Handy

  I see a lot of people that have hobbies, which today is mostly called crafting. I suppose that is to distinguish those activities that actually create something as compared to simply collecting or admiring objects or things. I have taken to composing a blog nearly every morning but I don't think of that as a hobby, more like a habit. I did hear on the news yesterday that there may be a medical treatment for that. Having a habit, developing an addiction may be a disease and it is being called, "repetitive action disorder." RAD is what it will be called in the medical literature. Of course I just laugh at such nonsense. Habits are developed and may be stopped any time you want to. The only requirement is the actual desire to quit. But I'm thinking about hobbies this morning. 

 I don't believe I have a hobby, per se. In my way of thinking in order to have a hobby you have to develop a habit concentrating on one thing. Whether that is model railroads or building bird houses the hobby centers around one thing. Perhaps it is making jewelry. I don't have any one area that I concentrate my efforts in. As I have written before I am the proverbial "jack of all trades" and I admit a master at none of them. I could call myself "crafty" but that takes on a different connotation unless you explain it. When I was young "handy Andy" was a thing and I did get a handy Andy tool set complete with hammer and a real working saw. My grandchildren would watch Bob the builder. My toolbox does contain the tools required for many occupations and as a result no one "box" is complete. 

  Habit or hobby? Well that is sometimes hard to determine. I have a habit of attempting to fix or repair whatever breaks. The one exception to that is electronic things, I generally avoid tampering with any of that. I have learned over the years it is best not to fool around with something you don't understand. It is what I have taught my kids and grandkids. In order to fix something you have to first know how it works. If you don't know that, leave it alone. A rudimentary understanding is often enough to accomplish the repair. Common sense goes a long way in all of that as well. I find it frustrating when I can't "do it myself" and have to hire someone. I'm just not one to stand idly by and watch, even if I'm paying you to do the job. 

  There are times I wish I had a hobby. I figure it has to be satisfying to find that one thing that keeps you endlessly fascinated. It must require a degree of concentration that I simply do not possess. I get bored rather quickly. I'm thinking it must require that level of concentration to become expert at anything. I do have a habit of saying, that's good enough. I'm usually satisfied when whatever it is I'm repairing works again, or whatever I building/crafting meets the requirement. Are my goals too low? Well, that depends upon what I'm trying to accomplish in my opinion. The goal is different based on that. Is it for myself, for someone else or, am I simply being paid to do it. All have different requirements. 

  I also think the psychologists would tell me that it stems from my childhood.  The theory there being that is what my father did and I'm trying to be him. It is true that he was multi-talented in many of the building trades and held a degree of mastery in many of them. His knowledge went far past rudimentary. He did hold actual paying jobs utilizing those skills. If you needed something built or repaired he was the man! He also didn't do electronics beyond checking for a blown fuse and checking vacuum tubes. That is what he was familiar with in his day. He did grow up in a mechanical world. There may some truth in that as I was called little Ben and the expectation was I would be just like him. Many years later, long after his passing, I was told, you are just like him! Thing was, that wasn't supposed to be a compliment. I took as one though. Maybe the head doctors are right. Dad didn't have any hobbies either. He was the Handy Andy of his day. I think maybe you have to be of a certain age to know just who Handy Andy was. He's been around a very long time. Handy Annie joined him later on. 

                                                                               

                                           Vintage Handy Andy tool set. Yes, made for children.