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Gilgamesh_48

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Gilgamesh_48

I am having some difficulties with boredom and just general lack of interest in just about anything lately and I would like some suggestions as to ways to alleviate some of the blahs.

First a little background:

I am over 70 and my health is pretty poor.

I cannot get out and walk much due to my immune system being a bit weak and my body not reacting well at all to recent surgery. I am not currently "sick" in the traditional meaning of the word, just weak.

All my family is either deceased or living VERY far away and I have managed to outlive all my friends and most of my acquaintances.

I have been watching older sports games and a few newer but I have mostly been burned out by what has become rather obvious; the repetitive nature of all sports. For the most part almost any game looks and sounds like any other and that has become quite boring.

So the bottom line is that I need ideas about activities that I can become active in that:

1. Does not require much or any direct contact with people.

2. Is not very strenuous.

3. Is not very repetitive in nature.

4. Does not cost much but I can bear a little cost. It does not need to be free but free is good.

5. Does not require too much dexterity as my hands are somewhat arthritic. 

6. Does not need exceptional eyesight or hearing as both were damaged in the military. Both are still OK but weakened.

There are other things I could list but I do not want to limit the ideas too much.

I do not really care much if the ideas presented fall into some predefined categories. 

It should be noted that I already read voraciously. I read about 50 books a month as well as watch many many movies and TV shows.

I am just bored and I would like to expand my possible activities to reduce the boredom.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions. Nothing is too far out for adding to the list.

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One2Go

I feel sorry for you especially in the present situation as that must just add to the boredom. Here is what I have done regarding sports. I paid a years subscription for ESPN+ which give me games for Seria A, Bundesliga and all the soccer cup games. However I started to really like Rugby as it is a fast moving and very unpredictable game. In addition as it has so many rules and regulations it does keep my interest just trying to find out why what just happened was allowed or disallowed. ESPN+ for the US covers all the SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina) games. Both Australia and New Zealand resumed the games end of June beginning of July with audiences in the stadiums. All games are VOD on ESPN+.

As far as occupying your mind and interests start looking into learning either a new skill or language (Duolingo). This is a trying time for everyone.

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arrbee99

Might not be remotely suitable, but the first thing that popped into my head was photography. If you can get about a bit it helps, but maybe some in a garden if you have one. Maybe cheap stuff from eBay.

Or cooking. Experiment a bit. Make burgers instead of buying them. Ditto pasta, etc. Might depend on the 'somewhat arthritic' of course.

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Q-Droid
11 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

I am over 70 and my health is pretty poor.

I cannot get out and walk much due to my immune system being a bit weak and my body not reacting well at all to recent surgery. I am not currently "sick" in the traditional meaning of the word, just weak.

3. Is not very repetitive in nature.

My instinct is to suggest you focus on your health and quality of life by adding physical activity. Whether walking, gardening, Tai chi, yoga, bird watching, etc. Anything really. And when it comes to physical activity repetition is good. You seem to already have the passive hobbies covered.

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Gilgamesh_48
13 minutes ago, Q-Droid said:

My instinct is to suggest you focus on your health and quality of life by adding physical activity. Whether walking, gardening, Tai chi, yoga, bird watching, etc. Anything really. And when it comes to physical activity repetition is good. You seem to already have the passive hobbies covered.

Contrary to current popular belief physical activity is NOT the answer to all health problems. I recently had pretty major surgery and my doctor has me on very limited physical activity and a diet the would not keep a fat humming bird in the air. I do not really have the passive activities covered as most of what I have been doing is becoming very boring.

48 minutes ago, arrbee99 said:

Might not be remotely suitable, but the first thing that popped into my head was photography. If you can get about a bit it helps, but maybe some in a garden if you have one. Maybe cheap stuff from eBay.

Or cooking. Experiment a bit. Make burgers instead of buying them. Ditto pasta, etc. Might depend on the 'somewhat arthritic' of course.

Photography also occurred to me but there is too much physical activity and too much outdoors for it to suit me.

Cooking is also out due to the diet restrictions that I have been placed under.

1 hour ago, One2Go said:

I feel sorry for you especially in the present situation as that must just add to the boredom. Here is what I have done regarding sports. I paid a years subscription for ESPN+ which give me games for Seria A, Bundesliga and all the soccer cup games. However I started to really like Rugby as it is a fast moving and very unpredictable game. In addition as it has so many rules and regulations it does keep my interest just trying to find out why what just happened was allowed or disallowed. ESPN+ for the US covers all the SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina) games. Both Australia and New Zealand resumed the games end of June beginning of July with audiences in the stadiums. All games are VOD on ESPN+.

