Off-Topic Forum

Well, by now we have all been affected by the latest change in the world we live in (last major change was after 9/11).  Many of us have been told to stay home and isolate ourselves as much as we can.  Some are now working from home (will this become the newest norm?). There are most likely the two extremes - the naysayers (quickly sinking deep into the minority) and those who smell like sanitizer because they are "showering" in it - with all of us somewhere in between.  I myself live in the country where I can't see my neighbour unless I walk out of the trees so I am feeling relatively safe.  But like everyone else, I still need to go out and get the necessities of life - food (and pet food like I will be doing later this afternoon).

So what is everyone doing to adjust to this change and to keep occupied?  I have been using the time to get things done around the farm, watching too many Netflix series on tv (many from film industries in other nations - latest one Iceland), and going through my PC to reconcile my collection and my traders.  This is taking a while as it is quite extensive.  I collect every HoF (even those I don't like and don't think should be in the HoF - just completed one of them in the "B" list) and many stars that I enjoyed watching not only from the Blue Jays but all teams as I appreciate players who played the game the way it should be and showed excellent sportsmanship on the field.  I also collect those who I think will make the HoF but who did not show the good sportsmanship or were not team players.  I have been finding errors in my online collection tracker (this site) so it is not a work in futility. This should keep me busy for the initial 3 weeks of self-isolation. 

I personally think it will last much longer; I think we will have long-lasting effects on our lives where we all need to adjust our personal behaviors.  Wishing everyone and their loved ones safe journeys through the coming weeks.

My life has pretty much remained the same, but hobby wise I have stopped buying cards.

With my health problems this has pretty much been my way of life since I was in junior high school. Not having any museums to go to, or car shows, that's tough. My brother and I are/were working on visiting every museum in NY state...they are all closed. Car shows, my favorite thing to do, usually start up in mid-May but they are already getting cancelled.

It's strange not having any sports on. I became a sports fan at 2 years old, and this is the first time I can remember having no sports to watch at all. I've been watching a lot of doucmentaries, but by the end of the first night without hockey, I was watching and enjoying a paid program. 

My life has never really been all that fun. Now the rest of the world gets to experience what I've been going through since the 1990s. 

I look forward to this being in the past. Like you allude to, though, life will probably change forever after this, and I doubt an improvement. Only time will tell. 

I fully expect, if this lasts a long time, that people will get bored and eventually decide that if they get sick and die, so be it, and go back to normal. The feeling of being trapped, even in your own home, can really affect your psyche. Trust me, I know.

Working from home and praticing social distancing is my norm, but it's much easier to get out of business trips now.  Our house is stocked on the essentials a bit more than usual, but we normally keep a decent reserve regardless.  Other than going out to eat less and some financial/investment reorganization, no major change here.

I am working from home, sitting across a table from my son who is now doing his school work at home. I went out of the house yesterday to pick up dinner (we're trying to help out local places when possible) and went to the Post Office Tuesday. (My wife went yesterday - she's worked at home now for over 16 years.) Not really worried about trading as I don't think it can last that long on surfaces (but we're not 100% sure how long it can last), but I'll wage that bet. I am trying to stay clear of people, and am sensitive to those who are not wanting to receive stuff in their house. I get that. Even if I'm not infected, who know who is along the way. I'll hold the stacks of cards I have for members here (I have about 20-25 right now because of my Free Friday posts among other things) and send them when there is much less risk. I won't say no risk, because I feel there will always be a minimal risk of something infectious being carried somehow.

I have gained an extra 2 hours plus per day not commuting (my drive is about 1 hour each way, if there is no traffic, which until last week is never the case). I have been able to spend some time putting many cards into their proper places (and also reconciling a couple errors I made alogn the way in logging my collection). I don't do a lot of TV, and I don't have Netflix or any of those services, so I'm not spending a lot of time watching stuff. I tool around the internet - a lot. I have now for about 25 years. That time may have gone up a bit. :)

It did keep me from buying something. There is a limited edition compact disc set (3 cds) from one of my favorite bands (seen them 3 times) which seems to be a European release. The best price I've seen in years was a seller on ebay - located in Italy. I'll wait a while to purchase that. (In case anyone is interested, the band is Spock's Beard, and the title is Snow. The US version is a 2-cd set, but that 3rd disc has stuff you cannot get anywhere else.) That's about the only thing I've hesitated and didn't pull the trigger on because of this.

My son is a doctor on the frontlines of this pandemic in NJ. He's just informed us that despite the medical protocols one of his patients whom he tested has tested positive and my son is likely exposed. Because he's the youngest doctor with his hospital, he's assigned the COVID-19 patients. The current standards are for him to continue working, which he wants to do, unless he starts showing symptoms, then he'll have to quarantine.

One of my sons-in-law is a Dallas policeman always on the frontlines and on the verge of being called to work 12-hour shifts without time off for a while at the very least to enforce a possible curfew, but also to deal with the criminal element that relishes taking advantage of times like these. Unfortunately for him he can't always keep the 6-ft distance from someone.

I'm proud of them both. And it has caused me to pray to God more.

Cards have always been a diversion to me. It's a time that allow me to reflect on life as it keeps challenging me and my family, and now our world. They will remain a diversion. The motivation to sort wanes, but then I'll get a spurt of interest and catch up on inventory.

