1. I've gone into hardware stores for small DIY tasks and parts/materials are not stuff you can buy with spare change. Tools and equipment are even more expensive.
2. Getting up and doing something physical for some of us takes a lot more effort than a mentally strenuous task.
For me digging deep into some code base, grepping the docs, reading some code in language I am not familiar with or that I dislike is exhausting, mentally and physically. I actually sweat a lot doing that, and it is the kind of sweat that stinks. Doing some woodwork is often less tiring, and the sweat it produces does not smell that bad.
But the point is only that he only had one door. No room for trying it, breaking the door, and then trying again (your door is broken). Coding is the opposite: you get infinite retries.
> For me digging deep into some code base, grepping the docs, reading some code in language I am not familiar with or that I dislike is exhausting, mentally and physically. I actually sweat a lot doing that, and it is the kind of sweat that stinks. Doing some woodwork is often less tiring, and the sweat it produces does not smell that bad.
I envy you. I love everything on a computer (and never exhausting). Doing anything physical makes me completely miserable (possibly because I'm in terrible shape).
Shape: not sure it can be helpful but you could try to convince yourself that it's only in your head. I have seen very fat people doing physical work and enjoying it, maybe needed more frequent pauses, and but quite able to do anything except crawling under the table.