That COVID - How's it affected you?

[Welly]

Well someone had to ask

To my family:

I've been really busy with work (construction related works have carried on/been encouraged) not had one day off this year - waiting for xmas hols.

Mrs_Welly been really busy (care in the community work) keeps getting offered overtime/weekends.

Son_Welly - living back at home and doing his work from home full time.

Daughter_Welly back at Uni in a shared house - all cacking it in case they pick up infection, her work is all on-line.

Muther_Welly moaning about being held up at home so long.

Next door neighbores caught COVID infection report: "deeply unpleasant".

I know 2 people that died 'with' it.

The country's finances are knackered - where is all this Furlough money coming from? print more money? do you think the whole world will just have to agree to write off the debt between them? that's the only solution I can think of unless our generation and the next ten generations slowly pay it all back.

I also think the Retail and Hospitality sector will be scarred by this and will never quite be the same. Still expecting further big names to collapse.

[PeterN]

I don't think that the world will be the same again! It hasn't overly affected us as we didn't go out much anyway, we live deep in the countryside and have no immediate neighbors so its a very pleasant place to be. Missed our holiday this year and son and grandchildren but they are now in our 'bubble' so see them quite often, they only live three miles away.

I would rather not get the virus as I'm, 81, not a good age for it apparently but it's not very prevalent in the west country.

Peter

[Doggy]

Being fortunate enough to have the choice, I stopped driving trucks in February so have 'retired' a year or so early. Was intending to keep going part time at least until I get my state pension in April. Less money coming in, but not spending much either. Trying and mostly failing to clear up all the diy stuff I put off for years....

Mrs Doggy has some disability so hasn't worked for years. She rarely goes out but maintains her sanity with craft hobbies and looking after the grand kids a few hours most days

We cancelled planned trips to Scotland, Austria/Switzerland and Portugal but managed a week in Cornwall - I found a stupidly expensive camp site that included a private loo/shower/bbq etc, on each pitch.

Elder daughter runs marketing for a local wholesale supplier, she was furloughed for a couple of months at the beginning then worked from home most of the time since. Her partner's worked throughout.

Younger daughter runs a vet practice so has kept working, her other half was on part time work at home but now back as the only one in the office.

My son's outfit has/had a group of nightclubs, they tried to operate a few venues when it was legal, now completely stuffed / probably can't salvage anything to start again if and when that's possible. His wife's worked up to now, but is on maternity leave, (baby due in a a week or two).

My bro's half way through renovating a house in France, but hasn't made it there at all this year. That's scuppered his le Mans and wild boar hunting trips plus his customary week in Scotland. He's older than me, on his own and bored witless

I guess we're more fortunate than many but I can't see any end to it. I volunteered for a vaccine trial thinking there's some chance it'll work and give me immunity for a bit but the doc say's I'll never know and will probably get an approved vaccine in a year or so.....

Stay safe and keep your chin up peoples

[Welly]

One of the sad things is the lack of social interaction possible. As I've become older I've become more self-confident in speaking to people I don't know, I don't mean one of those nutters that tries talking to everyone but I'll catch a glimpse of someone's eye contact or facial expression.....which will often lead to a short conversation or whatever, it's nice, I find it rewarding and find that most people are the same.

Going about the shops with a blooming face mask on kills all social interaction dead, shame but needed. I just hope people will learn to be nice to each other again after all this. Perhaps the pandemic will make people be nicer.

[PeterN]

My hobby of amateur radio gives me plenty of people to talk to if I feel the need, but there don't seem to be all that many people on at the moment.

Peter

[steve_earwig]

Sorry guys, I'm getting a lot of headaches just now so I'm limiting my up close screen time.

I'm an antisocial git so I'm not actually bothered about not meeting any one I suspect we're a bit more relaxed now than we were at the start, still trying to keep our distance, wear the mask, washy handies and all that but we're going shopping more than we were. With my 87 year old father here we're being a bit more cautious about meeting people and going anywhere en masse, and obviously avoiding all those friends that have expressed opinions like "it's all a WHO/Bill Gates conspiracy" and "I don't know anyone that's had it so I don't believe it exists" like the plague...

No lock down as such just now, just limited gatherings, controlling how many people go in small shops, that sort of malarkey. T'wife's school is closed again, classes online style of thing, although as one of the two school librarians (sounds like a cushy number I know but she has a lot of other duties, like covering for other teachers while they're off) she has to be there 2 or 3 times a week so teachers from the outlying village schools (which are still functioning) can pick up books. Luckily I don't have any family or friends (helps not having many I guess) that have had it, although some of my wife's colleagues have (including the headmaster), hence the closure I guess.

I think, with the amount of misinformation we're being fed, it's best to be cautious rather than assume it's all ballcocks like some, e.g. I'm still leaving my shoes outside despite being told it's unnecessary (this week...)

Looks like there's a vaccine now (another one?) but it's early days and I suspect it's not going to be the magic bullet we're all hoping for

[Doggy]

Sorry guys, I'm getting a lot of headaches just now so I'm limiting my up close screen time.

Had that on & off recently, but since much of the town lost Virgin broadband for the last few days, I'm feeling better.

Sounds like good news on the vaccine front, Trump's on his way out but unfortunately no sign of rational behaviour this side of the Atlantic.......

[steve_earwig]

The screen definitely doesn't help, when t'wife got rid of my 3-seater sofa-bed thing, forcing me to sit in front of the monitor like a normal person ( ) I started getting lots of headaches, however moving the screen back another foot seemed to stop it happening. Recently I have been eating a lot of nuts and I suspect that's the latest problem. I tried cutting them out completely yesterday and today I've been ok, I'll have to see what happens tomorrow but I'm starting to think I need to work out which ones are doing it

Oh yes, I'm sure replacing one loopy old geezer with an even older one will sort everything out just fine

[Welly]

Glad to hear all is generally ok with peeps. Seems we're all going through the same kinda stuff.

