Boredom

[rodmkr]

To start out I am 87 and care giver for 92 year old wife with dementia.
I get bored sitting around waiting for her to need something and hate the boob tube.
What do you do to ease the boredom?

Jim

 

[fiver]

at that age?
I'd find a rotation of some hot 30-40 y.o. nurses to come look after me.
or build models, or tie fly's.
if it's really bad I could send Jax over, that'll liven things up for ya.

 

[RBHarter]

Too young yet for that sort of thing . Ms has debilitating migraines that occasionally shut down my show . I'm pretty easily amused though . Brass prep , pistol loads , new recipes in the kitchen , if it gets really bad I have a few shirts I need to move/replace buttons on . Ever notice the shirts you never need a button for have spares attached but never on the shirt/jackets you favor ?

There are always "busy" jobs to do and some of them are even quiet and allow me to leave her haven dark .

I'm raising 12&14 yo girls so there's not a whole lot of time for boredom ......... I'll probably be a babbling idiot after they go on their way I've only had a house full of kids for 36 years come June ......

I'm no help here .......

 

[Joshua]

I feel your pain.

My wife is disabled and eight years older than me. Her mobility has been severely reduced in the last few years. My 14 year old son is autistic and doesn’t like to be/can’t function well, out in public.

Between the two of them I have been forced into a more sedate, home based life than I personally care for.

Covid-19 has magnified my domestic situation.

I’m 46 and have a busy 40 hour a week work life. If it wasn’t for work I’d go a little batty!

To fight off the boredom I reload, cast, listen to pod casts, cook, battle the seven different vines that grow in my overgrown yard, drag the boy out to the woods to go plinking, and play a silly game on the computer called bubble shooter. Oh, and spend way too much time reading and researching about guns, powder, reloading, hunting, and such.

I have had to develop hobbies that I could do at home. If it wasn’t for my family responsibility’s I might not have picked up reloading and casting as hobbies. They are pretty time intensive, but time at home is what I’ve got these days.

 

[rodmkr]

Fiver,
Tried the 40 somethings to care for her while I went to the range.
Since COVID the hourly rate has doubled to $30 an hour.
So travel time , range rates and meals it cost about $150 for 2 hours range time.
Not worth it for me, so a lot of stay at home time.

Thought about the fly tying but couldn't find any info for a beginner.
Such as equipment and supplies.
Lot of sources but few talk in a beginners language.

Jim

 

[david s]

I'm currently building a holster for a S&W 65. So how about leather work? It takes some thought to figure out your patterns a bit of labor and can be put down and picked up without any problems to the work. My stuff is pretty plain but if your artistic it can be just as fancy as you are creative.

 

[Spindrift]

Maybe you could make an airgun range in your garden, basement or something?

 

[RicinYakima]

I have a short 30' range off the deck that I use with the .177 pistol. Two pumps are fine for that distance. The only problem is that the wife lets me shoot grackles and starlings. When Ms. Tillie was young she would go check out the dead birds before the Lab brought them back for disposal. Now shooting at a target, she thinks there is a dead bird somewhere, and being a bulldog, runs through the flowers.

A friend makes his own targets of dragonflies and critters and colors them, that takes up a couple of hours right there.

The little Crossman air pistol was a good thing for me during a couple of surgery recoveries.

 

[RBHarter]

Fiver,
Tried the 40 somethings to care for her while I went to the range.
Since COVID the hourly rate has doubled to $30 an hour.
So travel time , range rates and meals it cost about $150 for 2 hours range time.
Not worth it for me, so a lot of stay at home time.

Thought about the fly tying but couldn't find any info for a beginner.
Such as equipment and supplies.
Lot of sources but few talk in a beginners language.

Jim

Lee Wolf wrote a fly fishing book that took me from , sure who can't tell a fly rod when they see one to a moderately well armed novice that can't afford the game .
There is remedial to whoda thought a bit of buck tail and feather look like a frog ? When someone talks about brookies and wooley buggers I don't feel half as dumb I even recognize a Hackathorne . I might even read the book again now that I'm thinking about it .

I guess he was kind of a big deal to fisherman 60 yr ago .

 

[waco]

Besides shooting sports I enjoy building model cars/trucks(1/24th scale), metal detecting, flint knapping, and playing chess.

 

[fiver]

try this guy, he lopes along and keeps flappin his lips about what he is actually doing.... nuthin fancy.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Thought about the fly tying but couldn't find any info for a beginner.
Such as equipment and supplies.
Lot of sources but few talk in a beginners language.

Jim

Jim

LOTS of videos on the net these days. Weren't any such thing when I started 46 yrs ago! I just fumbled along for years. Then got a guy to help show me the ropes when I was in HS. If you can learn from a book (I can), I highly recommend "The Complete Book of Fly Tying" by Eric Leiser. It is a great beginner book. Also Kaufmann's "The Fly Tyers Nymph Manual." Both are great. If you decide to take the leap, there are others I can recommend, depending on what you want to tie.

One thing I will recommend if you DO start - Buy a very good vise! Otherwise it can be very frustrating.

Last - If it is materials you are worried about, never fear! I can certainly put together a "Care Package" of some starter stuff. I have a TON of materials!

 

[Missionary]

Wood model airplanes and wood long bows for activity. Rebuild pocket watches also.
And I read alot.

 

[Brad]

Fly trying isn’t a bad way to kill time. They only have to look good to the fish.
I have tied some pretty ugly flies that catch fish and that is all that matters to me.

 

[Dimner]

I do carving and whittling in the living room. I modded an old hardside leather brief case to hold knives and gouges with magnets and then I do my cutting over the main opening of the briefcase. It holds all the chips and what not right in there. No mess in the living room. When I am done, just snap the briefcase closed and that's all there is for cleanup.

I did this a ton while my daughter was younger and wanted me to 'watch Disney movies with her. My hands need to be doing something

 

[popper]

wooley buggers A hook, chenille, thread and away you go. Good vice helps but an alligator clip works too.
Get a banjo and learn to play it. cause you can put it down anytime to help - or can't hear the request.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Brad and Popper are spot on! I tie flies for fish, and they are WAY less picky than fly fisherman! I even scruff up my nymphs with my 3 day stuble when fishing! And the Wooly Bugger is THE starter fly! Easy/works/fish love it/almost can't fish it wrong!

 

[oscarflytyer]

Rebuild pocket watches also.

Missionary - You don't SAY! Really? I am a pocket watch fan. Have my Grandad's and Great-Granddad's watches. They will go to the two sons that are named after them.

Personally I carry one every day. I had to get a good Hamilton true Railroad watch that would handle every day carry. Got lucky and found it on Gunbroker! and a local guy I could go pick it up. ~1950s era. I love it! Would like to have a back up. If you ever rebuild one to part with, pls let me know. Thanx