I'm stuck at home for the next 9 days, what should I do?
I’m off until at least 5 Feb due to a boxers fracture. I’m getting sick of TV and movies. Today I’ll clean my apartment, but even with my busted hand it will only take a couple of hours. I can’t really go anywhere as I need to save as much money as I can to cover for missed time at work.
Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
- Solve Rubik’s cubes
- Work on music production
- Sleep
Thing I probably should do:
- Continue to learn Swift
- Follow makeup tutorials
Lemmy, what would you do?
EDIT: Keep ‘em coming Lemmsters! I LOVE the suggestions, and can’t wait to give some of these a go!
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I'd play videogames, depending how much use you have of the hand. If you can use a controller or a mouse without discomfort I'd game. You could complete a lengthy RPG like Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 or Baldurs Gate 3. Or you could learn and play Dwarf Fortress or try and get as far as possible in Stardew Valley or whatever games you like.
Id also go out and walk - explore your city, or go hiking if you have nature near by. Its free and it beats being cooped up in your house.
Or you could make a start on a new skill. Like coding with freecodecamp.org or start learning a language.
9 days is a luxury - I'd even enjoy just lazing about, catching up with friends and family. You dont have to do anything meaningful - you could have some me time.
By far the most American thing I've read in a while.
Answering the question: How about reading some books?
Get well soon, OP!
Thanks for the well wishes ☺️ I’ve ordered like 7 books based on recs from everyone. Do you have a fave book?
Recommendations would probably depend a lot on what kind of books you like.
One I read recently and loved is "Extremely loud and incredibly close" by Jonathan Safran Foer.
I like the premise! I put it on my wishlist.
There is no book you wanted to read?
I’m not much of a reader, though I would like to get into the Star Wars lore. I had not even thought of that, thanks! 🙂
Do you have any recommendations for what to read?
For Star Wars lore it really starts and ends with the Timothy Zahn trilogy. For years was considered the "official/unofficial Episodes 7, 8, 9."
Heir to the Empire (1991)
Dark Force Rising (1992)
The Last Command (1993)
Just ordered it, thank you for the rec! I’m excited to give it a go.
If your library has Libby (or similar), it can be interesting to read random "popular" books. I have found some good ones that way.
Just don't look at the title art, or read a description. Keeps things wild. (Time travel, end of world, or just lunch with friends? No idea.)
"Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine" is one example.
That’s really interesting, thank you! I’ve not heard of this stuff before. I’ll keep that in mind 🙂
You're welcome ;)
I don't know what you like so it's a bit like i I asked you what should I eat tonight?
Imho, if you want to give Star Wars a try that's a good starting point. I don't know now much about Star Wars so I'm probably not the person you should ask. I do love scifi though and among my favorite authors I would say Ubik, by Philip K. Dick (the guy was the inspiration for films ranging from Matrix to Blade Runner, and many others). It's fun, it's not too hard to read and it's not too long either. And it's at least as pertinent today as it was when it was written in the 60s.
That said, allow me one advice if you're not used to reading: don't be afraid to not like and not finish a book. That's OK. You have no obligation to.
I read a lot and I never hesitate to quit reading a book I don't like. Also, I know that my tastes can change (I now love books I hated when I was a kid or a teen, or even a young adult). The Ubik book I suggested is not a difficult read, but you may also not like it at all, and that's fine. Just look for something else to read ;)
I like the premise of Ubik, I ought to try it. Thank you for such a thoughtful response! I’m definitely interested in getting out of my routine.
That's a great thing to do, imho ;)
Wishing you to get better soon
If you haven't read it yet: A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas
Just ordered!
If you’re into science fiction, check out the Wool/Shift/Dust trilogy by Hugh Howey. I also enjoyed the Lattice trilogy by Erik Hanberg. You’ve probably already seen some movies based on Robert Heinlein books. GS Jensen also has a bunch of fun series. Finally, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is what got me into sci-fi as a wee one.
Alternatively, head over to a book community, or the books community on BlueSky is pretty active. Tell them some things you really like and ask for suggestions. If you liked a movie or TV show based on a book, there’s a very good chance the book was a bit different and considerably more in depth.
Adding that all the older Stephen King books are worth the read. 11.23.63 was the last one I read, and I really enjoyed it.