As far as occupying your mind and interests start looking into learning either a new skill or language (Duolingo). This is a trying time for everyone.

Watching sports in general has become boring. I do not really want or need a new language as I already have 5 and a 6th I am vocally conversant in but do not read or write. Rugby and Australian rules football is better than soccer (real football) or Ice Hokey but it still suffers from the repetitive issue where just about every game looks pretty much like all the others after just a short time. (We won't even mention Cricket or Baseball or Basketball)

Thanks everyone for giving advice a shot. Unfortunately I have exhausted everything I can think of and that makes it hard to find something for me to do or watch. Maybe I will give female mud wrestling a try. It may be repetitive but it has the advantage of being sexist and demeaning. 😎😇 I wonder when and where the world championship of FMW will be held?

I hope people keep trying as I can come up with nearly nothing.

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One2Go

There is a user on HDBits by the name of "gylgamesh" is that your handle? If so there is an excellent thread in the General Chat subforum called "What was the last thing I cooked (That is not meth)?" and different individuals share what they cooked. Especially with a required diet cooking becomes more rewarding then anything else. Fortunately I have someone in the kitchen that cooks the most delicious vegan dishes. I totally agree with @Q-Droid that the most important thing is to focus on your health and quality of life, that is why I have been a vegan for over 6 years and eating healthy does require you to learn how to cook or have someone in the home that does it. You can't get around the principle "You are what you eat" plus "Nothing tastes as good as feeling healthy". Watched the documentary "Fat, Sick and nearly Dead" which motivated me to change my eating habbits.

Edited by One2Go
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5 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

Maybe I will give female mud wrestling a try

That the spirit :)

Night stars looking, tracking also good idea if you consider it.

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Gilgamesh_48
5 hours ago, One2Go said:

There is a user on HDBits by the name of "gylgamesh" is that your handle?

Nope. Not me. I know how to correctly spell "Gilgamash." 😎

Again, I am on a very restricted and pretty set diet. I have very little choice if I wish to regain some level of health.

I am, or at least was, an excellent cook but there is so little variety allowed in my diet that any skill I can bring to bear is pretty much wasted.

5 hours ago, Abobader said:

That the spirit :)

Night stars looking, tracking also good idea if you consider it.

I will consider that. It will take a little investment of time, effort and a little money to figure how to accomplish star watching. Unfortunately, even though I live rural, there is an over abundance of street lighting nearby. For some reason people, even in rural Tennessee, want everything to be bright at night and they do not seem to realize that lighting actually makes it harder to see what is important. Maybe I need to break out the old pellet gun.

Light does not really make things make things more visible at night. It really just gives the bad guys or animals or objects easier places to hide.

Thanks for the suggestions and hopefully someone will come up with something that will work for me.

 

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Books?  Puzzles?  Online gaming communities?  Not talking Halo or FPS but, rather maybe chess, scrabble, etc.  I guess those are probably all obvious diversions you've thought of.

What about small crafts or woodworking?  Things like building birdhouses or model airplanes or boats, etc...?

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Gilgamesh_48
10 minutes ago, ebr said:

Books?  Puzzles?  Online gaming communities?  Not talking Halo or FPS but, rather maybe chess, scrabble, etc.  I guess those are probably all obvious diversions you've thought of.

What about small crafts or woodworking?  Things like building birdhouses or model airplanes or boats, etc...?

All good ideas. Woodworking on small projects is one I had not really considered. I will take a look at that but I live in an apartment and so I will have to figure how best to handle the mess of shavings and sawdust. 

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Could be simple "kit" type stuff from a craft store.  Something where most of the cutting is either done, or on a very small scale with soft woods (like balsa or something).

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Gilgamesh_48
4 minutes ago, ebr said:

Could be simple "kit" type stuff from a craft store.  Something where most of the cutting is either done, or on a very small scale with soft woods (like balsa or something).

It's not really bad but working from a small scale kit is like painting by the numbers. My daddy taught me how to work with wood and what is really good work. I do not know if I can do the good work he taught. But I will figure how to deal with the mess to give woodworking a try. It is a good idea. I will start small and with soft wood but I think, if I prove to have any ability, I will move into real work with more substantial woods as I master the tools needed. I have a bedroom that acts as a work room and server room. I will rig a well ventilated shield for my servers and set half of the room up for wood working. 

