Thoughts on "our new normal"
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I'm in a different place from Bach (and Bach, you have my sympathies). I live alone, so thanks to door delivery of groceries I'm not much deprived. From various unrelated causes I haven't gone much of anywhere for a long time, anyway.
The main impact for me is being stuck in gawk mode. I kind of still can't get over it. The plethora of masks all over the world, the stats . . . it's all still pretty much surreal for me.
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I'm pretty sick of it. I'm really fortunate in that my employer has been very supportive, but still, I'm done with not seeing my family or traveling anywhere. My mum's house has been sitting empty since March, which is also a bit of a worry.
It will be better once Spring arrives, as at least I can get out on the bike again, but I can't see us traveling to the UK before late summer, absolute best case.
Mrs. Phibes probably has it worse than I do, as our small house means I've taken over her regular living space to work in. I'd go into the basement, except that's where my daughter works.
I must admit I do like not having that dreadful sinking feeling on Sunday evening, and the commute is awesome.
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I shouldn't complain. There's absolutely no way in which our situation could be changed to weather this shit any better. It's as close to ideal as possible. (We had a serious grocery shortage for about 3 weeks way back at the start, but it seems to have normalized.)
But, yeah, would be no surprise to hear that I'm wigging out a little here and there. I'm trying my best to learn what I can about how at-risk I am, given my health stuff, but it's all so vague. All I can deduce is that I probably have some very serious co-morbidities. Maybe.
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I should be lucky because, so far, we haven't been affected financially, our jobs are safe, our kids are relatively stable, there is no chaos. But the monotony and the feeling of ever-shrinking freedom (can't leave the house after 8pm, for instance) is really annoying. The fact that, despite a vaccination, no end is in sight doesn't help.
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I have a team meeting every couple of days, and have a couple of people I'm getting a bit concerned about. I think if you live alone, particularly where the lockdowns are more draconian, this situation could get really miserable. I have a team member in the UK, and there's another guy in Dublin, and they are struggling.
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@doctor-phibes said in Thoughts on "our new normal":
I have a team member in the UK, and there's another guy in Dublin, and they are struggling.
Yeah. I have a circuit of people I try to stay in touch with on a weekly basis for that very reason. It also helps me out, too. It can get very weird, being on your own for so long a time.
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@doctor-phibes said in Thoughts on "our new normal":
I have a team meeting every couple of days, and have a couple of people I'm getting a bit concerned about. I think if you live alone, particularly where the lockdowns are more draconian, this situation could get really miserable. I have a team member in the UK, and there's another guy in Dublin, and they are struggling.
How are their symptoms presenting?
Education is extremely important.
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@horace said in Thoughts on "our new normal":
@doctor-phibes said in Thoughts on "our new normal":
I have a team meeting every couple of days, and have a couple of people I'm getting a bit concerned about. I think if you live alone, particularly where the lockdowns are more draconian, this situation could get really miserable. I have a team member in the UK, and there's another guy in Dublin, and they are struggling.
How are their symptoms presenting?
High stress, anxiety, over-reacting to relatively minor things
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I'm really tired of it, and look forward to things truly getting back to normal* during the 2nd half of this year when enough folks have been vaccinated. The masks, social distancing, and modified operations everywhere is just....annoying and tiresome. <Obvious>And the sheer number of deaths</Obvious>
Seeing family and friends less has probably been the worst part.
That being said, being able to spend TONS TONS TONS of time with my 2 year old this Spring/Summer was priceless. Daily walks, exploring creeks, watching her learn everything from saying her own name to learning how to skip a rock (well, throw a rock). Absolutely priceless. We also welcomed our 2nd kid in November and overall my career has taken a few jumps upwards during the year too, so we've been lucky DURING this period.
It's interesting timing as I expect to move from Virginia to Minnesota in the early summer, so it's almost like my life (along with COVID) will be hitting a reset button at the same time.
*Normal...we'll see how slowly wearing masks and the default-cringe-when-shaking-someone's-hand takes to go away. I suspect those things will take a while to reset. Even standing in line at the grocery store checkout, I think folks will continue to space out unnecessarily long after the primary COVID threat is gone.
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I have been pretty lucky. Financially we are doing great. The few members of my extended family who did get the 'rona were all mild cases. One daughter had it rough in the beginning, but for the most part, my kids have managed the lockdown well. My husband has always worked from home, so we are used to being around each other all day. I can't complain....
But I miss the family get-togethers we have every year. I miss the big choir at Mass. I miss hugging people. I miss the maid. 2020 was the year my husband and I were going to travel because we were supposed to be empty-nesters. My 91 yo mother used to go to Zoomba 3 x week; and I see how losing that activity has slowed her down.
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@doctor-phibes said in Thoughts on "our new normal":
@horace said in Thoughts on "our new normal":
@doctor-phibes said in Thoughts on "our new normal":
I have a team meeting every couple of days, and have a couple of people I'm getting a bit concerned about. I think if you live alone, particularly where the lockdowns are more draconian, this situation could get really miserable. I have a team member in the UK, and there's another guy in Dublin, and they are struggling.
How are their symptoms presenting?
High stress, anxiety, over-reacting to relatively minor things
That must be hard to watch.
One of my husband's coworkers got with 3-4 other single co-workers and rented a beach house together. I thought that was a great idea. Much better than being alone.
