How are you dealing with life now with the Covid-19 virus situation? (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

I'm so afraid to have to resort to my housemate cutting my hair...I see what he does to his own. However I do take your point about it being easier to cut someone else's than your own. But still...

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Pics or it didn't happen!

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, the other thread made me think of Cheers just now... Never heard the full length version of the intro theme song before (I think... but my memory ain't quite as good as it used to be), but just came across it looking for the intro video...



Might be nice if we could run some classic episodes in some online community screening session...

Cheers!

_Man_

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Geez, it takes a pandemic to bring me back to the forum?? It's hard staying upbeat during an elongated period of self-quarantine, seeing nothing but bad news and worrying about family, friends and colleagues. But I remember coming here on and in the days and weeks following 9/11 and was cathartic to come here and share my thoughts with everyone and seeing everyone trying to pick one another up.

I've read most of the posts in the thread so I'll let everyone know how I'm doing. Fortunately I am still employed for now, working from home for the last three weeks. I oversee the IT help desk for a law firm and have been putting in an extra 2-3 hours each day, which more than offsets the time saved by not having a commute longer than walking down the stairs in my house. It's not a complaint, just a new routine.

I have done my best to avoid contact with others, trying to go to the store only once a week and when I do, it's about 20 minutes before the store closes when crowds are smaller. Honestly, I wouldn't even go weekly if not for my mom. I'm doing everything to keep her and my aunt in their homes as they are in their 70's and 80's respectively, both with underlying health conditions. Neither of them have embraced stocking a few weeks' worth of food in the pantry and freezer, so I soldier on for them. Unfortunately they'll both be going out each day to help my nephew with his home schooling after my brother experienced some kind of breakdown.

I try to limit how much news that I am reading, watching and listening to because most of it is rehashed over and over and none of it has been good. I worry how dangerous and virile this virus is. I have friends and co-workers that have had family members die from this. A co-worker's spouse has been diagnosed positive and has had a fever that can't be permanently broken after a week and a half. I wonder if those are symptoms that medical professionals would term "mild"? To me, if I couldn't break a fever after 2-3 days, I would be scared as hell. I'm no longer young, which doesn't seem to matter with this virus, and I have a few co-morbidity factors so I worry what will happen if I contract it. Am I going to be hospitalized? Intubated? Who is going to watch over my family if something happens? Just all kind of nerve-wracking...

Hope everyone here is staying safe!

 

[TJPC]

My problem is that I basically can be a hypochondriac. Every time I hear the symptoms of covid 19, I feel a cough coming on, or a fever, muscle pain, etc.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

My problem is that I basically can be a hypochondriac. Every time I hear the symptoms of covid 19, I feel a cough coming on, or a fever, muscle pain, etc.

Same here.

Plus, it's allergy season, which means I have sinus issues and a bit of a cough for the month, so it doesn't help having symptoms that can go for either when your brain immediately wants to jump to the "I'm screwed" conclusion.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’m usually not obsessive about taking my allergy medicine - if the symptoms get bad I take it, if it’s not really annoying me I often forget - but right now I’m taking it religiously because I don’t want to get paranoid over symptoms.

 

[Carlo_M]

As with most everyone else in this thread, I've been obeying social distancing, especially since California and Los Angeles were one of the earlier big cities in the country to pass city and state orders. I've been trying to support my local small food establishments (many of whose owners I've gotten to know personally over the years) by ordering takeout, and also being a good citizen in terms of only buying what I need for about a week, to try and personally offset the hoarding that others are doing (I know, one person is only a small dent). Work's been difficult to manage, but I'm fortunate in that my job is pretty secure. But managing 30 people through this crisis has truly put my administrative skills to the test, as well as my ability to emotionally support my staff, who span the range from recent college graduates (some of whom worked for me as students) to near-retirees. I've Slacked and Zoomed all of them, not just for work purposes, but also for human-to-human interaction, which has benefitted all parties. I've put in more hours telecommuting than I ever did when I went into the office (the last two weeks were probably 50+ hours each, and I'm salaried, so no OT for me). But my team has been handling the situation quite well, due in no small to the wonderful staff who comprise it.

