How do you relax off hours (without booze)

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Reduced staff, long hours, stupid users, Sarbanes, patches, upgrades, and more stupid users.

How do you IT folks cope or destress? I’m afraid I’m becoming an alcoholic…..

Topic

Relax and turn your mind off

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

I crochet to relax. I found that the repetitive motion allows my mind to focus on nothing. I had the same problems with stress and used to drink a little but have found that making something is better for me. What we do are tasks that many times never feel complete or are tangible things and the feel of something being made is a good thing. Maybe you can paint or take up running. Athletics are a good thing for your psyche and lets you vent your stress. THere are a lot of adult soccer leagues you can try.

Hope that helps.
–Lori

Crafty stuff

In reply to Relax and turn your mind off

I’m a crocheter, sewer, cross stitcher, pretty much ANYTHING that gives me a sense of accomplishment… of course, all that stuff happens after the little monkeys are tucked in for the night… otherwise the little cretins steal my yarn/thread and hide it in new and entertaining places… like the toilet :p

Actually my first time at Uni

In reply to Crafty stuff

I worked as a Sewing Machine Mechanic and it drove me to not only drink but smoking as well. All those neurotic “end users” who would come in saying it works perfectly but!

Then they would go on to tell me how to fix it, at first I thought well if you know so much why the hell did you bring it here for me to fix but eventually I worked it out that they where just trying to get the job done cheaper and faster.

Col 😀

Several Options

In reply to Actually my first time at Uni

I like to sit down to a movie rental, read books, vent here in the forum, work on my house, play spades, etc…

…that way I can confine my drinking to work hours.

You get spare time?

In reply to Several Options

What is it?

I haven’t actually had a day off since 9-9 two days prior to 9-11 and even then I had to drop a car on myself to get a 2 week hospital stay. I had the first day and a half free and then in came the LT and Cell Phone and again no more sleep. The IV did get in the road quite a lot until I grabbed some surgical tape and taped the line up my right arm to my shoulder and then I didn’t have a single problem other than the nurses constantly coming in and wondering why I was not asleep.

Now days I prefer to have a TV going in the background so it is a nice diversion but not over whelming so it distracts me from my work. But yesterday I did get 6 hours sleep so that is my allotment for the month. 😀

Col

De-stressing

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

I paint, write, work on the house. Anything that displaces anger. A couple of years ago, I stopped off at the hardware store on the way home from work, picked up a couple gallons of paint, and painted my living room on a Wednesday night because I was aggravated. When I’ve really been in a mood, I can crank out a pretty big canvas in an evening. If you can turn that anger into something creative, it helps. Sublimating it through other activities just doesn’t work for me. Hope you find your answer.

Imagine the shape of my house

In reply to De-stressing

if I painted it or did other modifications while I was angry about something?

Can you say, abstract art?

I have found, someone can only make you angry if you let them make you angry. Just because they are an idiot and pooched their system isn’t a reason for me to get worked up. If the get abusive I calmly point out that there is a problem because of something they did, not something I did and let them stew in that. If they continue to rant it is time to check my e-mails and play a game of solitare and I get back with them in a little bit.

Don’t worry, be happy.

Be happy…

In reply to Imagine the shape of my house

I think I’m much more of a worrier than an anger-type. I don’t react; I stew and fret. Only in the last year or so have I gotten better at compartmentalizing the work stuff. At the end of the day, I can pretty much leave it behind now and say…oh, well…’nother day’s done…wash, rinse, repeat. I can go a whole weekend now without thinking about work or talking about it, which was a major accomplishment.

Relax I make sure

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

The day is clear, no pager, no phone. I put in some great bad movies like The evil dead or the blob. Make some pop corn and just veg. out. I love my DVD player and Ebay, I can buy the best bad movies cheap and not think about the next patch that will bring the server down. I love Microsoft sic.

Can’t be angry if…

In reply to Relax I make sure

I like to watch movies and read. You can’t be angry when watching Shrek, Shrek 2, Pirates of the Carribean. If all else fails, I take one of the many foam rubber toys I get from vendors, shut my office door, and start chucking them at the walls.

Gaming

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

It is always a great stress reliever to play a game. As was pointed out in a thread on great movie quotes on what is best in life, “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!

Relaxing, Play a Game

In reply to Gaming

After a trying day at work or a very frustrating user after I get home and eat dinner then I fire up DemonStar, Rebound and once in a while Doom and just blow the *&#$^@#$ out of something and it is very relaxing and I feel better and then repeat the process as often as needed.

Online poker

In reply to Gaming

About 3 months ago I started playing online poker (Texas holdem). Started out just playing with play money, but in the last week I have been playing with both play money and REAL money.

I can see me retiring in about a year after winning the WSOP.

Or you’ll be working for longer

In reply to Online poker

To pay off the debts you run up.

Col 😀

Budget….

In reply to Or you’ll be working for longer

I play on a budget, about $50 a month, I also only play tounys so I limit how much I lose and maximize my winnings ($3 buy in to have a shot at $350,000).

Anytime you have some extra cash visit me on pokerstars.

PokerStars

In reply to Budget….

I play on PokerStars from time to time. What’s your name on
there?

John

Pokerstars Name

In reply to PokerStars

I go by allentoy (don’t ask)

If I may ask what yours would be??

JohnnyD

In reply to Pokerstars Name

I play more in casinos, but occasionally play online.

Games, Martial Arts and Music

In reply to Gaming

In no particular order my three “techniques” for geting relaxed or de-stressed is playing PC games (and on RARE occassion an Xbox game or two), practicing my martial arts (which I’m just getting back into after nearly 7 months of going through a lazy cycle during a bad “emotional” and “stress filled” time of my life) it really makes me feel alive, gets the blood flowing, etc.

