The COVID-19 coping thread

[eversonpoe]

sorry if i missed you explaining it because of my sick-ass-stupif-ass brain..but i filed for pua..now what? do i make a biweekly claim, or?

i filed for regular because it told me i wasn't allowed to file for PUA unless i was rejected for regular so i'm very confused and feel like i did something wrong :/

[allegro]

i filed for regular because it told me i wasn't allowed to file for PUA unless i was rejected for regular so i'm very confused and feel like i did something wrong :/

This is per the above IDES page:

ELIGIBILITY FOR REGULAR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

What if I'm laid off because the place where I work is temporarily closed because of the COVID-19 virus?

An individual temporarily laid off in this situation could qualify for benefits if he or she was able and available for and actively seeking work. Under emergency rules IDES recently adopted, the individual would not have to register with the employment service. He or she would be actively seeking work as long as the individual was prepared to return to his or her job as soon the employer reopened.

“Register with the employment service” means someone receiving unemployment is typically required to register with the IDES employment service.

Ultimately, regular unemployment and PUA is coming from the same place.

CERTIFYING A CLAIM AND RECEIVING BENEFITS

What is the difference between filing a claim and certifying?
Filing a claim is the application process you undertake to determine whether you qualify for unemployment benefits. Certifying is a process that first occurs two weeks after you have filed your claim. Every two weeks you need to certify that you are able and available to work, are actively seeking work, and report any income you received.

How do I certify?
Certification involves answering a list of questions which are asked to determine if you are eligible to receive unemployment benefits for the weeks in question. You will be assigned a certification day; either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, and will be asked questions pertaining to the two weeks immediately preceding.

Example: If your call date is Monday, 04/06/2020, you will be asked questions pertaining to the week of 03/22/2020 through 04/04/2020.

If you miss your regular certification day, you can certify on Thursday or Friday of that week. You may also you certify on your regular day in the following week (or Thursday or Friday of the following week). Instructions on the certification process are located on our website.

When will I start receiving my benefits?
Once you have certified, it will be determined if you are eligible to receive benefits based on the answers you provided. If you are eligible to receive benefits, generally you will receive a payment within 2 to 3 business days. Payments will be sent to your debit card; or if you set up direct deposit, payments will be deposited into your bank account.

sorry if i missed you explaining it because of my sick-ass-stupif-ass brain..but i filed for pua..now what? do i make a biweekly claim, or?

Each state has its own unemployment laws. We are talking about Illinois.

Here’s a FAQ page for Pennsylvania: https://www.uc.pa.gov/faq/Pages/default.aspx

[ManBurning]

Finally got my covid test today, i was told I'll get results in 7 or 8 days..insane!

Its also been brought to my attention that i now have 0 sense of smell..so thats great haha

I have lost my sense of taste and smell together twice. Once was from contracting Measles. That's a bitch of a disease. Don't catch that.
The other time, was just a couple summer's ago... 2018. I had a really bad cold. I Never had my sense of taste and smell disappear from just a normal cold before, but it was scary. Forget how long it lasted... Maybe 7-8 days. One one hand, I could eat stuff I didn't like - like veggies that normally make me gag, lol. That was a novelty. I remember going to Subway as a joke and putting stuff on the sandwich I would normally never touch with a 10-foot pole as a gag to see if my tastebuds were really shot. They were. The novelty wore off in a few days and then I was worried I wasn't going to get to taste again. When I finally was able to taste something, it was like a celebration. We take small things like sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch for granted. You really realize that when they get taken away.

[allegro]

I have lost my sense of taste and smell together twice. Once was from contracting Measles. That's a bitch of a disease. Don't catch that.
The other time, was just a couple summer's ago... 2018. I had a really bad cold. I Never had my sense of taste and smell disappear from just a normal cold before, but it was scary. Forget how long it lasted... Maybe 7-8 days. One one hand, I could eat stuff I didn't like - like veggies that normally make me gag, lol. That was a novelty. I remember going to Subway as a joke and putting stuff on the sandwich I would normally never touch with a 10-foot pole as a gag to see if my tastebuds were really shot. They were. The novelty wore off in a few days and then I was worried I wasn't going to get to taste again. When I finally was able to taste something, it was like a celebration. We take small things like sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch for granted. You really realize that when they get taken away.