Yesterday I decided I'd do something nice for myself. 17 years ago I bought my first acoustic guitar and replied to a thread here in this very forum! It was a Lakewood M32 (German guitar company) that my favorite artist Glen Phillips uses. It's still my "daily driver" and if anything, the sound has opened up and it sings sweeter now than it did back in 2003. Yesterday I contacted my local small guitar shop, which had become a Lakewood dealer in the last few years (I'd like to think it's because I bring mine in there every few years for a pro set-up, and each time the repair techs would compliment on what great craftsmanship went into it). They're obviously closed by order, but I had seen that they'd put the few Lakewoods they had on sale on Reverb. I'm a better player than I was back in '03 and I know now what I want in a guitar sound, so I emailed and asked if they'd do a by-appointment demo, if we both agreed to follow the social distancing rules. The manager emailed me back and we set up a demo time. There were only two of us in the whole store, and we stayed well more than 6' apart, and both of us had gloves and masks. We were a sight. The guitars hadn't been touched in many weeks due to the closure, so I wasn't too worried about contamination, though I washed my hands after playing anyway. I'm glad I emailed him because they had 5, not 3 Lakewoods. And the one I thought I wanted, based on paper specifications, was not the one I ended up with. He left me alone to demo to my heart's content for 90 minutes, and to top it all off, he gave me a bigger discount than what was offered on Reverb. Without further ado, my Lakewood M32 now has a younger (but bigger) brother...

My new Lakewood D32.

It's a Dreadnought style, which I wanted to compliment my Grand Auditorium. It's a bigger body, producing a louder, boomier, bassier sound. But it still has that Lakewood chime that I love. For those who know acoustic guitars, think 85% Taylor chimey-ness with 15% Martin bottom-end. I'll update the other thread with my purchase and playing experience, as well as some more pictures, but I thought I'd post something that brought a little bit of light into this dark world for me. I have put around 8 hours of playing into it over the weekend.

 

[John*Wells]

My employer Instituted 2 week on 2 week off rotations. I am off for 2 weeks. So far, I have spent that time watching TV on DVD From my collection and deciding which Space themed Puzzle to assemble. I have one of a Space shuttle launch and one is a collage of the moon landing. Each are 1,000 pieces. Im open to votes on which one you all think I should assemble

 

[Jeffrey D]

My employer Instituted 2 week on 2 week off rotations. I am off for 2 weeks. So far, I have spent that time watching TV on DVD From my collection and deciding which Space themed Puzzle to assemble. I have one of a Space shuttle launch and one is a collage of the moon landing. Each are 1,000 pieces. Im open to votes on which one you all think I should assemble

I think the moon landing puzzle is my choice.

 

[John*Wells]

I think the moon landing puzzle is my choice.

Thats the one I am leaning toward doing. Its a 50th anniversary collectors collage

 

[JohnRice]

It seems that Colorado is really trying to get in front of the whole situation. It was just announced that plans are finalized for the Army Corps of Engineers to build, equip and staff five enormous field hospitals around the State. The county I live in will be the site of a 1,000+ bed facility at the Fairgrounds, only a few miles from where I live. Building is supposed to start next week and the facilities will remain through at least January 2021.

In addition to the field hospitals, there is expected to be 10,000 more beds converted in dorms and hotels.

 

[Malcolm R]

Vermont has also identified five "overflow" facilities around the state with extra beds, just in case. For now we have about 525 positive cases but I think only about 30 of those are hospitalized, so far.

Stopped at the local Walmart tonight and all the "non-essential" sections were roped off with signage that the sections were closed at the order of the governor. About all you can buy at the moment is food, health care products, and items for home/auto maintenance. And TP! They did have some toilet paper, but no sanitizer.

I needed some ink for my printer, which would seem to be essential since we're being asked to work at home, but that was in electronics which was roped off. So I went to Staples and bought it there instead.

 

[Francois Caron]

Single in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I'm one of the lucky ones. I still have a corporation (single person, no employees) and paying clients, but I'm now working from home. It's a bit annoying considering I'm still paying rent on my office. Purchased a big screen and gaming chair because I wouldn't have lasted very long working on a 13 inch laptop screen while sitting on a cheap student chair. Luckily, I already had a workspace available once I cleared out the synth keyboards from the table.

Food wise, all's well. Ottawa's tap water is excellent, I have two grocery stores and two pharmacies close by, and my cooking skills have improved so much over the years that I can easily prepare pretty much anything in advance and freeze it all for later consumption. I can easily plan a good two weeks' worth of meals to minimize my excursions out into the infected outdoors. I'm also happy to report that I did not pick up the habit of snacking all of the time. In fact, I'm eating better because I don't eat out for lunch anymore.

