Other than people getting sick and dying, which was awful, I really enjoyed the COVID-19 lock down. Admitting that always makes me feel like a terrible person, but it is true.
By far the best 9 months of my life was from Feb 2020 through Nov 2020.
Happiest. Least stressed. Most productive. Healthiest. Everything. No fucking traffic! Peace! Quiet! My God… Take me back.
I got laid off a month and a half before the pandemic, so I was getting unemployment right when everyone was saying the systems were overwhelmed. And right when they were overwhelmed, I started getting the covid bonus. It was the most money I’d ever been making at that time.
I was hiking basically every day. Studying every day. Making my own meals instead of eating fast food…playing music basically every day, started a business after 8 months or so (that capitalized on companies laying off employees to contract out a remote worker using PPE funds). My drinking was at a minimum.
My weed smoking probably increased. The only negative. It was only due to free time increasing and responsibility decreasing.
We’ll do it again in our lifetimes. The perennial contender Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is waiting under the ring with a steel chair, and COVID is a hell of a tag team partner for all kinds of pathogens.
We’ll be told the economy can’t afford another lockdown, so people will just have to report to work and risk dying. I highly doubt most countries will do that again in the near future. Let alone people abiding it.
I really feel like that was a moment where we could have seen radical social change, but instead it just ended up being a blip when everyone made Tiktok videos. I always imagine what it would have been like if, for some unknown reason, like a massive EMP flare from the sun or something, made all digital and internet technology die.
I think the best hope for the world at this point might literally be an extremely large and direct solar event/CME. It would cause chaos and result in a lot of deaths, but it seems like the only thing that would actually radically change the suicidal trajectory global society is currently on.
It was the silence for us. We were able to go out into the fields and not hear the constant background hum of distant cars. The air felt lighter and it was just my wife, my kids, the dog and me.
We honestly miss those moments.
Yeah. We were in our house in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (we used to mainly live in Austin, Texas) when lockdown hit so we got to spend a lot of time in and around the mountains. We officially left Austin after that. It was too amazing in Wyoming.
Covid hit just around the time where people around me (and myself, obviously) hit 30, got kids and settled down.
That means, covid turned into a “getting old” speed run for me. Before covid, there was something going on each weekend, a party here, a gathering of friends there, it was almost always at least something going on. When the lock down was unlocked up for real in 2022, most people had partners, didn’t want to go out anymore or do anything at all, some kids were on their way or just arrived.
It felt like a development of 5-10 years was compressed into one or two years.
On the negative side, trying to get people our after is rough. The gf still has problems understanding that yes, you can take both kids with you to run errands, shop, etc.
Staying home all day dicking around on Facebook while I do all the shopping and a good chunk of the cooking, dishes, and child rearing heh after I get home is always like dude, go outside lol.
It was basically the time period where nothing happened (well, not literally nothing), and in a lot of ways, I liked that. It gave me time to focus a bit on my mental health. Life in general was on pause. It felt so… relaxing. And then the miracle wore off and we went back to life being absolute garbage.
I, weirdly, also miss some of the parasocial stuff. Radiohead putting up full concerts on YouTube every Friday. Live Twitch DJ sets with Sophie Tucker. Chatting fitness with Katee Sackhoff. That home concert by Post Malone. The list goes on and on. Some of that extended for a little after lockdown and into real life too. Sophie Tucker sent stream regulars private invites to their shows, and I remember my cousin freaking out because suddenly Katee Sackhoff was commenting on my Tweets. Then everyone went back to life as it was.
The Dropkick Murphys had a St. Patrick’s Day livestream in an empty studio, with one dude in the pit moshing for everyone, but hundreds of thousands watching from home.
Same here but I remind myself that multiple things can be true at once just like I can feel multiple conflicting emotions or hold conflicting thoughts or opinions.
Other than people getting sick and dying, which was awful, I really enjoyed the COVID-19 lock down. Admitting that always makes me feel like a terrible person, but it is true.
By far the best 9 months of my life was from Feb 2020 through Nov 2020.
Happiest. Least stressed. Most productive. Healthiest. Everything. No fucking traffic! Peace! Quiet! My God… Take me back.
