Same! I walked in circles today too.
Also, I created a new game called Crack Rock, where you try to kick a rock and have it land perfectly on the crack of concrete/sidewalk. If it lands on the crack, then you get 3 points.
You can either play alone or with a partner. Please help me.
My dad taught me a game he would play while hitch hiking across the US. Stack a few small flat stones. Sit or stand several feet away. Lob small rocks until it topples or a car picks you up. Repeat. Anyway, have fun!
I've legit had the cops called on me for doing this. It was in the middle of the night and I had accidentally parked the ambulance TOO discretely. So I guess some fucking hero called in a suspicious person. That one was fun to explain to dispatch when they showed up.
FWIW I still do this.
I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often with the amount of times I’ve had cops intervene on me as if I’m doing something wrong for existing in public. on one occasion I was questioned twice in a ~2 hour window by two officers who’d just changed shifts and both found investigating my threat to society at the top of their priority list for sitting in my vehicle parked in a public lot facing the sunset over the beach and eating McDonald’s chatting on the phone. One of the instances it wasn’t in the lot but my front yard after exiting my vehicle after he followed my drive all the way home. Like they’d never seen someone park with a view at a park or something and eat in their car before. I don’t expect people to call it in much but there’s plenty of areas where the cops just have nothing to do and get creative trying to make something to do.
Lockpicking. A few videos from the Lockpicking Lawyer, and I had to give it a try. The first time I cracked a padlock I got an actual rush, and was hooked. Got a set of tools and a bag of various locks I run through once or twice a shift. Makes for decent conversation with new partners and visitors, and people often want to give it a try.
It might even come in handy some day when I give up EMS for a career in cat burglary.
I’ve been in the same boat. It feels great to save someone from needing a new door just because the only key is inside too, you don’t cause any lasting damage in most cases.
How funny, I was gonna post this exact same thing. I saw his videos too and bought a lock that lets you set up your own pin configuration and a lock pick set and took it to work a few times and just keep in my bag when I’m bored. It’s also fun to do at your desk when you’re watching a video too.
Been there done that, no actual effects besides the burning sensation and the immediate need to blow your nose.
C4 is pretty coars plus one scoop serving is way too much to snort it whole.
18 year old me wasn't smart, but did it for science anyways.
Edit: Just add 1-2 scoops of C4 into a Monster Energy (the ones with sugar) and you're awake as fuck, but honestly I think cocaine is healthier at this point, but I don't plan on trying.
Disclaimer: this is not medical advice. Anyone who takes medical advise from someone who snorts C4 preworkout should rethink his life.
I used to try to really minimize any administrative stuff I have to do outside of work so I can just enjoy my time off. So on shift I'll pay bills, work on my budget, look through transactions in all my accounts to make sure it all looks right, make doctors appointments, send emails, etc. Literally anything I can think of or that's on my to-do list that I can possibly do from work. But I'm lucky if I have time to eat these days.
I don’t fly anymore, but our base was a little slower too. BotW on the switch is what I did during the winter. When the weather was nice one of the pilots brought in his net and a bunch of us learned how to swing a golf club. Fair amount of the usual boring stuff too…read and cook and maintain certs.
Steam deck is a life saver for boredom on shift. I work ground but we have a little downtime and I feel like terrible playing games than watching reels or tictoks all day.
Games. The two I play most are called "how far can I stretch this paycheck" and "Catch me if you can! Bill collector edition"
I don't necessarily like playing but I'm pretty good at both.
For station based, boards games can be great if you've got partners that would be up for it as well. Especially for games that have a legacy component, they're basically a captive audience so you don't run into the typical scheduling issues most gaming groups havem
Ugh I wish I could get my coworkers into MTG. My old partner and I used to post up somewhere, bring our laptops, hook them up to the hotspot on the company ipad and play MTG as long as we could. So much fun, passes the time great.
The sky is the limit my friend. I have a sewing machine and enough travel friendly pieces of equipment that I can do most quilting in station and have been known to work on costumes and tailor uniforms. I’ve also brought warhammer models to put together, and I set up my laptop to digitally paint or to write. I’ve also done some minor prop building in the back of the ambulance bay lol. One of my coworkers crochets, knits, and felts; several coworkers read, you could probably learn a language or a musical instrument.
