Fuck this fucking virus with a fucking farm implement.

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Comments

  • Yes, I had an argument about ten days ago with my mother when she told me flat out I didn't know what I was feeling and she did! (There's a reason I don't call so often...)

    My mother did that every day of her life. Aw, bless, (not).
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Fair enough. I liked the Essay on Fairy Stories because it answered the question of why I like books better than films.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    On the whole cheerful thing ...

    I had a brief conversation with a neighbor the other day (from an appropriate distance), who said, "We'll come out of this even stronger than before!"

    It was all I could do not to say what came to mind: the tens of thousands of people dead in the country, the many more dead all around the world, and closer to home, my mother, whose cognitive decline is accelerating because she has been completely alone since March 15 -- none of these people is going to come out of this stronger, you loon.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host
    Ahh-men, @Ruth.
  • TBH, up to this point, the current strange conditions have made little difference to my life as it was pre-plague; I work from home mostly (the plague has much depleted my opportunities for work), and my lifestyle is for the most part solitary, so the lockdown (by global standards, not very strict) has been an inconvenience. I have heard others, in a position similar to mine, go on like they're living through the siege of Sarajevo. No. It's not. Fortunately, I have no medical condition, even so quotidian as asthma, that puts me at greater risk. As to Ruth's experience of those saying that they'll come through stronger than before, my guess is that (like me) the utterers are not suffering, either dealing with stir-crazy kids, an unexpectedly difficult partner, or worst, death of a loved one. Smugness is cheap. Many will come through this not stronger, but hurt and damaged, physically or psychologically. Were my parents alive, I'd probably be a wreck with worry. I count myself very lucky.

    Another Amen to Ruth.
  • EutychusEutychus Shipmate
    edited May 2020
    Ruth wrote: »
    On the whole cheerful thing ...

    I had a brief conversation with a neighbor the other day (from an appropriate distance), who said, "We'll come out of this even stronger than before!"

    I think this is one of those things that may well be true, but that can only legitimately be said with regard to oneself, after the fact, not foisted on others during their "this".
  • finelinefineline Kerygmania Host, 8th Day Host
    I was thinking the same as Eutychus- maybe some people will come out stronger and maybe it's helpful for them to think in these terms to cope, but it of course isn't going to be true of everyone, and very unhelpful of them to suggest it. Many will have deteriorated mental health and/or physical health. Not all will come out alive.

    For myself, I'm finding it an odd experience, because many of the things I rely on to manage both my physical health and my autism, the many strategies I've worked out and built up over the years, just aren't available to me now because of lockdown, and so I am observing my physical and mental health being negatively affected. And it is quite a difficult thing to explain to people, because they say 'Oh yes, we all no longer have our usual outlets - it's hard but we find other things to do instead.' But these are not just outlets - they are things that help maintain my health and my ability (limited though it always is) to create some sense of order to my life, and some things have no equivalent. I was talking to an autistic friend about this, and she knew exactly what I meant - that without her external structure, she is finding it harder to function and feeling more autistic.

    Also, I find for me, the fact I live alone is making a huge negative difference. I hear a lot of people say cheerily 'Oh, I'm an introvert and a homebody anyway, so I'm not lonely - I'm quite happy being at home!' - but I've observed these are all people who live with at least one other person, normally a spouse who they get on really well with and feel safe with and loved by. And to me, that would make an enormous difference. I'm quite a solitary person anyway, and I'm not actually lonely as such, as I have a couple of good friends I talk to on the phone or by messenger, and that helps me feel connected. I don't crave any more conversation. But I feel isolated. I realised that when I was filling in the weekly research questionnaire thing about my mental health during lockdown. It asked if I was feeling lonely and I realised that no, I really wasn't. It asked if I was feeling isolated, and I realised this is exactly what I'm feeling. I like the comfort of having people around me - I can sit in a coffee shop for hours alone, doing my own thing, not lonely, but enjoying the buzz of the people around me and their presence. It makes me feel part of the world, and feel somehow safer. And I can't do this now, and it's impossible to explain to people who live with someone, because if they're not interacting a lot with that person, they think that doesn't really make much difference. They seem to have no concept of the difference it makes just to have another person there.

