COVID-19: How Are You? (Your Personal Notes; Queries; Reports)

[gordonrutter]

I got about halfway through. It is good but also kind of a chore to read. I tried to restart it recently then thought - nah.

I breifly considered Ulysses as a lockdown read then decided we are all being punished enough.

I am part of all that I have met. A quote from Ulysses I have used a couple of times. I swiped it from a key note speaker at a conference I was at once. Its served me well over the years without having to read the book.

 

[Ogdred Weary]

I am part of all that I have met. A quote from Ulysses I have used a couple of times. I swiped it from a key note speaker at a conference I was at once. Its served me well over the years without having to read the book.

You should quote the bit where Bloom has a shit, or the one where he cracks one off.

 

[Mr Mischief]

Get a Black Widow catapult and use it with enthusiasm .. I bought one from a mate last year, these smash rats.

Had one of those when I was a kid, could take out anything with it, also had a Diablo which was just as evil. If I think about it, all the 'toys' I had as a kid would probably get me a life sentence nowadays. Happy days.

 

[Analogue Boy]

As kids, we always had penknives. And we very rarely cut ourselves or anyone else with them. Damn handy for making camps knives are. If I have any time off work during this lockdown, I’m going to read Lofty Wiseman’s Survival handbook again. It’s a useful book packed with ingenuity.

 

[Swifty]

I am part of all that I have met. A quote from Ulysses I have used a couple of times. I swiped it from a key note speaker at a conference I was at once. Its served me well over the years without having to read the book.

Skip the book .. agreed ..

 

[GNC]

I have already given myself permission to never finish The Silmarillion. It feels like a weight has been lifted from me. A weight that, assuming I bought the edition the year it was published, has been hanging over me for 30 years.

I was the same with Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, got halfway through and just didn't care, so why continue? Write it off as a bad job. Feeling the same way about the TV Westworld.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I decided that lockdown was the time that I would finally get around to reading Ulysses, I have yet to open it. I have managed to open, carry around and occasionally read a sentence or two of various other long and difficult novels I have also set myself the task of reading. I've also become adept at reading good reads reviews of them and looking up online annotations.

I had to read it for 'A' level English. I won't get back all of those hours I wasted on it.

 

[Kondoru]

That Greek Author?

Or the Roman Fanfic?

 

[gordonrutter]

I was the same with Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, got halfway through and just didn't care, so why continue? Write it off as a bad job. Feeling the same way about the TV Westworld.

Now I enjoyed that , one or two bits notwithstanding! First season of Westworld I enjoyed , not had a chance to have a look at the second or third one yet.

 

[Mythopoeika]

That Greek Author?

Or the Roman Fanfic?

Ulysses by Joyce.

 

[Mr Mischief]

I was the same with Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, got halfway through and just didn't care, so why continue? Write it off as a bad job. Feeling the same way about the TV Westworld.

See also Catch 22. It's like the worlds longest, most boring acid trip.

 

[Cochise]

I do think I'm developing minor mental problems due to the lock down. I was already on medication for depressions before this, and while conscious mind still seems to work OK - possibly more forgetful than ever - subconscious I think I'm incubating a couple of problems. Despite the fact that i don't consciously think the virus has much threat to me - I keep my distance and follow the various rules, although I must admit I embarked on a 200 mile round trip to get appropriate treatment for my dog, and will be doing so again in June 2nd. In both cases referred by my local vet. Subconsciously, however, I'm getting scared of going out - I can feel the anxiety when I go out the gate. And furthermore I've lost interest in almost everything I used to be interested in, which is perhaps the more disturbing symptom.

 

[Swifty]

I do think I'm developing minor mental problems due to the lock down. I was already on medication for depressions before this, and while conscious mind still seems to work OK - possibly more forgetful than ever - subconscious I think I'm incubating a couple of problems. Despite the fact that i don't consciously think the virus has much threat to me - I keep my distance and follow the various rules, although I must admit I embarked on a 200 mile round trip to get appropriate treatment for my dog, and will be doing so again in June 2nd. In both cases referred by my local vet. Subconsciously, however, I'm getting scared of going out - I can feel the anxiety when I go out the gate. And furthermore I've lost interest in almost everything I used to be interested in, which is perhaps the more disturbing symptom.

I'm sending you a pm

 

[INT21]

I keep my distance and follow the various rules, although I must admit I embarked on a 200 mile round trip to get appropriate treatment for my dog, and will be doing so again in June 2nd. In both cases referred by my local vet. Subconsciously, however, I'm getting scared of going out -.

Don't let it get to you.

Right at the start of all this I bought an item from someone who is at the bottom end of the country, in Somerset.

