The COVID-19 coping thread

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

So the spiral of this mess just keeps getting deeper. I work for a pool and spa company and we usually start around the end of March. I went and spoke to my boss in person about my situation with being forced out of my apartment by a money hungry parasite, I am forced to live at my mom and step dad's house. I was not willing to risk their lives so I told him I won't be able to start at the time I usually do. He said they were ahead of schedule and they could get by without me, but if they needed me by say... April 15th (His words) they would contact me and let me know.

With all of that said, they hadn't contacted me and my sister needed help in North Carolina watching my niece since they had to work and the guidelines weren't as strict there. So I went down waiting for a call that I never received so when I got back last week, I left him a voicemail saying how things were going since I haven't heard from them and I was willing to come back... No call back... Monday I call, no answer, leave message. Asked a few coworkers if he was around and they said "Yea but super busy." So I texted him today to see if he would respond because this all seemed fishy at this point and he sends me a text pointing out it was memorial day weekend and that they hired a full staff and if they needed me they would let me know..... Mind you I have been at the company 11 years, passed my certification test 2 years ago (Yes, it took that long for them to ask me) am a manager, just without the title, and he said my job would still be there.

Why I am so perplexed is due to the fact that they never even TRIED to contact me. If they needed me back, I would have worked something out with my sister and them and would have been back ASAP. Instead they hire other people and don't even let me know?

I am a person that likes to speak face to face or at least over the phone when it comes to most situations, so him purposely ignoring me and then letting me go via text didn't sit will with me. I called him and he finally picks up and answers with a loud, rude "WHAT" so I'm trying to figure out what is happening and he makes it out like I was supposed to contact them. He then proceeds to call me a liar saying he never said he would let me know when they needed me and back peddled on everything we discussed.

11 years.... And this is how I am treated, especially during this crazy time we are all in. I'm so upset over how this all went down and I'm still confused as to why I was never contacted. Completely unprofessional. Mind you, pool openings weren't even considered essential up until two weeks ago by the state of NY.

[MrLobster]

Completely unprofessional.

That's all kinds of fucked up...

[ickyvicky]

That sucks, I'm sorry

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

Yea it really is unfortunate. Hope everyone on Echo is doing well and staying safe out there! Whoever has lost their job or their home or anything that helps us get by on this blue marble, keep your heads up! Things will get better.

[GibbonBlack]

Today a friend and I went and sat at a park, 2 metres apart, and got take out delivered to us

[eversonpoe]

i officially have to resign from my job at starbucks unless i go back in a week and a half, which (as i've said) i'm not willing to do at this time.

thankfully, my manager loves me, is totally understanding and supportive, and definitely wants to re-hire me if things get back to a place of stability any time soon.

now i just need to figure out what the fuck i'm going to do. i've never had a desk job and while i have lots of transferrable skills, i'm sure there are a ton of other people looking for remote jobs right now who need them way more than i do (and are probably way more qualified). oy veh.

on the plus side, my new album came out today ON A LABEL! and it seems like people are digging it so far, which makes me feel really good.

AND we got the results back from genetic testing, looks like everything with the pregnancy is like...perfect, which is really encouraging and exciting!

[Archive_Reports]

i officially have to resign from my job at starbucks unless i go back in a week and a half, which (as i've said) i'm not willing to do at this time.

thankfully, my manager loves me, is totally understanding and supportive, and definitely wants to re-hire me if things get back to a place of stability any time soon.

now i just need to figure out what the fuck i'm going to do. i've never had a desk job and while i have lots of transferrable skills, i'm sure there are a ton of other people looking for remote jobs right now who need them way more than i do (and are probably way more qualified). oy veh.

on the plus side, my new album came out today ON A LABEL! and it seems like people are digging it so far, which makes me feel really good.

AND we got the results back from genetic testing, looks like everything with the pregnancy is like...perfect, which is really encouraging and exciting!

A lot of places have been offering free certification or other such classes online due to COVID. If you're looking for something you can do remotely, you can look into data science type stuff like SQL, Tableau, Google Analytics, etc.

[diptych]

You know, folks. This pandemic is pretty shitty for everybody. Let's just make the best of it. Yeah, businesses are going down. But they will recover, somehow. Stay strong. @eversonpoe : Bought your record. Will listen to it later tonight.

[MrLobster]

My mask (obviously non-medical but there is a slip to insert another layer inside) until my Rob Sheridan ones shows up... from Old Tribes

[allegro]

^^ Oh wow those Old Tribes masks are STUNNING! Are the lined? Wow!!

[MrLobster]

^^ Oh wow those Old Tribes masks are STUNNING! Are the lined? Wow!!

If you mean "Is there another fabric between my face and the design" then the answer is yes, you don't feel embroidery on your face.

[allegro]

If you mean "Is there another fabric between my face and the design" then the answer is yes, you don't feel embroidery on your face.

That’s EXACTLY what I mean, thanks. I’m ordering a few today! It looks like they have over-the-head elastic (vs. behind-the-ears)? I actually prefer that, prolonged elastic behind my ears is making my one ear hurt for some weird reason.

[MrLobster]

It looks like they have over-the-head elastic (vs. behind-the-ears)?

Yup, they do. Quite comfortable, even with my mess of face and head hair...

[allegro]

Yup, they do. Quite comfortable, even with my mess of face and head hair...

Meh, they couldn't ship to me. Oh well.

[MrLobster]

Meh, they couldn't ship to me. Oh well.

boourns....

