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

i cannot begin to imagine how badly it would go if we set one of these up for ILX

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Thursday, 18 June 2020 4:10 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Poxyfule slack will test this.

Yeah, my SIL's September Qantas flight to Chicago was officially cancelled the other day.

In other news, very in line with the thread title, I had applied to do some census work back in February or so, and now ... I really don't want to go door to door, masked and gathering information from stragglers.

Orange County FINALLY imposed a mask order....for 10 days.

not looking forward to the douches who are likely to picket this shit or raise hell outside supermarkets, but it's long overdue.

but...if they don't enforce, it is fucking useless.

The governor of TX found a loophole in his order that barred local communities from enforcing masks, so now the mayor of Austin can impose mask rules for businesses and the governor can still look like a good bootlicker for daddy Trump. What a stupid situation.

xp is that OC FL or OC CA?

OC CA is a mask shitshow too. the director of public health there received death threats/nazi imagery, etc. after she ordered mask in the usual public places and so she quit and now they have a very permissive mask law. but just today it's been superseded by a pretty strict state law.

FL

I donated blood today, and everything went smoothly. I think (if they haven't already) that given the circumstances they've loosened some of the more onerous restrictions. For example, my wife lived in Germany for a while and was therefore forbidden from donating, but I think finally she can (because they need her bloooooooooood). Everyone I talked with complemented me on my sugar skull mask, too, so it was a win for the Covid era.

Neanderthal, cheers. I cannot IMAGINE what MDC would be like w/out our mask ordinance, which no one has really protested. It might help that even the Trump-loving viejos don't wanna die.

Anyway, they're a psychological boost.

first day of mask order and our local grocery isn't doing shit to enforce it, this was the most lax it's been there in a long time. I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt because the city is giving businesses a few more days to have their plans in place, but they have signs on the doors saying masks are required and that's about it.

Friend from Brazil called in tears, his aunt has been diagnosed positive and is now on a respirator, according to him the queque to get tested was so gigantic that if she didn't have it when she joined she sure as hell would now. His aunt shares a house with her husband and elderly grandmother, they're working class people who could never afford to self-isolate in the first place. Said friend used to be torn on Bolsonaro - he grew up in a very rough idea and Tough On Crime messages appeal to him - but now he has nothing but hatred for him.

Brings home again that the risks of this epdemic aren't at all independent of class and country, but I guess that's not apolitical.

(rough area, not idea)

In other news, AMC theatres are planning to reopen, but they've said theatres will be mask-optional for patrons (unless it's in a place that requires masks). The CEO said staff will be required to wear masks, and there will be other cleaning and spacing protocols in place, and there will be cheap masks for sale, and he himself would wear a mask, but he didn't want to require masks because he didn't want to make things "political."

teach the controversy!

on the one hand, masks decrease the chance of spreading coronavirus

on the other hand, uhm, they, the masks, masks are, well. masks

Hey, don't make it political.

Will they cancel Halloween this year?

no, but all masks will need large holes in them to ensure coronavirus can pass through

http://youtu.be/_nhE0Crz1Ig

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nhE0Crz1Ig&feature=youtu.be

I guss this is "fun"....anyway^ on halloween cancellation

“It really does feel like the U.S. has given up.” -European scientist.https://t.co/A910VQq7mX pic.twitter.com/xl8BuqqJ2n

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) June 19, 2020

The US is just very very out of shape and tired of all sorts of shit.

this fucking administration is the worst

It’s the same here. Our cinemas are set to reopen on the 10th as part of the govt’s “exit strategy” that consists entirely of pretending the virus doesn’t exist (I should note I’m talking about England and maybe wales - Scotland’s policy on cinemas is currently that the virus does in fact exist). No mention of masks because as discussed above they are just not a thing here, not that I fancy sitting watching a film through fogged-up glasses with a mask on. It’s a fucking head trip tbh, “given up” is the only thing that feels applicable. I can’t think of much more depressing than deciding to spread plague before we’ve got a handle on it because the dumb shitty new Nolan movie simply must see the light of day

today is one of my best friend's birthdays, and he will be hosting a party in his garage. next month our poker game restarts. I really miss doing both of these things but I can't go in good conscience. this sucks. I miss social interaction.

