COVID-19 (Coronavirus) - How are you coping with this?

[MVTArider]

Welp, yeah we are in a pandemic

To answer the original question of how am I coping or what am I doing, in short I've been transitioning the last couple weeks to be ready for whatever comes next, while also getting used to changes that have already occurred. Thankfully I've been able to stock up on a reasonable amount of extra food for me and the dog, got my next medicine fill early, and should now be set in the event I suddenly need to stay home for 1-2 weeks. I've been stepping up the hand washing, cleaning, wiping down, etc. I had to pick up a tub of skin cream though as my hands were literally about to crack open and bleed from dry skin

Socially I've had to adjust as a few things I'm used to doing, such as church activities, hanging with groups of friends, or volunteering, have suddenly changed. Today instead of a typical 3 hour volunteer shift at a local food bank I work with, I was there for 5 hours working non-stop with the staff as we did our best to plug as many orders out to our clients as possible. Honestly it was emotional at times, i.e. rolling a cart of groceries out for a frail old couple who were just ecstatic they would have food and be able to stay home instead of trying to find something they could afford at a picked over supermarket. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to volunteer next week, as the organization may just have to close temporarily.

At work (rental car industry) we've been hit hard from the lack of travel. 80% drop in business at my location this week over last year, and it's still going down. I'm likely getting transferred soon as a different division is really in need of help. I'm not sure how long that work will last but should be covered for another few weeks at least. On the plus side in the event I do get sick, or there's a mandatory stay-in-place in our area, all employees are getting 2 extra weeks of sick pay should they need it.

I guess the biggest change, and most relatable on this forum, is transit. I probably took my last ride for a while on Metro Transit this Tuesday. I stopped taking transit to work regularly after Sunday as my 31 day pass expired. Metro Transit is requesting that all riders only take transit for essential trips. As a transit fan, while I still want to go out and ride and fan for fun, it is time to step back and respect the much greater reality that I need to do my part to minimize contact and potential germ spreading as much as possible. I have a perfectly good car so that is how I will be getting around for a while. I guess in the interim I can still go for a nice walk and get a few photos along some routes in my area, or drive to a transit center. (Driving to go transitfan at home instead of riding always feels like cheating though ) I can always work on organizing and looking through my boxes of schedules and system maps I've accumulated over the last 15 years too...

This COVID-19 is becoming a new era in our way of life. While (I truly hope and pray) most of us may not be heavily affected by it health-wise, it is likely going to affect ALL of us in other ways. That said, life will go on. Be safe, be careful, think of others. Don't be selfish.

[Doppelkupplung]

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/03/18/months-of-school-closures-social-distancing-needed-to-fight-pandemic-u-of-t-research.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=thestar_recommended_for_you

Scares the crap out of me. 

[Wayside Observer]

From a midday Thursday perspective this week, it’s interesting to look back on last week and see how things changed.  A lot of the people living in my parents’ condo building had been sent home and were working remotely by Wednesday meanwhile my place continued sending out emails saying that the work from home policies were not being reviewed.  Basically what that means is no hourly employees are allowed to work from home even where it is possible.  That has always been reserved for management only and they were doing the “you will be at your assigned location at your assigned time” routine the way they usually do.  This changed late Friday afternoon.

I don’t know if they got told to send everyone who can work from home even if it seriously limits what they can do etc. or someone finally realized the shit was hitting the fan in a big way but the order for as much work from home as possible came down and it’s been a scramble to get people issued laptops, set up, trained, workflows designed, it’s been a seat of the pants nightmare because they waited to the last minute to change tack and get emergency purchases of laptops rolling in.  I’ve had a laptop for years now, ever since an emergency out of the country stint that came up, but no remote access because of this policy and lack of VPN account.  I logged in from home for the first time yesterday using equipment that was given to me back in early 2017.

I’ve had a number of conversations about how “that doesn’t work off site” followed by “what do I do” followed by me explaining “Given the circumstances you do the best you can with what you have within what’s technologically possible.”  

