Busting boredom!

[SomeRandom]

So I had a mild medical issue today. Nothing major or serious, just a crappy little bit sore blocked ear. Gross!
It being Sunday I opted for the long (but completely understandable) wait to see a “walk in” GP. This is completely covered by our Medicare system for those wondering. Comes under “bulk billing” so you only pay for any meds prescribed at the counter, as it were.

Gonna be honest. A little curious as how that stacks up to the US version, honestly. Since ours are typically under the same strict guidelines as our overall medical system, so all answer to the same authorities as our “regular” GPS and specialists do. And they function like any other typical General Practice. Keeping robust medical records for patients and requiring at the least a sign up for new patients. So it’s just like visiting your chosen regular GP except doing so if they’ve gone on holiday and need a script filled, basically.
Or in need of urgent care for something not life threatening. And I think that’s not really the case for US “Walk In” clinics, based on what I’ve read. But users are free to correct me on that.

Anyways, I was dumb enough not to come prepared. Didn’t bring a book or a charger. So my poor phone died whilst waiting and I didn’t have lunch until like 3pm. Not even a TV in the room. Ridiculous lol

So how do you beat boredom in such scenarios or any scenario? Do you always bring something to keep you occupied just in case? Are you easily bored?
Are you easily amused?
Share in my boredom guys lol

 

[John53]

I always take my tablet with me to any kind of appointment and read or annoy people on RF if there's any kind of hold up.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

So I had a mild medical issue today. Nothing major or serious, just a crappy little bit sore blocked ear. Gross!
It being Sunday I opted for the long (but completely understandable) wait to see a “walk in” GP. This is completely covered by our Medicare system for those wondering. Comes under “bulk billing” so you only pay for any meds prescribed at the counter, as it were.

Gonna be honest. A little curious as how that stacks up to the US version, honestly. Since ours are typically under the same strict guidelines as our overall medical system, so all answer to the same authorities as our “regular” GPS and specialists do. And they function like any other typical General Practice. Keeping robust medical records for patients and requiring at the least a sign up for new patients. So it’s just like visiting your chosen regular GP except doing so if they’ve gone on holiday and need a script filled, basically.
Or in need of urgent care for something not life threatening. And I think that’s not really the case for US “Walk In” clinics, based on what I’ve read. But users are free to correct me on that.

Anyways, I was dumb enough not to come prepared. Didn’t bring a book or a charger. So my poor phone died whilst waiting and I didn’t have lunch until like 3pm. Not even a TV in the room. Ridiculous lol

So how do you beat boredom in such scenarios or any scenario? Do you always bring something to keep you occupied just in case? Are you easily bored?
Are you easily amused?
Share in my boredom guys lol

In such a case, one of the effects of my disorders is that I can go so introvert that I block the outside world, and go in flow by thinking deep philosophy, so that I forget time.

 

[ChristineM]

I always carry my phone which is charged overnight so it's not often it runs out of power. When it does, chatting with other patients or reading one of the magazines that usually hang around waiting rooms can pass some time. Nine times out of ten one (or more) of the children will be with me. One can never be bored trying to entertain a bored 16 year old.

 

[Secret Chief]

I always take my tablet with me to any kind of appointment and read or annoy people on RF if there's any kind of hold up.

You're very good at it.

 

[Secret Chief]

So I had a mild medical issue today. Nothing major or serious, just a crappy little bit sore blocked ear. Gross!
It being Sunday I opted for the long (but completely understandable) wait to see a “walk in” GP. This is completely covered by our Medicare system for those wondering. Comes under “bulk billing” so you only pay for any meds prescribed at the counter, as it were.

Gonna be honest. A little curious as how that stacks up to the US version, honestly. Since ours are typically under the same strict guidelines as our overall medical system, so all answer to the same authorities as our “regular” GPS and specialists do. And they function like any other typical General Practice. Keeping robust medical records for patients and requiring at the least a sign up for new patients. So it’s just like visiting your chosen regular GP except doing so if they’ve gone on holiday and need a script filled, basically.
Or in need of urgent care for something not life threatening. And I think that’s not really the case for US “Walk In” clinics, based on what I’ve read. But users are free to correct me on that.