    And equally I know that although I'm finding these things hard, there are plenty of people who are finding things much harder - people who can't get out, people who are finding it hard to get food or meds, people who are stuck at home in an unhappy relationship, people living with someone who is abusive to them. It's weird, that awareness that a lot of people are suffering in ways I'm not - it makes me not want to say too much about my own struggles, because it seems insensitive to those who have it worse. But also I am feeling the need to express my feelings, which I think is quite a human need, and healthier than suppressing them. It's just a really weird situation in general, and so unhelpful when people are suggesting that because they are doing just fine, everyone should be. Though I also tend to suspect that plenty aren't really doing as fine and cheerily as they say, and that for a lot of people, suppression and denial of feelings is the coping mechanism they've become accustomed to. And because many of us are having up and down emotions, some people will just post all the positive stuff they feel when they're having an 'up' time.
  • I don't think I know anybody who is truly doing fine, whatever they say. Stuff comes out--spats in the family, isolation, inability to sleep (or sleeping too much), a tendency to grab "essential errands" for dear life just to have an excuse to be out of the house (sure, we really, really needed a second crate of soda).

    And it drives me batty when people try to give the impression that this doesn't suck. I want to say, "Go hang out on Instagram with your perfect lying life." Then you can annoy the other liars.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    I swing from feeling I'm doing really well to just wanting to go to bed and pull the covers over my head. The scariest was in lockdown when my cell phone died, then the backup only allowed texts and I realised that it's not possible to access 111 (New Zealand's emergency number) by email or texts.

    The life of a technopeasant can be challenging.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    fineline wrote: »
    But I feel isolated. I realised that when I was filling in the weekly research questionnaire thing about my mental health during lockdown. It asked if I was feeling lonely and I realised that no, I really wasn't. It asked if I was feeling isolated, and I realised this is exactly what I'm feeling. I like the comfort of having people around me - I can sit in a coffee shop for hours alone, doing my own thing, not lonely, but enjoying the buzz of the people around me and their presence. It makes me feel part of the world, and feel somehow safer. And I can't do this now, and it's impossible to explain to people who live with someone, because if they're not interacting a lot with that person, they think that doesn't really make much difference. They seem to have no concept of the difference it makes just to have another person there.

    I have essentially moved in with my boyfriend for the duration of the plague; we decided to pool our resources and keep each other company. But I still feel something similar to what you describe. I want to go sit at my favorite coffeehouse and watch the world go by. I walked past it today; you can order coffee through an app and pick it up, and that is not at all what I want. I want the little tables and chairs out on the sidewalk, and I want the guy who does the crossword puzzle every day to be there at the next table, and I want the cyclists to be down the way a little bit, standing around and blocking the sidewalk and talking bike stuff, and I want all the dogs and their people to go past. I don't actually want to talk to anyone. I just want us all to get our lives back.
  • finelinefineline Kerygmania Host, 8th Day Host
    Ruth, yes, I didn't mean all people who don't live alone don't experience this. I suspect I would still feel it if I lived with someone (and I suspect too that I would find living with someone hard in all sorts of other ways!). But I think for me living with someone would take the edge off the sense of isolation, simply because someone else would be there. And I think those people I know who are saying how life is just hunkydory for them because they are introverts would find it quite different if they were completely alone. I also wonder if, when lockdown is finished, they will start to realise and process how much they did miss those things and how difficult it was for them.

    I think there will be waves of post traumatic stress that will surprise people, because it's how trauma works that people are focused on coping during the trauma, and can feel like they are doing okay, but then get the post traumatic stress symptoms afterwards when they feel safe again. I am feeling kind of prepared for this, but I imagine many aren't aware of it, and it could come as a surprise for them. I think that society's focus on priding oneself as a 'strong' person isn't helpful, because people see any sign of weakness as a flaw, when in fact we are all weak and vulnerable in many ways, as part of the human condition, and it's nothing shameful.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    fineline wrote: »
    Ruth, yes, I didn't mean all people who don't live alone don't experience this. I suspect I would still feel it if I lived with someone (and I suspect too that I would find living with someone hard in all sorts of other ways!). But I think for me living with someone would take the edge off the sense of isolation, simply because someone else would be there. And I think those people I know who are saying how life is just hunkydory for them because they are introverts would find it quite different if they were completely alone. I also wonder if, when lockdown is finished, they will start to realise and process how much they did miss those things and how difficult it was for them.