And music…music personally is of great help for me to calm down if I’m upset, relax or if I want to get “pumped” (like before exercising) I just put the heavier stuff on.

Medieval Total War

In reply to Gaming

Your Conan quote sounds like what happens when I play “Medieval Total War”, usually as the English. Most battles end up (after some resistance from the enemy) with them running away, and my mounted troops running them over and ending up getting more POWs than kills. Plus it ends up in lots of money in the game when the POWs are ransomed back to the enemy. Medieval Total War is a great stress reliever.

Game recommendations

In reply to Medieval Total War

I think this is the fourth or fifth time just this week someone has mentioned this game in a conversation. I am going to have to pick it up and give it a try.

Rome Total War is great too

In reply to Game recommendations

If you like tactical / strategy games that can potentially last for months to complete a campaign — its awesome.

Playing about 8 hours per week (most of which was on the weekends) the first go at the campaign took me about 9 weeks to complete.

Rome

In reply to Rome Total War is great too

I am interested in checking out Rome Total War, made by same people who made Medieval Total War. Also, I have seen “Decisive Battles” on the History Channel, and they use Rome Total War to demonstrate the battles. I picked up Medieval about a month ago at Wal-Mart when it was on sale for $9.95, and it has been one of the best games I have gotten for any price. I have heard there is a Viking mod for Medieval Total War. Have you seen it?

Mad Gaming

In reply to Gaming

I’m currently going through quite a few Gamecube games; Zelda – Windwaker, Metroid Prime, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, Resident Evil (about 3 different titles), and basically any puzzle based adventure game that I can get my hands on.

On the PC, I’ve recently gone through; Silent Hill 2, Morrowind (again), GTA – Vice City, and I’ve been picking at about 10 different RPGs over the past 2 years.

Silent Hills Series

In reply to Mad Gaming

I can’t play those games, as I always seem to end up getting really creeped out when my cat sneaks up and hops in my lap in the middle of some tense scene.

It’s always hard to explain why to police and neighbors why the middle aged man is running around in the front yard wearing his boxers and screaming.

It could be worse

In reply to Silent Hills Series

My son has one of my PC’s hooked up to his stereo and plays Doom whatever version at Audio Assault Levels. Well one night or early morning he heard a knock on the door and found several armed Police standing there wanting to know where the “Gun Shots” where coming from.

Of course no one believed him that he was playing a computer game until they had searched the place and my son in his usual wonderful concerned way just continued to play away.

Col 😀

Silent Hill

In reply to Silent Hills Series

You should try ‘The Suffering’ too. This game will creep the hell out of you. It is not quite as bad as ‘Silent Hill’ though.

I know what your saying about playing SH in the dark. I’m a grown man… I shouldn’t be afraid. No matter what the critics say, SH is scary as hell. The game(s) should at least be creditted for good writing and suspense. 🙂

Good Creepy Game

In reply to Silent Hill

Have you seen the preview for DarkWatch? You are an outlaw that gets bitten by a vampire and proceed to hunt them down. Depending on your actions, the games follows different paths to an ending. Sounds interesting to me, but I like Vampire and Cowboy movies.

Which leads me to my comment on Nocturne. What a great idea for a game. Spy agency devoted to defeating supernatural beings. What a lousy game they developed. It would be great to see someone like Sierra buy the license and let Jane Jensen, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale (as creative art director), Brian Azzarello, Douglas Preston and Lincoln child loose on that idea. I wouldn’t care if the game cost $150 on release day, I’d be standing at the front door!

DarkWatch

In reply to Good Creepy Game

I’ll check out the multimedia when I get home. I don’t think I should do it here at work. Not that anyone would mind, but I might start a precident with the others here. If I do it… they’ll all do it… it’ll be anarchy.

I found that Unreal II was pretty good for suspense. Initially, you are to investigate a base to find out what is going on… everything is quiet for about half the level… you see glimpses of critters and dying team members being dragged through the cracks of the space station.

Lightsaber

In reply to Gaming

There’s nothing better to relieve stress than playing one of the Jedi Knight games. Just whip out your lightsaber and go to town on those storm troopers.

Lots of things

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

But mostly gaming, movies and martial arts. There’s nothing better for stress relief than hitting something.

Different things

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Things that don’t require alot of mental time. Working out has been one of my favorites. I am not a heath nut by any means, but lifting weights and doing some agressive walking on the treadmill (not running, but walking at a fast pace, uphill is great exercise). I used to fill sluggish coming home from work, especially since a good part of my day is sitting. I feel energized after a good workout 2 or 3 times a week. Helps keep the love handles off 🙂 I, since have become a new homeowner have enjoyed little improvement projects and thinking of new things for the house. You don’t have to spend alot of money at one time, just a little here and there that keeps you busy and the pride of seeing the end result.

Congratulations…

In reply to Different things

…On the homeownership. There’s nothing like not having to share walls with noisy, obnoxious neighbors to decrease stress levels!

Exactly

In reply to Congratulations…

And the investment of owning a home instead of throwing away money on rent. My mortgage is actually less than what my rent was when I lived in a bigger city. Houses here are cheap!

Outdoors

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

I hit the outdoors, take the dog for a walk in the Park, take my fly rod out to the nearest lake, even just a drive out of the city. Right now, as the roads are a little more than snow covered and icy, and the lakes are a wee bit frozen, a couple hours in the kitchen, with some good music, good times. Of course, there is a bottle in hand every now and then.

Outdoors is that weird alien environment…

In reply to Outdoors

…I have to go through between home, work, Wal-mart, and grocery stores. And where my dog likes to go several times a day in the back yard, because he refuses to learn how to use a toilet. So, it seems Outdoors is just a big dog toilet I have to pass through every day.

