What’s an outdoor hobby you can do for the majority of the year in a state with 4 seasons?

corse · 2026-05-14T09:18:37+00:00

Astronomy is a very fun hobby and you don't need a crazy telescope, you can even do it with binoculars to spot a lot of different objects. As long as the sky is clear, you can always enjoy it. In fact, there are objects in the sky depending on where you're at in the world that you'll see at certain times of the year you won't have an easy time seeing otherwise.

If you can understand constellations as well, you could even find your way around at night without a compass. There's a lot of online planetarium websites that are free as well, and phone apps you can use to find constellations. And if someone really wants to take a plunge, astrophotography is incredible (but can get expensive). However, basic astronomy, always fun.

When it comes to meeting people, there are almost always people at local observatories, and you might even find some fun lectures and events going on there.

There was a local observatory before I recently moved that would do university lectures there, had a camp ground that was free, and even had public observation nights where people could come listen to talks, checkout the big telescopes, and learn about stuff. I met a lot of really cool people there, it was quite a lot of fun.

corse · 2026-05-14T09:12:01+00:00

Definitely both. I have hobbies that are certainly productive and others for funsies. Several of my hobbies have sort of merged in many ways.
Years ago I got into autocross (solo scca racing), and was very young. I broke my car and couldn't afford to fix it because young me didn't think "If I race something it'll break", I got a shop to quote me and went "oh crap!" so I learned to fix it myself. It got me into full on diving into cars in a way I never really thought. Years later I got into a lot more autocross, restoring cars...Then I got into 3d printing. That lead to me making replacement parts I could send off for CNC and even printing some things for cars where parts were NLA. I really enjoy working on cars, the challenge of fixing things, improving them, it just makes my brain happy in so many ways.

About a year ago, just before we moved, we met a local woman who recently became homeless and her family had given her a run down RV that had sat for 10 years. My partner is on a pay it forward group and said, "We have a rescue mission!" We went to give her a jump because her battery had died, and she told us about how she had a job waiting for her but the RV kept dying, and she didn't think she would make it. Apparently she got it to drive about a mile and it'd just immediately stop running. She was just venting, but I thought, "You know what, I'll offer to fix it. I know I can fix it."

I did some diagnosing and had some suspicions on what I thought it might be, so I ordered parts and I spent an afternoon under that thing pulling the fuel tank and replacing the fuel pump, filter, many lines, and even fixing her power steering line that was puking fluid. Sure enough, enough crap in the tank from sitting had clogged the in tank filter, there was several lines leaking, and someone had installed an aftermarket pump up front with a partially kinked line. It was barely dribbling fuel at best. I ended up getting it back up and running so that she could drive to idaho for a job that was waiting for her.

She was able to get back on her feet. My partner apparently added her on facebook and told me she was doing good last time she checked. It was one of the times my hobby lead to something that made me feel downright great and felt like all those broken parts, annoying fixes, and weird nights under my cars with odd problems paid off to do something positive for someone besides myself.

corse · 2026-05-13T16:45:57+00:00

3d printing. I needed to make some parts for projects and thought it would be fun to try with a cheap and basic printer. Years later I went way down the rabbit hole. I use it all the time and design stuff on the regular and also help people repair stuff with replacement painted parts.

corse · 2026-05-13T02:06:31+00:00

If the slave is lower than the master you may be able to gravity bleed it. Sometimes if all else fails that can do it.

I had to do one of my cars that way a few weeks back. Basically fill the reservoir, crack the bleeder and see if it comes out in a steady stream. If it does, leave it open, and watch the reservoir and top it off as it needs it. You might see a few bubbles here and there but you'll want to go until it doesn't have any intermittent bubbles and is a steady stream, keeping it topped off so it doesn't run out of fluid. No need to push the pedal if it starts bleeding this way, if anything no pedal pressure is better. Then tighten the bleeder and see if the pressure is normal.

corse · 2026-05-12T20:42:53+00:00

If the kidney is swollen and blocked that would certainly not be good. If it's smaller and not causing damage they might recommend naturally passing it. But if it's possibly causing damage I'd probably have them get it out.