Anyways, I was dumb enough not to come prepared. Didn’t bring a book or a charger. So my poor phone died whilst waiting and I didn’t have lunch until like 3pm. Not even a TV in the room. Ridiculous lol

So how do you beat boredom in such scenarios or any scenario? Do you always bring something to keep you occupied just in case? Are you easily bored?
Are you easily amused?
Share in my boredom guys lol

My phone for various things. I do Wordle most days then whatever rabbit hole I feel like going down on tinterweb, once I've said something stupid to @JustGeorge. Reading @mikkel_the_dane posts can do wonders for my state of mind.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

My phone for various things. I do Wordle most days then whatever rabbit hole I feel like going down on tinterweb, once I've said something stupid to @JustGeorge. Reading @mikkel_the_dane posts can do wonders for my state of mind.

The joke about someone as "wise" as me, that I am totally bonkers to some other humans. So these days I try to remember that even "wise" has a limit and on good days I can do that in short "sprints".

 

[Secret Chief]

The joke about someone as "wise" as me, that I am totally bonkers to some other humans. So these days I try to remember that even "wise" has a limit and on good days I can do that in short "sprints".

Now I'm worried, cos you don't seem bonkers to me.

 

[John53]

You're very good at it.

It's my special talent

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Now I'm worried, cos you don't seem bonkers to me.

Well, remember this. This is public and even I have a private side. There are actually reasons behind I have 3 diagnosed disorders.
As one of my psychiatrists told me, I am crazy, but I just know it.
The joke is that some of my tribe don't know that. They are "crazy", but they don't know. I know that I am crazy, but I am still crazy.

Now notice that they are "crazy", because I am not the judge of that. But I am crazy, because I am the judge of that.
So here is a coping trick I use. I am crazy and I am proud of that, because I have learned to cope and have a good enough life.
The joke in that, is that to some of the "normal" people, that can't be the case, because I am crazy and only "normal" people can have a good, healthy and productive life.

 

[Viker]

So I had a mild medical issue today. Nothing major or serious, just a crappy little bit sore blocked ear. Gross!
It being Sunday I opted for the long (but completely understandable) wait to see a “walk in” GP. This is completely covered by our Medicare system for those wondering. Comes under “bulk billing” so you only pay for any meds prescribed at the counter, as it were.

Gonna be honest. A little curious as how that stacks up to the US version, honestly. Since ours are typically under the same strict guidelines as our overall medical system, so all answer to the same authorities as our “regular” GPS and specialists do. And they function like any other typical General Practice. Keeping robust medical records for patients and requiring at the least a sign up for new patients. So it’s just like visiting your chosen regular GP except doing so if they’ve gone on holiday and need a script filled, basically.
Or in need of urgent care for something not life threatening. And I think that’s not really the case for US “Walk In” clinics, based on what I’ve read. But users are free to correct me on that.

Anyways, I was dumb enough not to come prepared. Didn’t bring a book or a charger. So my poor phone died whilst waiting and I didn’t have lunch until like 3pm. Not even a TV in the room. Ridiculous lol

So how do you beat boredom in such scenarios or any scenario? Do you always bring something to keep you occupied just in case? Are you easily bored?
Are you easily amused?
Share in my boredom guys lol

I bring a little book of crossword or sudoku puzzles just in case. Sometimes I will forgo the phone for the puzzles.

 

[PureX]

I have a very active and well-used imagination, so I don't need to own or carry around computers to play with every idle second. Though, like everyone, I do my share of playing on them as a form of idle recreation.

I actually enjoy those times when I am stuck just sitting and waiting for something to happen so I can exercise a life long hobby of building things in my mind. Planning out the steps necessary to build a boat, for example. Or, now that I am currently engaged in a project rebuilding a boat I can think through the many steps needed to complete the next phase of that project.

