Passing days during this Virus & internet investment addiction

[rkser]

I wonder how other retirees are passing time these days during Covid ?? I am trying to find out some activities which I can learn or.spend time in.

I am getting BORED STIFF most of the day, I would have loved a day off while I was working, but now in retirement along with Covid I do not know what to do, during a major part of the day.

Most of the days in the week are filled with -

-Exercising at home for 45 mins,
-An hour's walk
-Volunteer an evening a week which I stopped to prevent exposure.
-Tend to a small back yard garden after taking a Gardeners Course at our County Extension, where I attend infrequent zoom meetings.
-Stopped indoor meetings, although phone calls & Zoom Meetings continue with our group of nearby friends & far off relatives.

I did not develop many hobbies while busy during working days.

My default is my faithful Laptop & most of the time I visit earlyretirement.org, Bogleheads.org, occasionally Mornining Star, Vanguard & Fidelity where I have my investments, apart from occasionally seeing youtube videos.

Financially we are doing well & will die rich. I have checked many Retirement Calculators & fortunately we will do fine like most of us on this Forum.

DW says it is Internet/Investment addiction.

Please share if you are able to, thanks in advance

 

[Nemo2]

Tomorrow DW begins an online C Sharp course.

 

[MBAustin]

I'm a big fan of Ernie Zelinski's books on figuring out what retirement means for you. The Joy of Not Working is the one I found most helpful.

 

[braumeister]

I did not develop many hobbies while busy during working days.

Retirement is the perfect time to take up new hobbies. I've restarted a couple I had when young (fly fishing is one example), and started fresh on several more. Just started another new one last year (woodturning). A big advantage of this stage of life is that I'm able to afford better equipment for my hobbies than I was ever able to in the past.

And on a more trivial note, we have gone back to our childhood during this thing and are doing jigsaw puzzles. The 1,000 piece type. We keep a card table set up in the living room with a puzzle on it and every time we walk by we try to fit a few pieces in. DW trades them with her friends so there is a never ending supply of them. Some are easy, others are fiendishly hard. Fun way to pass a bit of time.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I wonder how other retirees are passing time these days during Covid ??

This is my first year in retirement but we have been staying busy with golf, gardening and hiking. Took some short road trips to look at property but we've been staying with the very low risk activities. We have about an acre to maintain and it takes several hours a week, about and hour or two a day.

Been posting about 4 rounds a week and I've lost 40 pounds walking and carrying my clubs.

 

[sengsational]

I'm finding a bit more time on my hands lately.

Earlier in the pandemic, I decided to do some things to improve my resilience. For mental resilience, I took a Stoicism course. For health resilience I built a sauna and a "chill button" for my shower. But now that those two devices are up and operational, I'm looking for more activities.

I sold two cars this year, which took more thinking/planning/patience than taking much time.

So much of the financial stuff is on autopilot, it takes really no time at all. All of the financial fluctuations did require a few rebalance actions, but as stimulating as it is to press buttons with huge dollar values, that only takes 20 minutes and the excitement is over, hehehe! I'm almost disappointed when I pull my numbers and nothing has hit a trigger.

I automated my cash flow projection process, which is an example of spending hours on a programming effort that allows me to save 2 minutes per month

A bunch of stuff from my FIL's garage really needs to go on Craigslist, but I can't get motivated.

Been getting back on the mountain bike again, after a hiatus.

Today, I got curbside delivery from my local homebrew store, so now I have ingredients for a batch of beer to brew, but that's just a few hours.

One possible "big project" on the horizon is a roof over our deck. I've been playing with Sketchup (I LOVE to play with Sketchup! It "wastes" so much time). Here's a 2 minute video I made for a company that does these kinds of roofs (if you want to waste some of your own time): https://youtu.be/YWJ_keKieGo

 

[RobbieB]

Everyday I putter with another little chore on the home improvement list.

 

[gerntz]

Today: walked two miles, cut grass, played duplicate bridge, read WSJ. Now wasting time online.

 

[rodi]

I was worried about being bored and needing structure when I retired - so I signed up for an Italian class at the community college. 2 x a week, plus homework. Took 3 semesters, enjoyed them... but when it came time to pick another topic to study opted out.

I find plenty to fill my time... most of it basically lazy. (Reading books, surfing the internet, watching tv, putzing around doing not much.)

 

[SpinDoctorTX]

We're not really bored, as we both are very busy throughout the day doing this and that (cleaning/ cooking/ hobbies)... but we are both kind of irritable. Not having enough alone time is tough for us both. Without daily walks we'd go nuts, but we have to get out there by 6:30 to beat the heat.

I'm not inspired enough to take up much new, unless it involves leaving town , which we'll do for a carefully planned day at Surfside tomorrow.

It's hard to not feel like we're actually living "Groundhog Day" as the days just all run together. I'm really looking forward to September when we can go to the zoo & stuff during the rare cool days.

