I'm doing quite a lot of normal things and generally following the law (wearing masks in indoor places, gathering limit under 10 people). I live in one of the safest places on the continent right now so life is relatively normal besides mask-wearing. The boys are returning to school next week which I'm anxious about because if anything starts wave 2 it'll be school. But keeping them home is pointless since DH has to go to work and they're all in the same school.
Going to work is a break for me. It's me and my boss in separate offices. I may see 1 other person. There are so few people in the building that the bathrooms are the cleanest they have been since we moved into that space. I sometimes don't have to talk to anyone in person if I go on a Friday.
Everyone loves telework, but it's draining for me being home working. I don't know how people do it full time. I don't even really like people, but I definitely miss those in-person, off the cuff, discussions that would have spontaneously.
I ended up in one yesterday with my boss and it was just like "this is what I miss!" Course we were shouting back and forth from our desks, but it was better than nothing.
Post by underwaterrhymes on Sept 3, 2020 7:41:48 GMT -5
We are pretty strict. We order in all groceries and do the drive through pharmacy. No restaurants in person, but we do curbside pickup or Door Dash.
H and I largely work remotely, although he goes in a few times a week. Kids are e-learning and no extracurriculars.
I had one haircut at the end of July because I felt comfortable with their protocol - temp checking and mask wearing, sanitizing of chairs, plexiglass in between stations, etc. I likely wont have another for awhile, though.
We don’t do indoor stuff. We have met up with a few friends for outdoor activities (sunflower maze, Botanic garden, local farm) and wore masks the majority of the time, only taking them off when no one else was around. And we played in a similar socially distanced friends’ pool.
I’ve also had a number of doctor appointments and physical therapy, but obviously wear a mask for those and there is stringent screening and temp checks before you enter.
I bought a bunch of fun winter stuff on Amazon because we won’t be engaging in indoor public activities and I suspect - like inflatable pools - these will be hard to come by soon.
Going to work is a break for me. It's me and my boss in separate offices. I may see 1 other person. There are so few people in the building that the bathrooms are the cleanest they have been since we moved into that space. I sometimes don't have to talk to anyone in person if I go on a Friday.
Everyone loves telework, but it's draining for me being home working. I don't know how people do it full time. I don't even really like people, but I definitely miss those in-person, off the cuff, discussions that would have spontaneously.
I ended up in one yesterday with my boss and it was just like "this is what I miss!" Course we were shouting back and forth from our desks, but it was better than nothing.
I also have been really happy back in the office. I hate telework and it has been terrible for my mental health. As soon as was able to go to the office about 3 weeks ago I felt so much better. Not just less anxiety, but I was much less tired and was able to concentrate so much better. I have been home again this week because M had a fever last weekend (I got a test and a negative result, still waiting on his result) and I feel shitty again. Actually even worse than before. If my office shuts down again I'm don't know how I'm going to deal with it.
- quit my gym - pulled my son from daycare. H works from home and I have worked some weekend shifts but am currently on leave again. I just applied to a telehealth position which would be nice. - we do outdoor play dates with 3 other families who are also all at home. Adults stay distanced, kids usually are pretty distanced since parallel play is developmentally appropriate. - We wear a mask in any public setting, outdoors or indoors. This now includes my 2 year old. Exception for walks in our neighborhood, when we carry masks on us but don’t need to wear them because we can keep distance. - online shopping / groceries, with rare exceptions (4 trips to Trader Joe’s since March). I haven’t stepped into a retail store or pharmacy. - I have gotten one hair cut in my backyard. We both were masked. No blow out or color. - no restaurants. Takeout is fine. - we are planning one weekend trip with my brother (driving to an air bnb). He is quarantining for two weeks and getting tested first, since I am high risk. - we go to the beach, outdoor exhibits at the zoo, and our HOA pool during off hours to allow for distancing. We wear masks to all of these places but take them off at the pool and beach once we are contained to our area. Playgrounds are still closed (since March), otherwise we’d go to those too.
