This Pandemic thing?

[Leonana]

Originally Posted by sherry7899

Sending you hugs! I totally understand the deep sadness over the activities you cannot do now. You did a wondeful job painting your house. I think cozy mysteries are a great escape and I hope they help you feel better.

My solace has always been in books and music. Now sometimes listening to music makes me really sad because our thing is going to concerts and we have no idea when that will be safe to do again. The drive in concerts do not cut it. Summer is when we went to the most shows. Some artists we like are doing free livestream concerts. It is great to see them, but of course not the same.

Thank you! I appreciate it. It helps. I can understand that virtual concerts are not the same. Sharing the music is part of our connection to each other.

Originally Posted by eam531

A personal friend of ours died of COVID here in NY state. As did her sister and her mother. All within a month. My husband was close to her--he had known her since high school--and he is absolutely gutted.

I'm so sorry about your friend.

[suzannaerin]

This topic is a hot button for me, I have very strong opinions. That said, I was be careful to moderate myself.

My sincere sympathies to anyone who has lost a loved one. Hopefully, there will be a vaccine soon.

I have been exhausted---emotionally and physically---since returning to work on a regular basis, every-other-week basis, since late May. Reduced workforce but the workload has not decreased. I am a manager, so I feel responsible for everyone in the office and have had to be the mask/social distance enforcer (luckily, anyone who refuses to comply can be sent home--without pay--and face other disciplinary action).

A real frustration and source of stress is the behavior--outside of work--of others. We've had people go to hot spots for vacation, so while I am extremely careful and basically just go to work and come home, others are behaving irresponsibly. If one person gets sick, the entire office will be quarantined for two weeks (assuming no one catches it from the person who was sick).

[suzannaerin]

Originally Posted by FirmDancer

Check with your doctor. I'm a government employee and had to go back 50/50 two weeks ago. It was very weird. Because of my age, in order to "protect" me, I sat in a tiny area, all doors closed, no additional ventilation, and no one could have contact with me. (What was the sense of being there ???) I had such anxiety over that, I couldn't sleep on the nights before going to work. I called my doctor and she was horrified that I was back at work. Apparently, I'm high-risk, and she said I should not be in the workplace at all. She wrote a letter, I handed it in, it's making its way through the system, but I didn't go into the office this week at all. We'll see what the official word ends up being. Just suggesting, it might be worth a call to your doctor.

FirmDancer--were you able to get this sorted out? There seems to be a lot of inconsistency across the Fed Govt in terms of policy. I'm fortunate that my leadership has taken it very seriously (I'm still nervous about being at work because there are employees who act out in terms of mask wearing, i.e., take them off to talk, wear it with naked nostrils, etc). I will not interact with anyone who refuses to mask up properly!

[donnamp]

I'm coming in late to this thread.

I really identify with those who have just been exhausted from it. Initially, I thought I would be really productive during this time since everything was shut down and activities outside the house were limited/canceled. But, that just didn't happen. I have been working from home since March and have been busier than ever - in part b/c we were not ready to work virtually (even though we could have/should have been) so everything was cumbersome and took longer and it was also our 'busy" season which was made even busier by COViD (I work for a local gov't in the health department). Weekends would come and I would be too exhausted to do anything beyond the bare minimum.

Within all this craziness my mom passed away in May - in some ways it was a true blessing as she had been absolutely miserable the last year of her life but I feel bad b/c for the last two months of her life I didn't spend very much time w/ her due to COVID. She lived in a senior community and I avoided going there b/c of the virus, other than to bring her necessities. And, I also started a new position at work in June and that has been absolutely crazy, too. I'm not quite sure why I put that on myself at this time, but the opportunity was there, so I took it.....although TBH I do have some regrets b/c learning something new right now is not easy under these circumstances.

My DD has been out of school since March and I feel that the distance learning here was useless. She is going to be a senior in HS this coming year and I see this next school year also being a waste of time. I had looked into her getting a GED and going to community college instead of HS this coming year, but i learned in MD you had to be 18 to get a GED. So she is stuck with what I'm sure will be subpar learning. I don't think they are going back in the fall - I think it will be distance learning for a few months and then maybe some part-time stuff if the virus gets under control. In MD - the numbers are slowly ticking up again so who knows what the future holds. I feel everything w/ my DD right now is in limbo b/c she has said she wants to take a gap year after HS if things are not back to "normal" for college. She has been working at a summer camp this summer and that has worried me, she recently got a job doing data entry for a biotech. I'm nervous about her doing that - it is an office setting 20 hours per week. Yes, they wear masks and all that but I am concerned about exposure to the virus, yet, I am worried about her mental health if she just stays home and does nothing. So, I'm erring on the side of preserving her mental health.