I was making regular visits to the card shop over the past two months, but that stopped a couple of weeks ago, and probably will occur ocassionally online.

Though I retired as a school admniistrator, I took a job as office manager at our church. Most of what I do can be done online, too, so lately I've been working from home. This week we're working to get our worship service online, and I'm the webmaster at our church so that'll be my main responsibility.

My wife went in to work for a couple of hours as the school district transitions to giving online courses. She's the financial clerk so that doesn't impact her, but the transfer of moneys is her responsibility and currently the district doesn't allow her access at home. I suspect that may change.

We spend our days otherwise watching news, rewatching Poldark, sending Marco Polos to our children, and lately trying to figure out how to order groceries online.

First off I hope everyone is well (phsyically as well as emotionally too) at this juncture of history, which undoubtedly is/will become another defining one. Thus far in N.B. Canada only a dozen or so cases reported but no doubt that will likely go up as it will for most of us. We have two daughters who are RN's so there job has taken a tangential change in direction even as the known # of cases in both New Brunswick and Nove Scotia hasn't increased greatly as in other more populated areas of the country. I am still trying to wrap my head around the very real possibility of having this topic on our daily radar for the next 12 to 18 months as the general consensus the time to develop a vaccine. Also the somewhat dire comparison to the last real major pandemic, the Spanish Flu of 1917-18 which only now a handful of human beings would have been around for. Being connected nowadays as we are is both a blessing and a curse, that we are able to communicate to one another whilst at the same time being inundated with info over and over again. I hope everyone stays safe and exercises a degree of common sense in this "once in a lifetime event" as it has recently been dubbed. 

Hi, I hope everybody is free of any CO19 threats. My daily routine hasn't changed much, except for "soaping and sanitizing" more. My quick errand and shopping runs have been discontinued for now. No Amazon either. I have so much backlogged house chores and hobby work that I barely feel a difference. But watching the news and reading facebook brings you back to reality so quickly. It disturbs me that their are so many idiots that live amongst us, refusing to accept the pandemic and challenging their families health. It's mind boggling. My wife and good friend [boarder] are both hospital workers, that bothers me a bit, but it is what it is. My g-daughters are grounded and here all the time now doing homework and online socializing. Everybody is very aware of my health and age, and taking extra precautions {{{Pause}}} while my G-daughter wipes my mouse and phones and keyboard. lol.

Probably the biggest affect on my life is the cancellation of Miss T's SB season. After Myrtle 3/1-3/8, things changed rapidly. When we returned, the Garden State A.A. named her Pitcher of the Week, going 3-0, 1.67 ERA  and 9 RBIs. Great Start came to a sudden end. The good news is she gets scholarship and eligibilty extensions to allow her to still compete. But I must admit having SB withdrawl.. 

Take care friends and members, Wash those hands!

~BOB~

Working from home. Walking the dog more. Kid's home. Wife's working from home. Supplies ok for now, but wondering if the hoarders will make hard in about a week. Figuring out what to do for my wife's birthday tomorrow. Gifts are all here, fortunately. And I'm going to pick up the cake I ordered tomorrow.

Got about 100 more baseball cards that are new to me to go through. Still buying off of eBay. And just getting along. As I think vrooomed said, I'm saving about 90 minutes per day in commuting and, who am I kidding, I'm not exactly working full eight hour days. Watching the videos of old Cubs games I have. In the middle of Maddux's 300th win, at the moment. I'm sure to clean out the play room and go through my whole collection soon. Have enough work to keep me busy at home for about four more days.

Starting daughter's college graduation is cancelled. As were three lovely trips she had planned. Wondering if/when I should go try to fetch her from Michigan. But she has to wait until her housemate's COVID19 test comes back. Backup daughter's musical cancelled.

And worrying about all the people who have it way worse than we do and the (lessening amount of) people who refuse to alter their habits to prevent the spread of this disease.

Be safe and smart, folks.

v3

Even though things are still crazy with people not knowing exactly what to do about things. I am fortunate I am still working at work. Well my job is primarily reception work and support for the facilities department  (I am also the one responsible for collecting the mail from the ground floor mailbox) so for our little "team" telecommuting is not an option. The majority of the people in my office are now telecommuting as we contract to the Government. IN the recent past, there have been times when our office was practically empty on Fridays before a big holiday or on those Federal Holidays that our company is still open even though the Feds were off for that holiday, or during Federal Shutdowns where our Govt. clients were off but our company was open. However those days were nowhere nearly as empty as this week has been. Unless the DC area closes down like California just did I don't see me or my "team" being forced to stay home.

On Sunday I was at my local grocery store to get some of my regular stuff. I was able to get OJ even though that section was almost empty, the Milk (didn't need or want to get any) was empty except for a little bit of Almond and Soy Milks. Bottled water was next to empty, meats section was mostly bare as was the bread aisle. I didn't even bother to check the paper products aisle. This weekend I will need to find a supply of paper products. I am not "out" of TP but my reserve is down to the last 4 pack right now. I can usually go another week maybe two with that, depending on frequency and severity of my sitdown "talks with Mother Nature".