03-21-2022, 05:42 AM
During the whole PLAN-demic, the lockdowns and the oppression of, well, our freedom in general, I decided there was only so much news I could take before I was saturated to the point of insanity. So, I decided to take up a hobby. I decided I was going to learn how to play the guitar. You see, I had the same notion about 40 years ago when I was in college...I was going to be the next Eddie Van Halen, I was! Well, that didn't work out back then, I sucked at playing the guitar. BUT...I'd kept that old Peavy electric guitar I'd bought, and it bounced around with me when I moved about fifty times with my career. During the lock-downs and the Martial Law like oppression which followed to protect us from...well...I have no idea what the fuck we were being protected from, other than being shielded from seeing what was really going on with our government's death spiral. We were required to put masks on our face, and THEY put masks over our eyes, but I digress.
During the WU-cold, I decided to play the guitar. I dug out that old Peavy electric guitar and started learnin myself some guitar. This went on for a couple of weeks until I received a Certified letter in the mail one day. It was a Cease & Desist Order, from an attorney...on behalf of my dogs! Did I mention that I really SUCK at playing the guitar?? So, my plan of learning to play the guitar was pretty much a bust.
Then I started another hobby. I used to love doing woodwork, but my wife turned that hobby into a bunch of work, so screw that. And there were many others, just like that. So anyway, I had this new hobby. Only problem was, I didn't know I had a new hobby. I just thought I was doing my usual thing of sitting on my ass while I'm waiting for hip replacement surgery (which really sucks by the way). But I was getting more and more involved in this hobby I had no idea I even I had. This last part is actually true, believe it or not.
I woke up one day, and someone emailed me to ask me about...a pencil, of all things. My brain was on autopilot (it may have been the pain meds, I dunno), and before I knew it I had written this person 4-5 paragraphs of some wickedly detailed information on...pencils. "My Gawd!", I said to myself,..."I collect pencils now...as a hobby!".
It's true, I am a fairly avid pencil collector. Now, as an Engineer approaching retirement, and an old school Technical Draftsman from back in the day when they used to do such things, I'd always had a keen interest in all manner of writing instruments (i.e. Pencils, Pens and anything else which will write). I have a really interesting pen collection (fountain pens mostly), but pencils are what I'm really focused on. Did you know there's a whole world out there of pencil collectors?? I didn't, but I do now.
I go through phases in my pencil collecting, but if it's a pencil, I collect it. I collect wooden pencils. I collect mechanical pencils. I'm currently in a mechanical pencil collecting phase, primarily because I currently have more wooden pencils than 50 of me could ever use in five lifetimes. My wife doesn't even bother asking anymore what UPS delivered today.
Now let me tell you, collecting pencils is a spectacularly exciting hobby! I mean, I'm sure most people think the only thing more exciting than collecting pencils is probably collecting stamps (I have one of those collections too, but it was willed to me). That, and watching grass grow and paint dry, but by golly, I collect pencils. And, I'm damn good at it too, dammit!
So, I felt it was critically important to share this information with everyone here. I have no idea why! I guess it's because I'm a dork, a dork with a cowboy hat, and I didn't already have enough to do with raising cattle on our ranch and working full time in aviation engineering, so I needed a hobby!
I collect pencils.
P.S. - If anyone ever has a question about a pencil, or pencils in general, please feel free to ask. I will do my best to answer your questions, hopefully not boring you into a catatonic state in the process, and tell you about this spellbinding hobby I have.
That is all.
During the WU-cold, I decided to play the guitar. I dug out that old Peavy electric guitar and started learnin myself some guitar. This went on for a couple of weeks until I received a Certified letter in the mail one day. It was a Cease & Desist Order, from an attorney...on behalf of my dogs! Did I mention that I really SUCK at playing the guitar?? So, my plan of learning to play the guitar was pretty much a bust.
Then I started another hobby. I used to love doing woodwork, but my wife turned that hobby into a bunch of work, so screw that. And there were many others, just like that. So anyway, I had this new hobby. Only problem was, I didn't know I had a new hobby. I just thought I was doing my usual thing of sitting on my ass while I'm waiting for hip replacement surgery (which really sucks by the way). But I was getting more and more involved in this hobby I had no idea I even I had. This last part is actually true, believe it or not.
I woke up one day, and someone emailed me to ask me about...a pencil, of all things. My brain was on autopilot (it may have been the pain meds, I dunno), and before I knew it I had written this person 4-5 paragraphs of some wickedly detailed information on...pencils. "My Gawd!", I said to myself,..."I collect pencils now...as a hobby!".
It's true, I am a fairly avid pencil collector. Now, as an Engineer approaching retirement, and an old school Technical Draftsman from back in the day when they used to do such things, I'd always had a keen interest in all manner of writing instruments (i.e. Pencils, Pens and anything else which will write). I have a really interesting pen collection (fountain pens mostly), but pencils are what I'm really focused on. Did you know there's a whole world out there of pencil collectors?? I didn't, but I do now.
I go through phases in my pencil collecting, but if it's a pencil, I collect it. I collect wooden pencils. I collect mechanical pencils. I'm currently in a mechanical pencil collecting phase, primarily because I currently have more wooden pencils than 50 of me could ever use in five lifetimes. My wife doesn't even bother asking anymore what UPS delivered today.
Now let me tell you, collecting pencils is a spectacularly exciting hobby! I mean, I'm sure most people think the only thing more exciting than collecting pencils is probably collecting stamps (I have one of those collections too, but it was willed to me). That, and watching grass grow and paint dry, but by golly, I collect pencils. And, I'm damn good at it too, dammit!
So, I felt it was critically important to share this information with everyone here. I have no idea why! I guess it's because I'm a dork, a dork with a cowboy hat, and I didn't already have enough to do with raising cattle on our ranch and working full time in aviation engineering, so I needed a hobby!
I collect pencils.
P.S. - If anyone ever has a question about a pencil, or pencils in general, please feel free to ask. I will do my best to answer your questions, hopefully not boring you into a catatonic state in the process, and tell you about this spellbinding hobby I have.
That is all.