The COVID-19 coping thread

[allegate]

[sweeterthan]

fine by me. i’m so over both parties right now. i don’t understand how the senate just sits idly and ignores trump’s criminal ignorance of covid.

[chuckrh]

The fires in the western US & Canada are making things even tougher. It looks like "Blade Runner" outside in Seattle.

[eversonpoe]

The fires in the western US & Canada are making things even tougher. It looks like "Blade Runner" outside in Seattle.

yeah, it looks the way vegas did in 2049. it's crazy.

[chuckrh]

yeah, it looks the way vegas did in 2049. it's crazy.

I have to do chemo every 4 weeks (did Tuesday). Usually i'm coming out of it on the weekend but not this time. Still feeling pretty sick. Yesterday it was so dark out that at 2PM it looked like it was dawn or dusk. Just as bad this morning so far.

[Swykk]

My mom was here visiting the last couple weeks to help my sister out (she had a second son a couple months ago; other nephew is 5 now). She spent her last day here at my place and we just watched a couple movies and she taught me how to make quiche (can confirm it turned out great). Sounds pedestrian but it was nice.

A couple weeks ago I got to see my best friend for the first time in 6 months. We watched Bill And Ted Face The Music socially distanced in my living room. He was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. He had surgery this week and seems to be doing well. Early word is no chemo will be needed so he’ll have a rough next 6 weeks but hopefully good thereafter.

There’s other potentially horrible stuff going on with me but I am trying to not let the anxiety of it consume me.

[allegate]

hmm, whatever could the reason be...I know I'm stumped.

[ManBurning]

Australia going forth with the worlds first "COVID safe" festival this October.

It's an interesting concept. They split the festival ground into 4 quadrants each limited to 1,200 people.
The stage is going to be in the middle of all 4. It's a complete 360 degree stage. No back. So, the crowd is 100% around you from all sides.
Has a turntable/rotating ground on the stage so the musicians can turn around and face each quadrant.

Looks kinda neat. Hope it works out.

https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/there...dSyLsfRWkARZHM

[Jinsai]

I'm authentically wondering if I'm losing my mind a bit. I think I chat everyone up too much when I actually have a chance to really talk to somebody. It's... crazy.

I've never been this lonely in my life, I thought I'd hit that nadir. This is unreal. If i didn't have my devices and stuff, I'd go insane. I wonder if I might be losing my mind a bit really... My head is all static. I want to give someone a hug. I haven't hugged someone in about three months or so. I haven't sat in the same room with someone who wanted to talk to me in at least 3 months. I don't even talk to myself anymore.

I can't keep this up. Can all you Trump supporter dickheads PLEASE put on your fucking masks for a month?! PLEASE!!!!!!!! We would be DONE with this! We'd be done with it...

[Erneuert]

Australia going forth with the worlds first "COVID safe" festival this October.

It's an interesting concept. They split the festival ground into 4 quadrants each limited to 1,200 people.
The stage is going to be in the middle of all 4. It's a complete 360 degree stage. No back. So, the crowd is 100% around you from all sides.
Has a turntable/rotating ground on the stage so the musicians can turn around and face each quadrant.

Looks kinda neat. Hope it works out.

https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/there...dSyLsfRWkARZHM

I hope this doesn’t go the way of the Smash Mouth concert...

[Jinsai]

and this really shouldn't mean much, maybe this isn't my scene or whatever, but I haven't heard of a single artist on this lineup. Not a single one.

[Magnetic]

I have almost no friends left as it is and, in the middle of everything, moved back to a city I haven't lived in since 2017. I'm out of sight and mind of the people I was with back in February and not yet a consideration for anyone in the city where I now live. The few humans with whom I'm still in contact aren't really texters; I've never really had a lot of humans in my life.

