That's very nice!I am a goldsmith and gemmologist originally trained as a watchmaker, lover of music, hiking, photography and amateur stone carver.View attachment 109980
Is that Snowflake Obsidian? I spent quite a few years in fine jewellery sales and once was quite serious about studying gemology. Now I love collecting mineral specimens although my collection is quite modest. That is a lovely piece by the way. I love freeform designs and used to wish to design a line, fire and ice with black opal and aquamarine. I also love mechanical watches. I have a lovely Rado DiaStar with a loose cannon pinion that I can't get serviced because everyone wants to do unnecessary work (cleaning) to make more money. It has been recently cleaned. The cannon pinion was just bad luck.I am a goldsmith and gemmologist originally trained as a watchmaker, lover of music, hiking, photography and amateur stone carver.View attachment 109980
It's quartz with mica from a local beach. The Rado should go back to the person who cleaned it, most watchmakers would give a year's guarantee for their work.Is that Snowflake Obsidian? I spent quite a few years in fine jewellery sales and once was quite serious about studying gemology. Now I love collecting mineral specimens although my collection is quite modest. That is a lovely piece by the way. I love freeform designs and used to wish to design a line, fire and ice with black opal and aquamarine. I also love mechanical watches. I have a lovely Rado DiaStar with a loose cannon pinion that I can't get serviced because everyone wants to do unnecessary work (cleaning) to make more money. It has been recently cleaned. The cannon pinion was just bad luck.
That is a touching story. You're quite literate btw.Day job ; drywall contractor ( on the tools for 23 years) .
I don’t really consider myself as having ‘ hobbies’ I do enjoy a variety of things outside work many of which seem interconnected by certain themes that themselves could be considered my core interests but I won’t bore you all with that , non involve me spending a lot of time in my garage trying to straighten out a bit of wood or obsessing about train engines and spending a disproportionate amount of time standing on a bridge with a flask of tea and a notebook and pencil.
Had no effective formal education in my formative years, barley able to read or write on leaving school I did do a year studying microcomputer and associated technologies at College ( did not have the grades to get on the course but they allowed me to take a few aptitude tests that revealed my potential suitability best they had seen apparently ha ha. ) . Unfortunately I’d just not really learnt how to learn ( something you all will take for granted) and did not have the self confidence and belief to get though the struggle so quit to start my journey in drywall.
In my work life I’m considered simply incredible, my application and ability in my field beyond anything anyone has ever seen before and to many simply unbelievable let alone replicatable ( not a official word apparently lol) but then it’s just spreading shit on a wall so nothing to get excited about lol .
I don’t really rely on any of the above in terms of ‘defining ‘ myself so I’m not sure how useful or relevant it is to any of you but make of it what you will.
Something relevant, Why i took the job of moderator ( as it’s a kinda job I guess ) ..,
A. I felt a emotional affinity with amir , he appeared fair minded and stuck up for guys vs bullies and i generally liked him so offered my help and my thoughts to him before this place got started. I also weirdly felt very protective towards him, he’d done a lot of fighting and I felt he deserved someone to fight for him back. Bloody weird thinking about it lol
B. I thought it would help my writing and be a point of personal development, I was illiterate before I started posting on WBF 4 years ago as a few here will attest to lol .
C. I thought I could do it, generally that’s rare for me but I grew up around conflict and I’m a natural peacemaker. I have to be useful, know I’m useful not just delude myself to that belief. As long as I think I’m useful y'all are stuck with me.
D. Crafting something like this, being in the wheel house from the start was and still is a privilege so thanks to you all for allowing me to carry on and generally being respectful towards me.
A additional thing you don’t know about me, it takes me fucking ages to write even simple paragraphs , often having to re-read them several times over so discharging my moderator duties here takes more effort,care and time on my behalf than probably any other guy doing comparable works.
That’s a lot more than the OP but with me you will often get a lot more than you bargained for, just ask poor old amir.
Don't let that deter you from indulging. I love guns but now that I live in the city can't shoot as often as I'd like. One can love guns and shooting and be non-violent.What is it about playing golf that makes it your passion?
My sport is as legitimate as any.
And consists of a number of Olympic games
A bunch of foolish prejudges remarks here
Ironically I had similar experience. My first gun was a BB gun-I was probably around 6 or 7 years old. I saw a small baby bird perched on a limb in our yard so like an imbecile I put the gun up to it, shot and killed it. I've never gotten over that senseless act of stupidity and it shaped my attitude toward nature and the right of living creatures to live peacefully.I had an English BSA .22 calibre air rifle with a Tasco sight when I was young kid too. Same smell I remember. We used to go down to Kmart to buy pellets. I shot maybe two birds, lots of 'targets', several street lights, my very first pocket transistor radio my Dad gave me when I was 3, and a few ceramic HV insulators. I never forgave myself for killing that innocent bird on our TV antenna. I climbed up on the roof, retrieved it and gave it a decent burial.
