How to Stay Sane While Homebound

In My Humble Opinion
1

A week ago, I was hit by a car while walking to work and am now housebound due to a broken leg that will not be fully healed for another two months, give or take.

A month ago, I’d’ve thought the idea of having two months to myself would be a great thing since I’m mostly a solitaire person who doesn’t need much to keep himself entertained but now, after less than a week at my apartment alone, I am literally almost bored to tears.

Yes… actual crying induced by lack of anything to do. It’s so bad that I am thinking of just taking a couple shots of nyquil and going to bed and hoping I don’t wake up until 8:00pm tomorrow or something.

I obviously don’t want to succumb to that feeling and am hoping that some of you might be able to give me ideas of how to pass the time with most of my sanity intact. It’s only been four days and I have another 45 or so to go… I can’t afford to snap so early on.

Anyone have ideas? Experience? Something? Anything?

2

Answer everyone’s post!!

No, sorry, that’s a sign you’re going bonkers!!

3

A stack of good books or a Playstation 2 would be the answer for me.

4

I suppose I should mention I don’t have a TV and am pretty much broke since I can’t work. The computer’s really the only thing I have and, obviously, I’m a bit bored by the 'net at the moment.

Very few books either.

5

Two months of quiet solitude . . . and you’re complaining??? My God, I’d give my first born child to have that much reading time!

Get thee hence to the book shop. Buy. Buy lots. (Else go to the library.) Go home, make a pot of tea, curl up on the sofa with a soft blankie, put on the radio to some classical music, and wallow in luxury.

6

Can you get someone to make regular library runs for you?

7

Well, I would but 1) I’m broke and unsure I’ll even have enough money to eat these next two months and 2) I’m literally unable to leave my apartment under doctor’s orders. The only time I’m to leave is if I have a check-up.

I might send the woman who is helping me after some books at the library tomorrow but I’m pretty picky and have no idea what to tell her to get me, if she’ll even agree.

I have my employer’s mother-in-law as a caretaker at the moment (ironic considering my own job is that of a caretaker but I digress) but she’s not able to do much for me other than light housework due to being on disability herself.

I can ask but I really have no idea if she will or not.

8

That’s not enough. You have to damn near get killed by a car, too.

9

What sort of things do you like to read. I suspect that various dopers might be able to help. If you can get her to check your mail you are in. I don’t know how to enable email for this sort of thing or if yours is but post what sort of things you like and we can see what is lying around.

10

I know our library here will mail books to you if you’re housebound. Any chance yours does as well? I’ve just returned from work after six weeks off for surgery, myself, and while I thought I would be bored, I found that time flew by. I didn’t get a chance to read half the books I’d planned on. I did spend an incredible amount of time online playing games, reading, and looking up odd things though. Trying to think of links that you might like, but not knowing you, it’s a bit hard to come up with something. If you were to tell us a bit about yourself, maybe we could come up with lists of things to keep you busy and happy. Also, do you have friends or family there that can come and visit you?

11

Oh yeh, being housebound sucks. After my benign, harmless epilepsy decided it would rather be evil grand mal epilepsy, I was stuck at home for 7 months (not allowed to drive). I also lost my job on account of it, so it’s not like I had money to go do stuff either.

I mostly sat on the couch and surfed the net. I found all manner of Star Trek: Voyager and Law and Order: SVU slash fiction. Hey, I was bored and alone!!

When that got old, I resurrected my love for model-making. I purchased a model car online and had it shipped to my house. Best thing ever. Between assembly and painting, it took my mind off my situation.

And I gotta tell you, watching Jerry Springer became a regular event. Anything beats the being-stuck-in-the-house blues!

Max.

12

Thanks for the offer but I’ve been helped out so much by Dopers that if I were to do this, I’d start to feel like I was taking advantage of everyone. I think I’ll just stick to the library. :slight_smile:

I had no idea that libraries would do that but I just looked up the one here and it seems they do something similar. I’ll have to call them tomorrow to find out further about it.

So far as interests go, I’m usually satisfied just being able to surf but ever since I was in the hospital, the 'net’s not appealed to me as much as it once did. I like movies too but have no TV to watch them on. Music’s good but I lack very many CDs and the reception in this area for radio is horrendous.

And no friends or family to speak of, really. I mean, I have a friend here but she’s housebound too and all my family’s on the other side of the continent so they’re out of the question as well.

Thanks for the tip on the library delivery service, though. If nothing else, that’ll give me something to do.

13

Sign up for Nanowrimo and spend hours and hours writing a terrible novel!

