Ideas to stay sane if we all lockdown again

[Heigh-Ho]

To me, it’s not so much a question of being safe, but more getting this stupid pandemic over and done with. If people would curtail gatherings and just wear the masks, the virus would end sooner since we wouldn’t continually being providing it a host. But that won’t happen because people won’t. Seems logical to me, but apparently a huge portion of the population don’t agree and want to pretend they can live life as normal.

How do you know with certainty it would end sooner if all we did is curtail gatherings and wear masks?

Your logic of providing the virus with a host yes that would check out for science, it's why ebola has such a high mortality rate. But curtailing gatherings and wearing masks would equate to the pandemic being over sooner is a whole different thing. Would it have the possibility of limiting spread? Yea I could get behind that, but that doesn't mean the end result is the virus would end sooner as in with 100% certainty.

I get the fatigue everyone is having but we should still be careful in how we word things.

 

[Imzadi]

Great suggestion-I think she's already got that covered

I've been in the process of getting some new, big, lush, green houseplants for my window sill/reading nook. This way, if we're forced to stay indoors due to an upsurge, I won't feel so deprived that I'm not out in nature. I've brought enough of it indoors. I had a bunch of big plants before and loved having them. But, none of them were pet-friendly, so I had to get rid of them all and never replaced them.

I hope to have a reading nook similar to this. Only problem is, getting big plants means a bigger risk of having a big empty space if one of them dies off before spring. (as well as the hit to the pocketbook.) I may have a couple plants shipped to me, if I can't find the right ones here, or they are way overpriced here. But, I can't do that in the dead of winter and expect them to not freeze sitting all day, or worse, overnight, in a UPS truck.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

I was going to suggest maybe now is a time to consider making a list of things you can think of your house might need, touch ups here, a project there, maybe a room refresher like readjusting the furniture or getting new ones, a different color palette or mood, even a list of books you were meaning to get to reading or a collection of puzzles if that's your thing that you've been meaning to try.

That list could help you out for the coming months in just planning to get things in a timely manner but also looking forwards to something when boredom strikes. Usually that's my problem that when the mood strikes me to find something it's the finding something that becomes the issues lol.

The reason I suggested a room refresher is just because of the stress we've all been under, the sheer amount of time many of us have found ourselves at home staring at the things that we probably didn't even notice or just that you want this newer stay at home/closer to home (self-imposed or otherwise) to start off completely fresh rather than a repeat of spring and summer.

Best of luck to ya!

 

[mrodgers]

To me, it’s not so much a question of being safe, but more getting this stupid pandemic over and done with. If people would curtail gatherings and just wear the masks, the virus would end sooner since we wouldn’t continually being providing it a host. But that won’t happen because people won’t. Seems logical to me, but apparently a huge portion of the population don’t agree and want to pretend they can live life as normal.

It's not going to magically go away.

 

[Imzadi]

And I read. Lately it's been romance novels because I got them for free. I have about 30 still to go. They weren't really my thing, or so I thought. I'm *really* enjoying them. They're very escapist and most of them are very well written with fun plots.

Don't know if you know this or have a tablet to read from, or want to do this on your phone or PC, as a resident of PA, the Free Library of Philadelphia has one of the most extensive eBook library collections in the U.S. at over 56,000 eBooks.

https://freelibrary.overdrive.com/

Here is the search page for romance eBooks:

https://freelibrary.overdrive.com/search?mediaType=ebook&subject=26&subject=77&sortBy=newlyadded

 

[mrodgers]

I had a big pile of it in March/April. I've used it down now and am taking my chances. I'm tired of looking at that pile in the corner of my kitchen.

Do you all saute it in garlic and onions? LOL, what the heck does everyone do with their toilet paper? I can only assume movie snacks, LOL. I opened an 18 pack on April 1st. I've used 3 rolls.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

The other thing that helped me was binging shows that had some sort of kinship with our current struggles. For instance, I really enjoyed re-watching "The Waltons" - something about seeing them go through WWII rationing while we were experiencing our own shortages at the grocery store, watching how they handled being apart from loved ones, and knowing their tough times did end.

I also got into watching The Walton's, and enjoyed it for reasons you mentioned as well!!

 

[Imzadi]

For people who don't have an extensive local library collection of eBooks, the Brooklyn Public Library offers eBook (only) memberships for Out of State Residents for $50 per year. The Brooklyn Public Library currently has 179,951 eBooks.

https://disc.bklynlibrary.org/card/

You can do a search here through their library collection to see if they have the kind of books you are interested in:

https://brooklyn.overdrive.com/browse

 

[crazylady]

I'm thinking about doing some sewing projects but I don't know how to sew. . I've been shopping for sewing machines so i can attempt to teach myself.