State parks are open in Texas, but you have to make a reservation and the facilities are closed. I understand there would be contamination issues, but heck that won't work out! The coast is the best option for us during August. We walk on the beach for a while, then go find lunch.

 

[ElizabethT]

Hours outside each day doing something active - walking/hiking/biking/kayaking. Often times followed by a takeout lunch eaten somewhere pretty. The day pretty much flows after that because I'm in that state of tired well being.

Otherwise, we are taking private golfing lessons, doing outdoor yoga, and I just bought a guitar, which is absorbing hours of my time each week. We also joined a nearby winery so we'd have somewhere outdoors to go and see people from a safe distance. Add these new activities to those that were already in place, and each day passes pretty rapidly.

I am finding I need to be much more conscientious about planning out my day in the absence of the multitude of social activities we were involved in pre-COVID. So I literally make a schedule for each day as I'm drinking my morning coffee. It does make a world of difference for me.

 

[aja8888]

Now that my new hip replacement is past the 6 month healing mark, I'm going back to playing golf again after a long layoff.

The only thing is that new clubs are in order. My old set of Lynx irons and Ram woods date back to the late 1970's. LOL

Tomorrow I am going to the driving range for a warm up (slowly, of course). Then 9 holes with a friend of mine on Friday.

See how it goes.....

 

[blueskyk]

Passing days during this Virus & internet investment addiction

I’ve cleared out a bunch of extraneous junk in compliance with my new downsizing initiative, scanned my entire photo collection to make some cool photo books for family gifts, got up to speed on video software (Premiere Pro) to make video montages of family videos, taken several online art classes (these were surprisingly good but required a little more interaction with other students than I care for). Embraced being really bad at drawing and learned to see it as a way to explore things I never would have otherwise tried.

Started doing art quilts.

Titled one of my dogs in Rally (Novice) and currently working on his Intermediate title. AKC has a program where you video the run and send it in to be judged. Hosting Rally practice once a week at the local dog club outdoor field.

DH and I play chess once or twice a day. It’s a grudge match.

We regularly go camping in the RV within the state.

Cooking really good meals.

I’m back at hospice volunteering and therapy dog visits at assisted living facility with restrictions and precautions. Therapy dog visits must be outside - the first visit, 7 very excited residents in wheelchairs waited in line at the door to come out. Hospice visits can only be done in residents home, not in any facilities. I just cannot NOT do what I can to help these people and their families in these difficult circumstances while taking appropriate precautions.

DH is now helping out part time at a race car engine shop which he loves. We are comfortable with the level of risk we are taking in living the lives we want to live. We don’t see the virus ultimately going away but instead hanging around at some level for the foreseeable future. So we’re feeling our way forward in living alongside it.

Whew - didn’t realize how much I was doing till I wrote it all down!

So, I’ve not devoted a lot of time to housekeeping. But then, DH is tidy so it’s working out.

Haven’t been on ER for months so catching up a bit...

 

[Retire52]

days are getting a little redundant, but added short travel to our routine to jazz things up during COVID. we've taken a few trips to the beach, few 3-4 day driving trips to interesting destinations. I'm in Ashville NC with DW now. these trips are something we look forward to to break up the months until we get a vaccine or a good therapeutic solution.

 

[audreyh1]

Was - managing DF’s medical care.

Now - dealing with the estate.

Oh, I’ve also been working on my French and practicing piano, learning several new pieces.

We do go out for countryside walks as we can (early). I’m trying to get back into my regular yoga which was blasted by my family obligations then Covid.

 

[Katsmeow]

I spend most of the day at my computer. The main things (beyond coming to forums like this and web surfing) are:

1. Playing Hearthstone
2. Playing World of Warcraft (currently focusing on the Shadowlands Beta)
3. Solving unknown parentage cases using DNA. Sometimes this is for adoptees other times it is for people who are not adopted who are trying to find out who their father is or who an unknown grandparent is. This is a volunteer activity for me and some weeks I probably spend 30 hours on it. If I am busy it may be only a couple of hours. It just varies.
4. I have a close friend that I used to meet for lunch once a week. Nowadays we have a long phone call instead.
5. Read. I usually read for a couple of hours every night before bed.
6. I used to go the gym but now I only do things I can do at home, mostly Treadmill or elliptical.

Honestly, I have more things I want to do each day than I have time to do. I am also working out getting all my old photos organized. There are many other things I would like to do that I just never get to. The above are my first priorities.

 

[rkser]

I have added the The Joy of Not Working to the wish list on Amazon.
My story with reading books - I used to read lot of them both fictional & otherwise during my teens, but once I went to graduate school & while working my reading has been just school or work related, apart from occasional magazine articles. After ordering many books on a impulse & not reading them (filling the shelves), I started to put them on the list, so when I get to it I can order & read them.l will start picking up books again

I watch TV, but usually can not more than a 30 min program. Since the Internet came around my go to place for news or any & all info has been the web, which I can engage for hours at a time. I am struggling to get away from this.