    Yes, I agree completely. I normally live alone and am introverted, but living with someone definitely takes the edge off the sense of isolation, and I made the decision to bunk in with my boyfriend for precisely the reason you cite - being completely alone all the time under stay-at-home orders is different from merely living alone. I just think it's weird that despite having someone to talk to (who blessedly doesn't talk too much, either!), I still want the feeling of being alone with people around me, not talking to me, just there in a public space.
  • CathscatsCathscats Shipmate
    I don't think I know anybody who is truly doing fine, whatever they say. Stuff comes out--spats in the family, isolation, inability to sleep (or sleeping too much), a tendency to grab "essential errands" for dear life just to have an excuse to be out of the house (sure, we really, really needed a second crate of soda).

    And it drives me batty when people try to give the impression that this doesn't suck. I want to say, "Go hang out on Instagram with your perfect lying life." Then you can annoy the other liars.

    This. This is why my Sunday service (online) this week is about lamentation and takes Psalm 137 as its primary text. Behind all the cheerful words, everyone is experiencing loss on some level. And the level doesn't need to be the same, we don't need actually to have lost the same things for our shared experience to be lamentable. When people say "Mustn't grumble" or "It could be worse" or "If we had to be locked down this is a good place to be" or other things of that ilk, behind them all there is loss and fear of change in the future. I think we (my community of faith, not telling you what to do) should acknowledge the feeling behind the words and hang our lyres on the willows and sit by the strange waters and wait on God for a while.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    fineline wrote: »

    I think there will be waves of post traumatic stress that will surprise people, because it's how trauma works that people are focused on coping during the trauma, and can feel like they are doing okay, but then get the post traumatic stress symptoms afterwards when they feel safe again.

    I know this from experience, from living in Belfast in The Troubles. You dealt with the bomb scares and the actual bombs going off so close the grit settled on you (though I remember one woman going round 'Anyone want a wee Valium?') It was not just when I left to do postgrad in Wales, but for years afterwards - indeed I would say most of my 20s were spent effectively hiding from any real engagement with the world.

    But then, belatedly, I moved to another country, fell into a career, formed a relationship, got a life. However, what expanded future lies on the other side of this purdah? Difficult to imagine.

  • Golden KeyGolden Key Shipmate
    I'm another feeling really isolated--with a twist, and we each have our own twists. Due to ongoing health problems, I pretty much shelter at home anyway, with occasional venturing out for errands. I have ways of coping, and I know the world is going along, and I just happen to be in my own little cubicle. Now, a whole lot of people are in similar situations, and the world isn't chugging along as usual. Public transportation here has been cut *way* down; so, even if I'm feeling well enough to go out, I mostly can only walk a few blocks.

    Plus worrying about all the people in worse situations, and wanting to have A Talk (tm) with T and his buddies and minions--like a certain one who didn't bother to wear a mask at a hospital visit, and whose wife said that he didn't know he was supposed to! And he's supposed to be coordinating the pandemic response. Grrrrr.

    Plus feeling like someone left a tape of a '70s science-fiction disaster movie running in their VCR, and really wishing they'd just pop it out. And watch something fun, like "Sesame Street".
  • Marvin the MartianMarvin the Martian Admin Emeritus
    Ruth wrote: »
    ...living with someone definitely takes the edge off the sense of isolation

    It absolutely does, and I am grateful for having my wife and child here with me. But I'm also finding that one of the unforeseen side effects is that they're always here. It's possibly the greatest irony of lockdown that even though we're not allowed to go out and meet other people, I'm struggling with not being able to find enough time to just be on my sodding own!

