To handle the awkwardness of said moments, I mainly dabble with my PCs/servers and various electronics/gadgets.
Other than that, I love music (just like movies, life is better with the proper soundtrack) - which brings us to my other hobby, Audio/HiFi systems. The latter, combined with my curiosity to learn how stuff works and an urge to tinker stuff, soon led me to DIY audio. The DIY electronics "disease" spread fast, to the point where most of the audio gear I use nowadays are custom-built by myself.