It really does suck. I love the smell of lilacs each spring. My paternal grandma had tons of huge lilac bushes in her yard, and we’d cut big bouquets and she’d send me home with them in little temporary vases made from foil with wet paper towels in them. But, when my allergies get so bad that I can’t smell - ESPECIALLY if I’m on Flonase (which totally screws up my sense of smell), I can be near 80 fully-blooming lilacs in the spring and I can’t smell them. It’s not COMPLETELY gone, I can go stick my nose in one and get perhaps a tiny, faint hint of the scent of lilac. But otherwise, nope. Taste, yeah, everything except the most spicy food is just dull. I salt and pepper the fuck out of everything in an attempt to actually taste it when my sinuses are in this condition.

Flonase works great but I stopped using it and suffer through facial pain so I can trade off for my senses of smell and taste. We really do take our senses for granted.

[Jon]

i filed for regular because it told me i wasn't allowed to file for PUA unless i was rejected for regular so i'm very confused and feel like i did something wrong :/

Life pro-tip: when you completely understand a state's unemployment benefits, it's time to find a job.

I have no clue what went into it, but my oldest stepdaughter was able to get PUA from the first-go. She's received 3 payments of $1200 ($1200 for 2 weeks; she makes that in one). Unemployment is either a gross under or over statement.

[allegate]

When I no longer cough while drinking the Bold Ginger Ale from Canada Dry I'll know something's up.

[xfocalinx]

I have lost my sense of taste and smell together twice. Once was from contracting Measles. That's a bitch of a disease. Don't catch that.
The other time, was just a couple summer's ago... 2018. I had a really bad cold. I Never had my sense of taste and smell disappear from just a normal cold before, but it was scary. Forget how long it lasted... Maybe 7-8 days. One one hand, I could eat stuff I didn't like - like veggies that normally make me gag, lol. That was a novelty. I remember going to Subway as a joke and putting stuff on the sandwich I would normally never touch with a 10-foot pole as a gag to see if my tastebuds were really shot. They were. The novelty wore off in a few days and then I was worried I wasn't going to get to taste again. When I finally was able to taste something, it was like a celebration. We take small things like sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch for granted. You really realize that when they get taken away.

glad its back! losing my sense of smell isnt a big deal to me, i was born with a massivly deviated septum, so my sense of smell was very weak until i got surgery at the age of 16..so i went 16 years not thinking much of it...however, i lost 100 % hearing in my left ear in october of 2018 from an accident..i value hearing more than smell, so this was a blow..however, i adjusted to it very quickly.. im sure my sense of smell will return.

Here’s a FAQ page for Pennsylvania: https://www.uc.pa.gov/faq/Pages/default.aspx

thank you!

[ManBurning]

glad its back! losing my sense of smell isnt a big deal to me, i was born with a massivly deviated septum, so my sense of smell was very weak until i got surgery at the age of 16..so i went 16 years not thinking much of it...however, i lost 100 % hearing in my left ear in october of 2018 from an accident..i value hearing more than smell, so this was a blow..however, i adjusted to it very quickly.. im sure my sense of smell will return.



thank you!

Oh, no doubt about it that hearing is more important, well... for me as well anyway. It's always the age old question of which sense would you rather live without, hearing or sight. It's a very hard question to answer. As for sense of smell, yeah... that's probably the one I would say could go first. Unfortunately, if smell goes, so does taste, you can't lose one without the other.

[MrLobster]

[allegro]

If they tell you to send your kids back to school ...

[xfocalinx]

Oh, no doubt about it that hearing is more important, well... for me as well anyway. It's always the age old question of which sense would you rather live without, hearing or sight. It's a very hard question to answer. As for sense of smell, yeah... that's probably the one I would say could go first. Unfortunately, if smell goes, so does taste, you can't lose one without the other.

growing up, if i had to pick, id lose my ears for sure..
but now that i love music as much as i do, its not such an easy pick.

[allegate]

And ten years from now, we'll have people on Fox News yelling about the new Centennial Entitlement Culture, these kids today who think they deserve free inhalers just because they got lung scarring from being forced back into school during the pandemic.