    Seriously, only I could end up wanting lockdown to be over so that I can have more time alone! :lol:

    The second greatest irony may well be that even though there's very little to do (what with not being able to go out and do things), there's also so much to do. Who would have thought that two or three people staying at home all the time could generate more than a full dishwasher load of dirty plates/bowls/etc in a day? Or so much mess that needs to be cleaned up? And of course work is piling up in my inbox, and very few people like being told their request is a low priority. And Internal Audit are on my ass about some stupid action logs that nobody other than them gives a shit about, and the system is creaking at the hinges and needs maintenance, and oh good the boy just shit his nappy and he's probably already had too much TV time today and it's only 10am and holy fuck what the bastard hell is going on.

    Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant there.
  • If things have reached the point where people feel the need to apologise for "a bit of a rant" in Hell then we really do need to ask where the Ship is heading.
  • Seriously, don't sweat the screen time. You driving yourself crazy trying to limit it right now will do more harm than your wee one watching Blippi or Hey Duggee for a couple more hours. Paw patrol, on the other hand...
  • I was listening to Frank Skinners poetry podcast the other day - the first episode. And he read a poem I didn’t know about a man getting up when his family were asleep to dance in another room - and he reflected on the idea of ‘permitted absence’ in a close relationship. I found it really interesting - what you said Marvin reminded me of it. (I recommend the podcast, it’s interesting.)

    I find I can’t sleep well and I can’t concentrate well, some to spend my time in a welter of busywork.
  • Marvin the MartianMarvin the Martian Admin Emeritus
    If things have reached the point where people feel the need to apologise for "a bit of a rant" in Hell then we really do need to ask where the Ship is heading.

    Just defusing any potential worry people may have had about my mental state, in light of previous postings from earlier weeks.
  • @fineline, I remember Erin often saying that sympathy is not a zero sum game. (It sticks in the mind as I had to work out what she meant.) Yes, there will always be someone worse off than you. That does not make your problems unimportant.
  • Your rant sounded perfectly rational to me...
    :wink:
  • And the Ship is a great place let off steam. As I've found with matters great and small over the years.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    @Marvin the Martian I hear you. Being locked down with a small child is exhausting. I'm a natural introvert and like my family though I do, I agree that one of the most wearing bits is never being alone. On the odd occasion when husband en rouge goes to get a bit of shopping and takes Captain Pyjamas with him, having the apartment to myself for 45 minutes is bliss.

    (We don't have a TV, but man I was a genius to give the child a cardboard box this morning. Kept him quiet for ages.)
  • TwilightTwilight Shipmate
    Yes, I thank God everyday for the "puzzle room" where I go every day to get away from the rest of the family -- while still much more contented knowing they're at home than when they aren't.


    Fineline's post reminded me of our last cat, who was definitely not a snuggler, never once sitting on anyone's lap in his 15 years with us, but he would come and lie in the yard in front of the porch when he heard our voices. Inside the house he was usually in the room next to the one we were in. The closest he ever came was to sit in the doorway and watch when I did my aerobic dance DVD. I know he was laughing.

    All that Fineline said resonated with me. The one thing I most sincerely believe about dealing with mental health problems is -- try not to live alone. My son's schizophrenia was way out of control until he came to live with us, my father's dementia started within months of my mother's death. Both had confused ideas that could spiral into full on delusions if someone wasn't there to nip it in the bud with, "Nah. That's not quite right."