I totally forgot about 11.22.63. I really enjoyed the series. Purchasing the book now.
Audiobooks ?
I could get down with some audiobooks. Thanks!
I’m into sci-fi and fantasy, I think. I haven’t done audiobooks since A Song of Ice and Fire. I could re-listen to those, thanks for suggesting audiobooks!
Play Factorio. The time will go by much quicker, and you'll feel productive and unproductive simultaneously.
"Have you tried crack?"
I’m dead 🤣
Best description of factiorio.
Looks similar to Satisfactory. Would you say so?
Yes, they're conceptually identical, but the core gameplay is very different.
Satisfactory's devs call out Factorio as an inspiration, but they're fairly different games.
Factorio is a top-down 2D game built in its own engine. Graphically it looks like Age of Empires with a 3 pack a day habit; buildings are grungy and smoky with something of a dieselpunk look to them.
Satisfactory is a first person 3D game built in the Unreal engine. Gorgeous and colorful alien landscapes with buildings that have a tonka truck kind of vibe to them.
Factorio's environments are procedurally generated and can get to be extremely large. Satisfactory has one hand-made world with no procedural generation, the game world is approximately 25 square miles IIRC.
Factorio has pollution and base defense as major gameplay mechanics, as your factory pollutes you will attract larger hordes of alien creatures who will try to destroy your factories, and you can build walls and automated defenses. Satisfactory has no pollution mechanic and some FPS combat mechanics which amount to "there's some alien wildlife that will attempt to gore you on sight." Satisfactory's buildings cannot be harmed in any way.
Factorio has a more paranoid feel to it; you're never sure when the edge of your base will come under attack. Satisfactory is a lot more chill.
Setting up Paperless-ngx and scan up all the papers (which now can be recycled).
That's what I did with my last free days.
That’s really interesting! I don’t really have much that I would need to scan in, but the process would be a nice challenge.
That's my struggle now. Nothing more to scan. But it's like a rabbit hole. I'm actually make use of the ASN numbers and use a mail address to hord the digital papers, too.
Sit-ups and air squats. 10 per hour. Add 5 each day.
That’s a great idea!
I was going to recommend Shiko: https://youtu.be/YLvHesbDZUQ?t=30 it works many of the same muscles as the air squats but also builds your balance and "stretches" your legs.
install archlinux
I don't know if 9 days is enough time.
Hannah Montana Linux FTW
In all seriousness though, installing and setting up Arch seems to be a bit over my head (and patience).
Although…I’d get to let everyone know that I use Arch… 🤔
Its not acturally difficult, as an Arch user (btw) some Arch users will convince you to manually install Arch (and you should at one point but you dont need to). You can use Archinstall and itll basically install like any other OS.
Oh wow, I always assumed it was too technical for me. I’ll try it today.
You should play Factorio. Although there is a great risk you will never leave the house again.
Curious how you got on with the Rubik’s cube?
I love twisty puzzles. My fave is the Ghost Cube. That one takes me a couple 2-3 minutes to solve.
Hey that looks cool thanks.
Great username btw.
Thank you!
Had the same deal last year when I tore an achilles tendon. :(
#1) Do what the doc/physical therapist tells you to do.
#2) It's OK to push yourself a little, but pain is your body telling you when to stop.
I figured out how to stream the PS5 and Xbox to the Steam Deck in the bedroom, your mileage may vary! :)
Dying to know though... boxers fracture? Hopefully a good story there! Always lead with your first 2 knuckles!
Thank you for your advice!
I wish I had 😅
Unfortunately it’s a bit of a sad story. My father and I are no longer speaking.
:(
No need for sad panda, it’s been a long time coming I think.
Did you at least lay him out?
Sadly I think I hit a stud. Turns out that punching however thick of wood studs are, is a bad idea.
So it’s a pretty stupid thing to do. I don’t recommend, not even with rice.
Qi Gong: a relaxing, low impact workout. Dozens of monks have youtube channels.
I think I could get into that. I imagine it will help with the whole mindfulness thing.
Learn to roll the fist toward the index knuckle before it lands. ;-)
lol I wish I had thought of that in the moment. I pretty much just saw red and lost control of my anger.
It happens. It doesn't have to happen again. If you have money for gym, maybe Tai chi to learn how to manage energy, shouldn't be an issue with your injury. I would love a tai chi class, myself, but it may not be for you.