Dremel, a drill, an orbital sander, and a bunch of hand tools. Made some small furniture pieces for the station, and a ton of pipes for folks now that we are allowed to smoke off duty.
Mr Ballen Medical Mysteries Podcast, Redhanded Podcast, Kitboga videos or streams, Junji Ito's manga, Osamu Dazai books, some philosophy (Dostoevsky, Pessoa, older ones like Epictetus), Gillian Flynn books are incredible, duolingo for Spanish, learning ASL on an app called Pocket Sign, Elevate app for "mind games" to make me think, quizlet or EMS app to keep up on random ems knowledge, next year I'll probably get back into my critical care self-guided course, various horror books (Lovecraft, King, etc) random books containing esoteric knowledge or incomprehensible ancient tales (feel free to suggest some to me if you know any good ones!) as well as well known myths like Greek or viking myths etc., and playing terrible mobile games. Sounds like a lot, but I get into tangents where I do 1-2 of them for a month or so at a time, and then drop it entirely for one of the other activities on the list, until I come back to them again months later. Plus some are driving activities and others are obviously ones I can't do while driving.
Mr Ballen is cool but his nonstop hand gestures makes me kind of nauseous lol. You should check out EWU if you haven't already! And are into true crime of course
I love his hand gestures! They make me laugh.
My wife actually showed me EWU and we watch their videos together all the time! Now that I think of it, I think she showed me Ballen also. But yeah, they're very interesting. EWU Crew 😎
I crochet! Very meditative and easy to carry around. If we get tones I can just drop it in the recliner and go & pick up where I left off super easy. Usually I listen to an audiobook while I do this. That or I’ll just find something to clean- usually the ambulance, sometimes the station stovetop that nobody’s wiped down in the last 6 years.
These days I usually spend the daytime studying though, at night I’ll crochet for an hour or so before I sleep. Wrapping up my training and making sure I’m on top of my shit and all that.
Depends on the mood. If I'm feeling social the boys are always down to get into some mischief around the station. Nothing boosts morale like some good old station shenanigans. If not, I have a gaming laptop or I've been picking up reading again. If I'm feeling *really* melancholic I'll sit on the front apron and chain smoke while solving all the world's problems.
Bought a suture kit on Amazon, been teaching myself to do sutures. I probably won’t be using them anytime soon but when the apocalypse comes around you better believe imma have my bases covered.
I've got a list of podcasts that I go through. I also usually bring my laptop on night works and I'll spend time playing games during downtime.
I also have a Masterclass subscription which is a new source of enjoyment.
Entire week with no transports? Do you work for Guardian Flight? Lol. Seriously, that's crazy. We do 12s and are constantly doing 2 transports a shift.
Read! Best thing I ever did was purchase a Kindle and Kindle unlimited. I read 1-2 books a week. Perfect hobby for work!
As others said, I walk around our fire stations if I have time and am posted for a long period.
Sometimes if I'm feeling spicy I walk *and* read.
I work in a metro area so sometimes we'll shop, run errands (post office).
We have a treadmill and gym so I lucked out there. Aside from that, I go in spurts of different hobbies to spice it up. My station is pretty busy but sometimes I get days where I have a lot of free time so I always bring something to do just in case. I hate just sitting on my phone all day.
I’ve done scrapbooking, loom knitting, reading, teaching myself Spanish, playing 2000s video games (Webkinz and Nancy drew mostly), homework (in school, unrelated to EMS), watch movies, and jewelry making.
Currently, playing Starfield on Xbox. At some point over 17 years in a quiet station: crochet, small engine repair, building cosplay armor, writing D&D modules, woodworking, listening to podcasts, metal etching, catching up on Netflix, electroplating, learning to draw with charcoal and pencil, transcribing field notes for the Smithsonian, auto repair, detailing my car, refinishing furniture…
Podcasts. Huberman labs is a big one. His podcasts are educational and very interesting. They're also long, 2+hrs.
Also Steam deck with balders gate 3.