I live in an area with very very low cases (I think our county has 8 cases--which is the highest it has been since July) but we still limit our interactions with folks. We send son to daycare in person, but I work remote still. We have expanded our pod and so for the folks in it (about 3 other families, plus our parents) we are comfortable going into each other's homes. Otherwise we do as much outdoor stuff as possible--we will meet friends for hikes and walks or to go to the playground (where we wear masks), etc.
Masks are required all over for our county unless you are doing outdoor activities without people nearby. Most people are pretty good at following the rules, though there is a small but vocal group that complains about it.
I will say that I have been meeting with my trainer in my "gym" but it is not a regular gym. It is only for small group (3 ppl) or personal training. It is outside as often as we can do it, everyone brings their own equipment and mats, and we have to have special shoes and clothes that we keep there only. zero touching, masks worn, etc. If we see another spike at all then I will stop going and do streaming.
Post by purplepenguin7 on Sept 3, 2020 9:15:42 GMT -5
I grocery shop/target as necessary (with a mask of course). We’ve outdoor dined a few times, maybe 2x a month since June . It’s summer and hot so I don’t love it. My daughter goes to daycare full time but doesn’t have “friends” so we don’t interact directly with other families. We’ve done other outdoor activities (zoo,aquarium, parks) wearing masks and following all social distancing rules. I saw friends on two different occasions but outdoors and very very far apart with masks. Overall trying to balance between being confined to our small townhouse and acting like things are normal.
I’ve done a few things I regret and won’t do again, one being indoor dining (which we had to do on long road trip for a family emergency) and also in the same trip we sat indoors with a fairly large amount of people that I was not comfortable with (large meaning 6-8 people).
We already did most of our daily tasks online before this started, except work, school and grocery shopping. DH and I are both working from home through the end of the year. DS started school in person but in pods (he attends a small private so he's only with the same six kids each day and sees instructors who are masked. He can have recess and eat with a smaller group of three kids).
I'm going to use curbside/take out as long as it's available because why not? I've been inside three spaces in the past month - the post office for under two minutes, UPS to drop off a package and leave and the Home Depot garden center. I dropped our dog off for grooming this morning and they do all outdoor intake. We even sold our car outside. So I feel like we are living but it's not normal. I'm less comfortable inside but we have construction work going on at our house because of a flood so I've had to make concessions there too and I feel like our higher level of exposure between that and school means we have to be more careful about other things in case we are carrying the virus and are asymptomatic.
We have lost 12 employees so far. It's a large global company. (half a mil) I live in a state where I feel like my county is doing pretty well but overall the state is doing really terrible. I am surrounding by people who complain about just doing the basic things like wearing a mask. But part me is really over it. We are still being very diligent as a family but I can't wait to travel again and see the ocean.
I need to know who in my town is dining in at the Applebee’s. They’re doing it; I see the cars in the parking lot. After months of no restaurants, they choose Applebee’s. Why do I live here?
When we lived in that second house way out in the burbs, we would try to find interesting local places to eat. We’d look up reviews and be like “this one seems good,” but inevitably one of us would be like “yeah, but people around here give Chili’s 5 stars, so...”
Our new house is much better for that kind of thing. Much more legit local places that are actually good, not white-suburban-diner good.
I am still taking it seriously. We are on Long Island, and so in a very hard hit area. We only socialize with our bubble, with whom we only started outdoor socializing in May. We haven't been inside anyone's house, and no one has been inside ours. We have done outdoor dining a few times. We have chosen virtual learning for our children at least for the first quarter of the upcoming school year. We even pulled them from their Catholic school, which I adored and we had been a part of for 9 years because I didn't feel the school was taking this seriously enough and I wasn't thrilled with their distance learning in spring. My husband is working from home indefinitely (he works in Manhattan) - his company has not even started discussing when his office will open. I am working from home about 85% of the time and only go into my LI office when absolutely necessary. I have the majority of our groceries delivered still. We canceled pool and beach club memberships this past summer. When out of our house we use masks (required in NYS) anywhere we cannot socially distance and anywhere inside completely.
