I’m in that age bracket and I’ve turned to spunking the little amount of disposable income on amateur radio kit and equipment.
I wish I’d picked up a debilitating cocaine habit instead. It’d be cheaper.
Oh hey that’s something I’ve been vaguely interested in for a while!!! You enjoying it? What do you do?
Very little 😂
No I got into it to learn the theory of it more than anything. I’ve been faffing about with a VHF setup to see if I could establish a little station that could be heard anywhere in the town I’m in. That’s inexpensive to do and you can probably knock together a basic station with decent range for £100 and the time and effort needed up a ladder.
The next step is to look further afield and build a station that operates in the 20m band, but I’m yet to be able to convince Chief Girlfriend that an end fed antenna dangling across the back garden, or a fiver metre whip mounted to the roof is a good idea. HF transceivers are exponentially more expensive, and require some support devices too.
Otherwise, I go “hilltopping” and head up elevated positions with a quarter-wave antenna and a cheap handheld radio to listen out on what’s happening. It’s good for the geek in me; it’s good for the mind being at such pretty viewpoints; and it’s good for the body walking or running up hillsides.
Alternatively, I’ll sit in the garden while the kids play around with FlightRadar24 open on a device and a handheld radio tuned to the local airport approach frequency, and talk about what an aircraft is or may be doing while listening to the chatter.
So yeah, I don’t do a lot really. I live quite close to the coast so getting into marine frequencies is something on my list to do; and speaking to folk worldwide would be a laugh!
I’ve thought about that! seems fun! On the other hand I have choosen the worst, most stressful, expensive and frustrating 40s hobby because I’m like that. 3d printing. Should have gone for the radio. (still spend all my free time doing that )
I’m not sure how a midlife crisis would look for me because I’ve basically kept the same weird interests I had as a teen.
So basically a life-long midlife crisis?
😏Entire-life crisis
Ooooo!! 🙋♂️, I can relate to that!
Nice live you have…
I guess so. Is that really a crisis if it’s basically what you do though?
My friends and family seem to think so
Yeah, my midlife crisis was basically, I just got extra bored at work and spent more time doing all the usual non-work activities. Finally resolved when I decided I didn’t need to work any more, which gave me a lot more time for all of teenage-me’s favorite things. Wasn’t even tempted to buy a Corvette.
similar, i went from not having transportation besides my feet to having an ebike. we joke that it’s my midlife crisis, but really it’s just my transportation.
my midlife crisis will involve so many saxophones. when i can afford a midlife crisis.
I have a very mild case of that in that I bought a weird traditional flute from Japan a couple of months ago. It looked cool and a game character I like has one. A bit hard to play, but I’m getting there.
It’ll certainly be a lot more expensive, but I wish you a future crisis full of epic sax all the same.
Thank you. i’m probably going to get the electric sax before i get the bass (if i’m spending 30 grand on an instrument i have a few others ahead of the bass sax), but we can dream.
What flute and game was it?
A shinobue, a transverse flute made of bamboo (well, traditionally, mine is not too bad but it’s plastic. One day, maybe).
The game is Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The two protagonists play the shinobue as a ritual to send off people who have passed.
I like Okami too, and I believe Waka’s flute in that game is also a shinobue.
I bought an electric flute/recorder but never got around to learning it. Xenoblade Chronicles is on one of my list to eventually play.
Wish you well with learning it.
Damn it. So it seems like I am prototypical 40-something.
- I do own a gravelbike (they are just really fun and also very practical for commuting)
- I love our portafilter. Nicely combines my tendency to ritualistic beverage-preparing (long-time green-tea-drinker) with my wifes coffee-habits.
- I don’t do thriathlon but probably would if I could swim decently. Learning juggling and guitar-playing instead, falls in the same category.
Life can be fun, so trying to make the best of it.
What is a gravelbike?
Basically a road bike, but kitted out for touring instead of road racing. It’s really used to be just bigger wheels and tires but these days road cyclists are running thicker tires as well.
Hybrid between roadbike and mountainbike.
Someone posted a pic of one in another comment.I have an older one (ok, actually two…) of those:
https://www.salsacycles.com/collections/fargoIt is more on the mountainbike-y side, others are typically slightly less rugged.