NO BOOZE? How about just a little?

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

A Jager bomb is just the thing to get your night going. ;>

Activites, read something NON-TECH.
Yes, work on the house.

Gaming, ahhhhh. Battlefield Vietnam and Diablo2 get a lot of attention in my house. With my setup I can play on-line and have my twin boys join me now that I have the multiple systems up and going. Family time with my boys always recharges me.

And of course there are the Barns & Nobles trips for a latte and more books.

What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, sometimes the wife lets me play with her “mommy parts” too.

Everquest addict after work hours

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

I am a Dark Elf Mage in the land of Everquest after work. This kills alot of time and I kill alot of mobs in the game. I am currently level 62 and I have not played alot lately, but I have been too busy with all of the long hours, Sarbanes and some stupid managers (as well as users).

Cool

In reply to Everquest addict after work hours

I have been meaning to try Everquest for the last forever or so, but I’ve been told that it turns into a major black hole for time and other pursuits! One of my friends says that on the weekends, it’s involving enough that it causes him to forget to shower. Yuck.

My son

In reply to Cool

plays Evercrack and it drives me NUTS, I had to start forcing him to do other things..

Mae if you plan

In reply to My son

Power outages this helps no end to remove them from the PC.

Of course you have to make it look real so there is no TV DVD or Video either so they have to go outside and do something. This is ideal in the middle of winter as with a bit of luck they’ll get lost and die. Of course mine never did and always returned like the bad pennies that they are.

Col 😀

“Evercrack”…

In reply to My son

…I’ll have to remember that term. Thanks!

I’m addicted to ‘WowCrack”

In reply to Everquest addict after work hours

The newest, latest greatest game like EQ is
World of Warcraft, and I’m now its prisoner.

It takes all my willpower to just go to bed
at 10 PM or whatever, and still, I wake up at
3 AM automatically to get my ‘fix’.

In the past, I started a very successful web business to relax ( http://www.phoneconference.com ), and tried to write a book, study physics, etc, but maybe I’m
getting old! There’s nothing like blowing up stuff
on a $500 video card game to relax.

I used to be ashamed (at least my wife wanted me to be!), but I’m too old for that now too. Stuck in my ways. Better to accept what I can’t change.

The correct way to go

In reply to I’m addicted to ‘WowCrack”

Is to Grow Old Disgracefully! It also helps no end if you just forget to mention how much money you spend on computer parts. My life has got much quieter since I’ve started doing that.

It’s easy to slip in a pro quality card with a new LT or something similar and “She Who Must Be Obeyed” doesn’t get to see the bits either she just thinks they belong to whatever I’m currently constructing.

Col 😀

LOL – like your style

In reply to The correct way to go

Yes, that’s what I’m doing too – growing old disgracefully as you put it.

As for ‘she who must be obyed’ – us nerds are LUCKY if we have someone who must be obeyed.
Very lucky. Fortunately for me, I’m very lucky.

What I do is constantly keep her computer upgraded… slowly over time.

This way, she doesn’t comment about my own computer spending nearly as much, and I too
buy parts much more often than entire systems.

🙂

World of Warcraft

In reply to I’m addicted to ‘WowCrack”

How does it compare in stability? I heard that WOW is a lot smoother than EQ with lower end (older) video cards. It also has a lower minimum system spec requirement.

Obviously… you have a high end card, but do you play with anyone who notices a difference?

Chris

Just great

In reply to World of Warcraft

I’ve only been playing wow 1 week now, but I can tell you that it blows EQ1 (what I played) away.

The server has been rock stable, no lag. There is no ‘zoning’ – you just walked around without any delay.

I did upgrade my video card to a 128 meg card,
as my geforce 4 wasn’t supported (but that’s a pretty old card). The card cost $109.00, so it
was hardly an expensive ‘super-card’.

But you are right, it’s not demanding on my system at all.

Reply To: How do you relax off hours (without booze)

In reply to I’m addicted to ‘WowCrack”

Bed at 10PM? I’m working too hard!

Offline

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Outside of work, my life is more offline than it used to be.

I now have a 2hr commute, each way. [Sometimes it feels as though it’s uphill, too.] The 1.5 hrs on the train gives me a lot of time to read. I read the newspaper on the way in, end with the funnies and the crossword. On the way out I usually have a book or learn a new language. Currently, I’m learning Bahasa Indonesia – and it’s quite fun.

At home, there isn’t much time for anything beyond chores or playing with the dogs.

On the weekends I work on the house [it’s a fixer-upper] and whatever the spouse commands.

We’re so far out in the boonies, there currently is no internet access other than dialup, so tehre is no access…

..wow..

In reply to Offline

At one point in time, i had a 2hr one way commute. I did a lot of reading and writing, and grew a very fond appreciation for daylight!!

Oh, yeah

In reply to ..wow..

I’m relatively north, too, so appreciation for daylight is certainly one of my characteristics. Especially this time of year.

well..

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

there are many things, video games, dvd movies (the cheesier the better), watching sports, yoga, cycling on a beautiful day, great sex or any sex for that matter :), a really good meal like grilling the perfect steak or chicken, hanging with friends or a long distance phone call with the old gang from school, and lastly I would say reading a good book series while listening to various music from my cd 100 disk changer at a low level to stimulate thoughts/imagination. If I had a pet I would list it but unfortunately I am petless, nothing would put me in a better mood than playing with the dog or cat.

Who can relax?

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

If you have time to relax then you must not be of age to own a home and have a family and take care of all of what you have purchased over the years or you make so much money that you can afford to pay someone to maintain all of it.