I got laid off a month and a half before the pandemic, so I was getting unemployment right when everyone was saying the systems were overwhelmed. And right when they were overwhelmed, I started getting the covid bonus. It was the most money I’d ever been making at that time.
I was hiking basically every day. Studying every day. Making my own meals instead of eating fast food…playing music basically every day, started a business after 8 months or so (that capitalized on companies laying off employees to contract out a remote worker using PPE funds). My drinking was at a minimum.
My weed smoking probably increased. The only negative. It was only due to free time increasing and responsibility decreasing.
Don’t forget the cleanest air in decades. The lockdowns definitely had their upsides, but we forget fast.
My local wildlife populations thrived.
Especially squirrels and skunks.
We’ll do it again in our lifetimes. The perennial contender Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is waiting under the ring with a steel chair, and COVID is a hell of a tag team partner for all kinds of pathogens.
We’ll be told the economy can’t afford another lockdown, so people will just have to report to work and risk dying. I highly doubt most countries will do that again in the near future. Let alone people abiding it.
I really feel like that was a moment where we could have seen radical social change, but instead it just ended up being a blip when everyone made Tiktok videos. I always imagine what it would have been like if, for some unknown reason, like a massive EMP flare from the sun or something, made all digital and internet technology die.
I think the best hope for the world at this point might literally be an extremely large and direct solar event/CME. It would cause chaos and result in a lot of deaths, but it seems like the only thing that would actually radically change the suicidal trajectory global society is currently on.
And you are not alone.
Aside from the calm, less travel, planes, stuff in general we have proven we could be less of a burden on the planet if we wanted.
Then it ended.
It was the silence for us. We were able to go out into the fields and not hear the constant background hum of distant cars. The air felt lighter and it was just my wife, my kids, the dog and me. We honestly miss those moments.
Yeah. We were in our house in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (we used to mainly live in Austin, Texas) when lockdown hit so we got to spend a lot of time in and around the mountains. We officially left Austin after that. It was too amazing in Wyoming.
Covid hit just around the time where people around me (and myself, obviously) hit 30, got kids and settled down.
That means, covid turned into a “getting old” speed run for me. Before covid, there was something going on each weekend, a party here, a gathering of friends there, it was almost always at least something going on. When the lock down was unlocked up for real in 2022, most people had partners, didn’t want to go out anymore or do anything at all, some kids were on their way or just arrived.
It felt like a development of 5-10 years was compressed into one or two years.
You’re living that research paper that showed COVID-19 ages the brain 7 years. Srsly.
On the negative side, trying to get people our after is rough. The gf still has problems understanding that yes, you can take both kids with you to run errands, shop, etc.
Staying home all day dicking around on Facebook while I do all the shopping and a good chunk of the cooking, dishes, and child rearing heh after I get home is always like dude, go outside lol.
I was finally able to have a long rest.
Without any impending deadlines or pressure it took me two weeks before i had the energy to work on a project.
It was basically the time period where nothing happened (well, not literally nothing), and in a lot of ways, I liked that. It gave me time to focus a bit on my mental health. Life in general was on pause. It felt so… relaxing. And then the miracle wore off and we went back to life being absolute garbage.
I, weirdly, also miss some of the parasocial stuff. Radiohead putting up full concerts on YouTube every Friday. Live Twitch DJ sets with Sophie Tucker. Chatting fitness with Katee Sackhoff. That home concert by Post Malone. The list goes on and on. Some of that extended for a little after lockdown and into real life too. Sophie Tucker sent stream regulars private invites to their shows, and I remember my cousin freaking out because suddenly Katee Sackhoff was commenting on my Tweets. Then everyone went back to life as it was.
The Dropkick Murphys had a St. Patrick’s Day livestream in an empty studio, with one dude in the pit moshing for everyone, but hundreds of thousands watching from home.
I didn’t attend any of that stuff, and to be honest, I kinda wish I did. It looks so fun.
Same here but I remind myself that multiple things can be true at once just like I can feel multiple conflicting emotions or hold conflicting thoughts or opinions.