The COVID-19 coping thread

[Jinsai]

this is going to reek of first world problems so much, try to hang in there...

But I've been going stir crazy. My fiancee and I have been quarantining at my parents' place, and we've been going nuts trying to find things to do. Then I find out my favorite sushi restaurant is staying open during this. It's a tiny place, they're limiting traffic to ten customers at a time, it's some fancy fancy stuff so they're not going to be sloppy about hygiene.

But I still can't risk it. I can't make my mom sick. I've become a germaphobe, and I can't risk bringing ANYTHING back into the house. And now, as I eat another microwave meal, I'm going nuts dreaming of sushi.

[kel]

Felt it here at the bottom of Idaho. Also felt the Magna, UT earthquake when it happened a couple of weeks ago.

i was standing in the electronics department at walmart in twin falls. i thought i'd suddenly gotten vertigo, everything swaying, me swaying ... it was very bizarre. but yesterday at work was rough -- no one would shut up about it.

[eversonpoe]

this is going to reek of first world problems so much, try to hang in there...

But I've been going stir crazy. My fiancee and I have been quarantining at my parents' place, and we've been going nuts trying to find things to do. Then I find out my favorite sushi restaurant is staying open during this. It's a tiny place, they're limiting traffic to ten customers at a time, it's some fancy fancy stuff so they're not going to be sloppy about hygiene.

But I still can't risk it. I can't make my mom sick. I've become a germaphobe, and I can't risk bringing ANYTHING back into the house. And now, as I eat another microwave meal, I'm going nuts dreaming of sushi.

not offering delivery, i'm assuming? most places around here are offering no-contact delivery, where they'll just leave it on your front stoop or whatever and let you know it's there.

[ickyvicky]

Finding out more friends of friends that may have the virus. Frickin' scary!

[Jinsai]

not offering delivery, i'm assuming? most places around here are offering no-contact delivery, where they'll just leave it on your front stoop or whatever and let you know it's there.

It's not that kinda place... it's where you sit down for a 15 course meal. I'm just trying not to think about it, cuz I can't in good conscience do that right now.

[eversonpoe]

It's not that kinda place... it's where you sit down for a 15 course meal. I'm just trying not to think about it, cuz I can't in good conscience do that right now.

so it's not even carry-out? wow. all chicago restaurants are carry-out or delivery ONLY. every starbucks that's not a drive-thru is closed. i'm surprised they're still allowing any dine-in; that seems like a really bad idea.

[MrLobster]

Tonight I'm coping by streaming music out to the world... if you're interested in joining me, lemme know I'll post the address.

(edit: no more streaming... but 4hours of a musical distraction was nice)

[zero]

So it dawned on me today that none of the stores I shop at are closed, even though our State is shut down except for essential services. Grocery store, pharmacy, gas station, beer store, office supply, home depot, hardware store. Apparently I live a boring everyday existence filled only with the necessities. And perhaps that is a good thing?

[MrLobster]

[eachpassingphase]

I'm more stressed about the long term at the moment. I can only work part time due to our daughter's disabilities, my husband works full time. Both of us are able to work from home. That being said, I worry about our jobs long term. My husband recently transitioned from a regular accountant position to a position that is like a cross between IT and accounting and financial analysis at his company. So he sees aaaaallllll the numbers now and it scares him. The company is one of those Zuckerberg-style companies where the employees sit in beanbag chairs and the CEO's try to "move fast and break things" all day to reinvent the wheel. They are often careless financially and move too aggressively and WILL NOT listen to their accounting and finance employees. He was nervous about this job anyway, but they will not fare well in a recession. I'm worried that a few months of this COVID stuff is gonna cost him his job.

Maybe all of this is too dramatic, but I've begun cutting expenses just to be careful. That stimulus check (whenever it comes) isn't gonna be stimulating anything - it's gonna sit in our savings account. I'm too nervous to do anything other than squirrel away money right now.

The real discouragement is that we were in the middle of fundraising for our daughter's service dog. We got an email from our service dog org a few weeks ago giving all families a head's up that training has to slow down (most of the service dog training is done in stores and restaurants which they obviously can't do right now, plus their employees can't come in) so their delivery date is gonna be pushed back. But fundraising events like auctions, bake sales, restaurant co-fundraisers: we can't do any of that either. So I really don't know what that means at the moment because we are limited on how we can raise funds, and people are (obviously) really limited on what they can give right now and the service dog trainers can't give us a definitive startup date for training, and that isn't their fault either. So we just feel caught in limbo and stressed out.

I know others have it so much worse than us at the moment, and so much of our need is speculative rather than immediate (like those who can't pay their rent this month) but I want off Covid's wild ride like, immediately.

