Hobbies

I used to think being a Jack of all trades meant a person could do many things with great alacrity and skill.  I was happy to think of myself as a Jack of all trades; a person who was always willing to jump into something new and do it well.

Imagine my disappointment when I learned that Jack of all trades is only half of the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none.”  As it turns out, this may be an even more apt description of myself.

Much like my lovely wife, I find that my interest and focus changes with some frequency.  In the past, the following things have captured my interest: fishing, woodworking, cycling, my 280zx, jogging, Magic: The Gathering, and writing.

Part of the problem is, however, that in a desire to not do anything half way, I throw myself into each of these pursuits with great vigor.  I will give you an example which is perhaps (though reports cannot be confirmed) a source of great ire from Mika: my 1981 Nissan 280zx.

Initially, we purchased the car because it was affordable, and it appeared to be a good opportunity for me to learn about car maintenance.  Soon, however, I didn’t want to simply maintain the car, I wanted to improve it!  So I set out to learn as much as I could about the car, and I quickly discovered that many people were able to successfully change out the engine in my car for the turbo version of the engine in other models of the same car.  Quickly, the completion of this project became my ardent desire.

Around the time of graduation, I even went so far as to purchase a car for parts which had the engine I wanted.  I began work on the transfer, which I had been assured was a simple process.

I quickly learned that when mechanics say that swapping out an engine is easy, they mean two things: 1) It is easy for mechanics, and 2) it is easy compared to other engine swaps.

As a result, I am left with a half-finished project.  The engine has been taken out of the donor, and placed into the silver car,  that is as far as it has gone.  I mostly blame winter, but maybe I can now also blame myself.  Just a little.  Don’t tell Mika.