Things you don't get into anymore

[ThinkPad560X]

What are things that you don't do or get into anymore?

For me I really do not play games anymore. I bought a Nintendo Switch about 2 months ago for Super Mario Odyssey and the game/console hasn't been touched for over 4-5 weeks. I recently just hooked up my PS3 and started to play Skyrim and lasted for about 3-4 hours tops before I got out of it and went back to watching my shows on tv instead. I still have a lot of brand new un open games for my PS3, PS4, 360 and XBOX1. I only bought games that I kept with the series since they started. I get people to get me into other games such as Witcher 3 or Dark Souls but I think it wouldn't be worth to get since I am barely playing anymore. I mostly like to just watch lets play of games then me playing them anymore today. I started with games back during the NES days and followed all the way to now and there isn't really any big wow in games today. probably the biggest was Super Mario 64 for me.

Other would be getting ThinkPads or IBM desktops. I sold off a few of my early mid 90s ThinkPads since I like to use them for what they were made for and that was for work or somewhat play. and hate to let them sit collecting dust. I am now just upgrading and maxing out my current desktops and ThinkPads I have. I kinda wish the internet browsers would still work on older windows so I could just surf the web on my ThinkPad 560X. It is currently running XP Pro but would like to get a new HDD for it and reinstall Win98 back onto it.

[USSS]

I don't play video games, either.

What I miss most are the electronic kits of the 1970s and 1980s. When SMT (Surface Mount Technology) became the norm, I packed away my soldering iron for good.

[MikalE]

I don't record music any longer.

I had a home recording studio in one form or another since 1987. That hobby lasted until 2013. I still have some of the gear, but it's all packed away.

I also don't use Flight Simulator any longer. I built a full size working simulator of a Boeing 727-231 in the basement at my last house. it took me almost seven years. I dismantled it when I bought this place and never rebuilt it. I miss it since I cannot legally fly anymore due to cardiac surgery and repair.

It ran on six Windows XP Pro computers networked together using WidevieW and other assorted software programs. All hand wired, everything except the WX radar worked as the real aircraft.

[gfuller]

I used to be into old (antique) cars. One of my biggest dreams/goals was to purchase a 1930-31 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan as my first car. I even started my own (failed) website design business to try to reach that goal. Unfortunately, the dream never came true.

When I was really young (before high school) I was really into electronics - especially RF and microwave stuff. I wanted to become an electronics engineer when I graduated from HS, but my lack of knowledge in mathematics destroyed that dream - as well as my horrible soldering. I had a crystal radio receiver that I never finished building... it never got built all the way. (That was another reason I was dissuaded from electronics/electronics engineering... the xtal radio never really worked right. I kept building it wrong.) I hope to someday finish it as I originally wanted it to be - with the tuning capacitor working and everything. I've also always wanted to build a simple transistor radio - something I may do someday, as well. (For those unfamiliar, a crystal [xtal] radio is a very basic AM radio receiver they had back in the 1920s - predating vacuum-tube based units. They didn't require any external power, but you had to have a long [~100ft.] antenna and a very good, reliable ground. They are very picky - especially the with the ground. I actually did get mine working for a short period of time before I disassembled it again to solder the wires, as it was picking up a local AM station very clearly. It was awesome to see something I built working.)

I also don't use Flight Simulator any longer. I built a full size working simulator of a Boeing 727-231 in the basement at my last house. it took me almost seven years. I dismantled it when I bought this place and never rebuilt it. I miss it since I cannot legally fly anymore due to cardiac surgery and repair.

That sounds really cool. My father used to have a flight stick (just a basic Saitek) he used back when I was much younger; we used it with our HP Pavilion that ran Vista. He would run Microsoft Flight Simulator X and another flight sim (can't think of the name of it) with it. He wants to do it again, but when he found that the hardware isn't cheap (especially if you want to run anything better than MFSX) and the software isn't cheap (XPlane costs a LOT!!!!) he quickly lost interest.

[Thinkpad4by3]

I don't record music any longer.

