Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

No lines or supply problems here.

Today we saw (out the window) a guy using a McDo fry container as a mask.

Genius.

in orbit, F went to the store on Saturday and he came home so stressed out because people were getting too close the entire time (also I think he was treating it like a timed mission, which...I don't know why he would do that.) xpost

the vibe inside grocery stores right now is fucking grim. no eye contact, no talking. fucked up

many xps to anvil

i actually have never tried escalating (the chinese bioweapon thing)! might as well give it a shot, see what happens.

it's funny though, because she was all worried about [redacted political figure] being part of the conspiracy. give it a week or two, when [redacted political figure] gets really impatient and starts urging everyone to ignore the warnings and go back to normal life, and she'll be back in his warm batshit insane arms

I went out today. I had planned to bundle all the looming chores into one morning, so I dropped off some mail at the post office, deposited a check at the bank, got gas and bought some exorbitantly expensive cheap wine from the gas station, and picked up my meds. I wore my winter glove liners, which made me feel a bit like a freako but this is no time for vanity, of course. I managed to complete all of these tasks without removing my gloves (which is harder than it sounds - ruffling through pockets while wearing gloves to locate keys, wallet, cash, etc, was definitely a pain in the ass). The only thing that concerned me was the gas station didn't have one of those self-serve POS credit card readers so the High On Fire roadie-looking counterperson - who wasn't wearing gloves - had to take my card and swipe it. Anyway, I'm good now till I need groceries (probably next week) and otherwise don't plan to leave the house again until it's totally necessary.

Also, am I the only one who has been having a lot of trouble sleeping? I went to bed at 11 and woke up at 3 and couldn't get back to sleep. My brain is still getting used to this, I guess.

No lines or supply problems here.

Today we saw (out the window) a guy using a McDo fry container as a mask.

I went to bed at 11 and woke up at 3 and couldn't get back to sleep

that was totally me last night, but thank god for wfh because i feel like complete shite today

if you're not having trouble sleeping right now, are you even alive?!

I'm sleeping great. Obviously my body is preparing itself for some sort of horrible upcoming physical or mental trial.

i've been sleeping ok, but the nocturnal teeth grinding has taken a huge step up. getting headaches when i wake up. guess it's time to finally get a mouthguard.

As someone else mentioned upthread, I've been putting my phone into Airplane mode at 8pm every night and then just watching TV or reading a book or whatever until bed time

I've been sleeping an hour or two more than I normally do, which I interpret as a bad, losing-heart sign.

I sleep well but I also usually watch something soothing before bed- great british backoff, top chef and schitt's creek were great for this.

great british backoff

omg I suddenly have a great idea for a TV show

not a doctor but our national health authorities recommend trying to get an extra hour of sleep right now to help your immune system be ready to go

I'm re-watching Better Call Saul from the start and frankly we could all learn from Chuck

my wife got checked four times today for her authorization to leave the apartment, in her 5 minute walk back and forth to our grocery store. cops are serious today!

also sleeping weirdly well but that may change as rules become stricter and UK deaths get closer to Italy levels

i went to bed at 10:30pm last night and woke up at 7, fuck the haters

Even he selfishly violated his quarantine to fuck over his brother!

Xxxxpost

My son has been waking up at 4:30 AM, and usually can be assuaged, but I'm having a tough time getting back to sleep for the 4:30 - 6:30 time period. So the sleep is fitful and interrupted, which is a recipe for crankitude.

As someone else mentioned upthread, I've been putting my phone into Airplane mode at 8pm every night and then just watching TV or reading a book or whatever until bed time

― groovypanda, Monday, March 23, 2020 4:07 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Sound advice imo! I've had no trouble sleeping, and do switch off the phone and such earlier than normal (it "helps" that I'm drawn to the news all day already because of work, so I'm satiated come 9pm). Reading a book an hour before sleeping has been doing wonders for me, even before this kicked off.

From my ex who is a nurse in NOLA:

"Our ICU is full—all with COVID patients and all on ventilators. Opening another floor as ICU to take more patients. This is serious y’all. STAY HOME. I don’t care if your local bar is staying open or if you have spring break plans. Unless you want to be on a ventilator, or possibly cause someone else to be (if you’re carrying the virus asymptomatically), stay home. Stop hoarding supplies. Get what you need. Use it."

can’t remember if i shared this yet or not but there was quite a call-in on Radio Ulster over the weekend:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0877mb2

I'm sleeping great.

So am I! Because I don't have to get up and go to fucking work in the morning, I expect.

