Too much time?

[artoodeeto]

I just saw this while on another site...too true! So many people, even some of my very good friends, have taken one look at my sandcrawler computer case and instead of saying "how cool" (ok, I'm biased I know, but I don't see how anyone could NOT say that LOL :D ), they would say "you've got WAY too much free time." I've never been sure how to take that, mainly I feel insulted - after all, as I'm sure many of you can understand, it's not that I have "too much time," it's how I choose to spend the time that I have. Anyway, thought I'd share this, I think it's very true:

"Nobody means to be rude when then ask "where do you find the time?" or they say "you have too much time on your hands!".

I understand they mean "wow, that must have taken a long time". I do find it strange that people can spend an entire weekend watching television (sports, dramas, reality shows) and nobody asks or says the same thing.

It's almost as if our culture has begun to look down on the concept of putting forth effort. You can waste as much time as you want on any number of endeavors, but if it results in a tangible 'thing' it somehow moves into the realm of needing to be evaluated in terms of how much time you spent on it.

-Doug Haffner
http://frankencade.blogspot.com/"


*edit - I just thought of this - it could be that people respond that way because they don't see your effort resulting in anything useful or desireable to them. Almost like, if your project took tons of time, and doesn't cure cancer and result in world peace, there's no possible way it could have been worth the effort.

[blueonblack]

Absolutely and thanks for posting. I think we've all seen or heard something like this, being who we are.

What they are saying, I think, is "I would never have the patience or the determination to do that or anything like it." Thank our society or culture or whatever, but most people "don't have that much time" to put into any single thing. It is strange how if it were a '57 Bel Aire you were restoring *that* would be just awesome, but something most people don't "get", it's too much time on your hands.

[farlo]

its a hobby, or course we're gonna invest time, because its what we like doing.

[Zephik]

That's ridiculously true. Humans are kinda retarded.

[LiTHiUM0XiD3]

i agree with this entirely.. my fiance looks at me like i got 3 heads when i start yankin things apart to mod LOL

[artoodeeto]

LOL, yeah, you shoulda seen the look that preceded the "no!" when I suggested to my girlfriend that I mod her N64....although to be fair she thinks my crawler is awesome and can't wait for me to build her a computer case.

it's amazing to me how few people truly realize how they spend their time. They think they have no time, and have no idea of the hours and hours spent in front of the tv, or reading, running errands, or starting off into space......*drool*......eh? what? oh. I was typing. :D

[BuzzKillington]

So true. You should ask them what their "busy schedule" consists of.

[Oneslowz28]

I hear this all the time and in reality I do not have that much free time at all. Lets take a moment and break it down.

There are 168 hours in a week.
I put about 40 into my photography business. That leaves 128 hours.
I put about 40 into this site. That leaves 88 hours
I sleep about 6 hours a night. That leaves 46.
I spend about 20 driving, eating and socializing. That leaves 26 hours.
Toss in another 5 for cleaning my house and we now have 21 hours.
Remove another 5 for idle time when my ADD kicks in or I have to do something around the yard. That leaves 16 hours.
Divide that by 7 and I have about 2hours 15 minutes a day of "free time".

Now that I did that I am really depressed and want to go post on FML :(

[artoodeeto]

hm... so I wonder how much free time I have.
168 hours a week. minus sleeping, let's say 7 hours a night, leaves 133.
40 hours into my normal job, leaves 93.
4 hours for choral rehearsals (includes driving time) leaves 89.
20 hours eating, getting ready for work in the morning, etc. leaves 69.
Since this is all averaging, and since my girlfriend's and my families live in northern CA (we're in southern), we drive up about once a month. So that's about 30 hours a month...divide by 4 weeks is 7.5 hours per week, so that leaves 62 hours.
Chores, cleaning, taking care of our various pets, say 4 hours, leaves 58.

So I have on average 8 hours a day of "free time." Of course, that includes weekends, which are sometimes free, sometimes not. Weekdays I have a lot less free time.

Now, I'm not counting socializing, running errands, playing piano, or watching TV in that. Some weekends we're super busy the whole time, and others we don't do much. As far as time that I have all to myself to do whatever I want, it's probably more like 2 or 3, and some days none at all. And of course some days I do have time but don't feel like doing anything.