That’s basically how I’ve always phrased it when I’m locked up with a small number of people at remote locations where we’re completely off the communications grid and you show up with what you have and you roll with what you brought with you including the ingenuity of the grey matter between your ears.  Large chunks of the company are now having to work similarly minus the communications isolation, so it’s not as extreme as those several times a year things.  It’s a small group of us who are used to winging it like that but a major adjustment to people who never have.

Monday and Tuesday were heavy shifts stamping out laptops and keeping on top of remote workflows being less than ideal for operating systems and equipment in plant and having to deal with a number of big messes that happened in the process.

Tuesday morning I had the truck booked in for an oil change since it was due whether or not the backfill trips I was scheduled for starting next week.  Typically, it’s drop off the truck, cross the street and go have breakfast at the diner a couple blocks down the road, relax for a bit with coffee, go back, collect the truck.  I saw the headlines for the Ontario emergency declaration on the TV about how bars and restaurants are closed except for takeout and delivery but malls stay open as I was handing over the truck keys.

Sure enough, they just finished closing down the diner’s dining room and put a handwritten sign on the door saying open for takeout only.  I decided to try the mall a bit further down since the headlines said those were exempt.  Cut behind the diner to get there and saw the waitress by the kitchen door smoking so we shot the breeze for a bit   She was saying $25k fine if they get caught with the dining room open.

Got to the mall and the food court was open, vendors were getting the food for lunch service ready, people were sitting on chairs eating at the tables.

I got a bagel and coffee from Tim Hortons and then a breakfast sandwich, hash brown and second coffee from A & W and did the same thinking this isn’t all that far off from what a restaurant dining room is like and yet it’s exempt?  Someone else must’ve had the same thought because the mall’s property manager and maintenance staff showed up and started taking away chairs.

Got the truck back.  Checked out the local Canadian Tire.  They had everything in stock.  Except toilet paper.  Because the masses raided the hardware store for one thing and one thing only.

Did some shopping for snack food at Wal Mart before heading to work because the availability of stuff to munch on nearby work was unknown and could change fast.  Boy was it picked over.  Talking to the staff, the store has been getting replenished every night but every morning the panic hoarders clean the place out again so if you need something, it’s better to arrive early rather than late.

The in store McDonalds made sure nobody got packed into close proximity in the seating area but it was almost a wasted effort in my mind given how everyone was packed into the checkout areas.  Strange times indeed.

Yesterday was spent getting myself set up to work from home rather than going into the plant.  Thinking about the cancelled backfill trips plus a number of other spots I’ve been sent to that don’t have on site technologists, I messaged my boss and explained that from home, I have easy road access to a number of locations in southwestern Ontario and can jump in the truck to head to any of them if a problem that requires on site maintenance work comes up.  He said thanks, it’s a good point and he’d pass it along up the management chain.  With all the immediate crisis on their plates, I don’t think they’d gotten to the point of thinking about who can be deployed where on an as needed emergency basis yet for forming contingency plans for the collection of small or remote sites.

There was an online townhall and judging  from what was said there including parts about a reminder to external parties about an essential service designation plus the shift logs, it sounds like they’re working hard on repositioning the place in an unprecedented way to enable people to work from home while keeping most stuff running with some curtailments of operations in specific ways.  I’m on my days off now and haven’t been called in, at least not yet, but I’ll be jumping in the truck and heading off to the maintenance shop in Toronto early Saturday morning to keep the place running.  These truly are unprecedented and strange times.

[Doppelkupplung]

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B9zdnKZjgN2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

That's supposed to be a link btw. 

[9924]

3 hours ago, Doppelkupplung said:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B9zdnKZjgN2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

That's supposed to be a link btw. 

Must be fake, he didn't season his hands 

[Doppelkupplung]

1 hour ago, 9924 said:

Must be fake, he didn't season his hands 

F@CKING DONKEY!!!!