I had a home recording studio in one form or another since 1987. That hobby lasted until 2013. I still have some of the gear, but it's all packed away.

I also don't use Flight Simulator any longer. I built a full size working simulator of a Boeing 727-231 in the basement at my last house. it took me almost seven years. I dismantled it when I bought this place and never rebuilt it. I miss it since I cannot legally fly anymore due to cardiac surgery and repair.

It ran on six Windows XP Pro computers networked together using WidevieW and other assorted software programs. All hand wired, everything except the WX radar worked as the real aircraft.

Do you think my Thrustmaster Flightstick that my neighbor gave me will compete with that ? That is one hell of a setup!

[wujstefan]

I used to play cards tournament-style, and with success. Well, maybe it's better I'm off now

[MikalE]

I don't record music any longer.

I had a home recording studio in one form or another since 1987. That hobby lasted until 2013. I still have some of the gear, but it's all packed away.

I also don't use Flight Simulator any longer. I built a full size working simulator of a Boeing 727-231 in the basement at my last house. it took me almost seven years. I dismantled it when I bought this place and never rebuilt it. I miss it since I cannot legally fly anymore due to cardiac surgery and repair.

It ran on six Windows XP Pro computers networked together using WidevieW and other assorted software programs. All hand wired, everything except the WX radar worked as the real aircraft.

Do you think my Thrustmaster Flightstick that my neighbor gave me will compete with that ? That is one hell of a setup!

I used various input and output cards for all of the controls including the flight controls. Those are all built from scratch, but the control yoke is out of a Boeing 727, captain's side, and came with all of the switches and wiring harness installed. I just had to reverse engineer it to get it to work. The stab trim switch was the hardest because it is a three position dual rocker switch and both must be depressed at the same time for the stab trim to work. The internal wiring was something I had never seen before in a switch. That one trim switch brand new is about $600.

I had a Boeing abbreviated maintenance and schematic diagram of many of the cockpit systems that helped immensely with wiring some of the more complicated pieces of hardware. Particularly the Sperry SP-50 autopilot head.

[Thinkpad4by3]

Do you think my Thrustmaster Flightstick that my neighbor gave me will compete with that ? That is one hell of a setup!

I used various input and output cards for all of the controls including the flight controls. Those are all built from scratch, but the control yoke is out of a Boeing 727, captain's side, and came with all of the switches and wiring harness installed. I just had to reverse engineer it to get it to work. The stab trim switch was the hardest because it is a three position dual rocker switch and both must be depressed at the same time for the stab trim to work. The internal wiring was something I had never seen before in a switch. That one trim switch brand new is about $600.

I had a Boeing abbreviated maintenance and schematic diagram of many of the cockpit systems that helped immensely with wiring some of the more complicated pieces of hardware. Particularly the Sperry SP-50 autopilot head.

I felt proud of my self for reverse enginnering a TI-30 calculator, but now I feel just stupid . That's impressive!

[Puppy]

I no longer enjoy wine (and food in general) that was my hobby for past 15 years. I used to attend at least one wine tasting event per week and most of my travel activities were focused on 'wine' countries. Unfortunately I became anosmic after a flu three years ago, there is no treatment yet when the loss is viral based.

[ajkula66]

In no particular order...

Fencing, amateur (aka ham) radio, horseback riding, classic car restoration ( I wouldn't mind driving some of my "old flames" but can't work on them anymore) and even - for the most part - ThinkPads.

This was just off the top of my head...

[unix_joe]

Guitar - I sold everything except an acoustic that belonged to my sister. I do not play anymore. I do not listen to heavy metal music and could not tell you anything from the last decade of music. The next instrument I purchase will be a scheitholt.
Off-Roading - I sold my Bronco and my Jeeps and gave away another perfectly running 4x4. They were too much maintenance to handle and I could not park them anywhere.
Coding - I moved to IT which is better appreciated and less likely to be off-shored than coding. I haven't written a single line of production code in a decade, and my salary is 3x what I made before.