When all this started I told my DH that hindsight would be 20/20 on what we should have done. Personally, I think the US should have taken more aggressive steps at the start of this and had a more uniform response. Yes, I know that some places had very low case counts or no case counts - in MD the highest case counts surround D.C. and Baltimore and there are rural counties w/ very low #'s. While it may be unfair to those areas to have to shut down the fact that people can travel from place to place means that no place is safe. it really takes one person to bring it into an area and from there it can spread. I know there are people who face hardships b/c of closures, small businesses, people who work in jobs that can't be done from home, etc. But I feel that had we bitten the bullet in the beginning we would have been that much farther along now instead of still dealing with these hot spots - which seems to be growing daily. But, that is just my opinion, who knows - as I said hindsight is 20/20.

Fortunately, in my area I see pretty good compliance w/ mask wearing and social distancing. But, I do hear about people who are taking vacations in these hot spots - a co-worker of mine went to FL this week. Fortunately, we are still all working from home, but if we were in the office, that is a potential outbreak waiting to happen.

I was off work this week and did a true 'staycation' - didn't go anywhere that wasn't "essential" and that is pretty much how we have been playing it here. On the upside, since I didn't have to work I did get a few house projects done that made me feel a little bit better. And it also gave me a taste of retirement and now I really can't wait. I'm so over working - it was very nice to have the time to get stuff done and still relax. I am only 52, so I have a number of years of working left, but I'm looking forward to it. When I get bored w/ doing house projects, I can pick up volunteer work in the post-COVID world.

I am not looking forward to going back to the office any time soon either!

I do worry about getting the virus. Although I was not tested for it, I'm pretty sure I had H1N1 in 2009. I was sick for a week and a half - i remember lying on the couch thinking I was going to die. My DH took me to urgent care and my BP had dropped so low I fainted. I'm not sure why they didn't test me. After I recovered from the acute phase, it took about a month or so to feel like myself again. From what I understand COVID is worse. I am also 10-11 years older now and at the cusp of the age where you see worse outcomes. I also tend to have a very hyperactive immune response, so I can see having a bad reaction to the virus. My DH is older than me and has had some health issues in the past...so I really do not want this in my household. And, I am worried about my DD working, but again, I'm also worried about her mental health if she doesn't have something to do/some interaction with other people in person.....really hard decisions not just for me, but for everyone facing this!


Anyway, that is my rambling.

Donna

[summer breeze]

Originally Posted by suzannaerin

This topic is a hot button for me, I have very strong opinions.

A real frustration and source of stress is the behavior--outside of work--of others. We've had people go to hot spots for vacation, so while I am extremely careful and basically just go to work and come home, others are behaving irresponsibly. If one person gets sick, the entire office will be quarantined for two weeks (assuming no one catches it from the person who was sick).

This is me too. I have been so careful and compliant and I know so many people who have been traveling to hotspots, and going out and about their lives like nothing is happening. If they bring the virus back to the community how is that fair to someone like me who has been trying to keep myself, my family and my community safe by doing none of the things they are doing? It makes my blood boil to be honest.

Sure it would be nice to travel, go to the beach, go to parties with friends but I don't because I'm concerned not just about myself and my family but OTHER PEOPLE too, what a notion! I actually wouldn't want to be responsible for bringing the virus to my area. It's the total selfishness of people that enrages me. I barely speak to one of my closest friends who has been living her life like always during this pandemic while mine has changed so dramatically.

[sherry7899]

Summer Breeze I know you likely understand how much we are missing the Jersey Shore this year! We have seen too many photos of crowds there and we are not going. The lake where we sometimes swim did not even open this year. We would not have felt safe there anyway. Swimming is the only outdoor activity I enjoy and I really miss it. We do not have a pool.

[Sollamyn]

Originally Posted by sherry7899

(snip)

cataddict, your avatar always makes me smile. Thank you for that!

Me, too! Love that little kitty face!

Donna

[wishiwasinhawaii]

Originally Posted by sherry7899

Summer Breeze I know you likely understand how much we are missing the Jersey Shore this year! We have seen too many photos of crowds there and we are not going. The lake where we sometimes swim did not even open this year. We would not have felt safe there anyway. Swimming is the only outdoor activity I enjoy and I really miss it. We do not have a pool.

I'm also in NJ and was thinking today how I would normally be down the shore on a day like this, but I'm staying away. I actually can't swim and don't go in the water, but I like walking on the boardwalk and just sitting on the beach. I really miss it.

[summer breeze]

Originally Posted by sherry7899

Summer Breeze I know you likely understand how much we are missing the Jersey Shore this year! We have seen too many photos of crowds there and we are not going. The lake where we sometimes swim did not even open this year. We would not have felt safe there anyway. Swimming is the only outdoor activity I enjoy and I really miss it. We do not have a pool.

The crowds on the beaches are crazy! It really is a shame you have to miss one of your favorite activities this summer. But look at all the thousands of people who aren't changing their behavior at all. ETA -- We were going to go to the shore one day last week but changed our mind when we saw the photos of the beaches packed with people.

We used to have a pool years ago when my kids were younger. It was a lot of work for such a short season but I sure wish I had it now

[Gams]

Right now it’s 80 degrees outside and the humidity is 89% - I’m happy staying inside today.