Top Ten things to keep a house bound geek amused
This post was inspired by Frank Arrigo. He took a couple of weeks off work a little while ago, and finished his break by getting sick. I've been assured that he's doing well and is out of hospital, but is under doctors orders to rest up. While he has my sympathies, it got me to wondering how the hell you keep a die-hard geek amused and sane when they aren't allowed even have their laptop.
So, here's my list of things that might work for me. (Frank, i'm adding as many links as possible (in case you can manage to get yourself in front of a computer for a little while) to make your secret research a little bit quicker so you can quickly get off again before your wife notices!)
- Watch the Matrix. And Antitrust. And Sneakers. And any damn thing else that has a computer in it.
- Watch the new Star Wars Trilogy box set, taking special care to notice all the extra and changed scenes.
- Catch up on some important reading. When i'm not geeking, I re-read every year my almost complete collection of all Stephen King books. Especially Christine - man, i love that book.
- Finally find the time to watch all those Wiggles, Hi-5, and Barney DVDs and Videos that you've been so carefully avoiding. (Note: This entry is applicable to those of who are parents with young children).
- Code with pen and paper. This worked for me when i was working the graveyard shift in a servo. It passed the time, and in the case of a housebound invalid, it won't look like you're on the computer :)
- Sleep. Then you can dream of being in front of a really nice dev box.
- Really put on the sick act. Whinge a lot. Complain a lot. Moan a lot. Get your partner to wait on you hand and foot. (Remember to hide the laptop when they come in to serve you). This acheives nothing, but it sure is fun. Buy a little bell. Hope she doesn't get too mad.
- Dig out all your old movies and watch nostalgically. Things like Back to the Future, Superman, the Breakfast Club (and all the other brat pack movies), Xanadu, Beetlejuice and all the Nightmare on Elm Streets. Make sure you can play it in the right format, tho.
- Laugh at the fact that when you follow the above search for Nightmare on Elm Street movies, Elmo Saves Christmas comes up in the results.
- Sit and watch and wait for the whistle to come out.
This post was brought to you via: BOREDOM.
Listening to: to live is to die - metallica - (9:48)