How was your day? (Random off topic chat)

I am trying to distract myself with reading & watching videos but it's difficult to concentrate on them when half of your mind is going "CORONAVIRUS! PANIC!" all the time. I have Asperger's so I find uncertainty very difficult to deal with at the best of times. I'm not actually that worried about dying of it myself. What I'm petrified of is my mother dying of it & me being left on my own. The last time she went on holiday without me I basically had a nervous breakdown & that was 10 years ago. Since then I can't even cope with being left on my own for one night. The thought of being left on my own for the rest of my life is unbearable.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person who keeps on imagining I'm getting symptoms. I've always been far too good at getting psychosomatic symptoms of whatever I'm afraid of getting at the time. Thanks. I don't really have any outlets apart from either wailing at my mother, who gets a bit fed up when I'm doing it multiple times a day, or wailing online.

Escaping to the countryside is my best way of coping, especially with the extra pressure from "work" to prepare for WFH and having to cope with lots of new IT equipment and how to use it. So I went out walking on Wednesday and again yesterday and was surprised by how few others were out doing things which are still allowed and would enable them to get fresh air and exercise without risk of social contact.

I walked across or alongside several golf courses on Wednesday and they were almost deserted; OK you'd expect fewer people of working age there on a weekday but the usual older members were missing and in fact on both days those users I did see were very young. I also saw a few walkers, dog-walkers, runners and cyclists and Wednesday was obviously a working day and the weather wasn't great in the south-east, but yesterday was the most fabulous sunny early spring day so where was everyone? All in supermarkets looking in vain for scarce supplies?

OH keeps suggesting or threatening that soon even the above forms of exercise will be banned but I can't see why, if people are outdoors and alone or keeping their distance from a companion. Plus people will really need to keep fit and deal with the increased risk of depression. I know the situation is getting to me, so I really need what seems like a safe fix.

I agree. Choose your trusted outlet and check in for the latest every day. 24 hour rolling news is not good if you are anxious, Ive packed it in and feel better for it. On LBC I’m only listening to Iain Dale as he is generally very non-inflammatory and as it happens has just come on at 10am this Sunday morning. He’s broadcasting from home. 

This forum isn’t a place for getting or disseminating news, but for positivity, giving and getting support and of course theatre related discussion with likeminded people. 

Stay positive, spread positivity and encourage others to do the right thing. 

Good point londonpostie , as I made my own sandwiches for lunch and primarily continuing as is whilst working from home had not considered those which is the majority who buy lunch each day and have been eating out regularly a couple of times a week even if only a McDonalds.

For me it is only maybe 2 or 3 meals a week which was for shows directly after work or between a matinee and an evening performance.

The increased demand on the supermarkets is therefore significant aligned with needing a weeks food in case you fall ill accounts for a lot of the stock-outs but maybe not the toilet roll.

I am still buying a couple of days ahead and pop into my Sainsbury’s local mid-morning following the deliveries and topping up for the next few days on a rolling 3 day supply with whatever I can scavenge.

Today was lucky with mashed potato and sausages so no guesses on today’s lunch.

I would hope that the government wouldn't be so grossly incompetent as to do that. The correct thing to do would be to punish people individually, not act like a teacher saying "You're ruining it for everyone so now you can all suffer".

I know from past experience that one of the problems with working from home is that if you don't get out you can suffer a vitamin D deficiency, and on a personal level I know that if I'm stuck in the house for too long it triggers increasing levels of ASD-related breakdowns. It's no good trying to act against a virus if the emergency services get overwhelmed with attempted suicides and millions of health issues caused by continuous incarceration. We are not machines that can be switched off for three months, and if the government wants to keep control of the situation it needs to take that into account.

The only way we will get through this is by getting out and enjoying the outdoors when we can. It does wonders for morale. The government really needs to switch its message into telling us what things we can do to get through this. I went shopping this morning and quite a few people were out and about but all well apart from each other, and a draconian "no fun, ever" message is about the absolute worst thing they could do.

Agree 1000% @thematthew - really hope the govt goes down that route at least first. I fear that other European countries have set the precedent though. I've got a friend in Paris who is just not allowed out and is going quietly out of his mind. I dread being in the same position.

I’m afraid I think they will have to ban all people going out as people always have the same idea to go to the same place.....just look at bank holidays. I know it’s hard and I love walking (alone!) in the countryside but we need t understand that this is necessary. No travel. Cancel caravans etc travelling, close campsites, everyone just sheltering in their homes for a bit. It is not a holiday.
Deliver food boxes to those who cant go out.
War footing required.
Not nudge stuff....not quick enough.

Just look what Miami had to do when stories started coming out of people partying at the marina:

www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article241404096.html

I went for a walk around lunchtime yesterday here in my neighborhood in Queens. It was a pretty nice, sunny day, and people were out but not necessarily in crowds. Most people I saw together appeared to be couples or parents with kids (so people who are presumably already living together). I did hear that in the areas nearby with a younger population (mine is fairly residential), people were still out in clusters and hanging out very close to each other while waiting for takeout.

Now our governor is saying things like this, and NO, it is not a photoshop!




For what it's worth, I went out again close to midnight and it was like a blizzard. I saw maybe three people total while walking down the busiest street on my block in a span of maybe 8 blocks, when on most Saturday nights close to midnight I'd see 30-40.

This isn’t ’stupid ' like 'stupid' usually is though. Some people are in denial, some don’t read or follow news but hear it third hand from friends, some hate the government so much they will do opposite of that gov says to do,some consider themselves cleverer than everyone else and some are conspiracy maniacs. And for some, normally intelligent people, or what passes for that, haven’t let it sink in yet.
Two of our friends, two of the most intelligent people of our circle ( a category to be sharply revised now) of my age, so in the 'vulnerable' category etc, went to a gathering of 28 people in someone's house for an unimportant religious celebration, an event you could easily miss or get out of, even in normal times. Guess what? Nearly all of the people there came down with the virus. Our friends were very poorly but managed to look after eachother at home. So great, they survived. Now think about the number of people infected by the people who went to that gathering. Beggar's belief. This was last week by the way, when advice for over 70s quite clear, to stay at home.

So there you are, two clever people. As Lord Sugar had it, 'what woz they thinkin'?'

I started the Marvel movie franchise 2 days ago, 15 to go!