What has your virus lockdown been like?
 

I will tell you a little about me. I work for a big financial corporation. I have to have papers signed and notarized. Hence, I can't just work from home. For the last month and half, I"ve been going into work 1 day a week and working the other 4 from home. Because I have to come and work in the office at all, the corporation I work for gave me a $1,000 bonus plus 5 extra vacation days.

Here is the bad part. I never thought I would say this but I hate working from home. I don't have the right computer chair and I only have 1 monitor. It's harder to see my work and I have been making stupid mistakes. I also need to be around people and I feel ostracized. I talk to people on skype but it's not the same.

Yesterday I recieved some really bad news. It looks like they are not bringing us back to work until July 1, which sucks. I was dumbfounded and there isn't going to be much of a summer movie season either. Most of the big movies have been pushed back.

This whole thing is depressing. What has your experiences like?

Hi,
Mixed emotions for me. I'm an Assistant Headteacher for a large secondary school (its probably the equivalent of a High School administrator in the US). I'm normally a workaholic. I've had to go into work 3 days a week on a 4 week rota (3 days in, then 3 weeks off) to supervise children of key workers. Its nice to go into work and see some other colleagues. My wife was furloughed (on full pay thankfully) so we've all been off together as a family. I've had to have quite a lot of Zoom meetings and various other work to do at home, but not too much. Because I'm a workaholic I feel guilty not doing as much as I would normally do.

I've occupied myself with jobs around the house. I've redecorated our bedroom, tidied the attic and done a lot of work in the garden (yard). We normally grow a lot of fruit and vegetables but decided to really go overboard this year due to food shortages in the shops a while back (thankfully things have settled now). The wife and I have started watching a lot more films than normal. We tend to pick something out to watch every evening. Once a week we have a family quiz on Zoom (7 different households). The quizzes are fun but frustrating- the wife and I are regularly 3rd every single week.

Luckily I chose to book a domestic holiday this year as a change from going abroad. We have a holiday house in the English countryside booked from 1st August for 18 people (extended family). I'm hoping restrictions will be eased by then to allow us to get away into the country. That's just what we need right now. My worry is there'll be another surge in this virus. Cases have been dropping but so long as its still around I cant see how it can not spread. I wasn't too worried as I didnt know anyone that had caught it. However someone I know recently told me his sister died of it. That really hit me, even though I didn't know her. Schools here are due to part open to more students next month. I'll be expected to go in. I'll be happy to go into work but I cant see how kids interacting with each other aren't going to spread it around. All along we've had about 20 kids of key worker families going into school. Even keeping those 20 kids apart has been impossible.

Thankfully the weather in the UK has been brilliant. If it had rained and been cold as it often is things would have been really miserable.

I too am in the UK under different circumstances....I live alone as my husband is in a care home, obviously I have not been able to visit him for over two months now.
I live in a large village where most people are friendly so if I go for a walk I will meet lots of people to say hello and chat with.
My neighbours are very community spirited and the cul de sac in which I live had a street party for VE Day...that was fun, although singing ” We will meet again” was a bit much (for me)...
Each day is different as I have hobbies and there are god knows how many jobs to do around the house.
My children ring me and chat everyday and my granddaughter videos me.
I cannot wait for lockdown to be relaxed......to see everyone and go walking in some hills.
In the mean time, where is that ukulele.
Ps :) the weather is brilliant and has been since early April..imagine lockdown and awful weather...

Well, it's Autumn here. Cold, rainy and windy days. You can hear people's chats on the street and I live on a second floor. We have been on lockdown since March 20th. Longest lockdown in the world so far. 66 days, and we still have 2 more weeks.
I have been busier than ever. Doing things at home I have been postponing for a long time, and home working 4 days a week and going into work the remaining day.

Trying not to think too much about my 3 international canceled trips. Domestic flights are all canceled here until September, so there's no much hope of any fun for 3 more months. Luckily refunds are still coming. :blob2:

Where is here?

I work in education, plus have my own two kids to try to "homeschool" now. It all just sucks.

Well, just take a look around my post. Not that hard to figure it out.:rolleyes:

Love reading these posts.

Lockdown for me has been an exercise in self-awareness. Some examples; I thought I hated grocery shopping, until my doctor encouraged me to utilize online ordering. So I never know what will end up in my grocery bags due to food shortages. I get frustrated when I get dented cans, food that has reached expiration and packages of meat that have open tears in the plastic wrap. Went for two months without toilet paper. No hand sanitizer, etc. IÂ’ve leaned to do without things.

Also, I never knew how much my 14 year old dog really slept during the day as I have been working from home since mid March and discovered she sleeps most of the day. I took to comfort food right away and now, three months later, I am trying to cut down as it has been having a negative affect on the way I feel.

