Dealing with a broken leg

[redneck1]

On the 25th I was out back picking up some tree branches and managed to step in a hole , lose my balance and break my leg .
It wasn't a bad fracture and according to the doc I'll be back to 100%
In "a few short months".
The broken leg I'm fine with , yep it hurts a bit but I can live with it .
Where I am having a problem already is that term " a few short months "

I am bored out of my gosh darned mind already .
I've never been big on watching tv , with the state of current programming I can't say I enjoy it any more now .

I haven't been able to use the internet more then a minute or two at a time , because my pc is on a desk and I can't use it comfortably.
I now have a borrowed lap top . But much like the tv I can only look at a screen so long .

Did I say I was bored out of my gosh darned mind yet ?

Help me out here fellas ... I need some hobbies that can be done from a tv tray sized table , preferably something inexpensive to get into

Helpppppppppppp.....

[Winger Ed.]

Stay away from the TV.

I used to work with a guy who got hurt and laid up for several weeks.
When he came back to work, he brought a small TV so he wouldn't miss out on the 2-3 soap operas he'd gotten hooked on.

[2A-Jay]

When I am laid up I read a lot. I even read a lot anyway. I have a bunch of Kindle Books that I read on my 8" Kindle Fire tablet. I also have my favorite books in hard copy form as well, (More satisfying turning the pages than swiping across the screen to change pages.

Hope you have a swift and complete recovery.

[Stephen Cohen]

I smashed my foot in 4 places while cutting a tree down some time back, The above to posts are right on the money. I used my down time to size and clean all my extra brass and get it loaded, I also used the time to try paper wrapping some cast and re finishing a few stocks that needed it, hell I even said hi to the wife a few times. I hope all comes well for you Sir. Regards Stephen

[GhostHawk]

Make sure you keep those muscles in the leg/foot in condition.

I broke my left wrist as a kid and did not listen to my world wise father. For years I had a left wrist that was noticeably smaller, weaker.
Going into that I was pretty ambidextrous. Coming out I was right handed and avoided using the left for years.

There are a lot of wood carving and fly tieing type projects that you can get into on a pretty tight budget. Make yourself up some crappie and bluegill jigs. A little bit of youtube time learning the tools and the tricks.

Or try reading. When I am hurting a good book pulls me out of this world into that one, leaving aches and pains behind.

[lightman]

Sorry to hear about your leg. Hope it heals quickly.

Being something of a reader, that is my first suggestion. My next thought is brass prep. Go through your brass stash and start resizing, depriming, and tumbling them. Sort them, package them up, reorganize, ect. Maybe disassemble and clean your reloading dies. Go through your firearms and organize an updated list including serial numbers. Inventory your lead stash, your reloading component stash, ect.

Clean out your sock and underwear drawer! :) Clean off your reloading bench. Sharpen all of your knives.

Good Luck healing and I hope you can find a few things to keep you entertained.

[Rich/WIS]

Been there several times with various issues. Got caught up on my reading, casting, sizing, brass prep and reloading ans still had too much time on my hands. Good luck and hope you're back on your feet soon.

[375supermag]

Hi...
I will second the recommendation to read...find a subject that interests you.
I study military history and paleontology...really fills up the winter evenings.
Also...you might consider building plastic models. Subjects range from cars, planes, ships, airplanes and military vehicles.

Or maybe needlepoint, crocheting...not for me but people's interests vary, so it's an option.

[Wayne Smith]

I will second reading but I'm a compulsive reader. Anything you will learn to do will take some time on YouTube or similar learning. We used to do it with books and magazines!

A little more messy and much more equipment intensive - a small wood lathe will sit on a desk. If you like it you will use it the rest of your life.

[high standard 40]

I had a minor break of my fibula this past January when I fell from a deer stand. The bigger problem was a deep hematoma that required treatment of a wound care doctor for 3 months. For most of that time I could only find relief from pain by elevating the leg. I spent almost all of my time in my recliner. My advice is keep your mind occupied. I chose to read a lot and I worked a lot of puzzles. Mostly crossword and sudoku.

[country gent]

Maybe pick up some soft clear pine or bass wood, your pocket knife and do some carving. Put a towel down to catch the shavings. Maybe some smaller paintings or models. Restore some reloading tools that need it. Clean and oil your firearms at a nice slow pace giving them a little more attention than normal. Read some. Draw up projects for the future. When I broke my ankle 6 years ago or so it was 4 weeks before II could start putting weight on it then walking with a cane carefully at 8 weeks or so. I didn't have a cast just a boot splint, this was nice as I could take it off for short periods of time and wash the leg ankle foot. It didn't get all dried out like a cast does. I used a walker and stayed some what busy.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

On the 25th I was out back picking up some tree branches and managed to step in a hole , lose my balance and break my leg .
It wasn't a bad fracture and according to the doc I'll be back to 100%
In "a few short months".
The broken leg I'm fine with , yep it hurts a bit but I can live with it .
Where I am having a problem already is that term " a few short months "

I am bored out of my gosh darned mind already .
I've never been big on watching tv , with the state of current programming I can't say I enjoy it any more now .

