OT: Help me while away my day

[wdcbooks]

So I took a new job and things will be busy eventually. The thing is that I will have two 10 day training sessions over the next couple of months, but that is about all I will be doing for about three and a half months. I don't actually start to 'work' until September first.

I have a nice little office in Fairfax, VA and my boss and all the other staff from my division is in Charlotte, NC and could not care less what I am doing until September 1. Unfortunately 2+2 is blocked, for that matter so is every other site I routinely look at. No discussion boards unless they are investment related and no sites that even might end up NSFW. I am at a loss as to what to do with myself.

Could I please get recommendations for things to look at all day? So far I have bookmarked: Salon, various newspapers, Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, Lileks.com and a couple of Red Sox sites. I am open to any suggestions. Good blogs, Political sites, Salon like sites, time wasters of all kinds. This is so weird to be paid to sit at a desk and wait to be set in motion. I am going stir crazy with nothing to do. The funny thing is I am not even really slacking. They give me training tasks that are set to take all day and I have them done before my first cup of coffee is over.

Things that are blocked: Most discussion boards and forums (unless they are pretty cerebral), games, Pr0n (duh), and gambling related.

[Neil S]

Usenet. Do you have access to newsgroups?

[wdcbooks]

[ QUOTE ]
Usenet. Do you have access to newsgroups?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah I do, dumb question time, how do I access them?

[Neil S]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Usenet. Do you have access to newsgroups?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah I do, dumb question time, how do I access them?

[/ QUOTE ]Get a newsreader like Thunderbird.

[Hornacek]

internet poker

[wdcbooks]

[ QUOTE ]
internet poker

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't laugh. I actually considered bringing my personal laptop in, but if someone walked by I am not sure how to explain why I am on my personal laptop instead of the company computer. Which is ridiculous because everyone knows I have nothing to do.

[amplify]

http://www.amazon.com/Sex-Ecology-Spirit...8059&sr=8-1

This is what I'm reading.