Then I proceeded to rebuild my transistor radio PCB I had shot to pieces. It was arguably one of the first restorations I did. I must have been about 9yo.
Fired a Ruger 308 rifle at an Army rifle range with a mate several years ago and decided shoulder dislocations (not quite but it hurt) weren't my thing. I was actually quite good a hitting the targets and I can see how marksmanship is a great skill, but just not for me.
PFA's?Those of us who like shooting like it because... well... it's fun. I'm a lifelong vegetarian so don't hunt, but I really enjoy perforating targets- it's a good combo of mental and physical activity. And it gave me a newfound appreciation for my wife; I'm pretty good with a handgun or a rifle, she is frighteningly good with both, and blows me away at skeet (figuratively).
My day job, as I've mentioned, is running a chemistry research group, specializing in surface modification, siloxane synthesis, electrochemistry, and corrosion management. Over the years, I've started and sold off companies in electronics (specifically force and position sensors for human-machine interface, with Microsoft being one of our big customers for some time) and wine (I invented the coextruded synthetic wine cork now used worldwide). And I spent a few years in the research grant game, sucking up a few million in American taxpayers' money to study endocrine disrupting chemicals in food packaging.
My night and weekend job is doing test and measurement reviews for AudioXpress. My wife and I also run a political discussion website under different identities to keep things separate from our professional lives (so don't ask, I won't say). This got rather more popular and time-consuming than we had originally anticipated, with about a million user-generated posts per year.
Psilocybin? Amanita?Shiitake, Eryngii, oyster as opposed to your normal every day white or chestnut closed cap mushrooms, sume poor sucker has to do it and sadly I am that man!
Me as well.Just take care to be sensible about things.
I way overdid it in my gym-rat days and am paying for it now with badly arthritic joints everywhere.
PFA's?
Three types of beautiful music in this life, that performed on musical instruments, that made by high compression V-Twin and V-8 engines, and that made by a max loaded, short barreled, magnum handgun.
Day job ; drywall contractor ( on the tools for 23 years) .
I don’t really consider myself as having ‘ hobbies’ I do enjoy a variety of things outside work many of which seem interconnected by certain themes that themselves could be considered my core interests but I won’t bore you all with that , non involve me spending a lot of time in my garage trying to straighten out a bit of wood or obsessing about train engines and spending a disproportionate amount of time standing on a bridge with a flask of tea and a notebook and pencil.
Had no effective formal education in my formative years, barley able to read or write on leaving school I did do a year studying microcomputer and associated technologies at College ( did not have the grades to get on the course but they allowed me to take a few aptitude tests that revealed my potential suitability best they had seen apparently ha ha. ) . Unfortunately I’d just not really learnt how to learn ( something you all will take for granted) and did not have the self confidence and belief to get though the struggle so quit to start my journey in drywall.
In my work life I’m considered simply incredible, my application and ability in my field beyond anything anyone has ever seen before and to many simply unbelievable let alone replicatable ( not a official word apparently lol) but then it’s just spreading shit on a wall so nothing to get excited about lol .
I don’t really rely on any of the above in terms of ‘defining ‘ myself so I’m not sure how useful or relevant it is to any of you but make of it what you will.
Something relevant, Why i took the job of moderator ( as it’s a kinda job I guess ) ..,
A. I felt a emotional affinity with amir , he appeared fair minded and stuck up for guys vs bullies and i generally liked him so offered my help and my thoughts to him before this place got started. I also weirdly felt very protective towards him, he’d done a lot of fighting and I felt he deserved someone to fight for him back. Bloody weird thinking about it lol
B. I thought it would help my writing and be a point of personal development, I was illiterate before I started posting on WBF 4 years ago as a few here will attest to lol .
C. I thought I could do it, generally that’s rare for me but I grew up around conflict and I’m a natural peacemaker. I have to be useful, know I’m useful not just delude myself to that belief. As long as I think I’m useful y'all are stuck with me.
D. Crafting something like this, being in the wheel house from the start was and still is a privilege so thanks to you all for allowing me to carry on and generally being respectful towards me.
A additional thing you don’t know about me, it takes me fucking ages to write even simple paragraphs , often having to re-read them several times over so discharging my moderator duties here takes more effort,care and time on my behalf than probably any other guy doing comparable works.
That’s a lot more than the OP but with me you will often get a lot more than you bargained for, just ask poor old amir.