Dull Men’s Club

[Chris B]

1 minute ago, Chest Rockwell said:

I'm no expert like you pretty sure that's not what buses looked like in 2003.. 😄

Not what they looked like in 2013 either. We had the bendy buses then, which I actually liked. They were supposedly brought in because they looked a bit like trams, but they had so much more space for chairs, bags, buggies, etc.

 

[SuperBacon]

8 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Similar to when I'm collecting oysters - grabbing a boat from somewhere and sailing round the countryside and coast

Don't think I've done this yet, sounds great. Might park the Xmas "films" and dust off the 360 for a bit.

[Devon Malcolm]

1 minute ago, SuperBacon said:

Don't think I've done this yet, sounds great. Might park the Xmas "films" and dust off the 360 for a bit.

Of course, it's not relaxing when you have to get the two in the naval base and you get 5 wanted stars but I leave those to the end.

[TheBurningRed]

One about one of my best mates. He loves buses but more specifically bus routes. When he was a kid he would collect maps of routes and still has them now. He loves when buses have changed routes or changed numbers. Colours too. You’d think he would’ve become a bus driver. But he works in sales. Still, he always has bus simulator to play on his computer. 

[Loki]

I think when we say "boring" what we mean is "relaxing", which is actually really important.  What I like about most of these examples is that they're things that get you away from your computer or phone, and any time not online is great for your mental health imo.

On that note - I also love a good walk, I think of them as "hikes" because then it justifies me taking a rucksack with me full of first aid kit, spare socks, compass and so on.  8 miles on a Sunday with a pub lunch at the end is my idea of a good time.  We live in such a beautiful part of the world but most of the best stuff is hidden away from roads.  Walking from village to village along footpaths feels like stepping back in time - you're following routes that in some cases have been in use for thousands of years.  

What I like is to take a train out to a village, walk to another train station, and then get the train home.  Next year we're planning to walk as much of the Pilgrim's Way as possible, from Winchester back to Guildford.

Is reading boring?  It is if you combine it with listening to jazz!  My other great enjoyment is sitting in our conservatory with some noodly jazz reading a book about the history of Chinese cuisine, or mechantile trade in the Elizabethan era.  With the odd Sharpe novel thrown in for light relief.

[Jesse]

I, like many others, got really into the Cracking The Cryptic YouTube channel over lockdown. I got so into it that I joined their Discord where a group of people set a new sudoku every day with some benchmark solve times. Not only have I done them every day for 616 days straight, but I even keep track of my times (187 solved in the fastest benchmark time, 320 within the average benchmark, and 109 coming in over the benchmark times).

[DavidB6937]

38 minutes ago, Loki said:

I think when we say "boring" what we mean is "relaxing", which is actually really important.  What I like about most of these examples is that they're things that get you away from your computer or phone, and any time not online is great for your mental health imo.

That's definitely an attitude I've taken in more recent years. Knowing that sometimes I just need some things - whether it's TV shows or some other interest - that aren't challenging but something I can just lose myself in for a while. A nice escape from the constant bombardment of daily stress.

[Loki]

How many people do the Weekend cryptic crosswords?  Enough to start a thread about it?

I do the Guardian Everyman every weekend.... in the same way I do Park Run every weekend, i.e about 6 times a year.

[Jazzy G]

1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I still haven’t played 5, but sometimes on 3 and 4 I’d just tune into a station I liked and just drive around listening to the radio and obeying the rules. Very relaxing and the closest to actually driving a car for me.

I did this in San Andreas, and also quite a bit in the Forzá Horizon games. 

[Keith Houchen]

49 minutes ago, Loki said:

 

I think when we say "boring" what we mean is "relaxing", which is actually really important.

 

Indeed. Going for walks and playing video games isn’t dull or niche. If you were recreating a walk, like the Pendle Witch Trail, that counts. 
 

Roy Cropper wouldn’t play GTA so it doesn’t count. Going for a drive on it to listen to the radio does. Playing FIFA doesn’t count, having a 25 year save of Football Manager does. 

[SuperBacon]

20 minutes ago, Loki said:

How many people do the Weekend cryptic crosswords?  Enough to start a thread about it?

I do the Guardian Everyman every weekend.... in the same way I do Park Run every weekend, i.e about 6 times a year.

I do the Quick every day, and enjoy it and am bloody good at it (despite what my short lived YouTube channel might say) but I've never ever "got" cryptics. And I've tried as it seems like something bang up my street. It makes me a bit sad if I'm honest.

[gmoney]

I recently began a save of Football Manager 2015 (my favourite) where I am aiming to make the Scottish Premier League the best league in the world. To do this I am going to take over a club, build them up over a number of years until they are European champions a few times over and the biggest team in the world, then take over another to do the same thing. Once that's done, I'll do the same for another, until the SPFL is the most competitive league in the world. I started with Hibs and managed to make them the most reputable team in the world by around 2023, taking just under 10 years (the start the game in the second tier). I'm now with Celtic for about 5 seasons and the best I've managed is semi finals of the Champions League. 

[Lorne Malvo]

I make lists. Lists of 'films I want to watch', 'films I've watched' the same with TV shows, books, games, albums etc. I get a real sense of satisfaction from deleting something off my 'need to watch' list and adding it to my 'what I've watched' list.

I have an ongoing list I keep of all AEW champions and title defences and now I've typed that down I realise it might be the most tragic thing I've ever wrote.

It can get slightly obsessive. When I bought the original Xbox last year I spent about 3 days during a lull at work putting together a list of games I wanted for it, then saving multiple versions of it, one ordered by release date, one split into genres, etc.

One that I personally don't find dull but I can see why other people might - I'm really interested in film title screens and keep a folder of screengrabs of my favourite ones. Evil Dead Rise is probably my favourite this year;

[Chest Rockwell]

6 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

When I bought the original Xbox last year I spent about 3 days during a lull at work putting together a list of games I wanted for it, then saving multiple versions of it, one ordered by release date, one split into genres, etc.

The most egregious thing here is that if it was in a spreadsheet you really wouldn't need to save multiple versions for the sort. 

[Keith Houchen]

This thread is just an advert for neurodivergence, isn’t it! Lists seem to be a real prevalent thing for keffers.