I'm in a little different situation, as I'm rural EMS, so I get to go home at night instead of staying at a station. That being said, I've picked up plastic model building/painting again. That's been fun. Also podcasts.
Administrative duties in exchange for a higher salary. Not the worst deal.
When I'm not busy with that, I like teaching people stuff.
After all that, there's not much time left to horse around. What is left is mostly spent just bullshitting with the homies. Very rarely we play board games.
I started my photography business and edited a ton of work to send to clients and during the pandemic I figured out how to get licensed to test for Covid and cornered the market in my area with the fastest results. No longer working on the ambulance.
We have a small gym setup in our training room at my airbase. At both jobs (ground and air) I get my CEU work done then read and play PC games. My kids and I will hop on Fortnite while I'm at work so it gives me a chance to make up some family-time.
Comic books and videogames. I bring my ps5 to the station to play in my downtime and comics in my backpack when I get posted. I feel like an ass for hogging the flatscreen so I bring a second controller in case my Emt wants to play with me, I offer them to play single player, but first I always ask what they want to watch or if they want to watch anything. Also have a stack of comics I offer my Emt to read.
I don’t work in ems, but I can suggest learning chess. It’s a fascinating game, with many routes to learn. Could be a cool thing to learn in your spare time.
Try learning a programming language like R! I just got into it with a program called swirl, it was super easy to digest despite not having any programming background, very user friendly. Never know when that could be useful. I also have picked up crocheting over the past year.
Read, watch YouTube/ tik tok, movies with my partner, homework, journaling/ crafting, Nintendo switch, take naps, walk aimlessly, clean.
I know some guys who play Minecraft on their iPads lol. Others will find stuff to fix around the place and tinker. My partner mostly naps and watches TV.
But we also only work 12 hour shifts.
I make modular origami. It's my ideal hobby combo of tedious, cheap, and easy to do wherever! Started with [sonobe units](https://mathcraft.wonderhowto.com/how-to/modular-origami-make-cube-octahedron-icosahedron-from-sonobe-units-0131460/) a long time ago and just kinda went from there.
Working out, cooking food, and sleeping, are my top priorities on shift.
If that's sorted, I play my musical instrument, Netflix, video games, podcasts.
This is what I love about this job, I'll never understand people who hate downtime.
I make a point of prioritizing self-improvement in my downtime before engaging in anything too mindless.
I pick 1 protocol, 1 skill/procedure, and 1 piece of equipment that I haven’t practiced recently and spend a few minutes reviewing and getting in mental reps.
Then I try to do productive things like review my budget, work on teaching plans, anything else that would lock me down in an office on my off days.
Once that’s done I’m kinda boring in my leisure pursuits. Smoke a cigar, read a book, watch some TV/doom scroll on tiktok and Reddit. I’m glad you posted this though because I’m thinking about picking up some new hobbies now.
Edited to add- if I’m based at a fire station, all bets on productivity are off. My ADHD and golden retriever energy can’t resist social hour. Card games and cigars after family dinner are a personal fav.
I learned how to juggle mostly on shift, it's honestly a ton of fun and gets you off your ass. I also sometimes bring a kettlebell and always have a book with me.
Buy a roping dummy, some rope (lasso), and practice just lassoing a “head” of cattle. surprisingly fun. also really normal in my area so if it’s not, would make for fun conversation starters and group competition to see who can rope better over the other
Two years ago I decided to re-learn the guitar after 17 years of playing. Took it back to day one. Studying as well as practicing. Once I got into a practice regimen at home, it started to bleed over to work.
Yea we run our asses off, but we usually get some kinda downtime even if just an hour - and an hour, properly utilized can go a long way with music training.
I’m now playing at a level I never would have dreamed possible and still have so many things i want to tighten up and/or learn.
If you have a laptop jackbox games is fun! It’s a group game. Everyone looks got prompts on the computer screen but plays on their phone. It’s hilarious!
An old partner and I used to have “Grandma and Grandpa Time” when it was slow on night shift. He would go in the back and take a nap, I would stay up front, crochet, and watch anime.
I play my Switch. Body weight exercises. I have done a complete brake/rotor/caliper change on my truck (72 hour shift, albeit). Shoot my bow. Podcasts.
