on purchase and is expensive to on an ongoing basis. Same for my appriciation of fine single malt scotch, fine wines and cigars. DVD and stereo off course, but with KAZAA the ongoing expense their has reduced considerably. Other then that I'm not to bad I think.

 

I also now committed to only buying limit myself in my expenditure to Leica and Hasselblad and have so far managed to stay away from digital. That is a serious money pit.

 

Even my previous lusting for the always having the fastest PC possible has gone away and I have now managed for the last 4years with one PC and still see no need to upgrade.

 

Even in photography I'm now pretty happy with what I've got and my wanted list has no more must have items. (M2, M7, 35cron, 50lux, 50cron, 90TE, 503CW, 500CM, C 80mm and CF 150mm). Next purchase would have to be a heiland splitgrade with a leitz V35 enlarger.

Fountain pens, snowboarding, Videography, rock climbing (okay that one isn't that expensive), and movie watching.

 

Pretty easy to tell that I'm young, unmarried, and childless huh?

Just trying to live under the Bush administration has become an expensive hobby, not by choice but by circumstance.

Horses. Not my hobby, my daughter's:<BR>

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$thousands to purchase, $hundreds each month, plus vet bills, farrier, fence repairs... good thing we board other people's horses too.

i don't think i'll have kids. although that could limit the wife selection. guess i'll have to stay a bachelor *sigh*

Home theater is in place, Canon GL2 for videography, books, travelling (not so much lately, plan to change that), Leitz V35 darkroom, but really not too many expensive hobbies. I like to keep things simple and concentrate on what I'm doing.

Matt, what's a pog?

 

Bob, I want your Alfa. I've loved Alfa's since when in the mid-70's I had the chance to buy a '67 spider veloce boat tail for $2000.

 

Vic, does it matter who's in the White House?

 

Doug, what if farrier, food?

No, I don't have any other expensive hobbies! My small but growing collection of user Leica cameras and lenses has taken a sizeable chunk of the kids' college fund! :-)

Bahhaha, POGS!

 

I missed that the first read through.

 

Hey Matt, I'll trade you my Pokemon cards for your pogs.

My hobbies tend to become obsessions, so I select carefully

these days.

 

Being from Detroit, I first drag raced cars with huge engines and

puny brakes. It went all the way up to built Porches. That is until a

cement truck piled into the rear end of the 911 I was driving when

it couldn't stop for a fire engine as quickly as I could (should have

stuck with the puny brakes). Exit hot cars.

 

For thirty years I studied and taught Isshinryu Karate. That led to

breaking every finger and toe, bleeding shins, a split sternum,

and today, the knees of a 90 year old quarterback. Exit Karate.

 

I also painted like a maniac while holding down a big job in

advertising. That led to a sleep schedule even Edison would

have whinced at...and Thalo Blue stained hands during a

meeting with the President of Ford Motor Company. Exit painting.

 

Today, I collect doctors to medicate all the ills collected in my

youth.

 

Oh, yea, through all of the above there was photography. It hasn't

tried to kill me yet, so it's still around.

<I>Doug, what is farrier, food?</I><P>

The farrier is the lady (in our case) who trims hooves and fits shoes on them; every 4 to 6 weeks.

josh root,

 

your on! i've even got a special edition wayne gretzgy hockey pog. do you have picachu #334 in your collection? if so you can have my darth vadar #7 pog and slammer pack....and it's even un opened.

 

oh yeah...i seriously do have a ren and stimpy comic book collection. almost every comic they put out, i've got. remember those two? great show! (the originals that is, not the new mtv junk)

Ham (amateur) radio, but all that gear is already bought, so just the price of electricity.<p>

Target shooting, but all the guns are already bought, and any new ones that I would want are illegal in California.<p>

A 1981 DeLorean that�s not cost me much yet to keep running�.(fingers crossed) :-( <p>

Love to get the passport stamped, but it will be two years since, come November. Trying to talk the Wife into a Europe trip next year to see a Formula-1 race.<p>

Would love one day to get into top-end hi-fi gear, and collect another Rolex/Omega or two.<p>

And the most expensive one of all�.

<img src = http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=1698216&size=lg><p>

Well, to be honest, she�s not costing that much yet ;-)

Steve...regrettably the Alfa is already gone :-( It was a fully restored 1969 1750 GTV (the sweet little 2 door coupe - the prettiest of all Alfa's in my opinion). It had been a factory GT3 racer in Italy in the 70's and it was fast. Okay...I need a big scotch now!!

ok, i've gotten a couple mails asking about pogs. they originally were the caps on old milk bottles. now a game.

 

for rules: http://www.gameroom.com/gamebits/RULES/Pog_Rules.html

 

some pictures: http://www.collectmad.com/collectibles/pogs.htm

 

cheers,

 

m

Funny. I just got back from putting my 1973 911TTarga on an enclosed

transporter to California. Sold it after owning it for 25+ years. Had to cut down

somewhere and it was easier to sell the 911 than some Leicas. Sad and glad

to see it go. John Fulton, Fort Worth.

Josh:

<<Fountain pens, snowboarding, Videography, rock climbing (okay that one isn't that expensive),>>

 

Unless you slip ;>)

 

<<and movie watching.

Pretty easy to tell that I'm young, unmarried, and childless huh?>>

 

Or in the thick of a midlife crisis.

 

 

Marc:

<<My hobbies tend to become obsessions>>

 

I'm there.

 

<<Being from Detroit, I first drag raced cars with huge engines and puny brakes.>>

 

There too. Ink not yet dry on my license. Canary-yellow '71 Nova SS 350 4bbl 4.11 posi rear 4-sp Hurst. Toggle switch under the dash so the cops on Woodward wouldn't see my brake lights.

 

<<Today, I collect doctors to medicate all the ills collected in my youth.>>

 

There too. Plus a few that have more to do with age than youth ;>)

 

 

Steve:

<<My target shooting is expensive depending on how much I shoot>>

 

If you were a better shot you wouldn't have to shoot so much ;>)

Marc,

 

Was the karate for self-defense, or just for physical fitness? If for the latter, the outcome was ironic. If for the former, did you ever have to, you know, beat somebody up and yell at the same time?

 

I was getting into restoring old cars until I realized how much time it was burning up. It's as bad as darkroom work, which is saying a lot.

one really similar to photo-leica-dom is my seasonal obsession with vintage tube guitar amps, which should be starting up in the next month or so and go through april -- seattle winters are long and dark! really really similar actually to leica-ism. analog, expensive to maintain, millions of almost insignificant nuances. i play and need(!) every amp i own, nothing just for show. one interesting difference is that i can build an amp, where i couldn't build a leica. pinhole yes. but even with two expensive hobbies i feel like i'm off the hook pretty easily compared to porsches, horses etc.

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My hobby IS having expensive hobbies ;))..... Seriously though, i buy used stuff -like Steve- and if i dont like it i sell it again and generally break even, somtimes i win some other times i lose some. I have a craving for old and high quality stuff, and to a degree i collect too, but always to use otherwise i sell it again. My main hobby has always been playing guitar, i buy dropped or otherwise *inoperative* guitars and fix them. Guitars are the most wonderfull things to work at IMO. Creativity is not something i have a chance to express in my work so guitar playing and photography are my outlets so to speak........