Or, sometimes it's not about building something, it's about some philosophical conundrum. I like working on those, too, in my mind. Turns out my brain seems to be quite happy working out these various kinds of abstract 'puzzles'. And I can stay happily occupied with it for hours. Even to the point of being annoyed when it has to stop so I can do the next thing I need to do in the real world.

But I'm old. I grew up in a world that had no portable communication technology, no internet, and no interactive video screens anywhere. The world wide web back in those days was a good set of encyclopedias. Something I spent many hours as a kid paging through. I especially liked the really, really old ones left to us after my great grandma died. No color photos, even. Just inked etchings. And you could easily identify the absurd bias and ignorance in many of the subject offerings.

I'm not against technology. I think the generations that grew up with the internet are far, far smarter and better informed than those of us who grew up before it. They not only have massive amounts of information available to them in an instant, but they even have alternative perspectives available. So they are much better at seeing the bias.

But where they are sadly and crucially lacking is in the development of their imaginations. No offense to you gen X, Y, and Z, ers, but you all are pathetically inept at using your god-given imaginations to solve problems. Without those smart phones you are completely LOST. Literally and figuratively. And with no idea what to do with yourselves.

I have a friend that teaches college level art, and she came near to quitting after the pandemic shutdown and the school restarted because the students had become pathologically addicted to those damn computer screens. They couldn't formulate an idea without it. They couldn't put the screens away long enough to have an actual in person discussion. They couldn't imagine putting the screens away for hours at a time so they could paint a painting, or construct a sculpture, or even how to develop plan for doing those things. They all wanted to be "digital" artists: to just press buttons and have art magically appear; having no idea at all what art even is. Because their whole world is on that little screen. It wouldn't occur to them to go to an art gallery or museum to see some actual artworks. Because that would take hours and they can just pull up a photo on a screen in seconds. And they have no idea that a photo of an artwork on a video screen is not a work of art. No idea at all. They can't even imagine that there might be a significant difference. How can these kids ever become artists?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Start a provocative topic in RF and follow it up.
I do not play games on computer. I do not have a mobile phone, do not know how to use it. That is my wife's responsibility.
Like PureX, my mind finds its own puzzles and tries to solve them. I am never bored. I observe things around me rather than going inwards. If nothing works then, I switch to Pakistani soap operas on TV at home.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Start a provocative topic in RF and follow it up.
I do not play games on computer. I do not have a mobile phone, do not know how to use it. That is my wife's responsibility.
Like PureX, my mind finds its own puzzles and tries to solve them. I am never bored. I observe things around me rather than going inwards. If nothing works then, I switch to Pakistani soap operas on TV.

Yeah, you do you and I do me. I find something outwards and then try to understand it inwards.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

I always carry my Bluetooth headphones to listen to music or podcasts while I am away from home. I don't drive but mostly walk instead, and found solace from jamming to my favorite tunes during long walks. There's no rule that I can't listen to my audio while waiting on appointments, I just turn the audio down enough which I can hear the nurses call my name or not.

@mikkel_the_dane I know I am crazy too, because I have to take medication for my mental illness. It's when I don't think I am crazy that I have issues, because then I won't take medication.

 

[JustGeorge]

So I had a mild medical issue today. Nothing major or serious, just a crappy little bit sore blocked ear. Gross!
It being Sunday I opted for the long (but completely understandable) wait to see a “walk in” GP. This is completely covered by our Medicare system for those wondering. Comes under “bulk billing” so you only pay for any meds prescribed at the counter, as it were.

Gonna be honest. A little curious as how that stacks up to the US version, honestly. Since ours are typically under the same strict guidelines as our overall medical system, so all answer to the same authorities as our “regular” GPS and specialists do. And they function like any other typical General Practice. Keeping robust medical records for patients and requiring at the least a sign up for new patients. So it’s just like visiting your chosen regular GP except doing so if they’ve gone on holiday and need a script filled, basically.
Or in need of urgent care for something not life threatening. And I think that’s not really the case for US “Walk In” clinics, based on what I’ve read. But users are free to correct me on that.

