Garage Hermit Mode

[andyvh1959]

I'm sure I'm like others here. Once we get in the garage or shop, as long as we have fluids, food, entertainment (TV or stereo) , relief options, we could stay out there all day, all week. The world can just pass right on by. Wearing the same grubby clothes day after day, occasionally washing up, maybe shaving. My wife will come out to the shop to check on me, comment on how grubby my face is, saying "don't sit on anything in those clothes when you get into the house."

Ahhh,....shop time. Blissful.

 

[Boilerhouse]

Yep - the past week I pushed aside a never ending cottage renovation, and did a few of the shop projects that are beginning to pile up. As you say....blissful.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'll get dirty as need be to work on a project but I want a shower when I'm done. I've napped in the garage before over the years but never "slept" out there.

 

[kbuhagiar]

I'll get dirty as need be to work on a project but I want a shower when I'm done. I've napped in the garage before over the years but never "slept" out there.

Yeah, me too,

As much as I love being in the garage I appreciate getting to a point where I feel like I accomplished something and can go inside and share my victories (and a glass of wine) with my wife.

 

[andyvh1959]

Yup, feels real good to spend quality grubby-hermit shop time, getting things done, built, mounted, started, whatever. Then into the shower to thoroughly scrub all the naughty bits and sit down to kick back time, Bourbon on ice or just neat, and savor the things done.

 

[like2wheel]

I'll be out there getting stuff done (at least pretending) & the minute I sit down to take a break or look up something on the internet, she'll come strolling in: "out here hiding in the garage again??".
One time I got caught napping in the car. Freaked her out.

 

[nadogail]

Mrs Nadogail has been known to send someone out to check on me and ask my lunch order.

 

[4 FN 27]

Went down to the shop at 7 am this morning. Through some left over Bacon and Sausages in the little oven on the counter, fired up the Mr Coffee...next thing it was 5 pm and headed to a meeting. Got back and ate some Ribs my Wife fixed for Dinner and back down to the shop.

Sat down at the computer (the one in the hose) about 25 minutes ago...debating on setting my alarm for 3:30 am to start another print on the Pursa???

Had 2 full days in the shop all by myself...got lot's done!!!

 

[4 FN 27]

Mrs Nadogail has been known to send someone out to check on me and ask my lunch order.

Nice...I have to phone my order in.

 

[NDJ]

I think the "relief options" really determines things here

 

[Vwpower]

When I got caught sleeping:
“Put another log in the wood stove or come inside”

 

[andyvh1959]

Well, in my shop its a bucket for the small job and back in the house for the big one. If I had a bathroom/shower in my shop, well all I'd need is a bed and I'm good to go for,.......who knows?

 

[MushCreek]

Now that I'm retired, I head out to the shop about 8, have lunch in the house with my wife, back out to the shop until three, when I come inside to read for a couple hours. Six days a week, although it gets interrupted by yard work from time to time.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I can't stay there all day, I'm used to being around people, after about 4 hrs I'm looking for the misses, even the dog leaves after a few hrs. If a friend or son stops by & we're into a project it becomes more social with food & drink becoming part of the project, makes for some fun times.

 

[dougf]

It's the only thing that's kept me and my wife together for 16 or 17 years, I cant remember.. She can watch whatever weird TV shows are on these days, and I can spend time in the shop or doing yard work. We come together for lunch, dinner, and bed time.

 

[Ak Jim]

I'm sure I'm like others here. Once we get in the garage or shop, as long as we have fluids, food, entertainment (TV or stereo) , relief options, we could stay out there all day, all week. The world can just pass right on by. Wearing the same grubby clothes day after day, occasionally washing up, maybe shaving. My wife will come out to the shop to check on me, comment on how grubby my face is, saying "don't sit on anything in those clothes when you into the house."

Ahhh,....shop time. Blissful.

 

[PelicanPines]

Give me a fan... my nebulizer... a 1 quart pitcher to pee in... a chair... my label maker... I could live out there. Subtract any one of those requirements and I have to go inside.

 

[Zeke]

I can't stay there all day, I'm used to being around people, after about 4 hrs I'm looking for the misses, even the dog leaves after a few hrs. If a friend or son stops by & we're into a project it becomes more social with food & drink becoming part of the project, makes for some fun times.

If I'm working the last thing I need is a visitor. Sometimes my wife will walk up and I'm deep in concentration and she speaks. Not much scares me but a sudden voice out of nowhere makes me jump. I told her to not do that if I was using a machine even if the house is on fire.

Outside visitors waste my time. I'm courteous for up to 30 minutes and I tell them I have to work.

When I was in my late teens I'd work 16-18 hour days on car projects. I kept getting to bed later and later in the morning until the cycle came around once more. In the summer time here it's often 68 to 70º all night so working with the doors open with a slight breeze was the best times I eve had.

 

[rayra]

I call it 'doing the zombie shuffle' or 'nextnextnextnext'. I've put in a mountain of hours the last couple years, renovating four houses, selling two, buying two, moving two households about 300mi out of state. I build a lot of things. Building a bunch of furniture currently. So damned hot in the garage lately best I can manage is 90mins on, 30mins cooling down / rehydrating.

 

[charbar]

I usually can't wait to get out of my shop....but my shop is also my business so that's a little different then most. Going on 14.5 hours in here today. Even when I want to 'take a day off' I still find myself in the shop though because there is always something to do.