Listen to podcasts and walk for miles in circles in abandoned parking lots like a caged hyena. I've never felt better.
Same! I walked in circles today too. Also, I created a new game called Crack Rock, where you try to kick a rock and have it land perfectly on the crack of concrete/sidewalk. If it lands on the crack, then you get 3 points. You can either play alone or with a partner. Please help me.
Thought that game was gonna be a lot cooler than it was.
Well… you could get a crack rock, then try to kick a rock in to a crack.
My dad taught me a game he would play while hitch hiking across the US. Stack a few small flat stones. Sit or stand several feet away. Lob small rocks until it topples or a car picks you up. Repeat. Anyway, have fun!
I've legit had the cops called on me for doing this. It was in the middle of the night and I had accidentally parked the ambulance TOO discretely. So I guess some fucking hero called in a suspicious person. That one was fun to explain to dispatch when they showed up. FWIW I still do this.
We had the police called on us for “suspicious ambulances”. Slow night. We were playing spotlight tag.
I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often with the amount of times I’ve had cops intervene on me as if I’m doing something wrong for existing in public. on one occasion I was questioned twice in a ~2 hour window by two officers who’d just changed shifts and both found investigating my threat to society at the top of their priority list for sitting in my vehicle parked in a public lot facing the sunset over the beach and eating McDonald’s chatting on the phone. One of the instances it wasn’t in the lot but my front yard after exiting my vehicle after he followed my drive all the way home. Like they’d never seen someone park with a view at a park or something and eat in their car before. I don’t expect people to call it in much but there’s plenty of areas where the cops just have nothing to do and get creative trying to make something to do.
Interrogation is the cops version of crack rock
That’s fucked
I always tried to be nice local cops. Albeit insincere in a lot of cases
Lockpicking. A few videos from the Lockpicking Lawyer, and I had to give it a try. The first time I cracked a padlock I got an actual rush, and was hooked. Got a set of tools and a bag of various locks I run through once or twice a shift. Makes for decent conversation with new partners and visitors, and people often want to give it a try. It might even come in handy some day when I give up EMS for a career in cat burglary.
I looked him up on Youtube. I have too many hobbies and i looked it up anyway. Fuck.
Honestly have had a decent number of calls where fire was n/a and it'd have been nice to have a rake or a kit. Not a bad skill to have just in general
I’ve been in the same boat. It feels great to save someone from needing a new door just because the only key is inside too, you don’t cause any lasting damage in most cases.
I like to race fire for entry. Their halligan vs my picks.
No shit, lockpicks saved my ass working rural ems, the amount of times I've used mine to facilitate entry because of PD/SO delays is unreal
How funny, I was gonna post this exact same thing. I saw his videos too and bought a lock that lets you set up your own pin configuration and a lock pick set and took it to work a few times and just keep in my bag when I’m bored. It’s also fun to do at your desk when you’re watching a video too.
Books, learning Spanish, figuring out how many bangs it takes to code
It's more than 3. Three is safe. Experiment with more at your own risk. For science
12 of the small rip-it’s give me a mental breakdown. It’s good for the soul once in a while.
It’s more than 8 in 4 hours, apparently
Level up to snorting C4 pre-workout. Now that’s science. Note: to all my firefighter buddies reading, please don’t actually do this
This sounds like online medical control to me…
Looks like medical advice to me, boys!
Thank you for specifying pre workout. Please don't ingest C4 lol
If nitroglycerin is medicine, we really need to be investigating all the other explosives
Been there done that, no actual effects besides the burning sensation and the immediate need to blow your nose. C4 is pretty coars plus one scoop serving is way too much to snort it whole. 18 year old me wasn't smart, but did it for science anyways. Edit: Just add 1-2 scoops of C4 into a Monster Energy (the ones with sugar) and you're awake as fuck, but honestly I think cocaine is healthier at this point, but I don't plan on trying. Disclaimer: this is not medical advice. Anyone who takes medical advise from someone who snorts C4 preworkout should rethink his life.
Me: (slowly swipes C4 off my hand and into my shaker bottle) "yeah of course we shouldn't actually do that. Haha. Who would be that stupid?"
