How has your Daily Life Changed during these Times?

[Mr. Jelly]

Okay, okay we're all alone. It's weird. Everybody and everything out side our houses are potential disease ridden killers. Or at least that's the feeling. I don't like it. It's like swimming in an ocean of slim.

[kentwinterton]

I work the counter at a lumber yard. We have been deemed an "essential" business so we are still open - regular hours. We are taking precautions however. I wipe down the credit card machine after every transaction, the pen, and the counter. We are militant about the 6 feet distance rules and wipe down all the door handles and other surfaces every 2 hours. Of course, walk-in traffic has slowed down a bit but the deliveries are still rolling at an impressive rate. Lots of building going on here in Heber and Park City area. My wife is a cardiac nurse and has lost hours due to their only doing "essential" procedures so that's a bit of a bummer. Just grateful to still be working. My heart aches for those who have lost hours or lost their jobs completely. May this all end soon!!

[ahorsewithnonam]

We had two nice days last week. Near 70 degrees. Played tennis both days. Been cold, rainy, and gloomy since. Supposed to be nice the next 4 or 5 days. So I’ll get outside again and hit the ball around.

Wife and I play Boggle, Battleship. Play my guitars. We’ve been cleaning, throwing away stuff, reorganizing etc.

What's changed? The contempt and disgust with which some people choose to look at you when you are out for a walk and cross distant paths with them. It's shameful. We're still human beings for goodness sake.

[rllink]

My day job is novelist, so I spend a lot of time sitting around and making stuff up then writing it into word docs. Nothing has changed, I'm still making stuff up and writing it down. I do have fewer distractions right now.

This is my second post here. I'm new to the guitar. I'm a long time ukulele player though and have in the past been pretty active with it. But all of my ukulele playing commitments for the next few months have been cancelled so I'm doubling down on learning how to play my wife's old guitar that has been sitting on a shelf in the basement for the last forty years. It is going pretty well. I hope to learn some good stuff here.

[Peter Wilcox]

While I was out for the 2 week grocery shopping yesterday, I felt that uncomfortable feeling down there, so went into the room reserved for relieving that sensation. Before doing so, I turned on the automatic tap and soap dispenser and sang happy birthday twice, then inserted my hands into the automatic blow dryer. I then felt sterile enough to micturate without worrying about viral microbes entering through my urethral meatus.

This is the first time I remember washing my hands before urinating. Of course, I washed them again afterwards.

[pukematrix]

Originally Posted by rllink

This is my second post here.

Welcome aboard! No time like the present to learn a new instrument, given the opportunity.

As for the Dru's question:

• My wife and I are both teleworking - we recently moved into a slightly larger home, so more room to spread out and focus on our own things has been welcome
• My daily 30 minute each way commute is gone, so that's an extra hour back in my day that I can spend unpacking, painting, etc.
• Similar to above, plenty of time saved getting ready for work and on doing laundry, since I might recycle shorts and t-shirts a bit more frequently than if I were wearing my business attire to the office
• Enjoying lot's of streaming living room concerts from many of my favorite artists (e.g., Josh Ritter, Molly Tuttle, The Honeydew Drops, Bob Schneider, etc.)
• Uber focused on helping out local small businesses (ordering take out or delivery more often, tipping more than usual) - I want to see them make it to the other side
• The dogs are getting 2-3x the exercise with us being at home, which they appreciate

All that said, can't wait for my ~hour long daily commute once more! The one thing that causes me the most anxiety, right behind health and job security, is being able to sell our old home during the pandemic. There's really no blueprint for how this will go. We luckily have a ratified contract on the home (signed that last Sunday), but the time from then until closing (4/29) feels like eternity, during which a number of things could go wrong. If that's the worst of my problems, though, I'm doing alright. Many have it much worse, so no complaints.

Austin

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by Peter Wilcox

While I was out for the 2 week grocery shopping yesterday, I felt that uncomfortable feeling down there, so went into the room reserved for relieving that sensation. Before doing so, I turned on the automatic tap and soap dispenser and sang happy birthday twice, then inserted my hands into the automatic blow dryer. I then felt sterile enough to micturate without worrying about viral microbes entering through my urethral meatus.

This is the first time I remember washing my hands before urinating. Of course, I washed them again afterwards.

Ermagawd, tee em eye.

[Neil K Walk]

Has anyone else's life changed SINCE staying at home? I'm sensing the honeymoon is over here.

Seriously, I think that for people who were workaholics before they're having a hard time either with the downtime or just not knowing when to be "off the clock." My wife is still working the same hours but even she's beginning to see that she shouldn't be working as many hours given the current economic climate. She has several people working under her and I've heard her tell them to take time to focus on their families.

We're still butting heads over the workspace thing though. She's stolen my "picking parlor" and told me to KEEP OUT while she's working. I got chastised for "making an appearance" on a video call yesterday (I was looking for school supplies for our son) and have been getting texts to keep out of frame.

Whatever, I've adopted the spare bedroom as my sanctuary. I just have to share it with the cat. It has a door and the acoustic properties are much more conducive to recording. When the weather cooperates I just go on the back porch - unless I have work to do in the yard that is. It's been rainy so not much has been getting done.

I'm hoping that when the weather starts to get nicer I can tackle some projects. The hardware stores are still open.

[KevWind]

Well this was a bit of change for me
Since it was only 140 12 ft boards of 1X6 T&G Aspen for the tack room in the new arena
I helped the lumber yard delivery guy hand unload them off the truck, and by me grabbing one end and him the other, we maintained a 12 ft distancing and I even wore a dust mask while doing so (a personal first )

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by ahorsewithnonam

We had two nice days last week. Near 70 degrees. Played tennis both days. Been cold, rainy, and gloomy since. Supposed to be nice the next 4 or 5 days. So I’ll get outside again and hit the ball around.

Wife and I play Boggle, Battleship. Play my guitars. We’ve been cleaning, throwing away stuff, reorganizing etc.

You're fortunate you can get out to play tennis. Every tennis court, park, trail, playground, etc is closed in Nova Scotia (and much of Canada) and you will be fined $700 if you're caught. Some people have already been fined because they were walking in a park.

[Denny B]

I'm ok, but I think my dog is a little bored....

cleo2.jpg

[Shepsdad]

I'm in the firearms business, so I'm still working, but only about 1/4 of my normal hours. I've spent a lot of time sitting on the deck watching the birds flying around, saw a redtail hawk land in the tree at the back of my yard yesterday. My wife is working from home now, so we've been getting up and cooking breakfast, which is something we only do once in a blue moon under normal circumstances. My rusty old guitar skills have drastically improved over the last two weeks

[tbeltrans]

One of my local news channels reported that two-thirds of police calls in our metro area are now for domestic violence. People are stressed out over the virus and the hit on their finances, and are cooped up at home who are used to being out running around with the frantic schedules people have set up for themselves in these "modern" times, with nowhere to go.

The folks in the household have probably not seen much of each other in a long time, and now have to learn to live together all over again. I wonder how many marriages will be strengthened by the experience and how many will not survive. For sure, life won't be the same again for many folks.

Tony

[Pura Vida]

On a lighter note (re: Tony B.'s post directly above this one), when I got married (24 years ago), my wife and I worked opposite schedules, which was fine b/c we didn't have kids. On our first anniversary, my grandmother said that working opposite schedules would probably save the marriage, ha!

Flash forward: since we have to home school our son, due to a complicated medical condition, she's back to working nights. So, maybe we'll be good for another 24 years!