[allegro]

I can’t seem to embed IG, but this is cool:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-gFBdvH...=1fhn3do255cx6

[ninlive]

Just thinking of everyone at this time on this forum that is going through a tough time. You're not alone. I've been trying to stay busy updating the nin live archive with some videos. If you are keen to watching some DVDs, you know where to go (ninlive.com)

I am SUPER frustrated with the governor of Georgia. Dude comes out and says that he didn't know that asymptomatic people could spread the disease (source: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...e-could-spread) Y'ALL. WTF. WE GOT THE CDC LIKE 5 MILES FROM THE CAPITOL BUILDING. I am frankly getting tired of the flat out lies from the supposed "leaders" of this country. If I ever did something like this I'd lose my job.

Third week of shelter in place is coming and going. What sort of things is everyone doing to keep busy? Great time to be an electronic music fan (if you want to call it a great time)... So many of my favorite DJs have been posting some long sets to their soundclouds or new music on bandcamp. Like Tale of Us just dropping a 3 hour mix of unreleased tracks: https://soundcloud.com/afterlifeofc/...le-of-us-unity

Anyways, I hope everyone is doing ok. Please stay safe and keep washing your hands

[Magnetic]

Third week of shelter in place is coming and going. What sort of things is everyone doing to keep busy? Great time to be an electronic music fan (if you want to call it a great time)... So many of my favorite DJs have been posting some long sets to their soundclouds or new music on bandcamp. Like Tale of Us just dropping a 3 hour mix of unreleased tracks: https://soundcloud.com/afterlifeofc/...le-of-us-unity

Anyways, I hope everyone is doing ok. Please stay safe and keep washing your hands

Ahhhhh, thank you for this link! My new job entails sifting through a LOT of documents, and I've been turning back to electronic music for the unobtrusive/ in the zone background.

As for coping... I'm finally at the stage where my mom is getting on my last nerve. I just started my new job remotely (which I LOVE), and she wants to come to me to complain about eeeeeverything. I've taken to closing the office door as my signal of 'leave me the fuck alone I am working.' Then of course the moment I walk into the kitchen for something she wants to complain about something.

And I think we're into this for another month...probably two more months.

[ninlive]

Ahhhhh, thank you for this link! My new job entails sifting through a LOT of documents, and I've been turning back to electronic music for the unobtrusive/ in the zone background.

As for coping... I'm finally at the stage where my mom is getting on my last nerve. I just started my new job remotely (which I LOVE), and she wants to come to me to complain about eeeeeverything. I've taken to closing the office door as my signal of 'leave me the fuck alone I am working.' Then of course the moment I walk into the kitchen for something she wants to complain about something.

And I think we're into this for another month...probably two more months.

Well... In that case *cracks knuckles* here are a few other mixes that have been really good during this time:

Recondite's live mix of unreleased tracks: https://soundcloud.com/recondite_mus...mix-march-2020
John Talabot's Lux Fragil DJ set: https://soundcloud.com/lux/play-it-a...il-on-01032019
Dixon at BEaTS: https://soundcloud.com/beats-exp/dixon-set
Solee's Mixtape: https://soundcloud.com/solee-music/s...55-min-mixtape
Laurent Garnier unloading massive 5-7 hours sets in this playlist: https://soundcloud.com/laurent-garni...kyo-7-hour-set

These times will definitely be testing your patience. It's tough to be in spaces with one or more people for this long. I know my girlfriend has to be tired of hearing the crowd noise of all these DAT tapes I am transferring. lol.

[Magnetic]

Ohhhhh, thank you thank you. I know I needed to find material, but I don't want to spend hours going through threads and testing stuff out. During the day I need to work, and in the evening I need to unwind. I'll just bookmark these now.

Yah, I get it. I'm sure I'm doing stuff that gets on my mom's nerves too. I have been sooooo thankful to have work to do the last two weeks.

[Boots]

I'm just working 2 or 3 days a week. I feel like I'm semi-retired. I don't know what's going on with my coworker. For a while, I thought she was trying to get them to lay her off so she can collect EI because she has a child to support. I'm just glad I still have a job. All I can really do is pray that things will get better-- or at least not get any worse.

I think every generation goes through hardships. Our parents and grandparents lived through wars and we get coronavirus. I think if there is a second wave in the fall, then at least we will have the experience to better cope with it and they might have a vaccine by then.

I am very quickly realizing all the things I took for granted when things were good like my job, the movie theater, the mall and our hockey team. They weren't perfect but at least they were PLAYING!

[eachpassingphase]

Third week of shelter in place is coming and going. What sort of things is everyone doing to keep busy?

I started a vegetable garden and making homemade bread again. Partly to keep costs low, but also because I needed something to do that was outdoors or I was going to go nuts. It's something the kids can help with as well. By help I mean, they can kick at dirt clods and spray each other with a water hose while I do the work, lol.

I'd like to make a sourdough starter because my city is just flat out of yeast everywhere in stores (even three weeks into this mess) and i'm running low on my stash of the stuff, but i'm a little intimidated by it. Has anybody else made sourdough starter? Any tips?

[MrLobster]

I'd like to make a sourdough starter because my city is just flat out of yeast everywhere in stores (even three weeks into this mess) and i'm running low on my stash of the stuff, but i'm a little intimidated by it. Has anybody else made sourdough starter? Any tips?

an FYI on yeast...