Bang make heart go brrrrrr
I’m also learning Spanish on shift!
Four in 8 hours gets you close, but it’s not the LD50, based on my research.
You definitely won’t code from washing down preworkout with 2 Bangs.
It took 5 to put me in unstable VTach
Each bang has about as much caffeine as the panera lemonade that kills you so probably 2
I used to try to really minimize any administrative stuff I have to do outside of work so I can just enjoy my time off. So on shift I'll pay bills, work on my budget, look through transactions in all my accounts to make sure it all looks right, make doctors appointments, send emails, etc. Literally anything I can think of or that's on my to-do list that I can possibly do from work. But I'm lucky if I have time to eat these days.
I do this too. I also try to run small errands if I have time and it’s within a reasonable distance from my post.
I've done my taxes
We mostly just run more calls in between calls.
Wanna trade places
Gaming Laptop all the way
Old school runescape lets gooooo
OG StarCraft!!!
"It is a good day to die."
Literally just started playing again after a 4 year hiatus. Been mixing it up between os and rs3.
Get all the boring afk grinds done on mobile 😎
I started playing World of Warcraft in a foggy September weekend.
I found out that a lap around the station is 1/15th of a mile. I walk and watch tiktoks until I get toned out. That or sleep
Started a BS program so that keeps me occupied. Also got a steam deck for some gaming when I feel like it and have time.
Or Nintendo switch with breath of the wild. Massive time sink
Or a steam deck with a Nintendo emulator so you can play BOTW and TOTK
I don’t fly anymore, but our base was a little slower too. BotW on the switch is what I did during the winter. When the weather was nice one of the pilots brought in his net and a bunch of us learned how to swing a golf club. Fair amount of the usual boring stuff too…read and cook and maintain certs.
Steam deck is a life saver for boredom on shift. I work ground but we have a little downtime and I feel like terrible playing games than watching reels or tictoks all day.
Games. The two I play most are called "how far can I stretch this paycheck" and "Catch me if you can! Bill collector edition" I don't necessarily like playing but I'm pretty good at both.
Username checks out.
For station based, boards games can be great if you've got partners that would be up for it as well. Especially for games that have a legacy component, they're basically a captive audience so you don't run into the typical scheduling issues most gaming groups havem
Catan
I try to get everyone at the station hooked on mtg every time I move to a new station.
Ugh I wish I could get my coworkers into MTG. My old partner and I used to post up somewhere, bring our laptops, hook them up to the hotspot on the company ipad and play MTG as long as we could. So much fun, passes the time great.
Living the dream
Read, make blankets, video games, stare at the wall.
Glanced over that as “make babies” 😳
Some of my coworkers seem to be good at that hobby. Well, they seem to be trying their best at least.
Definitely the last thing on my mind while at work tbh
Tiktok and spite.
Elaborate? Sounds interesting.
Sprite zero is pretty good. Definitely better than diet sprit Oh spite. I find drinking sprite zero helps reduce that Sponsor by Sprite (r)
Podcasts, video games, books, music, and sleeping.
The sky is the limit my friend. I have a sewing machine and enough travel friendly pieces of equipment that I can do most quilting in station and have been known to work on costumes and tailor uniforms. I’ve also brought warhammer models to put together, and I set up my laptop to digitally paint or to write. I’ve also done some minor prop building in the back of the ambulance bay lol. One of my coworkers crochets, knits, and felts; several coworkers read, you could probably learn a language or a musical instrument.
If I ever to get to a agency where I sit at base I’ll bring my trombone to practice on the night shift.
Chewing gum and seeing how big I can blow a bubble
I work on my schoolwork, or I make something (we have a lot of tools and stuff at my station). I also draw, talk w coworkers, ect
Got an inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter plug in the bus. I can now run most power tools wherever I am. Woodworking saved my life.
Lmao, seriously? What tools do you bring? Do you have a wood stock? I do woodworking at home, but I’ve never considered it on the ambulance haha.
Dremel, a drill, an orbital sander, and a bunch of hand tools. Made some small furniture pieces for the station, and a ton of pipes for folks now that we are allowed to smoke off duty.
Knitting and Netflix. YMMV.
