Heartland

Rules are rules in this crazy time. I'm finding it quite hard to be restricted. I'm used to be being a free spirit and going to places and seeing people when I please. I'm one who's finding this lockdown quite hard I must admit. I suppose I'm lucky last weekend I did go to the South Coast(Not Durdle Door). Lee On The Solent which is a quiet location and plenty of social distancing!

I know some people who're enjoying this time. I'm afraid I'm not one of them who's enjoying this time of restrictions!

Get's me thinking about Von and I expect this is no different to him because he lives, So he says in isolation?

Be interesting your views on the matter?

I absolutely do, tbh.
But I am as introverted as a person can be and for me it's just normal life, if I may say it like that.
Happy with myself sitting on the floor, surrounded by hundreds of books, my insects and tarantulas and good old Jazz in the background = happy chicken

I'm not enjoying it at all either. I'm not a massive social butterfly, but by Christ, at the moment I'm anxious, fed-up all the time, hardly sleeping and drinking too much (which makes all the other stuff worse).
The Sisters gigs next March are what I am using as a beacon of hope, and if that all goes ahead hopefully this will all be a dismal memory.
Big love and best wishes to everyone feeling as crazy as I do.

you can all come to school with me and see some people.
i would much rather be at home teaching online right now. but no, thanks to people who don't listen to scientists, i'm full time back in a classroom with keyworker kids, and see the other adults very little.
be grateful for what you've got there, please. you're safe, and i'm anxious, worried and not a little scared.

emilystrange wrote:you can all come to school with me and see some people.
i would much rather be at home teaching online right now. but no, thanks to people who don't listen to scientists, i'm full time back in a classroom with keyworker kids, and see the other adults very little.
be grateful for what you've got there, please. you're safe, and i'm anxious, worried and not a little scared.

Oh, absolutely, I certainly wasn't meaning to make out I had it worse than anyone else, and I really appreciate it must be much harder for people being made to go back to work against their own better judgement and against sensible scientific advice. My partner had had to go back too, doesn't want to and I don't want her to.
Apologies if I sounded wingey, and I totally understand why you wouldn't want to be in classroom. I hope you stay safe.

I think Sam and I were just pointing out how a lot of people are feeling at this present time. Totally admire the keyworkers and you're right you have no choice but to go to work and risk getting the virus. It's a worry ..

There was a lockdown?

Restrictions yes.
Lockdown? Not so sure.

In Hungary I honestly didn't really notice any difference (despite what you might read in the media) other than I couldn't go to the shops until after midday on account I wasn't yet 65 and the stencils on the floor to mark the 1.5m separation.
Oh, & the sudden massive increase in people out for a run or a bike ride.
I don't tend to go out much anyway really except for Fridays for a few games of pool & I guess, as the pubs were closed, that was a bit annoying.
But I could still go out if I felt like it.
In the first 6 weeks of the stricter restrictions I never even saw a copper. I guess people were doing what they were asked to do & not go anywhere they didn't need to (except for the sudden massive increase of people out for a run or a bike ride).
I did find I had the time to do all those niggly little things around the house & also did a fair bit of stuff for some elderly friends who were advised to stay home &/or were too scared to go out anyway.
I've also learnt some sign language from the daily briefing here & discovered a whole heap of new music & revisited some glorious old music too.
& it's no because I never had the time. It's because I never realised I had the time.
So, from all this, these are certainly things I will continue to do. Which I suppose is a positive.
The thing is though, I've never really felt that I was "locked down."
I've just done what's been advised. Social distancing, masks in shops, hand washing, & all that stuff.
And, over the past 3 or 4 weeks, restrictions here have been eased on a regional level based on infection rates & I've been able to resume my pool nights .

I do feel for anyone who is feeling trapped though. All I can say is look for distractions from it all. Things you can do that you haven't before. It's quite a good feeling when you realise they are doable after all.

Pista wrote. I do feel for anyone who is feeling trapped though. All I can say is look for distractions from it all. Things you can do that you haven't before. It's quite a good feeling when you realise they are doable after all.[/quote]


I must de-clutter because of a possible move. We're all in the same boat and thinking next week I will miss my annual holiday to The Isles Of Scilly

elamanamou wrote:Pista wrote. I do feel for anyone who is feeling trapped though. All I can say is look for distractions from it all. Things you can do that you haven't before. It's quite a good feeling when you realise they are doable after all.

I must de-clutter because of a possible move. We're all in the same boat and thinking next week I will miss my annual holiday to The Isles Of Scilly [/quote]

De-cluttering can be really good fun. You will no doubt find a load of things that will put a smile on your face.

I found old VHS vids- Shot - Sisters from The Forum 98- Wake -

Yeah, decluttering and the process of simplifying life can be hugely therapeutic. Though I now find that "someone" seems to be slowly, but certainly, restocking the spaces I created a couple or three years ago.

It’s been challenging. I have an insane amount of energy and I need to spread it out.

For awhile, converting clients to an online workforce was consuming, but that steadied up.

I reconnected with an old friend who had been a gig worker (paint and sip) and helped him start his own online business by building a website, structuring e-commerce, negotiating overseas materials, and playing batgirl (well...oracle...) to his crowd of followers. Or, as my kids would say...offered my services for free to an unemployed artist with a good sob story because lockdown changes nothing. Damn kids.

Lately, I’ve donned riot gear and gotten back outside.

Also, I totally baked sourdough bread. Let me know if you want some starter.

My biggest absence is gigs and festivals to look forward to. I haven't got anything to go out and shake my tailfeather to!

I suspect Von is locked in with computers and cats and doesn't massively notice, although the hope is he's planning for the 40th anniversary!