[MrLobster]

I had to go out for an extended bit of time earlier today and I'm dismayed at the amount of people not taking simple precautions... and on a related note, no one in our area was doing the pots and pans banging for front line public section workers (we never did that, scares our cats with the loud noises). Yes, our city was reopening a bit more today but we're hardly clear. Round two should show up as predicted.

At least my Rob Sheridan masks showed up today (but they are of over-the-ear variety and a bit small for my big head as well... yeah, they'll work but that big red one with the butterfly is much more comfortable).

[Magnetic]

This shit of people suddenly thinking we're back to normal is driving me nuts. One of my reasonably-educated friends had a photo turn up on social media: she's obviously at a restaurant, posing for photos with three other people. No masks, no distancing, nada. Her whole excuse? She's in sales and has to network. I realize extroverted people have been going without their fix, but come on. She knows better and doesn't give a fuck.

I'm guessing the second wave will hit some parts mid-June.

[allegate]

This shit of people suddenly thinking we're back to normal is driving me nuts. One of my reasonably-educated friends had a photo turn up on social media: she's obviously at a restaurant, posing for photos with three other people. No masks, no distancing, nada. Her whole excuse? She's in sales and has to network. I realize extroverted people have been going without their fix, but come on. She knows better and doesn't give a fuck.

I'm guessing the second wave will hit some parts mid-June.

[allegate]

[eversonpoe]

i just applied for a job at Bungie (the company that makes the Halo video games) as a contract-based music editor / mixer.

i fucking hate applying for jobs. i also went through a whole frustrating episode where i downloaded a “free” program suite that lets you do microsoft office stuff because i hadn’t saved any of my resume & cover letter iterations as editable documents, just PDFs on my old laptop (which runs SO SLOW now). then sarah pointed out that i had been using google docs when i was applying for stuff last year. so thankfully i found everything, but it was still annoying.


it’s a cool job and i would finally (sort of) be putting my sound design for games degree to use…but it’s also only temporarily remote. once things are “safe” again, they’d want the applicant to move to seattle, which i’m not willing to do. hopefully saying “no” on the “willing to relocate” question doesn’t significantly decrease my chances.

but i also got a text from my starbucks manager after i let him know i had e-mailed him my resignation letter that said "Im not going to process your separation just yet. I’ll have more details Monday afternoon. Im trying to leave you employed with us." so i have no idea what that means, but hopefully, if i don't find something else, i'll still be able to go back to work once this is all over without having to reapply. yeesh.

[Sarah_Munn]

@eversonpoe Good luck and I hope there is good news either way.

[allegro]

it’s a cool job and i would finally (sort of) be putting my sound design for games degree to use…

Can you do freelance?

Like, I was focusing my entire job search on law and paralegal stuff, preferably part time, preferably remote.

But then I figured I should think outside the box. And I stumbled into this whole proofreading thing, totally freelance and some companies can feed me the work but I must have a degree in English. Check. But a degree in Communication is helpful. Check. And proofreading experience is helpful. Checkity fucking check check.

So far I’ve just been too depressed and lazy to actually do anything about it. But, yeah.

Necessity is the parent of invention.

[Jinsai]

I'm processing information strangely. Everything is feeling surreal. I just found out a friend of mine died. I immediately was crying, then strangely felt at peace with it (in a way that made me feel so miserable and guilty), and now I'm oscillating between watching the news, distracting myself, and then running down a sad memory tunnel and feeling shitty about it... I'm in a weird mode right now, and I don't know what I should make of it

[eversonpoe]

I'm processing information strangely. Everything is feeling surreal. I just found out a friend of mine died. I immediately was crying, then strangely felt at peace with it (in a way that made me feel so miserable and guilty), and now I'm oscillating between watching the news, distracting myself, and then running down a sad memory tunnel and feeling shitty about it... I'm in a weird mode right now, and I don't know what I should make of it

:: all the hugs ::

[Swykk]

Sorry for your loss @Jinsai .

I would say not to make anything of it other than you’re grieving. People do that in different ways.

[allegro]

Cross-posted from the Covid 19 thread:

Just when people are letting their guards down ... DON’T let your guards down.

[allegro]

[halo eighteen]

Finally got an antibody test today. I've been on the fence because I'm not sure it'll really be useful info, even if it was a reliable test (which it doesn't seem to be). But as sick as I was a few months back, and having been in the workplace this whole time, not to mention the amount of people that have been asymptomatic - it'd just be nice to know.

[Swykk]

I had one for the same reasons and it came back negative but the test isn’t all that reliable which I found out after. I’m basically still where I was before I did the test!

I haven’t been as active here (or anywhere online) as of late (liking occasional posts here, though) which I’m certain pleases more people than it bums out. Just really starting to feel the isolation coupled with the usual disappointment in life. I kind of need the break and to not be fighting MAGAmorons and libertarians on the internet. Been exercising a lot when I’m not working from home and got back into video games. Trying to quit Twitter but it’s hard because I do like interacting with my wrestling community friends there and seeing music/movie/comedian news but I’m trying to really stop the political fights because while it feels good and important it takes a lot out of me and doesn’t change the minds of the turds I clash with. I’m also grossed out by Jack’s constant alt right catering even now, when they’ve turned on him.

That’s it. Still around. Just being quiet for now. If you’re my friend, thanks and I still value you. I’m sure I’ll be back to posting more often eventually.

[MrLobster]

I coped today by leaving the house with a mask and going for a hot dog...

Potato salad, bacon, mustard, cheddar cheese and green onion on a bacon-wrapped hot dog with some fries and some Dr. Pepper.

...and then I [sort of] walked off the hot dog by going back home.