[TonyJZX]

Probably high performance PCs and PC gaming.

A couple of years back I built two high performance PCs... ie. 16Gb Xeon processor all ssds and the then new RX480 card... this was in preparation for Win10 gaming which was supposed to be great.

Microsoft killed my enthusaism. Their Windows games turned out to be buggy.

I also made a 32gb Xeon 8 core pc with that E2670v2 which was all the rage a while back... ie. a $100 usd server Xeon that only worked in s2011 boards.

But sadly I'm on laptops more than not and my RX480 pc is still around when I need some grunt ie. compress video etc.

I have not really sat down and played a PC game for years although I do have an Xbox and PS4 etc. but even those are play for 30 mins and do something else affairs.

[packardbell]

I use to overclock Pentium 133, cyrix 233, AMD K6 350mhz, slot 1 Pentium 300 and stopped in 1999.

[TonyJZX]

Probably high performance cars.

I have two cars, one is my daily car which is an SUV and my 2nd car which is a 6.0 lt v8 w/ 6 spd manual.

The SUV has all the mod cons like keyless rear cameras and adaptive cruise and all that nonsense and of course, its automatic.

My 6.0 v8 is a bit older and doesnt have all that.

Around town the SUV is the best choice as its only a 2.5 four... so economy is fine.

The V8 is terrible and gasoline is $5-6 a gallon here. I only drive it when I'm on the hwy or weekends.

I'm still like in the family situation so I think I will get back into sports cars in say a decades time once my life settles down a bit more.

I flat out hate SUVs but what can you do.

[rkawakami]

Sad to say, but Thinkpads have taken a back seat in my life recently. Some of you may have noticed that I haven't been posting here that much in the last several months. I've been spending my time at another forum (heresy!). Relax, it has nothing to do with laptops. I'm still using TPs, having "graduated" to using a couple of W520 systems, along with my trusty always-on A31p desktop.

I've been hanging out at Tesla Model 3 forum. I reserved my car at the end of April 2016 by putting down the $1000 deposit. I wasn't one of the people who waited in line at one of the stores. Rather, I logged into the Tesla web site during the night of the Model 3 reveal and registered there. Fast-forward a little over 2 years and I finally have my car. It's not the highly-touted $35K base model, which still isn't being made and probably won't be until sometime in 2019. Nor is it the AWD that I was hoping for. It's the first configuration that was being manufactured: rear wheel drive, the long range battery (~310 miles on a full charge), the premium upgrade package (full glass roof, power memory seats in front, all seats heated, better audio system). I'm quite happy with the car so far. If you ever drop in at TMC, I'm registered there as RayK. My first substantial post there was about a Model 3 rental I had through Turo.com.

[TonyJZX]

For many of us, we're interested in the 2nd gen. laptops but these are mainly sub $100 lqptops now so buying and fixing them up is a 2ndary hobby that's as cheap as they come and there's not much downside.

Interesting perspective on electric cars there, its good that some people are open minded about them especially with a controversial figure like Elon.

I think maybe the Jaguar I-Pace and other conventional designs may make them more mainstream.

Where I am you can buy a Kia hatch/sedan w/ 7 yr warranty for about $16,000 usd equivalent so in that regard, its a long way to go before electric cars become economical in that regard.

If you do the sums, even a cheaper EV with say 350 mile range at say $40,000 usd will seem tough going if a comparative ICE vehicle is half the price.

You certainly wont spend $20,000 usd on gasoline in the lifetime of a $20,000 car.

[teamde78]

I was always more into the games on the computer. I did have an Xbox but never really found myself to be as fond of playing the Xbox compared to the MMORPG online games on the computer. I always enjoyed the human interaction part of these games, but overall did just do not have the time nor energy to play anymore. I do catch myself going back to the games I did play and checking our their reddits from time to time to see how far the game has come along, but haven't logged back in for more than 5 minutes at a time. I guess that is the downfall of getting older and working full time!

