Why do we have hobbies?

Are they good for us?

I have a habit of becoming excited about my hobbies and going on about them. Everyone who knows me knows about my hobbies. A while back I was riding home from work with a friend. The topic of discussion was fly-fishing and I was telling one of my stories.

My friend sighed and told me that he really loved to fish and there was a time in his life when he got to the water on a regular basis. He also admitted that he had never been fishing with his youngest son, a sophomore in High School.

I was shocked and asked him if he was telling me that he hadn't been fishing in what, 15 or 16 years? Yes, that is about right, was his reply. That got my mind churning and I thought through this exchange quite a bit.

You see, my friend is a vice president at his company and active in the political processes around the state. He is recognized as a community leader and an authority in his chosen profession. He is even a nationally known figure and I have seen his picture and read his work in some national trade magazines. Oh, and at the time he was my boss.

A few days later we were back together and I just had to ask him some questions. The first one was something along the lines of, don't you think it's important to lead a balanced life? And the second was a follow-up along the lines of, so how come you think that your exempt from a balanced life just because what you are doing is good and important?

He didn't have a great answer and he did acknowledge that he should do something to balance his life. (As an aside my friend did do some things to change his life. Those changes are a big reason why he is no longer my boss.)

For me it's pretty obvious that hobbies help give balance to our lives. I have workaholic tendencies. Most of the people I know share these same tendencies. These traits don't make us fun people to work or to live with. My hobbies help me overcome my antisocial tendencies.

One of my favorite hobbies is building things. I bring a certain intensity to everything I do and it is no different with woodworking or tile setting or any other building project. But at least it is different and it gets me away from the office.

Last spring I sold my car and used the proceeds to buy power tools. This helped fulfill some longtime dreams. As far back as memory serves I've wanted a compressor and some nail guns. I've also wanted to have a worm-drive saw. Well, I got 'em, along with a few other things.

I went to a few different stores, searched the Internet and burned through a big stack of catalogs. Deciding on the tools was half the fun. I soon learned one important lesson. When a salesman tells you that this is a good tool for the weekend do-it-yourselfer, it really means that this tool will fall apart the first time you use it for a serious project.

All the tools that I ended up buying were described as the tools that the professionals use. That is an important clue. Oh, and just because a salesman tells you that the pros use a certain tool doesntt mean its so. Be sure to seek out the actual professionals and find out what they use.

I thought of this lesson over the past Christmas season. My daughter dropped an ad in my lap for a $99 cordless drill. She asked if this was a good deal because she wanted to buy a drill for her boy friend. My reply was that it depended on whether she wanted to just be able to say she gave him a drill or whether her intent was to get him a good power tool. She assured me that it was her desire to get him, in her words, a really good drill.

So over the next two weeks we spent some father/daughter time shopping for drills. Now don't get sidetracked about my daughter buying power tools for her boy friend. This is an obvious display of good parenting on the part of my wife and myself. It is also every guy's dream, to a certain extent. The point is that we put in some time to get the right tool. (Another aside, over the Christmas season my daughter and her boy friend announced their engagement.)

We looked at DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Makita and a few others. She ended up purchasing a Bosch 3860K. This is a sweet drill. It has a half-inch chuck, 475 inch pounds of torque, a case, charger and two XR batteries. She purchasing this drill at a local tool distributor, Bountiful Tool, and paid less than $200. This model did not have the hammer drill feature. The guys who repair drills tell me that cordless hammer drills have far more problems and do not function well in the hammer setting. I recommend the purchase of a cordless drill without the hammer drill feature.

This experience emphasized another important lesson that I keep relearning. I checked around on the Internet and with some big distributors in town. I found that my local store could match the price and had the drill in stock. So if your shopping for tools you should give the small local companies a chance.

Well, that brings me back to my original questions about hobbies.

Yes, I think hobbies are important. My hobbies provide a good diversion and bring balance to my life.
10:17:52 PM    comment []