All this snow and extremely cold weather has had the wife and I, along with our daughter, cooped up at home without leaving since Sunday, and I've made several observations: 1) I have zero issues with the isolation. Not going out doesn't bother me in the least, and I feel like I could do this for months and be perfectly happy and content playing video games and watching TV shows and movies. 2) My wife may kill someone soon (likely me) if she isn't able to get out of the house. She marathoned the entirety of Downton Abbey, and then paced around staring at me like a lion stalking it's prey. I think the fact that I enjoy being inside so much actually makes her more annoyed. 3) my daughter takes way more after my wife than me in this respect. She is clearly itchin to go anywhere and do anything. So... Focus: How do you deal with extended time stuck inside, for whatever reason. Do you handle it well, or are you ready to chew your own arm off after 24 hours? Alt Focus: What do you do to pass the time? Movies? TV shows? Books? Booze and internet message boards?
Being as ADHD as I am, being stuck indoors is miserable for me and an even more miserable experience for people around me. If I'm forced to be stuck inside I usually play Madden or Call of Duty. Drinking definitely helps too. From the sounds of it, you may want to dose the wife and daughter with benadryl, help them pass the time.
I mean what are the cold winter months for besides binge watching tv shows? Im fine with it but eventually I will want at least one night out on the town every couple of weeks. Cue my friends being lame and staying in with their girlfriends and I am stuck twiddling my fingers at home again. I tend to just watch tv shows and movies these days. I was into Call of Duty pretty big a couple of winters ago but I was jobless so I could also to afford to be up until 3 am beaked out of my head on espresso. I just can't get into games like I used to...
Winter and TV go hand-in-hand. Most good shows are scheduled throughout winter and three of the four sports take place generally over winter. They do that right. Of course, I have a child so when not demanding sledding or snowman- building she loves playing with the old Wii. It's the first time I've played vids in my house in five years but she loves the basic sports and carnival games for it.
With all the entertainment available in my home...hmmm... I could probably go a week without leaving the house, maybe. That might be stretching it. Honestly, I would love to test that theory but I don't ever foresee that happening. Maybe when my kid is old enough to drive, hahaha. What I do when I'm sick is rotate my activities. Watch a little TV, do a little internet, play a video game, read. If I were home all day and feeling fine, I would also intersperse chores, organizing, exercises, etc. ETA: I'm an introvert, so that would be a factor.
With a stocked freezer and pantry I could probably stay inside a solid two weeks before I get stabby. Sit on my arse reading books, going through Netflix? That's heaven to me. There are plenty of things to occupy me. I've got a stack of books that need to be read, plenty of dead things that need to be cooked, and I've got some liquor should the need arise. Pity I can't move the beach inside, but maybe if I move to Phuket. Few years ago when Hurricane Wilma put the power out for 3 weeks, I read a book a day, hit the pub a couple times a week, and dare I say was probably never more content in my life. The only complaint was being cut off from the news and the pornography machine. Only recently have I started checking my email more than once a month. Now if I could get someone to come over to sit on my face once a week, there'd be no reason to ever leave the house unless it is to buy more beer. Which brings me to my next business venture: liquor delivery.
I could stay inside a very long time. I got a huge pile of books that need to be read, I got tonnes of videos games that can be played. Even more movies that can be watched. But I have a dog, and she gets her two walks a day, so no matter what I get outside in any weather. If it wasn't for the mutt i could easily stay inside for a couple of weeks. We got a huge pantry, very well stocked freezer full of meats, just have to ration the fresh fruit/vegetables.
It isn't that I dislike staying home, it's that I dislike being able to come and go as I please. Being bound by nature because fuck snow and ice and cold sucks donkey dick. Then again, as long as I have books to read, articles and studies to catch up on, and some netflix. Whatever. And, as long as I get to go to the gym.
I live in Dallas-Fort Worth. What I wouldn't give to be snowed in for a couple of days or more with nothing to do but watch TV, play video games, read, build models and write. That'd be the only good thing about living in a place with long winters in my opinion.
