rocket rat
n.— «It is an unforgiving hobby, but it is arguably safer for participants than in the past. Like many of the Black Rock “rocket rats”—largely men of a certain age—Mike Mullane, 61, a retired space shuttle astronaut, recalled his boyhood rocketry experiments with black powder and other dangerous substances.» —“A Cult of Backyard Rocketeers Keeps the Solid Fuel Burning” by Patricia Leigh Brown in Gerlach, Nevada New York Times Oct. 14, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
You would rather not be called hobbyless. That’s an insult appearing increasingly in social media that suggests someone spends far too much time on inconsequential things when they should get themselves a hobby. This is part of a complete episode...
Nancy Gabriel from Ithaca, New York, recalls her father’s no-nonsense responses to minor injuries when she was a child: After making sure she was really all right, he’d say, It’s far enough from your heart; it won’t kill you. Other times he might...