A couple of things I have been meaning to crack. As per the chess tournament thread I am trying to improve my game a little bit and have tried to set aside 30-60 mins a day for that, even if it is in 10 minute chunks.

And, as a ham radioist I have decided to learn Morse. Not a licence requirement by any means these days but gives me something to focus on. Anything like that which requires 100% concentration I am finding good for the depression. Hard work at first though – it’s all just dit’s and dah’s at the moment 😀

Turning your tongue upside down.

I’ve learned how to bake a very reasonable copy of the bread I can buy from a bakers in town, there’s is just that bit better though so I still usually just buy it. I put a lot of time into getting an adequate replica though.

I learned about brewing beer with a mate a while back, all the kit and beer was his, it was good to learn, but I can’t be bothered with brewing an average beer at home when I can just buy really good beer from someone who does it professionally.

I’ve been trying to stop my brain from rotting while I wait out a bunch of health stuff. Learned how to solve a rubik’s cube (under 4 min) so far and have been re learning some maths from GCSE.

When I was younger I learned how to read naval signal flags. I didn’t own a boat or live near the sea and have since forgotten almost everything I so painstakingly learned. Maybe that’s a step too far in the pointless things league?

Abstract painting and when to stop.

There are no rules about what you are painting, what it should look like or when the painting is finished. It is so easy to add one more bit and ruin what you had.

Also because you can’t do exhibitions because of the plague you end up with painings all over the bloody house.

Thats funny, I saw this thread and was going to add Morse Code before i even read the first post! de G0UKL.

you end up with painings all over the bloody house.

Freudian slip?

Get more accurate with my axe throwing skilz .

For some reason I’d like to learn all the lyrics to Alphabet Aerobics…for many reasons I think its unlikely to happen

I joined HMRC 3 months ago. 3 months of e-learning while working from home. I’ve learnt and forgotten more pointless things than the rest of you put together 🤣

For years I’ve meant to learn Morse, I keep dipping into it but never really committed to it. Story of my life really.

I’ve tried to commit the Pigpen cypher to memory, I’ve almost got it down now I think.

I’ve been planning on teaching myself to read by alphabet index, ie a=1 b=2 etc.

All handy Escape Room skills, y’see.

For years I’ve meant to learn Morse, I keep dipping into it but never really committed to it. Story of my life really.

Similarly I keep toe dipping but as a ham radioist I do really want to learn it and start wokring it on air.

The G4 FON app is very good and free and I have been pointed toward this as well:

https://morsecode.world/international/trainer/trainer.html?fbclid=IwAR1rdP08UbOArnGWvOJOc8rdQk7osTHEcg9urZB4ls8O3QKy9rKlRsVcb9g

The thing with morse is you actually have to use it I think to retain it. The G4FON app has a text to morse conversion though so you can load entire books in as a .txt file and bring a whole new meaning to audio books 🙂 . Oh and think Dit Dah and not Dot Dash the it does not sound like dots and dashes :).

I am trying to do regular chunks of 10 mins throughout the day. Any longer than that and my brain starts to hurt!

Juggling and riding a unicycle. Ultimately pointless as I work at a power station, not a circus. Although come to think of it, I have done both things at work. 🤔

Learn to write Chinese. There are only about 20,000 characters to master.

Similarly I keep toe dipping but as a ham radioist

I thought you chaps like to be called radio amateurs.

@slowoldman – hams, ham operators, amateur radio operators – easy and which way. I like ham radioist as it winds operators of a certain vintage/attitude right up 🙂

Inspiring thread. Currently unemployed and injured, and amazed at how little i can do with the day. Must get on with some learning.

The thing with morse is you actually have to use it I think to retain it.

My dad learnt in 1958, national service in the Royal Signals and then spent his time on the East German border listening in to East German and Russian wireless traffic. He hasn’t used it since but over 60 years later he can remember it.

He hasn’t used it since but over 60 years later he can remember it.

Actually I think this is right and what I would perhaps have been better saying is you need to use it to learn and retain it. Once you know it really well you never forget. My grandad was a para in WWII and he could still send at some ridiculous speed when given the chance to show off in later years 🙂

Elsewhere, I’ve just had this recommended:

https://experiments.withgoogle.com/collection/morse

Nearly 20 years ago I moved job, in keeping with the idiot company I was leaving, they decided to keep me to my 6 month contract and put me on gardening leave. Looking forward to 6 months paid biking, 2 weeks later foot and mouth closed the countryside,bugger!
After a couple of months I found my mind going to mush but couldn’t do anything that could be construed as helpful to my new employers so I enrolled on a course at Aberystwyth Uni to learn Welsh. It was a great laugh, the others were there to enable them to get jobs in local government as there was a requirement to be bilingual, apart from an 80 year old Japanese gentlemen who spoke no English. We eventually managed to find out that he was a professor of medieval Welsh in Japan and was the youngest Destroyer captain in the Japanese navy during the war. Bizarre.

DaveyBoyWonder
Free Member

Turning your tongue upside down.

Not that pointless if you have the right kind of ‘special friend’…

I learned how to make blackberry jam. It’s epic.

