Aside From Coins, Do You Have Any Other Hobbies?

My dad worked for Westinghouse up until my early teens. He was a wireman. He built computers when they occupied an entire room and they did less than my cell phone.
He also built the Walkie Talkie that was used on the Gemini mission where an astronaut first walked in space. Once he was told to wire a plane from nose to tail and wingtip to wingtip.
Dad also built a camera on the First moon mission but one of the cameras on the lunar vehicle failed to function so he had to figure out what went wrong when it came back to earth.

 

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For the astronomers here, I replaced the extension power cords and large battery packs with this compact 12v lithium power pack from Talentcell. No more bulky cables or car sized batteries, and I get enough juice to power my telescope for a long weekend of observations.



My next step is installing my new Orion 9x50 finder scope and teltad finder as soon as I get the package from Amazon.


They will be replacing the absolutely dreadful cheap red dot finder that came with my telescope. Yuck.



I only need them to help me locate 2-3 stars for a star alignment, but anything that makes the processes easier is a plus, considering how bad my current finder is.

After that I'm going to be buying a control unit and heat trips to work on a heater system that can keep the telescope free from dew at night without having to utilize a bulky dew shield, and of course I'll connect it to another battery pack that I'll probably velcro to the mount lile I did with the current battery pack.

 

Let’s see some of those 80s watches. I’m a watch nerd myself though I’ve forsaken all but one now(SKX009). I believe @Sallent likes a watch or two as well.

 

So it seems I am about 40 pages late to the party...But in addition to collecting coins, I have had quite a large fossil collection. I have some really cool pieces that my dad and I have found over the years. My parents are visiting this weekend and brought several boxes of stuff for me. I will take some pictures and post if anyone is interested.

 

Sure. Let's see them.

 

Bloody Blast.......do it old friend.

 

Ok so here are a few that are sitting in the top box in the kitchen at the moment:

Blowfly

Starfish

A couple of fish
Trilobite
Tortoise shell (almost complete along with leg bones that are peaking out)
Oreodont Skull

 

Fossils, fabulous, fun............

 

There are actually several rock & fossil collectors that also collect ancients.

 

I’m one!

 

Great!

 

I didn't bust out the big ones lol. I have about a 3.5 foot piece of titanothere femur as well as some ribs. Also several chunks of mastodon tusk.

 

Two years ago, a little girl down the street found a Mastodon Tooth in a creek bed just 5 blocks from me after flooding washed the creek out. Some people have all the luck.

 

I have about a bookshelf full of various rocks and minerals, but the true gem (no pun intended) to me is this one:

 

I like watches? Not sure whatever gave you that idea. Why I'm only wearing my 1959 Hamilton Thin-o-Matic Model T-501 with a 17 jewel 663 movement inside.



The back says the hairspring is a "lifetime hairspring". Based on what my watch repair guy told me last time he worked on the movement, the reverse should have really said "Three-lifetime hairspring" as it all looks like it could easily tick tic another 60 years without any issues provided it continues to get proper services when the time is due.



Now, I wouldn't say that makes me much of a watch guy though, after all, everyone should have at least one Hamie...



Or two



Or three



Or four!!!

Now, I do also have three Seikos, and naturally everyone should have a Casio (or three), and of course there is a Rado Diastar, and a Longines, and a few vintage Soviet/Russian watches....but no, I would not really call myself much of a watch guy. I just happen to like watches and have stumbled into ownership of a few here or there over the years, and unlike most who throw their watches away...I tend to have mine serviced and maintained.

 

Wow, those are all wonderful. I still haven’t owned a Hamilton yet though I love the Khaki line. Any military inspired watch or tool watch design has always been my taste. Also any clean looking dress watch like that Thin O Matic. Is that 4th Hamie a Jazzmaster?

 

@Johnnie Black , don't blame you about the SKX009 taking over as your daily all purpose watch. They really are awesome. I love my SKX007 a lot. I wear it often.

The first commandment for the watch nerds says:

1: Thou shall have no other watch before your Seiko SKX.

 

#4 is actually the modern version of the Hamilton Thin-o-Matic. Sold for a few years begining in 2012 before being discontinued, but yes, shared the same exact case as the Jazzmaster. The only difference is that the back of the case is polished and has a vintage Hamilton logo on it, the glass is raised, and the dial has the vintage Hamilton H. But other than those three things, it's basically a Jazzmaster, really.

 

So, do they really call it that because the teeth are the same color as an Oreo cookie?

 

My favourite watch