Maybe you own a home but do you keep it looking nice and maintain the pool and yard? I also maintain a small fleet of vehicles such as a motorhome and a power boat 2 NEW cars bought in 04 to reduce maintenance and the ongoing computer studies and a few social functions. We have no kids and this keeps us busy, if you have kids and do all this my hats off to you!

We rarely watch TV, we don’t have time to sit around and do nothing.

Destress and occasionally relax

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Destress
Feed the animals, care for the animals, Cook the animals (nearly just joking), mend fences, cut firewood, Clear fallen trees, Kick the cats, play with the dogs, shovel alpaca and LLama sh*t. (anyone in the calgary area want a few tons?)

Relax
Walk down to the far corner of the ranch where no one can see me, sit down have a cigarette, a beer and watch the world go by.

Getting lost

In reply to Destress and occasionally relax

in a good book, or even a mediocre one, works for me. I’d go nuts if I didn’t have a book to read. Kickboxing helps relieve stress and unwind. Talking to my kid and getting a six year old perspective on the world is always a good thing. Movies or Music usually come in to play. I have to admit though, on the weekends, when it comes to stress relieving activities, there is usually alcohol involved.

Actually Mae I find it extremely stressful

In reply to Getting lost

When my 7 year old nephew whips my arse playing computer games now his little brother has joined in so I feel even more depressed particuarly when they go to their parents boasting just how much they beat me by.

Col 😀

Actually Bob you might like this one

In reply to Destress and occasionally relax

A friend of mine lives on several acres just out of town. His nearest neighbor has several dogs which used to bark all night long and his complaints which started out as genital hints fell on deaf ears.

So being the nice guy he is he ran a Mic lead 500 yards down the hill from the pre amp then another 300 yards to the power amp then the speakers where on 600 yard long leads this gave about a .5 second delay between the dogs barking and the noise coming out of the speakers. It drove the dogs nuts and they really went for it for 2 nights and then they where quite never to be heard again.

From what his neighbor tells at the regular barbie his dogs are still undergoing therapy for their problem in hearing things that just do not exist, but it got him to shut the dogs up.

Of course the fact that he was using a 500 W per channel power amp turned all the way up didn’t help much as it broke the glass of the windows on his neighbors house. That may have played a part in shutting up the dogs as well.

Col 😀

Hal?

In reply to Actually Bob you might like this one

What’s a “genital hint?” [I]started out as genital hints fell on deaf ears.[/I]

Is that like someone discreetly pointing out your private parts, or is it more like just barely HAVING a private part?

Dogs

In reply to Actually Bob you might like this one

We have a pyrenees that barks all night fortunately our nearest neighbour is about 2 Kms away and he has one too so between the two pyrenees we are fully protected against falling leaves, rabbits, deer, rain, snow, stars and as a bonus they seem to keep the cougars and ‘yotes away.
Now we only investigate when the malamute or the border collies atart barking.

one of the barn cats we have sleeps curled up on the back of the pyrenees when its really cold, the rest of the time they totally ignore each other. as it’s minus frozen to death today I’m sure they will be asleep in the barn

Well I no longer do

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Government or Medical work so life is a lot easier. I’m no longer dealing with bureaucrats who think that they know something more than what they actually know and then complaining about the cost overruns because they chose the wrong thing for starters.

The Medical work used to be a real drag as you couldn’t say “Don’t worry no one will die if I’m late!” Well in that one they could so there was a lot of pressure to keep things up and running with no downtime allowed either intentional or unintentional.

Now after a very bad day which are few and far between I just sit down and watch my Gold Fish swim about in the tank and thing some fool should clean it sometime. But because the tank is 6 foot long 2 foot deep and as wide it virtually takes care of itself and beside the fish constantly demanding to be feed first thing of a morning they are feed and forget.

But as I really enjoy what I’m doing now I really do not consider what I’m doing work it’s more like a hobby so I very rarely have a “BAD DAY” and when these do happen it is always some obsolete hardware that should have been replaced 3 -5 years ago which causes the problem and the owner constantly asking “Why is it so slow?”

As a cure for one of these units I ran a 40 ton excavator over one and while it didn’t fix the thing it sure as hell made me feel great.

Col

Camping and golf

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Anything that removes the office (or similar) environments is best. NO clubs, NO bars, they are too political.

Go camping, sit in silence outdoors for 72 hours and just enjoy it.

If there’s no easy camping trip available, take up golf. NOT with coworkers though.

If you can’t find a group of just plain FUN friends to golf with, go to a driuving range for a couple of hours.

I live in a world of recreation, it takes a whole 15 minutes to unwind on a stressful day. It got to the point when living in the city where I hated going anywhere and doing nything because I was just plain sick of people.

I moved to a VERY remote location. This isn’t an option for many thoug, families and other responsibilities won’t permit it. So go and get some free space on a weekend, whether with family, friends or yourself.

Nothing removes stress like solitude it seems. Once you are in the middle of nowhere for a day or so, time disappears and becomes irrelevant, that is the first step to letting go.

CORRECTION

In reply to Camping and golf

I suppose BOTH of those activities do entail a high volume of alcohol don’t they?

I guess the difference is, you drink because you are relaxed and having fun, not drinking just TO relax though.

Fire juggling

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Seriously…there’s nothing quite as calming as hearing that suspended roar as it passes through your periphery. It’s like a really relaxed focus with an undercurrent of exhilaration.

It’s only relaxing once you’re used to it, though. The first couple times you’re too busy thinking about not turning yourself into a human torch. You also need a second person with you if you want to do it safely.

Being able to actually juggle also helps no end.

Relax

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Music, Ps2 and PC Games, Running

does anyone still leave the house?

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

It seems that the most common pastimes and ‘stress relievers’ all involve either sitting in front of a computer or sitting in front of the TV.

