The COVID-19 coping thread

[eversonpoe]

^^^ i <3 callie

starting to get to know Logic (my new recording DAW). it's similar to protools in many ways but the way you actually DO things in it is SO DIFFERENT. working on some live instrumentation for a song for my friend/collaborator nina today was a really good way to get into the basics. wish i could run it on my desktop computer, but it's almost 10 years old at this point, it's running slow, and i wouldn't be able to install the newest version (because i can't update the OS any further) so it'd be complicated going between that and my laptop (which IS running the newest version). so i'm stuck working on a tiny screen haha. i should really invest in a monitor but i don't wanna spend the money. anyone have a spare HDMI-input monitor lying around they'd be willing to sell me for cheap?

[Erneuert]

I felt this for the poor students.

[ninlive]

I felt this for the poor students.

Don't even know if my board exam is going to happen and it's less than a month away. But I am still studying with the whole time in the back of my head knowing it probably isn't gonna happen. FFS.

[M1ke]

Someone I work with started getting symptoms that match covid-19 on Tuesday. I saw him on Thursday and had a conversation with him for a few minute as I left the office. I was several feet away from him, so I think I'll be safe, but that's still scary.

He's been tested, we're awaiting the results now.

[allegro]

Don't even know if my board exam is going to happen and it's less than a month away. But I am still studying with the whole time in the back of my head knowing it probably isn't gonna happen. FFS.

It will happen. Things aren’t cancelled; they’re just postponed. Stay positive.


I saw a video of a dad of a young teen yesterday whose son committed suicide from depression. Young kids aren’t equipped for this; the dad said people are saying this is “like summer vacation,” but it’s not at all like summer vacation. Kids are quarantined indoors, they can’t see their friends, or even their other family members. They miss their favorite teachers, there was no closure to their school year, and without proper mental healthcare, they aren’t handling this well, at all.

This is why many pediatricians are recommending that schools at least partially re-open with great safety precautions in place, even if it’s part time and with staggered schedules, etc. Gotta admit, I hadn’t looked at it that way but they have a good point; we can’t protect kids to the point of destroying their mental health. And this “aw, bullshit, kids in WW1 went to die in the war!” attitude ain’t helping, it never does. (“We walked 5 miles to school in the snow” blah blah blah.)

Hang in there, people.

We’re all still here. This, too, shall pass. Some time in the not-too-distant future, this will be over, and we will have committed this to vague memory. But, in the meantime, stay strong. Keep your eyes on the prize. I just hope we all get through it without collateral damage. Or that we don’t lose a lot of people to suicide or overdoses, etc.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

What worries me now is I can honestly say I don't know what, or who to believe anymore. Numbers are still rising on Long Island and Cuomo just announced that beaches will open at 50% capacity, but people must still practice social distancing and wear masks. People aren't following what they should be now, so I'm terrified to even go and enjoy myself at the beach at this point since everything is being overran. Just the line for the local ice cream shop is beyond ridiculous and people are literally shoulder to shoulder waiting for friggin' ice cream.

... God forbid Karen can't get her pistachio ice cream.

[eversonpoe]

What worries me now is I can honestly say I don't know what, or who to believe anymore. Numbers are still rising on Long Island and Cuomo just announced that beaches will open at 50% capacity, but people must still practice social distancing and wear masks. People aren't following what they should be now, so I'm terrified to even go and enjoy myself at the beach at this point since everything is being overran. Just the line for the local ice cream shop is beyond ridiculous and people are literally shoulder to shoulder waiting for friggin' ice cream.

... God forbid Karen can't get her pistachio ice cream.

took my wife to a doctor's appointment today. while i was sitting in the car waiting for her, i saw a couple walk by in running clothes, carrying cups from the nearby coffee shop, and not wearing masks (and no, they didn't have them in their pockets). a few minutes later, a guy walked by PICKING HIS NOSE and RUBBING HIS EYES (and obviously not wearing a mask).

right now, there's a group of about 8 or 9 people (four adults, several children) across the street chatting and playing soccer, none of them wearing masks, and not even close to 6 feet apart.

there are far too many people who aren't taking this seriously, and until they do, we're going to keep getting hit with wave after wave. the selfishness and stupidity are just amazing.

