Another virus thread

[dolphins4life]

Is there anything you did before the virus that you are glad you did because now you are not sure if or when you will get another chance?

I can think of two

1) The Tough Mudder
2) The charity underwear run in February

[Dave Gray]

No, it's kinda the opposite.

I'm bummed that the movie theater experience might be dying, but that was kinda happening anyway.  Really, being locked down made me content in being able to do less.  I like not having birthday parties and gatherings and all this other stuff to do all the time.  I'm pretty happy seeing a small group of family and opening up free time.

[Tenshot13]

No, it's kinda the opposite.

I'm bummed that the movie theater experience might be dying, but that was kinda happening anyway.  Really, being locked down made me content in being able to do less.  I like not having birthday parties and gatherings and all this other stuff to do all the time.  I'm pretty happy seeing a small group of family and opening up free time.

This, my wife and I couldn't be happier. 

[Dolphster]

No, it's kinda the opposite.

I'm bummed that the movie theater experience might be dying, but that was kinda happening anyway.  Really, being locked down made me content in being able to do less.  I like not having birthday parties and gatherings and all this other stuff to do all the time.  I'm pretty happy seeing a small group of family and opening up free time.

Same here.  I am finding contentment in the simpler things that I enjoyed in my youth when I was too poor to do a lot of things.  Probably the only thing that I miss is being able to hang out in large groups in a bar, meeting new people, etc.   But other than that, I'm enjoying the simple things that I probably would have never slowed down long enough to appreciate if it hadn't been for the COVID lockdowns. 

[Dave Gray]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one.  You guys put it pretty well, too.  I do miss seeing people, but I like not having the social rat race.  And the simpler things: walks, bike rides, ....even commiting to catching up on shows with my wife.

[Fau Teixeira]

I see almost no-one now. I online order groceries, and do walmart, or aldi pickup. Very rarely whole foods delivers cause amazon prime makes it free. When i have to run into publix I go on off-ish hours to a publix i know gets very little traffic. And it's mostly old people who are very concerned with the virus and always stay the hell away and wear masks and even gloves.

My kid goes to online school, so he's on a webcam daily from 8 AM to 2 PM, he hasn't had a kid to play with since march. He's doing ok and being a total champ about this situation.  When people are vaccinated and transmission rates are way down, i'm for sure taking him to a live sporting event. Heat or Dolphins or Inter Miami or something just to get out in the world and have that experience. My wife has won/earned an all expenses paid trip to disney world for July, I hope we're at a place by then where we can enjoy it, cause it would rule. (even tho central florida in july sucks)

Up until last week I had to go into my office once a week. (we were rotating staff and everyone was very spaced apart) But now my workplace has told us my team (software) can expect to work remote 100% until at least the end of January. Coincidentally my office is about a half mile from Brian's house and he dropped off BBQ to me a few weeks ago which was pure awesome.

[masterfins]

Things haven't been all that different for me under Covid.  Where I live Covid hasn't been a big issue; at any given time there might be 100-200 people with Covid out of a population of 180,000 cover a large area.  I think at the most there have been about 25 people hospitalized between (3) local hospitals at any given time.  I was considered an essential worker, so although I did work from home part-time back in March & April, I've been going into the office as normal (only 4 people so not much chance of spread).  Summer was good, golfed in a league and we would get together in the parking lot to socialize after, keeping fairly spread out.  But now that the cold is here not much chance to socialize.  Missed out on a couple trips that I normally take, but it allowed me to save some money which I spent on fixing things at my house.  More than anything I just hate the media hype.

[CF DolFan]

Things haven't been all that different for me under Covid.

For me either. We just got home from eating at Sonny's with friends who are flying out tomorrow. I work in construction and no one wears a mask. We've been fortunate because other than one false alarm from a day laborer ... we haven't had anyone with covid and we've worked all the way through the lockdowns. I'm pretty sure that's why we are so skewed. We still go to Publix, restaurants, ice cream places, convenience stores, and big box stores. I don't mean this as a bad thing but many people in my world have no clue people like Fau really exist because I don't know anyone who has been staying home ... elderly included. I wouldn't either without this website.

[masterfins]

It's funny, or rather odd, that with all the younger people who can be such zealots about covid protection, that I see so many older people out and about enjoying life without a care in the world.  I'm sure that's because where I live there hasn't been any major outbreaks.

[ArtieChokePhin]

One thing I did before the virus took full effect on this country was to pay off my car.   In hindsight, it was a very smart move.   While my business was allowed to stay open as it was deemed essential, business has dropped big time because people can't afford my services anymore.  Plus, one of my employees was sick with COVID and was hospitalized with a ventilator.   He was out of action for nearly two months and when he returned, he wasn't 100% for a while.

[Phishfan]

Much like CF, I have worked continuously and have been social. I'm not flying but I just took vacation and stayed a couple nights at the beach. I go to pool league and go out for football sometimes. Not much is different for me at this stage.

[dolphins4life]

With Vaccines coming, we could be near the end of this ordeal. 

I just wonder what it will be like readjusting to the norm of society

- Not answering symptom questions every day before going to work
- Not being hailed a hero for fighting on the front lines.  I loved getting those free meals from McDonalds.     
- Not having to wear a mask anymore
- Not having to social distance
- Being able to travel across state lines again
- Not having to go through all the things I have to go through now at work
- Being able to see my extended family again, and also my niece.     

I wonder if I should buy some stocks, in anticipation of the vaccines causing the market to soar.   

[Dave Gray]

I think this will be a slow trickle back to normal, rather than a surge. 

For me, this is going to be more peace of mind than anything.  Even before I get vaccinating, knowing that my Mother in Law is taken care of will relieve a lot of the pressure I have.  It's going to be interesting to see how some industries return, if at all, like movie theaters.  I bet we'll still be wearing masks in public (or at least I will, even if not mandated) through the end of summer.

The biggest strain on my family is the gathering aspect.  I don't have an issue just staying home, but I have family pressure to get everyone together for Christmas and it's a point of pressure.

I don't know a ton about stocks, but I'd be hesitant to jump on the buy train in anticipation of soaring financials.  The stock market doesn't appear to be a measure of regular people's wealth anymore.  These big corporations are doing fine during the pandemic, so I don't really see much room for their surging increase.

I also think that whatever economic recover we have will be a gradual increase over a 5+ year period.  It's not like everyone just bounces back.

[Fau Teixeira]

I hope the mask wearing becomes a norm for people with colds, like it is in asian countries.

[Dave Gray]

I hope the mask wearing becomes a norm for people with colds, like it is in asian countries.

Not only that.  I made a conscious effort the last time I went to a convention to be really careful about not touching handrails, touching my face -- I used hand sanitizer.  I just really tried not to get sick.  It worked.  But normally, those things are breeding grounds for infection.  I can see adding a mask in to certain parts of that experience.