Do people know that our oxygen supply hasn’t been compromised and we can safely go outside wiithout the bubble?

Play games on the office network and on their time,not yours. I amstunned at the number of adults who waste countles hours gaming, I know most kids these days wouldn’t recognize a real activity it they tripped on one but for adults to follow suit kinda shocks me.

Don’t get me wrong, I play my fair share of games, but only when I can’t leave the house or late at night when I want to kill something. I hadly see being in front of a computer or TV a way to RELAX and escape the IT world. Especially online gaming!

Not to mock you all but I am quite surprised to say the least. Curling up with a book or an old movie once in a while is one thing, spending countless hours in front of a game each day isn’t really relaxing, it’s just doing something else infront of the PC or TV that you find more fun than working.

No wonder most kids don’t actually go outside and play anymore.

I have plants to replenish my indoor air

In reply to does anyone still leave the house?

I have several plants growing inside my house to replenish my oxygen supply, so I do not need to go outside!! Gives me more time to play computer games and watch TV, and it only takes a minute a day to make sure the plants have enough water. 🙂

Plus, when the weather is good, I keep my back door open when I am at home during the day (weekends and holidays) to let some outside air in, and so I do not have to get up and interrupt my computer game every time the dog wants out. Last weekend, the weather was great, sunny and about 65-70 F, so it was a great weekend to keep the back door of the house open, and let the dog sun himself. One of the advantages of living in the Deep South in the USA, pleasant weather in January.

OZ what do you think

In reply to does anyone still leave the house?

Air Conditioning is for?

It pumps in new air and allows all the used old air out.

Col

Consider the question

In reply to does anyone still leave the house?

What do you do to relax? What do you do to destress?

Relaxing usually involves sitting. I usually sit in front of the computer or TV. Destrsessing usually ivnolves an energy expending activity such as martial arts.

Yes, I get out and play golf and scuba dive, but I don’t find either activity to be relaxing or destressing. If I lived in a better climate I’d probaly spend more time at the beach or by the pool.

How True

In reply to does anyone still leave the house?

We were never in the house!! Now ( and I blame the media and UNI students that have had no experience ) people lock themselves and kids inside as they are too afraid to let them outside because of ‘danger’ ie possible abduction, violence etc etc

Remember when you use to go out and leave your house windows open, your car door unlocked etc etc

Now in Australia they are fineing people for leaving car windows open or not unlocked.

I was allowed to ride my bike to Vancouver island at age 12

In reply to How True

A friend and I used to take day trips all the time on our bikes or other activities we wanted to do, skiing, the ZOO, Aquarium, Science word etc.

There aren’t neccessarily MORE wierdos these days than there were then, they are just AWARE of how many are out there now…roughly know.

People say itis more dangerous than when they were kids, not really. We just knew how to deal with strangers s kids and weren’t so naive because we spent so much time IN THE REAL WORLD.

I have a freidn with 3 kids who lets them go to the park, the schoolard or whatever. They know when to come home,they know when to phone home (with 25 cents, not a cell phone).

They also have more fun and are in better shape than most kids they play with, not to mention they turn completely brown in the summer as kids USED to get when exposed to daylight.

We were allowed ot ride our bikes to the ferry and go to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island or Gabriola Island. We had a written itinerary of where we would be and what ferries we would be on and knew how to take care of ourselves because of exposure to the world and some of the a**holes that are in it with less than deireable intentions.

I feelsorry for most pasty skinned X-Box kds these days, most don’t even play baseball uneless accompanied to games by a parent! What ever happened to Scouting? What happened to going to the pool with a bunch of friends?

Parental paranoia, from the same bunch of people who were once allowed to see the world for themselves. The news shows gangs and guns and they start locking the doors.

I remember ONE instance where I was in public restrrom and some guy was just kinda creeping me out, not by saying anything but just kinda leery. I went to the conservatory in th epark and told the girl at the desk and she let us hang out and see the conservatory for free while the park security was notified. They guy had buggered off (maybe the wrong word here) and we were left to enjoy the rest of our day.

We weren’t IN DANGER, we sensed something was wierd and found an adult, as one would expect any kid to do I suppose.

If the old guy HAD pulled it out I would have probably pointed and started laughing anyway, while calling my friend in for a giggle before booting him square in the John Thomas.

Parents don’t trust kids to make the right decisions or something, whether this is because they think they haven’t educated the kids or simply don’t remember being that age themselves. It’s sad really!

Leaving the House

In reply to does anyone still leave the house?

While cruising US A1A in the Jag, playing Tom Jones singing “What’s Up Pussycat” on the CD player, wearing my multi-focal sunglasses and straining to see curvy redheads in thong bikinis makes me a real dirty ol’ man Florida-dwelling pig, I am not going to admit it in one of these forums.

I mean what would the ladies think of me then?

They would probably think….

In reply to Leaving the House

There goes a real dirty ol’ man Florida-dwelling pig.

🙂 But aren’t we all just dirty old men, even as teens?

Guilty as Charged

In reply to They would probably think….

One of my oldest daughter’s friends told her once, “Your dad is so cute in his car. He’s like Austin Powers.”

Needless to say, my ego was vastly deflated.

My Way

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

When I am at work I very rarely take a break, but there is one thing I do that actually relaxes me and wastes a lot of time. I like to search the severs and see who is saving porn. The company i work for doesn’t really monitor internet activity and i don’t think they really care either, but if they did I know exactly who to look at.
When i am not working I am either watching movies and playing my drums. You would be surprised how relaxed you feel after beating on some drums for about an hour.

Music-,,,the cure all……

In reply to My Way

There’s nothing like a good jamm session to de-stress yourself. I pick up my guitar and head to a friends house or open jamm session and let loose for a while. Its amazing how much better you fell afterwards. Unfortunatly it seems that someone will always come up and ask me a techie question. Ahhhhrrrrrgggg!!!!!!!!

