Argentine tango. I like doing it with my partner, but I have zero desire to compete or travel to Argentina or even seek out the best teachers available. I can lead strangers and have enough variety in vocabulary that I don’t get bored. That’s enough.
There are a few, but teaching is a big one. I’ve tutored people in various subjects, and they usually tell me how good I am at it and that I’d be a great teacher. I have friends who are teachers, hard pass. Maybe if they made 6 figures, and parents/administration weren’t absolute nightmares, but I’ve heard too much to even briefly consider it.
I make 6 figures for 174 days of work every year. I’ve always had awesome admin until this year, but on the whole I have more fun watching them bloviate with that deer in the headlights look.
Most parents are awesome as long as you’re respectful and give them the final say. Ultimately, it’s their kid, so if we don’t agree on something even after they understand my reasoning, I’ll do what they ask. I’m sure there’s SOMETHING I wouldn’t cave on, but in 15 years as a science teacher it’s never reached that point. But I think if you make it clear from the beginning that they have the final say, it’s easier for them to trust you. So many of us think we know their kids better than they do, or that we know what’s best for their kid. With that kind of attitude parents are going to push back. 🤷♂️🤷♂️ Who can blame them?
Lots of people complain about teaching, and in most districts the job sucks. But there are still places where we’re valued as professionals. And even in the bad districts, like where I began my career in South Florida, when you close the door it’s just you and the kids. If that’s your jam then it’s fun as hell. I teach physics, intro and AP, and I have an insane amount of fun even though most of my students start out absolutely hating introductory physics (which all 9th graders have to take).
I’m glad you’ve had that experience, but it’s completely inconsistent with everything I’ve heard from my friends. Granted, a fair amount are/were in south Florida. The horror stories I hear about parent tantrums are beyond any reasonable response.
Parent tantrums are the easiest thing in the world to avoid. First of all, when you’re at a real impasse you should just do what they parent asks. They’re not our children. But sometimes parents ask for this that are just not possible. If they get unruly then you let them go. They can’t come meet with you at the school without permission, and you don’t have to respond to their emails or phone calls when they’re getting ridiculous. The minute they become unreasonable, all you have to do is tell them that if they’d like to continue communicating they’re going to have to make an appointment to come see you at the school. If they do that you make sure there’s someone in the room with you when they come. They hardly ever come. Then they can come get it out of their system for a half hour while the administrator or the counselor or whoever you have helps deflect them.
This is a skill that comes with time. You just don’t have to argue with parents unless you choose to.
It really does sound like you work in an idyllic district. Again, I’m happy for you, but I suspect your perspective on the subject might be significantly biased by that notable privilege.
I love tinkering with computers. Building, fixing, upgrading… software, hardware, networking, it’s all fun. I enjoy the troubleshooting process and the satisfaction that comes from solving a problem. I spent 20 years as an IT guy in the US Air Force and I enjoyed every minute of fixing computers while serving.
Now I’m recently retired and I could easily make 2-3x as much money working IT in the civilian sector, but… I just really enjoy doing it for fun. I don’t want to go back into a corporate environment and be told how and when and what to fix or upgrade.
My wife and I are planning to build our “forever home” (the last home we ever plan to live in) and we’re in the design phase right now. I can’t wait to wire the place for modern computer systems. I’d like to build my own server suite in a cold basement room and then network the whole house so I can automate tasks anywhere in the house. Open all my curtains from an app on my phone, answer the door, play music in any room (or all rooms) through an intercom system, stream movies/TV shows/video games to any TV in the house, etc. I’m definitely building a giant theater room in my basement, at least big enough to hold a dozen people, maybe more.
I’m excited for the possibilities that wiring my own house present. I also want to make it upgradeable over time, in case better standards for technology come out. Maybe run all cables through PVC pipes in the walls, so I can easily push new cables through without having to tear apart the walls.
Yeah, I’m really enjoying retirement as a former IT guy. I could make more money going back to work, but then I’ll have less time and freedom to engage in my hobbies. What’s the point in having more money if you don’t have the time to enjoy it? So I’m living off my govt pension now, which is more than adequate for me to live comfortably, and I’m just enjoying retired life.
I like IT as well but on that front I want to start a small hobby shop because there is nothing where I live besides dollar stores and phone shops, which sell cheap low quality material.
Let’s get that 2PB of storage, 10 Gbit connectivity and lots and lots of VMs going! The selfhosted community will absolutely love you when you post your setup
I’d like to build my own server suite in a cold basement the network the whole house
Wow, it sounds like you’re living the dream, which also happens to be my dream. I await the day when I’m retired and can wire up and get some servers in the basement which I can use to play around and self host, do whatever I want whenever I want with no boss or deadlines pushing me to do things in a different way.
Writing, specifically long prose. When there's a story that just has to be told and I feel it in the marrow of my bones I'll write and I'll love it.
