Any human life, no matter how busy, has gaps where there is time to look inside oneself and discover special likes and dislikes, unique and particular to each individual. These ‘gaps' as it were are filled in a number of ways by men, women and children. Sleeping, eating, reading, writing, talking, shopping, creating a family, studying, traveling etc… Other creative, inventive and imaginative individuals select a hobby which will satisfy their personal interests. A ‘hobby' means collecting collectibles from a broad range of items. A ‘hobby' means a personal activity that the individual turns to for pleasure and or educational purposes. The collecting of stamps, butterflies, watches, currency from a number of countries, old books, art of a special period or style, match books, menus, napkins, photographs, old coins, gold, silver, gems, vases, furniture, old manuscripts (agreements – documents – contracts), keys, cats !!! And many more… You must add five more items to the list provided. Understandably, you might be wondering about the very last item… cats. There is a lady in Riyadh who collects all types of cats, and to date she has collected well over 60!!! She keeps them all in her home and hires one lady from a third world country to take care, feed and so on... all of them!!! She encourages the community to drop off cats at her doorstep and guarantees their care and safety… Hobbies reflect the collector… snakes and rocks – are but two hobbies that are private. Hobbies are educational and teach the collector more and more about the realm of what he or she collects. Hobbies broaden knowledge… broaden the intellect. Those that are serious about a hobby, will turn it into a lifelong activity, which at some point in time, may be handed down to off springs, for others it may be of a more limited duration, but in any case the benefits are clear. So we can see that ‘a hobby' is an important part of man's activities. It is interesting to note that individuals are not aware that they have a hobby, something that we pretty much take for granted, i.e., a shirt of a specific color only or a specific attraction for a shape (circle, square, rectangle, diamond) - these are hobby ‘branches'. In Tabuk, some years ago, there was a heavy set American lady who had the hobby of collecting desert ‘diamonds' as they have been named. These desert diamonds, she collected as her hobby by the done. They were of every shape and size - but the requirement as that they had to be clear as crystal… These stones or ‘gems' as she called them were then sent to Pakistan with the idea of creating jewelry for her personal use and in as gifts. These gems were polished and sent back to her as ‘bracelets/necklaces… clear and bright…. However, the truth of the matter was that the so caked gems had disintegrated while being polished… and the Pakistani's substituted the gems for glass. This unfortunate wipe out of a legitimate hobby was verified by the Gemological institute in Los Angeles, California USA. A shattered illusion… The Pakistani culprits denied the allegations and yet closed their international operation with connected gem frauds… Money was their hobby… indeed. __