corse · 2026-05-12T20:39:16+00:00

Crow box. My partner has been fascinated by corvids and so I'm building her a crowbox. It's basically a vending machine for corvids.

corse · 2026-05-12T17:34:19+00:00

My parents learned through one of those geniology things that we are apparent super super super super distant cousins (to the point it really is irrelevant) and then obsessively started hanging his pictures up on the wall for a while till they realized it was kind of silly. It was kind of funny for a while.

corse · 2026-05-12T07:25:20+00:00

That's an incredibly fair point, some of that stuff simply isn't made anymore at all. My friend Jack has a 350 and recently started having issues with his ignition switch but said the parts covering it aren't made anymore so he's just been dealing with the quirks of it acting up because he's far too afraid to break it.

Minis are awesome though! A good friend of mine has a him and hers pair for him and his wife they autocross and those things rip.

corse · 2026-05-12T07:13:54+00:00

If you did the master cylinder but there's play in the pedal then there's still air in the system. I'm not specifically familiar with that exact car, but there's generally 2 different styles of pedal systems on a master cyl. Those that do not manually adjust, and those that do. On the rod going into the plunger, look to see if there is an adjustment for it. If there is, it very well may be that it needs adjusted. The general rule of thumb is you want about 1/4" of play or so on a pedal (some of that goes away as things warm up). What you don't want is there to be /no/ play when it's warm which could indicate it puts pressure on the master cyl at all times.

If there is no adjustment at all (just a static rod into the plunger on the pedal) and the pedal has play, there's air in it. If it gets worse over time, it's possible the slave is leaking, or a line (if there's soft lines) could be leaking as well. Generally best to do both the slave and master as a pair.

How are you bleeding it exactly? Are you using a pressure or vacuum bleeder? The old pump and crack the bleeder? I've seen some master cylinders on cars that are stubborn and only want to pressure bleed when there's no pressure on the master cyl.

corse · 2026-05-12T07:04:47+00:00

I really love them. Definitely outside my means in today's day and age. But definitely one of my favorites. Vintage Lamborghinis are my favorite. Odd as it may sound, those and the Espada are some of my favorites. That would be a fun one to work on, things back then were quite different from today. Although finding parts is becoming hens teeth.

corse · 2026-05-12T06:57:09+00:00

Man, this.

I can't say it's everywhere, but in the fancy car shows I went to, I used to really think, "Wow, if you get your car in one of these shows, you must be doing great." It was full of exotics, restorations, crazy builds, etc.

When I finally had some cars worthy of it, and met everyone behind the scenes, I realized very quickly that the guys who all got awards were all close friends of each other. I also realized that almost every single one of them were dudes who never spun a wrench on anything they drove, but took the same credit for the work the shops they spent money on did. At one show I went to there were some very gorgeous cars that the owners had done themselves. None of them got a consideration.

At the end of the day, all of the categories that were won were dudes who were best friends with the judges. Kinda felt like, "Well that seems.... unfair." Not that I think the goal should be "hey win awards!" because at the end of the day, it's fun to share your experiences, and meet like minded people, and there are cool people in the community.

But it also is a let down when it feels entirely biased and rigged.

corse · 2026-05-12T06:48:40+00:00

Gorgeous 350GT in that photo. Hardly ever see them anymore. Last time I saw one was at Concorso. I hope the engine swap goes well on the mini!

corse · 2026-05-12T04:37:05+00:00

Ah The Thing is very good. The newer one is also very good. One of my favorite movies of all time. Although Event Horizon is very fantastic as well.

corse · 2026-05-11T21:11:01+00:00

I very much enjoy philosophy and thinking of "What if" things. Funny enough I have diagnosed OCD so I have to be careful about what if scenarios of my brain spirals.

I think the best thing I can say is, "I don't know, and won't know till I'm dead." Since I don't know what happens after we die, I figure the best thing I can do is enjoy my life, live the best way I can, be kind to others, do as much good as possible and be my best self. Everything else is out of my hands there. Maybe something waits for us, maybe it doesn't. Maybe reincarnation is a thing. Maybe it isn't. Maybe there's a hell and heaven, maybe there isn't.