Is your friend in town? Could h/she host it outside instead? If it's a handful of people staying away from each other outside, you should be good. For a pal's birthday last month he and his wife set up the backyard so that each of us had a table about 10 feet apart. They were only five of us, though.

Getting a haircut - my first since March - on Tuesday morning.

giving up has its attractions

i'm growing out my hair and will be a beautiful mermaid on the other side of covid

<3

A friend shaved my head last month; I looked like I co-starred in 12 Monkeys.

i had an unexpected video call today (our team never does video, only audio), an e-meet or greet (bleat, bleat) with some higher up. i had about 10 seconds to mentally prepared and i'm pretty sure i resembled tom hanks in Cast Away, just before he's rescued (note that i haven't seen the film)

tom hanks does get rescued, right? off-topic but have always been crossing my fingers for him and his goofy volleyball sidekick

lol yes he does get rescued

i got my hair cut and i feel so much better in that single one regard
everything else is total complete shit

when it comes down to it, hair aside, I've probably never been better, which is kind of confounding.

Miss friendship but I've adjusted to staying inside and working from home. Work is going well. Doing important relationship work with my partner. Cooking some good stuff. Idk.

i wish
if my workplace weren't being straight up abusive to me during a pandemic i would be more or less ok

Same silby. Only thing that would have improved my quarantine would have been a temporary layoff.

I have like 43 sick days, maybe I should get the vid.

I’m going to see friends at their house this weekend, which is technically allowed (it’s to do with bubbles, don’t ask) but you can’t follow the news even a little bit and justify doing something just because the official advice says it’s ok, so we’re all just on our own to decide what’s an acceptable risk. I have my own way of rationalising it: I’ve been walking the 4 miles home from work every day, halving my use of public transport, which easily offsets whatever contribution I make to the R number by visiting this one household every couple of months. But also this is a marathon not a sprint, and I live alone; having nothing but work, home and getting drunk for the next year is not something I can realistically cope with. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some of the giving up malaise either, that shit’s as infectious as the vid

Noted by Chris Hayes that Covid was worst in the north when it was too cold to spend much time outside, now worst in places where it's too hot to spend much time outside. hmmm ...

I enjoy the fact that work from home + no day care effectively adds 2 hours to our day, I'm finally getting to sleep a decent amount. but both of us working + having 2 small kids who constantly need attention + having to do a bunch of cooking and housework feels like I'm working 2-3 full time jobs at once, it's crazy stressful and idk how much longer I can do it

For me, lot of things are better than they have ever been. Working from home has been an enormous improvement over commuting, but a lot of work culture stuff has gotten back to being the same old same old. I've finally ordered a desk though and will soon be able to set up an office with monitors and a keyboard instead of typing on a laptop from my couch, which I'm really excited about.

Some things have gotten worse - my family are the only people I really see, and I love them all a lot but we're bumping elbows way too much.

Lurking background dread of total societal meltdown a constant hum.

The chief of my department has taken to asking us all how we're really getting along - either in group Zoom meetings or one-on-one chats. Earlier on, when she did this in a group context, I had unmuted and was about to blurt out "pure unremitting terror!" because that was honestly how I was feeling at the time. But another colleague beat me to the punch and confidently stated "I actually think I'm getting through this alright - I've just had to stop watching the news!" So now I just tell her that I "have my ups and downs like everyone".

shaved my head/beard two days ago, feels good

. But also this is a marathon not a sprint, and I live alone; having nothing but work, home and getting drunk for the next year is not something I can realistically cope with. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some of the giving up malaise either, that shit’s as infectious as the vid

I feel you. I am at this moment sitting in our empty, vast public hour because I couldn't face being at home until 5 p.m.

hour = library

xp to wins - I'm on that a little bit - a friend is having a picnic in the park at the back of her (very nearby) house tomorrow, with three other friends coming down, and I'm a) concerned that I'll just be miserable company, glaring at strangers who can't keep their distance and b) concerned that I'll be miserable and rude company, glaring at my friends who can't keep their distance.

I mean, I'm not not going - her dad died during the week, it'll be good to see her.

And none of these things matter in instance, they just matter in aggregate.

I thought that a month with no school (the original estimate) would be basically impossible. No way would be able to make that work - two jobs, two kids, the household, our non-work social lives, my musical projects, our aging parents, activism and community engagement...

That was three months ago.

It was, and is, impossible. But I've been kinda amazed what one can get used to.