[RailBus63]

I found this blog to be informative and somewhat hopeful.  In short, the author believe that the next two weeks are going to be rough, but if we and our fellow citizens can get with the program and practice social distancing for a little while, we have a shot to get the virus under control and be on the other side of this by mid to late May or early June.

https://covid19-insights.squarespace.com/blog/covid19-insights-3

[Wayside Observer]

I read this article on CBC earlier:

Consumers could face hit to credit scores, jump in payments from mortgage deferrals

I was talking with friends about this after the big mortgage deferral announcement the big five banks dropped that got renters upset and everyone agreed that the banks weren’t going to be doing this out of charity, that there’s be some angle being played, that they were going to absolutely make sure there was something in it for them, that they weren’t going to actually give out a dime of assistance.  And that appears to be the case.  The renters who got upset shouldn’t be, really, since all the banks are doing is allowing people paying mortgages to rework part of their payment schedule and pay for the privilege of doing so.  I’m sure the commercial landlord companies wouldn’t object to allowing tenants to defer rent payments now in exchange for a larger total payment later.

Nothing’s being given away here despite the impression the initial announcement made.  I agree with the one person in the article who said don’t do it unless you absolutely have to.

[MVTArider]

^ I think it's the same deal with some of the special deals being advertised by the auto brands now. (At least in the US market) Brands X, Y and Z are just having those 'kind' offers of no payments for 3 months/no interest for 24 months, or 'don't make any payments for 6 months in event of layoff' etc. because they want or need to sell all this excess fleet they suddenly aren't selling like hotcakes. The consumer will still likely get slammed with deferred interest later down the line. Then of course it sucks more as they'll be trying to pay off the full loan on a vehicle which at that point is depreciated and likely starting to need repairs on stuff just out of warranty.

[9924]

7 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

I read this article on CBC earlier:

Consumers could face hit to credit scores, jump in payments from mortgage deferrals

I was talking with friends about this after the big mortgage deferral announcement the big five banks dropped that got renters upset and everyone agreed that the banks weren’t going to be doing this out of charity, that there’s be some angle being played, that they were going to absolutely make sure there was something in it for them, that they weren’t going to actually give out a dime of assistance.  And that appears to be the case.  The renters who got upset shouldn’t be, really, since all the banks are doing is allowing people paying mortgages to rework part of their payment schedule and pay for the privilege of doing so.  I’m sure the commercial landlord companies wouldn’t object to allowing tenants to defer rent payments now in exchange for a larger total payment later.

Nothing’s being given away here despite the impression the initial announcement made.  I agree with the one person in the article who said don’t do it unless you absolutely have to.

The money you give to the bank for your mortgage goes to pay the money they borrowed from investors to be able to loan you the money.

Government wants to put everyone out of work? They had better start printing cheques in full wages pretty damn quick.

[81-717]

As of last weekend, I stopped taking transit as a precaution, and cancelled my monthly pass autorenewal for the time being. My gym closed down last Monday, so now I'd have to do exercise at home or go for a walk in the park. The rest of my family are also self-isolating at home with limited outdoor activities that don't involve close contact with other people (i.e. jogging, biking or skiing). There is a limited amount of hand sanitizer in our house, and over a week ago I bought a can of Lysol spray and started using it on just about everything, including my phone, clothes (especially after going outside), various surfaces inside the house, etc. The pandemic has also put my job search on hold, since most places are closing, people are getting laid off and told to stay home. The only thing to keep me busy at home is studying computer science and do other work on the computer.

It's extremely frustrating how there are no signs of improvement, with the media ominously telling us that things will only get worse and worse. What's equally disturbing as the pandemic itself (if not even more so), is the global economic crisis that is expected to follow, which opens up all kinds of terrible trains of thought about the potential collapse of civilization as we know it. Personally to me the idea of living in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world seems worse than dying. It's a damn shame that civilizations and societies never have, and are still not expected to, remain stable over timescales of decades or centuries. Here is an interesting (albeit disturbing) read discussing 11 different scenarios that might happen within the next several decades, including a global pandemic, which is what we're seeing now. Hopefully, after this pandemic ends, we won't need to worry about any other apocalyptic event happening for the rest of our lifetimes. Jheez, I really hope a treatment/cure is developed soon. Unfortunately by nature I'm usually not a very optimistic person and always tend to assume the worst (especially when that's the message coming from the media), but I'm trying my best to focus on any potential good news and remain hopeful. My grandparents living in Russia (both well in their 80's) also remain optimistic, saying that, having grown up during WW2, they fear nothing.