I haven't been able to use the internet more then a minute or two at a time , because my pc is on a desk and I can't use it comfortably.
I now have a borrowed lap top . But much like the tv I can only look at a screen so long .

Did I say I was bored out of my gosh darned mind yet ?

Help me out here fellas ... I need some hobbies that can be done from a tv tray sized table , preferably something inexpensive to get into

Helpppppppppppp.....


Make sure you keep those muscles in the leg/foot in condition.

I broke my left wrist as a kid and did not listen to my world wise father. For years I had a left wrist that was noticeably smaller, weaker.
Going into that I was pretty ambidextrous. Coming out I was right handed and avoided using the left for years.

There are a lot of wood carving and fly tieing type projects that you can get into on a pretty tight budget. Make yourself up some crappie and bluegill jigs. A little bit of youtube time learning the tools and the tricks.

Or try reading. When I am hurting a good book pulls me out of this world into that one, leaving aches and pains behind.

redneck1,
I've been through similar when I was a kid...and I was an active kid, so I surely can feel your pain.

If you don't already have any fly tying gear, I will give you a Fly Tying Vice as a gift, if you get good at tying, maybe gift me a few flys? I don't have any other fly tying stuff to go with it, or I'd send that as well...This is just a neat vintage Iron vice that is in my Herters collection.

Send me a PM if that interests you.

[KCSO]

I use my 310 tools to do depriming and repriming cases and to seat bullets. I sort cases from range pickup. I sew Muzzleloading gear and moccasins. Never a dull moment.

[bob208]

I am no stranger to broken bones. I was still at home when I broke my foot. this was before the internet. mon stepped in I learned to bake. the next time I broke my leg and both arms. was in traction for 3 months. valium was used a lot. I did a lot of puzzles. when I got home I cast and reloaded. still using some bullets I cast back then. still have .38 spl. I loaded back then. I broke my leg again. I worked in the shop kept moving. broke my right arm again on a Friday night went to work that Monday with arm in a sling. learned to work left handed.

do as much as you can keep moving you will heal quicker.

[Petrol & Powder]

Find some books you want to read. There's no better way to spend extra time.

[justashooter]

God bless in your recovery. He made us fearfully and wonderfully.

and when you get back on your feet, fill in that hole.

[Leadmad]

Hey Redneck, Think about some physio , seriously ! I had knee surgery 6 months ago and after 6 weeks was convinced that my knee was worse than pre surgery, so I went to a physio therapist and what a difference it made lots of exercises you can do to keep everything around your injury stronger to support it as it heals, those Physio guys know which muscles to work on and the right technique either that or sit and watch your stomach grow !

Cheers

[redneck1]

It sure didn't take long to lose a regular sleep pattern , 2 am and wide awake:roll:

I've been taking all your suggestions to heart .
I am already an avid reader , I've already got a book list so long the librarian thinks I am crazy .
But alas , without being able to do much physical activity
I have about 18 hours a day to fill .
And I need to keep my hands busy .

Luckily, I am single , have hardwood floors , own a shop vac and don't have someone to tell me not to do something in the house :)

Wood carving , to be honest I don't have much of the artist in me .
But hey that hasn't ever stopped anyone before . So I am throwing that on my list .

Fly tying , I don't do a whole lot of fishing , and the little that I do usually consists of throwing some bait out in the Ohio river with a big hook and hoping for a monster . I just don't think I'd be able to get into it .

Something I found while cruising the old interweb has caught my interest .
Maybe some of you are familiar with the little cnc router / engravers
Personally I don't know much about them .. anything at all actualy .
But they really aren't a whole lot of money .

Going in with the understanding that it's not to many steps above a toy , the one I've been looking at is the sainsmart gemitsu 3018 pro
The cost isn't huge @ $240 or so but it is still a substantial purchase for a guy looking at three months without an income .

The pro's as I see them ,
It's sure to give a good solid day in entertainment in assembling the thing and getting it working properly . .. the sort of thing I do enjoy.

The open source programming for it looks to be fairly straightforward
And will provide many hours of actualy learning something new
Another thing that I enjoy .

And from watching just a couple videos there is a possibility of actualy doing some useful projects with it that would interest me .
Such as little things like , 1911 grip panels

And it's easily converted to a laser engraver if I ever feel the desire .

I am very open to thoughts on this , maybe someone knows enough to point me in a better direction . Or educate me if it's a bad idea and not a good way to blow the coin .

[Winger Ed.]

[QUOTE=redneckLuckily, I am single , .[/QUOTE]

This is good.

A buddy got hurt once.

His wife told him, "You better be on your best behavior...…... Your *** is pretty easy to whip right about now".

[country gent]

There are also the 3d printers available. The cnc routers are interesting to say the least. Im wondering if like the cnc Machines in shops if you need a computer to write the program for them then download it? A lot of the machines use Gcode for programming and leaning to "read" to when trouble shooting a program takes time. But they could be a lot f fun and interesting to learn

[redneck1]

Yes they need g code to work . There is a lot of options out to generate code from sketch programs or fusion .

I think I am going to take a chance on one .
I'll have to give a good think on how to pay for it without taking cash out of my savings , while I'd like to keep myself mildly entertained
I shouldn't spend money I might need before I get back to work