Health wise, I am overweight, I do have some anxiety issues, some mild seasonal allergies and some leftover asthma from my childhood, but I do walk a lot which definitely keeps me from getting any bigger. Or at least I did walk a lot until the requirement to stay home came up. So I got myself a set of pedals that goes under my work desk and which I use whenever I read documents to keep my legs and cardiovascular system in decent shape while I'm stuck indoors.

While I might not need to worry about hospital bills here in Canada, I do have to worry that my old asthma could help this nasty virus take me to the grave sooner than expected. So it's in my best interest that I do everything that I can to avoid catching it.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I have been grocery shopping in the early morning and decided to try a just before closing time trip this evening. Did not notice an appreciable difference in most stock on the shelves (although bread was nearly gone). I noticed that there were a lot less folks in the store so I think I am going to keep going late as long as the customer levels remain low. Was able to get most of what I wanted, although some items seem to be perpetually absent or very low.

Of course on the drive home, my nose was itching like the dickens. Managed to wait until I got home and thoroughly washed my hands.

- Walter.'

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I have been grocery shopping in the early morning and decided to try a just before closing time trip this evening. Did not notice an appreciable difference in most stock on the shelves (although bread was nearly gone). I noticed that there were a lot less folks in the store so I think I am going to keep going late as long as the customer levels remain low. Was able to get most of what I wanted, although some items seem to be perpetually absent or very low.

Of course on the drive home, my nose was itching like the dickens. Managed to wait until I got home and thoroughly washed my hands.

- Walter.'

I hit the grocery store around 10 this morning, which was right after I got up. Fewer people than my usual Noon-1PM time. They had a good amount of what I wanted. Had chicken breast in stock for once... the little packs with two breasts in 'em. I picked up 4 of 'em, which equaled out to around what's normally in a couple of the larger packs. They refused to sell me more than two of the packs. I just sighed and let it go. What can you do? My haircut isn't Karen enough to want to speak to the manager.

And ain't it always the way, you don't have to scratch your face until you can't?

After the grocery store, I finally got the riding mower running for the year and cut the back yard. I'll have a cough and screwed up sinuses for another two weeks now.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Thats the one I am leaning toward doing. Its a 50th anniversary collectors collage

Do it! Pictures when done please!

 

[TonyD]

Just found out that someone unrelated to me and my wife but the brother of her father’s wife died of the virus.
He was in his 60’s and has many health issues over the years and was in a full care health facility.

Also my wife’s oldest son was told that he has it.
Wasn’t feeling well so he was tested and came back positive.

He is 32 lives in the middle of Alabama with his new wife and his kids.

I’m not sure how it works But it looks likely that the entire family will probably get it now.

I have an appointment tomorrow morning to have blood drawn for my cholesterol levels and whatever else they tend to look at.
Had this appt for 6 months.

It’s just blood so it should be no more than 20 minutes in there.


Guess I need to wear a mask. Turns out I have 2 n95 masks that I bought at Lowe’s last year that I forgot I had.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I hit the grocery store around 10 this morning, which was right after I got up. Fewer people than my usual Noon-1PM time. They had a good amount of what I wanted. Had chicken breast in stock for once... the little packs with two breasts in 'em. I picked up 4 of 'em, which equaled out to around what's normally in a couple of the larger packs. They refused to sell me more than two of the packs. I just sighed and let it go. What can you do? My haircut isn't Karen enough to want to speak to the manager.

And ain't it always the way, you don't have to scratch your face until you can't?

After the grocery store, I finally got the riding mower running for the year and cut the back yard. I'll have a cough and screwed up sinuses for another two weeks now.

Wow, that's the first I heard of them restricting meat sales. If the government wants us to remain home for the next two weeks then we need to buy enough food to do that.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have been grocery shopping in the early morning and decided to try a just before closing time trip this evening. Did not notice an appreciable difference in most stock on the shelves (although bread was nearly gone). I noticed that there were a lot less folks in the store so I think I am going to keep going late as long as the customer levels remain low. Was able to get most of what I wanted, although some items seem to be perpetually absent or very low.

Of course on the drive home, my nose was itching like the dickens. Managed to wait until I got home and thoroughly washed my hands.

- Walter.'

Yeah, I'm not going to the store this morning like I've done the previous two weeks on Tuesday. I'm going there on Wednesday night a half hour before closing. If I don't get everything I need then, I will make note of it then return Thursday morning when they open up after they stock the shelves earlier Thursday morning.