I am going to move slowly but I think you may have pointed me in a good direction. Now just to make it happen. 

Thanks.

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9 minutes ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

It's not really bad but working from a small scale kit is like painting by the numbers. My daddy taught me how to work with wood and what is really good work. I do not know if I can do the good work he taught. But I will figure how to deal with the mess to give woodworking a try. It is a good idea. I will start small and with soft wood but I think, if I prove to have any ability, I will move into real work with more substantial woods as I master the tools needed. I have a bedroom that acts as a work room and server room. I will rig a well ventilated shield for my servers and set half of the room up for wood working. 

I am going to move slowly but I think you may have pointed me in a good direction. Now just to make it happen. 

Thanks.

Sounds awesome.  My Dad did major woodworking for most of his life and, even a year or so ago (he's 90 now) he was still doing some stuff on a small scale.  I have several pieces of furniture he built that will last several lifetimes and, more recently, he took to things like small jewelry boxes - but still sticking to his standards of great construction (no nails type stuff - dove-tails etc.) and beautiful character wood and finishes.

It takes real time and dedication but gave my Dad a huge sense of pride.  Hope it works out for you.

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My 76 old dad fell and broke a hip on Christmas day, had complications, did rehab and basically came home mid Feb.  Combine his confinement, new disability with Covid-19 hitting in a big way around that time frame along with our location in New Jersey which is one of the harder hit areas and doing anything in public is a NO NO.

I'm a huge sports fan as well and like many of you pretty board with sports right now as well (seems to be a trend).  I like the Rugby idea as I know little about it and maybe watching something new will renew my sports interest.

Since I/we haven't been able to go out to dinner and he can't really do much cooking (or anything), I've really been upping my cooking skills.  We're eating healthier as well and it's fun cooking different exotic dinners (wish the cleanup didn't come with it). :)

I'll go for a bike ride just to get out of the house a couple times a week.  Both my dad and I have electric bikes so that makes a ride a lot easier.  Last month, I did a little project and made "adult training wheels" for his bike which I call "Adult Stabilization Wheel" when talking to him. LOL  Now I can bring his bike up to the door and he "strollers" out to the bike and has no issues with balance.  Since it's electric it doesn't put any pressure on his hip as well.  So now we can take little bike rides 5 to 10 miles just to get out of the house but not be around other people. Now we can go for a ride and have a picnic lunch which helps with getting out of the house.

I've got a decent wood shop next to my garage so I've done a couple of projects.  One was a new spice rack for the kitchen as I found with cooking more I've accumulated more spices and didn't have a good place to keep them. I also built a nice wine rack that holds 120 bottles for my basement closet.  My dad and I are doing 5 gallon batches of wine (home made and from kits) every couple of months.  We give a lot away as Christmas gifts to friends and family and I've been using some for cooking as well.  I've also made a couple batches of home made beer which came out really good.  Wine gets better with age, wish I could say the same with beer. I really enjoy these hobbies even though I don't really drink much of it.

I've got a couple of acres of grass to cut weekly in my yard with challenging hills on the property so I break that up to 2 hour sessions a couple times a week to break the boredom as well. I can trim things out and get dad on the riding mower so he's happy as well to get out of the house and get some sun.

My dad and I (often my son as well) used to go out the range 2 or 3 times a week shooting pistols, rifles and shotguns and entering competitions but the range is closed due to Covid-19 so one of our favorite hobbies went poof on us.  I built a small range in the basement and picked up a couple of high end Airsoft pistols to play with making "shooting" safe to fill in the void a bit but it's not the same as being around our friends at the range.

If you have a yard, do some cooking outside on the grill just to get out of the house. Take a walk around the block or just up the street and back, pick up the phone and call friends or family as they're in the same boat as you and probably look forward to hearing a friendly voice. Spend 10 minutes a day a couple of time and do some house cleaning. Basically find a way to fill your day with a new schedule and maybe alternate things you do to not become stale.  Make you lunch or dinner and take it outside in the yard to eat for a change of pace.

I of course spend a decent amount of time on here and helping users remotely which fills the day as well.

