Recently, I've been moving really heavy things (like a slab of granite for a stoop and a cast iron sink in my basement) from one place to another using minimal force and simple machines (wedges, levers, etc). This kind of work is as far from programming as I can get, but still has an intellectual component.

I've found Jaimie Mantzel's videos about roadbuilding to be a good explanation of what I mean: http://jamius.com/Road.html