I'm in the same boat. I moved back to the US, but not to the region where my friend group resides. The plan was that I'd make friends here and fly up to visit old friends/ they'd come down and visit. I can't make new friends in my area because of COVID. I'm stuck only interacting digitally. My old friend group isn't in a hurry to video chat often or talk on the phone but once every 2 months.

It's going on month 6-7 pottering around a big house with my mother. We get along well enough, but we both know we're sick to death of each other. So I'm deprived of interacting with friends and my work demands 60-70 hrs of my week. I'm burnt out and lonely at the same time.

[Jinsai]

It's going on month 6-7 pottering around a big house with my mother. We get along well enough, but we both know we're sick to death of each other. So I'm deprived of interacting with friends and my work demands 60-70 hrs of my week. I'm burnt out and lonely at the same time.

It's a lot to take in, and then I look next door and the neighbor is having a house party. It doesn't just defeat the purpose of everything, it's just obnoxiously irresponsible. Sure, I'm much more of an introvert, and I don't mind isolating myself for extended periods of time really, but I didn't expect how much I would miss human company. On some level, I think I get how solitary confinement in prison can quickly drive people insane.

Before, I imagined I'd be fine if I had a computer and a music controller of some kind, and you could just drop me off forever and I'd be fine. I now know that is totally insane and untrue.

[allegro]

I haven't hugged someone in about three months or so.

My Mom and I do a kind of sort of hug. I wear a mask and we figure out a hug that's as much of a hug as we can muster during Covid where she wraps her arms around me and I put my face in the other direction and I am aware that I am sticking my butt way out like I'm Typhoid Mary and my clothes are covered in Covid or something and it's all pretty fucking weird, but it's good enough for my Mom and that's all that matters.

[Erneuert]

and this really shouldn't mean much, maybe this isn't my scene or whatever, but I haven't heard of a single artist on this lineup. Not a single one.

To be fair, it's happening in Western Australia, which is far-removed from the city and all that. They're separated by vast desert and bushland, and haven't had that many COVID cases compared to Sydney/Queensland/Melbourne.

[ManBurning]

and this really shouldn't mean much, maybe this isn't my scene or whatever, but I haven't heard of a single artist on this lineup. Not a single one.

But, but, but... according to the article they have a "pretty stacked lineup" lol

Good Day Sunshine festival is set to go down on Saturday, 31st October in Busselton, WA, with a pretty stacked lineup including John Butler, Xavier Rudd, Josh Pyke and more.

I have heard of Xavier Rudd before, at least the name dropped. He seems to play every single festival here in BC... Just googled his name, he's Australian. Thought maybe he was Canadian considering how many time's i've seen his name announced at gigs here.

Them Australian's really like Canada though. 90% of Whistler is Australian's on working visa's lol

[piggy]

And on that previous subject, I've been texting a bit with a friend who always has a lot on her plate. Early corona, she and her husband were going to get a divorce because he couldn't deal with her depression and she can't afford therapy, so I checked in for a few hours every day to see how she was and let her vent with no judgment. Things got better, they agreed to work on their relationship instead of separating; they found some money and both found a doc who couldn't counsel, but got them on meds.

Anyways, the past few months she's had different shit going on and I've tried to be supportive, but it's like every conversation leaves me wondering what in the hell connects us? We've been friends a long time; in and out of contact for years, but she and her husband are the only people I still know who I knew when I was young. Why are we even friends? We don't share interests. She doesn't listen to me when I talk about things. Half of the stuff she vents to me about is phrased as a humblebrag. But she's one of the few human beings left in my life and every time I'm annoyed by her I assume I'm being too severe.

Not to get too off-topic, but this reminds me very much of a "friendship" in my life. I've known this lady since 1995 and we were like BFFs back then. We were in and out of touch in the years after high school, but we started being much more involved around 2013 when her second marriage was falling apart. So I gave her hours and hours of my time on the phone, sharing the burden of her issues and coaching her through all this stuff. Eventually she got divorced and started dating again, which meant more and more drama. Last year it became apparent that we don't even have much in common/don't enjoy each other anymore. And she never cared much about my problems and never did anything for me. And she never owned up to anything she did that was hurtful to me. I have other friends from back in the day, but they all unfortunately live too far away for me to see them on a regular basis. She lives about 20 minutes away so she ended up being the one I would talk to and see most often, which turned out to be the worst relationship that I could pour that much into. Currently, we barely speak/text. I'm better off for it.

