Entertaining yourself while staying inside- recommendations?

The Quarantine Zone
1

I was going to make this thread all about me, but I figured other people can probably use the ideas right now, too.

Long story short, on my end, some ongoing health/neurological issues have been getting worse lately and I am, essentially, stuck in my bed. My balance/strength/stamina is not good enough to stand without a great deal of difficulty and risk, even using my walker. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve fallen (going to the bathroom isn’t optional even if you have to crawl, turns out). Luckily, I’m 28, not 78, so while it sucks and it hurts and it’s a pain in the butt, I’m not super likely to die from falling. And if I do, that’s all my problems solved! So there’s a lot that’s really difficult right now (and if you’ve got life hacks for getting my laundry done and keeping myself fed, I’m all ears for that, too), but one of the big things is… I’m going out of my mind with boredom and loneliness.

As luck would have it, I suppose there are lots of people right now staying in their houses who could probably also use some ideas for how to entertain themselves and combat cabin fever, so this doesn’t have to be all about me! If you have ideas or recommendations that wouldn’t quite work for my purposes, but might be good for someone who is in some level of quarantine and going a little stir-crazy, please share those as well- at-home activities, good sources for free or cheap exercise videos or online classes, crafts, DIYs, whatever.

As for me… well, I’m pretty limited. I’ve got my computer and my phone. I’m open to podcast, website, game app, or streaming show/movie recommendations, but I’m also pretty sick of staring at screens and would love more… analog ideas. Trouble is, I wear out quickly, mentally and physically, (I think I started this post around noon and it’s just past 6 now- case in point) so things that take a lot of focus and can’t easily be put down and then picked up later aren’t ideal. And, of course, I can’t go too crazy spending money, especially since I’ve missed work and will likely miss more, but it’s not realistic to say I’m not willing to spend any at all.

So what are your favorite stay-at-home activities? What’s kept you entertained when you’ve been sick or on bedrest or otherwise stuck inside? What have you been doing lately to pass the time?

2

Crossword / jigsaw puzzles can be done in spurts.
Knitting? Legos(definitely not cheap if you don’t already have some)
There is always reading. I will reread LOTR this year
I play board games online, most are only one or two moves a day – I have 6 or so going on.
With covid 19 I’ve seen zoos and the like having online content mostly aimed at house bound kids but may be ok for adults.

Brian

3

I hope you have a walker. You shouldn’t fall.

I’m over 65, so California has just told me to stay in. My wife has often said what she wants is an illness where you don’t feel bad but you have to stay home and read. We just about have this now.

She’s doing the indexing for her next book, and looking through the proofreaders changes.
I’ve got over 1500 books to catch up on. I have a 2,000 piece puzzle out - I’ve got lots more ready to do. I’m revising my book. We have hours and hours of stuff on our DVR to watch. We can stream if we have to. We’re cooking somewhat more elaborate and time-consuming dinners.

Anyhow, I expect you to get your post count up to 3,000 before this is over. :slight_smile:

4

We’re mostly sequestered in our remote mountain home anyway, weather forbidding, and thus have ample means of diversion between raging bouts of cabin fever. Online stuff. Recorded and broadcast music. Tons of publications. More than a few musical instruments. Wild animals to hunt or flee. Experimental cooking. Tasks ignored too long. Artsy endeavors. Occasional games. Telepathy practice. There’s always something to do.

5

Drinking.

6

This is the one true answer to rule them all.

7

Hola Dorothy. We are still free here and it is life as normal. I usually go to the cantina everyday.

But, If you have Netflix, I just sawGet Hard a laugh a second. Great to raise your spirits.

I did the math. If you are 28, that would mean you have been a doper since age 15? Congratulations! Plenty of entertainment on this MB.

If you want to change the world, you could do some Dump Trump stuff via the internet.

I hope we will survive these times.

Like what was said upthread, post more. Let us know what you are doing.

8

Depending on how you look at it, the complement or alternative to drinking is perhaps raja yoga

9

I’ve lived isolated most of my adult life.
At the moment I’m stuck in a recuperation center after my surgery. I’ve always found the whole world entertaining. Crazy stuff just comes to me like a magnet. Murphy ain’t got nuthin’ on Beck’s law.

I’m tasked with walking the corridors of this place to augment my PT. I’ve found lots of interesting things to snoop around.

Let me add adult coloring books are so so so stoooopid. Shhh! Don’t tell the lil’wrekker I said that.

I like crossword puzzles. TV can entertain in a mind numbing way. I listen to music. I’m frustrated not being able to dance around tho’.
I text, email and talk to lots of people.
And, of course my favorite pasttime: the Dope.
(:))

10

We got the NES and the old games out of storage. Am playing Dragon Warrior 1. We have 1-4, and that’s good for about 4 hrs. a day, for definitely a month, probably more. We also have Solstice and Gemfire. We also have board games. If you happen to be home with someone else, all the classics are an option: backgammon, chess, checkers, and if you are with at least 3, Clue, Sorry! and many of the other are available as well. I’m so glad I saved all those games from my childhood.