Meditation and Yoga

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Hi,
I think these two techniques, Meditation and Yoga, really helps you relax a lot. I do the meditation part every day. Its not really that hard. You see, just sit down on a quiet place, and then, for the first 5 minutes, let your mind wander where ever it wants.. may be a pretty girl you saw that day, or what ever your mind wants to think. You will be surprised to see that in 5-10 minutes, you wont have much to think about. Once you get there, try to concentrate on your breathing. Just breath normal, but then, feel that air in and out of your nose. Do this may be 10-20 minutes. I feel much relaxed after this.

Fishing

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

In summer from my little inflatable dinghy anchored just off Brighton’s nudist beach. Honest! It really is a good spot for school bass. Then a mackerel barbie on the beach.

In winter, off Beachy Head’s huge cliffs in my pal’s boat, fishing in 100 ft of water only 100 yds offshore for cod and anything else.

But only if the weather is nice.

No booze – well, maybe *one* pint – ‘cos we have to drive back to London.

Brighton?

In reply to Fishing

The last time I was there in mid summer I was the only one wearing a trench coat for warmth. All the others where running around in piratically nothing and it was what I would have considered as a very cold day.

I suspose it all depends on what you are used to I think there was a “Heat Wave” that year and the temp got up to around 18 degrees Celsius about standard for a brisk winters day here.

Col

The summer of ’03

In reply to Brighton?

we had record temperatures of 40 Celsius. On the sea was the place to be. Last summer was more normal – two nice days and a thunderstorm.

Beach-wear kicks in at around 21 degrees, here. We’re a stoic lot.

Did you like the “beach”? 🙂

Neil

The views where great but

In reply to The summer of ’03

It was still bloody cold!

Col 😀

Might have known you knew how to set a hook.

In reply to Fishing

Damn big ones as well.

Sea fishing is a bit too energetic for me, anyway I get sick on a waterbed. Do mean to have a go from the coast some time. My son’s trying to persuade me to buy the kit.

By the river bank for me though.
Sort all the kit out the night before, missus drops me off before she goes to work. Peace and quiet.
Take my beer with me of course. Flask of russian coffee. Mustn’t forget the polos and biscuits, never forgot the smokes yet, though when I dropped my last pack of papers in a lake there were one or two expletives. Was able to dry them out individually with my camping stove, luckily

Ten hours of swan feeding , then back home for a relaxing soak at the end of a hard days sport.

Bliss.

No energy required

In reply to Might have known you knew how to set a hook.

I have a 12ft inflatable fitted with an outboard. Any sunny Saturday, I buzz out of Brighton Marina and anchor uptide of the Pier. Cold box is full of sandwiches and beer. Energetic two minutes while I catch some mackerel for bait (and maybe supper) and then bait up the rod, cast out and sleep until something bites.

The point about an inflatable boat (with an inflatable floor like mine) is that it’s, mmmmm, soft. Feet over one side and head over the other, rod in the rod-holder – that’s fishing!

The difference betweem sea and coarse fishing – I fish for pike in the winter – is that the you can eat the catch.

Hey, the title of your post has just sunk in!

Simple

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

I get necked and run throught the mall shouting “look at me!”.

2 Weeks in jail is the most time off I have had in 5 years (even cumulative).

Heavy metal guitar

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Add me to the list of those who stay inside and do indoor things.
For Christmas, I was given a Line6 GuitarPort (http://www.guitarport.com/), an interface to plug my Washburn electic guitar into my laptop. Pretty nice little box, I think. It’s made me pick up the guitar again.
Other then that, there’s Tivo. That counts as “doing something” right?

Joe

Join a Clan!

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

My Clan has lotsa people who understand me and have similar backgrounds. We shoot each other lots and laugh and talk about work on Ventrillo. 🙂

Clans are for Kids

In reply to Join a Clan!

1st Veterans Battalion is for men!!!!

We are a Battalion (NOT A CLAN)of Active Military, Veterans, and NATO soldiers, over 300 strong. We got started play Americas Army (FREE DOWNLOAD), it is one of the best FPS out there. We love to run around killing each other and talking ‘snarf’ about it. I used to play almost every night until my computer was just not up to snuff to play it.

http://www.1st-vets.us

~LoL~ Yes, I understand.

In reply to Clans are for Kids

Having said that, my clans average age is around 30 something. ok, maybe a little older- hehe. It is surprising when you get into online organized gaming how the age range tends to go up.

We thought for a while that we would call ourselves something other than a clan, but when you get into ladder competitions, well, if it walks like a duck… :>

Get your puter fixed 🙂 Nothing like a friendly round of killing each other to relax!

New computer

In reply to ~LoL~ Yes, I understand.

I need to buy a new computer. I used to play on a Dell laptop (High-end model) until the minimun requirments went beyond it.

Have you ever played AA before???

Never played AA but I hear it’s really good :)

In reply to New computer

My main military FPS is SOF2, did I say that b4? ~LoL~ One of these days I’ll have to try AA though.

COD is a good current Military FPS as well 🙂

Your Clan I hope is different from our Klans

In reply to Join a Clan!

Here in the USA, Klans are racist ignoramuses that wear white sheets and burn crosses, and thankfully, have greatly reduced in influence and numbers in our culture. I take it that your Clan is something totally different from our Klans.

You must not know

In reply to Your Clan I hope is different from our Klans

I live in the USA served 7 years in the USA Army.

The “Clan” we are talking about is a group of people who get together to play games and talk smack over the internet.

Mine happens to be a group of veterans and active duty military from all over the world (mostly the US)

Please do not compare us to the KKK, we have NOTHING in common and take offense to it.