I was easing up a bit, but then we were slammed with a T1D diagnosis for our 9 year old just a few weeks ago, and I find myself absolutely terrified all over again.
I hate this fucking disease and the year 2020 so much.
Post by chickadee77 on Sept 3, 2020 11:27:00 GMT -5
We have a family home about a half hour away from here, and we've gone there a few times. No one else has access (that is in-state, so we would know if anyone had been there). Other than that, we took the girls to a pedi visit, we went to the bank drive-through twice, and my H had an appointment that he could not miss and could not do virtually. Other than that, we haven't been anywhere/done anything since mid-March. Honestly, before this, we got pretty much everything delivered anyway, so we never really went out to the grocery or shops anyway, lol.
We've lost several friends/acquaintances/coworkers and had others in ICU, so we're not playing.
ETA: My H already WFH and my job is allowing remote work for the time being. @@ Kids are staying home (daycare and 1st grade). We live in a hotspot in FL and people are living life as normal here, so we're probably extra paranoid because there are almost no precautions being taken in public, so we choose to not go out in public if possible. **shrug**
I need to know who in my town is dining in at the Applebee’s. They’re doing it; I see the cars in the parking lot. After months of no restaurants, they choose Applebee’s. Why do I live here?
legit lol. The closest restaurant to our house is applebees and so I pass it daily. Every evening it is legit packed (and no outside seating). Does not compute!
Post by pinkdutchtulips on Sept 3, 2020 11:50:52 GMT -5
I live in the Bay Area (east bay) and a lot of it is still shut down - pools, gyms, schools ... drives dd nuts but not much can be done about it. We still do outdoor dining, I still go to Costco, grocery store, Target albeit I’m masked up and dd may or may not be w me. We’ve been to a handful of family events spread out. DD has a small bday ‘party’ at a local park - everyone masked, 6’ apart, single serve everything.
I’ve been back in my office since mid July - no public transit. There are 6 people in my office, each of us w our own office and we occupy an entire floor - plenty of room to spread out.
I feel we’re somewhere in the middle - def not bunkering down but not living like it’s 2019. I feel we take the necessary precautions masking up in public but not straying too far from our ‘bubble’ (J&L, my former bil and his kids ).
I need to know who in my town is dining in at the Applebee’s. They’re doing it; I see the cars in the parking lot. After months of no restaurants, they choose Applebee’s. Why do I live here?
LOL. Driving around it seems like the busiest restaurants are Olive Garden and Chili's. WTAF. If I decide to take a chance on indoor dining it's sure as heck not going to be for mediocre chain food where they pack you in like sardines.
I need to know who in my town is dining in at the Applebee’s. They’re doing it; I see the cars in the parking lot. After months of no restaurants, they choose Applebee’s. Why do I live here?
LOL. Driving around it seems like the busiest restaurants are Olive Garden and Chili's. WTAF. If I decide to take a chance on indoor dining it's sure as heck not going to be for mediocre chain food where they pack you in like sardines.
I think there’s a strong correlation between many people who are dumb enough to insist on eating inside a crowded restaurant and people who are dumb enough to like crappy chain food.
Going to work is a break for me. It's me and my boss in separate offices. I may see 1 other person. There are so few people in the building that the bathrooms are the cleanest they have been since we moved into that space. I sometimes don't have to talk to anyone in person if I go on a Friday.
Everyone loves telework, but it's draining for me being home working. I don't know how people do it full time. I don't even really like people, but I definitely miss those in-person, off the cuff, discussions that would have spontaneously.
I ended up in one yesterday with my boss and it was just like "this is what I miss!" Course we were shouting back and forth from our desks, but it was better than nothing.
I also have been really happy back in the office. I hate telework and it has been terrible for my mental health. As soon as was able to go to the office about 3 weeks ago I felt so much better. Not just less anxiety, but I was much less tired and was able to concentrate so much better. I have been home again this week because M had a fever last weekend (I got a test and a negative result, still waiting on his result) and I feel shitty again. Actually even worse than before. If my office shuts down again I'm don't know how I'm going to deal with it.
