Here on Californias central coast, I enjoy doing whatever activities I can get my school aged kids to do with me. I always try to get them hiking, biking, to the beach, to the zoo. They in turn try to get me to take them places like birthday parties, go karting, or jump at one of those trampoline places that smells like a sweaty gym (they are fun, I must admit. But stay out of the foam pits and just jump. Trust me on this.)
In my work I am an unlicensed ME and was previously an electronics technician. I've spent ~15 years in a role that should be filled by a power systems EE.
I work in unusual voltages, tolerances, conversions, and configurations. For example 115V three phase delta 400Hz. There are no off the shelf products for this, not even at the airport (it's delta!).
Most of my field is outside the jurisdiction of the NEC, FAA, SOLAS, and many others, but safety is still important. Every reg has to be deeply understood so we make a wise choice regarding when to follow it and when to blow it off. We can't follow them all though, and don't attempt to. We are able to write our own rules when needed, but they must be justified, well reasoned, and documented.
Somehow I manage to do all that but I have trouble carrying out small projects at home. I'm not handy. I suck at home improvement. Nothing in a house is ever level, plumb, or square. Nothing ever fits right. One must have craftsmanship, patience, and experience, but I lack all of those. We should have bought a condo. Seriously.
During covid I discovered that I like mountain biking so I splurged a bit on a fairly high end aluminum hardtail. I don't trust carbon fiber, but in hindsight I should have gotten the full suspension. I initially thought I just wanted to ride fire roads but that quickly escalated to real trail riding. I am fortunate to have a few good trails just a few minutes away and many more within an hours drive. It is my drug now, for sure. And my pants fit better.
I like SE HNQs. It has real people who are not trolls or cranks or bots. I like the high quality questions and answers and the wide variety of topics. It has helped me in my professional and personal life, like having life coaches I trust. And I get to learn from listening to them talking to their other customers also.
I am found nowhere on the internet except SE and Imgur. No socials.