I did not know

In reply to You must not know

I apologize if I have offended. I know nothing of this Clan you talk of, and thanks for your enlightenment.

And thank you for your service to the USA in the Army.

Cool

In reply to I did not know

No harm done.

If you want to check out our website to get a little insight I will post the link again

http://www.1st-vets.us/

We have about 10 members over in Iraq right now and atleat 1 Vietnam Vet.

~LoL~ Clan is not Klan :>

In reply to Your Clan I hope is different from our Klans

Yes it is different than the KKK!

Several races, countries, languages and both genders are represented currently. 🙂

I think some tai chi chuan would help

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Try tai chi chuan!.

I think it could help you to relax both on the physical front and mental front.

You can do it anywhere, even at your office.

Funny you should ask?

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

I was like you worried all the time about getting things done at work, you know what? It will be there in the morning. What was worse was coming home until lately where I would talk about IT until bed time…being that the wife was also in, really I tried everything to stop her talking about but that didn’t help. Well to cut to the chase…She left I stay, I am back to being a single dad and now I remember what is really important. There is nothing more important then a walk with your daughter and your dog! I only have a few years left of having her so I am glad things worked this way. So many times we look at things as being Important…you have to look at your values every once in a while and really see, that a job is a job and you can always get another,
but your life is what you have at the end of the day. I was always one of those guys that never had a picture on my desk, now I can barely find it. Best thing I can tell you is ….Get a life, outside of work, there are so many things that I have tried lately, once I started to smell the roses…sorry didn’t mean to carry on like that.

A number of outside interests

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Good literature, classical and jazz music (listening and playing on 2 trombones), singing and playing keyboard, writing, physical exercise. Not everyone will have a wide variety of outside interests, but I think that it’s good to develop interests and friends outside of IT. Sometimes you have to drop the code/network/issues and do other things. The long hours and reduced staff situations, though, do make it more difficult for many to ‘get a life.’

House Cats

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

We have eight (8) house cats.

The little purring furballs relieve a lot of sress, as they are all very affectionate, sleep with us, climb into our laps, have silly little cat fights with each other, etc etc.

I couldn’t survive life without my kitties.

Cats

In reply to House Cats

You have twice the number I do…that works out to half the stress, perhaps? 🙂

I second that notion

In reply to House Cats

I have three cats at home. ‘Fatty’, my profile pic, is like my first child. My cats are a very important part of my life and I’d be a hollow man without them. 🙂

house

In reply to I second that notion

Did the pics of my “fur people” come through okay for you guys? 🙂

salamander

In reply to house

Sorry for the belated reply… yes I got it. Cute cats. I usually respond confirming the receipt of any such mail… sorry ’bout that. 🙂

house

In reply to salamander

No prob. Glad you enjoyed. 🙂

What’s wrong?

In reply to house

I have not had any complaints about my new avatar.

Col 😀

Col…

In reply to What’s wrong?

…Poor kitten. I hope that’s a water pistol! 😀

How to relax

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

First of all, you must think of who you are, and where you want to go in the future. If you want to have a good life, I recommend that you stay away from the booze! It’ll only take over your life. Try omething else – For instance sports, fishing, swimming, etc…But not drugs.

Pitfalls of Alkeyhol

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

This may be the most serious response I ever write in response to anything on TR. Wish I had Oz’s eloquence.

Years of alcohol fueled stress relief led me to life as a full blown alcoholic. Once you reach the point of dependency, your life begins to crumble about you. Some of us function quite well for quite a while, but it eventually catches up with us.

I applaud your wanting options and suggestions. What works for one may not for another, but there is something that will work for you.

In my case I actually enjoy what I do, but I am now self-employed and far from the corporate rat race. I am also active in my church and civic groups. In other words, I keep busy without being stressed.

If you find that you are are drinking more, not less; for you sake and for those that care about you, contact Alcoholics Anonymous and get help.

If anyone reading this needs further information or has any questions, contact me via peer mail. An open forum is not the appropriate place.

Yes, there is life after alcohol and it can be quite good. Take it from one that’s been there.

Dalton

It’s done in the best of us

In reply to Pitfalls of Alkeyhol

My father turned into an alcoholic after MANY years as a happy go lucky part time piss tank.

My best friends father lost his wifeand children fur to a growning need for alcohol.

Hi sdaughter married a great guy who also ended up using it as a vice to destress, deal with life or whatever.

Alcohol isn’t bad really, people just learn to rely on it because when they drink, it’s all sh*t’s and giggles. 20 years later it is alcoholism because they are needing to reach that same ease of life that drinkign a few gives them, yet now it is drinking a lot and often by yourself so as not to let on just HOW MUCh you are drinking.

Every couple of years or so,I stop drinking hard alcohol and beer is down to a trickle.

I will stat drinking Scotch or beer again, but in most cases not to get drunk more than to enjoy different blends. I prefer 4 Guinnsess to 10 Budweisers. I prefer a double Johnny Blue or Benromarc to a 40 pounder of Weisers.

Seeing so many string men fall around me has gien me an awarenes of when it is getting too much and when it is in control.

That line is a fine one and hopefully one I will always be aware of.

It is nice to hear from someone like yourelf who actually did manage to save his life though. Kudos!

Difficult Choices

In reply to It’s done in the best of us

Oz,

Thanks for the kind words.

Deciding to quit drinking was the most difficult decision I have made. Really enjoyed the stuff. Can smell bourbon or scotch from what seems like 100 yards (meters) and it still smells wonderful. Wish I could just have one or two, but they would turn into a fifth or two.

Hope you are successful in keeping things under control. You certainly have my best wishes.

A side note. I was 51 when I quit and it didn’t really start nailing me until I was about 40. Got progressively worse thereafter.

