How I'm Doing (The Coronavirus Diaries, Part VII)
A geographical distant acquaintance asked how I was doing a few weeks ago, so I actually thought about it. M and I have now been at home since Monday, March 16.
Let's start with food.
- I really, really miss going grocery shopping in person. We've been getting curb-side delivery, which has a convenience factor I cannot deny, but it not nearly as much fun as evaluating options, talking to the staff at the West Side Market (which I hope will survive) and tweaking menus on the fly as I see specials and sales. There are also a few ingredients my local union grocery store doesn't have, and I haven't bothered to order them online yet.
- I don't actually miss eating out all that much. Take out commuting to work and I've got plenty of time to cook, and while maybe I can't be as spontaneous, I still have plenty of options. I'd certainly like a few things I don't make at home (sushi, more complicated thai food), but honestly, not eating out doesn't bother me nearly as much as I would have predicted.
Moving on to activities.
- I do miss not going to concerts, but since there aren't any concerts to go it's sort of a moot point anyway. I've not bothered with any livestreams, although I was tempted by a Nick Cave live concert film briefly. I've listened to somewhat more music than usual, but not much more since I'm on Zoom all day during work.
- Similarly, there are no movies in theaters. Unlike concerts, there are other options here. M and I have watched a few movies on streaming, which are quite literally the first movies I've watched in my house since I moved in back in 2007. A few were old classics and others new to me. It's definitely not nearly as good as watching them in the theater.
- As noted, I suspended my gym membership. I miss it terribly, more than pretty much any other activity I regularly partake in. Fortunately, biking is a pretty good substitute, at least for now. I'll probably think differently once winter arrives.
- I went through a few months of missing baseball, but now that it has restarted, I haven't reverted into my usual in season pattern of obsessively reading box scores. I may yet, but it's hard for me to get excited about a 60 game season, especially when I can't go in person.
- I'm reading a lot less, partially because I'm biking more and partially because I'm running out of books I haven't read. I miss the library. It has reopened (I returned my books from March), but M's comfort level simply isn't there on me picking up new ones, even with curbside. Maybe soon.
- We've been playing a lot of Ticket to Ride on M's iPad.
- I actually find that I don't miss radio all that much. I'm not sure why that's true, but having an open Sunday is pretty great. I suspect I may not go back.
People
- Early on, I made a point of writing to everyone who sent me a Christmas card last year, which was nice and provided touchpoints with some people who aren't on FB. That seemed to mostly happen during the chaotic "no pattern" early days of the pandemic.
- We've been having sporadic "cousin" zooms with both sides of my family, which is a totally new thing that I hope continues post-pandemic.
- Work continues remotely. My job continues to be super cool about not wanting us back in the office. I probably won't be back until 2021 at earliest, and maybe longer.
- M's nephew (of Orlando fame) likes to read M and her mother bedtime stories over the phone. That's pretty adorable.
- Besides the cousins zooms, there have been some Sunday brunch zooms. M did a book club with her friends. I did a few radio drinking nights. Those have died down once we got into summer.
- While out biking I've run into a few people I've known (mostly from the gym) and we've had socially distant conversations. I'm once or twice happened to bike past a friend's house when they were outside and done the same. Aside from those and a few conversations with neighbors I've not seen anyone in person.
Personally
- I've been surprisingly well, actually. It turns out my mental temperament is relatively unshaken by the last few months of isolation. I haven't been bored, I'm not finding myself depressed or even sad. It's been relatively even keeled for me.
Now it the damn political situation would just unfuck itself.
Let's start with food.
- I really, really miss going grocery shopping in person. We've been getting curb-side delivery, which has a convenience factor I cannot deny, but it not nearly as much fun as evaluating options, talking to the staff at the West Side Market (which I hope will survive) and tweaking menus on the fly as I see specials and sales. There are also a few ingredients my local union grocery store doesn't have, and I haven't bothered to order them online yet.
- I don't actually miss eating out all that much. Take out commuting to work and I've got plenty of time to cook, and while maybe I can't be as spontaneous, I still have plenty of options. I'd certainly like a few things I don't make at home (sushi, more complicated thai food), but honestly, not eating out doesn't bother me nearly as much as I would have predicted.
Moving on to activities.
- I do miss not going to concerts, but since there aren't any concerts to go it's sort of a moot point anyway. I've not bothered with any livestreams, although I was tempted by a Nick Cave live concert film briefly. I've listened to somewhat more music than usual, but not much more since I'm on Zoom all day during work.
- Similarly, there are no movies in theaters. Unlike concerts, there are other options here. M and I have watched a few movies on streaming, which are quite literally the first movies I've watched in my house since I moved in back in 2007. A few were old classics and others new to me. It's definitely not nearly as good as watching them in the theater.
- As noted, I suspended my gym membership. I miss it terribly, more than pretty much any other activity I regularly partake in. Fortunately, biking is a pretty good substitute, at least for now. I'll probably think differently once winter arrives.
- I went through a few months of missing baseball, but now that it has restarted, I haven't reverted into my usual in season pattern of obsessively reading box scores. I may yet, but it's hard for me to get excited about a 60 game season, especially when I can't go in person.
- I'm reading a lot less, partially because I'm biking more and partially because I'm running out of books I haven't read. I miss the library. It has reopened (I returned my books from March), but M's comfort level simply isn't there on me picking up new ones, even with curbside. Maybe soon.
- We've been playing a lot of Ticket to Ride on M's iPad.
- I actually find that I don't miss radio all that much. I'm not sure why that's true, but having an open Sunday is pretty great. I suspect I may not go back.
People
- Early on, I made a point of writing to everyone who sent me a Christmas card last year, which was nice and provided touchpoints with some people who aren't on FB. That seemed to mostly happen during the chaotic "no pattern" early days of the pandemic.
- We've been having sporadic "cousin" zooms with both sides of my family, which is a totally new thing that I hope continues post-pandemic.
- Work continues remotely. My job continues to be super cool about not wanting us back in the office. I probably won't be back until 2021 at earliest, and maybe longer.
- M's nephew (of Orlando fame) likes to read M and her mother bedtime stories over the phone. That's pretty adorable.
- Besides the cousins zooms, there have been some Sunday brunch zooms. M did a book club with her friends. I did a few radio drinking nights. Those have died down once we got into summer.
- While out biking I've run into a few people I've known (mostly from the gym) and we've had socially distant conversations. I'm once or twice happened to bike past a friend's house when they were outside and done the same. Aside from those and a few conversations with neighbors I've not seen anyone in person.
Personally
- I've been surprisingly well, actually. It turns out my mental temperament is relatively unshaken by the last few months of isolation. I haven't been bored, I'm not finding myself depressed or even sad. It's been relatively even keeled for me.
Now it the damn political situation would just unfuck itself.