I also have 3 more rooms to paint but I'm not looking forward to that.

 

[mom2rtk]

Do you all saute it in garlic and onions? LOL, what the heck does everyone do with their toilet paper? I can only assume movie snacks, LOL. I opened an 18 pack on April 1st. I've used 3 rolls.

We had 4 adults living here the vast majority of that time. And I shared with my adult son who lived 2 hours away. So 5 adults.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm actually buying winter gear. After years of hibernating and traveling to get out of the cold, I'm preparing to brave outdoor time in the snow and ick in case travel isn't smart or possible.

My dining room is still set up as a craft/study room from early this year, so I'll likely do some more sewing. And of course, if DD12 ends up out of school again, I'll be back to semi-homeschooling too.

If we go full lockdown again, I think I'm going to get back into World of Warcraft. I haven't played regularly in a while but as far as indoor amusements, it was one of my favorites for a very long time.

And I may or may not have classes to fill some of my time too, depending on what decision I make about my masters.

 

[ronandannette]

I’m not pretending and living life as normal. But I am getting very tired of the double standard. Essentials have been going to work since Day 1. They include everything from grocery store baggers to physicians. But if those same people want to actually do something besides work then they get accused of being reckless by the people who are sitting at home telling themselves how many lives they’re saving. But their whole “stay home” plan is based on enough people going to work to support their new lifestyle.

You make a good point. We have hundreds of customers and a good portion of them seem to have been on work-from-home, or not working at all, since March. You should hear them freak out if it takes a week to get an appointment with Warranty Technician (although it always did before too). Many of them are just demanding monsters now...I guess it's having too much time on their hands. To add insult, customers often refuse to mask-up in their own homes to protect our personnel, even though they certainly expect that from us.

 

[spiders]

You make a good point. We have hundreds of customers and a good portion of them seem to have been on work-from-home, or not working at all, since March. You should hear them freak out if it takes a week to get an appointment with Warranty Technician (although it always did before too). Many of them are just demanding monsters now...I guess it's having too much time on their hands. To add insult, customers often refuse to mask-up in their own homes to protect our personnel, even though they certainly expect that from us.

It’s absolutely ridiculous the way some people are. It’s okay for your technicians to spend all day together working since they are serving someone else but God forbid they have a beer together at the end of the day. That’s where it crosses the line.

Cargo pilots...its cool if they travel between hot spots all week long but they are absolutely reckless if they go play a round of golf at the end of the week. It’s cool for healthcare workers to be at hospitals together but the real risk of exposure is if they get together after work for a BBQ.

But the ones staying home convince themselves how many lives they’re saving.

 

[HeatherC]

How do you know with certainty it would end sooner if all we did is curtail gatherings and wear masks?

Your logic of providing the virus with a host yes that would check out for science, it's why ebola has such a high mortality rate. But curtailing gatherings and wearing masks would equate to the pandemic being over sooner is a whole different thing. Would it have the possibility of limiting spread? Yea I could get behind that, but that doesn't mean the end result is the virus would end sooner as in with 100% certainty.

I get the fatigue everyone is having but we should still be careful in how we word things.

Logically thinking it would go away quicker. If it has no hosts to continue spreading it will, therefore, end sooner rather than later. Continuing to gather in crowds and not wear masks provides a free for all for it to spread. To me that is basic common sense. It is also what experts have been saying all along. If a virus has no host, it will end. Pretty simple.

 

[HeatherC]

You make a good point. We have hundreds of customers and a good portion of them seem to have been on work-from-home, or not working at all, since March. You should hear them freak out if it takes a week to get an appointment with Warranty Technician (although it always did before too). Many of them are just demanding monsters now...I guess it's having too much time on their hands. To add insult, customers often refuse to mask-up in their own homes to protect our personnel, even though they certainly expect that from us.

I agree with the basic premise of what you are saying. Obviously, there will be people who have to go to work unless there is a lockdown where no one goes anywhere. That is just the nature of this thing. Is it fair? Of course not. life isn’t fair.

But I do think both groups of people, those at work and those at home, can and should at this point curtail all the unnecessary gatherings and “beers after work” mentality for now or this thing will never end and a lot more will die needlessly. Yes, life must go on. But there are certainly ways we can all do our part to help stop the spread, but people don’t care enough to do that. Until if affects them personally.