Dalton

Yeah that’s what I am aware of

In reply to Difficult Choices

As I said, my dad was a great guy until booze got the best of him. He was strong, incredibly talented, highly skilled in several trades with the reputation to back it.

Alcohol go the better of him, obviously reulting in a divorce from my mother who has since been a real trooper and an example to me of what you can do for yourself when you put your mind to it. As a former houeswife in England, there is no such thing as a man letting his wife work, so she had to start with 25 years rasing children on her resume, when she retired she owned two quite successful retail businesses. She also did it with me being the most difficult teen at the time.

Anyhow, I am VERY much (almost TOO much)like my dad, he was quite the ladies man, knew how to charm people and had great hands on skills and a mechanical aptitude. He could be your best friend or worst enemy.

I haven’t had contact with im in YEARS and YEARS but I certainly hope he managed to get it all together, I do know he’s still alive as relatives (his siblings) still stay in touch. But as to where he ended up, all I know is running his pub in England.

So I often have this ‘we are too much alike’ hanging over my head when I order that Scotch, and it is a reminder to me to take the good I inhereited from him and be aware of the bad.

I just hope I still have this awareness when I get older.

People like yourself just prove the rest of them wrong, well done!

OZ the other side of the coin is

In reply to It’s done in the best of us

Recently I was pulled up by the Cops for a “Random Breath Test” and being the good little boy that I am I answered all their questions honestly after all I was returning home from a work related service call.

But I just love the way the Cops ask “Have you been drinking?” Well if you didn’t drink some form of liquid you would die very quickly so I answered yes I had some lemonade as I finished the job then I started home. The Cop[ by this time think I was a real “Smart Arse” then asked when was the last time I had drunk and alcohol and I said something about having some Champs at my sisters wedding about 8 years ago.

Well that was just to much for the guy and he went off the deep end and was most distressed when there was no trace of any form of booze in my blood stream.

Doctors are very much the same. You go to one and they ask “Do you Take Drugs?” when you reply well yes they then ask what type Coke, Acid or whatever I just reply well you have my chart there have a look for yourself after all it was one of the quacks here that prescribed these things for me and then even had them administered without actually telling me.

They ask silly questions and mean something totally different to what they are asking. They get really upset when I answer literally rather than what they expect to hear.

Col 😀

NO doubt

In reply to OZ the other side of the coin is

I’m always straight up with SOME of them too. I remember in ’89’ish I was coming home after a CD release party at a local club, JUST HOSED!! The cop pulled me over at 4AM and just about fell over from the booze on my breath. He did the standard test because they didn’t have the little hand helds back then.
So it was the walk in the straight line and touch your nose crap. Which I passed with flying colours

He shrugged and let me go anyway, being only a mile or so from home (RCMP are cool!) after noting I had definitely been drinking but seemed sober for some reason, whereas I was just wrecked really.

I lucked out because I had been in rehab for 6 months after my accident and had been doing those same tests day in day out for weeks with my neurologist to regain motor skills and balance! 😀

Or those mornings when I woke up and wondered how the hell I got home and why’s my car parked in the neighbour’s driveway?

Oh well we live and we learn, hopefully. 🙂

Reply To: How do you relax off hours (without booze)

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

90 minutes in the gym followed by time with my family. Then it’s Medal of Honor or BF1942 for a few hours followed by IT. Finally I’ll crawl into bed at 3AM

3am??

In reply to Reply To: How do you relax off hours (without booze)

so what time do you start work in the morning??

Hey cut it out

In reply to 3am??

If you do not stop using those obscene four letter words on a public forum I’ll have to make a formal complaint about your behavior.

so what time do you start w*** in the morning??

We just can not have words like that being used here.

Col

Reply To: How do you relax off hours (without booze)

In reply to Hey cut it out

I usually get 4.5 hours sl**p

i must be getting old

In reply to Reply To: How do you relax off hours (without booze)

i could not survive on that!

My wife gets little sl&*p and gets angry and short and i believe thats the reason why.

How can you brain function on so little sl**P.??

W&&&K

In reply to Hey cut it out

Sorry – What time to you arrive in the morning!!

🙂

Reply To: How do you relax off hours (without booze)

In reply to 3am??

My body starts work at 9am then my brain starts at 11.

and i know…

In reply to Reply To: How do you relax off hours (without booze)

some people who’s brain never starts 🙂

Play Music

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

play the drums! great stress buster!

Darts

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

I have a picture of my lovely mother in law, so Ive placed it on my darts board.

Its a great stress remover

But do you throw darts at it or

In reply to Darts

Use a cannon to destroy the picture?

Col 😀

the only real way

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Just roll with it and drink… all those hobbies, sports, and other avenues only work for a while. Soon, your outlook will change forever and you will become a zombie giving service to your customer base. So tip on and enjoy the ride….ask the bartendar for new drinks that match your mood, but above all else, don;t drive during this. Always walk and you will always get that exercise thing too… 🙂

Just kidding………I just found your question all too funny..

I took a karate class

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

Well you are not stating nothing new. I too is in PC/Server tech support and I go through the same issues that MANY employees go through as well. But one Techie mention taking up fitness or a sports. So I did just that by take a Karate and Tai Chi classes 3 nights a week and on Saturdays. By being in these classes I have gotten away from all the stress that happens on the job and I’m totally at peace.

The best approach to dealing with Stress

In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

The best approach to dealing with “stress” is to focus on what brings us joy and makes us happy. Sometimes as we get older we are so busy in our lives that we don’t do the things that make us happy anymore. Maybe we need to think more like a small child, running and playing, and doing what makes us happy.

Hope this help…

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In reply to How do you relax off hours (without booze)

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