In your case, it sounds like she's starting to burn you out/exhaust you, just like my friend did to me. Seems like she's just taking advantage of your generous capacity for listening. I would encourage you to change the way you engage that friendship and address your concerns with her, if you haven't. If you have and she's still a bad friend, maybe look at letting go before you end up hating her. I am very fortunate to have contact with my other old friends and it has added a lot of much-needed authenticity to counteract the bullshit. Is there any possibility that you can reconnect with anyone else from the past?

[Erneuert]

[piggy]

First of all you're super welcome, @Sesquipedalism . I see that you have some trauma that naturally makes it difficult for you to differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable behavior in friendships. I, too, am late to understanding this distinction and am seeing that sometimes friendship can have a very delayed learning curve! I didn't quite have normal friendships as a kid, either, so I only started to really experience them in earnest during my teens and have been getting an education ever since.

If your friendship with the problem-dumper lady feels completely one-sided, that's not normal. That's what I had to learn with my former bestie. Honestly, she was selfish and took advantage of me from the beginning, 25 years ago. It took our friendship going in the shitter for me to recall and validate that, and to see parallels to the present. When you speak of wondering if your reactions to issues are overblown, it reminded me of how she made me feel so bad for attempting to call her out on her shit that I, like you, started wonder if I was the one with a problem. I consulted with other people around us and realized I was being rational. I had thought in recent years that she would have grown up more than she has (she's 40 and I turn 40 next month) and that she was just broken and if I would hold out a little longer, she would heal and things would get better. This has yet to happen and I'm now unable to maintain something healthy with her. I still very much wish for her to get better, as she's not a garbage person, but it won't be with me. I only wish I could have realized sooner that she may never change, just like you are thinking with your friend.

I totally understand the reluctance to attempt to reboot something with old friends our age, as I'm unmarried and child-free and most of my friends are the opposite. But I find that even the most relationship-y, parent-y people still want hang time with their peeps. The need for that never really goes away, it just becomes more difficult to coordinate. I hope you'll needle some folks about hanging out, and see what happens. I think it's always worth trying, for the sake of your own health. And remember that your potential hangout buddies might also be suffering in the same way right now, and they might appreciate you reaching out. In the meantime, you're always welcome to PM me and get more into this stuff if you want to. I can't afford therapy, either!

EDIT: Jeebus, I can't even keep usernames straight. I mentioned the wrong person in the first sentence.

[Erneuert]

So:

[allegate]

I can appreciate the thought, but it immediately made me think of a Chuck Palahniuk book. Which, if you haven't read it:

In a near-future United States, a corrupt Senator plans to reinstate the draft to send young men to die in a planned nuclear attack of mutually agreed-upon destruction in the Middle East to prevent an uprising of those same young men. Meanwhile, mysterious actor Talbott Reynolds circulates a small blue and black book throughout the country full of his own manifesto and wisdom on how life should be lived, and a Web site called "The List" allows users to submit and vote on public figures they think deserve to be killed. Before the vote can be made to reinstate the draft, readers of Reynolds's manifesto rise up, kill the targets on The List, and use severed ears taken from those killings to prove their power and become the new leaders of a new United States, split into the regions of Blacktopia, Gaysia, and Caucasia.

Portland and the outlying area figures heavily in the book. Sure it's because he lives here in Vancouver but it's still interesting to think about the book right now.

Also in the book they talk about cutting off the left ears of individuals as proof. it bugs me so much that he approved that art for the book.

[ManBurning]

the 'rona.

