Author Topic: Night owls, what do you do at night?  (Read 4365 times)

mxt0133

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Night owls, what do you do at night?
« on: November 20, 2015, 08:35:09 PM »
Here's the situation, married with tree little ones all under the age of 5.  My work day is mostly the standard business hours with some flexibility, so some days I stop work at 3pm so I can play with the kids or do errands.  The kids are in bed by 7-8pm which leaves me a good 3-4 hours at night of uninterrupted time.  I clean up, I cook, ect but that only takes half an hour or so, we live in a very tiny apartment.

What I do now is either work, surf the web, watch movies, or read a book.  What I would really like to do is some thing physical or social, because i'm stuck on a computer screen all day and don't really want to be on the computer again at night.  My wife will be up sometimes with me to chat, but mostly nurses my youngest.  So I'm bored and lonely.  I'm in the city so there are definitely some options but most of them entail spending money.  I could go to the gym, martial arts, or some kind of sport, but then there are membership fees.  I could hang out with friends but that would either be going out to eat or drink.  Join some kind of club, what I have no idea, but it would probably come with some dues.

I'm really in a rut and never really been the type of person to get bored.  Before kids it was sports, games, movies, or school.

Other than get a night job, any other recommendations?

Frankies Girl

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Re: Night owls, what do you do at night?
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2015, 08:44:19 PM »
I do a 30 minute yoga routine at night. You don't need anything but space on the floor and possibly a yoga mat.

I read, surf the net, pay bills, catch up on old television, play video games, clean, do laundry, reorganize and do crafts (sewing, painting).

grosvenor6

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Re: Night owls, what do you do at night?
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2015, 10:13:07 AM »
I usually play video games online with friends, catch up on tv shows, work out doing body weight stuff so there is no need for a gym, or surf the internet.  You could also learn how to code that eventually could become a part time job from home, or what my friend does is find stuff for free/cheap on things such as craigslist and he uses his free time to fix them up and resell them for profit. These could be small things such as electronics to big things like boats/cars.  Youtube has a lot of tutorials for how to fix things up.

zenyata

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Re: Night owls, what do you do at night?
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2015, 10:44:02 AM »
Three years ago, having absolutely no musical training I pretty much on a whim bought an acoustic guitar and started messing around with it, following on-line instructions etc.  It is now an almost nightly obsession of mine and incredibly rewarding. I'm very lousy but have started to be able to make music - it's like working on an infinite puzzle that you'll never solve - but where solving it isn't even the point...

It's an option - as cheap as a decent guitar for a couple hundred $$.  Picking it up has really changed my life and it certainly occupies my nights.

choppingwood

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Re: Night owls, what do you do at night?
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2015, 10:51:09 AM »
Learn something, plan something, make something, fix something, help someone, write to someone. Try different things until you find the right combination.

Look for no-cost entertainment, too. Libraries often have them, and universities have talks for free. A lot of special-interest clubs don't charge. I try for one weekday evening out a week. Or invite someone over to do something - to teach you how to do something, to make something together or play a board game. Popcorn or cookies and something warm to drink, is all the hospitality that is needed.

If you are doing things, you won't feel as lonely, and you will probably meet some people related to what you are doing.

mxt0133

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Re: Night owls, what do you do at night?
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2015, 12:33:59 PM »
I usually play video games online with friends, catch up on tv shows, work out doing body weight stuff so there is no need for a gym, or surf the internet.  You could also learn how to code that eventually could become a part time job from home, or what my friend does is find stuff for free/cheap on things such as craigslist and he uses his free time to fix them up and resell them for profit. These could be small things such as electronics to big things like boats/cars.  Youtube has a lot of tutorials for how to fix things up.

Appreciate the feedback.  I am a developer so yeah learning to code on my sparetime actually made me have a mini throw-up.  =)

For whatever reason I have a mental block of working out in my house, I feel like I always have to be outside to excercise.  I need to work on that.

mxt0133

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Re: Night owls, what do you do at night?
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2015, 12:35:38 PM »
Three years ago, having absolutely no musical training I pretty much on a whim bought an acoustic guitar and started messing around with it, following on-line instructions etc.  It is now an almost nightly obsession of mine and incredibly rewarding. I'm very lousy but have started to be able to make music - it's like working on an infinite puzzle that you'll never solve - but where solving it isn't even the point...

It's an option - as cheap as a decent guitar for a couple hundred $$.  Picking it up has really changed my life and it certainly occupies my nights.

My wife is actually doing this and that might be something we could learn together.  I'm still traumatized by my parents making take piano lessons, but I guess old dogs can learn new tricks.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Night owls, what do you do at night?
« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2015, 02:18:25 PM »
If you enjoy working out I see a $20-50/month gym or health club membership a great investment. I enjoy running and other "free exercise" but going to the gym and using their weights, free classes, racquetball,  pool, pick up basketball games etc are a great way to blow off steam and be social as well. I am lucky that my recent job change resulted in a great company gym but prior to that it was the best $40/month spent period.

mxt0133

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Re: Night owls, what do you do at night?
« Reply #8 on: November 23, 2015, 03:27:39 PM »
2Birds - Your comment finally pushed me to actually search for a club/league to join.  I have searched before but I could not find anything on-line.  But this time I actually found something close to where I live and something that won't break the bank.  Thanks! 

Amazing how life just gets so busy sometimes times and next thing you know years have gone bye, before you actually get off your ass and try.  If I would have done this search a year or two ago I would have found something right by my old job but better late than never.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!