It is heavy and rather fragile, so it could not be reasonably posted.

I picked it up last week. a 550 Mile round trip. Took ten hours of driving.

But there was no real risk at all. We (my daughter and I ) were in the car the whole way down. We put the item (a radio) in the back of the car and apart from one stop for fuel and a leak we came non stop back home.

Had no contact with anyone except the handing over of the radio (kept the distance apart). So I perceive no risk.

I don't see anyone except my wife and daughter when at home. and the town is shut down so there is no real need to
to go out anyway.

You'll be fine.

INT21.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I do think I'm developing minor mental problems due to the lock down. I was already on medication for depressions before this, and while conscious mind still seems to work OK - possibly more forgetful than ever - subconscious I think I'm incubating a couple of problems. Despite the fact that i don't consciously think the virus has much threat to me - I keep my distance and follow the various rules, although I must admit I embarked on a 200 mile round trip to get appropriate treatment for my dog, and will be doing so again in June 2nd. In both cases referred by my local vet. Subconsciously, however, I'm getting scared of going out - I can feel the anxiety when I go out the gate. And furthermore I've lost interest in almost everything I used to be interested in, which is perhaps the more disturbing symptom.

 

[Analogue Boy]

I do think I'm developing minor mental problems due to the lock down. I was already on medication for depressions before this, and while conscious mind still seems to work OK - possibly more forgetful than ever - subconscious I think I'm incubating a couple of problems. Despite the fact that i don't consciously think the virus has much threat to me - I keep my distance and follow the various rules, although I must admit I embarked on a 200 mile round trip to get appropriate treatment for my dog, and will be doing so again in June 2nd. In both cases referred by my local vet. Subconsciously, however, I'm getting scared of going out - I can feel the anxiety when I go out the gate. And furthermore I've lost interest in almost everything I used to be interested in, which is perhaps the more disturbing symptom.

I know what you mean about being jaded and losing interest in everything. That was happening to me well before lockdown. Maybe those interests and hobbies have served their purpose and you need new hobbies and interests to push yourself further. I’ve got a plan when all this is over to go out, buy old stuff and learn how to renovate it. I did a post where I was worried my mind may be turning to mush but someone said that’s a pretty good sense of self awareness at work.

 

[INT21]

And furthermore I've lost interest in almost everything I used to be interested in, which is perhaps the more disturbing symptom.

I also feel that way.

But I don't see it as worrying or sinister.

People develop. Gain new interests and lose (or no longer feel an interest) in old ones.

My big mistake was to invest heavily in tools etc to partake in the interests I had years ago when I retired.

But now I am, I don't feel any real need to follow these. But I still have all the tools etc.

Guess we are just getting old.

Is it really necessary to force ones self out of the old rocking chain and into the garden ? probably not. So move the chair into the garden.

INT21.

 

[Victory]

I am frustrated with the inconsistencies of the lockdown - North West London.

My local Tescos, as I have previously posted about, has a narrow doorway with a security guard taking up space.
No chance of keeping two metres.
Narrow aisles, shoppers about one metre apart in many places.

Today I went to a large Sainsburys.
Huge doorway, and staff very strict on enforcing social distancing so after a 15 - 20 minute wait to get inside, the average space between shoppers inside the store was about 25 metres in the food area.
In the queue for the tills it was two metres.
Many shoppers wearing masks and gloves, but an inconsistency was that some staff were wearing gloves but not masks, other not wearing either.
Cleaning products and pasta were still being rationed, there were very few disposable wipes available, but there was a reasonable amount of pasta available.

Elsewhere in the country we read of illegal street parties, mostly teenagers and young 20 somethings.
Police have broken them up.
But my local park was mobbed, very little social distancing and even an ice cream van nearby.

Inconsistency again:

For some this is stressful; health-wise, financially and relationship wise.
For others it is a long holiday.

 

[cycleboy2]

I am frustrated with the inconsistencies of the lockdown - North West London.

My local Tescos, as I have previously posted about, has a narrow doorway with a security guard taking up space.
No chance of keeping two metres.
Narrow aisles, shoppers about one metre apart in many places.

Today I went to a large Sainsburys.
Huge doorway, and staff very strict on enforcing social distancing so after a 15 - 20 minute wait to get inside, the average space between shoppers inside the store was about 25 metres in the food area.
In the queue for the tills it was two metres.
Many shoppers wearing masks and gloves, but an inconsistency was that some staff were wearing gloves but not masks, other not wearing either.
Cleaning products and pasta were still being rationed, there were very few disposable wipes available, but there was a reasonable amount of pasta available.