Same — I hate working from home. Once in a while is great for flexibility but when there’s no end in sight, I get this feeling that’s almost like claustrophobia.
Unfortunately, we’re not allowed back in the office and won’t be for quite a while. However, I did get a taste of having something that was taken away — childcare. The level of depression I feel about Zoom school this year feels so much greater than last school year because we had in-person camp in between. I love my kid, obviously, but it’s too much. We’re not supposed to be trapped together 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no end in sight. (She’s been in daycare since she was 11 weeks old so I’ve never not had some form of childcare.)
Post by game blouses on Sept 3, 2020 12:55:16 GMT -5
I like the Weight Watchers analogy. I "save" our interactions for necessary life things (I got my teeth cleaned last week, my kids have doctor's checkups that were rescheduled from April, etc). Those are the only things I feel are worth the risk. I'm very limited with family and friend interactions and still get Instacart orders and farm boxes for groceries.
Post by somersault72 on Sept 3, 2020 12:57:24 GMT -5
--I'm working outside the home (healthcare--can't work from home). --DS is doing full-time virtual learning, but running cross country (masks are worn unless they are actually running). --DD is still going to daycare full time (in home provider with 2 other toddlers). --I do sometimes go to stores, grocery shopping, pharmacies. --I wear a mask if I'm in a store. --We dine out maybe once a month. --I see 2 of my friends in person, and my parents and that's really it socially (and my parents don't see anyone but us really--my mom works from home and my dad is retired).
Post by amandakisser on Sept 3, 2020 13:15:58 GMT -5
I already WFH so that didn't change. My H is essential so he goes in the office. At first he was doing ALL of the errands because of that to minimize risk, but now that is much more evenly distributed. DD2 is starting soccer Saturday (mandatory mask wearing and a small team of 12 that will only scrimmage against each other each week). DD1 starts back up at gymnastics tonight (only 9 girls on the team and they're the only ones in the gym at a time), and she will be in-person at school in two weeks. I have been going to OrangeTheory 2/week and the rest of the time I do virtual workouts with my trainer. We've been to outdoor restaurants a couple times and indoors a couple as well. I actually felt fine indoors because they were at less than half capacity and we went EARLY so not many people were there. And we've been to outdoor farmers' markets, the aquarium, and the zoo, all of which mandated mask usage and had a timed entry. I feel this is pretty standard for what most people in my state are doing, and we have a roughly 1.2% infection rate right now, so I'm extremely comfortable with the amount of time we've spent out of the house. I know this could change any day so I'm enjoying it now lol.
Post by lilypad1126 on Sept 3, 2020 13:42:14 GMT -5
We are barely going out in our town, in part b/c we live in a college town with a bunch of dumb students who aren't taking it seriously. Plus there are a lot of anti-maskers so we are staying home when we can. However, I have gotten my hair done at a salon, and we have gone on vacation (where we stayed in our cabin, only did take out, and basically just did the same things we usually do to entertain ourselves at home, but with a different view).
We've done outdoor dining twice, and I was ok with that. But now that the college kids are back, I'm less likely to do it. As more things open up, our area is seeing more cases, and we are withdrawing back into ourselves more.
ETA: I am still working from home full time and my H has always WFH so we don't have to worry about workplace exposure.
I'm still working at home and likely will be until next summer. So is my husband. We are still getting the vast majority of meals and groceries delivered. If we have to run somewhere to pick something up we wear masks. We once ate outdoors at a restaurant because my MIL wanted to - it was actually nice (first time having a drink or meal out in 5 months when I normally eat a meal out every week or two, not including takeout) and we ended up being the only ones out there. I also got coffee outdoors with a friend once, and we have socialized in our yards as well. I may have another friend and her daughter over for an outdoor meal (separate tables) this weekend. We have started going to the pool, but we have our gym club membership scheduled to go on hold after pool season and resume next May - I'm not going to do any indoor workout activities at the gym.
