Looking for hobby suggestions

[caeryon]

I know that this is going to sound a bit silly at first read, but my husband needs a hobby. I saw a t-shirt years ago -- when I was still single -- that read, "Help! My husband is retired, and he doesn't have a hobby!" I laughed then, but I definitely understand it now. There are lots of things my husband is passionately interested in but, due to serious health and mobility issues, can't easily do anymore. Working on cars (especially rodding), welding, guns (which he gave up when he started having kids in the house), woodworking, for example.... He's into old trains, planes, cars, trucks, anything to do with ships and the sea, & history. That makes model-building seem like a no-brainer choice, but he has diabetic neuropathy in his hands, so he has little or no feeling in his fingertips and his hands close into fists with no warning. That rules out most hobbies that require delicate work. We recently bought a small welder, and he's going to teach me how to weld (well, try to, at least), so that will keep us both busy for a while. But the man is bored out of his mind! His eyesight's bad (also because of the diabetes) and it's nothing glasses can help. It's bad enough that we just got him signed up for books on tape from the national "Books for the Blind" program, which gives him something to do besides watch old movies, Animal Planet, Discovery, and The History Channel all day. This would be bad enough for an elderly man, but Jamus is 43! As he tells me, "I'm too young to live like this!" Because we're both on disability, many of the hobbies and activities that do interest us are too expensive for us to actually try. His doctor wanted to admit him to the hospital yesterday when he went in for a check-up; his blood pressure was 306/272! The nurses told him he'd set a new record at that office. I worked in ICU for years, and I've never seen a b.p. that high -- not in someone still walking and talking, at least! My stubborn man refused to go to the hospital because, as he told the doctor, worrying about how he'd pay the hospital bills would just make it worse, and came home shaking his head about his doc's insistence that he needs less stress in his life, that he needs to relax. Duh! Really? I know I sound like I'm having a good laugh about this, but I'm scared to death he's going to stroke, have a massive heart attack, or both. Yesterday was one of the longest days of my life. If I could find something he could do with all this free time besides fret and worry, it couldn't hurt the situation and might well help. Neither of us can think of a darned thing for him to do, though. If any of you have any ideas about low-cost hobbies that don't require walking (he uses a wheelchair), good eyesight, manual dexterity, or much money, I'm desperate here!

 

[OkeeDon]

Look into Ham radio. I know almost nothing about it, except that I have met some very interesting people who are seriously into it. It is almost the perfect hobby for someone with disabilities, requires little eyesight, almost no manual dexterity, no walking...

I don;t know how inexpensively one can get into it, but I'm willing to bet there's a lot of second-hand equipment out there that could get you started. the best part is, in emergencies, he would be providing an extraordinarily useful service.

 

[DaveNay]

Radio controlled cars.

I'm not talking the junky little electric things from the back of the Sears toy catalog. I'm talking about gasoline powered, multi channel radio controlled cars with full suspensions. Kyosho is one of the more popular name brands.

Some of these even have four wheel drive, and real brakes!

If he builds one of the complete kits, he will be able to use many of his crafting skills, as well as mechanical and engine knowledge. Best of all, they are under 10 lbs, and the construction is all bench work.

 

[caeryon]

Dave and Don, those are both great suggestions. Thanks! I know he's talked about RC cars & planes before. It even seems as if I recall him telling me that his scout troop did some work with ham radio back in the Dark Ages. I think one of the kids in the troop had a dad into it who showed them the ropes. (My honey made Eagle Scout, so scouting was a Big Thing at his house.) Another thing I think he'd love to get into would be model trains. He's a big railfan! He got hurt at work six months after I moved to WA to be with him... and six months before we got married. Since his accident, his other health problems have just seemed to snowball. Before he got hurt, we had talked about so many things we wanted to do: get a boat, maybe even a live-aboard; build a rod together; travel.... Once his legs went kaput, all that went haywire, too. We started rodding a '66 Chevy Suburban, with plans to bag it, shave the door handles, etc., but it got where he couldn't do the work himself anymore and we couldn't afford to send it to a resto shop. So the car's sat in storage back up in WA for almost two years; we're going to try to trailer it down to AZ later this year. If I really can learn to weld decently, the plan is for him to be the brains -- and me the brawn -- to finish at least its body work. I just hate that he can't do all the things he wanted to try, and he tells me that he feels as if I think he pulled a bait-and-switch on me. You know: I met and fell in love with a hearty, healthy guy who could, we joked, bench press a Yugo who, almost overnight, changed into a busted-up old-young guy in a wheelchair. That's not true, of course, but I see it as a sign of how depressed he is for him to even think for a moment that I'd feel that way. I just want to find something he can enjoy doing, something that will help make him feel as if he's still capable of having fun and enjoying something with the same ol' passion he had for the stuff he used to love doing. Lord, maybe I should have posted this over on the forum for "serious stuff"! I guess it's just that the scare yesterday seems to have whacked me over the head with a renewed urgency to get him involved in something that will hopefully help him feel less depressed and "washed up." Since my personal idea of a good hobby tends to run towards sewing or doing crossword puzzles, I figured the folks here could suggest something a bit more "manly" but still doable for him.