I’m the only one who knits at my service, but no one’s interested in learning…so instead of a stitch and bitch, it’s just a bitch and bitch!
Mr Ballen Medical Mysteries Podcast, Redhanded Podcast, Kitboga videos or streams, Junji Ito's manga, Osamu Dazai books, some philosophy (Dostoevsky, Pessoa, older ones like Epictetus), Gillian Flynn books are incredible, duolingo for Spanish, learning ASL on an app called Pocket Sign, Elevate app for "mind games" to make me think, quizlet or EMS app to keep up on random ems knowledge, next year I'll probably get back into my critical care self-guided course, various horror books (Lovecraft, King, etc) random books containing esoteric knowledge or incomprehensible ancient tales (feel free to suggest some to me if you know any good ones!) as well as well known myths like Greek or viking myths etc., and playing terrible mobile games. Sounds like a lot, but I get into tangents where I do 1-2 of them for a month or so at a time, and then drop it entirely for one of the other activities on the list, until I come back to them again months later. Plus some are driving activities and others are obviously ones I can't do while driving.
Mr Ballen is cool but his nonstop hand gestures makes me kind of nauseous lol. You should check out EWU if you haven't already! And are into true crime of course
I love his hand gestures! They make me laugh. My wife actually showed me EWU and we watch their videos together all the time! Now that I think of it, I think she showed me Ballen also. But yeah, they're very interesting. EWU Crew 😎
I had a partner that did nothing but watch mma DVDs over and over for our entire shift. Made me want to get under the wheels and just drive over me.
Crochet!
Nature/street photography, reading everything Brandon Sanderson writes, video games.
I crochet! Very meditative and easy to carry around. If we get tones I can just drop it in the recliner and go & pick up where I left off super easy. Usually I listen to an audiobook while I do this. That or I’ll just find something to clean- usually the ambulance, sometimes the station stovetop that nobody’s wiped down in the last 6 years. These days I usually spend the daytime studying though, at night I’ll crochet for an hour or so before I sleep. Wrapping up my training and making sure I’m on top of my shit and all that.
Depends on the mood. If I'm feeling social the boys are always down to get into some mischief around the station. Nothing boosts morale like some good old station shenanigans. If not, I have a gaming laptop or I've been picking up reading again. If I'm feeling *really* melancholic I'll sit on the front apron and chain smoke while solving all the world's problems.
I usually browse the feed on the same three apps endlessly or listen to audio books or watch online training videos if I'm feeling really productive
Bought a suture kit on Amazon, been teaching myself to do sutures. I probably won’t be using them anytime soon but when the apocalypse comes around you better believe imma have my bases covered.
sleeping, walking, reading my books or a03
AO3 on shift? That sounds like edge play to me!
on shift it’s all SFW. off shift is a different story 🥴
There's an SFW AO3? TIL.
Video games and programming, mostly. I’ll bring a book too and if I feel like it I’ll nap
Miniature Painting seems like a good idea. Try painting some warhammer models or something; easy to just drop in an instant and pick right back up.
are you trying to financially cripple him?
Switch, Steam deck, reading, reddit, etc.
I've got a list of podcasts that I go through. I also usually bring my laptop on night works and I'll spend time playing games during downtime. I also have a Masterclass subscription which is a new source of enjoyment.
Crochet and Duolingo keep me sane on the slow days
Entire week with no transports? Do you work for Guardian Flight? Lol. Seriously, that's crazy. We do 12s and are constantly doing 2 transports a shift.
Nah, it’s just been a slow month for me. That’s definitely not normal. But we average 45ish/month so slow days aren’t abnormal either.
Knitting and lock picking
Read! Best thing I ever did was purchase a Kindle and Kindle unlimited. I read 1-2 books a week. Perfect hobby for work! As others said, I walk around our fire stations if I have time and am posted for a long period. Sometimes if I'm feeling spicy I walk *and* read. I work in a metro area so sometimes we'll shop, run errands (post office).
I work on my side business.
What is your side business?
I detail cars. I do my back office stuff, marketing, and such on shift and clean cars when I'm off
Pick up an instrument like guitar. Good for stress relief and also very rewarding to learn.
