MiLB Fan
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 20,539
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Post by MiLB Fan on Jul 20, 2023 14:36:20 GMT -5
Even though I understood how serious it was, a part of me chuckled when we started hearing advice about how to combat this new disease. Health experts: “Avoid large crowds and keep a safe distance from other people.” Me, an introvert: “Oh please, I was doing that waaay before COVID!” In the days following the onset of the stay-home orders, I remember going to the grocery store and seeing the cleaning supplies section completely cleared out; it looked like something from a post-apocalyptic movie. Same thing with Target, only the jigsaw puzzles were all gone too! I know people had to have something to keep their minds occupied while they were stuck at home, but it was so bizarre to see since you wouldn’t expect that section to be completely empty under normal circumstances. My pandemic life got off to a less than ideal start: guess what I was supposed to be doing on March 16th, 2020? I did get to see one of WWE’s first shows the following year when the company restarted touring; you can read about that experience here. When theaters started reopening in the summer, obviously Hollywood didn’t have much to offer in terms of new content. So my local AMC loaded up on the feel-good classics; the first movie I saw in six months was Ghostbusters (1984 version). Now I’ve seen this movie more times than I can count, and dressed up as Egon for Halloween in first grade, but I never saw it on the big screen. If anything good came out of the pandemic, it’s that I learned to cut my own hair. My hair is thick and grows quickly, to the point that it was starting to curl up in the back. With Supercuts not reopening any time soon, I bought a Wahl clipper set at Target. I figured that in the worst-case scenario, hair always grows back. It turned out to be one of the best investments I ever made; in more than three years I have saved over $900 by doing the job myself.
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Post by Big BosskMan on Jul 20, 2023 14:48:47 GMT -5
Three years ago in early July, my company let just over 20% of its workforce go in a cost-cutting move to survive. People I had worked with for years, some more than a decade, gone in a Thanos snap. No goodbyes, no nothings. Just gone. Dealt with a light form of survivor's guilt for the rest of year. We lost a ton of revenue. No raises, no 401k contributions.
A year later, I lost my Dad and within the span of the same week, found out my company was merging with its primary competitor. Made it through that round. But still felt kind of lost and aimless.
Last year was year 1 of the new company. Chaos at best. Revenues came back in a big way once things really reopened.
This year, things are a bit better but still lots of internecine office politics between our primary location and everyone else that is remote. I am remote and intend to stay that way for the foreseeable future unless I leave the company.
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Post by An Dog On An Skateboard on Jul 20, 2023 15:07:58 GMT -5
It was f***ing weird.
I work in the travel industry so my workplace was mothballed in the middle of March 2020, and I was placed on furlough until that August, and then again from November until July 2021. Furlough was great for about the first two weeks and then became an unbearable slog. I was threatened with redundancy three times, had my contract "renegotiated" and my wages cut, and spent most of furlough wondering when or even if I'd ever go back to work. Having to readjust to going back to work after that amount of downtime was an incredibly hard adjustment; sometimes I'm not sure I ever have.
A lot of the things I like to do went away. 2020 was the first cricket season since 2008 when I didn't go to a ground once; it was the first time since I was thirteen that I didn't see any live music; I couldn't see friends or extended family for months. And because I wasn't doing my job, I had no purpose, so life became seriously hard work. I have quite bad depressive episodes, and the whole experience did absolutely nothing for that, and made getting help for them even harder; you think of all that time when you couldn't do anything that you'll never get back, and that's a difficult thing to come to terms with.
So yeah, I didn't enjoy it.
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Eunös ✈
Dalek
Duck Feet Expert
Tolerated, just not practically liked.
Posts: 59,301
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Post by Eunös ✈ on Jul 20, 2023 15:09:59 GMT -5
I continued to work throughout, even in a pandemic people still need their 5 a day. I remember the roads being mega quiet, it was so strange just being able to drive staright through places where traffic would normally be starting.
On my day off I would go for a walk down to the nearby country park which was allowed, I was still social distancing. The weather was really nice at the time so it was a good excuse to get out and just clear the mind.
Honestly it all already feels like a long time ago. It honestly feels like it never happened in a way.
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Post by An Dog On An Skateboard on Jul 20, 2023 15:16:15 GMT -5
If anything good came out of the pandemic, it’s that I learned to cut my own hair. My hair is thick and grows quickly, to the point that it was starting to curl up in the back. With Supercuts not reopening any time soon, I bought a Wahl clipper set at Target. I figured that in the worst-case scenario, hair always grows back. Mine does too, but I went the opposite way and grew my hair long again during COVID, and I've kept it that way. People seem to like it.
