I was reading a short post on a friend’s site and he mentioned “lost hobbies.” Here’s my compilation of lost hobbies and talents from the lack of interest that drove me from them.

• Camouflage
  • I liked collecting it at a young age and enjoyed playing commando with all the kids in the local youth group. They would use a large field and two teams would camp overnight with the group leaders. Each person wore an arm band for the representing team and the goal was to not get your arm band removed while trying to capture their flag. At the end of the game, we all gathered around the campfire to enjoy hot dogs and s’mores. Then went slept in the open under the stars. It is a great memory.
• Hiking and Camping
  • I went on several short hikes and camping locally with a friend before I went for seven days with him and two other men on the Appalachian Trail from Newfound Gap, Tennessee to Fontana Dam, North Carolina, and later to Cumberland Island in Georgia. I still have my external frame backpack and dual-fuel stove along with other accessories. I hope I can use it sometime soon.
• Amateur Radio
  • I still have my Extra class license, call sign, plate, and radio gear. Occasionally the thought of being at a field day event does come to mind. I’ve built the Elecraft K1 and K2 from scratch and several other electronic circuits after reading an inch-thick RF engineering book. I’ve etched copper circuit boards and tested circuits on breadboards. I’ve built circuits with EAGLE. I owned a HeathKit HW-101, Yaesu FT-301D, Elecraft K2, and Icom IC-706 MK2. And for handhelds, Icom IC-W32A, Alinco DJ-C5T, Yaesu VX-5R, and Yaesu VX-7R. I built dipoles and vertical antennas for high frequency operation on voice and continuous wave bands. I operated at fixed stations, mobile stations, and pedestrian mobile.
• Woodturning
  • I did this for five years, dropped it for another five years, picked it up and built my own shop with the help of my dad, then gave it all up after a few more years and sold everything connected to it. Over the course of this interest, I made several bowls, platters, and pens.
• Electronics
  • An associate of science degree that I tried because of amateur radio. I completed that degree but didn’t have enough interest to finish my Electrical Engineering of Technology Bachelor’s degree. I went back to the arts and classical guitar lessons. Through that sour experience, I found graphic design. Before I took the Bachelor’s degree while in the technical college, I started designing websites with only HTML. It was a side hobby to fill the time between electronic classes and learning the unicycle. By the time I had an opportunity to work in electronics after applying to many jobs but being turned down every time for many unknown reasons, I started commercial truck driving the same day I was offered a position at a plant building electronics for airplanes. I drove professionally for about six months before I decided it wasn’t for me and came back to start graphic design classes, which I did very well in.
• Graphic Design and Advertising
  • I completed this degree at the same technical college as my electronics degree. I learned Adobe CS3-CS4 Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, some Flash, and Dreamweaver. During this time, I started my development interest in WordPress. I completed several print design internships, my favorite being with Saint Dwayne’s company because of the logo and brand design work and the nostalgic desk chair he owns.

And now, I’m a WordPress developer, computer support technician, photographer, and most recently I’m taking courses for React Native so I can make apps for iOS and Android. The first three in the latter sentence, I have had with me through out all my bulleted interests mentioned.