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Thread: What are you doing during covid19 "social distancing"?

  1. #1

    Default What are you doing during covid19 "social distancing"?

    I'm growing herbs on my kitchen window, have re-potted houseplants, moved furniture around, done a lot of (obsessive) cleaning, take long walks, listen to music, experiment with recipes, talk on the phone, read, watch movies, go thru photo albums....

    but I really miss my kids, and have to resist the temptation to drive 4-6 hours to see either of them, just to share big hugs and kisses. No amount of putzing around can fill that void. *sigh*

  2. #2
    Yep I think difficulty in visiting loved ones and family is going to be a hard thing to endure (for the non-infected at least) through this.

    ~

    For me at least, very little is different. I work from home generally and variably around 70% of the time. Even when I am in the office, my working colleagues are global - I have virtually no face-to-face contact in my worklife - it is almost entirely conducted remotely through video and audio conferencing and online messaging/email. So a change to 100% homeworking makes no difference to me - just brings a slightly greater need to get out and walk perhaps.

    As well - my worklife is exceedingly busy and currently all-consuming. I am far more stressed about my work activities than I am about Covid-19 - I suppose perhaps because the former is immediate, tangible and I have a bearing, the latter is still at a remove and rather surreal and abstract and I have no bearing.

    I suspect that will change in the coming weeks as very real and tangible changes to the way we live will inevitably come about.

    Covid-19-wise at the moment I am far more stressed for my sister who is a deputy-head of an inner-city school in a poor part of London, and is now a keyworker desperately working through what is needed for her and her staff, and the kids of other keyworkers (let alone her own kids) at this time, and trying to plan for the immediate future.
    Last edited by Timbuk2; 03-20-2020 at 01:14 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Steely Glint View Post
    It's actually the original French billion, which is bi-million, which is a million to the power of 2. We adopted the word, and then they changed it, presumably as revenge for Crecy and Agincourt, and then the treasonous Americans adopted the new French usage and spread it all over the world. And now we have to use it.

    And that's Why I'm Voting Leave.

  3. #3
    Wife is still working, our GOP run state has been very slow to close certain things. The beaches for example will stay open till monday "to move inventory". And you can't close the daycares while still expecting parents to work, so work she does. But when she comes home we wash laundry with hot water and she goes straight to the shower. Laundry still hangs out to dry but we run it on heat for 20 afterwards. I haven't been out of the house since... Tuesday? But that's because I was forced into vacation before everything started falling apart. I do go back to work Monday, but with very little work to do, since we won't be open to the public. We will be conducting inventory and professional development (webinars) till April 15th. The school teachers are slowly reaching out to us to inform us that classwork will be made available digitally once spring break ends so I've been on the girls to get their rooms cleaned organized and ready to study in.

    Beyond that... It's been 2 weeks of video games. To show how large my backlog is I just platinumed Xmen Destiny, a PS3 game.
    "In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Ominous Gamer View Post
    I do go back to work Monday, but with very little work to do, since we won't be open to the public. We will be conducting inventory and professional development (webinars) till April 15th.
    Scratch that. I'll be telecommuting until further notice. I have to spend Monday putting together a training plan that shows me spending 5-6 hours a day on professional development. Boss is looking into the bast chatroom type application, thats county approved, for use all to use while training.
    "In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."

  5. #5
    Senior Member
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    Well. Now I'm in Amsterdam. Not quite certain if I should self-quarantaine or not (the difference between the two is whether or not I go to do 'print duty' one day a week in a mostly empty office building.

    I used 80proof eau de cologne to desinfect my hands whenever I touched anything on my flights to Amsterdam. And I wiped off every place where I sat down.
    Congratulations America

  6. #6
    Our staffing schedules have been completely disrupted, so I have been able to switch to working nights rather than shoring up the wards or the outpatient clinic. Because of this, I've been able to spend tons of time hanging out with my family at home, walking 3-4 hours a day in the gorgeous spring sun, reading, and writing. Cooking a lot of new things as well, but, for pandemic-related reasons, baking has become more of a challenge - because it's more difficult to give away the things I bake (usually bring it all to work), and I simply can't have that stuff at home once it's done. Really a shame because my baking has been positively inspired lately. I've indefinitely shelved my standing after-work weekly get-together, and refused to accept invitations to parties and events. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, I can't really commit to physical distancing, because I have to go to work. Things have been worse for my wife, who was already on the verge of fulminant cabin fever before she had to cancel the few activities she'd been able to enjoy outside the house, with the baby (such as swimming). The worst part is that, even though I can take the baby off her hands for a few hours during the day, so that she can get some time to herself, she doesn't feel comfortable doing the things she usually does to wind down, such as wandering around town, shopping etc. But, all in all, things are okay so far. Lots of cleaning, organizing, sorting out things we'd been postponing, etc.
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  7. #7
    "In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."