[ninlive]

It will happen. Things aren’t cancelled; they’re just postponed. Stay positive.

Trying to. <3 I know it's just postponed. But I have been preparing for the exam for quite some time and no full confirmation whether it's on or not (after it being cancelled but I've heard because it's an "essential" exam due to medicine nature I should have a seat). Totally understand that this isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Just ready to move on, like everyone else.

And every-time I write something like that I feel selfish and guilty.

Been a tough week for my girlfriend and I for reasons everyone else has... Since quarantine I have walked over 400 miles. Which is insane. lol. Being outside really has helped.

[allegro]

Trying to. <3 I know it's just postponed. But I have been preparing for the exam for quite some time and no full confirmation whether it's on or not (after it being cancelled but I've heard because it's an "essential" exam due to medicine nature I should have a seat). Totally understand that this isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

It IS a big deal for you. This is highly disruptive, it creates cognitive dissonance, can lead to depression and all kinds of stuff; it’s serious. It’s hard to stay positive with all these obstacles. Totally understandable.

That’s why you have cheerleaders around you, like us, to tell you how awesome it’s going to be once the storm passes and your life is back on track.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

took my wife to a doctor's appointment today. while i was sitting in the car waiting for her, i saw a couple walk by in running clothes, carrying cups from the nearby coffee shop, and not wearing masks (and no, they didn't have them in their pockets). a few minutes later, a guy walked by PICKING HIS NOSE and RUBBING HIS EYES (and obviously not wearing a mask).

right now, there's a group of about 8 or 9 people (four adults, several children) across the street chatting and playing soccer, none of them wearing masks, and not even close to 6 feet apart.

there are far too many people who aren't taking this seriously, and until they do, we're going to keep getting hit with wave after wave. the selfishness and stupidity are just amazing.

Ugh... I live about a mile away from the ocean and we also have a smaller beach where I am hanging out right this minute in my car. I'm witnessing 2 women with no masks chase after their yapper dog because these three other people are approaching the shore... Now all 5 of them are trying to catch the dog directly next to each other... No protection whatsoever.

Edit: Just witnessed a picker going for gold.

[allegro]

took my wife to a doctor's appointment today. while i was sitting in the car waiting for her, i saw a couple walk by in running clothes, carrying cups from the nearby coffee shop, and not wearing masks (and no, they didn't have them in their pockets). a few minutes later, a guy walked by PICKING HIS NOSE and RUBBING HIS EYES (and obviously not wearing a mask).

right now, there's a group of about 8 or 9 people (four adults, several children) across the street chatting and playing soccer, none of them wearing masks, and not even close to 6 feet apart.

there are far too many people who aren't taking this seriously, and until they do, we're going to keep getting hit with wave after wave. the selfishness and stupidity are just amazing.

And there’s a mandatory mask law in all of Illinois! (Where social distancing isn’t an option.) It seems that people didn’t get the memo.

Although, among families, it probably doesn’t matter much because they’re likely living inside the house together not wearing masks and as long as each family member is practicing proper measures then they are not bringing further risks to the family. My husband and I don’t wear masks in the house or car, but we practice strict social distancing.

I got into a big argument with a childhood friend today about this mask thing via text; she insisted that wearing a mask is to protect ourselves, which is totally incorrect. I told her only N95s do that but then you’re missing goggles and the N95 may not be fitted properly etc. so you should practice social distancing or just stay home, she said fuck everyone else I’m just wearing the mask for me, fuck all these other people. I’m like, well you’re gonna die. I’d block her, but realized that’s probably too extreme so I’m gonna ghost her. My husband says it’s obvious she’s watching Fox News all day. Fuck that.

Wearing a mask stops this from spreading. Wearing a mask protects your wife and baby. Wearing a mask helps flatten the curve. Wearing a mask will help get people back to work. Really, it’s not hard. But she was going on about her “rights.” Then she texted me pics of 5 different kinds of masks she has. Yeah, a real rebel.

[piggy]

I feel like a lot of friendships and family relationships are going to be really fucked by all of this. I feel like most of my friends and family are doing what they should, but I have a couple of family members who are being morons right now and I don't quite know how to handle it. I know other people are dealing with that type of thing more than I am, but yeah.

