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JRammit

Other Hobbies

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So we all have one or two things in common here... We love fishing! And store bought equipment just doesn't cut it!

But what else do you love to do, live to do, and think about when you're not doing it???..... I believe hobbies are essential to life.. Without them, whats the point of living???

For me....... Its hot coffee in the bitter cold dark of a December morning... Its counting down the seconds til sunrise... Its the sound of whistling wings in the winter air... Its the perked up ears and deadly stare of a labrador retriever ready to do the job she was born to do... Its the rush of adrenaline and the smell of burnt powder......... Thats right... Its duck season!!!!!

Here in Texas, when you say you're a hunter, people ask "deer or hogs?"... I get funny looks when i say ducks... Cant help it, i love being on the water!

Started this "side obsession" only 4 years ago, only took one trip to know it was for me!... The next year, i got me a dog.. A rescue from the animal shelter (free!)... She was 6 months old, classified as "lab mix", but shes ALL lab as far as i can see!... Beautiful girl! All black... Named her Hemi (shes in one of my lure videos)

So then i spent some time on You Tube, ordered videos, books... Even watched alot of Cesar Millan (the dog whisperer) and trained her all on my own.. She trained well! She still listens better than my kids (ha ha)!.... She's not quite perfect, but neither am I...

Speaking of kids, they love it too!.. Mainly the oldest, he's ALL about it!!! The youngest is still developing the patients..... We only hunt public land, cause im not gonna shell out a few grand every year for a lease.... We don't do well, but we still love going!.... A few duck dinners a year is sure better than none!........ I can already taste it!!!!

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I am a bug photographer. I will crawl on my belly in the mud or wade up to my knees in a paddy field to get that shot of a butterfly or dragonfly or wasp etc.

 

Indonesia is a great place for this hobby; I have more than 80 species of butterfly recorded and photographed and 40 species of wasp. My particular passion is spiders and there are some real beauties here. I used to have a wasp phobia, but now getting the shot is way more important than running away. I am well and truly over the wasp thing.

 

I have some 8,000 images, 1500 have been added to my website, but you can only view a dozen without signing in. Worth a look at the twelve to see what I am talking about.

 

DAve

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Actually, the European wasp that has spread throughout North America is a really nasty, aggressive bug that is responsible for so many people having this phobic affliction. I find most of the wasps in Indonesia far less aggressive, harmless even.

 

There are a couple of species that you must be careful off. Individually, they are not a problem, but, if you accidentally bump the tree holding the nest, you can find yourself in life threatening trouble. I have never seen a big nest, but if I see more than one of these wasps, I am scanning the trees and bushes.

 

Here is a couple of images of the wasp I am talking about, Vesper Analis.

wasp potter crop 0790.jpg vesper analis 1056.jpg

 

Dave

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I used to collect old sports cards.  Still have a nice rookie Mays and decent rookies of Koufax and Mantle.  Even thought about opening a shop at one time, but glad I didn't because that craze is virtually gone now.  Also, sport and muscle cars have always been a passion of mine.  Love old Challengers, Vettes, and Trans Ams.  Currently have a 2000 Mustang GT that's......ummm......not so street legal.  lol

 

Nowadays, I'd have to say my latest hobby is smoking meats.  Just got into it this last spring when a buddy of mine built me a 50-gallon drum.  Smoke 'em if you got 'em! 

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I enjoy a lot of things.    Photography, planted aquariums and reef aquariums, wood working, and gardening.  I also have selection of plants in the house and have  large tank to convert to a dart frog vivarium at some point.  These are probably the ones I spend the most time on but have a lot of other interests.

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My 2 older brothers are huge gear heads!.. They've been building race cars since before they were old enough to even drive em.... They both tried to get me into it, i was slightly interested, but just wasnt my thing.... Buying factory made parts and mounting them on factory made engines didnt get my "motor running".... Wasnt until almost 2 years ago i found what REALLY drives me when i stumbled across this site

Do love me some 11 hour smoked brisket though!!!!!... Ive done a few, but im no pit master

Aquariums, one of the previously mentioned brothers does this too... Looks impressive to me, but i havnt a clue what goes into it???... I think he grows (or makes) his own coral too

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Do love me some 11 hour smoked brisket though!!!!!... Ive done a few, but im no pit master

 

 

See.....I love everything about the south, but the ONE thing you all are missing is a tri-tip.  I don't believe it even exists east of California.  Not quite the quality of a prime rib, but pretty darn good......and DAMN good when smoked for a few hours!   We recently spent some time in Georgia watching my son graduate from basic training, and it's now my retirement goal to open a smokehouse in that area - lol   Anyway, here's a link about tri-tips......