    Even with the healthiest brain in the world we need someone to check things with. Single parents need someone to ask, "Do you think we should take the baby to the doctor with that?" Even if it's just another person there to say, "Look! It snowed last night." My son gets regulars through his check out line every single day, buying one or two items, just so they can say that thing that's on their mind.
  • The old saying, better to connect than be right. Not always true.
  • Amanda B ReckondwythAmanda B Reckondwyth Mystery Worship Editor
    fineline wrote: »
    I'm finding it an odd experience, because many of the things I rely on to manage both my physical health and my autism, the many strategies I've worked out and built up over the years, just aren't available to me now because of lockdown. <<snip>> But these are not just outlets - they are things that help maintain my health and my ability (limited though it always is) to create some sense of order to my life. I'm quite a solitary person anyway, and I'm not actually lonely as such, as I have a couple of good friends I talk to on the phone or by messenger, and that helps me feel connected. I don't crave any more conversation. But I feel isolated. <<snip>> I like the comfort of having people around me - I can sit in a coffee shop for hours alone, doing my own thing, not lonely, but enjoying the buzz of the people around me and their presence. It makes me feel part of the world, and feel somehow safer. And I can't do this now. <<snip>> But also I am feeling the need to express my feelings, which I think is quite a human need, and healthier than suppressing them.

    You've described Miss Amanda's feelings precisely. I'm not autistic in the classic sense of the term, but I have believed for a long time (without having been diagnosed as such) that I am on the Asperger spectrum. Being forced to keep to myself is not really much different from keeping to myself voluntarily, except that the things I would do if I decided to give keeping to myself a break, simply aren't available now.
  • Chimes with me - another minor Aspie...
    :grimace:
  • Marvin the MartianMarvin the Martian Admin Emeritus
    The part of fineline's post that most resonated with me was about all the coping strategies that have been carefully built up over several years no longer being available. That's not something you can easily adapt to overnight.
  • MMMMMM Shipmate
    I appreciate I and Macarius are among the lucky ones, for many reasons.

    We’ve found that little rituals have become important - tea and biscuits at 4, a board game at 6 to mark the change between afternoon and evening, and of course, Friday night is cocktail night!

    I find the days pass pleasantly enough but - being recently retired - find there is little differentiation between them (hence, I suppose, why cocktail night and also the bacon and Brie breakfast butty on Saturdays has become so important, they mark a slight difference to the weekends).

    MMM
  • Yes, I noticed that we have structured the week, in a rather eccentric way, around walks, drinks, shopping, 5pm news briefing, not in that order. Interesting, that neither of us is reading much, or listening to music. It is like being old, I know, cos I am.
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    Strict lockdown regulations in South Africa have been slightly relaxed to allow people to leave home to exercise within a 5km radius of where we live, only between 6am and 9am.

    After 35 days of not leaving the house at all (we have groceries delivered because my partner works in high-risk healthcare), I felt dizzy and confused when I walked away from the house: the mask made breathing a little difficult and I was frightened that someone would come up to me without a mask because many people can't afford to buy masks or gloves. But it was lovely to be able to move around outdoors and see different surroundings. I realised, as if for the first time, how much my life has dwindled and lost so much stimulus and interest.
  • mousethiefmousethief Shipmate
    I don't think I know anybody who is truly doing fine, whatever they say. Stuff comes out--spats in the family, isolation, inability to sleep (or sleeping too much), a tendency to grab "essential errands" for dear life just to have an excuse to be out of the house (sure, we really, really needed a second crate of soda).

    And it drives me batty when people try to give the impression that this doesn't suck. I want to say, "Go hang out on Instagram with your perfect lying life." Then you can annoy the other liars.

    Whistling past the graveyard, as I've heard said. Refusing to admit the bad so it doesn't weigh too heavy on the mind. I fear it could come back to bite them in the end (pun intended)
  • AnselminaAnselmina Shipmate

    Seriously, only I could end up wanting lockdown to be over so that I can have more time alone! :lol:

    This made me both laugh and also grateful to read it simply as an informative experience someone is having of this time. It seems that it is bad for humans to be EITHER too much in each other's company regardless how much we love each other, OR not in company enough regardless how much we love our own company. And lockdown can't deliver the right mix. We don't have the necessary control over how much or how little human contact we have.

    I have also - depressingly - proved to myself that I am basically a lazy bitch when it comes to housework and church paperwork. I always used to be able to say I didn't have the time to do these things. Now I do have the time, but I'd still much rather sleep, eat, walk the dog or watch TV. I can no longer run away from the myth I've invented about myself being too busy!!