So basically the “mountain bike” I had as a kid, before the started adding fancy shock absorbers and disk brakes?
All right, now I want a gravel bike too!
You had a mountainbike with drop bars?
Unusual.Also: Basically all gravelbikes come with disc brakes, major distinction to roadbikes.
I had a Randonneur-like bike in my youth in the 80s, which had some features common with the recent gravelbikes.
I liked it very much, so was very happy when gravelbikes became a thing 10 years ago or so.
Haha, i didn’t know it had drop bars… Nope, that’s not for me :)
Different kind of drop bars than on a road bike, though: Wider and more upright sitting position.
Worth trying out at least once when looking for a new bike.
Isn’t that what normal hybrids are for? I guess it looks cool though
What’s a normal hybrid?
Like a commuter bike with flat handle bars, kinda thin tires, and no suspension
I know these, although they are not as common here as gravelbikes.
Kinda like watered-down Fixies optimized for urban commute.
Will not work well in more off-road (so: “gravel”) scenarios and for touring.
Different thing, I would say.Mine was in the hybrid category but does have front suspension. Helps with the craters in the roads because for some reason UK roads resemble the Donbas. Think it’s also listed as a trekking bike.
Roads, gravel paths, grass and dirt paths are generally what I go across.
Hybrid between roadbike and mountainbike.
Hillbike!
I would be great at the triathlon if the three sports it combines were running, bicycling and drowning.
I mean, the reason many people fit this in their forties, is because they finally have the time and money to do so.
I was too poor in my twenties to have a nice espresso setup. I make decent money now, but I have young kids now, so no time. In ten years time when I’m in my forties, I’ll finally have the time and money simultaneously.
Brewing decent coffee however is fine (or tea, or caffeine pill it & hydrate) but dang nothing like having a bike that can get into some hills! Until the ski mountains open for winter but can be too far, too expensive
I’ve been finally realizing my dream of having a home studio filled with all sorts of synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, effects, mixers, etc. Pretty frustrating since now that electronic music has been incorporated into mostly every genre and there are also a lot of collectors all the now vintage pieces that my favorite artists used back in the day are priced insanely out of reach. Upside is there is a ton of cool new stuff coming out, too much cool new stuff.
Isn’t it all software now?
Sure you can do everything in software, there’s some great sounding virtual synths nowadays. I prefer the tactility of hardware and just plugging this into that and seeing what happens, away from a computer which has taken over virtually every other aspect of life. Plus blinky lights pretty lol. I don’t use a computer for anything except to record a stereo mix. It’s mostly just to unwind and space out anyways. If I wanted to put together a song with a traditional structure I would probably use a computer.
Sounds like you would enjoy https://vcvrack.com/
I’ve used it and it’s nice but I still prefer to have the actual modules in front of me to patch, and there is something going on with the circuitry of the non-DSP modules that make it a bit special. There’s some subtle modulations and such. Software does attempt to emulate this with complex maths and circuit models but it doesn’t seem quite the same to me personally.
Retro anything has jumped in value tremendously; for me its been game hardware.
Are we still on for historical wargaming at 40? Or has that moved to 50 now?
What’s that?
Some kind of LARPing or more the tabletop thing with historical setting? Is the latter even still a thing? Only know it from old movies…I think it’s the tabletop thing where you paint your miniatures for months and then don’t have anyone to play with
For these often the journey is the destination, I think.
But also, I only know about the Dnd and Warhammer fantasy stuff like my son is involved with…
Comment was about something different, if I understood correctly.Sounded like it was tabletop wargaming with Napeleon instead of Yarrick.
That are the ones I have seen in old movies.
Never encountered it in RL up to now, though…I have seen historical minis in online painting communites and even considered getting a few when I played 40k to use as cultists or conscripts. They seem to be far less popular than fantasy and science fi minis.
Yeah, painting itself is probably the main hobby at that point. Over at !tabletopminis@lemmy.world there seems to be a fair amount of historical minis posted, though it is likely less popular than fantasy settings
Warhammer with a WWII Historical setting. It’s all still a thing. They’re arguably at their highest popularity too. The pandemic was a gateway for a lot of people into both hobbies.
