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zgirl · Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:02 pm

Here is what I hope will be an interesting question. I have been using computers since 1987, I've been working in the IT field as a career since 1994. This was shortly after graduation. I still have a great interest in computers and such, but after 15 some odd years of working with computers in my spare time, even after working with them at work. I find that I don't want mess with them too much any more when I am at home. They were a hobby that became a job. I will still build new PCs for myself. I will stay up on the latest tech for myself and for my job. I have however found myself looking into other avenues of interest to fill up my free time. Namely I've gotten back into woodworking, mostly because I have a new (old) house. I've spent the last eight months converting my garage into a woodworking shop, and I find myself spending may enjoyable hours out there, when I can find them.

My question is: am I the only one who feels that I need to get away from computers, and if not what other interest do you find yourself pursuing to get away from the computer?

Prelude · Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:03 pm

Racquetball, lots of racquetball.
That and some photograpy on the side.

Peace, Will

Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:10 pm

i have been messing around with computers since the 9th grade (1996) and well half way through college i got tired of them, so now i am going to be a pharmacist :razz:

lenzenm · Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:13 pm

Hmm.
Role Playing (with dice and paper and pencil and real people), at least once a week. Wargaming (with miniatures and rulers and real people), not as often as I would like; about twice amonth. Paintball (usually outdoor), about once a month, although I would like to do it more often.
I enjoy bicycling, but just dont have the time lately.

Jaraxle · Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:20 pm

Have kid(s), that will fulfill that desire for other interests. :grin:

(did for me anyway) :wink:

0oALio0 · Wed Mar 13, 2002 4:42 pm

Computers have always been secondary for me. Everyday i spend 3-4 (minimum) hours playing basketball (be it practicing with the school team, shootin hoops at the park, or playing with my friends). I also spend 2 hours every second day at the gym working out. When i get home my favorite method of unwinding is playing video games and learning more about computers.

mattsteg · Wed Mar 13, 2002 4:54 pm

A desire not to tire of or become too centered on computers only is why I am studying to be an Aerospace Engineer rather than something like computer science. I like to keep computers as tools and hobbyist entertainment. Put another way, I would rather have my computers be an means to an end, rather than the ultimate purpose of whatever I do.

Speed · Wed Mar 13, 2002 5:48 pm

I never spent much time with computers before I began a career in IS. When I was young, I had sports, girls, cars and music as interests. Nowadays it's not much different, except that instead of running and swimming I drive and sail, and since I don't want to go to jail, I make sure my dates at least have a driver's license. I never was comfortable with writing letters or spending lots of time on the phone, so the main things that computers give me in my personal life is entry to communications media that I prefer. But it's the message that counts, not how it's sent.

nrobison · Wed Mar 13, 2002 6:39 pm

Absolutely; though a happy mining/civil engineer, I love plumbing, tiling, and woodwork. The best hours are spent hiking with my wife and organic gardening with family (3 kids), and reading Moby Dick, Hamlet, Watership Down, Tom Sawyer, Nietzshe, Mikhail Bulgakov, and biographies of Pushkin and others... and I love teaching math and physics to undergraduates.

A well-rounded human nowadays is well served by an understanding of computers (and it allows us to be punk into our 30's because the CompUSA marketplace is so miasmicly lowest-common-denominator controlled/advertised) - but you're right, and far from alone; I think that the bleeding edge folks drag society towards some noble goals, but if they (we) do it at the expense of our deeper lives, we'll just end up bitter and lonely.

Sorry, what a babbling, simpering post. Life's very, very short, though, and a "re-start" or "next game" button is simply not available...

Speed · Wed Mar 13, 2002 10:53 pm

Organic gardening, eh? I live in the city, so it's inorganic gardening for me! The concrete can stay out year-round, and the neighbors are real good at putting fertilizer out on it. :lol:

nrobison · Thu Mar 14, 2002 9:30 am

Speed, yes, organic - not politically (read: burning courthouses to save the fish...) but we compost most kitchen stuff and all the leaves/grass and till it in; we can 30 or so quarts of tomatoes and eat 1/2 kg of raspberries per week in the summer in Reno (sort of a city) - the big thing about organic is, if my kids eat a worm while I'm not looking, it won't cause cancer in 30 years. :smile:

Jaraxle · Thu Mar 14, 2002 11:12 am

Gardening. Wouldn't work for me. I have 2 Jacks that eat anything smaller than a shrub. :wink:

Ate one of my wife’s hideous looking plants. Dogs got some treats for a week. :grin:

Wed Mar 27, 2002 12:53 am

Only been into computers for abuot 2 years now, but I need to do more than sit in front of a monitor all the time. I play different sports all year round, and actually like to do some gardening.