    I have a fear that I am becoming even weirder than I usually am. And I'm worried that I won't know how to relate normally to people again.
  • I'm a bit unhappy with all the appeals to "be strong!". Also hashtags like #ShipOfFoolsStrong. As @Lamb Chopped notes, it isn't okay and @mousethief notes the pretence involved. I'm back to trying to do what I've called first principles: when in doubt, be kind. Second, base things on data not opinion and speculation. Third, a cup of tea helps everything.
  • Tea is lovely, and I must replenish my supplies. I've got three types going at the moment in rotation.
  • Anselmina wrote: »

    Seriously, only I could end up wanting lockdown to be over so that I can have more time alone! :lol:

    This made me both laugh and also grateful to read it simply as an informative experience someone is having of this time. It seems that it is bad for humans to be EITHER too much in each other's company regardless how much we love each other, OR not in company enough regardless how much we love our own company. And lockdown can't deliver the right mix. We don't have the necessary control over how much or how little human contact we have.

    I have also - depressingly - proved to myself that I am basically a lazy bitch when it comes to housework and church paperwork. I always used to be able to say I didn't have the time to do these things. Now I do have the time, but I'd still much rather sleep, eat, walk the dog or watch TV. I can no longer run away from the myth I've invented about myself being too busy!!

    I have a fear that I am becoming even weirder than I usually am. And I'm worried that I won't know how to relate normally to people again.

    Amen, with increasing volume as you go through. I am seriously starting to worry about how long it will take before I can have a normal conversation without reflexively flinching.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    (We don't have a TV, but man I was a genius to give the child a cardboard box this morning. Kept him quiet for ages.)

    And then he worked out how to open it from inside. Damn.

  • I am doing fine for the most part. Mr Image and the dog and I are not living life all that different. Mr Image spends most of his time as always in his office/hobby room and we meet at mid-day for our main meal and again in the evening for several hours of social time together. We check back and forth during the day if something comes up that we want to share. None of this is new. I spend most of the day in the house or garden, walk the dog, get the mail, and work on my projects of interest. My children text me several times a week. Other then not seeing my close friends weekly nothing has changed. Yet every now and then I wake up with no energy and I just spend the day on the couch. Thankfully that does not last and does not happen very often. So bottom line is I do feel very bad for others who are suffering and would like life to go back to normal, but life now for me is nearly the same as it was. Other then my hair, which is starting to make me look like an old hippy from the 50's. I do wonder as Mr Image and I were both only children that might have helped us to be comfortable in being alone and entertaining ourselves.
  • MaryLouise wrote: »
    But it was lovely to be able to move around outdoors and see different surroundings. I realised, as if for the first time, how much my life has dwindled and lost so much stimulus and interest.

    I did the grocery run yesterday - masked, of course - and realized for the first time how much I rely on exchanging smiles with people as a controlled form of social interaction. I'm not one to strike up random conversations with strangers, but it's easy to express a shared sense of all-in-this-together, or no-please-after-you with a smile. You can't do that with your face obscured. I found myself grinning like a loon at people, confused as to their lack of response, until I realized that they couldn't see my expression.
  • And the award for Arsehole of The Week goes to this specimen:
    https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/may/01/uk-government-faces-legal-challenge-coronavirus-lockdown-businessman-simon-dolan
    Seriously? You want people to make their own mind up about whether they're at risk at work? You think people are going to be able to make a rational decision about that? No wonder he clashed with his teachers if he's always been this much of an entitled tosser.
  • Seriously? You want people to make their own mind up about whether they're at risk at work? You think people are going to be able to make a rational decision about that? No wonder he clashed with his teachers if he's always been this much of an entitled tosser.

    I wouldn't mind so much if people were managing their own risk profile, but that's not what they're doing. Other people's behaviour determines the community spread of the virus. It's not just about you.
  • Seriously? You want people to make their own mind up about whether they're at risk at work? You think people are going to be able to make a rational decision about that? No wonder he clashed with his teachers if he's always been this much of an entitled tosser.