  8. #8
    You're gonna be busy, OG My heart goes out to anyone with school-aged kids who has to work from home AND help kids with on-line learning. And I really worry for doctors like Aimless and their families.


    What do y'all think of on-line grocery shopping and home-delivery? I know it could help cut down on "non-essential" movements around town, and the stores have pretty good employee policies for hygiene and 6 foot separation, but more hands touching groceries -- from the pickers to packers and drivers -- just sounds risky to me. Any thoughts or recommendations?

  9. #9
    This has been an extremely challenging week for me and my wife. Our daycare closed but both of our companies are still functioning, and balancing it has been very hard. My wife's office officially closed mid-last week but most of what she does can be WFH anyways, so she's been trying to coordinate her team and keep her own work on track. They're busy for now but as a lot of their WFH-able work peters out in a few weeks, they're going to have some challenges - the studies they run are in person and pretty much all need to be put on hold indefinitely. Her company has been pretty good about that, though, allowing people to bill time to a covid-19 code when they're prevented from working full time. (Amusing since it's mostly a UK company, and their UK side doesn't have *any* of these restrictions.) She's also expecting to be promoted to a more senior role (boss of the bosses) but that whole process is likely on hold for the foreseeable future.

    My work is trickier, we're 'WFH as much as possible' but there's still a lot of work I need to get done in lab. As a startup, R&D is seen as 'business essential' so I'm on the hook to figure it out. I can't leave my wife with the kids all day, and I can't go in at night (safety rules mean at least two people have to be on site to work in the lab). I've been doing half days in lab a few days a week, and WFH otherwise. It's a problem, though, because we have surgeries scheduled in April (local, at least) and May (not even close to local) that are really critical to our milestones - every day we slip means one more day before we can move into clinical trials. I don't know how we're going to address those.

    Childcare is very tricky, our 5 year old is relatively self sufficient but she needs some sort of structure/stimulation - we've definitely broken the AAP's recommended screen time restrictions, albeit with high quality stuff (we also introduced her to short snippets of video yoga and Wii Fit because short walks outside or on our roof deck aren't enough). Our 1.5 year old, though, needs constant supervision. The wife and I have been trading off morning and afternoon shifts, with the 'on duty' parent working during naptime and making up time at night. It's not working well, I'm probably only at about 75% productivity and absolutely exhausted after only 1 week. I assume this is going to continue until June, so figuring this out is going to be challenging. Oh, and both of them have come down with different minor bugs which doesn't make it any easier.

    I guess we can't really complain - we still have good, high paying jobs, we're in an excellent financial position compared to most families, and our kids are fundamentally all right. But it's definitely been challenging.
    "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)

  10. #10
    Lots of practice with solidworks and a new 3D printer. Lots of outdoor cleanup and rejuvenation, 2.5 acres.
    Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
    If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by wiggin View Post
    . (Amusing since it's mostly a UK company, and their UK side doesn't have *any* of these restrictions.)


    The UK is going to be hit so hard by this virus.
    Quote Originally Posted by Steely Glint View Post
    It's actually the original French billion, which is bi-million, which is a million to the power of 2. We adopted the word, and then they changed it, presumably as revenge for Crecy and Agincourt, and then the treasonous Americans adopted the new French usage and spread it all over the world. And now we have to use it.

    And that's Why I'm Voting Leave.

  12. #12
    I'm feeling pretty bad because I'm a "hugger" but live alone. Might have filled that physical need from my cat, but she died. Or my kids, but they live far away. Now I imagine how horrible it must be for people dying with covid-19 when they can't have any physical contact from their loved ones. What a crappy way to die. Trying hard not to think about that degree of "social distancing".