 

 

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Gilgamesh_48

With all the mentioning of Rugby in this thread  I thought I would share a Rugby promotional spot I saw in  England many many years ago. I wish I had the clip but I do not and I can't find it so I will just describe it as best I can:

The clip opens showing a man walking away from a Rugby field. He is obviously quite beaten up. His shirt is torn half off. His shorts are also ripped. He has a bloody forehead and there is blood running down one arm. His entire body is grass and dirt stained and he walks with a sight limp.

Over one arm is a deflated and torn up Rugby ball.

The caption running through the screen says: "At the start of the match this was a live pig."

I was living with a very proper English family at the time and when I saw that clip I burst out laughing so loud they almost called an ambulance. The family's reaction was almost as funny as the clip itself. That kind of laughter is not really compatible with "proper" English decorum.

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6 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

All good ideas. Woodworking on small projects is one I had not really considered. I will take a look at that but I live in an apartment and so I will have to figure how best to handle the mess of shavings and sawdust. 

When I worked at Home Depot they had us assign people to work the vendor tables during the power hours. During those hours it was required to demonstrate whatever the "tool of the week" was. This was around 2008-10 era. So was awhile ago, but the Dremel tool with the flex attachment was a slow moving E velocity product. It just never moves unless people steal it off the shelves or you lose it somewhere on some shelf in some other department. The inventory never shows them sell and actually lower the inventory. Says you have 6 you can never find those 6. System never orders unless there is less than 6. You will never get more unless a human resets those counts. I was on inventory at Home Depot for 4 years then a department supervisor for awhile in various departments.

But the Dremel sticks with me today how fun that silly thing was with soft wood. Carving tiny little animals out of it and train set stuff. You could possibly side branch into minatures and trains or models of some kind once you create the scenery. That is what we told people who used it. We turned the velocity of sales from an E product into a B product and increase turns by 5.6x. That means we were going through inventory sales 5.6x faster than the average. I was getting little glass trophies for my department being best in region. We got regional walks all the time because of this and other people hated me because it made the spotlight hit us. You are the model store for the plumbing department. All the other stores supervisors come with a district manager and walk your aisles. They ask you questions about each bay and what your highest velocity SKU is. What your turns are. How high your inventory is above target. How you justify those numbers. When your inventory for your deparment is 10% higher than every other store in your area and your sales are 10% higher across the board on SKUs in that department is isn't hard to see why. Effort. Make the effort. The computer can only forecast sales from last years data. It will only order for those targets. If you know some event is happening you can prepare. Oh there is rain next week. System is only order 10 umbrellas. Lets order 100. It says rain for 2 weeks. Then bam you get 6x turns in a week. Corporate notices smart. Other stores start to request transfers from you since they forgot to order umbrellas. Nice I hoped they forgot. Their transfers show as my turns. Transfers are the same as sales and produce the same turns.

But it also made our profit sharing checks larger. That dremel coming out at Christmas made our bonuses that much better. They never understand why I forced them to stay at that table for 6 hours, just make things, anything, and play with customers. Just have fun, play, and get a paycheck.  :)

Your imagination is what is important and having a creative outlet to express it. You need to keep your mind young. So anything you did as a child is also fun. The same rainy day fun. Crosswords, puzzles, coloring/drawing, etc.. 

You can pull out the internet and look up those old yahoo-style chatrooms with simple games. The old yahoo pool game is the best ever. Nothing has ever surpased the ease of entry and how vast the gap was between old and young users. 

But the important thing is stay active even if it is just reply to these posts with regular banter. Knowing others are experience the world in a similar fashion to the way you are experiencing it...confirms...you. are. okay. It is the world that is wrong. The world is confusing right now.

Edited by speechles
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pwhodges

As you read a lot, maybe you might have some ideas about which you could write?  To get started with something familiar - about yourself, perhaps.  Or some vague story idea you once had.  Or to be more focussed, maybe fan fiction related to a favourite series.  Or something about your philosophy of life.  Or reviews of things you've particularly enjoyed (or disliked!).  You don't necessarily need to have an audience other than yourself, but it could help.

A few years ago (when I was 69, I think) I wrote a story to complete an anime film series whose last film has been long delayed (it's eventual appearance was supposed to be a few weeks ago, but...), which I found an interesting challenge - I discussed each chapter with people on a forum about the series as I wrote it, and both the discussion and the result were well-received.  I also got some real pleasure from typesetting it nicely rather than just sending people text files.  (I also typeset music, which is a fascinating challenge, but that's a bit more niche, I guess.)