"Hello? We all took risks during the pandemic to keep America great. Why should we have to pay because your family didn't plan ahead and buy respirators or send you to private school? Ot you could have just dropped out—joined the workplace and kept your family from being parasites on our radical left unemployment system. And with a new child labor force we could have brought manufacturing back to America, but you thought you deserved the world."

in a just world they are all thrown out on their asses and their broadcast license is revoked.

[lowki]

I haven't been back to this board in ages, but I just saw the news about the Portland secret police just plain hauling people off the streets and thought, fuck, Year Zero was like what? 13 years ago? I remember thinking that it was a fun ARG and all that, but the States would never get that batshit insane. Now I'm wondering if something like Year Zero did happen and despite the time travelling fucks trying to fix things, this iteration of the timeline has a pandemic, riots, Russian meddling, and murder hornets.

[allegro]

@eversonpoe Here’s a Trib article that popped up again in my Trib app:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coron...jmu-story.html

[eversonpoe]

@eversonpoe Here’s a Trib article that popped up again in my Trib app:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coron...jmu-story.html

thanks <3

i managed to certify on thursday and when i was done...i got an error. but when i tried to go back in, it said my certification was processing? so idunno, hopefully it comes through. i also figured out how to change it to direct deposit and hopefully i won't have to deal with the stupid debit card.

also on thursday, i spent most of the day writing and recording a new song that's sort of stylistically in between the guitar drone/ambient EP i put out back in november last year, and my usual doomy stuff; starts with a nice drone, gets loud but stays slow, not super depressing, all clean vocals (i used this super old Akai microphone that i got from a client at my last a/v job that has a non-changeable cord with a 1/4" plug at the end, so i ran it through my pedalboard to fantastic results), really pretty. i finished mixing it today, and the label i'm on wants to put it out as a single, so i'm just waiting on my best friend to do some artwork for it. and also waiting on two friends to do vocals for my upcoming album (each of them are doing two songs) and then i need to figure out artwork for that. i may not have a job right now but i'm certainly getting a lot of work done.

[MrLobster]

Looks like the city I'm in is ready for lock down pt. 2 because of entitled asshats.

[MrLobster]

[eachpassingphase]

Sorry, this is a ramble and a long one.

We had to put our youngest on an antidepressant this week. She's 8. She has been struggling with the lockdown anyway, but in the last two months things have gone from bad to worse with her. She's clearly miserable, rarely wants to play with toys or even come out of a dark bedroom. Her sleep is all jacked up and she doesn't eat very much right now.

Granted, she has physical and intellectual disabilities and kids with those issues tend to have mental health problems too - so maybe it would have come to this one way or the other anyway, but I'll never forget how defeated I felt like calling up her doctor and asking if we could get Katherine on medication.

Covid is literally destroying my kid's life. She's regressed probably a couple of years developmentally since March. We can't even take her to the park now for a socially-distant walk in her wheelchair without her screaming and crying because she's so anxious. She never used to be like this, she has always been so outgoing despite being mostly nonverbal. It's all because she's so badly un-socialized right now along with not being able to get any of the therapy she normally gets at school.

I fucking hate this. They are opening schools up here in August, and we are so torn. Our oldest is fine to continue doing school online, and actually seems to prefer it in some ways. But she is clearly one of the kids who HAS to have in-person school. There is no online school or send-home packets offered for kids with severe disabilities, not that it would help if they did offer it. There are no other options for her, and this is messing her up bad. I'm worried that she's not gonna bounce back from this situation.

But what are we supposed to do? Expose her to Covid needlessly? Despite her disabilities she's not actually more medically fragile than any other kid, but healthy kids can still die from this. It also feels cruel to force her teachers to go back to school where they will be exposed. But her teachers will be forced to be there even if she doesn't go. Our school is making massive changes to reduce risk as much as necessary, but how much risk reduction is enough when it comes to your kid? We still don't know what to do.

I feel like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place and I'm incredibly resentful that we even have to make this call in the first fucking place. My household did everything we were supposed to from day one of this mess, at great personal cost to our family. It's expensive to get groceries delivered and cut your hours at work because you don't have childcare etc. But we did it, because we wanted to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe.