Beyond a little novice gardening, I do not have many skills like fixing things in & around the house.

After retiring 5 yrs back, we traveled in & out side the country for initial few years, also bought a RV & traveled across the country & many other small & long trips. But this year we we have been sticking home so far, but I think few short trips would do us good.

Thank you for sharing your activities, I may try some of them. I have had it with this Covid despair/death all around & it is kind of demotivating.

My best.

 

[Midpack]

If it wasn’t for exercise, cooking, golf, dining out and sailing - we’d go mad. My investment activities haven’t really changed, still keeping up as normal. We really miss theater, concerts, fine dining, movies, glass blowing and most of all - just socializing with friends and neighbors. The latter is the really hardest part to us! I might as well have a work at home job now, but I’m not looking.

 

[DrRoy]

In normal times I travel a good bit for landscape photography. Since I ran out of new shots to process, I have been re-editing old ones and trying my hand at black and white. Beyond that, I also read a lot and listen to music. Next week DW and I are going to travel for the first time since March - we are going to spend several days at a state park, where we can be outside a good bit and control our distancing. Then I will have some new photos again.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Started doing the family tree on Ancestry. Why? We inherited photos and letters from both sides, plus have too many of our own. Scanning photos and putting them in the tree, or just preserving them, plus putting in stories and stuff in the tree memorializes them. I’ve found related trees and connected them to mine.

It brings back to life some very good times when my parents were younger.

I’m trying get out and walk every day, usually a 2.5 mile round trip along the creek trail and back. 15 years ago they rerouted the creek side road and a section was totally abandoned. Bikers, runners, and walkers use the road on the weekends. I went out very early Sunday and encountered 4 deer. Watching wildlife and birds is wonderful.

Other ideas-gardening, decluttering, reviewing estate plan and documentation, taking inventory. Make your cooking more complex. Ethiopian and Indian cooking are both complex. Talking on the phone or zoom meeting siblings and cousins.

 

[mpeirce]

One thought is to look back at hobbies/pastimes that you used to do.

I've returned to playing chess. This has less to do with the current plague than with with me looking for something new to do. I used to play chess a lot, but it dwindled and I honestly haven't played in a very long time.

Now with online chess (chess.com at the moment) I can find an opponent anytime. I've been playing against people from all over the world.

So think back, anything from your past that might be fun now?

 

[Aerides]

I'm never bored, because videogames, and I've also expanded my gardening time and workouts. I had started a jewelry class at my local art school right before the pandemic so that's on hold, but they also offered pottery and other arts so I plan to check those out more once we are in future-times.

When I'm simply looking for a time-passer and it's raining or something, I also like jigsaws as someone mentioned. But rather than physical ones, I recommend this site: https://www.jigsawexplorer.com/

I particularly like their weekly mystery puzzles - you can't see the full image until you are finished. The interface plays really well on PC, but I wouldn't pick over 500 pieces unless you have a 30"+ monitor size.

 

[target2019]

I wonder how other retirees are passing time these days during Covid ?? I am trying to find out some activities which I can learn or.spend time in.

I am getting BORED STIFF most of the day, I would have loved a day off while I was working, but now in retirement along with Covid I do not know what to do, during a major part of the day.

Most of the days in the week are filled with -

-Exercising at home for 45 mins,
-An hour's walk
-Volunteer an evening a week which I stopped to prevent exposure.
-Tend to a small back yard garden after taking a Gardeners Course at our County Extension, where I attend infrequent zoom meetings.
-Stopped indoor meetings, although phone calls & Zoom Meetings continue with our group of nearby friends & far off relatives.

I did not develop many hobbies while busy during working days.

My default is my faithful Laptop & most of the time I visit earlyretirement.org, Bogleheads.org, occasionally Mornining Star, Vanguard & Fidelity where I have my investments, apart from occasionally seeing youtube videos.

Financially we are doing well & will die rich. I have checked many Retirement Calculators & fortunately we will do fine like most of us on this Forum.

DW says it is Internet/Investment addiction.

Please share if you are able to, thanks in advance

I left FT on 2/28/2020 and began thinking of a personal thread that would keep me grounded during those dark days. I started on 3/23/2020, and jotted down notes and ideas as I focused on cleaning up many years of junk and revived an old laptop with Linux.
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f54/my-40th-thread-linux-life-102830.html

It looks as if you've started a similar thread here. Continue to engage by posting about your ideas and you'll have a great set of responses and experiences to share with DW.

That reminds me. I haven't posted in my thread for a couple of months. Today I sit down with a python module written by son, and try it with a new set of data brought home by the working spouse...

 

[REWahoo]

I wonder how other retirees are passing time these days during Covid ?? I am trying to find out some activities which I can learn or.spend time in.

One suggestion I haven't seen mentioned is a hobby involving theorizing, planning and experimenting to determine the best way cut the cord and get quality OTA TV reception. You might want to contact statsman for more information.

 

[LRDave]

I'm an inveterate navel gazer, so........