I leave the house once a week to pick up the groceries and I take my dog for a short walk a few times a day. I cant stand TV anymore and all the repeat shows. The novelty of my new guitar is very slowly wearing off so I took up collecting vintage Barbies. IÂ’ve done some spring cleaning. My dog got sick so IÂ’m nursing her back to health. IÂ’m unhappy about having to continue to pay for my unused parking spot at work and using all of my personal equipment for work purposes. I wonÂ’t be able to write it off on my taxes. I guess thatÂ’s kind of selfish sounding. I got a stimulus check, so I count that as partial reimbursement for my added costs of being locked down.

I will be retiring soon and now realize how important it will be for me to find something to do with myself.

IÂ’m beyond bored and I try very hard not to dwell on thoughts about how very strange the whole thing has been since thoughts like that do little more than waste my time and energy. Instead, I chose to make a list of everything IÂ’m going to do once things are “back to normal.” And I do hold hope for that. I don’t know anyone who has gotten the virus but not much testing has been going on where I live. I do know a few people who got bad colds over the winter but nothing too serious.

Hope you enjoy reading my reply. :wavey:

With my job...
 

unlike others, I had to work everyday through this mess (My usual schedule of 45+ hours a week) until COVID19 and the affects of the industry (Oil/Energy) lead to layoffs at my facility.

I have survived 3 rounds of layoffs since March (Including a LARGE round on my 50th birthday of May 12th), a round of rioters fighting with the Tulsa PD near work, a reduced work schedule to 32 hours a week/losing overtime and now this week a co-worker (In my building and in my department whom I work with daily) that tested positive for COVID19...

My wife Alisa & I haven't changed our routine due to COVID19...always been introverts, so avoiding crowds and such is nothing new to us. We only venture out to grocery shop and for work/medical visits (Having a follow-up scan on Friday for my headache issues - at least since my thyroid cancer surgery in December 2019 I fell MUCH better.)

However on the rare exception, COVID19 did screw up our plan to see Rammstein in San Antonio on Sept.16...

Peace out and blame Canada!!

Brian j.

Bars and restaurants in Nashville were slowly reopening, but a huge spike in cases is forcing us back into phase 2 tomorrow. All bars closed for at least 2 weeks.

[QUOTE=estranged4life;1258676]unlike others, I had to work everyday through this mess (My usual schedule of 45+ hours a week) until COVID19 and the affects of the industry (Oil/Energy) lead to layoffs at my facility.

I have survived 3 rounds of layoffs since March (Including a LARGE round on my 50th birthday of May 12th), a round of rioters fighting with the Tulsa PD near work, a reduced work schedule to 32 hours a week/losing overtime and now this week a co-worker (In my building and in my department whom I work with daily) that tested positive for COVID19...

My wife Alisa & I haven't changed our routine due to COVID19...always been introverts, so avoiding crowds and such is nothing new to us. We only venture out to grocery shop and for work/medical visits (Having a follow-up scan on Friday for my headache issues - at least since my thyroid cancer surgery in December 2019 I fell MUCH better.)

However on the rare exception, COVID19 did screw up our plan to see Rammstein in San Antonio on Sept.16...

Peace out and blame Canada!!


Why are you blaming us?🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Or are you joking?

Why are you blaming us?🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Or are you joking?[/QUOTE]



I wouldn't take offence- its just a South Park reference.

It's an old joke...
 

[QUOTE=lovethemac1;1258690]from South Park...besides my family moved to Oklahoma from Quebec, lol!!!

I work in Infection Control Education and Sales. So, needless to say, my job exploded at the beginning of March. I worked 9 straight weeks without a day off. 14 of the 20 positions across the country, that are like me, were put on furlough. Which meant the 6 of us left over covered everyone else’s territories.
My husband was in rural France when there was the first rumblings of closing the borders and airports. His company got him up in the middle of the night, told him to get on a train to Paris and catch the first flight to Montreal. He made it home just as the flights were all being cancelled.
He self isolated at home for 2 weeks, then stayed and worked from home for another 6 weeks.
Our school spring break was scheduled for end of March, and needless to say, with that being shut down, it really helped with our COVID19 numbers. People were not traveling anywhere.
Also, our provinces population did a really good job at staying home, wearing masks and staying safe. We’ve only had 325 cases, and 7 deaths so far. We don’t have huge populations, and it helps that our large cities are relative islands. And the cities are very spread out, not stacked upwards like some big centers.
Our kids are all in university, all over Canada. They all moved home and continued with self isolating and courses online. All classes next year for the entire school year, from their universities, have moved to online. Except for one in Vet school who has to go back because of practical work. They will change the way that’s done in the coming year, limiting number of students and as always, mask wearing.
The students, if they didn’t have summer jobs that were continuing, they were eligible for CERB (Canadian Emergency Relief monthly payments). Anyone effected was elegible, no matter the age. It came very quickly, esp if you had already applied for unemployment insurance.
It’s been crazy, and quiet, all at the same time. The dogs are really fit and trim from all the walks.
Now, I’ve moved to our cottage and just work from there. It’s an island, so quite isolated. I feel the isolation now more than before. After 16 weeks, I appreciate more than ever though, the hard work that is going into 2020.

You stay happy and sane by texting with your old friends.