 

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016919-grilled-or-oven-roasted-santa-maria-tri-tip

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Kinda looks like a baby brisket... Ill have to try and find some, looks like a great alternative!... Briskets are so much work, id only do them for special occasions

I remember the first brisket i ever smoked... I was raised on it here in Texas, but never made one myself til i moved to Colorado....... The wifes whole family was coming to our house for Thanksgiving, i mentioned smoking a brisket and found out none of them had ever even tasted one before.... So i had to do it!

I had a little side box smoker.. The big 15 lb slab of beef barely fit in the cooking chamber... I timed it just right, lit the fire at midnight, added charcoal and wet mesquite chunks every hour all night, napping a little here and there....

11 hours later she was done, with an hour to rest before lunch..... Did it turn out good??... Yes, which was the only problem.... It was also my wifes first year to cook the turkey... Who eats turkey when there smoked brisket lying around???

9 years later and she still hasnt forgiven me for that one..... Oops

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LOL!

 

I've ruined more than my share of meat learning this smoking curve.  I plan on smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving next week.  Smoked a trial turkey a couple weeks ago and it was the best bird I've ever eaten.  Made a couple mistakes along the way, but hopefully will work out the kinks this time. 

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LOL!

I've ruined more than my share of meat learning this smoking curve. I plan on smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving next week. Smoked a trial turkey a couple weeks ago and it was the best bird I've ever eaten. Made a couple mistakes along the way, but hopefully will work out the kinks this time.

Oooh!... I did that a few years ago, but only a breast not the whole turkey.... I cheated, i injected it... But it was amazing!!!

Also i made up a little brine and put it in a squirt bottle, just to keep the bird moist til there was enough fat in the pan to baste with

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I look at golf like playing pool outdoors on a HUGE table... Im much better at pool, but golf is fun too

My younger brother was actually on the golf team in high school, and my mom lived on hole 14 of the golf course in Runaway Bay (on Lake Bridgeport)... We use to jump on and play 14-18 all the time... I was no good, but i did see him ace a par 3 hole once

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That reminds me, I play a very decent game of pool. I played for the pub team and won a pub comp while I was in China.

 

I don't play when I am in Bandung, though it is a very popular 'sport' and a very high standard can be found in some of the halls. Many of the players are professional.

 

Dave

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I was pretty good too, back when i had my own table

I had just turned 21 and i wrecked my truck (no alcohol involved)... Bought another truck, and then the ins co cut me a check for $3,000 over what i paid...... I was a single man in a 3 bedroom mobile home that i had taken over the mortgage from my parents when they bought a new house

What would a 21 yr old bachelor with his own house spend an extra 3 grand on???.... Yup, 4x8 Olhausen 3/4" 2 pc slate table, cherry wood, ball in claw legs, leather pockets and electric blue simonis cloth felt...... All graphite "house sticks" and a 19 oz McDermott cue in blue birds eye maple for me

I took out the kitchen wall and reinforced my floor with 7/8" tounge n groove wafer board to accommodate... I even took a felt sample to a carpet store to be matched.. It was the ultimate bachelor pad (much alcohol involved)!!!

I still have the cue... But the table was passed from friend to friend after i moved away.. Ended up under the care of an acquaintance who just sold it last year

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Other hobbies... wow... there have been a lot.  

 

I was a pool player.  Used to shoot 2-3 Calcutta tournaments a week back in the 80s.  Had a streak in 1988 where I placed in 21 consecutive tournaments, and took third in the "City Championship."  Went undefeated to the final bracket, and then lost back to back games to guys I had beat earlier in the competition.  I still have a table, but now it only gets uncovered at Christmas and Thanksgivng.  I never had one of those fancy McDermott cues, but I've owned an inlayed Diamond and a basic Player's.  My favorite cues back in the day where the Dufferin Banner cues sold locally at K-Mart.  They were made from Canadian maple, and even on the rack there were very few in the store that weren't straight.  I never had one I bought straight warp on me later.  I'ld start with a 21oz and turn the shaft down to a straight snooker style taper for the first 1/3 or so.  I probably redid 4 or 5 of them.  They were all good, but I made two that were perfect.  After I would finish reworking them, I'd take them over to the Golden Cue and have Nacho put a medium soft tip on them and shape it the first time for me.  I liked the joint on them too.  I was never worried about joint damage.  I would even break with them in a tournament, but I admit in casual games I would break with a bar stick.  I never really felt like I was "good", but if I played more than a couple games with people I considered good players it seemed like my game would start to pickup to their level fairly quickly. I had to be pushed to play well though.  Currently I don't own any fancy cues of my own.  My wife has a nice players, and my son has a "Black Widow" signature cue that seems very nice, but I have a synthetic cue that's big claim to fame is the maker paid the licensing fee to put the name Harley Davidson on the side.  I wouldn't call a pool a hobby so much as a past passion I worked so I could play pool, and I played pool hoping I wouldn't have to work  