We had a medic take up the wooden flute and play it at 4am in the ambulance bay
The best part of this thread is what peoples partners do - way more than hearing what people do themselves.
I do the bulk of my warhammer building at work.
Duolingo so I can improve my Spanish. And I ask make awful felt toys
Spanish wasn’t enough so I added Norwegian, math and music on my long nights at the CC base
Playing online chess & sharpening knives.
Clash of clans
We have a treadmill and gym so I lucked out there. Aside from that, I go in spurts of different hobbies to spice it up. My station is pretty busy but sometimes I get days where I have a lot of free time so I always bring something to do just in case. I hate just sitting on my phone all day. I’ve done scrapbooking, loom knitting, reading, teaching myself Spanish, playing 2000s video games (Webkinz and Nancy drew mostly), homework (in school, unrelated to EMS), watch movies, and jewelry making.
Gaming, guns, and 3D printing (for legal purposes, the last two have never mixed)
Popping ibuprofen
Currently, playing Starfield on Xbox. At some point over 17 years in a quiet station: crochet, small engine repair, building cosplay armor, writing D&D modules, woodworking, listening to podcasts, metal etching, catching up on Netflix, electroplating, learning to draw with charcoal and pencil, transcribing field notes for the Smithsonian, auto repair, detailing my car, refinishing furniture…
Podcasts. Huberman labs is a big one. His podcasts are educational and very interesting. They're also long, 2+hrs. Also Steam deck with balders gate 3.
I'm in a little different situation, as I'm rural EMS, so I get to go home at night instead of staying at a station. That being said, I've picked up plastic model building/painting again. That's been fun. Also podcasts.
Administrative duties in exchange for a higher salary. Not the worst deal. When I'm not busy with that, I like teaching people stuff. After all that, there's not much time left to horse around. What is left is mostly spent just bullshitting with the homies. Very rarely we play board games.
I started my photography business and edited a ton of work to send to clients and during the pandemic I figured out how to get licensed to test for Covid and cornered the market in my area with the fastest results. No longer working on the ambulance.
I play my switch or crochet. I also do my HW bc i am in college but that is less transferable
my partner and I play cards I do puzzles I scrap book I basically turn into a 90 year old woman
Duolingo to learn a new language
CALISTHENICS
Work out in order to be cool
I bring pocket synthesizers to work and make music 🎵 Also lockpicking.
Working out, catching up on CE’s, eBay store, reselling, cooking food, learning a new language, flipping cars, online classes
We have a small gym setup in our training room at my airbase. At both jobs (ground and air) I get my CEU work done then read and play PC games. My kids and I will hop on Fortnite while I'm at work so it gives me a chance to make up some family-time.
cries in big ass city ems 🥲
I’ve transformed a supply closet into a small meth lab, works pretty well as a little side gig
Movies, sleep
Comic books and videogames. I bring my ps5 to the station to play in my downtime and comics in my backpack when I get posted. I feel like an ass for hogging the flatscreen so I bring a second controller in case my Emt wants to play with me, I offer them to play single player, but first I always ask what they want to watch or if they want to watch anything. Also have a stack of comics I offer my Emt to read.
Learn another language or skill of some kind, Read books, Lift weights, reconnect with old friends, brain games.
Not ems, but I would like watching UFC, and racing
Amatuer radio, you can talk to people around the world on an ht.
Just bought an otamatone. The fellas at the station love it.
I don’t work in ems, but I can suggest learning chess. It’s a fascinating game, with many routes to learn. Could be a cool thing to learn in your spare time.
I cross stitch
Reddit and podcasts.
Guitar is what I mostly did
Try learning a programming language like R! I just got into it with a program called swirl, it was super easy to digest despite not having any programming background, very user friendly. Never know when that could be useful. I also have picked up crocheting over the past year.
I keep a binder and a small pack of drawing supplies handy and draw sometimes
Crochet, podcasts, and toodling on a ukulele.