[T3G]

57 minutes ago, 81-717 said:

What's equally disturbing as the pandemic itself (if not even more so), is the global economic crisis that is expected to follow, which opens up all kinds of terrible trains of thought about the potential collapse of civilization as we know it. Personally to me the idea of living in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world seems worse than dying. It's a damn shame that civilizations and societies never have, and are still not expected to, remain stable over timescales of decades or centuries. Here is an interesting (albeit disturbing) read discussing 11 different scenarios that might happen within the next several decades, including a global pandemic, which is what we're seeing now.

I don't think this kind of thinking is going to help us at all. This is an ever evolving and complex situation, and no one can accurately gauge how the future is going to look, and in the meantime thoughts like this are just going to further demoralize people.

We don't even know how tomorrow is going to look, never mind what the far reaching consequences of this might or might not be. And especially not if society will collapse from it. We have to take this one day a time, and not let ourselves run away with apocalyptic fantasies we may never face.

[81-717]

Just now, PCC Guy said:

I don't think this kind of thinking is going to help us at all. This is an ever evolving and complex situation, and no one can accurately gauge how the future is going to look, and in the meantime thoughts like this are just going to further demoralize people.

We don't even know how tomorrow is going to look, never mind what the far reaching consequences of this might or might not be. And especially not if society will collapse from it. We have to take this one day a time, and not let ourselves run away with apocalyptic fantasies we may never face.

Unfortunately, demoralizing is exactly what a lot of the media is doing when all we hear is that the virus will continue to spread for weeks or months, and that the economy is already suffering.

[T3G]

6 minutes ago, 81-717 said:

Unfortunately, demoralizing is exactly what a lot of the media is doing when all we hear is that the virus will continue to spread for weeks or months, and that the economy is already suffering.

I mean, the economy suffering is pretty self-evident, and the fact that the spread of the virus will continue for a while is backed up virologists. It is a titanic leap to go from what we have currently to predicting that society as we know it will collapse, though.

[81-717]

Just now, PCC Guy said:

It is a titanic leap to go from what we have currently to predicting that society as we know it will collapse, though.

I didn't come up with that myself either (guess I should've made that clear in my original post). And it's not really a prediction, just speculation and hypotheticals.

[Doppelkupplung]

I think that, regardless of what happens, and however long this will last, we should retain a positive outlook on the situation.

I should acknowledge, it's very easy for me to say this, as I'm still a student and live with my family quite comfortably, and I am in no situation that involves financial difficulty or high levels of stress in terms of balancing work and family, all while maintaining a healthy environment for everyone. 

However, I must say that when this all blows over eventually (which it will), the question we should ask ourselves is how we want to look back on this time we had, when we quite literally had nothing to do. There comes a point where you exhaust all forms of entertainment i.e. netflix, youtube, snapchat, instagram and etc. I think we should take this time to pick up some new skills, do something different, read some books, something that isn't your usual 21st century form of entertainment. Reading is a good place to start. 

Just my two cents. 

And also, its a time to be grateful. There's always someone who will have a more difficult time than you. 

When in doubt, remember the old Top Gear saying "Still, could be worse".

[9924]

7 hours ago, Doppelkupplung said:

I think we should take this time to pick up some new skills, do something different, read some books, something that isn't your usual 21st century form of entertainment. Reading is a good place to start. 

For the love of God, please yes!  Practice social distancing from your phone, seriously people.  Hit some used book stores while they're still open and pick up some actual ink on paper books.  Don't care if they're fiction, non-fiction, magazines, comics - just put your flippin' phones down.

[RailBus63]

12 hours ago, PCC Guy said:

I mean, the economy suffering is pretty self-evident, and the fact that the spread of the virus will continue for a while is backed up virologists. It is a titanic leap to go from what we have currently to predicting that society as we know it will collapse, though.