 

Motorcycle riding is another one of those past passions.  My wife and I were both into it for a while.  My first bike was a Honda CL350 setup with a high pipe and street knobbys as a scrambler.  I onloy know what a scrambler is because my Dad raced scrambles in Japan in the 60s before I was born.,  LOL.  I had a couple Honda Shadows early on, along with the iconic 1976 GL1000 pancake 4 that was based on the super bike Honda raced at Isle of Man in the 60s.  I had two of them.  For a long time they were the fastest bikes I had owned.  I was never a big brand snob, but I did admire the big Harleys.  I had a lot of bikes back in my single days.  Hondas, Yamahas, Suzukis, Kawasakis...  I also had a lot of short term girlfriends  Kind of had a reputation with a few of my friends.  One time several of us were hanging out drinking and shooting the breeze, and Larry asked me if I was ever going to settle down.  As a joke I said I'll settle down and get married when some woman buys me a Super Glide.  I think I also said I wanted a woman to ride beside me, not behind me.  Well, a year or so later I was staying with a pretty young doctor for a while, (I still had a place, but I hadn't been there in months) when she wanted to go look at a motorcycle.  It was an older 1980/81 AMF Harley (titled as an 81) that obviously needed some work.  I asked her if she was prepared to fix it up, and if she could ride it.  She said she was hoping I would fix it up and ride it, but she was willing to learn to ride.  I told here I couldn't afford it at the time and started to wlak away when she said she wanted to buy it for me.  I was only a little bit surprised.  I know it sounds like bragging, but back then women sometimes bought me things.  I was still surprised some.  I told her to put the title in her name.  (I wasn't convinced we were long term and I tried to be a good guy.)  I didn't even know it was a Super Glide (all the badging and decals were gone) until I picked up a book and looked up to see exactly what an FX was.  I never thought anything of it at the time, until one day Larry asked me when we were getting married.  To this day I'm not sure which one of my buddies sold me out, but I am betting it was Larry.  He just wanted to eliminate the competition.  LOL.  Patti and I have been married almost 22 years now.  She learned to ride, and rode a '92 Harley Fatboy we customized for several years, and in 2003 she sold it and bought a brand new Roadglide that sits in the driveway next to my Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak.  I've a lot of bikes since the years in between.  The first year Honda 1984 GL1200 standard, a 1997 FLHT, a 2002 VRSCA, a Yamaha Heritage Special, and a couple more Honda Shadows, a Twinstar, and a few more I'ld have to think about.  Patti hasn't ridden her bike in 2 or 3 years, and I fire them up and run errands on them a couple times a month.  We don't ride much anymore, but for many years motorcycle things were what we did.  Runs, parties, rides, organizations.  Both of us are American Motorcycle Association, ABATE of Arizona, and Harley Owners Group Life Members.  We are both past local chapter officers of ABATE, and Patti was a state board member for a while.  

 

Lately I've been getting into big boy airguns.  High power springers and PCPs.  Well for the last 2 years give or take.  Its an expensive hobby.  I use mine for killing gophers in back yard and dropping the occasional Eurasion collared dove to go in the freezer until I get enough to make a batch of Jalapeno dove poppers for everybody.  Eurasions dove are kind of hard to kill.  My longest shot on a dove is 68 yards with a .25 Marauder modified to pump out as much as 80FPE and then backed down to about 46FPE to get the shot count back up.  Thats a 25.39 grain pellet traveling 904-908 FPS.  That's a little less than half the energy of a .22LR standard velocity round.  I get 24 shots on a charge.  21-22 at full power, and a couple more pretty close.  With my .177 Marauder I've dropped gophers out to 94 yards.  At that range I have to take a couple windage and elevation shots at a neutral target before taking my primary target.  That gun is tuned to around 925 FPS with a 10.65 grain pellet.  That's only 20 FPE give or take, but its still enough to do the job on a gopher.  That gun has an extended air reservoir and a regulator.  I get 80 shots at full power on a charge of air.  I've studied the design of PCP air guns, and bought a couple books on building them directly from a guy named Howard Buckley in the UK.  I've been playing with the idea of building a real functioning repeating pneumatic shotgun for a while.  Something that will crank out 3/8-1/2 oz of steel shot around 1100 FPS.  Air Venturri beat me to it.  They announced one in .50 cal a few months ago.  At the time verified specs on the gun were not available, but I think I'm going to go look it up shortly.  

