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

I do enjoy no longer having the frequent cognitive dissonance of wanting to stay in vs wanting to make plans and go out. So much easier that the decision is made for me.

Oh I guess I also go out to walk my dog but I don’t even enjoy it, that’s just necessity.

wait what are these fuckwits outside clapping for

they want us to do that here to and I'm mad

I do enjoy no longer having the frequent cognitive dissonance of wanting to stay in vs wanting to make plans and go out. So much easier that the decision is made for me.

― sorry for butt rockin (Neanderthal),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZCzJRXvpCg

Guys I’m not gonna lie, I’m thoroughly enjoying every moment of being cooped up inside. I’ve been spending roughly 20 hrs a day in bed except when I have to occasionally go into work and it’s tbh wonderful to feel no guilt about it but instead heroic.

― just1n3, Thursday, March 26, 2020 2:58 PM (twenty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

girl same

ive had a great day, the novelty and the relief of finally being allowed to work from home was a very welcome all-day positive

sinewy cuntwaffle

wait is nobody gonna snap this up?

too fbpe

sinewy cuntwaffle

wait is nobody gonna snap this up?

― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII)

nah man it'll ruin my appetite

when the canned goods are gone

Advice everywhere: Please comfort your children! They are likely more worried than you are! And they'll miss seeing all their friends at school. Don't make them do too much work, they are likely very anxious, give them calming, relaxing activities to enjoy together.

My kids: they do not give a shit, being at home all day suits them fine, if anything this is like a special treat, possible an adventure, more chance to play Minecraft too.

I do think this has taken a toll on children

My girls are putting up a cheerful front but it’s gotta be working them over psychologically.

yes I think it is scarier for kids than they let on, that they worry about infecting their parents

or worry about making a parent sadder, a responsibilty they shouldn't feel but sometimes do despite my fronting

My children are cheerful and bearing up well. My daughter is Extremely Online so she's totally used to not seeing her friends irl. My son misses school but likes the free time.

Me? I am angry at much of the messaging directed parentward, which is either useless or toxic or, somehow, both.

For many children (especially smaller and special needsy) "distance learning" has exactly one meaning: more work for parents. (Which in, lots of families, mostly means moms.)

In other words, people who were already operating at capacity need to increase their capacity. Presumably using magic.

This framing also suggest that any backsliding or failures are therefore the fault of parents (again, mostly moms) not trying hard enough. You must not have downloaded enough worksheets or done enough baking-soda-and-vinegar experiments. Didn't you see all those lists of online resources we sent?

I don't have a solution in mind, and I know it's a distant dream, but just once I would love to see a problem where the solution was "less work for moms."

In the meantime, why don't you consider making another fucking marshmallow-and-toothpick suspension bridge? It's fun AND educational!

splurged on dinner delivery

also got my chain grocery delivery less than 2 hrs later

drowning in food

eat, drink and be merry, morbs!

question for parents here, partic uk parents

i'm working on a daily BBC Bitesize podcast that aims to HELP overworked / overstressed parents point their kids to some stuff online that chimes with the classwork they either would be doing, or have been handed by teachers via Google Classroom etc

so if they're supposed to write 5 paragraphs about Mayan civilisation, the podcast would tell parents about a video that explains Mayan civilisation, or a quiz etc. The idea is to provide a quick 5-10 minutes that gives you a few tools to help out

it's NOT supposed to feel like extra work or whatever. is that someone you would listen to? partic if we made it available on Voice (i.e. Alexa, etc)? in my ideal world it's like a lifeline for parents who don't want the faff of figuring out how to help their kids with bits and pieces they're supposed to be doing for homeschooling

Boris has got it

BREAKING: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for #coronavirus.

The PM is reportedly self-isolating in Downing Street but is continuing to lead the government's response to #COVID19.

More on this story: https://t.co/Pto1iKFuZG pic.twitter.com/8UzcEkYcc1

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 27, 2020

Wrong thread, sorry

#BREAKING Germany has boosted its #coronavirus test rate to 500,000 a week, with the early detection helping to keep the country's death toll relatively low, a virologist says pic.twitter.com/NbDmif5hld

— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 26, 2020

I'm not a parent, but Tracer does it have to be a podcast? They're a terrible format for providing resources compared to a scrollable searchable web page.

