Drain-spotting, cacti collecting and car park photography - hobbies you might expect from those fondly known as anoraks.
But instead of joking about their "boring" pastimes, we could learn a lot from "geeks".
Because according to a new book, if we want to see who has coped best with the lockdown then we should look to our nearest hobby obsessives.
Psychologist Dr Sandi Mann, senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire and author of The Science of Boredom, says: "People with mundane hobbies probably coped better with lockdown - they are happier with less and need less stimulation.
"Learn from anoraks by celebrating the mundane and find joy in the everyday.
"This way we won't need the excitement of overseas trips and thrills and spills - we can be more content with lower levels of stimulation."
Meet the people who can teach us to how to be content rather than try to be cool.
Cactus collecting
People at parties often slowly back away from Steve Reszetniak before he starts talking about his passionas if he is covered in prickles.
"I spent 30 years as a taxman, and before that I studied psychology," says Steve, 64. "So I'm used to people shutting down around me."
Steve's love for his 250 cacti is such that he's built a £9,000 conservatory on to his home in Margate, Kent, to give them just the right amount of light, warmth and shelter.
"I could spend all day there just looking at them," he says. "A lot are quite interestingly symmetrical. And although my wife Anne says I have too many plants, they keep me out of her way so there are benefits."
How much time does he spend there each day? "Not enough".
Steve's 50-year fascination began as a school boy and has never wavered. During the coronavirus pandemic, he has missed meeting fellow cacti lovers at the Herne Bay branch of the British Cactus and Succulent Society.
"The membership secretary set lots of quizzes to keep us going. We guess the names of pictures of cacti and try to guess how tall they grow. And we tell a few jokes, but they need to have Opuntia line."
On a more serious note, Steve feels his cacti really have helped keep him calm, happy and hopeful through the Covid-19 crisis.
"At the beginning of lockdown, life felt quite scary. So I decided to sow cacti seeds to somehow have an investment in the future," he says. "I'd look at the tiny plants and imagine them getting bigger over the next few years - and perhaps rewarding me with a flower or two. It was about thinking positively."
So how does he feel about people calling him an anorak? "I don't mind. Because they're probably right."
Prefab-spotting
Elisabeth Blanchet's kids are not exactly enthusiastic about her obsession with visiting post-war prefabricated homes. "They often say, 'please - not more prefabs. They're taking over our lives'."
But it's a hobby she can't give up because, even after 19 years of travelling across the UK and France to visit prefabs, she feels "totally excited" whenever proud she hears of one she hasn't yet seen.
Divorcee Elisabeth, 49, has been hooked since she saw her first prefab in Peckham, South East London, and says: "I was fascinated that they were meant to last only 15 years but are still standing. It's amazing to see how people decorate them, made gardens around them. I see real beauty in them."
Photographer Elisabeth founded an online prefab museum, co-wrote Prefabs: A Social and Architectural History and enjoyed lockdown because she was able to create a prefab inventory. An exhibition of her photos has been on display in Brittany.
She says: "I do wonder if it all might get in the way of a relationship. But I'll never stop. I'm proud to be an anorak."
Roundabout & Car Park-spotting
Kevin Beresford, 68, has two hobbies which bring him endless joy: taking photographs of car parks and roundabout spotting.
"Dull is the new black," says Kevin. "Hundreds of people have joined my Roundabout Appreciation Society. And the only problem with the Car Park Appreciation Society is that there's only one member: me."
Colin insists his hobbies are not obsessions, but passions. His roundabout passion first surfaced in 2003 when, as a printer by trade, he wanted to make a calendar of his home town of Redditch, Worcs.
"Redditch doesn't have much going for it," he says. "But it has copious amounts of roundabouts so I took pictures of them. I ended up selling thousands of calendars. And while I was roundabout spotting, I started noticing car parks as buildings to admire too.
"I enjoy catching slices of everyday British life. Artists have always loved the mundane. Look at Tracey Emin's unmade bed."
Kevin talks about roundabouts and car parks as an ice breaker when he meets new people.
"Everyone loves telling me about their favourite roundabouts. Mine are the Magic Roundabout in Swindon, which is a white knuckle ride because the traffic goes the other way. And York maybe the one in York which has a working windmill on it.
"I've loved lockdown because it gave me time to sort thousands of photos sent from across the world."
Kevin has three sons who find his hobbies "quite amusing", and three marriages. "I don't think my hobbies were the sole reason my marriages ended, although it might have been one of the reasons," he says. "My second wife got a bit annoyed when were by the pool in Spain and I'd say, 'sorry love - I'm just nipping out to take a few pictures of roundabouts'."
Now single, Kevin insists his hobbies make him a good catch.
"If you have pastimes like mine, it means I'm safe. When I say I'm going to nip to the shed to finish my car park project, that really is what I'm doing. I'm not sneaking off down the pub. I'm not going to run off with Lady Gaga.
"So when people call me a nerd, geek or anorak, I take it as a badge of honour."
Drain-spotting
Archie Workman is officially the most yawnsome man in Britain as the winner of the 2019 Dull Men's Club "Anorak of the Year" award.
But he cares not a jot if anyone thinks his drain spotting hobby is boring.
"People see me coming and say, 'Oh no! Why is he droning on about drains?' But after listening for a while, they're converts. I've even got people adopting drains in little villages now."
Before he took up his hobby ten years ago, retired marine engineer Archie, 64, was feeling, well, drained. But he found peace of mind in manholes.
"I used to run marathons to de-stress but I don't need to do that now. Drainspotting relaxes my mind."
Surely though, when he spends time cleaning the grass, grime and rust from the covers, it's mundane? "Therapeutic," he says. "As I get going with my wire wool and preservation oil, my thoughts wander to the people who drove over it, who made it, installed it."
Sometimes his wife, Beth, rolls her eyes when he talks too much about drains. And Archie, who lives in Ulverston, Cumbria, loves talking about drains.
"My favourite is not far from here with nine holes and eight slots. It's just pleasing on the eye. People think all drain covers look the same, but they don't.
"Instead of looking down their noses at me, people rarely look down to the gutter. There's art there."
Bootscraper-spotting
Nobody has ever called Mick Chester a geek, despite founding the Boot Scraper Appreciation Society.
"I wouldn't be bothered if they did," says Mick. "But why would they when there are so many interesting things about boot scrapers? "Some are built into walls by doors and date back to the Georgian period. Some are very elaborate. There are modern ones too, so there's still a need.
"Spotting boot scrapers is a fascinating way to brighten up a trip outdoors."
Mick, 54, pictured, lives alone on the Isle of Wight, and after retiring from a career spent as a gardener and fish pond maker, much of his time is spent keeping his club going.
"Sometimes I get really busy because I'm sent too many photos to sort," he says. "Lockdown was just usual life for me. I'm in a wheelchair so it's hard to get out, but the club keeps me connected. I have 135 members from as far as America and Australia.
"I also set up separate clubs for the appreciation of gates, railings, gargoyles and windows and doors. There are around 1,000 members in all. So it keeps me busy and happy. There's nothing dull about that."