[DaiRees]

A bit late to the party as always... good to hear everyone's coping with this weird year.

Generally we've been OK, I've been working from home throughout which I used to quite enjoy, a day or 2 a week. Now it's a bit of a pain. I can count the number of times I've been out for work purposes since March 23rd without taking my socks off. Spending about 10 hours a day staring at a 3 screen setup then when I finish I go in the other room, watch telly and look at my phone. Also suffering a bit with mild eye / head issues, dizzy spells and my near vision has gone awful.

Mrs Dai is a teacher so she's pretty much worked throughout, from home for a while at the beginning doing online learning stuff, then back in class. It's a constant source of worry, there's no distancing or PPE being used in the schools. It appears that the government think teachers are expendable.

Son snr is back in Uni in Swansea. I say he's back in Uni, he's in his student house in Swansea attending all lectures online. He's actually been into the university twice since going back in September, could've stayed here and saved us a fortune.

Son jr is in school, yr 9. It's a conveyor belt of groups being sent home to isolate for 2 weeks, they arrive back and it's just a matter of time until they're told to isolate again

In other news, we've had 3 cancelled holidays and managed one night away in Gloucester all year. We've managed to rearrange the hols for next year but who knows? I spent my 2 weeks summer holiday this year (when I should have been on a cruise) and several subsequent weekends turning this...



into this




In car news I've broken my record for time between fill ups, 171 days And my lowest mileage record, from swapping winter wheels to summer wheels in April to swapping back a few weeks ago, 750 miles

[Welly]

Very impressive!

Now you can get all the junk from the house/garage and fill that room with it

[steve_earwig]

Lordy! Pimp my shed

I may have spoken too soon - I'm afraid I may be heading for a more personal experience. My last remaining aunt and uncle, both in their 80's, ended up in a care home early this year. My uncle has vascular dementia and is away with the fairies most of the time now but my aunt, despite memory issues caused by some sub wotsit bleeds, is fairly compos mentis and livid that she's been stuffed in a home. None of us are too comfortable with the situation, my aunt was getting completely confused with the medication so my cousins tried home help but it all went seriously tits up, so this seems to have been the only solution. I thought they'd be safe in there. Hey, I know care homes had some issues early on in the pandemic but they must have it sorted by now, right? It's hard enough to get through to them on Skype (have to make an appointment) but going to see them is like getting in to see Howard Hughes, visitors aren't even allowed to use the bog.

Well sorted bollocks, there's an outbreak in the home and they've both been tested positive. We spoke to them last week and neither are showing symptoms and we've not had anything from the cousins, so we're living in hope, maybe the home cocked the tests up as well.

Anyway, the headaches seem to have subsided. I think I do have a nut issue which needs investigation (or just never eating the things again in any quantity) but I think I had sinusitis again. I had it once before a few years back, trips to quack, referrals, head x-ray... Sod that lot, I tried some marshmallow nose drops t'wife cooked up and they seem to have done the job. So no more waking up every day with a cataclysmic headache, I'm just back to the usual once in a while jobs.

[Welly]

If they are positive without symptoms they'll be ok, they'll get more testing done too.

Retirement in the later (last few) years is always difficult all-round, would you really want the hassle of property upkeep when you're 86? don't think I would - I can see why these 'Retirement Villages' are so mega popular here - it's basically a nice new all-inclusive Apartment and help when you need it.

The experience of the last few Council-type Care Homes I've been in has left a lot to be desired though, they were smelly and grim

I've just heard my Step Brother's Wife is positive and my Bro In-Law is isolating due to contact with a carrier - all in the last few days, deffo seems worse this time and now they've given the green-light for Christmas gatherings

[Doggy]

Lets hope the recent progress on vaccines results in getting the stuff to care homes and the like effectively and soon, after all the govmint must be able to not foul something up.

Regarding sinusitis, I had one nostril rebored about 15 years back - that 99% stopped my problems, which were clearly sinus related. I got serious pain mostly at the top if the snout/behind the eyes etc and symptoms could be eased by sinus meds. I still get congestion issues if I pig out, have a few beers etc but it's less painful and over quicker than before. (probably nothing like your situation, but thought I'd share).

Had one of them there flu jabs yesterday along with advice not to drive or walk any distance for 10-15 mins in case I fainted.
Think I've survived.

[steve_earwig]

Still no symptoms as of yesterday (and I'm sure I'd have heard if there were any today), so either they're asymptomatic or somebody's cocked up the tests.

My ganddad's widow was in one of those retirement villages, tiny flats but quite clean, nice gardens, flowers etc. My dad keeps saying "you won't be able to do that forever" when I'm doing stuff like shipping logs or sweeping the chimney. I guess he's right but I reckon I'll cross that bridge.

This (your?) government not foul something up? Seems unlikely, given their record this year. They've probably already moved all their rich mates up to the top of the list...

Sinusitis - that sounds about right, a bit like a migraine but could go from nothing to Armageddon in a heartbeat. I'm not sure I like the idea of having a nostril re-bored, we have sinus meds but they're t'wife's and I thought I could just work through my range of painkillers until I found something that worked. Nothing did though, so I was zonked out on valium most of the time (prescribed for migraines, 2.5mg.)

I had my flu shot a few weeks back, I didn't get any passing out warnings though, I was driving an' all