Veritas · Thu Mar 28, 2002 2:44 am

I play my guitar a lot, play ultimate frisbee anywhere from 2-5 times a week. I also try to make sure I get up to the gym. That keeps me sane after spending the rest of the time in front of the computer.

0oALio0 · Thu Mar 28, 2002 5:29 pm

Where the hell do you find people to play ultimate frisbee with? Nobody plays that.

LaRoacha · Thu Mar 28, 2002 8:45 pm

To most people this is kinda nutty until you get into it,,,,but I redescovered hobby rocketry after many years have gone by and "whow" have thing's ever changed. I'm into High Powered Rocketry now and it's really fun and intresting. It's also another way to use your computer because if you design your own rockets, you use programs like Rocsim to get the CG and other proportions correct. Check this link out to see what modern High Powered Rocketry's all about, it's not mine, but it show's you what's going on.
http://www.gbrocketry.com/

If you just want a quick and dirty movie try this out: http://www.gbrocketry.com/Video/Aramis_ ... _Video.mpg That's the from the ground view

Or: http://www.gbrocketry.com/Video/Aramis_ ... _Video.mpg That's the onboard the rocket view, and mucho cool in my opinion.

fink · Tue Apr 02, 2002 10:10 pm

Unlike some, my degree is not in computers, but it is something organic, organic chemistry. Computers became a hobby during grad school, but these days I am burned out on computers; something to do with lack of interest in the current crop games, which was the driving force for faster and faster machines and some serious overclocking. Of course, Neverwinter Nights is out in a few weeks....

Right now most of my time is spent looking for work or a post-doctoral position.

I also do some knee-dragging on my motorcycles, race RC cars ($ permitting) and ride bicycles for exercise.

IntelMole · Wed Apr 03, 2002 6:44 pm

If you didn't get bored of computers it would be a little more worrying...

For starters, your health insurance would be through the roof what with all those claims for glasses :smile:

I do get bored of computers, especially when I'm reading about stuff like KVM switches at toms hardwarde (looking out for a good one btw, any suggestions?).

I've just got a bike for £95 actually... front and adjustable back suspension, v brakes, 15 gears, lock stock, the f***ing lot :smile:

It was in a scratch + dent sale but I can't find anything abnormal with it other than a very slight buckle in the front wheel...

My dad went past the same shop the other day and saw a bike that was virtually the same except it had plastic v brakes... £270 :smile:

So I'm very happy with it and ride to work, 3-4 miles up and down all the way in 15 mins is pretty impressive.

Now, I just gotta get the BMX sorted, just for old time's sake :smile:

,
IntelMole

brisk · Thu Apr 04, 2002 12:26 pm

What an interesting thread, I just started to feel this way lately. I play all kinds of board and card games with my friends and family, it helps us bond and keeps the smiles going. Also, after my full-time IT job, I go to school at night - still working on my B.S; it puts my train of thought in a different mode. On my things-to-do-list, I would like to learn how to play golf and how to swim.

cheers,
brisk

rikki tikki tavi · Thu Apr 04, 2002 11:07 pm

music....listening to, and composing.

playing Scrabble, Magic: The Gathering, etc.

lotsa DVDs.

Nintendo GameCube.

cooking.

scratching myself.

etc etc

MLO · Mon Apr 08, 2002 9:10 am

I thought I was the only one that was experiencing this.

In fact, I was going to start a new thread entitled "Burnout". Maybe I need to wait until they develop wetware memory brain sockets, but I usually find that come the end of the day, I am more than happy to leave any tech related info behind...due to the fact that my mind simply cannot hold any more info.

Other hobbies? Working out (hour a day, 6 days a week), reading (just discovered Pat Cadigan's Synners). Occasional forays into art. Reading fluff magazines.

MLO

deidre · Mon Apr 08, 2002 4:17 pm

i too find that i'm pretty burned on computers right now. hazard of making it a major part of your career, i suppose. luckily most of my friends are computer illiterate, so we almost never talk about computers. i find my time these days more filled with working out (especially hiking this time of year now), gardening (like many have mentioned....of course, tis the season for it), music (both making and listening), and reading about a whole host of different things.

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