Elsewhere in the country we read of illegal street parties, mostly teenagers and young 20 somethings.
Police have broken them up.
But my local park was mobbed, very little social distancing and even an ice cream van nearby.

Inconsistency again:

For some this is stressful, health-wise, financially and relationship wise.
For others it is a long holiday.

Agree re the inconsistencies but my (very) local mini Tesco and our local-ish big Sainsbury's are both very good; the Tesco is a nice 500m walk and is well stocked and encourages good social distancing as much as a small shop can. That said, in the wider world groups of teenagers/young men seem to have given up social distancing altogether, as were some of the oldies on the golf course I rode past today. Still, they deal in yards, not metres, so it may be hard for them...

I have to admit to being very lucky at present (though the proviso is that when my furlough is over I may well have no job to go back to) in that the last eight weeks have been a godsend to my mental health and I'm as fit as I've been in years. This is important in that my job requires a high degree of physical fitness. I know from talking to other people that I'm almost certainly in the minority with regard to this, but I'm using this time as a retirement rehearsal (I'm 57 and a quarter) and it's largely positive. This, of course, is also helped by bright, sunny, cycling-friendly days. It won't always be like this.

As a country (and the last few days are a microcosm of this) I think we've handled the whole situation about as badly as it was possible to do so and I realise how lucky I am to be so positive at present, especially given my mental health issues over the last few years.

Stay healthy/home/alert/whatever.

 

[pandacracker]

In the last few days, going out and about, my misanthropy levels have shot through the roof!

@Cochise, for what it's worth, at least you are aware of your feelings. That seems like a good sign. And, I humbly suggest, don't feel bad about feeling bad... it will make you feel baderer.

Sending positives

 

[Analogue Boy]

I think there’s a growing number of us who are voicing an opinion of disappointment and a feeling of increasing stresses caused by modern life.
I don’t think it boils down to a simple failure to adapt but stems from our previous experience and everything we’ve already had to fill our heads with tied to a suspicion that our happiest times are in the past. Is this misplaced pessimism or our experience telling us that with too much going on, too much information day and night, too many ways to communicate, it‘s a major task to keep up to date and a simpler course would be to ignore it all, resist the pressure to adopt the latest apps and just do what makes you happy. Maybe now’s the time to draw a line in the sand and stick our heads in it.

 

[Ladyloafer]

......

As a country (and the last few days are a microcosm of this) I think we've handled the whole situation about as badly as it was possible to do so and I realise how lucky I am to be so positive at present, especially given my mental health issues over the last few years.

Stay healthy/home/alert/whatever.

i don't know that there is a good way to have handled this. there will always be selfish and stupid and scared people who do things like panic buy and hoard. people who bend the rules and people who take the rules to an extreme. people who fret about loss of personal freedoms and rights and people whose first thought is to volunteer to help and protect others.

there are a lot of inconsistencies, but aren't there anyway in normal life?

reading swiftys reports of life on the morrisons frontline-( i worked in retail for 25 years until about 18months ago. 20 years of that was in a supermarket in various departments with the last 8 years in the vast clothing department, until i dramatically quit because i had Had Enough.) - I can concur with the general rudeness and stupidity of the shopping public under normal circumstances. of their bizarre sense of entitlement, of getting all up in yer face, of huffing n puffing like its the end of the world because there are 2 people in front of them at the checkout, of various disgusting antisocial behaviours, of reducing a member of staff to tears at least once a day. urgh people are awful.

but also the kind people, polite people, understanding people, thoughtful people. the people doing multiple shops for multiple people who couldnt shop themselves.

thats just people. i think however lockdown proceeded it was gonna mess with peoples heads. feeling crazy and anxious in crazy anxious times seems like the proper response.

 

[INT21]

I think there’s a growing number of us who are voicing an opinion of disappointment and a feeling of increasing stresses caused by modern life.
I don’t think it boils down to a simple failure to adapt but stems from our previous experience and everything we’ve already had to fill our heads with tied to a suspicion that our happiest times are in the past. Is this misplaced pessimism or our experience telling us that with too much going on, too much information day and night, too many ways to communicate, it‘s a major task to keep up to date and a simpler course would be to ignore it all, resist the pressure to adopt the latest apps and just do what makes you happy. Maybe now’s the time to draw a line in the sand and stick our heads in it.

Got to agree with the general gist of that.

Not so sure about the happiest days being behind us.

I gave upon the latest apps a long time ago. Still running XP here, but have Linux on a back-up machine.

Use my Blackberry only for voice calls, don't text.

One can easily make life far too complicated. No need, no need.

