What Do You Do??..............

[hwoods]

After some interesting reading in the "What do you do for a living" Thread, I got to thinking about this idea - A thread based on "What Do You Do For A Hobby away from the Fire/Rescue EMS Field??"............. And NO, I'm not calling Volunteering a "Hobby", we all know better than that......

To kick it off, I'm into Motor Sports, Tractor Pulling in Particular. I'm a member of the Pit Crew for the Mischief Maker 2WD Pulling Team. We operate a 2003 Dodge Dakota Pulling Truck, with a Keith Black 585 CID Solid Aluminum Block Hemi Engine turning 1,200 HP....... Second, I'm the Owner/Driver of a Yellow and Black (Suprise!) International 582 Tractor named "Firewagon". When we're not pulling, we watch our Neighbor from a few blocks down the road, Travis Pastrana, who is into extreme MotorBike stuff.........

[ChiefKN]

Freshwater fishing... mostly bass and anything else that will bite in our lake.

My brother and my father and I go just about every sunday where there isn't ice and fish for a few hours.

This spring, i'll be taking up fly fishing. Something I've wanted to do for a long time.

[tfpd109]

Fishing of course.... But as silly as this sounds, I love jigsaw puzzles. I guess it helps me relax and get my mind of of things. I also like watching high school football. (And yeah, I'm well out of school. lol) And to top it off, camping. Nothing beats getting away from everyday life.

[tree68]

Railroading - model and full-size. I model a "based on a true story" shortline in the wilds of northern New York in N Scale.

I'm a rules-qualified conductor on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, and just got my student engineer card, which hopefully will lead to being a fully qualified locomotive engineer on the line by the end of this coming summer.

I've started to get into some woodworking, but I'd hardly call myself a craftsman.

[FWDbuff]

Away from the Fire/Rescue Field....Well, my biggest hobby of all is not exactly "away" from the Fire/Rescue Field- Many here already know that I own and operate my own antique pumper. Much time is spent here and there (when I can find it) out in the garage with good music or good football on the radio, while I fiddle with this, paint that, adjust this, rebuild that.....You get the idea. and in the summer time, usually two weekends out of the month I am taking the truck to a car/truck show, muster or parade of some sort. I am also into antique tractor trailers and heavy trucks in general. I enjoy helping friends with their restorations, and attending shows with them. I have an opportunity to become a volunteer at the Mack Trucks Museum, as I live close by Allentown, Pa....But I am going to wait until after child #3 is born in late May 2011.

I am also into Military History, especially Naval history and Naval Ship histories. Both myself and my father are founding members of the Zuni-Tamaroa Maritime Foundation, dedicated to preserving the USS Zuni ATF-95 (which later in life became the USCGC Tamaroa WMEC-166, yes the one in the movie "The Perfect Storm") which is an ex Fleet Oceangoing Tug. It's a lot of fun (and a lot of heavy, hard work) being involved in such a huge project. It was easier when the ship was tied up in Baltimore, however they had to move it to the Norfolk, Va. area 3 years ago- and unfortunately for Dad and I, it's just not as easy for us to get down there. Although when we do "work weekends" we live on board the ship- eat/sleep/everything which is a lot of fun.

And I am a heavy reader- I will read almost anything about trucks and firetrucks- modern/antique...And WWII History.....And muscle cars.....And firefighting.....And fiction like Tom Clancy...as a result I have a personal library in excess of 1000 books.

[mtg55]

Fishing, salt and freshwater, hockey, cooking, hiking, mechanics, CAD design (if I'm feeling really kinky), hunting, Airsoft, and reading.

[Catch22]

Geez, I just realized how few things I do away from work and volunteering at the FD.

When I get a chance, hunting and fishing are on top of the list. I also coach my son's baseball team and play a little softball and golf when there's a chance, which is few and far between with the kids anymore. I also do some motorcycling (01 Honda Valkyrie Interstate) with the wife and like to get out on the ATV when the opportunity arises.

Right now the "hobby" taking up the most time seems to be remodeling the house.

[JayDudley]

Sideline

I guess I'm in the same boat as ChiefKN (no pun intended) I like to Bass fish both small and large mouth. I golf when I can and I'm also an outside freak and spend most of my time working in the yard.

[KelleeR]

Right now my biggest hobby is reading/watching/doing anything I can to get ready to test for the CSFD. Aside of that, I'm an avid NFL and college football fan, NASCAR fan, NHL fan, strongman/powerlifter/highland games participant.

[GVFD5]

Well, After all the time I spend at my day job and with the volunteering I don't have much free time. Mostly I spend as much time as I can chasing our 16 month old twin boys around, they are A BLAST! We also are a huge motorsports family (dirt circle track) I try to go racing as much as possible in the summer but my job rarely allows it.

[CGITCH]

Besides being a full-time student, I play some basketball, golf, and baseball, along with watching my friends compete in other athletics. I do some hunting, deer mostly, a little fishing, and it seems every weekend I'm always doing something to my truck.

[Blulakr]

Along with HWoods, I'm definately into motorsports. I was fortunate enough to get a firefighter\first responder gig at our local racetrack GETTING PAID to watch drag racing. Luckily no one has crashed seriously so I've never actually had to 'work'.

I also enjoy brewing beer. I keep 2 kegs on tap in my garage at all times. Right now I have an IPA and a tasty batch of hard apple cider. Because of this I have lots of friends.

[Blulakr]

Right now my biggest hobby is reading/watching/doing anything I can to get ready to test for the CSFD. Aside of that, I'm an avid NFL and college football fan, NASCAR fan, NHL fan, strongman/powerlifter/highland games participant.

If you're like me this is your favorite time of year. Bowl games, playoff scenarios, life is GOOD!!!

[pasobuff]

Well lets' see......of course, I have my horses (3 of them).....I like to ride, do a little showing.....also am into reading, needlepoint, taking care of our 5 going on 35 year old daughter! Oh - antiques too...I have a small business dealing in them....

[BoxAlarm187]

Like a lot of the other posters, I have a hard time thinking of what I do when I'm not doing the FD stuff. In addition to my full-time gig, I spend a lot more time then I should with my volunteer county, both at the station and county level. I also travel all over the state teaching on behalf of our state's fire-service training agency, a job that I absolutely love.

My other passion is photography. While I a lot of it is related to the fire service, I've also done some weddings and outdoor portraits too. I author articles and do photography for some of the trade journals.

Between my dad and I, we own three fire engines (2 Macks and a Pierce) so we enjoy playing around with those too. I also got a Dodge Charger this summer, so dressing and souping that up as been a lot of fun too!