 

[Cowboyjg]

I would like to suggest that interaction with others as part of the "Hobby" would be a huge plus and maybe the most important part of the equation. From teaching young people (he sounds very knowledgable and experienced about alot of things) to working with older persons at senior centers and such. There are many organizations that utilize phone counselors for things from crisis intervention to companionship. Maybe a teachers assistant to a shop teacher at a local school or youth center or such to maybe involvment with a car club to teach and share with younger members.

I guess what I'm trying to share here is the need to find something that will provide a sense of self worth. It's not just about the hobby. There's really more going on there. There are people out ther that need and could use the benefit of his life experiences. He inturn would benefit from being "needed" so to speak. I think you get my point.

Hope I've been helpful.

 

[OkeeDon]

I've got another idea that may or may not work. It depends on your transportation status and how close you might be to a road racing track. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) uses volunteers as workers to make their races go smoothly. These range from corner marshals (which requires mobility) to grid marshals, paddock marshals, tech inspectors and, probably the most appropriate for you and your husband, timing and scoring. The timer and scoring folks generally sit in an air conditioned timing tower. While all of the races are now using transponders, they still track each car manually in case the electronic system breaks down. The paddock marshal is also a good position for someone with a physical challenge -- the chief paddock marshal at the Sebring race track in Florida rides around the paddock in his town car with a handicap sticker, It involves enforcing parking and speed limit type rules, and solving problems with space allocation, etc. Registration is also an neat place to volunteer -- you get to know everyone!

The most prominent tracks in AZ are Firebird and Phoenix International, both near Phoenix. Here is a link to an SCCA web page about getting involved: http://scca.com/Involve/Index.asp?IdS=0623FA-5D136D0&x=065|010&~=

Near the top of the page is a link to find an SCCA region near you, and information on how to contact SCCA national in Topeka.

 

[caeryon]

I agree that what he probably needs most is interaction with other folks. We keep talking about getting involved with the local historical society, but haven't gotten off our duffs to do it yet. We find this area's history pretty fascinating (we live in an old mining town next door to the Apache reservation from which Geronimo and his little band of followers escaped; Chief of Scouts Al Sieber -- played by Robert Duvall in one of the more recent movies about Geronimo, whom he tracked for the Army -- and one of the Clanton brothers are buried in our old cemetery, and the Earps and Doc Holliday used to hang out here, too -- pretty neat if you love Old West history!) so that sounds like a good outlet for both of us. I've undertaken the project of photographing one of our old cemeteries' headstones and transcribing the info on them for an online genealogy project, and he's gone along to help with that a few times. Most of the graveyard isn't accessible by his wheelchair, but he's great moral support as I stumble around in weeds on the lookout for snakes. LOL

This morning, he told me he'd been thinking about hobby ideas. (He's been asking me if there have been new suggestions here, so he appreciates your input.) Since he's wanted to build a nice HO train layout for a long time, today he suggested that we start collecting buildings, etc. for it. He has an old footlocker full of trains & track from his younger days in storage back in WA, so we've got rolling stock, just nowhere to show it off yet. I'll probably have to do much of the fiddly detail work, but I love that sort of stuff. So it will be something we can do together, which is important, too.

I asked him when we were talking about the subject this morning about an historical novel he'd thought about writing a couple of years ago. He wrote lots of notes and I did quite a bit of research for it, but the project's fallen on the wayside since. He's never thought he could write well because he's dyslexic and can't spell or punctuate worth a damn, but I'd shown some of his short pieces to online friends who write and/or edit for a living, and they'd been very impressed. Several suggested that he look into writing articles for the train and ship magazines he loves. That boggled his mind, and, a few days after I reported their comments to him, he rather timidly asked me if I thought he could write a book. I'm sure he could, with some editing help to get it into standard English, so he started working on the storyline. Because his problems with his hands make typing hard for him these days, he's set the project aside. I'm going to try to get him to dictate the story on a recorder so I can type it for him or try to find funds to buy a good speech-to-text program for him. Who knows? Maybe you'll see his name in bookstores some day!