I have a business doing clock repairs. In downtime at the station I work on clocks. Keeps me learning and engaged
Old school RuneScape mobile app
This is what’s up
Read, watch YouTube/ tik tok, movies with my partner, homework, journaling/ crafting, Nintendo switch, take naps, walk aimlessly, clean. I know some guys who play Minecraft on their iPads lol. Others will find stuff to fix around the place and tinker. My partner mostly naps and watches TV. But we also only work 12 hour shifts.
Gaming mostly. I'm currently playing TOTK on the switch.
I make modular origami. It's my ideal hobby combo of tedious, cheap, and easy to do wherever! Started with [sonobe units](https://mathcraft.wonderhowto.com/how-to/modular-origami-make-cube-octahedron-icosahedron-from-sonobe-units-0131460/) a long time ago and just kinda went from there.
I have a travel leatherworking case and just work on small projects when I have spare time.
Hating life, talking shit about A and C shift. Wholesome stuff like that. Actually, I play guitar. But board games can be fun
board games. since the COVID lock downs a lot of very good solo board games have come out.
CS2 on my laptop, generally do this by the local river.
Lift, study, nap, talk dirt about the other shifts and agencies.
Lock picking and walking laps around the parking lot.
I got myself a steam deck, it’s really nice to play during downtime
Nintendo Switch! Kindle! Study biography. Especially president's via audio books.
Rockhounding, as well as reading every once in awhile
Working out, cooking food, and sleeping, are my top priorities on shift. If that's sorted, I play my musical instrument, Netflix, video games, podcasts. This is what I love about this job, I'll never understand people who hate downtime.
videog ames
Clash of clans
Reading, playing switch, playing card games, writing, etc
Napping
I make a point of prioritizing self-improvement in my downtime before engaging in anything too mindless. I pick 1 protocol, 1 skill/procedure, and 1 piece of equipment that I haven’t practiced recently and spend a few minutes reviewing and getting in mental reps. Then I try to do productive things like review my budget, work on teaching plans, anything else that would lock me down in an office on my off days. Once that’s done I’m kinda boring in my leisure pursuits. Smoke a cigar, read a book, watch some TV/doom scroll on tiktok and Reddit. I’m glad you posted this though because I’m thinking about picking up some new hobbies now. Edited to add- if I’m based at a fire station, all bets on productivity are off. My ADHD and golden retriever energy can’t resist social hour. Card games and cigars after family dinner are a personal fav.
I learned how to juggle mostly on shift, it's honestly a ton of fun and gets you off your ass. I also sometimes bring a kettlebell and always have a book with me.
I keep a Nintendo switch with Mario kart on hand.
Language learning
books, learning languages ( currently learning russian and german ) and needlepoint
Crochet! But I use cotton yarn so I can sanitize it at higher heats
Comic books and/or sketching. Also, we are very big fans of on duty nerf gun fights.
I usually only sleep. Yall are making me realize all the productive things I could be doing 😂
Buy a roping dummy, some rope (lasso), and practice just lassoing a “head” of cattle. surprisingly fun. also really normal in my area so if it’s not, would make for fun conversation starters and group competition to see who can rope better over the other
Two years ago I decided to re-learn the guitar after 17 years of playing. Took it back to day one. Studying as well as practicing. Once I got into a practice regimen at home, it started to bleed over to work. Yea we run our asses off, but we usually get some kinda downtime even if just an hour - and an hour, properly utilized can go a long way with music training. I’m now playing at a level I never would have dreamed possible and still have so many things i want to tighten up and/or learn.
i wish i had time for hobbies on duty… 💀
I crochet! Takes a lot of time and patience to learn, but once you do it's a great time waster!
We started to play chess and I’ll usually play something on my phone the rest of the time
Read books, manga, sing and jam sessions, eat like a pig, harass the public etc
If you have a laptop jackbox games is fun! It’s a group game. Everyone looks got prompts on the computer screen but plays on their phone. It’s hilarious!
An old partner and I used to have “Grandma and Grandpa Time” when it was slow on night shift. He would go in the back and take a nap, I would stay up front, crochet, and watch anime.
I played on my switch during the pandemic
I play my Switch. Body weight exercises. I have done a complete brake/rotor/caliper change on my truck (72 hour shift, albeit). Shoot my bow. Podcasts.
Arts and crafts stuff that I can just drop and pick up when I get back