[Jinsai]

This is getting soooooooooooo bad. People need to understand why they need to do certain things, they need to understand why it's not about them or whether or not I give a fuck whether they live or die, and just be shamed until they shut the fuck up.

[Magnetic]

So, just throwing this out there.
Because I'm isolated, and most of my friend group is in another state while I'm in FL we had a fun zoom chat to catch up and be human together. Because I'm not spending a ridic amount of gas money commuting to work, I could get an upgrade on zoom, and host a zoom meeting for the group to participate in.
Would anyone be game? Is this a super bad idea?

[botley]

I could get an upgrade on zoom, and host a zoom meeting for the group to participate in.
Would anyone be game? Is this a super bad idea?

Zoom is legit saving my career. It's making it possible to collaborate with my work teammates without the arcane amount of faff that we'd be going through otherwise to get everyone on a video call.

To be honest, though, there's always something slightly unsatisfactory about the experience of staring at blocks of faces for a long time. Brain fatigue from my nervous system trying to compensate for "sort of" seeing facial cues but not really having face-to-face interactions — that sets in after about two continuous hours and we all have to take a break. After enduring a whole day of it for work, I can't imagine being able to relax and enjoy the company of others on the same platform.

[allegate]

I think the thing that's making me the most crazy is not seeing anyone from work anymore. We have Skype and Teams but because of bandwidth issues we can only use them for audio purposes. A little back info: I'm the admin guy for the teams and support somewhere around 30 people (I don't have the org charts handy ) with day-to-day stuff and background issues. HR, timekeeping, etc.

Anyway, the individual teams have their groups set up and they keep in constant contact. As I'm the background guy I'm the "something is broken let's ask him" when all else fails and due to this I am not on anyone's group. the only person who contacts me with any regularity is my boss and even he forgets to check in some days. I mean he's the chief of supply chain for eight hospitals plus their clinics across the PNW region (plus Alaska) so I 100% get it and I don't hold it against him. But it's rough when you have to be the person reaching out every time. There are some members of the team I haven't heard from since this started, not even a reply to my emails asking for agenda items for our weekly call.

There are other issues at play but they're mostly insecurities magnified by loneliness. For example there are about five or six people in the office on a given day because we can't work from home for various reasons. Me, I don't have the space. It's a small house we bought when we didn't have a kid (2002) and we never moved up because housing bubble after we had a kid. Anyway. One of those people was telling me about how he got a text from someone and went over and saw the new house and the dogs and blah blah blah and all I could think was I gave said someone my cell number and even confirmed with him right before they all went home that he still had it and I did not get a text. That hurt. Still hurts.

This is turning into a live journal post a little, but it's how I'm coping. or not. But I am coping by listening to the Two Minutes to Late Night podcast. It's kind of like the podcast How Did This Get Made but for bad/not good albums. Or albums that are perceived as bad/not good like Lulu from Lou Reed & Metallica. Listening to it I feel like it's an interesting idea for a thread where the album changes weekly.

[allegro]

If you’re going to Zoom, please allow me to recommend these awesome backgrounds from the Chicago Botanic Garden!

https://www.chicagobotanic.org/wallpaper/zoom

[Magnetic]

There are other issues at play but they're mostly insecurities magnified by loneliness. For example there are about five or six people in the office on a given day because we can't work from home for various reasons. Me, I don't have the space. It's a small house we bought when we didn't have a kid (2002) and we never moved up because housing bubble after we had a kid. Anyway. One of those people was telling me about how he got a text from someone and went over and saw the new house and the dogs and blah blah blah and all I could think was I gave said someone my cell number and even confirmed with him right before they all went home that he still had it and I did not get a text. That hurt. Still hurts.

That is the worst feeling at times. I'm sorry.

[ManBurning]

I'm starting to get accustomed to this "anti-social", " work from home", "don't go out" lifestyle that I fear I man never even want to go back out and do things even when we get the a-ok to do so. I feel like I just lost interest and this is now my idea of fun lol.

Getting me to go out in crowds, to the mall, to the theatre, ride transit, on an airplane etc is gonna be like pulling teeth... oh speaking of pulling teeth... I don't even want to go to the dentist these days. I have my 6 month teeth cleaning in a couple weeks but.... Nah guys. I'm good. Think I might stay away from dentists for at least another 6 months.