Being able to quarter the brushes on a large lift dc lifting motor or generator and then set the neutral point.

All very relevant in 1985 but not so much now with digital drives, ah well

I’ve completed the Grauniad Cryptic/Prize/Everyman(0bserver) Crossword every day of the Covid Crisis…. I’m quite good at it now (not that it’s that difficult, bit of lateral thinking and tuning in to the setters train of thought and understanding the “lingo” and “in Jokes” really)

My lockdown learns were 1) Rubixs cube 2) slackline 3) wheelie.

1 and 2 easy. 3… Not a chance. Sigh…

I make much better hot drinks than I did. 🙂 I do more reading, but on the fail side, I am yet to master Rubiks cubes, exercise, the piano, or any other language.

Still, Rome wasn’t built in a day… 🙂

hams, ham operators, amateur radio operators – easy and which way. I like ham radioist as it winds operators of a certain vintage/attitude right up

Haha. I was at college in Sheffield in the 70s with G3YXX. Used to go out mobile around the Peak District. I remember a particularly cold evening with a mast set up on Stanage Edge.

[strong]Klunk[/strong] wrote:

I’ve completed the Grauniad Cryptic/Prize/Everyman(0bserver) Crossword every day of the Covid Crisis…. I’m quite good at it now (not that it’s that difficult, bit of lateral thinking and tuning in to the setters train of thought and understanding the “lingo” and “in Jokes” really)

Well done Klunk. I have managed to do the Gaurdian Quick crossword every day over the same period 🙂 Not quite in the same league.

I did an apprenticeship as a Telegraphist when I left school, used to be able to do about 22 wpm. Couldn’t do that now but you never forget it. If you want to learn it listen to the ‘tune’ not count the ‘dits’ and ‘dahs’ otherwise you’ll be left behind pretty quickly

My grandfather was allegedly a big cheese in the Esperanto society back in the 20s. There’s still a “teach yourself Esperanto” book in my parent’s house. Never quite got round to it

My lockdown learns were 1) Rubixs cube 2) slackline 3) wheelie.

1 and 2 easy. 3… Not a chance. Sigh…

Yeah I’ll join the wheelie failures club – tried the Ryan leech thing and during the early days of lockdown I was making reasonable progress but since I’ve been doing “proper” riding my frequency of practice has dropped off and I have regressed back to about day 6 or 7. I’ve also changed to my winter bike so everything feels different,and crap weather isn’t that great for spending ages going up and down the same patch of grass and… Jeez I’m full of excuses!

I can now play Painkiller by Judas Priest really badly. It was pointless bothering as I do not have the skills for it, but keep trying regardless.

I’m learning to play bass guitar. I’ll probably never play in a band, but the focus and dexterity needed is strangely calming.

Fun Morse/Inspector Morse fact.

Apparently, (and I’m pretty sure this isn’t pub-talk as I’ve not been in a pub since January) the intro music on Inspector Morse featuring a morse-code motif/musical phrase actually spells out the murderers name!

Been a Morse (Inspector) fan for years and did I know that? Did I balls. Oh and also, his first name is ‘Endeavour’

Well, I’m still learning swedish (kind of have to for my job) and am getting better at brewing beer, but what I should be doing is getting stuck in to the EdX course I registered for and not reading the internet and buying a VR headset.

I mean, the real world is shitty, but do I really need VR to escape into? (Answer is yes. Call me LawnmowerMan)

We had a guy at work who could recite “Albert and the Lion” – I thought it might be something to amuse people round a campfire, so I learnt it. Learning stuff like that is also a good way to distract your brain if you can’t sleep. Since then I’ve learnt a few other Stanley Holloway/Marriott Edgar ones, Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant and Tom Lehrer’s Elements. Then last year my BiL said “Can you do The Hunting of the Snark? It’s nearly an hour!

Apparently, (and I’m pretty sure this isn’t pub-talk as I’ve not been in a pub since January) the intro music on Inspector Morse featuring a morse-code motif/musical phrase actually spells out the murderers name!

I’ve read about that in several places; Barrington Pheloung put clues in Morse as to the identity of the murderer, rather than the actual identity. Which means that, if true, the music would be different for every episode. It might be that it’s music within each episode that gives clues, but I’ve always loved the idea and I don’t want to go digging into it in case it’s not true.

From the BBC so it must be true

The Australian-born composer shared several interests with Colin Dexter’s irascible detective, not least his love of opera and cryptic crosswords.

He became known for hiding clues and red herrings in the score for the TV show, occasionally revealing the killer’s identity in morse code.

The hypnotic title song also included a motif based on the letters M.O.R.S.E.

I’m learning to play bass guitar. I’ll probably never play in a band, but the focus and dexterity needed is strangely calming.

Snap! I just knew there’d be someone else! I’m working my way through a free 3 month trial on Fender Play. For something so tricky – and ultimately pointless (for me) it’s refreshingly cathartic after yet another day staring at the same walls in the home office*.

*I realise how exceptionally lucky I am to have kept working through this year.