If I didn't live alone, I think my ability would be increased. I can kill plenty of hours with the internet, video games, and making music. But I get a bit down when I'm not around people. I've lived by myself for the last 6 months for the first time in 4 years. When it was summer and fall it was great because I was out and about plenty. And the end of fall I was dating someone so there was someone in my apartment other than me a few days a week. But the last two months, shit. Even when I'm joyously playing 4 hours of FIFA or crushing 6 episodes of some show, I feel off. Especially on a Sunday when I can forseeably wake up and go a full day without talking or seeing anyone. Also probably the reason that, no matter what the weather, come Friday or Saturday night, I'm ready to get out and party/socialize/etc...
Unless I'm deathly ill, I can't make it a day without getting itchy to get outside and doing something.
It drives me crazy when there's some kind of weather event that keeps people in their houses and by dinnertime my Facebook is overflowing with people whining about how bored they are. I know that everyone's different and the whole introvert v. extrovert thing and blah blah blah, but if you can't spend one day inside by yourself there's something wrong. I could easily spend a week by myself at home. Spend a couple of days reading, spend a couple of days watching TV/movies. Cook some meals that I won't have to eat out of one Tupperware container. Bake some things. Do some writing or all of these other art projects I've been wanting to do but am always too mentally drained to even think about doing when I do have some free time. I'd even love to have a week to do this every couple of months to recharge and be able to do all of those things guilt-free.
As long as I have plenty of cigarettes I'm good with being stuck in the house; I mean I go outside on the porch to smoke but the porch is still part of the house... That counts right? Generally if I'm stuck inside for a couple of days or whatever I alternate between screwing around online with message boards and such and playing/buying games on Steam; I can kill three or four hours at a stretch with Fallout: New Vegas or Total War. I'll do the computer thing for a while, switch over to playing with my lockpicks and box of random padlocks, dust off the ol' display shelves, maybe channel surf or watch a few DVD's of old television shows for the hell of it. Sometimes if I've got the supplies and feel like screwing with it I might work on a model kit or put a few links in the butted chain mail coif that's been languishing for a few years. But days like that are far and few between; even if the rest of the county is shut down I'll still wind up going down to the barn and feeding the cattle and equines.
A couple years ago, dad had the bright idea to rent a cabin in the mountains of TN and invite the family there for Thanksgiving weekend. It's one thing to stay at your own house for a few days. It's a whole different scenario to stay at a rental, with just enough to pack in a suitcase. Not to mention the fact you're sharing said rental with your parents. I ended up pissing my parents off by driving my truck down off the mountain the two days later as I couldn't handle it anymore. I got a room off the mountain, where the roads were clean and I could come and go as I pleased.
Given my introverted nature you'd think I'd be fine stuck in my house for a couple days, but I really can't handle more than one day of bumming around. I don't miss human interaction, I just need to get out and do stuff. As long as I could take my dog for a long hike, bike or ski I would be fine. I think my idea living situation would be in a cabin in the mountains. Doing my own thing most of the time with human interaction when I feel like it.
Keep in mind, the following post is written in the context that I haven't had a day off since September 23, 2013. I am very introverted, so I have no issue with not seeing or interacting with people for long periods of time. In fact, I enjoy the fact that my job entails very little interaction with people. I have plenty of stuff to do at home. Between guitar lessons, coin collecting, video games, and writing, I'm perfectly happy to not leave my abode for literally days at a time. I have spent most of my life alone in one fashion or another, and some people it drives to insanity, but some people, like me, come to only feel comfortable alone. I'd be more than happy not leaving my house for weeks on end. I'd probably get a bit itchy at the end of it, but I'd happily return shortly thereafter.
I love living alone, but I need human contact or I go crazy and start calling people. That said, if I was snowed in with the girlfriend I could go weeks without leaving the house. Like the rest of you, I have books that need to be read, Netflix and Hulu Plus that need to be watched, guitars to be played, and booze that isn't going to drink itself. If I was alone, I could probably last a few days. Those days would be spent doing to the same activities, but I enjoy human contact and having something to do outside of the house.