Educate me

I know jack shit about hockey. I went a Bruins game last week and was just mildly entertained. I just dont care. I couldnt name a single player on the team and the only pro-hockey player I know is Wayne Gretsky. Does he still play? Yeah, thats about how much Im aware of.

Its not exactly obscure, but I know a considerable amount about World War I. Ive been interested in it since I was in high school and read a lot about it.

 

FOCUS:. I have this weird distrust of having to rely on people for every-day things, or just trusting in something working because "magic". Whenever I look around, I'm curious about how that thing works, or knowing how to do it or fix it.

I think it started off with IT... email, for instance... how does it work? Can I run my own email server? So I would dig into it, and learn the underlying technology on how it worked, and then set up my own. I don't ever want to have to do that again, but I like the fact that I understand the inner workings of how that stuff works, and even though I now outsource all of that stuff I can hold my own in conversation with those that do it for a living.

Same goes for daily-life things... house renovations, or electrical work, or auto repair and maintenance, gardening... all the normal, everyday shit you're surrounded by. More than anything, though, I find that the vast majority of "adults" that I run into are really shitty at their jobs, and knowing even the basics of their subject matter can really help sniff out the bullshit in a hurry.

Let's be real, though... some shit I've learned enough about to know that you just let the experts handle it... like drywall. I will never ever do any appreciable amount of drywall again in my life time, by choice, and I'm quite happy with that. But other stuff? It's worth the time and effort to me to do it myself, and sometimes I'll even save a few bucks. For instance, the control board on the old washer went, so a $500 repariman visit was dropped down to $120 from eBay, 2 hours of my time, and a small sheet-metal slice in my finger. Worth it, to me.

Never mind being out in nature... I like knowing that I can be pushed out of an airplane in the middle of the Northern Ontario wilderness in sub-zero temperatures and survive for 2 weeks... and I've actually done it (joys of para-rescue training in the military). There's a certain level of confidence that comes with that that can be addicting.

It's an itch that is so easy to scratch with the Internet... you see something, you're just curious about it, and you can figure it out on your phone or laptop or tablet. That shit is addicting to me, and I'm somewhat amazed that more people don't do it more, and just dismiss it to go watch the sitcom-de-jour for hours.


ALT-FOCUS:. Fly fishing. Specifically BC and Ontario entomology.

Spin casting is usually about something shiny and attractive that is violently introduced into the fish's ecosystem and triggers a "I MUST EAT IT" response.

Fly fishing is more about learning the entomology of the environment, and then presenting your fly/hook so that it looks like it naturally belongs, and then getting the fish to eat it because it fits in so well. It's called "Match The Hatch".

It's one of those things that once you scratch the surface, you're absolutely amazed at how little you know, and how much more there is to know... and before long you become a local authority on bug lifecycles and lake ecology.

For instance, take a quick gander through this online course: http://www.cabelas.com/assets/collections/flyfishing/fly-fishing-entomology/index.html

It's only scratching the surface... and I would never have thought that learning about bugs would equate to consistently catching fish.

So I now have a somewhat respectable library of bug books, and various "scientific" instruments, like stomach pumps, etc, all in the hopes of learning what the fish are eating.

For instance: https://news.orvis.com/fly-fishing/pro-tip-how-to-correctly-use-a-stomach-pump-on-trout/

Crazy.