If someone ever handed me a deadline, all joy would be lost. Some things just aren't meant to be a job for me and forcing the issue would only make me depressed and the writing abysmal.
I had been involved with the labour board over a wrongful termination dispute. I made complaints about about an abusive workplace and was shitcanned as a result.
During the final settlement where the lawyers were fighting over what my settlement payment would be, my lawyer and I had a bit of a discussion revolving around mental health.
She suggested I should consider a move into mental health services as I was essentially writing off continuing my trade apprenticeship by this point. She noted that I am a good listener and have a very clear understanding of mental health. She even offered to get me in contact with those in the mental health field.
It’s been heavily on my mind to go down that path but a part of me is intimidated. I’ve been able to help a few close friends who all experienced some heavy mental issues over the past couple years but these are people who I’ve become close to and am able to help them through a deep understanding of them.
I tend to get attached to people easily and I’m not sure how I’ll be able to separate work thoughts from my own thoughts meant for my own time. What heavy burdens will make it home with me?
Would I be good at working in such a field? According to my lawyer and those closest to me, I’d be great. But what am I going to do about my own mental health if I follow that path path? I can barely handle children and I’m the biggest kid in my own life. It’s already a monumental effort to keep myself fed and not spontaneously running into traffic.
Lot of social workers or mental health workers are using their own experiences to improve the support provided to their beneficiaries. Also, if you undergo training in the field, you will obtain tools that can help you better manage your own experiences. And finally, it’s important to know that you’re not “helping” anyone; they do it themselves. You only provide them with the tools or a perspective that might motivate them to take action.
It depends where you could get in. People with insurance seeking therapy out for themselves are awesome. That kind of job probably pays enough and respects their employees. Don’t get anywhere near anything to do with Medicaid if you value your salary, your self respect, and your mental well-being.
Music. I can play close to a dozen instruments with enough skill that I could sit in as a stand in player for a large variety of genres. I do everything in my power to avoid letting people around me know.
I make music as a way to meditate and relax. I can throw down a synthesizer drone and spend an hour+ noodling on the piano, guitar, cello etc without doing any recording or writing down stuff. I’ve got probably 100 or so short 4-12 bar ideas saved on my computer. I probably will never do anything with them but I like going back and rediscovering where I was musically/emotionally.
I am in a similar boat. I don’t have the chops I used to, but I have taught music and played in a lot of bands over the years. At several points in my life I had experiences that led me to believe that if I made music my job I would end up hating it! Currently I am not “doing anything with it” except for very slowly recording my songs. Home recording is something I have not delved into too much, but I would like to properly record some of my stuff because it means a lot to my friends and family. I would also very much like to be in a band again, but just for the fun of playing in a band. I am not at all interested in brand, image, promotion, or all of the other bullshit that is involved in the “music industry.” I do really miss having friends to just jam with and have “musical conversations.”
My wife has something of a natural talent with music, but never really had the chance to explore it when she was younger. She is working really hard at learning guitar, and I really want to support her so she can have a good experience with music.
I’m just now learning this. I have told people for years that I didn’t want to do it professionally, but people convinced me to do photo shoots for them. I somehow ended up doing about 9 photo shoots in the course of two months. It really did take all the fun out of it.
I hate the deadlines, the communication, and the pressure of it. I like being in control of my photography, I don’t want to give the control to other people tbh
I guess my confidence and knowledge did grow a lot, but I don’t want to keep doing it
Right out of high school I got a job as a mechanic, something I loved doing as a hobby before and got real good at. It’s the customer, it’s like doing family IT work. “You changed my oil 4 months ago and now one of my headlights won’t work”. Between that sending out vehicles that declined a bunch of work. I swear we only held one plumbers van because it was so unsafe.
I still love working on my own cars. However I’ve refused to touch any family members or friends vehicles. Not worth it.
I like to draw portraits. I’m decent. I draw what I want when I want. Some people have told me to sell some of my drawings or even ask me to draw them. I don’t want to do that cause: 1. I know I wouldn’t enjoy it, and 2. There are MANY, MANY more people better than me out there who DO this for money. Go ask them
Art. I’m not judgy against people doing it, but I always see all these people with advanced modification tools and using them to make their art “better”, like photoshop contrast tools and color stuff, when to me, if my art is good it’s good. I got eighth place in an art contest once, yet I know (without really complaining about it though) that I would’ve gotten second place if people hadn’t put steroids into their sunsets.
What irks me a little is those same artists who use the metaphorical steroids are in the campaign against AI art, and I’m like dude, there are people from whom it would be more fitting to hear complaints from. Say what you want about AI art, I’m not going to severely invalidate the arguments from either side themselves, but considering the actual critics involved, it’s at least 90% hypocrisy from the “anti” side, and you’ll have seen me having said this since day one.
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