 

Hunting... well my son and I go shoot mourning dove and whitewings every year.  Usually the first couple days of the season anyway.  Some years we go chase quail as well.  I like to say I am a duck hunter, but I've just been to busy to go in the last 2 or 3 years.  I've got a bunch 70 or 80 decoys, but probably 2 dozen of them have never even been wet.  I just shoot a Remington 870 Express with standard length duck loads.  The places I go usually don't attract a lot of pressure so I don't need to reach out there to far, but I'ld like to own a Super Mag some day.  

 

Fishing...  I think I am getting old.  I only averaged 2-3 days a month this year.  I used to go 2-3 days a week.  3-4 in the hot summer months.  

 

Machining.  This really started out as a hobby. I just wanted make a few really simple parts.  I started with on of those El-Cheapo Harbor Freight 7x10 (really more like 7x8) bench lathes.  Now I have a small growing business in making fishing tackle molds, and I routinely get other types of machining requests.  Cookie molds, adult toy molds, leather good pressure forming mold/die sets, squeakless hinge pin molds, electronic circuit board encapsulation molds, bearing carriers, medical equipment brackets, and all kinds of misc parts for my own use.  I've been known to make a bolt out of stock to finish a project rather than stop and go to the store, and I've made lots of specialty should and adjusting bolts.  I've also kind of gotten into retrofitting and building CNC machines.  Well, building is a bit of a stretch.  I have not had the time to finish any complete builds fromt eh ground up, but I have accumulated a lot of parts.  LOL.  

 

Making fishing tackle...  This truly is a hobby.  I made some molds and started a small bait business a few years ago, but when I decided to announce I would make custom molds for people I quit.  I had already been making custom molds for people who asked, but it was strictly word of mouth, and wasn't really a "business."  Then when I was doing my taxes one year and added up the sales total on custom molds I realized it was really a business.  I officially started CNC Molds N Stuff and shut down Yuma Tackle Company.  The reason I shut down the tackle company was well thought out.  I didn't think it was fair to compete with my own customers, and I wanted my customers to be able to trust me with their designs.  Anyway, I still fish almost exclusively my own plastics, and I am working on design ideas for making it more efficient to make my own cranks and blades.  Once I prefect a design I want to be able to set a piece of wood on the little CNC router and make a dozen bodies ready for hand finishing.  When it comes to making my own spinnerbaits the issue like with cranks is paint.  It just takes time.  Atleast I don't have to sand them... too much.  LOL.  

 

And gardening.  I really am just a dilettante here.  I grew a summer garden this year, but really only eggplant (which I hate, but my wife loves) and spaghetti squash (which I really like) did well.  Last winter I tried to grow a winter garden, but the blackbirds and grackles wiped out my seedlings as they sprouted.  I tried to return the favor with one of my airguns, but it was a losing battle.  (Yes its legal under the North American Migratory Bird Treaty to kill them for depredation or nuisance purposes.)  I am planting some more trees shortly.  An avocado is going in the inner back yard where it will be protected from winter winds, a fig tree to go out by the road, and a couple grape vines for the inner back yard as well.  Right now I have one fig tree that is doing well, and a handful of citrus trees that are "surviving" and a couple pomegranates that are "surviving."

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I have a lot of friends who ride motorcycles... They've been beggin me for years to buy one... Ive told em many times, but they still dont get it.. I drive a truck for a living, last place i wanna spend my days off is back on the road!

I would however like to get into boating... Cruise around the lake the same way you cruise the streets on your bike... Maybe ill fish a little, or maybe ill pull the kids around on a tube... Either way, when im on the water, im happy!

Almost had me a boat... But then this house thing was dropped on me... Its a good problem, if all goes well we close by Dec 15th... Everyone is excited!

I forgot about guns... My family loves guns! Even the wife!... I dont take them shooting as often as i should, maybe i should plan a trip to the "range" (abandoned field) soon

Also, i think making/editing videos has just become a new hobby of mine... I do them all on my phone, but would like a go-pro some day

Just put this together the other day.... In my younger years, freestyle BMX was a BIG "hobby" of mine (more of a lifestyle)... A while back i ran over my kids old bike, the wife thinks i did it on purpose so i could buy him a freestyle bike.... I can't comment on that... But i do like watching him ride it!

Ethans new ramp:

Edited by JRammit
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Well, I bragged about dropping a gopher at 94 yards with an air gun, but what I didn't tell you is even after taking three practice shots at the same range I missed him twice and he just stood there taunting me. 

 

If it makes you feel any better I am absolutely horrible at golf.  For a couple years I played three days a week and on better days I was a double bogie golpher on a short course and a triple bogie golpher on a long course.  My absolute best game ever was only single bogie average on a short par 3 course.  I figure with as much effort as I put into it and that's the best I could do I was done.  My clubs just get in the way now. 

Edited by Bob La Londe
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