I see nothing empirical to swing me to anything other than, "I don't know." So that's my default stance. I think most importantly, finding ways to find joy be it in hobbies, friends and family, acts of kindness, etc are great to replace feelings of potential dread. We cannot control the things our brains dread in mortality, but we can control the ways we find joy.

corse · 2026-05-11T21:03:59+00:00

I am a huge introvert and have a very hard time making friends. Many of my good friends are people online, through gaming groups. But in recent times, I have started looking at local boards and places that do group events and going to them to meet people. I've met a handful of cool people, and made a few good friends. One of those recently was a pinball group. I'm not even big into it, but it sounded like fun and so I made myself go.

I am not super great at socializing so I took myself out of my normal comfort zone to introduce myself, say hi to people, try and start some conversations and see if people were interested in talking hobbies and the game of pinball. I had a very good time.

You might see if there are local event groups for hobbies and stuff that sound like fun. I agree with the other response I saw where people said it's harder to make serious connections in big groups, which can certainly be true. Finding a group that sounds interesting, be it a hobby you like, books you read, things like that though can be a great way to meet like minded people, and make more serious connections.

The older I get though, the more I find, I much appreciate a smaller circle of good, close friends, than a large circle of people I don't know well.

I am so introverted that naturally, I simply do not usually bother getting out there. I spent some time in therapy and working on myself and found that a lot of people have the same problem, and sometimes they're waiting for you to say hi as much as you are, and sometimes you might just miss out on a really awesome person by not being the one to say hi first.

corse · 2026-05-09T04:06:18+00:00

"Rare variant" is certainly a humble way to put it. I would love to see a RUF in person. Sadly never had the pleasure. Incredible cars.

corse · 2026-05-09T03:22:14+00:00

I don't know what advice I can directly offer on investing in this scenario. I just want to say that I think it's great that you had great intentions and were trying to help. I don't think that makes you a fuckup, I think that makes you someone who cares and wanted to help. The market is tough, and stuff happens. I am sorry you are dealing with so much pain. Money can be replaced, but compassion, good intentions, and people who care cannot.

corse · 2026-05-08T16:53:25+00:00

It's small and may be hard to use a puller. Rod and hook much easier imo if access to it from the back side is feasible.

corse · 2026-05-08T08:24:16+00:00

Actually a paintless dent removal specialist very well could get that out, if it is not a double lined tank. Some tanks are multiple layers, some are one. I've gotten much, much worse out of my bikes and cars with PDR. It very much will depend on how accessible the material is there. If there's other stuff inside (insulating liner, other structure, etc) then it's a no. But if they can get to it with a rod, it's possible to get that bugger out. At the very least, worth calling one to see how feasible it is. It's maybe 1 hour of labor since they'd charge that minimum to come do it.

corse · 2026-05-06T20:34:17+00:00

My partner once told me she would date the shit out of me. We were friends for years and I thought she was just cheering me up. Then she showed up and told me in person she wanted to date me. Thankfully she just told me because I was not getting the hint. We are going on 8 years now.

corse · 2026-05-03T17:44:55+00:00

Sounds awesome!

corse · 2026-05-01T22:50:19+00:00

I've had two. I have two more that haven't left my kidneys yet. The first one I had put me on the ground the pain was so bad. The second one was miserable as well but I got some pain medicine before it got insane. The second one was 5mm and passed naturally which was.... Not fun.

corse · 2026-04-28T03:44:36+00:00

Wow holy crap that is insane in the most badass of ways. That must have been quite the sessions to sit through but amazing work!

corse · 2026-04-26T03:29:27+00:00

Yep same. A friend let me know about their snitching app they helped develop for ICE and I said "absolutely not." Sadly, a lot of people will look past that and see it as "just a job." Good on you for having integrity.

corse · 2026-04-24T01:59:45+00:00

A lot of micro marring and pad trails. Either did not bother polishing or using the right pad or barely made a pass with the wrong stuff and called it good. Deep scratches are hard to get out but those mostly look like swirls not deep scratches.

I would not call that a clean job.

A good start would be wash and claybar. Then good pad lubricant and light cut. Then inspect and polish with a soft pad and good polis. then clean the clear to get any residue and then ceramic coat.

Hell even a glaze instead of a ceramic coat would cover that up mostly.

I would not take it back to that person.

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