[RealBlackStuff]

Hi Ray, I was wondering where you were...
Funny that you mention electric cars.

As kids we all read Donald Duck magazines and Grandma Duck was already then driving an electric car.
Lo and behold, back in the '70s, some friends and I found a very similar looking car, a 1911 Detroit Electric.
An early electric car, that did not even have a steering wheel, but rather a tiller (as on a boat).
Almost identical to this one: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/jacksn ... 309547589/
We were all into antique cars in those days, and it took us nearly 3 years to get this fully going again.
Lot of work, but well worth it!
Apart from an electric golf cart now and then, that was my one and only "electric car" experience.

Side note: before I switched over to program IBM mainframes, I was an automotive engineer, who could work on any type of engine, including car, truck, tank, boat and airplane.
During the above restoration my daily driver was an RWD Hillman Imp Coupe (better known in USA as Sunbeam Californian) with the reverse-mounted engine of an FWD Oldsmobile Toronado in the back.
Very unobtrusive speed devil, that needed many bags of cement in the front boot to stop it from taking off!
I've since had a few more, rather exotic cars, but nowadays I drive a very common, unmodified Hyundai Santa Fe.
And I switched over to IBM, because the pay was much better and I didn't want to get my hands dirty any longer.

[zod]

I gave up on off-road driving two years ago and sold my last KTM, after more than 30 years on a motorcycle. Too old for that, unfortunately. And I still dream about those good days of my life.

[zod]

I had some MEMORABLE "stays" ...
in Srbija ... and in MonteNegro ...
& Dubrovnik/Hrvatska ...
& / in fact ... "all around" the "former Yugoslavia" ...

It was a great country once. Unfortunately, I'm old enough to remember how good it was. I was born in Belgrade, but I used to live in Skopje for 3 years, then 2 more in Sarajevo. In last few years I was working as sales manager for the region, so I was all around as well, not only in former YU, but in Romania, Bulgaria and Albania as well. If you ask me, I like Slovenia the most - beautiful country, breathtaking nature and easy going, friendly and relaxed people.

[RealBlackStuff]

when I''ve (just about) finally completed my medical treatments ~
which have been covered by the State's/Municipality's "universal" HealthInsurance ...

Can you please ask them to also give you some WRITING treatment, before they let you loose?
Your posts have way too many colors, too many unreadable sentences, too many smilies!

[MikalE]

How long is management going to put up with this?

[ajkula66]

How long is management going to put up with this?

A lot of people are asking the same question. I'm not a part of the management, but my best guess would go along the lines of "not much longer".

[MikalE]

So I've been told.

[ajkula66]

I mean Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian ...
they have much more in common ... with each other ...
than with Macedonian, right

Wrong.

Slovenian and Macedonian are *vastly* different from any variant of what was once known as Serbo-Croatian which has now been separated into Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montengerin and so forth.

One could make a linguistically valid argument that Macedonian is far closer to Serbian dialects spoken in the South as well as to Bulgarian than Slovenian is to any of the related languages. Having said that - and all historical/religious/political differences aside - they all still belong to the same (Southern) group of Slavic languages for a good reason.

[zod]

I built a full size working simulator of a Boeing 727-231 in the basement at my last house. it took me almost seven years.

Absolutely fascinating.

[MikalE]

[TonyJZX]

Good god that looks like a real full sized almost C-130 cockpit.

I used to be fairly into full sized car racing sim setups... ie. 2 x 24" monitors side by side with a pc and steering wheel etc. and a real car seat ripped from a real car but I find I'm faster on controller and worse, I feel like I'm actually working hard when driving with a wheel and I'm relaxing with a controller.

Another thing I'm not so much into any more is full on expensive luxury watches. I used to think that $1,000 on a watch wasnt no big deal but since I've been exposed to so many cheaper high quality watches it seems like a waste of money.

[MikalE]

It's a full size 2/3rds 727-231 cockpit.

[axur-delmeria]

It's a full size 2/3rds 727-231 cockpit.

And those parts are from actual 727s? Wow.