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legendkiller1985
Don Corleone
If I'm going to have a past, I'd prefer it to be multiple choice
Posts: 1,704
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Post by legendkiller1985 on Jul 20, 2023 17:53:49 GMT -5
I remember having to work a lot since I was considered essential but the Hazard pay and two weeks emergency time were nice. During early lockdown I remember going for walks around the neighborhood and local parks. I also got into the habit of going to see more museums and read a little more.
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Post by darbus alan on Jul 20, 2023 18:44:45 GMT -5
Final Fantasy VII Remake and Persona 5 Royal pretty much saved my sanity during the early pandemic times. That was the most I spent playing any video game console in years.
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Cranjis McBasketball
Crow T. Robot
Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
Peace Love and Nothing But
Posts: 42,398
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Jul 20, 2023 18:47:45 GMT -5
Not sure what it says that my life hardly changed. Except where I went to work everyday, my life experienced zero change. Although one time and I did say it to the cashier. “There’s a cop parked outside. Feels really weird making sure I put my mask on BEFORE I go into the liquor store in front of the police”.
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Ultimo Gallos
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 15,320
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Jul 20, 2023 20:19:16 GMT -5
I do miss having movie nights in a buddy's back yard. 10 of us spaced out over his huge back yard watching a movie or two.
Been tempted to do it again but this time do it in my back yard. Maybe even float the screen on the lake.
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Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
Posts: 244,987
Member is Online
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Jul 20, 2023 21:16:44 GMT -5
Gonna be honest, not much
It's such a blur I'm still shocked we were massively locked down for almost 2 years... it was like your brain just tried to speed it up
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Post by Banjo Is Broken on Jul 21, 2023 2:23:09 GMT -5
I got a 2020 Grumpy Cat calendar for Christmas in 2019. The very last day of the calendar had Grumpy Cat saying, "2020, Worst Year Ever." Keep in mind this was all made even before 2020 started, so somehow Grumpy Cat knew of all this beforehand.
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Bones58
Don Corleone
Shuup Baby, I know it!
Posts: 1,476
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Post by Bones58 on Jul 21, 2023 5:57:23 GMT -5
Watched 1994 WWE, drank too much, ate too much fast food and had to stop watching the news because it became depressing.
Then after the fallout everything about it became politicised and was all about point scoring. It was that that convinced me nothing significant enough will be done about Climate Change until it’s too late because people are too attached to their tribe.
I’m still a happy person but I’m glad life is finite as I really wouldn’t want to be on this planet in the year 2100 unless Mankind has a serious look at itself.
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ayumidah
Patti Mayonnaise
DOOM TIME!!!!!
Posts: 30,943
Member is Online
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Post by ayumidah on Jul 21, 2023 6:27:44 GMT -5
There are some scattered memories-- Supernatural having its series finale during all of this, and fandom's general meltdown over it. Otherwise, my life didn't change much, just schedule shifted a little and I stopped seeing my grandmother as much whenever I went grocery shopping for her, to try to limit possibly spreading anything I might have come in contact with to her. I did start going to movies pretty quickly once the local theater opened, and my first wrestling event back was in November 2022. I have yet to resume going to concerts though.
Funniest memory is probably finding a zodiac book for 2020 on Amazon and seeing reviews from people in December 2019 going "There's no way EVERY Zodiac is going to have a bad year, this is a horrible book"... I wonder if the reviewers looked back on that and went, "Ah shit"
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J is Justice
Patti Mayonnaise
Will now be grateful.
Hi.
Posts: 31,771
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Post by J is Justice on Jul 21, 2023 6:35:03 GMT -5
All I know is I wash my hands way more now.
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Push R Truth
Patti Mayonnaise
Unique and Special Snowflake, and a pants-less heathen.
Perpetually Constipated
Posts: 39,372
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Post by Push R Truth on Jul 21, 2023 10:08:51 GMT -5
All I know is I wash my hands way more now. Random related stuff to this: So I work in a big government building that has a lot of public going in and out constantly. I'm friends with the head of maintenance and she was showing me that we are going thru almost 70% less soap right now that we were BEFORE the pandemic started. According to our autocounters, we have more people entering the restrooms now than ever before. (this is expected as we expanded in the last year) Is there really a large segment of the population that normally washed hands before the pandemic that went all crazy and quit doing it afterwards?