Hey, gravel bikes are good fun.
I had no idea what a gravel bike was so here’s for the other folks who don’t either:
You’re certainly not going to carry a lot of gravel with that bike. Maybe if you added a little carriage?
Maybe with a decent backpack?
Yeah, it’s basically a roadbike with thicker tires, or an older mountain bike with road bike handlebars ment for going over gravel or anything that isn’t asphalt.
I heard people converting mountain bikes from the early nineties to gravelbikes, because the frame is perfect for that!
Mountain bikes have been getting increasingly descent oriented, i.e. they’re good for going down rough tracks really fast. But that also means they’re less suitable for longer distances in less rough terrain, which is a niche that’s been filled by gravel bikes. Also road bikes are only really suitable for well maintained tarmac. Where I live all roads like that have heavy car traffic, so I prefer riding on back roads or forest tracks, which a gravel bike is much better for.
44 here and zero of this applies to me lol. My hobbies are still video games and art; the same hobbies I’ve had since I was a kid.
My midlife crisis is degoogling, switching to Linux, eating less meat, reducing the footprint I leave on this world, spending more time with my wife and daughter, treating my recently diagnosed ADHD and not giving as many fucks regarding work. Oh, and I took up archery. Pretty ok I guess. I’m 42.
This sounds less like a crisis and more like ‘getting your shit together’.
You’re setting things up to enjoy life more. All power to you!
God forbid people pick up new hobbies as they grow older, we should all make as much money as humanly possible and then die i guess.
Some even try to stay healthy! What a bunch of losers!
fuck yeah i love money
The problem with hobbies is they tend to contribute to clutter and as you get older you want less of that.
Me who just went to see a friend this morning on my fixie “Neat… I totally fit the stereotype!”
I’d love a bike but I can’t afford it, have a place to store it out of the elements, or have a safe place to bike because horrible infrastructure. I’ll dream though.
Yes. I got an electric bike at 55 not 40 (late bloomer I guess) but only possible because work lets me park it inside, and there is room for it inside my house. I do park & lock it at the grocery or yoga or whatever but 95% of the time either I am on it or it’s indoors.
With you on the lack of safe paths though. The best they do here is some paint on the road on some roads. The city is trying, it’s fought by the county gov though.
Bikes don’t cost that much money, like 3 days worth of rent will get you a pretty basic cheap bike. 15 days of rent should be a really nice bike that will last years. You don’t need carbon fiber.
If you’re renting a mansion maybe. I am currently building myself a drop bar steel tourer and have already crossed the “three months apartment rent” line, even without especially fancy components. Bicycles have become expensive over the past 10 years, with e-assisted ones establishing price levels that were previously considered obscene for the mainstream. Then non-electric bikes used their slipstream, so to speak.
You can get decent bikes for a few hundred easily here. I got a fairly nice one which cost £600 but that was probably spending a bit more than necessary. They also threw in a few freebies with it.
Electric obviously would cost more though.
To be clear, we’re talking brand new here, right? Because I don’t think you can get a “decent” bike for less than 1.000 € anymore where I live. For me, decent parts would be in the Shimano Deore or equivalent price (and quality) bracket.
Yeah brand new, if you are going over £1k its getting to the sport/racing sort of bikes, not something you would really use for commuting or casual bike rides
Everyone should learn new things as often as they can. Pick up a new hobby or skill, become very proficient at it, incorporate it into your life, repeat. This active mental engagement is the best way to prevent dementia and keep your mind sharp.
I can’t find a single job to save my life because all the job postings are saturated, what’s wrong with me?
The only thing wrong, judging by that statement, is the hellscape you (and I) live in.
Nothing is wrong with you, the job market is a hellscape. It’s a job posting written by AI being applied to by AI. Most entry level jobs get thousands of applications when a few years ago it was only a few dozen. You literally can’t compete in that. My suggestion is network. Goto job faires and meet people who are looking for or match people to jobs.
You’re poor.
90s mountain bikes make great gravel bikes and you can usually get one for dirt cheap. Hell find a steel frame road bike and put some grippy tires on it.
I think the person who drew this comic was born into the wrong generation. (They’re a boomer at heart.)
Nah, the interests are boomer, just different hobbies.