I had not thought of Tai Chi. I think I’d be into it!
Not a huge use of time, but add fap to your list. Keep your head clear.
Not my thing, but thanks lol
Spend time thinking about changes I want to make in life, like better eating habits or more exercise, then rethink my home and how to set up for long term success, maybe.
Maybe just cruise Lemmy/all and make braindead jokes at smart people as per usual.
Wayyy ahead of ya lol.
I had just started going to the gym again, and then I went and turned my life upside down lol.
I fall into the trap of procrastination and end up mindlessly consuming YT. How do you keep yourself on track?
Uhh I super don't. Best I can do is at least use Grayjay and Freetube to avoid ads.
Get a bunch of groceries delivered and cook a bunch of food. Freeze a lot of it for later to save yourself time cooking
I’ve been super into my Instant Pot lately. Yesterday, my son and I made BBQ pulled chicken. It turned out great!
Do you have any go-to meal prep?
I make a lot of scrap soup. Any random ingredients, like cans of veggies, food scraps I've been saving for stock, any other ingredients in the fridge about to go back, and any ingredients I want to get rid off, I throw in the scrap soup.
I usually like to make a cheese base, since it goes well with damn near everything. Cheese base doesn't freeze well though.
Veggie Mac and cheese is good, lasagna is good and freezes well, I also cook a lot of noodles and stir fry's.
You can your own frozen junkfood like frozen pizzas to toss in then oven when you feel like it, and stuff like that. You dont even have to complete it, just assemble it, and when your hungry take it out of the freezer and chuck it into the oven, like lasagna, and casseroles.
Instant pot is great for fast meals too. Its also incredible for stock. If you want to upgrade your knife skills you can buy bone-in cuts or whole birds to use all of the bones and scraps for stock. Basically all food waste goes through the stock pot first before being tossed
Wow, that’s so resourceful. I’ve just started to get back into cooking, and am def on the lookout for ideas like this.
Had a similar amount of time recently and rewatched the whole Buffy/Angel shows was quite a time killer. I remember doing similar with the stargate shows a few years back but yeah that's like a couple of months time investment.
I recently rewatched Buffy as well, but I've never seen angel, is it as good as Buffy?
It's ideally watched at the same time as Buffy from Buffy season 4 onwards because of crossovers but yeah it starts slowish but by the end the plot is really good actually to the point I think it's a little better than Buffy.
But yeah I think both should be watched together as kind of a combined show.
My son and I have been watching The Office for the first time over the past few days. It’s nice that we have a new show that we both like.
Watch a bunch of history videos and become a nerd :3 Channel recommendations (from easiest to hardest to get into):
I could get down with that. I love history. Hardcore History got me into The Great War.
Playing boardgames online.
Yucata.de is a community built website, where you can play any of 211 boardgames online for free, with people from every country of the world.
Small games to start with:
Mountain Goats
Ali Baba
Balloon Cup
Chinagold
Hey, that's my fish
Lemminge
That’s pretty cool! I had no idea one could play board games online. Thank you for the suggestions too!
"Follow makeup tutorials" is pretty vague, do you have more specifics on what you're aiming for with that? Part of why I ask if because I know that I can find the functionally infinite array of tutorials overwhelming, and if I don't have a clear goal, I'll end up burning out.
The other part of why I ask is because I'm curious about your style goals — what do you want to be able to do that you can't currently do? Is this part of a larger endeavour to shape your style?
I haven’t done my makeup in so long. I’m re-learning basics rn. I just want to be able to have a natural look that I can put on in a reasonable amount of time. It’s Viet Lunar New Year this weekend, and I want to look nice. Specifically I want to work on contouring, as I have like no idea what I’m doing.
Learn to play cdda (it's free and open source). Once you get the general flow of the game it's a great experience.
aavak on YouTube has a bunch of playthroughs to get you familiar.
https://cataclysmdda.org/
I’m not too much of a gamer. I really only play COD Mobile these days. That game looks pretty cool though.
play skyrim. it'll make the 9 days feel like 9 hours
A 33 tome long book series can't be finished in 9 days. Ascendance of a Bookworm is my favorite thing in the world right now.
Nice!
Just starting
Docs
Kinda already know it finish this
Thank you so much, I think I can handle those tutorials. Everything else I’ve looked at is either way above my knowledge level or so uninteresting that it felt like pulling teeth.