[zero]

Baking bread is great. I cheat by using a bread machine but I have been doing bread for years. Sourdough is something I would love to try, it's just the commitment to nurturing the starter which seems difficult. Perhaps now would be a good time to give it a try. But all local groceries are out of flour. For some reason it has not been restocked. Or it sold out right away after being restocked? I would love to get a 50 pound bag of bread flour right now! I wonder if it's available on the darknet?

[HWB]

The two new NIN albums have been really helping me a lot, I already have like over 200 of plays on Locusts if not more at this point. Life has sure been flipped upside down and that comes from someone who virtually never left his room even before this has all started. But that doesn't mean it didn't impact me, it did, I fear for my relatives, my parents and friends as they are all high risk.

My parents have been giving me all sorts of vitamins and other products to improve my immunity and dad kind of even told me that if he were to get this virus he will definitely not make it through.
I am tearing up just thinking about the possibility.

My relationship is not going well due to the fact I am disconnected from my partner which just adds another sweet layer of anxiety into my life.

I still cannot believe what world I have awoken to one day, it feels like everything has changed overnight, it obviously wasn't like that, it never is like that, but it feels that way, I still vividly remember when things were just okay. I hated going to work and all the crowds but I'm finding myself missing them as they represent certain stability I guess, things were the way they were supposed to be even if I hated them. It is more comfortable to work from home. But it still feels wrong, maybe I'm over-thinking it.

[allegro]

Baking bread is great. I cheat by using a bread machine but I have been doing bread for years. Sourdough is something I would love to try, it's just the commitment to nurturing the starter which seems difficult. Perhaps now would be a good time to give it a try. But all local groceries are out of flour. For some reason it has not been restocked. Or it sold out right away after being restocked? I would love to get a 50 pound bag of bread flour right now! I wonder if it's available on the darknet?

Man, this reminds me of the days when all of us at the office were making “Friendship Bread” and giving starters to each other.

@eachpassingphase :
Here is a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread which includes creating your own Starter.


Edit: @zero Have you tried Target for flour? We have a Oster bread maker but I haven't figured out how to easily convert my regular bread recipes to the bread machine.

[Jinsai]

I don't want to get deep into my personal affairs, but this close-quarters quarantine is really not bringing out the best in people around me, and it's totally sucking shit.

[allegro]

I don't want to get deep into my personal affairs, but this close-quarters quarantine is really not bringing out the best in people around me, and it's totally sucking shit.

I had a lot of thoughts. But this says it better: https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/3/2...s-therapy-cope

I hope it works out okay for you and yours.

[Detunez]

I personally don't have any, not even one, issue with getting trough this viral outbreak next to encountering forum posts, chat messages and similar from people who fool themselves into thinking the outbreak is a hoax. The dead are piling up in Spain, New York, Italy, and all sorts of places on the planet. How could anyone ever get to a point where they think it's not real or as if the precautions are overdone. It's a dead serious situation.

[Magnetic]

I think it's difficult to wrap our heads around. I admit fully that my situation in life is insanely privileged; I'm trying to find ways to pay things forward as best I can. What terrifies me the most is trying to imagine what the collective new normal will be. Until we have a vaccine....it's going to be more of this. Even after we have a vaccine....I worry. The class divide is wide.

[allegate]

my city passed a resolution or something to reopen the farmer's market on the weekends. what the actual fuck are they thinking.

[MrLobster]

Tonight... tonight I'm re-editing old mixes together (I have them edited into individual tracks and need to reassemble them into one file for uploading purposes) and uploading them to Mixcloud.

[Erneuert]

I was disinfecting my slippers last night and found a sticker underneath one of them that resembles how the virus looks under a microscope:

https://ibb.co/JKF1V7C

[MrLobster]

I was disinfecting my slippers last night and found a sticker underneath one of them that resembles how the virus looks under a microscope:

https://ibb.co/JKF1V7C

Or a sunshine.

[eversonpoe]

finished my covers EP on friday. have a little more mixing work to do and i'm hoping my friend/collaborator nina does a bit more vocals for me (she's only on one of the songs, the other three are me screaming), but otherwise it's done.

the compilation i'm on (which is raising money for charity) comes out on friday at midnight GMT! will post a link here when it's up.

i'm going back to my parents' tomorrow to do drums for a song for an old friend of nina's.

the guy who put the compilation together (as well as another musician who's on the compilation) and i are forming a long-distance collaborative project, so i'm hopefully going to lay down some bass & drums for the beginnings of that tomorrow.

but i'm also feeling so starved for contact with other people. i'm really glad sarah and i get along with each other so well and like doing a lot of the same stuff, because otherwise i think i'd be losing it. people with mental health issues are really suffering right now, and suicide rates are climbing. the more people who take this seriously, the sooner (hopefully) the spread will stop, and the sooner we can leave our homes and see each other again.

i don't want things to go back to "normal" because "normal" obviously doesn't work, capitalism is fucking garbage, and this has proven that to an undeniable extent. hopefully we'll see some positive change on the other side of things.