    I wouldn't mind so much if people were managing their own risk profile, but that's not what they're doing. Other people's behaviour determines the community spread of the virus. It's not just about you.

    I see the same thing in the remarks of some people who want the lockdown to end so they can have haircuts and so on -- in all cases it seems that they want someone else to carry the risk of their own convenience.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    You can bet who'd really decide whether someone should go back to work, and it wouldn't in most cases be the person in question.
  • That's the problem. It applies to, oh, 95% of the working age people I know, who are some of society's most vulnerable. Will their employers give a shit if ordering them back to work gives them COVID? Not likely. And there are no job protections for people who reasonably refuse to return due to the fact that re-opening this state right now is a fucking dangerous idea.
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    You can bet who'd really decide whether someone should go back to work, and it wouldn't in most cases be the person in question.

    And in some cases they are being asked to sign waivers.
  • TwilightTwilight Shipmate
    I officially cracked today. Mr. Germ came in from the non-profit food pantry place where he volunteers to do taxes for people. (Yes he's quite the saintly guy in most ways.)

    I had spent the morning sterilizing the house and was resting on the sofa. Did I hear him wash his hands when he came in? No, he never does, did I hear him drop various used items like books that he picks up while he's out on the kitchen counter? Yes.

    Then he walked up to where I lay on the sofa and fanned in my face a huge pile of tax forms that had been left for him by random folks. Next, he dropped them on this computer table, changed his mind and put them on the table by the recliner. The dog went to the stack and began growling at it, meaning it smelled particularly bad.

    I have been nice about this for the past two months, quietly following him around with my bleach cloths, but this time I raised my voice and went off a bit.

    Now it's all hurt feelings and not speaking around here. Great.
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    You can bet who'd really decide whether someone should go back to work, and it wouldn't in most cases be the person in question.

    And in some cases they are being asked to sign waivers.

    Because of course they are! How fucking predictable is that.
  • Lily PadLily Pad Shipmate
    Today is day one of opening things up and we are permitted to gather outside in groups of five or fewer, maintaining social distancing, of course. I didn't see many taking advantage in my area but there certainly were about double the number of vehicles on the road. The most popular part of the new rules seems to be the opening of fishing season. Many vehicles parked by the side of the road near streams and bridges. We've been largely insulated from the tough parts of this virus as everything we have been doing has been in anticipation. Not that I need anyone getting sick, mind you. It sure has seemed like a long time and we're only at weeks not months.
  • PendragonPendragon Shipmate
    fineline wrote: »
    Heh, yep, the 'We all should be terribly grateful' is happening on FB quite a bit. Also people posting smugly about how they simply don't get why others are struggling, because life is just lovely for them, and they're having so much pleasure sitting cosily on their sofa with their cat, reading novels, and growing veg in their big garden, and snuggling with their spouse (with complete oblivion to the fact that not everyone shares their privilege of being well off, living in a big home with a big garden, with a loving spouse, and with good health, no disability, etc.). People are just being people, really, as there are always people like this, but I do find myself more easily irritated with them!
    Add 'and child-free' to that list.
    It absolutely does, and I am grateful for having my wife and child here with me. But I'm also finding that one of the unforeseen side effects is that they're always here. It's possibly the greatest irony of lockdown that even though we're not allowed to go out and meet other people, I'm struggling with not being able to find enough time to just be on my sodding own!

    Seriously, only I could end up wanting lockdown to be over so that I can have more time alone! :lol:

    The second greatest irony may well be that even though there's very little to do (what with not being able to go out and do things), there's also so much to do. Who would have thought that two or three people staying at home all the time could generate more than a full dishwasher load of dirty plates/bowls/etc in a day? Or so much mess that needs to be cleaned up?
    Agreed. Going shopping and queuing to get in is the new 'me time'.

    I'm not sleeping great either. Funny dreams and tossing and turning at night, so I'm always tired. And the 2nd trimester is supposed to be the one where one has energy.

    I am very grateful for one thing in all this: I work for the NHS in an admin job I can do from home, so my job is ok (and the annual pay rise was a nice bonus last week).
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