It might just be me, but that term irks me.
It's like nails on a chalkboard for me. Donno why that is.

[Erneuert]

This isn’t anxiety inducing at all.

[eversonpoe]

upstairs neighbor's VIBRATING PHONE ALARM went off at 5am...for 45 minutes. we banged on the ceiling with our bat'leth, i knocked on it with my knuckles, and i even buzzed their buzzer. no fucking dice. it finally stopped around 5:45...and then it went off again at 6:15.

i'm really considering slipping a note under their door that says "please don't use a vibrating phone alarm."

i don't know how anyone could sleep through that.

[MrLobster]

[ninlive]

I am not crying about this, more just in shock. But I was mocked by a group of 10 or so people for wearing a mask today in public. Like grown ass people... My parent's age. Maybe a few in their 30's like me too. Just wanted to go walk on the beach and get some fresh air and vitamin D. Just blows my mind that there are assholes like this. I said nothing and kept walking. I was just blown away lol. Like y'all are grown ass people mocking someone who is trying to be responsible and be courteous about others.

[eachpassingphase]

I am not crying about this, more just in shock. But I was mocked by a group of 10 or so people for wearing a mask today in public. Like grown ass people... My parent's age. Maybe a few in their 30's like me too. Just wanted to go walk on the beach and get some fresh air and vitamin D. Just blows my mind that there are assholes like this. I said nothing and kept walking. I was just blown away lol. Like y'all are grown ass people mocking someone who is trying to be responsible and be courteous about others.

I'm not surprised. People don't like seeing others be more decent or intelligent than they are, because it makes them insecure about their own lack of decency and intelligence.

That being said, I'm really sorry. There's something about being openly mocked by strangers that still makes me feel like an ashamed, embarrassed little kid, even when I know I'm right.

[Erneuert]

I keep bringing the laughs. @dlb

[ninlive]

I'm not surprised. People don't like seeing others be more decent or intelligent than they are, because it makes them insecure about their own lack of decency and intelligence.

That being said, I'm really sorry. There's something about being openly mocked by strangers that still makes me feel like an ashamed, embarrassed little kid, even when I know I'm right.

Besides people at work. I haven't really interacted with many people outside of that in the last 7-8 months. Let alone gone places that are full of people. Seems like where I live, more people don't even believe it's happening. Masks off and tbh, don't even think they have one on them.

Yeah, I didn't really know how to feel about it. Sorry for them or just more appalled that they can't be reasoned with and understand the predicament the world is in right now.

I appreciate you, @eachpassingphase <3

Hope everyone is doing ok this weekend!

[sweeterthan]

Besides people at work. I haven't really interacted with many people outside of that in the last 7-8 months. Let alone gone places that are full of people. Seems like where I live, more people don't even believe it's happening. Masks off and tbh, don't even think they have one on them.

Yeah, I didn't really know how to feel about it. Sorry for them or just more appalled that they can't be reasoned with and understand the predicament the world is in right now.

I appreciate you, @eachpassingphase <3

Hope everyone is doing ok this weekend!

you’re still in atlanta, right? i have also noticed that people are acting like there’s no pandemic here. it’s a rough realization that we are 7 fucking months into this people do not care. i’ve been unfollowing people left and right because they’re instagram stories are filled with parties and events. i’m both jealous and appalled. i miss life. i miss places. i don’t miss assholes tho and they’re everywhere. they’re trying to send the kids back to school in a month and it’s very upsetting. i’ve had numerous immune problems the last couple years and i do not feel like it’s safe for my children to go back to school. my son wants to go back. he really misses school. he said the school days don’t fly by like they used to. it makes me sad that he and my daughter have to deal with this. i wish i could change it for them.

on the upside... i went to an outdoor rooftop yoga class yesterday that was nice. i had to get into an elevator with two other people to get there and i was the only one wearing a mask. BUT my mask inspired them to put theirs on for the elevator ride.


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