 

[BigAl]

Did you know there is a voice activated typing program for your computer now ,so your husband could speak and the computer would type the words for him ????? I saw it at Staples Office supplies . Then you do not need to type .

 

[elsmitro]

Do you have any pets? You could breed pets of monetary or heritaginal value, with focus on quality. Or, volunteer at your local animal shelter if you didn’t want to get your own. Since I am a big poultry fan I’m not above recommending a house chicken! I know it sounds crazy to most but there are a lot of people who have a whole lot worse living in their homes… Chickens can be very tame and loving when raised properly and they are much smarter than most give them credit for.
Good Luck!

 

[caeryon]

Did you know there is a voice activated typing program for your computer now ,so your husband could speak and the computer would type the words for him ????? I saw it at Staples Office supplies . Then you do not need to type .

That's a speech-to-text program. It takes a little while to "train" one to recognize all your voice's particular little quirks, but the good programs have well over 90% accuracy once they're trained. Not perfect, so someone still has to proofread the results, but pretty darned good.... They're pricey, though. We have an online friend in Wales who has arthritis so bad in her hands that it retired her from nursing. She has one of the better known programs, but says she gave up on it after a few uses. I suspect that a combination of her accent (although we've spoken on the phone, and her accent's really rather mild) and impatience is probably why it didn't work for her. I think I'm going to check if she wants to sell it, since it's not doing her much good as it is.

 

[Bobcat]

I second the ham radio suggestion. Go here http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl for practice exams. Once he can pass the "Technician" question pool consistantly, which may take a dozen run-throughs, go take the test. Test dates and locations in AZ... http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml?State=AZ This will get him in on the ground floor with all privileges in the VHF/UHF bands, including satellite comms. Handheld radios can be had for ~$50 and base-stations for a couple hundred. A foot-operated transmit switch is an option.

Eventually he can move into the HF bands and talk with people all over the world and start collecting QSL cards (Ham postcards). If he would like to try morse code, the bestest/funnest thing to do, they make keyers that can be operated by bumping with the side of the hand, etc. Here is a free program to help learn to read and practice using morse... http://www.g4fon.net/CW Trainer.htm

 

[Locutus]

Buy him a couple of assault rifles and get him started in combat type shooting competition!

 

[The Tourist]

He doesn't need hobbies indoors, it seems like he is already in a rut sitting home. He has to find something outdoors. And something physical. He's far too young to start vegging on the couch.

My wife and I have Trek mountain bikes. Yes, it's winter here now and she's on a recoup, but even planning for spring is a facet of the hobby.

The resource for this sometimes is not the wife, but his circle of friends. They usually have common goals and interests.

And get that boy to a gym! He won't enjoy anything is he's always sore, weak and unmotivated.

 

[Locutus]

He doesn't need hobbies indoors, it seems like he is already in a rut sitting home. He has to find something outdoors. And something physical. He's far too young to start vegging on the couch.

My wife and I have Trek mountain bikes. Yes, it's winter here now and she's on a recoup, but even planning for spring is a facet of the hobby.

The resource for this sometimes is not the wife, but his circle of friends. They usually have common goals and interests.

And get that boy to a gym! He won't enjoy anything is he's always sore, weak and unmotivated.

Good advice, Chico!

 

[RNE228]

Scout troops can always use help from old Eagle Scouts. We're always looking for merit badge instructors. And, we can always use adults for Boards of Review; and old Eagle Scout is one of the best people you can have on a Board of Review. There are many other opportunities in the council and district level too.

Outside of Scouts, we have been having a lot of fun with RC sailboats. Not too expensive, and you can get a complete boat, or build from a kit.

A couple people mentioned HAM radio. That's pretty cool. And... There is a HAM readio merit badge in Scout

 

[Tractors4u]

All good advice, but the original poster hasn't posted in a year and a half.

Maybe they will return.

 

[Gatorboy]

All good advice, but the original poster hasn't posted in a year and a half.

Maybe they will return.

... and perhaps has learned how to create paragraphs.

 

[Bobcat]

Carolyn (Caeryon) died from kidney failure in February. She and her husband had been in poor health for a while. I'm not sure if he is/was a member here or his current condition. Junkman was a friend of theirs and would know more.