Hence the reason I've been thinking of turning the old two bay shop into a 'man cave' of sorts. Couch, table and chairs, tv, stocked bar and an area to tinker with little stuff and hang out with friends. It's only about 20 yards from the new shop, but at least I'm not 'in the shop'

 

[andyvh1959]

"The shop" is a big part of our mental wellness. Same for my motorcycles. When I ride my mind is deeply focused on the riding experience such that all the other daily issues fade out.

 

[gregs]

Your living my dream that will hopefully come soon. Currently its job during day, 2+ hours after work for family / food and if I dont have any other responsibilties 2+ hours in the shop. Surprising what you can get done 2 hours a night during the week when your focused. My problem is when something else comes up and the train comes to a stop, its hard to get it rolling again. Dreaming of the day that I can go out in the morning and not come back until I want to.

 

[andyvh1959]

I'm on track for retirement by mid-summer 2024. That means even more time in the shop.

 

[rattle_snake]

I think the "relief options" really determines things here

Meh, as long as no one is looking, anywhere outside around the shop will suffice.

My family got me this shirt, so I guess I've been identified as a garage hermit

 

[dougf]

I've really got to get better at managing my relief options. My house and shop is visible from a fairly busy dirt road. I've been out there peeing, not paying attention and here comes a car or truck. I would say 40% of my neighbors have seen me peeing. I really need to do something but my 20x30 is too small for anything like a toilet, maybe a PVC piss tube. But that seems kind of gross.

 

[Zeke]

@dougf: plant a tree.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I've really got to get better at managing my relief options. My house and shop is visible from a fairly busy dirt road. I've been out there peeing, not paying attention and here comes a car or truck. I would say 40% of my neighbors have seen me peeing. I really need to do something but my 20x30 is too small for anything like a toilet, maybe a PVC piss tube. But that seems kind of gross.

Funnel with a hose, makes a poor man’s urinal.

 

[PassnThru]

I'm slowly reverting back from garage hermit mode. About three months ago I was offered work from home during an office move and I took it. With three kids still in the house and no real options for an office I headed to the detached garage. It's not air conditioned but I can cool it off in the morning and it stays reasonable for the rest of the day.
It's great that I don't have to deal with the distractions up at the house - and it's bad that my former retreat is now my office. It's no longer stealing a few hours to hang out now after work - it's spending my entire work day there and then trying to shift to relax mode in the same place.

 

[brownbagg]

.

 

[engineer2]

In my immediate neighborhood of about 45 homes I know of 3 garage junkies besides me.
One, like me, is always maintaining daily drivers or working on house projects.
Another is heavy into bicycling and always has a bike on a stand.
Another I don't know too well, but I see a tool chest and projects when his garage door is open.

I listen to music on the weekends, haven't turned the garage TV on in a couple of years, and don't open the beer fridge until the day's work is done.

 

[niget2002]

Mrs Nadogail has been known to send someone out to check on me and ask my lunch order.

wait. You choose your lunch?

Mine just sends a kid out with a plate with food on it. Sometimes a sandwich, sometimes a bunch of fish sticks.

 

[niget2002]

i dont understand why everybody dont have a shop, they rather watch football

I watch football in my shop.

 

[zmotorsports]

I had spent many a long day and night in my last shop when in full "get **** done" mode. That was a much smaller but still organized and well equipped shop but as I have gotten a little older and in my newer, larger and much nicer shop, I feel like once I get accomplished what I had intended for the day (or night) then I am ready to head into the house, shower and spend some time relaxing with my wife.

I am still very passionate about being in the shop but I feel I have a decent balance now in life between shop time and quality time with the wife enjoying the fruits of our labors. Don't get me wrong though, when things need to be done I have no problem buckling down and putting the time in working in the shop. I love working in my shop for that matter, just enjoy not working as hard as I once did.

 

[CombatNinja]

Good decision^^^ The shop isn't gonna take care of you when you're old and losing it.

 

[BSWS]

Boy this topic hits close to home. My introduction to hermit mode started with my last job where I spent around 300 days a year away from home, living in hotels. When I retired after 11 years of this, and moved back into my, or I should say my wife's house, I needed a place to spend my time. The month I retired I had an addition added to my garage that is now my shop/hotel room. Actually, I do spend evenings and nights in the house, it's a nice balance.

 

[nadogail]

I occasionally have a soft drink in my garage, usually I drink water. I do keep my helper’s favorite soda in the small refrigerator.

 

[ZRX61]

I'll get dirty as need be to work on a project but I want a shower when I'm done. I've napped in the garage before over the years but never "slept" out there.

I've dozed off more than a few times while working under a vehicle in the garage... & at least twice under aircraft in the hangar.

 

[andyvh1959]

Good to know I'm in with the right crowd here. A shop is therapy as much as it is a place to either get stuff done or plan the next stuff to do. When I drive around the neighborhood and see an open garage with maybe two cars in it, a rake, a lawn lower, trash bins, I have to wonder "what the hell do you people do with your time!?" Usually my wife says, "see, that's how a garage is supposed to look." To which I respond "sick people live there. That's not a garage, its a storage unit. A garage is where things get done, fixed, built, enjoyed. Therapy.

Like my motorcycles, my garage, both are my therapy. LOTS cheaper than paying for a professional. Maybe we need a t-shirt that says "Garage Therapy. Self Serve."

 

[rharman]

Meh, as long as no one is looking, anywhere outside around the shop will suffice.

My family got me this shirt, so I guess I've been identified as a garage hermit

I need that shirt! (see my avatar....)

 

[Alchase]

Funnel with a hose, makes a poor man’s urinal.

A buddy of mine mounted a urinal on the wall of his shop. The discharge pipe goes through the wall down into the gravel Base couple feet.
Who needs plumbing?
LOL