I first thought of suggesting you got a simple keyboard and tried learning to play it - but then I noticed your "lack of agility".  But OTOH, trying something like that might help improve, or at least retain manual dexterity.

Painting is a thing people manage with limited dexterity.  Water-colours are a simple starting point.

I'll keep thinking...

Paul

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Gilgamesh_48
27 minutes ago, pwhodges said:

As you read a lot, maybe you might have some ideas about which you could write?  To get started with something familiar - about yourself, perhaps.  Or some vague story idea you once had.  Or to be more focussed, maybe fan fiction related to a favourite series.  Or something about your philosophy of life.  Or reviews of things you've particularly enjoyed (or disliked!).  You don't necessarily need to have an audience other than yourself, but it could help.

Yes I "can" write and I have been told that I write pretty well. However I have written a bit before and I found that writing is just about the hardest work I have ever done. Thanks for the idea but writing is not what I have in mind.

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One2Go

Since I didn't start watching Rugby until the 2019 six nations tournament held Feb – March 2019 many of the most memorable games from 2016 to 2019 I missed but I found them posted on Usenet and P2P sites. However besides the games there are a few most excellent documentaries, movies and mini series' available and are excellent and most entertaining to watch. I have watched all the ones listed below and gave a short description and where they are available. Again they are also available elsewhere if you know where to look for them. Total viewing time 12 hours and 25 minutes, should be good for a few days.

30 for 30 - 16th Man (2010) on ESPN+
This documentary showcases the South African "Springbok" National Rugby Team and its impact on South Africa's transition from segregation to integration. The story behind the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks (2018) on Amazon Prime
Six Episode of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, known as the winningest team in global sports history, allows cameras into their super secretive world to witness one of their most difficult seasons yet.

The Brighton Miracle (2019) on Amazon Prime UK
Inspired by true events, the story begins with Japanese rugby officials dwelling on a humiliating anniversary, a 145-17 defeat by the New Zealand All Blacks in the 1995 World Cup. Officials question their decision to appoint Eddie Jones, to coach their national team for the 2015 World Cup. Jones plans to defy convention in order to put a stop to Japan being the laughing stock of world rugby.

British and Irish Lions 2017: Lions Uncovered on Amazon Prime UK
The epic story of how the British and Irish Lions take on the New Zealand All Blacks. It was billed 'Mission Impossible', beating double World Champions New Zealand in a Test series in their own back yard, a feat only done once before in the Lions 129-year history. This game is played only every 4 years and the next one is planned in July and August 2021.

Jonah (2019) on Amazon Prime
The man, the myth, the legend. JONAH tells the once in a lifetime story of the greatest rugby player the world has ever known, Jonah Lomu. This two part drama series charts Jonah's rise to the top, but also his battles with a devastating illness. JONAH is the incredible, true story of New Zealand's greatest sporting legend.

Edited by One2Go
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jordy

Are you interested in card games? My son plays "Gwent" online, It is a strategic card game - based on The Witcher series - where every game is against a different player. It's not for me but he loves it.

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adamstewiegreen

My only thought after reading the thread was learning something new.  You use EMBY, so I'm guessing you are fairly confident with computers, so perhaps a programming language (python?) or HTML/CSS and build a website...

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clarkss12

I have similar circumstances...... I am a 72 year old combat wounded Vietnam veteran with cancer that also suffers from PTSD, but I never get bored.... Never enough time in the day.

First off, I have a couple of those fitbit clones that keep track of my steps, my goal it 5000, not much, but every bit helps.  Even though you just had surgery, you still need to move about, get one of those sub $25 watches and keep track of your steps...

Even though, I can't do a lot of strenuous task like you, I have other interest that keeps me more than occupied....

At this time, I tinker with these inexpensive "cheap Chinese" boxes, and it keeps my mind occupied.  There is so much to learn about them, keeps you busy, especially when your memory is fading, you have to do a lot of repetition.

You also have to change your state of mind about exercise......  It used to be a pain to do some simple task like going to the frig to get a drink of water, NOW, I will get up, go take one sip, go back to what I was doing, then in a few minutes go back for another sip, just for the steps....... Love that inexpensive fitbit clone.

In summation, you have to  find something to keep your mind actively working.  Problem solving keeps your mind from getting old, frustration is good for the brain. 

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