Awesome dude! Keep it up!

Well, Thank You for the compliment!

I do a bit of whittling. I make a few walking sticks to give away every year at our county fair. 3 or 4 of us old guys make some, and we put them in a big barrel at the gate, and they are free for anyone who needs one.

No I have not. I'm not a particularly good hand with a soldering iron. Who would I talk to? But soldering might be a skill to practice. Somewhere around here, I have a couple of small Arduino boards, Zeros I think.......

I do not have the patience or perhaps even attention span to play video games.

I don't know man, that sounds interesting rather than dull.

That way lies madness!

I've briefly tried Gentoo, no. Just no, thank you.

The lake I live on, and the surrounding lakes are too big and rough for paddle boards. And at my age, my balance is what it once was either. I do have a boat, but I haven't put the lift or boat in the lake this year. I'm waiting on knee surgery and walking is somewhat painful right now.

The pair of eagles that nest in my trees would absolutely be in favor of that! I think the pine martins would find chickens to be a tasty treat also. And perhaps the wolf pack that travels through my trees and lake shore in the winter might hang around for a bit also. As it stands now, they just pass through in the night.

Oh I read a lot. Mostly technical manuals. But I am trying to branch out into long boring novels. But it's hard. I love reading about metallurgy and horology. It makes me excited. And I'm not sure if dull people should be excited about anything. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

I don't like writing for 2 reasons, One-- I have filled out too many run reports. Bad vibes there. And secondly-- I'm a lefty and writing is not designed for us Bar Sinister types to do. I can't even decipher what I wrote half the time.

I'm not quite on a first name basis with the humming birds yet, but I'm getting there. I also have a few yellow warblers and goldfinches that visit. But they are very antisocial and standoffish. I did locate a ruffed grouse nest in the far corner of my property. I counted 16 eggs in her nest. I'm hopeful that at least half of them hatch, and she can carry 3 or 4 to adulthood. I usually have a clutch of mallards under my dock every year. But I haven't seen any just yet. It was a very late spring here though so the hatch is a bit late.

If you talk to my Wife, (Grandma), she will tell you I do a lot of useless things around here. And that I should do more sweeping and vacuuming and less time fishing as a rule. But she still enjoys the fish, berries and mushrooms I forage out of the forest every year......

I'm damn near 70 now. It's only a couple of years away and a paying job with regular hours? No thanks! Besides, I was the emergency management director of our small town for about 6 years. But since we didn't have any townwide emergencies during my benevolent reign, it was indeed a dull extra job that had no salary. Though I did spend most of my time wearing that hat rewriting and updating many of the protocols. Since no one had done so in 40 years. So that's a tee shirt I got already.

3 Pro tips for those interested in such a job,

1. Never go to a small town city council meeting and complain about the lack of preparedness for ANYTHING. You will quickly find it's you who will be doing the preparing to the tune of the railroad vote that is about to run you over....

2. If you really need help call the local Methodist Minister. Turns out, they also have large emergency books with names and phone numbers to gather help from other Methodist churches. They will gladly come and help you clear damage from yards and streets for free. You can mobilize an amazing number of people willing to help with the cleanup.

3. When the emergency hits, close all roads in and out of town. Let no one you don't know in. Armed guards if you have to. Scammers abound and are waiting for this exact moment to prey upon people who are in shock from the disaster. Keep them OUT!

****Bonus Tip-- Be wary of the Red Cross. They are of the firm belief that they know more than you do about what your town and people need. And they ain't got time to listen to you. They are the Pros and you aren't. And it's often an all or nothing package with them. Do as they say, and only what they say, when they tell you.

My nearest neighbor is over a mile away. And there are too many trees in between. A hazard of living in the middle of a sparsely inhabited forest I suppose. But we do wave at each other and even visit each other at times.

I do understand about the waving thing. And yes, if you wave too long, people do start to talk about you for sure. And you need to be careful of how energetic you wave also. That too is also a point of discussion at the local cafe.