Anyways, I was dumb enough not to come prepared. Didn’t bring a book or a charger. So my poor phone died whilst waiting and I didn’t have lunch until like 3pm. Not even a TV in the room. Ridiculous lol

So how do you beat boredom in such scenarios or any scenario? Do you always bring something to keep you occupied just in case? Are you easily bored?
Are you easily amused?
Share in my boredom guys lol

I almost always have a book or magazine in the car, just in case said scenario happens. If not, I roam. Roam the halls of where ever I am, the waiting room, go to the bathroom 100 times...

I always carry my phone which is charged overnight so it's not often it runs out of power. When it does, chatting with other patients or reading one of the magazines that usually hang around waiting rooms can pass some time. Nine times out of ten one (or more) of the children will be with me. One can never be bored trying to entertain a bored 16 year old.

They still have magazines in waiting rooms where you are?? They got rid of all that with the pandemic, though truth be told, it was greatly diminished before that. I used to love reading the magazines!

Start a provocative topic in RF and follow it up.
I do not play games on computer. I do not have a mobile phone, do not know how to use it. That is my wife's responsibility.
Like PureX, my mind finds its own puzzles and tries to solve them. I am never bored. I observe things around me rather than going inwards. If nothing works then, I switch to Pakistani soap operas on TV.

I don't have a smartphone, either. So if I'm stuck somewhere without something to read, I get kind of agitated.

My phone for various things. I do Wordle most days then whatever rabbit hole I feel like going down on tinterweb, once I've said something stupid to @JustGeorge. Reading @mikkel_the_dane posts can do wonders for my state of mind.

Thanks for taking the time to share some stupidity with me.

 

[Secret Chief]

Thanks for taking the time to share some stupidity with me.

Thanks for responding in kind.

 

[ChristineM]

They still have magazines in waiting rooms where you are?? They got rid of all that with the pandemic, though truth be told, it was greatly diminished before that. I used to love reading the magazines!

They got rid of them at the start of the pandemic thought they are starting to creep back now.

 

[SomeRandom]

I almost always have a book or magazine in the car, just in case said scenario happens. If not, I roam. Roam the halls of where ever I am, the waiting room, go to the bathroom 100 times...

Mate. I normally do. But I think being so hungover my dumb self didn’t think. Lol I think I’m going to keep one in my car from now on haha
Next time I have to seek non vital medical care, I’m bringing a packed lunch and a gaming console if not some books lol

They still have magazines in waiting rooms where you are?? They got rid of all that with the pandemic, though truth be told, it was greatly diminished before that. I used to love reading the magazines!

Yeah most waiting rooms here got rid of mags. Which is a shame. I used to like doing the puzzles lol
But they usually have a tv somewhere in the room to compensate. Unfortunately not so in our walk ins. Not that they’re run down or anything. At least not where I live. They’re fairly well furnished and modern looking. But I wish they’d have like a gaming console or something. Even if it has to come with a bucket of sanitiser that you have to chuck on before use. I’d be fine with that lol

 

[JustGeorge]

Mate. I normally do. But I think being so hungover my dumb self didn’t think. Lol I think I’m going to keep one in my car from now on haha
Next time I have to seek non vital medical care, I’m bringing a packed lunch and a gaming console if not some books lol



Yeah most waiting rooms here got rid of mags. Which is a shame. I used to like doing the puzzles lol
But they usually have a tv somewhere in the room to compensate. Unfortunately not so in our walk ins. Not that they’re run down or anything. At least not where I live. They’re fairly well furnished and modern looking. But I wish they’d have like a gaming console or something. Even if it has to come with a bucket of sanitiser that you have to chuck on before use. I’d be fine with that lol

I usually opt with a magazine in the car, as that was I can pick it up and read it from where I was and not forget the 'story'.

They have TVs at some of ours, but they're usually on their own health channels, or stuff like USA Today. I'd rather watch the water rotate in the toilet.