But our daughter who already has a hard enough life is going to be punished anyway despite our best efforts, because we have monsters leading our country and millions of absolute idiots willing to ignore reality to follow them.

I am so angry. It didn't have to be like this.

[MrLobster]

Sorry, this is a ramble and a long one..

It's okay. That's why this is here.

[eachpassingphase]

It's okay. That's why this is here.

Chronic apologizer over here! : p

[sweeterthan]

Sorry, this is a ramble and a long one.

We had to put our youngest on an antidepressant this week. She's 8. She has been struggling with the lockdown anyway, but in the last two months things have gone from bad to worse with her. She's clearly miserable, rarely wants to play with toys or even come out of a dark bedroom. Her sleep is all jacked up and she doesn't eat very much right now.

Granted, she has physical and intellectual disabilities and kids with those issues tend to have mental health problems too - so maybe it would have come to this one way or the other anyway, but I'll never forget how defeated I felt like calling up her doctor and asking if we could get Katherine on medication.

Covid is literally destroying my kid's life. She's regressed probably a couple of years developmentally since March. We can't even take her to the park now for a socially-distant walk in her wheelchair without her screaming and crying because she's so anxious. She never used to be like this, she has always been so outgoing despite being mostly nonverbal. It's all because she's so badly un-socialized right now along with not being able to get any of the therapy she normally gets at school.

I fucking hate this. They are opening schools up here in August, and we are so torn. Our oldest is fine to continue doing school online, and actually seems to prefer it in some ways. But she is clearly one of the kids who HAS to have in-person school. There is no online school or send-home packets offered for kids with severe disabilities, not that it would help if they did offer it. There are no other options for her, and this is messing her up bad. I'm worried that she's not gonna bounce back from this situation.

But what are we supposed to do? Expose her to Covid needlessly? Despite her disabilities she's not actually more medically fragile than any other kid, but healthy kids can still die from this. It also feels cruel to force her teachers to go back to school where they will be exposed. But her teachers will be forced to be there even if she doesn't go. Our school is making massive changes to reduce risk as much as necessary, but how much risk reduction is enough when it comes to your kid? We still don't know what to do.

I feel like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place and I'm incredibly resentful that we even have to make this call in the first fucking place. My household did everything we were supposed to from day one of this mess, at great personal cost to our family. It's expensive to get groceries delivered and cut your hours at work because you don't have childcare etc. But we did it, because we wanted to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe.

But our daughter who already has a hard enough life is going to be punished anyway despite our best efforts, because we have monsters leading our country and millions of absolute idiots willing to ignore reality to follow them.

I am so angry. It didn't have to be like this.

i’m so sorry you’re dealing with so much during this time. i’m sending love to you and your daughter and family.

[Jinsai]

ugh... I haven't had a cigarette in almost a year. I felt like I was clearly in the range where I was over it and I never even really thought about it.

For some reason I have found myself for the past few days craving a smoke. It's just steadily gotten worse. Today I really had to stop myself from driving down to the gas station and buying a pack. I think the cabin fever thing is really getting to me.

[piggy]

So I have a lot of crazy shit happening in my little life right now. My friend's mom just died, another friend's mom has cancer that she will probably die from. Additionally, the person I used to think of as my bestie (and who just happens to owe me money) doesn't seem to want to speak to me anymore. To make that sitch even more awkward, the lady who just lost her mom is our mutual friend. And on top of all that shit, another friend's boyfriend has Covid.

[MrLobster]

[Jinsai]

So I have a lot of crazy shit happening in my little life right now. My friend's mom just died, another friend's mom has cancer that she will probably die from. Additionally, the person I used to think of as my bestie (and who just happens to owe me money) doesn't seem to want to speak to me anymore. To make that sitch even more awkward, the lady who just lost her mom is our mutual friend. And on top of all that shit, another friend's boyfriend has Covid.

Sorry. That's a lot to handle, and it feels like everything is magnified right now in ways that are hard to pinpoint. At the very least, hopefully your friend's bf will breeze through it as some people seem to.

[eachpassingphase]

ugh... I haven't had a cigarette in almost a year. I felt like I was clearly in the range where I was over it and I never even really thought about it.

