Things to do when you can't do anything

I get outside whenever the weather cooperates and ride my bike or just take a walk. I'm fortunate to have plenty of open spaces nearby with few or no other people around.

The wife and I have been walking the parking lot of the church across the street this last week . The church is shut down to use right now so we have it all to our self's. 5 times around equally to almost a mile only problem the weather isn't the warmest yet.

We have become hermits and a recluse over the years.
I sew and paint and my husband mows the yard on the tractor. He also putters in the barn fixing small items that have been neglected for a while. We are doing light yard work.
Everything is normal for us except going in to buy groceries and going inside to fast food restaurants. There are things we need at Lowe's but that will have to wait.
Once a week we go to Walmart Pickup and go to a fast food drive in window.
And then there are the Texas Oncology visits.
We set in the rocking chair on the back porch.
We walk our land with the dog.
Other than our kids and grandkids not being allowed to come visit all is almost normal.
Mary

I wouldn't say that I can't do anything. I took my horse out for about a two hour ride yesterday. I, too, have gone on neighborhood walks by myself and keeping distance from others.

Both my wife and have been doing quite a bit of cleaning, organizing and throwing stuff away that has been long overdue. Our basement seems to collect stuff.

We are both amateur radio operators. I have some electronic equipment that needs some firmware/software updates.

I have been a part time worker the last couple of years after retiring twice. I am still applying for some full time jobs. I have an interview next week using Zoom, so I need to learn how to use Zoom. https://zoom.us/

My horse barn needs to be cleaned out, but it will be after the ground thaws a bit more and the rest of the snow on the ground melts away. The snow plow blade is still on my ATV, so I need to remove that.

I will respectfully disagree with the original post that we can't do anything. We CAN do things, but it WILL be different.

And, I suppose I should add that I still need to file my state and federal income tax returns, too.

https://www.howtogeek.com/661924/how-to-set-up-a-zoom-meetin... and https://blink.ucsd.edu/technology/file-sharing/zoom/guide/in.... The 2nd link is from the University of California (San Diego) and is quite extensive and detailed.

sense would tell me to stay off the internet. Pretend it is a time when it didn't exist (many of us are old enough to remember a time when there wasn't a such thing as online).

For me that's not possible as I need the internet to work remotely. Funny there was once a time when a stipend paid for it, not it's just assumed you have it and you use it to work. Same with the cell phone I used to get $130/mo. and it was cut in half. Then supposed to get cut again. Yet required for work.

But if retired why not do all the things you didn't have time for when you had to work, and get off the computer?

my .02

My best defense against not pay8ing for required devices, etc, is to say I don't have one. You will have to provide it.

A couple things I learned is that it’s preferred you have a audio and video device. Although you can chat, a mic to talk is better. As for video, most people prefer to be able to see the person they are talking to.

we live on a dead end road so we can walk the dogs back and forth, we play train or yatzy, watch movies, garden work, work in the greenhouse getting plants ready for the garden when the weather gets better, do puzzles , organize the garage (it really needed it) see whats in the attic we have lived for 44-45 years so stuff up there is ? LOL

Been procrastinating to clean out closets and rebuild shelves for years. This has forced me to get busy when not remoting in for work. Finally getting around to reorganizing the place.

Speaking of video-conferencing-app Zoom, linked above, free basic account, friends of ours yesterday evening met at a prearranged time with their extended family for a virtual video-conference dinner. They said it was a lot of fun. Maybe not as much fun as a real in-person dinner, but better than sitting around staring at the boob tube over dinner.

And for you, Jim, it would be a good idea to practice using the app with somebody before the job interview.

We have spent the past week digitizing old photo albums from the past 50+ years.

I'm about 15 years behind.

If you think confinement you are Jailed, having had many jobs that were adrenalin rushes but dead zones in between you learn to deal with it. Do not think about it as a mandatory confinement or mandatory "Gotta do Something" times. Get up, have Breakfast, cup of coffee and just be, something will pop up that needs doing or you've wanted to do, just flow with it. If you Dwell on the can't do's you will be miserable, just live.

I have been walking every day.

When Mom passed I took all of the photos and slides I could and took pictures of them (too many to scan). I have been adding names, locations, and pertinent info to them. They reside in my Google photos and I have downloaded them to my computer where I am trying to organize them. It will be an ongoing task for a while.

Lots of weeds to pull. Lots of grass to mow. Lots of flower gardens to prepare.

That would be good if the rain would stop and it would warm up to 65 70 for a few days,

We've stopped traveling, but otherwise have not really modified our activity behavior. With our increased "free" time - this thread has given me some ideas on activities that could be pursued. One, adding explanatory comments to our photos.

Among other things, I have been reading quite a bit. Over the past three or four years I accumulated more than 30 free Kindle books. The only drawback is that, typically, the free book is part one of a series. And if the book is good, I have to buy the remaining ones. But at least I know I'm probably going to like them.

thinking seriously a pandemic is a true loss to society as a whole. Some folks are busier than ever, others are idler than ever. imho the young and old are the most hit. Young people they are going to have their development delayed, miss out on what would be considered ordinary events that they're used to, and then, the older people are unable to do things they wanted to do now that they are retired and have time. A real shame all around but above all else I hope we all get through it...

It's that time of year anyway and I am more inclined to look forward to getting outside and working than usual. We are also taking walks on some of the local trails. Put the boat in the water 2 mo sooner than normal, just waiting for warmer days to use it more.

I use KU for my reading. You can have as many as 10 KU titles on your device at one time and there are literally thousands of KU eligible reads in every genre.

Our church is putting services online so we take those in every Sunday. I have been playing some Solitaire on the computer to keep my mind active. My wife had a total knee replacement back in January so we are still going to therapy twice a week. And YouTube; do you know that you can watch Highway Patrol, Sky King, Charley Chan, and The Rebel on YouTube? I didn’t until this happened. I am reliving my childhood. Whoopee!!!

My wife and I have cleaned and re-organized every closet and drawer in our house. Now we can't find anything !

With the price of gas getting so cheap we are taking day trips in the car. There is of course so much to see right down the road. We pack a little picnic lunch & sometimes just stop where we have a nice view and eat in the car. We also just go for an afternoon ride for an hour or so before our early evening wine hour at home each day.
Supposed to hit 92 degrees today so we won't be doing yard stuff after lunch but car A/C will work good. Try it you might like it during these times.

Day trips to take advantage of the gas prices sounds nice, but everything is closed. Nowhere to visit.

In PA all state parks are closed, most local parks are as well. In the local parks in my area they have taken the hoops off of basketball backboards and the nets for tennis are gone. Too many folks were ignoring the stay at home and congregating in the parks, playing sports.

Some police departments in NJ/NY/PA are stopping cars who appear to not be necessary, and giving them fines, don't ask me how they can tell.

"York, PA — One week into Pennsylvania’s statewide “stay at home” order and state police are beginning to clamp down.

So far, PSP has issued three citations for people violating the “stay at home” order while handing out another six warnings. But troopers warn if trends change and less people voluntarily comply, that could ramp up."

NY has an 8PM curfew.

"New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a statewide “stay at home” order on March 20, warning New York state’s 19 million residents that those who defy the expansive edict could face civil fines. “When I talk about the most drastic action we can take, this is the most drastic action we can take,” Cuomo said."

Delaware is stopping cars at their border with out of state plates and turning them away.

Crazy times we are living through right now for sure.

Weather is nice, so more walking.

in SoCal, walking two dogs and lots of yard work.

In this case, do nothing is doing plenty... saving lives.

With all the time we have on our hands, there is no excuse not to Update all our POI files.