Yes, we could play them on the computer, but there’s something especially satisfying about playing them tabletop.

My son is discovering old films. I was a little younger than he was when I got hooked on them. Over the weekend, he watched Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein &* The Ghost of Frankenstein*. I reminded him he used to watch old movies when he was little, but he rolled his eyes. I have him convinced to try some screwball comedies. I’m going to hit him with* His Girl Friday*, My Favorite Wife, and maybe Ninotchka. I may show him some early Alfred Hitchcock, such as The Lady Vanishes.

He sometimes likes to help me bake, and I’m going to make bagels today, so there’s that, as well.

And, we have a pinball machine.

We got some books out of storage too, and downloaded a few on Kindle as well.

We’re not completely self-quarantining-- for one thing, we have a dog, who needs to be walked every day-- but no one is going to work or school, and we do not have to go shopping for a while, so we’re going to stay in as much as possible.

11

I had ordered a ton of flower and veggie seeds online before this all happened and plant to start my eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes inside, grow some microgreens on the back porch, and plant some early spring veggies in my backyard. Also planning to see if I can arrange a no-contact delivery of a truckload of compost so we can spread it over the yard ourselves.

Also, right now I am really glad we bought a rowing machine for the basement. And I have a ton of household stuff that I never get around to - paperwork, deep cleaning, etc. I am going to do our taxes, but that won’t take long.

I am thinking about trying to arrange Skype dinner parties - everyone set up your computer on the dining room table and pour a glass of your favorite beverage!

12

Oh my god they are, aren’t they? I hadn’t even thought about those, but they stress me out. I did add a paint by numbers kit to my fantasy lottery win home entertainment Amazon wishlist- not entirely practical for me because I don’t have a proper table and also don’t want to get paint in my bed, but they look like fun for when I’m a little more mobile and you might enjoy those!

14! I’ve been here half my life. Which does, now that I think of it, make my post count a bit pathetic.

13

I taught myself some more machine learning using YouTube videos. I had taken a short class a year or two back and we’d covered things like random forests. But I was curious about neural networks.

14

I just ordered a new steam engine castings kit to build. One similar to this.

These kits typically take 40-60 hours of machining to complete, so I will have plenty to keep me occupied in my machine shop until we are finally allowed out.

15

Directv seems to have HBO for free right now.

16

Creature Comfort Playing Cards from Calamityware.

17

I like finding a show that’s been on forever that I never thought to try before, so there are plenty of episodes to catch up on. I’ve gotten into The Blacklist (available on Hulu and Netflix, but you need a cable subscription for the former, so I’m watching it on the latter), and started watching it a few months ago. What a great show! And there are something like 9 seasons to catch up on!

Just so everyone here knows, Pokémon Go recently implemented some changes to make it easier for people to play without spending a lot of time outdoors. Essence is on sale and lasts longer, and all eggs have shorter hatch times. I’ll still get out and play this summer (I mostly play alone anyway, save for raid days), because long walks are an important part of my summer regimen, but it’s really cool that Niantic made these changes. Something like coronavirus could otherwise spell the death of a game that relies on people getting outside and in groups to play.

I have a friend who is big into this art thing where you stick tiny little diamond-like things to each color’s corresponding number on a piece of paper… It’s basically bedazzling meets paint-by-number. There are apparently tons of images you can order online, from video games to Harry Potter. Maybe I’ll give something like that a try.

Learning / strengthening a new language is always a good idea! You can use a paid program if you like, or something like duolingo which is free. I got out of it awhile back, but am thinking of returning to it and strengthening my (pretty poor) Spanish.

Otherwise, I’m just playing video games. Old ones I’ve been playing for ages like Destiny 2, and ones I’ve only just gotten into, but are finding fun af (State of Decay 2).

18

I haven’t pulled them out in awhile but I do like adult coloring books. I accumulated a huge collection of pencils and markets and glitter/metallic pens and it is fun to play with them.

I play Clash Royale on my iPad and Sea of Thieves on my PC (it is also on XBox). I especially recommend Sea of Thieves, it is a lot of fun.

One of these days I am going to organize my favorite recipes and have them printed into a book. This is quite cheap to do now, I was surprised.

19

All my activities are stay-at-home activities. There’s this giant ball of radioactive fire outside, don’t you know?

I watch lots of TV, which I’ve previously bought on DVD/bluray. I also have a few hundred unplayed games on the computer; lots of legos and such, and if all that fails I can work on the book I’m writing.

None of this would be particularly accessible if I was bedridden, mind you - I don’t even have a TV in there.

20

I agree, but I have an activity book with coloring pages (which I don’t do) based on HP Lovecraft. Maybe a bit more interesting than your standard nature scenes.