Like, I’ve gone through the documentation and made it to methods, but now my eyes just glass over.
My dream is to create and release an iOS app.
Cool just remember you don't need to memorise the docs, they're for reference and even the seasoned pros have to use them daily.
Making small things is more important than the big ideas app you have right now.
So if you already have an idea for an app, you want to get to write smaller apps that have a small amount of that big idea. So just make an app that says hello world on the screen, then make a login screen for it, then authenticators, etc.
I would say the 9 days challenge would be on that level to get a simple app working, at least in the emulator. If you have to use an LLM(AI) always always get it to break down the explanation so you are still learning and not copy and pasting. I made a GPT that never tells me the right answer, uses other examples and always explains the solution,
I appreciate the advice. I don’t have an idea for an app in mind at the moment, I just want to make something.
Could you elaborate a bit? How does one set something like that up? I think that would be fun to do on its own. I’ve only used AI stuff to make music videos for my music, and that is just clicking buttons on a website.
Thanks again for your reply!
The GTP is a paid feature of ChatGPT, you can just give it declarative prompts so it behaves and focuses more on what you want. If you don't use AI don't worry about it. I put that in as I know a lot of people use it and end up just copy and pasting solutions rather than learning. Like slack, it's a great resource, but you have to use it well to learn. I find GPT to be good for replacing Slack as it's quicker, non-toxic, and more obvious when it gives bad advice. Have fun with Swift look forward to seeing the your first app!
Thanks friend! I’ll definitely check out the whole ChatGPT thing, but of course that won’t replace learning the old fashioned way (reading and doing). I’ll let ya know when I have something made, perhaps you could critique it if that is something you’re into.
If you need help with Swift lemmy know
PM’d
Yo that looks legit! Thank you ☺️
Edit: So I “found” it online. Thank goodness for LittleSnitch lol
I'd try to use that time to study a language I've always wanted to speak.
I'd probably fail and do something utterly unproductive, but maybe you wouldn't.
I’ve wanted to learn Vietnamese for a while now. I start and then kinda fall off after a few days. I might give it a go again. Good idea!
Find the Capybaras
That looks really interesting! It doesn’t look like it would run on a Mac though.
You seem to feel like you should learn Swift, but don't want to. If you're looking for tech growth, but can't get invigorated, maybe try a different direction?
Self-host a good first-app, like Nextcloud?
Watch build videos on Voron 3D printers?
Switch apps you can from the Play Store to Obtainium to prep for DeGoogling your life?
Make a server out of some old laptop?
Write scripts that automatically set up your PC when you reinstall?
Organize all your techy tools on a pegboard?
It’s been a goal of mine to create and finish an iOS app. I’m setting my sights pretty low right now. I’m just looking for the motivation to actually make something.
I’m interested in Docker as well. I’ve never been able to setup a container that actually works. I just got read up on it.
Rn I’m focusing on music.
Nice, all good options!
For iOS, I'd recommend Flutter, since that's where the market is going, and they have good quick start guides.
For Docker, it changed my world. I taught someone in these steps, they used GPT to do each step individually, but were required to learn what each part of the compose file did as they went. They used WSL in Windows, but doing it via CLI is key.
Getting those basics down one step at a time will make all the rest soooooo much easier.
Enjoy yourself.
Today, I got my nails done, my eyebrows waxed and picked out an áo dài for the upcoming lunar new year. I suppose I did enjoy myself ☺️
Banoffee pie is really easy to make. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/banoffee-pie/
Looks yummy!
try running
Download and play the free demo of Factorio
If you have a desktop computer with a somewhat modern graphics card you can give an hour or two trying to install kobold.cpp and a local large language model.
You can give your feet a good scrub down in hot water mixed with Epson salt and whatever fancy oils or nice smelling scents you want to throw in.
You can cook a big meal.
You can sort your kitchen and pantry out throw away the old fridge bad food stuff.
You can do some art. You can play a single player pen and paper game like Delve or a classic puzzle like sedoku
Do you have Discord?
I think I do, I just haven’t logged in in like ever. What’s up?
I was going to invite you to mine.
No harm in that, at least within reason.
I’m in! I have no idea what to do next lol
I don't know how walkable your area is, but can you go for a walk?