    If you're lucky enough to have a mate, spouse, or child living with you...hug them tight, kiss them often, and don't take that for granted. Even if you feel like they're driving you crazy.
    Last edited by GGT; 03-28-2020 at 07:47 AM.

  13. #13
    Not sure if this will work without translation, but the Israeli equivalent of SNL put out a song titled, approximately, 'Family in isolation'. It has the cast members of the show filming from home out of character. It's kind of awesome.

    "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)

  14. #14
    I've learned how to make a mask with a bandana and 2 rubber bands. You can even use a thong in a pinch.

    So much for all those CCTV cameras and facial recognition technology.

  15. #15
    I got two lines of work. Physiotherapy was deemed non-essential, so I had to pivot into home nursing instead. Also a salesman of electronics. That line of work has only been affected partially with slightly shorter hours. I feel like I'm the only one I know still working outside home.
    Tomorrow is like an empty canvas that extends endlessly, what should I sketch on it?

  16. #16
    Senior Member
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    I am working from home entirely. Last time I was at the office is a week ago and that was a 2 hour stint during which I didn't even bother to take my laptop. Since I work part-time anyway, my workdays have shattered into work snippets during which I check what I have to do, need to do, want to do. Otherwise I go on very very long walks with Bella around a lake in my area (I'm up to 20 km a day now). I watch stuff on HBO, netflix and HULU, follow the news, including the press conferences by the PM. I read way too much about corona. My youngest sister had her birthday on wednesday, and in stead of going there we used a whatsapp videocall to 'celebrate' and catch up. It was surprisingly close to a regular family birthday party, except a little bit smaller. In a determined show of optimism I decided to let my upcoming trips to Istanbul lapse and then re-book them for a later time this year.
    Congratulations America

  17. #17
    We're on week #4 here. Looks like this will last thru May, at least. I cut my own hair last night because it was driving me crazy, using the scotch tape technique my mom used to use (before hair salons were ubiquitous). Figured what the hell, hair grows.

    A friend of mine gave herself a buzz cut. Something she'd always wanted to do....

  18. #18
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    I'm effectively not working at the moment as our system has stopped archiving. It started last night and the problem hasn't been solved yet. Not archiving is not a good thing if what you do becomes part of a legal file.
    Congratulations America

  19. #19
    I'm paying attention to local news more than ever.



    It's scary that our new "Emergency Food" hub for the county (using an abandoned K-Mart) served over 1,500 families yesterday. Their huge parking lot is filled with caution cones directing traffic. It's adjacent to the rather new medical marijuana dispensary, and today those cars were snaking thru that parking lot, too.

  20. #20
    I work from home, week 5 now. I suspect I’ll do it for a month more.
    It means I don’t have to travel to office and then I can work a bit
    earlier and add some time on the evenings. The only downside is that I
    lose control of what is happening. *g* So I focus on one thing and do it well.

    But the kids are in school so I don’t think that will work very well anyhow.

    Re-doing the laundry room. New paint on walls etc.

  21. #21
    Work hasn't changed at all since I'm "essential" but there is more time at home now that I can't go to places. Got back into League of Legends and enjoying the new Persona game, also looking forward to the new X-com coming out shortly.

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Lewkowski View Post
    new X-com coming out shortly.
    Didn't know about this.

    ~

    A positive story from one of my colleagues this week. This colleague lives in India, a third of which is under Red Zone lockdown, where no one can leave the house except to buy essential foods from a few outlets which have been allowed to remain open, everything else is completely shut down. Heavy police presence and immediate sanction for any breach.

    This particular colleague works on Hong Kong projects, but spends a lot of time working with UK colleagues. He is a very hard worker, and particularly due to the time zone differences between UK and HK does long hours in the office normally. I was saying to him how tough it must be for him in this Red Zone lockdown. He said no, it's wonderful - this has brought a new aspect to his life - he is spending day after day in the house with his two daughters, aged 1 and 4, for the first time in his life. He said this makes him so happy.
    Last edited by Timbuk2; 04-19-2020 at 07:41 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Steely Glint View Post
    It's actually the original French billion, which is bi-million, which is a million to the power of 2. We adopted the word, and then they changed it, presumably as revenge for Crecy and Agincourt, and then the treasonous Americans adopted the new French usage and spread it all over the world. And now we have to use it.