For some reason I have found myself for the past few days craving a smoke. It's just steadily gotten worse. Today I really had to stop myself from driving down to the gas station and buying a pack. I think the cabin fever thing is really getting to me.

I feel you. I haven't smoked in years and found myself craving them again lately too.

[sweeterthan]

ugh... I haven't had a cigarette in almost a year. I felt like I was clearly in the range where I was over it and I never even really thought about it.

For some reason I have found myself for the past few days craving a smoke. It's just steadily gotten worse. Today I really had to stop myself from driving down to the gas station and buying a pack. I think the cabin fever thing is really getting to me.

interesting. i haven’t smoked in 13 years and thought about a cigarette the other day. for me, it’s probably mostly nostalgic. my dead parents were smokers and it reminds me of them. i saw a group of smokers out the other day smoking as a group without a care in the world. i was both offended and jealous of their careless and carefree behavior. i thought about my high school bff and how she still smokes and suddenly felt like i was missing something. i think i just miss the things that came with smoking.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[allegro]

I dreamed about smoking for at least 15 years after I quit. I’d wake up, thinking I’d have to quit, again; then, be relieved that I DIDN’T, lol. I quit in 2000. Smoking is hard to quit because you do it ALL FUCKING DAY AND NIGHT.
Yeah, time and distance.

But stress certainly brings all this shit out. I quit for a year twice and relapsed due to stressful situations. Third time I didn’t last a week. I think the sixth time was the charm.

My friends are drinking their way through Covid. Some are making this like some kind of championship event opportunity. Perpetual Happy Hours, Festival excuses, etc.

My husband and I initially fell into this trap, although not with hard liquor like my friends (egad). But the nightly wine glasses started to worry me. Especially for him. He has borderline high blood pressure. And while prosecco has the least alcohol content, it can still trigger migraines for me. Plus, I started looking at the MONEY aspect.

Of course, everyone was / is drinking due to STRESS. Covid plus TRUMP plus all the other stuff going on in our lives, the same reason why people are smoking weed or @Jinsai now is tempted to smoke cigarettes, again. It’s this unbearable stress.

So, I quit. And my husband followed suit. And we got to six weeks, lol. We aren’t back to nightly wine, again, but it starts to creep up slowly so I’m going to have to ban it.

Sugar, too! We had started eating really CRAPPY stuff sometimes, like “omg look at those cupcakes” at Mariano’s. Into the cart. It’s like every day is the end of the world.

I’m caregiver for my Mom’s elderly neighbor who was just diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia last week. Stumbled into it. There’s nobody else to help him. Now it’s a family project. Don’t ask.

[Jinsai]

Yeah I can’t fuck around with any alcohol like this. I was drinking tooooo much there in this dull (but stressful) time, especially when it was getting depressing. Thank god weed’s legal here; I handle it a lot better, and it never feels like weed “takes the wheel.” I also like that my local dispensaries are being super careful about masks and distance... better than the grocery stores

I drank yesterday after taking a good break and I feel like shit this morning, and I didn’t even drink much. Sticking with weed.

EDIT: reading this I sound like such a stoner... It's too bad that there's that stigma attached to it, even to CBD.

[eversonpoe]

was working on another new song on monday and realized/confirmed that the intense wrist pain that i've been having—that has caused me to need to wear a brace for the last few weeks—is from drumming. i can't even describe how upsetting and disappointing that is. music is one of the few things bringing me joy right now.

also this week, i've been feeling incredibly dizzy and lightheaded. i was basically incapacitated tuesday and wednesday. i called the clinic and spoke to a nurse yesterday, who confirmed that it's likely from the T-blocker i'm on (spironolactone) causing an electrolyte imbalance and sodium deficiency. she told me to drink smart water or gatorade, and broth. i made a joke about "no wonder i've been craving matzoh ball soup so much!" and she said that's like the perfect thing i can be eating right now, so i'm going to try to get some today.
i have a telehealth appointment with my provider next wednesday to talk about what next steps to take, but for now, my dosage is being decreased to try to help.
i'm still feeling it today, but not quite as intensely. hopefully it subsides and we can find me a different hormone or something.

so that's two things that are supposed to be making me happy, but are affecting me negatively (both in pretty big ways). it fucking sucks.