I'm in quite a privileged position in that I am working from home, and my employer is really taking this seriously; I'll not be back in the office until September at the earliest. So at least I'm not in the position that many find themselves of being forced into daily contact with the Great Unwashed simply to pay the bills.

On the other hand, I'm finding lockdown a bit horrible. I can usually cope quite well with my own company, but now that I've not been anywhere for weeks, my anxiety is through the roof. Normally a nice walk outside is great to calm down that anxiety but... when I do go outside for my daily exercise, or for shopping, hardly anyone seems to be taking social distancing seriously any more, very few people are wearing masks, and it's terrifying me.

Similar to you, Mark, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to work from home. We’ve been told all classes will be done online at least through the rest of the year. I don’t mind that too much, as I’ve been regularly offering online classes for years, and being liberated from DC traffic has done wonders for my stress level. I do miss teaching face to face. I took up jogging and managed to screw up my knee though. Aging sucks.

I’m glad to be married, obviously, and I worry for my friends who live alone. Social distancing in my neighborhood is a bit of a joke (the park is more full of people than pre-lockdown), and with all the protesting here in DC I expect there will be a spike in the infection rate.

So I spend my time working, reading, writing (or not writing, as the case may be), and playing a little music. The cat was initially overjoyed to have us home. Now she is largely indifferent.

The thing I miss most is being able to go out to the pub.

I on the other hand consider myself lucky that I still get to go into the office. The vast majority of my colleagues do have the ability to work from home, and I could as well if I wished, but with my job there's always something that needs to be done onsite, and because I live locally I'm the one who gets to do it.

The pros are that I get to put structure on the day, there's a start and an end, and being able to get up, get moving, and get out every day prevents the old cabin fever from hitting. And as a bonus I'm local enough that it's a short walk in, so no public transport, no mingling with others required, I'm not at risk, and I'm not putting others at risk.

The primary downside of lockdown for me is that I sorely miss the actual physical company of others. I work with a large enough group - about 450 people - and I know and have good relations with most of them, so on any given normal day I'm constantly meeting others for breaks, for lunch, for pints, or just walking about the place on business. That's all gone and I find it tough. Of course remote conferencing facilities are there, but they're nowhere near the same, and the occasional cases of randomly bumping into people you might not have seen for a while just don't exist.

It's not all doom and gloom because most days there are between 10 and 20 others around, and we do occasionally get to meet up. I still look forward to more starting to come back, though.

timsinister wrote:My biggest absence is gigs and festivals to look forward to. I haven't got anything to go out and shake my tailfeather to!

I suspect Von is locked in with computers and cats and doesn't massively notice, although the hope is he's planning for the 40th anniversary!

In interviews time and time again Von mentions says he basically lives in isolation. Perhaps he doesn't like humans very much and prefers cats. In this crazy time, I've realised that more people live in solitude and prefer their own company. It's nice to have a balance, but to see no one out of choice(in normal times) I find it hard to understand....

elamanamou wrote:
In interviews time and time again Von mentions says he basically lives in isolation. Perhaps he doesn't like humans very much and prefers cats. In this crazy time, I've realised that more people live in solitude and prefer their own company. It's nice to have a balance, but to see no one out of choice(in normal times) I find it hard to understand....

I think he moved to Antwerp to live with his girlfriend last year sometime.

Is the "living in isolation" the authorised version (King James) or the revised standard version? At my age it's hard to remember which edition of the 'truth' is true.

Pista wrote:

elamanamou wrote:
In interviews time and time again Von mentions says he basically lives in isolation. Perhaps he doesn't like humans very much and prefers cats. In this crazy time, I've realised that more people live in solitude and prefer their own company. It's nice to have a balance, but to see no one out of choice(in normal times) I find it hard to understand....

I think he moved to Antwerp to live with his girlfriend last year sometime.

Thank Goodness.

elamanamou wrote:

Pista wrote:

elamanamou wrote:
In interviews time and time again Von mentions says he basically lives in isolation. Perhaps he doesn't like humans very much and prefers cats. In this crazy time, I've realised that more people live in solitude and prefer their own company. It's nice to have a balance, but to see no one out of choice(in normal times) I find it hard to understand....

I think he moved to Antwerp to live with his girlfriend last year sometime.

Thank Goodness.

Yup. You can spot him here in Antwerp from time to time. From Bahnhof Zoo to Antwerp Zoo.

IZ.

Von lives in a zoo?

elamanamou wrote:Von lives in a zoo?

He maybe feels like he does

markfiend wrote:I'm in quite a privileged position in that I am working from home, and my employer is really taking this seriously; I'll not be back in the office until September at the earliest. So at least I'm not in the position that many find themselves of being forced into daily contact with the Great Unwashed simply to pay the bills.

On the other hand, I'm finding lockdown a bit horrible. I can usually cope quite well with my own company, but now that I've not been anywhere for weeks, my anxiety is through the roof. Normally a nice walk outside is great to calm down that anxiety but... when I do go outside for my daily exercise, or for shopping, hardly anyone seems to be taking social distancing seriously any more, very few people are wearing masks, and it's terrifying me.

I'm lucky I don't suffer with anxiety and it must be horrible if you suffer my sympathies to you. I just hate any form of dictation and I know we have to obey by the rules for others and our own safety. It's very hard and I think once the main shops open and hotels etc. People will get too complacent and forget a virus is still around and carry on as normal and you're right I see not much social distancing or people wearing masks anymore!

elamanamou wrote:Von lives in a zoo?

"Here we see the Lesser Spotted Industrial Love God, his hobbies are staying in a cave with a laptop, mocking music journalists and not releasing albums."