14

I feel for you, I was laid up for month or so this summer with a ruptured achillies. I did have a TV and someone to run for me, but I understand where you’re at.

Have you checked out Project Gutenberg? It’s all old classic public domain books, and I hate reading off a computer, but it helped me get through a few boring days. Another similar one with classic books for free is Classic Bookshelf

If you’re into mythology I enjoy Encyclopedia Mythica.

I see you in the Star Trek threads so you may enjoy Asimovs.Also The Baen Free Library which has a bunch of stories by some fairly big names in Sci-Fi(Niven, Lackey, Pournelle) that the publisher has released for free.

Can your PC play DVD’s? That might be a possibility for you also. I understand cash is tight, but maybe a netflix account would help you get through? Do you have broadband internet? If so there are some other possibilities for media delivery.

Also, don’t underestimate a deck of cards or an online game of solitare to eat up a few hours.

15

I don’t have many good ideas, but I relate VERY well. My pelvis is effectively dislocated by my pregnancy, so I cannot walk far, if at all. Thus, I too am homebound and bored. I get far too excited about the mail truck.

I do crafts. I spy on my neighbors. I bug people online. I read trashy magazines. Mostly, I go bonkers. Wish I could help.

16

Experience? Yes. I spent a lot of time on my computer. Fortunately, I like games a lot, so I downloaded a number of oldies (“abandonwares”) to play with. I can easily spend half my time playing games, without being bored. YMMV. And read/post on this board a lot. Visit chat rooms. There are a lot of interesting people to chat with on the net. Occasionnally watch TV (something I usually rarely do) . Read again some books. Study spanish.

17

Well, you could always write my history paper for me.

Seriously, I’ll have to second/third/forth/whatever the library idea. I’d love for some time for non-school reading right now.

18

Ab work? Pushups? Get work as a telemarketer for charities helping housebound people? Spy on your neighbours with a telescope?

Learn a new language? (The library may have tapes and stuff) Take up painting or an instrument?

19

Well, I’ve been pent up before… there are lots of good suggestions here, and I don’t have much to add to it. After all, I’m an Evercrack addict, so that got me through many a long day… heck, I’m playing now, in another window. :smiley:

There are some cool emulators out there for download, if you like old school video games… SNES, NES, even Commodore 64 emulators - very fun! Most require that if you do not actually own the games that you please delete the ROMs after 24 hours … I expect you to fulfill your moral duty :smiley: Though admittedly, hunting for some of the ROMs is an adventure in of itself.

Then of course, there are those free games, like MSN games, which can waste away a mind numbing chunk of time.

Sometimes I hunt for free samples… good ones are sometimes tough to find, but hey, I’m getting some of that new scented Downey in the mail, and I’m thrilled! I find it takes up a lot of my time to do it, and I’m often surprised to find I had fun. Get a good e-mail filter for some of them, though. Good companies won’t bug you with spam, but some do.

That’s all for when you feel up to sitting at the computer again, of course. I’m not sure what your interests are, so all I can offer is things I would do. I spend a lot of my free time painting, or using pastels. My husband once gave me a few bucks to go pick some things up at the drug store, and I bought (granted, not fantastic quality) a box of 24 oil pastels, proper paper to draw on, and various other supplies like cotton balls to smudge the colours for under $10 (unsure of the exact price, since I picked up a Jones soda and a box of Goobers, and a sample of talcum powder and breast cancer pin…) Anyway. Sometimes if I get very bored, I’ll hunt around the house for bits and pieces of junk, glue it all together and call it “art”… sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Always pretty fun, though.

Tune into a new radio station and see if you like some new or different music… or tune into one that plays your favourite and sing along. Music does a lot for my mood, personally, maybe that will help?

One thing I recommend, though, is always keep your curtains open, let some natural light into your home. Even if your windows face brick walls, let in as much as you can. Fresh air if it’s not too cold out, too. Or if you don’t mind the cold. It’s amazing what a little natural light/fresh air will do for you - being in a dark, musty area can get very depressing.

Well, I don’t know if any of my suggestions will help at all, I just thought I’d share with you what I do when I’m suffering from cabin fever. I hope your leg heals quickly!

20

Play games online (Yahoo has a bunch of them).

Get a big jigsaw puzzle.

Riffle through the SDMB several times a day.

Do some research online of your favorite subjects.

Read a book or two.

Clean house.

Daydream about winning the lottery.

Get a newspaper every day.

Spend hours at dmoz.com and wikipedia.org

Go through your paper files and toss out old stuff.