Re: cops. Having lived in both the US (discomfort around cops) and the UK (also discomfort around cops tho definitely less so), it is strange where I live now (Portugal) for the first time in my life that my guard doesn't immediately go up when I see cops. They're armed too, though they really can't be firing them very often

fwiw your guard should still go up. they're not gonna shoot you but they will vote for the far-right parties that want to deport you. and the examples of racial violence coming from them are mounting up too.

Andrew that scrollable webpage will exist! We will be telling people to go it it every day! But it will have a lot of stuff on it and maybe not what you want at 8:30 in the morning with your coffee

def see the value in a conservational/flow bitesize podcast myself, forza th

awesome. Let’s see

my cousin's got it. he lives in Brighton, is in his mid-20s I think and has had it a week or so, not doing too bad apparently. I've only met him once so don't know him really.

I'm a parent of young kids and would not be able to listen to a podcast.

too many distractions about?

Tracer, my sister is in the UK, but her son is too young for podcasts (or school, lol). But my own kids ... I think they would consider an additional podcast, however ostensibly helpful, to be more work, and bristle at being made to listen to it. They'd much prefer a bite sized video piece.

Oh, wait, this is a podcast for parents, to help with homework? That's a bit better, but I still think a visual learning tool for the students themselves would be more effective. For the parents, maybe something more like a printed list of prompts or tips they can utilize, both with their kids but also something that can be left for the kids? What age are you looking at, exactly? If you're talking a 5 paragraph writing assignment, then you're already talking old enough to not need help from parents, possibly, aside from editing and cheerleading.

Creative projects rather than assignments might be a good tool in this strange situation, too, something that doesn't just teach but takes up time and provides some structure to the day. Like, rather than listen to a podcast, give kids a guide how to research and make their *own* podcasts about Mayan culture, etc.

Anyway, my own kids are doing absolutely fine. Granted, they're not little, but they've grown up in the era of active shooter drills and social media. What's being told to stay at home?

Yeah all the actual leaning materials are online. This is just a quick cheat sheet to say what’s available, with a little 10 second clip if it’s a video or whatever. and maybe a joke at the end! 5-10 minutes max.

My throat is sore, but only every other day. Doctors of ILX, am I going to die?

Only on a day that ends in Y.

xp are you a fellow post nasal drip sufferer? I sound like a 200 a day smoker most mornings

Yeah, do you have a stuffy nose? The only time I ever have a sore throat, really, is when I've been forced into mouth breather mode.

It may have something to do with the air conditioning at my parents' place. And yeah, my nose does get runny for no apparent reason.

it could definitely be allergies. I'm allergic to dust, so being inside this much has been problematic, and some AC/heat situations (especially gas-forced air) exacerbate it a lot

AC always fucks me up, so that could def be it.

The heat on / heat off and megapollenation that comes with the vacillating weather has incited a sore throat for me for like three months or so.

No allergies that I know of, and my mom obsessively dusts and vacuums the house on a daily basis to stave off the emptiness within. Most plausible explanation is

I think I'm paranoid
And complicated

jogging yesterday and nirvana came on the mix and i had a reaction to "I feel stupid and contagious" that stopped me flat

And the subsequent line, 'Here we are now, entertain us', is in fact a prescient lyric about how this entire crisis was engineered by the lizard-overlords-that-be.

Thus leading to Kurt Cobain's 'suicide'.

For those suffering from sniffles and stuff, don't forget to change A/C or HVAC air filters (as needed)!

a friend just me this

https://youtu.be/sjDuwc9KBps

and it's like, ugh...really? Is everybody doing this? I haven't been but now I guess I'll start

There are so many things I don't understand. For example the virus has various staying power on all manner of surfaces, depending on the material, but the entire category of "takeout food" (the food itself, not the packagingI is ok? I mean the stuff can live on my fingers, more than on say, plastic...but won't remain on a sandwich someone's made?

in addition to being catastrophic this whole thing is a supreme pain in the ass

Oh yeah that guy is from Grand Rapids! Yeah. I only low-key did this on our last shopping trip but I'll probably get more serious on the next one.