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Fade
Patti Mayonnaise
Posts: 38,487
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Post by Fade on Jul 21, 2023 10:44:07 GMT -5
I laugh about that first time getting groceries and scrubbing down each bag lol..
I miss my run’s during the pandemic. Not a soul in sight. Felt like I was jogging in I Am Legend.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,870
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Post by agent817 on Jul 21, 2023 10:57:20 GMT -5
If you want to talk about the year that was 2020, all I can tell you is that I remembered playing "Days Gone" not long after the lockdown started. I liked the game, but in hindsight, it probably wasn't a good idea. I could say the same about "The Last of Us." Of course, when looking at those times, aside from my immediate family and a close friend of mine who also happens to be my neighbor, I did not talk to too many people. I was practically a recluse. I know we all were, but it was to the point where aside from going for a walk, I didn't really leave the house much.
Don't even get me started on how a lot of tweets and Facebook posts, along with Instagram stories being devoted to our political climate in the United States. People making posts related to controversial subjects. It made me question my existence at times. I kid you not.
When 2021 came around, I started getting out more. I started going to the movie theater more. Later in that year, I started going to indie wrestling shows again. For the most part, however, I was still somewhat reclusive. It wasn't until the fall of last year that I decided to start going back to school when the campus opened again. But I can say that the pandemic affected all of us to the point where it really affected my social skills. As someone who is autistic, sometimes my social skills can be hit or miss, but then there were moments when I can say that my social cues took a toll that I got anxious in group settings or if I may have let something slip in a conversation.
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Lupin the Third
Patti Mayonnaise
I'm sorry.....I love you. *boot to the head*--3rd most culpable in the jixing of NXT, D'oh!
Join the Dark Order....
Posts: 36,403
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Post by Lupin the Third on Jul 21, 2023 11:35:26 GMT -5
So right as the pandemic started, the IFL cancelled the season after 2 games.
Then, about a month after it was cancelled, a friend of mine, who moved here from Spokane to take a job at the Sioux Falls Storm, was let go.
For the longest period of time, I went through a dark place in myself. I was talking up Sioux Falls, what a great place it was, how we were getting so much stuff, and how we were close to the Twin Cities and Omaha. And we were gonna hang out and have a great time.
And then the pandemic. And a dark voice kept asking me, "Who was it that convinced them to move here? Who was it that talked up how great it was?"
Yeah, I fought with myself with that for about 2 years. It was not good.
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DichEvans
Samurai Cop
Lenny Lazy Lane Stinks
Posts: 2,245
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Post by DichEvans on Jul 21, 2023 11:59:10 GMT -5
I don’t *think* this violates any of the rules set out in the sticky thread. Yesterday was the first day since early 2020 that I didn’t wear a face covering even once during a 24 hour period. And it got me thinking about just how much has changed in my personal life since the start of the global-bastard in early 2020. I thought it might be fun and maybe even a bit cathartic to share some of the (non-prohibited) memories from the height of the pandemic. One that stands out to me was watching Bill and Ted 3. Somehow, it wasn’t region-locked, so I was able to buy and watch it legally as soon as it was released. I paid like $30 for it and, through some weird luck, it was the same day my partner brought home a bag of Spicy Doritos (not available at retail here). I watched Bill & Ted and ate my spicy Doritos (one of my favorite snack from when I was a kid) and drank Dr Pepper and felt for about two hours just perfectly happy for the first time in a very long while. I’ve got a bunch more that I’d like to share, but does anybody else? The first 3 months or so, I have zero memories of it. It was the same boring thing every day, I go for a walk to the grocery store, get some liquor and junk food, and then chat with my friends on zoom. It made me realize how important experiences are for creating memories.
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Post by Pooh Carlson on Jul 21, 2023 12:28:55 GMT -5
I went on a cruise right at the beginning of covid. At the time, the Italian cruise ship was being quarantined because we all kept joking about that happening and my company had just made travel restrictions to China and Europe for salespeople. I went to Disney to see Galaxy's Edge and then went on an 8 day cruise. The week after we got back, everything shut down and there was no toilet paper on the shelves.
Everybody in my sphere stayed healthy, in fact I was the first to get covid in November 2020. The first couple months of lockdown, my friend group started using the app House Party and we would chat multiple times a week for hours at a time, sometimes super late into the night, with local friends and some in other states and countries even. It was a lot of fun for those first couple months. Once summer hit, a few of us started loosening up and expanding our "bubble" to small in person game nights and such every so often. It definitely was a unique time!
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