 

[Trevp666]

"Nobody here is wearing face masks"
[bystander] "....including your cameraman, or any of your crew..."
"...er...."

 

[AnonyJoolz]

I do think I'm developing minor mental problems due to the lock down. I was already on medication for depressions before this, and while conscious mind still seems to work OK - possibly more forgetful than ever - subconscious I think I'm incubating a couple of problems. Despite the fact that i don't consciously think the virus has much threat to me - I keep my distance and follow the various rules, although I must admit I embarked on a 200 mile round trip to get appropriate treatment for my dog, and will be doing so again in June 2nd. In both cases referred by my local vet. Subconsciously, however, I'm getting scared of going out - I can feel the anxiety when I go out the gate. And furthermore I've lost interest in almost everything I used to be interested in, which is perhaps the more disturbing symptom.

The fact that you are noting your state of mind and know it's a bit off-kilter at the moment is good

My own prescription (apart from meds) is daylight outdoor activity doing things that would have been familiar to an iron-age human being. Digging, gardening, chopping wood, picking and drying herbs, feeding birds, fishing, whatever is your choice. I've even found taking clothes outside, sitting beside a tub of cold water with a bit of soap powder and doing laundry outside, the old way, to be very settling. It's what helps me, anyhow.

I think everyone is at least semi-anxious under the surface. The ones who get gobby/ little Hitler-y at other people outside and/or in shops are probably very scared and scared people react in many odd ways. Recognising that is very healthy.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

I was the same with Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, got halfway through and just didn't care, so why continue? Write it off as a bad job. Feeling the same way about the TV Westworld.

The book is pretty rubbish and I read it to the end. I was about 15 and thought "why are all the female characters such morons?" The text is pretty dull too and hasn't aged well even 20 years after it was written - now even worst.

Lucky you didn't read Job - that was even worse.

Always thought he was one of the most overrated SF writers.

 

[AnonyJoolz]

I think there’s a growing number of us who are voicing an opinion of disappointment and a feeling of increasing stresses caused by modern life.
I don’t think it boils down to a simple failure to adapt but stems from our previous experience and everything we’ve already had to fill our heads with tied to a suspicion that our happiest times are in the past. Is this misplaced pessimism or our experience telling us that with too much going on, too much information day and night, too many ways to communicate, it‘s a major task to keep up to date and a simpler course would be to ignore it all, resist the pressure to adopt the latest apps and just do what makes you happy. Maybe now’s the time to draw a line in the sand and stick our heads in it.

This!

Or it could be the recognition that they've wasted the past XX number of years chasing consumerist shiny crap and now realise that this kind of simpler life is actually pretty good and they now wished they did it decades ago.

It's a brave choice, to simply opt out of a lot of it, but it is a choice and it can be done. People might think one is odd or eccentric but let them. I did it years ago and despite adverse life events out of my control I still think my quality of life is very good

 

[Naughty_Felid]

I do think I'm developing minor mental problems due to the lock down. I was already on medication for depressions before this, and while conscious mind still seems to work OK - possibly more forgetful than ever - subconscious I think I'm incubating a couple of problems. Despite the fact that i don't consciously think the virus has much threat to me - I keep my distance and follow the various rules, although I must admit I embarked on a 200 mile round trip to get appropriate treatment for my dog, and will be doing so again in June 2nd. In both cases referred by my local vet. Subconsciously, however, I'm getting scared of going out - I can feel the anxiety when I go out the gate. And furthermore I've lost interest in almost everything I used to be interested in, which is perhaps the more disturbing symptom.

You need to address this now I reckon. You need to be out walking, maintaining the distancing, it's social distancing, not isolating, just get out and exercise. I think the vet treatment is covered - don't feel bad about that - I'd be doing the same if it's specialist treatment.

 

[INT21]

Just re-reading my post above.

I should qualify it.

When my daughter and I went down to Somerset a few days ago I did it by reading 'from a map in the mind', plus an old road map.
We were ok until we got to within three miles of our destination and the route turned into lots of little byways.
As I was asking (for the third time) a passer-by for directions, my daughter entered the post code into the sat-nav (hire car) and the nice lady directed us straight to our target.

Some apps are useful after all.

(But it felt like cheating )

 

[Swifty]

I went into aisle 22 this morning .. or more accurately, I didn't, I needed to for my job but I've just lied because it was full of people .. why are some people finding basic common sense instructions so hard to understand? .. arrogance? .. stupidity? .. *deep breaths* .. .. the arseholes I currently hate the most are the ones who abandon their shopping cart in the middle on the aisles ... it could be this pesto they buy, it might be that one ... decisions decisions .. I just shove their carts out of our way.