Hey guys! Apologies for making this thread just to disappear for a few days. Far, it sounds like you've got quite a lot on your plate! You're learning quite a few interesting skills in the process though, which is always cool. I'd love to learn some handyman skills like yours and Jeroen's; I've learned a bit from my dad (whose one of these guys who seems to just know all things handy and useful, from cars to construction) over the years, but I'd probably have to quite a bit of researching in order to do anything worth mention.
Paul, I love those cars, and that's one mean-looking bike (technically a trike, I suppose :) ). The closest I've come to building a model of anything was a gundam robot snap-together model when I was younger, and trying my hand at fixing nicks and marks in the paint of my diecast cars, which never worked out well; I always ended up either getting the paint color ever-so-slightly wrong (which bothered me to no end) or putting too much paint and making it look splotchy. Do you do the paint on your models, or are they generally pre-painted? Do you mostly stick to cars and bikes, or do you like to do boats and whatnot too? I've always wanted to try my hand at a Titanic model, but I feel it would be pretty difficult. Regarding programming, another very cool skill! For all the time I spend on the computer, I know very little about software, or hardware for that matter. I tried to build myself a new computer this summer, but I didn't have enough money to get very far; My current build is basically my old computer with a new GPU and a bigger power supply, all inside an oversized tower.
Nicole, I wish I was a bit more outdoorsy! :) I used to explore some woods near my house when I was younger, but that's about as far as my outdoor excursions have ever gone, save for a few vacations at campgrounds with my family.
Jeroen, your home sounds like a training ground for all things handy, which is pretty awesome if you ask me. I feel like one of the best ways to learn something is to have some outside situation or circumstance depend on it; if something fails around the house, it narrows what one has to learn into something more concrete, rather than setting out on the goal to learn all things home repair. Do you enjoy your winter hermithood?