    And that's Why I'm Voting Leave.

  23. #23
    Started experimenting with using charcoal pencils rather than the typical graphite. The results are much more impressive and I am quite happy with the switch.





  24. #24
    My mother's been living with us for a month now, and my sister—who left DC a few weeks ago—has been here since last week. She's taken a little time off in order to be able to hang out with us, but even when she's working she has some time to spare. So we've all been living together as a family for the first time ever and I'm honestly loving it so much. The baby loves her grandma and aunt, and they're getting along well. She's zooming around everywhere and clambering on anything that can be reached by a tiny person on the floor. She loves my mother's cooking and sits and eats every meal with us, alternating between babbling/singing happily and listening intently to us when we speak Bengali. My sister's shooting a video of my mother making some new dishes, and it's pretty incredible seeing this side of them. Mum's discovered our cross-trainer and has been exercising regularly. We're mostly eating very healthy food, but I've developed a very unfortunate peanut-butter addiction. My sis introduced me to Dalgona coffee, and I've developed a variation on it that's just frickin' delicious. It's gonna be a hit at our takeout summer café, provided society hasn't descended into utter chaos by then. It's very pleasant outside, I'm working every other night but getting enough rest that I can enjoy my time off, spending the days with family and the nights reading and writing. I have a week of planned research time coming up, and a week when I was supposed to be on vacation, but will probably dedicate that time to research as well. Simply put... I can't complain. Most of the time I'm practically bursting with happiness, even though it's a little rough not meeting my friends or colleagues as much as I usually do. I think my mum and sis will be here for another week at least *fingers crossed*
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  25. #25
    Nice sketches, EmperorNorton!

    I've been fiddling around with house plans on graph paper, trying to cram 2 bedrooms/2 bathrooms with a full kitchen and living room (with fireplace) under 800 sq ft. Tiny house plans. It's fun until I try to draw a rendering, then it looks like kindergarten art.

  26. #26
    I'll be returning to work Monday. We will still be closed to the public but we will be spending next week and maybe the week after doing inventory (never been done) and pulling requests (that someone forgot to turn off). Only 2 people allowed in the building at a time.
    Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 04-21-2020 at 03:20 PM.
    "In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."

  27. #27
    Senior Member
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    I'll be WFH at least till the 20th of May. But the way this is going I think even if things go back to normal I will be at the office considerably less in the future.
    Congratulations America

  28. #28
    Still working full time and childcare full time. Daycares now closed until July at least as of today. Ugh. By the end of this I'm going to be a zombie.
    "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)

  29. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Timbuk2 View Post
    Didn't know about this.
    I'm enjoying the game - definitely made things a bit more simple but still clearly X-com. And breaking up of encounters and breaching was genius. No more randomly triggering more enemies due to pushing ahead too fast.

  30. #30
    I've started Depression era behaviors my gramps taught me, just in case all this "social distancing" tanks our consumption-based economy. That means saving slivers of soap (my sister knitted a pouch for that purpose), using bath water as grey water (for potted plants, and mopping floors), drying clothes on racks and hangers (to save on electric dryer costs), walking to the grocery store (and buying less bulky items), and trying to avoid driving my car (even tho the price of gas is super low).

    It's weird. It seems like an experiment now, something that's almost an entertaining challenge, like how long can you hold your piss before your bladder practically explodes? But it's also very real....because I've seen the long lines at emergency food banks, including people driving expensive cars (who probably have expensive mortgages, too) looking for free food because their budget is busted and there's no income coming in. So many millions living on the edge....

    We used to laugh that gramps used the same water to boil corn and then make coffee, or that he only bought day-old bread, or used newspaper print to drain dishes and bacon grease, or glued soap slivers together to make a bar, or thought it was "extravagant" to get a cone at Dairy Queen....even tho he was living in an expensive Chicago suburb. We didn't understand how WWI or the Great Depression had affected him, we were just spoiled post-WWII brats who thought he was an old fashioned, eccentric skin-flint.

    But now I'm thankful he taught me how to pinch pennies, and separate want from need. Hoping I did the same for my kids. Because this might just be another Depression era. I've spent a lot of time thinking about the *new normal* during this 'social distancing' viral and economic shutdown.

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