Completely agree.  This will likely be the worst economic crisis any of us have lived through, unless you are over 80 years old.  Recovery is going to be slow, but the 'curve' of this pandemic will bend and governments can slowly start to ease the restrictions.  There will have to be unprecedented support for people and businesses to help everyone get back on their feet, but many people will go back to work after the restrictions ease and life will slowly resume.  We need to accept that there will be small outbreaks that will flare up and governments will need to be prepared to respond quickly with targeted responses and temporary restrictions to prevent spread until there is a vaccine or we can determine who is immune.   Everyone will need to make adjustments and sacrifices, whether you are unemployed or not.  Many people will have to take pay cuts and taxes will go up but we have no choice.  In the end, trust that we will get through this.

[Wayside Observer]

On March 23, 2020 at 2:07 AM, MVTArider said:

^ I think it's the same deal with some of the special deals being advertised by the auto brands now. (At least in the US market) Brands X, Y and Z are just having those 'kind' offers of no payments for 3 months/no interest for 24 months, or 'don't make any payments for 6 months in event of layoff' etc. because they want or need to sell all this excess fleet they suddenly aren't selling like hotcakes. The consumer will still likely get slammed with deferred interest later down the line. Then of course it sucks more as they'll be trying to pay off the full loan on a vehicle which at that point is depreciated and likely starting to need repairs on stuff just out of warranty.

The other thing I was thinking about was how the big three automotive companies plus a number of others shut down production over the health concerns arising from COVID-19.  But think about this:  There's also a pretty significant side benefit in that they aren't turning out a glut of inventory that'll have to be sold at an extreme discount to move since 2020 is definitely going to be a slow year for sales.

Anyhow, even with all the essential businesses remaining open, with stores restricting hours plus the number of customers inside at a time, plus the fact I'm still working because I'm in an essential category myself, getting to stores while they're open and being able to get in outside of my work hours may be a bit dicey so I stocked up on a cross section of food, toiletries, pet stuff etc. to last for a couple of weeks.  I never thought living in the middle of Canada I'd be mentally going through an inventory of the house and checking when I get home to see for everything I have open and in use, do I have one more on the shelf that I haven't started yet?  And then gone out and bought accordingly.

Now for the headscratcher.  I dropped by the auto shop today and confirmed that they're open because I'm doing a ton of driving for work right now.  They are, but a lot of dealer networks have closed down so if they need dealer parts if something isn't available third party or after market, they're SOL.  Chrysler and Audi/VW were mentioned specifically.  Exempting automotive repair shops is great but quickly becomes ineffective if the parts distribution infrastructure is closed down.  Irony?  All of the electronics supply houses I deal with have sent out messages saying that they're doing what it takes to keep stuff moving while maintaining public and employee safety.  Which means in about a week, it'll be easier to get parts to fix CLRVs than it will be to fix Dodge minivans.

[tomsbuspage]

As for me, I'm able to work from home and I have a car, so I am able to minimise my contact with the outside world as much as possible.  Our schools, daycares, museums, indoor playgrounds and churches are closed, many businesses are shuttered, and those that are open have reduced hours.  My local bank branch is closed, McDonald's is now drive-thru/delivery only, and my favourite diner isn't even offering take out, shutting down completely instead.  My dentist has cancelled my next appointment, and my next doctor's appointment has been changed to a phone call.  The Canada-US border has been closed, and the mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau have asked us not to travel between the two cities.  As for going outdoors for exercise, the NCC have shut down Gatineau Park, and Parks Canada, Ontario Parks and SEPAQ are closing our national and provincial parks.  The Ontario government is talking about shutting down outdoor playgrounds to keep children from playing together.  Basically, the only time I leave the house now is for running errands, such as grocery shopping or picking up prescriptions, helping my mobility-limited mother run similar errands, and taking nature walks with my kids.

My wife and I both have medical issues that need regular testing.  My wife, who does not drive, has decided to shun public transit until the COVID crises passes.  However, the nearest Dynacare lab has been closed, and the next nearest lab is almost 5 km away from our house.  She has decided to walk there, taking over an hour each way.  I'm glad the weather is nice because the labs are only open during working hours, during which I supposed to be, well, working, or else I'd drive her to the lab.

