After flogging the list of Staycation ideas yesterday, I promised to bring forth a list that geeks can use for ideas to use on a Staycation. Now, like every other “group”, it is made up of individuals and so not all (or theoretically any) ideas would be appropriate for all people. But I am going to take a shot.

“Read.”

If you know that a vacation is coming, spend some time saving money and get several good books. Better yet, get something that comes in an episodic volumes that you ordinarily wouldn’t because you didn’t think that they would all be available at the same time (”Dangit, I can’t find a copy of book 2!”). It’s restful, ultimately good for your cognitive skills, not mind-numbing as in television viewing and it’s great to build up the library. Is this the most revolutionary idea for vacation time? Certainly not, but sometimes even the painfully obvious needs restating.

“Shake up your meals.”

If you’re the type that eats out a lot, I recommend actually planning and cooking a few good meals at home. Make it a project. There are so many free recipe sites online that not an ounce of expense need be paid to do as much research as you want. Moreover, try to use ingredients that ordinary megamart grocery store don’t carry. Make it a point to visit your local Asian, Greek, Italian, Russian …whatever… store, and see what you’re missing. (Note to a few friends, and you know who are… Mortadella does not mean “lunchmeat of death.”)

Alternately, if you’re a big homebody like me and cooks at home most of the time, then make plans to eat out some, with one rule: it has to be a place that you haven’t been to before, and preferrably a style that you haven’t sampled or haven’t had recently. It doesn’t have to be a place that requires dress codes or reservations; they’re not to be avaoided, either. But try that Korean place a few miles down the road, the Indian place that can make a fantastic vegetarian meal and still make you not miss the meat, or the rare Carribbean/Jamaican/Latin American cuisine place.

The whole point of this is to shake you out of your rut, even if you can’t make it out of town. In my own experience, food is such a large portion of any culture, that even changing that on a temporary basis is as much of a change of scenery as you can get.

“Organize your tech”

All us geeks have several projects laying around that could do with an organizational kick. Perhaps it is the home theater speaker wiring strangling cats. Perhaps it’s the tangle of rechargable device battery pack cables imitating a plate of spaghetti on the counter. Have a veritable Stonehenge of computers in the office; operable, but ready to topple over in a cascade of steel and silicon labelled “Dell”? Now’s the time to clean up. But before you get out the dusting rags and cans of compressed air, it’s time to break out the graph paper and design an actual solution to the stuff Philip K. Dick referred to as kipple.

Businesses use server racks because there isn’t enough desk space in the world to hold all of those systems running side-by-side. If you’re a geek like me, then planning is essential to keeping the stuff running but out of the way. If you have a bunch of desktops, bite the bullet and get a KVM switch and ditch your multiple monitors and keyboards immersed in Fritos crumbles and Dr. Pepper splatter. Put mounting “ears” on your PC cases and whip up a DIY server rack (like one of these; or just google “DIY server rack” and you’ll get plenty more) on the cheap. More than just the boxes themselves, it keeps the cabling in a much more managable environment. You’ll be happier.

Go to your local wine purveyor and gather up a nice wooden wine crate and mount inside a power strip with breaker inside it. Cut a small hole in the back and pass the power cable for the strip through it. Voila… portable device recharging station that hides your iPhone, camera, DAP (Digital Audio Player), bluetooth headset, WAN signal detector, medical tricorder, Flip video camera, miniature RC cars and NiCad batteries. Even use it store your wallet, car keys, or anything else that you want to keep in one place… and covered, to boot.

“One word: Museums.”

Museums, as well as zoos, aquariums, conventions, galleries and showcases are huge on most geek’s lists. I’m truly sorry to say that in my day-in, day-out routine of the job, family, commute and chores that I have visited the Akron Art Museum only once in my ten years here in Akron, and perhaps the same number of times for the Akron Zoo and the Metroparks Zoo. (Those familiar with my personal past know that I once worked as the exhibits tech in the curatorial department of the then-Inventure Place museum attached to the then- National Inventor’s Hall of Fame, a job I picked up as soon as I got into town. I don’t count these visits; it was work!) Anyhow…

Now that you have some time, go hit the museums in and around town. It has the effect of making one feel erudite or educated, or both, even your idea of “culture” is the stuff growing in the back of the fridge. Add on top of that most museum’s relative inexpensive admission for an afternoon’s browsing, most are located in pedestrian-friendly areas that get you out and walking which gives you ample opportunities to experience what else the town has to offer.

“Do a ’stupid’ project.”

Why is it certain things stir a geek’s soul? One may never know, but the “fun” factor should never be denied. Airbrush flames onto your lawn mower. Organize landscaping patterns that are only recognizable to Google Satellite views. It doesn’t truly matter what the project is; just have fun with it and take the time to do it right.

“Pranks.”

I have long been known as a prankster; only less so as the people I work with increasingly expect more “respectability” from me as years go by. As things stand though, planning and executing a good prank is something that delivers a big sense of personal accomplishment. Along with deciding to do this, there are a few rules you MUST follow. I call them Bryan’s Rules of Pranking:

• Under no circumstances perform a prank that breaks, permanently modifies or vandalizes property, or which costs the victim money to repair/reverse.
• Break no laws in the process, especially trespassing or theft.
• Your prank must be played on someone who will appreciate the joke, with a mind toward the fact that you must own up to it immediately after the prank. This also excudes strangers and people who you are only “somewhat familiar”.
• Those with no sense of humor shall not be targets.
• Pranking in good taste is funny. Humiliating someone is absolutely not, and only demonstrates that you are the idiot.

Keep these things in mind and it almost can’t go wrong.

Examples:
Boobytrapping a center-desk drawer so that when opened, a microswitch activates a small battery powered case fan located in a drop ceiling above the desk which blows confetti or packing peanuts (stored in a cardboard tube attached to the fan) down onto the victim.

Switch the victim’s door from right-handed to left (or vice-versa). Deny noticing that anything has changed. After a few days, switch it back.

Use a socket-to-power adapter in a large light fixture, plug in a loud noisemaking device (home security siren, etc.) inside.

Abide by the rules; use your imagination.

So to wrap up, have fun, and do something you wouldn’t ordinarily do.