 

[HeatherC]

It's not going to magically go away.

It's not going to magically go away.

Hence the reason I said we need to curtail gatherings and wear the masks. Where did I say it would magically go away? Why can’t common sense prevail here and people just do their part to help stop it spreading and more dying needlessly. If we don’t provide it a host, it WILL go away. No magic in that. That is pure science and basic common sense.

 

[Karin1984]

A restaurant near my house is offering some advice.

 

[Tinijocaro]

100% this. But...our wish for everyone to follow the rules won't happen. Here in NJ, numbers are going up...averaging around 1,000 cases a day now, and I'm sure it will get worse, as it will in most states as it gets colder. So, it is what it is.

In some ways I look at all of this as a game of Survivor at this point. Not in the real sense so much, but making it to the point where there's a vaccine that will hopefully be trusted and taken by most Americans. We've visited outdoors only with parents, my sister's family, and some close friends. That's it. We haven't eaten at a restaurant since February (inside or outside). And while I don't think there's anything wrong with it, we haven't done take-out...not even one time. We went about 5 months without doing so and I saw a drop in our food bill...bigtime. So, I see that as my personal "game" in a weird way. I've taken us this far, and so now I"m determined to make it all the way to vaccine-time without eating out or doing any take out. While my husband's job is quite secure and he works from home normally, my business has taken quite a hit and isn't likely to return to what it was until maybe next summer at the earliest. I've used some of my extra time to pick up more volunteer hours at our local ASPCA, to grow a great veggie garden, and honestly, to become a better and more creative cook. Saving on the food bill makes me feel like I'm making a positive financial contribution to my household.

I'm a bit obsessed with the news cycle right now (politics...I'll admit it), once the election is over, I am going to start a new workout routine for the winter months to get into better shape. I'm not in bad shape, but I could be better. It's a good way to lift your mood in the darker, colder months for sure. And so I'm hoping to be in great shape when we get that vaccine, and then will gleefully plan lots and lots of travel.

One other thing that we're doing to get us through the late fall is to put up our Christmas decorations very early, probably the week of Thanksgiving. Our families have agreed that celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas indoors is too risky this year, but we're hoping for warmer days so we can sit out on our porches and celebrate a bit. I want to have a backyard fire pit gathering or two and enjoy some gluhwein. I've never made it, so if anyone has a good recipe, I'd love to have it. Way, way back in 2006, DH and I traveled to Germany, Austria and the Chech Republic and visited many Christkindlmarkts. At each destination, we purchased two of the mugs for that particular market, and hauled all 14 of those mugs back to the States. So, thought it would be fun to break them out after all of these years and enjoy a hot adult beverage outdoors.

That's all I have. Nice reading what everyone is planning to do.

I'm also following the news cycle closely and hope that I can stop after the election. We also aren't having family over for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So sad. We did buy a propane fire pit and will hope for not much snow before TDay and Christmas so maybe we can have a couple outdoor gatherings with family.

 

[Tinijocaro]

We've never been doers, especially in winter. I just don't have a desire to leave my warm house, get in a cold car, drive across town, get out of the car into a cold rain and go eat or see a movie. (Pretty much reverse that for summer. Hot car, hot drive, over air conditioned buildings... no thanks.) I'm perfectly content to work my way through the backlog of stuff I want to stream, my books, Lego, puzzles, and boardgames. And I'm a good cook, so I'd rather eat my stuff than restaurant crap, anyway.

For me, lockdown has been not much different from daily life. The only thing I'll miss is being able to see my parents as readily. As long as it was nice, I could go over and we all sit outside and talk. While the weather here doesn't get bitterly cold, it's cold enough to stop that, especially for them. So that's a bummer. The rest? Introvert's paradise!

My dad (92) lives right up the road from me and I haven't been in his house since covid hit. I have been on his deck and he on mine quite a bit. I just made the decision that unless/until covid gets really bad again around here (Buffalo, NY), I am going to visit him in his house, both wearing masks and socially distanced. He's 92. Every day he wakes up is a gift and I don't want to regret not seeing him this winter.

 

[Tinijocaro]

There's a project for you- how to turn an ordinary clothes drying rack into a wine rack.
You can never have too many places to store your wine, clothes can dry anywhere

Those holes are larger than they appear-I guess I'd have to buy gallon jugs of wine to fit in those holes!