I usually run my errands between 7 and 10 PM, after supper and when crowds are already reduced.  However, stores such as Loblaws, Farm Boy and Walmart now close at 8 PM, forcing me to spread my shopping over several days, and ironically meaning I need to leave the house more often than I want to.  My wife and I are also trying to buy birthday presents for our kids, all of whom were born in April, but Toys R Us are telling us that some products are only able to be shipped to stores, which of course are all closed.

My mother is among those who think that this crisis is being blown way out of proportion, and she is among those most at risk so she too is spending as much time at home as possible.  She's lived through several epidemics, including the 1969 Hong Kong flu, and she's never seen any society shut down like this.  Now, we're facing the prospect of these restrictions lasting for several months.  I'm lucky to be able to work from home and limit my contact with the public, but the prospect of isolating myself and my family for at least half a year may end up being the cure that is worse than the disease.

[Matt Dunlop]

My job is an essential service so I am working. I am scared to go out of course, because bus service is limited and I don't want to get sick. Since COVID-19 started though I have limited myself to 3 work days a week instead of 5. Paycheck will be small. 

[InfiNorth]

Well, things are a little confusing. It doesn't help that the news media are faster to release government announcements than the government itself, so I'm still trying to figure out what I'm eligible for once my work break ends. I'm a teacher with a tiny contract (16% of a full contract), so I'm technically still somewhat employed but you can bet I won't be getting many days as a substitute once Spring Break ends. So far I've learned a bit of Java and R to use OTP and QGIS to analyse GTFS data, which has been both incredibly frustrating and rewarding. Other than a half-credit course in second year university, I've never done anything on a command line so I've already learned some new skills over this last week. 

My next project will be tidying up my deck. The weather is almost warm enough to go outside just in time for us to be locked up in our houses, so I'm going to tidy up my second floor garden, weed out the planters, scrub the floor, wash the railing, and clean up the table and chairs so I have somewhere to go that's not in front of my computer in my office. Instead it will be three feet away on the other side of a window. Once I'm there I'll probably get back into painting my O scale stuff. I'm just living life as normal but doing lunges and jumping jacks whenever I need to go get something around the house. 

[MVTArider]

5 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

My next project will be tidying up my deck. The weather is almost warm enough to go outside just in time for us to be locked up in our houses, so I'm going to tidy up my second floor garden, weed out the planters, scrub the floor, wash the railing, and clean up the table and chairs so I have somewhere to go that's not in front of my computer in my office. Instead it will be three feet away on the other side of a window. Once I'm there I'll probably get back into painting my O scale stuff. I'm just living life as normal but doing lunges and jumping jacks whenever I need to go get something around the house. 

I'm planning on some similar house activities myself. I also have a wood deck that needs a good scrub (Pine-Sol works wonderfully!) and then the planting beds in the front yard are still a disaster so I'd like to get that all cleaned up. Might have a go at mixing some concrete for a small pad in the backyard as well.

On 3/23/2020 at 8:06 PM, Doppelkupplung said:

I think that, regardless of what happens, and however long this will last, we should retain a positive outlook on the situation.

Agreed

It's going to be some adjustment for myself this summer not riding buses and going out and about like I usually do, but it's going to likely be a good opportunity to catch up on some tasks at home, maybe eat healthier and drop a couple belt notches, and just relax vs. going full bore.

All of the transit conventions I had wanted to attend this Spring/Summer are cancelled, and I can't be certain things won't still be affected next year, but on that front I'm still going to cautiously look forward to attending a convention in 2021.

[captaintrolley]

I plan to wash windows, clean the balcony and put out clean new tubs of bird seed, nuts, suet etc. Just waiting for it to get a bit nicer outside, it's always so cold and windy here.

[T3G]

I live in a cold suburban town where no one is ever on the streets, and I'm a little disturbed by how many people I see outside all the time these days. I know the recommendation is to get fresh air and sunshine even now, but why did it take for a global pandemic whereby people are told to stay home as much as possible for people to actually be seen out in the streets? And what are the chances that any of these people will ever be seen in these streets again once all of this is said and done?

Then there are the people who still take their children to the park and use the playgrounds and stuff like that, which is pretty appalling. I get the feeling a lot of people are treating this like a government-sponsored multi-month vacation instead of a serious global crisis.