@Linkat,
OK, how about an electronics kit like
this one. It's compact, self contained, has a bunch of interesting projects, doesn't require tools or solder and can be set aside easily when you've had enough. I had something similar when I was a teen and burnt hours and hours on it while getting a pretty good background in basic electronics.
@engineer,
wow this is cool - you know this is something he could do with my kids too.
@Linkat,
How about simple stuff like doing Word Search puzzles?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_search
Maybe Red Sox/baseball themed books?
Robert B. Parker's Mortal Stakes and Double Play, are two that come to mind.
@Reyn,
Yeah - he doesn't like crossword puzzles of any type. My mom does them all the time and she has tried to encourage him too as well.
@George,
Yeah - I am going to look into that.
I ordered him this book called "Little Billy's Letters". I had bought it to read for a trip to CA. The premise is this guy posed himself as a young boy and wrote letters to various adults - like Charles Manson. He wrote to the head of Anheiser Bush about wanting to drink beer. Stuff like that. I had to leave the book behind as my husband's stepdad liked it so much that I didn't have the heart to bring it home.
How about an MP3 capable CD player and talking books, either on CD or MP3 encoded CD discs?
I've found Free Cell, a version of one kind of solitaire, one of those games that seems to be included free in every version of Windows since at least Windows 95, to be terribly addictive, I think by now I'm somewhere up around 25,000 games of it. Try him on that.
Virgin Mobile has an unlimited data plan (plus 300 minutes of phone andtexting) for $35 a month. They also offer smarthpones like the LG Optimus V for $130, but Radio Shack and Best Buy seem to offer them every few weeks for around $100 (I just got one on Black Friday for $50 but haven't had a chance to activate it yet--that's probably an indication sales offers will dip below $100 soon. You can put MP3s on it, and it has a camera--maybe you can get him interested in photography and emailing his family pixs of his life there. Virgin buys time from the Sprint network for its usage--check Sprint coverage in your area if you think this might do him some good, they don't cover everywhere.
@MontereyJack,
Talking books might be good - my dad did like one a nurse was reading to him.
@Linkat,
did she have big hooters?
(it can affect the enjoyment of the book)
@Rockhead,
Ya know - I didn't think to ask that question - a doubt a tapes on book then would not have the same impact. Although, maybe I could get some with a "sexy" voice.
@Linkat,
I'd let a sexy nurse read me soup labels.
but I tire of them quickly by myself...
I borrowed one of old smoky's western novels the other day. I had no idea it was so durned easy to get laid in the old west. eye-opening, it was...