I went to my dad's house once, which ended up being an (outdoor) party for 30 people, no masks, and I won't be seeing my dad again until this is over, let me tell you. Unfortunately, that means not seeing my mom for Christmas, either, even though she's taking this pretty seriously. (My parents are divorced, but my mom doesn't feel comfortable traveling 300 miles to see me in the winter, and if I visit her, I would have to see my dad, who lives 6 miles from her.)
I need to know who in my town is dining in at the Applebee’s. They’re doing it; I see the cars in the parking lot. After months of no restaurants, they choose Applebee’s. Why do I live here?
Sadly, the one time I’ve eaten indoors at a restaurant was Applebee’s. We had an out of town medical appointment, five hours from home, it was a loooooong appointment and we were starving and grumpy after. We weren’t in a part of town we were used to, we tried to find a good looking local place and then gave up and pulled into an Applebee’s as we drove by. All the local not chain places we drove past were just closed for the duration- couldn’t get enough business at the 25% capacity caps
I haven't been to the grocery store since March. Today I went to Costco for Oktoberfest beer (they have a great deal, get it every year). It was a total shitshow! Every checkout line had 5-6 people waiting(waited about 15 minutes). They were still doing samples!!!! Aisle were croweded and impossible to maneuver. At least everyone was wearing masks. I will be sticking with Sam's curbside pick up and Amazon Fresh delivered to my door!
Post by Velar Fricative on Sept 3, 2020 17:16:44 GMT -5
I feel solidarity with everyone who hates working from home. Only occasionally is fine. DH goes back to work on Tuesday and I am so bummed that I won’t be able to go back into my office as much. I really took advantage of DH being home with no work this summer so he could watch the kids. I just feel like I have to start my workday immediately upon wakeup and then I don’t stop until dinnertime, with DH reminding me multiple times that it’s dinnertime. I can’t shut my brain off from work when I WFH. My short drive to and from work is my time to get ready to start the day and decompress after I leave.
I'm a little skewed because I work in home health, so I am in different homes daily. However, aside from every other weekend going to an outdoor well spaced brewery, we aren't doing anything besides groceries and I have gotten my hair done; my hair stylist had covid early on. DD is being homeschooled this year, and we aren't visiting any relatives or friends with the exception of 3 of her friends she sees once a month that are doing remote learning.
We went to the mountains for a 3 day weekend but we really bothered by the fact that people on the streets weren't wearing masks, despite the streets being crowded, so we got takeout beer and takeout food and spent most of the time at our hotel.
I haven't been to the grocery store since March. Today I went to Costco for Oktoberfest beer (they have a great deal, get it every year). It was a total shitshow! Every checkout line had 5-6 people waiting(waited about 15 minutes). They were still doing samples!!!! Aisle were croweded and impossible to maneuver. At least everyone was wearing masks. I will be sticking with Sam's curbside pick up and Amazon Fresh delivered to my door!
What state do you live in? That's nuts! Going to Costco makes me kind of sad now because I miss the samples. I can't imagine actually eating any or being comfortable being around a bunch of people eating them, though!
I saw a guy there last week eating a granola bar and it irritated me. Samples would probably send me running lol.
Post by Leeham Rimes on Sept 3, 2020 17:46:48 GMT -5
bittybomb, I’m sorry to hear about T1D diagnosis, that’s so stressful. My mom’s boss’s daughter has T1D, I could ask her if she has any resources she’d recommend to a family, if you want. Her boss is seriously the nicest person I’ve ever met so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind forwarding information.
I need ham like water Like breath, like rain I need ham like mercy From Heaven's gate Sometimes ham salad or casserole or ham that’s free range, all natural I need ham
H and I work from home; he does 1x a week grocery shopping + the occasional quick stop in for a forgotten ingredient at a very small local shop.
My adult kids were much more exposed, via their jobs, so I had more indirect exposure than I wanted over the summer. Because of that, I hunkered down even more - once they’ve been gone for two weeks, I’ll feel less like a risk factor when I venture into public.
I’ve entered restaurants to pick up orders to go, and to see people eating indoors in a sad, quiet, nearly empty dining room is grim. I don’t get the appeal at all.