I'm keeping my home office space separate pretty well so far

having flashbacks to the time when I was in college and did some working remote and could literally roll out of my bed into my desk chair because my room was so narrow

I usually don't have any problems sleeping, but last night my anxiety kept waking me up. I've been particularly struggling with a feedback loop: For the last couple of weeks, I've had a mild postnasal drip that I'm almost positive is related to allergies, but it sometimes causes a slight sore throat and/or chest congestion, which makes me so anxious (even though I have no other COVID symptoms) that I start physically manifesting feelings of tension and discomfort, which then exacerbates the anxiety. It hasn't become a full-blown panic attack, but I feel like it's just on a constant low boil.

I'm getting more sleep than usual but given that I usually get < 6 hrs. sleep/night this is probably a good thing.

Had my first covid-related dreams last night. Surely not the last. At least they weren't nightmares.

got 12hr sleep on Saturday, like 4hr last night, feel terrible (in a usual sleep-deprived way) today

we were supposed to go to video/phone visits today, but it's not active until 1pm so i'm still seeing a handful this morning. one of the other providers flatly said that she would not see patients in person (she's in her 60s) and i'm towing the line. still gotta round in the hospital this weekend, not thrilled about that

I am really picking and choosing when I drink alcohol to keep my immune system up but I have also started eating cheese like it's a life sustaining force.

What do you mean 'like'

you know how Raggedy Ann dolls had candy hearts sewn into them? I think I have a mozzarella ball in place of a non-vital organ.

At least you don't have to worry about the tp shortage. Silver linings!

raggedy ann dolls had what now!?!?

For the last couple of weeks, I've had a mild postnasal drip that I'm almost positive is related to allergies, but it sometimes causes a slight sore throat and/or chest congestion, which makes me so anxious (even though I have no other COVID symptoms) that I start physically manifesting feelings of tension and discomfort, which then exacerbates the anxiety. It hasn't become a full-blown panic attack, but I feel like it's just on a constant low boil.

I have the exact same thing; I think it's a pretty common reaction from what I've heard.

xpost I just googled to make sure I wasn't imagining it. But the candy hearts was a thing. I remember making raggedy ann knockoffs for charities and sewing other things into their chests.

This was me last night, exactly

xp trying not to obsess over whether or not my throat feels weird

I even tried yoga for the first time in my life

i have the same allergy post-nasal drip thing at all times. if you guys aren't taking claritin d (or the walgreens "walitin d" lol) already i recommend it. when i remember to take it i feel more sure i don't have covid-19!

see also waking up with a sore throat because when my nose is stuffed i sleep with my mouth open, panicking

I keep reading articles about symptoms and OF COURSE hours later I'm still thinking about them and imagining I have them.

Was that a tickle in my throat?
Did I just draw a more difficult breath there?
I coughed!

I always feel fine later and the next day, but I hate how much this worms into my head and anxieties.

Would've thought rain would wash it out of the air and make it harder for droplets from coughing etc to stay airbourne outside. And it would also probably encourage people to stay home xp

― ymo sumac (NickB), Monday, March 23, 2020 5:59 AM (six hours ago)

This is the kind of thing that nags at me once I've read it. For the last two weeks I've operated under the assumption (gleaned from various sources) that it only lives in the air if you're in close proximity to someone and they sneeze or speak or even breathe--it can be transmitted that way, and if not, the virus falls to the ground. I also know it can stay airborne longer if aerosols are present.

But if it's out there, hanging around from someone who ten minutes earlier walked by where you are now, how can it possibly be combated? And wouldn't infection rate be close to 100% by now?

(xpost) Same here. Every time I clear my throat, I wonder if that's the beginning of a dry cough.

But if it's out there, hanging around from someone who ten minutes earlier walked by where you are now, how can it possibly be combated? And wouldn't infection rate be close to 100% by now?

While it's hanging around in the air, it is being dispersed, even on a still day. I presume the more virus you inhale, the greater the chance you have of actually catching C19 the disease, so as it disperses it becomes less dangerous. That's why enclosed badly ventilated areas are worse - you really wouldn't want to get into an elevator that someone with C19 had been coughing away in ten minutes beforehand

I'm thinking of daily fresh-air walks. I didn't come within 20 feet of anybody today. (Well, okay, one person, on a bridge--I stepped onto the road for about a five-foot buffer.) Can I same the same of the virus?

I think there are differing schools of thoughts on how it spreads, but I am pretty sure you're ok to take walks

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html

you really wouldn't want to get into an elevator that someone with C19 had been coughing away in ten minutes beforehand

― ymo sumac (NickB), Monday, 23 March 2020 17:07 (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

well we havent used our apt elevator since that aul fella got in and proceeded to cough his boots up all over us last week, so yknow

I guess there's a chance you inhaled a single virion or two, but that one virion has to make it through your body's various defences before it can do any damage - it could get trapped in nasal mucus or destroyed by saliva or swallowed and destroyed by stomach acid or simply just exhaled again. So you'd need to inhale a few of the things to make you ill and the further away you are from someone, the more the concentration of virus decreases xps