But yeah, I was anti-social and introverted before all this went down. I feel like this whole thing is just getting me too comfortable to this "new lifestyle" that I'm not going to be able to break. my work is saying they might permanently shift to allow us to all work from home ongoing forever from now on... which definitely isn't going to help my case of "never wanting to leave the house again" lol.

[Archive_Reports]

I'm starting to get accustomed to this "anti-social", " work from home", "don't go out" lifestyle that I fear I man never even want to go back out and do things even when we get the a-ok to do so. I feel like I just lost interest and this is now my idea of fun lol.

Getting me to go out in crowds, to the mall, to the theatre, ride transit, on an airplane etc is gonna be like pulling teeth... oh speaking of pulling teeth... I don't even want to go to the dentist these days. I have my 6 month teeth cleaning in a couple weeks but.... Nah guys. I'm good. Think I might stay away from dentists for at least another 6 months.

But yeah, I was anti-social and introverted before all this went down. I feel like this whole thing is just getting me too comfortable to this "new lifestyle" that I'm not going to be able to break. my work is saying they might permanently shift to allow us to all work from home ongoing forever from now on... which definitely isn't going to help my case of "never wanting to leave the house again" lol.

I fear I may be in the same boat. The thought of going to a concert or even a small bar seems horrifying right now.

[MrLobster]

I'm not coping very well.

I am having really good chocolate at 8:30am...

[sweeterthan]

I'm not coping very well.

I am having really good chocolate at 8:30am...

sounds healthier than some other coping mechanisms. you’re not drinking alcohol at 8:30a.

[eversonpoe]

my manager called me today and is building the schedule for two weeks from now, when i’m supposed to return to work, which i still absolutely do not feel comfortable doing, especially given that a bunch of illinois churches opened yesterday in defiance of the stay at home order! and apparently illinois residents have been going to indiana and wisconsin to shop and eat out, so people clearly aren’t taking this seriously enough still. what the fucking fuck?

anyway, he had me call to request an extension on my leave. they’ll get back to me and let me know if it’s going to be approved or not. otherwise i’ll have to resign. but he doesn’t want to send me to another store that might be “less busy”, because other stores are slightly opening up for “grab and go” and he knows that would be even worse for me.


i honestly won't feel comfortable being out in the world until the infection rate starts dropping drastically and/or we have a vaccine. i mean even when i go to the grocery store, being out in the world for a half hour, i feel on the verge of a panic attack the whole time, and when i get home i basically collapse on the couch for two hours because i’m so worn out. i’m not going to be functional at work like that. i love my manager and i don’t want to let him down by trying to come in and then not being able to actually work.

i know it sounds like i'm letting my anxiety drive the boat, but my therapist actually said that the amount of caution i'm exercising is healthy (though i need to work on staying calm when i do have to go to the store, etc.). i'm just not willing to put sarah or the pregnancy at risk.

[allegate]

I can confirm that I am still a child as well.

[MrLobster]

Hasbro is streaming ...

[Tom]

I made a big decision last week to temporarily withdraw from my PhD. It's simply not possible for me to get any work done at home in the present circumstances, with two kids to take care of (a 4 year old and 7 month old). My partner has to work because she's the main breadwinner in our household, and so to facilitate that I've had to put my own work on hold. I feel relieved for having made the decision - trying and failing to work was getting me down. But now the grim reality of spending most days in sole charge of two kids with very different needs is starting to wear me down. This time when everyone else is in bed is the only time I get to myself. I should really just go to bed because everything is harder when I'm tired, but I think I'd really go bananas if I didn't take time to decompress.

[MrLobster]

[GibbonBlack]

I've only recently discovered Julie but She's amazing! My favourite is the Quarantine Panic Attack episode

[MrLobster]

I've only recently discovered Julie but She's amazing! My favourite is the Quarantine Panic Attack episode

She has a lot quality in there. The newsroom threesome episodes were quite good.

[eversonpoe]

if you have access to it, i beseech you to watch Dispatches From Elsewhere (and not just because Atticus, Claudia, & Leo did the music). it is so fun, and sweet, and charming, and it makes me feel a sense of wonder and have a belief in magic that i feel like has faded from my life. it's also really making me miss being able to do things with other people, but it's still so beautiful that it's worth that little bit of pain.