Outside Interests

I'm a little excited because tomorrow I'm going to my first maker's faire. I'll be volunteering with our local radio club (100 year old, W5IAS, oldest radio club in Oklahoma). In addition, I'll be showing off a few controller chips & Raspberry Pis that I use with my radios for APRS, satellite tracking, and digital radio modes, among other things. I'll let people try to make digital contacts with my radios too. I'm also looking forward to seeing what else is on display at the maker's faire. Should be a good time overall.

"Oh no," I hear you thinking, "Grant's talking radio again. Can anyone shut him off?"

Short answer, no. But, bear with me a minute.

My wife is, as near as I can tell, allergic to radios. She's never going to get her license and doesn't care about the darned things at all. Instead, she loves taking art classes. We have a couple of bowls and some mugs she made at pottery class in use in the house. She loves going to the German-American club here in Tulsa to continue getting better at speaking German. We both go to trivia night sometimes at a couple of local bars.

In short, in addition to our jobs, we have outside interests. More geeky goodness in my case, art and language in hers (yeah, I know, I married up). Those outside interests do a lot for our mental, emotional, and even physical, health. In addition to engaging the brain so that it remains pliable, we meet with people on a social level. Actual humans, interacting. Plus, I even get outside sometimes to hike around & play Parks on the Air with the radio. All this contributes to better all-round health.

Look, you're not getting younger. If you don't have some outside interests, I strongly recommend you find them. It'll help with your emotional and mental well being. Plus, finding the right interest for you, it's just fun. Better health and fun means not only a longer life, but a more fulfilling one. So get on out there & do something (even if it's not radios).

Grant Fritchey

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