Has the covid pandemic affected your life in any way?

This is a genuine question. OK. Please feel free to express your own personal feelings.

So I am an oldie, if being 82 years of age is old. Honestly. I have given a great deal of thought to this matter. Please Sir. How should a person of this age feel. Sir, replies. I honestly have no idea.
Skipping the years. 1962/3 here in the UK was a real killer of a winter. I was a young motorcycle cop. In central London, the snow was still around in April/May. Big boys don't cry. Cobblers. At times I was so cold, that when warming up, my eyes streamed with tears. Believe me the pain was so much. Years followed and I continued to work outdoors. Years passed by, and now covid. Suddenly we were confined to indoors. No more going to Tescos. Tescos now came to me. Suddenly this internet thingy came alive. Now I find myself. S** that it's cold outside. So I stay indoors. Daughter Amanda despite her disabilities, loves her dad. She deals with the Tesco orders, my hospital appointments and everything. ME. I have no idea as to how I should feel at my age. I have to be honest. I am becoming more and more lazy, and I don't like it.

 

I am an oldie too (69) so I guess am supposed to be more susceptible to these things. I got my shots like a good boy, wear my mask in stores etc....Basically played along with the program. I am not letting it run my life though. A couple of my younger relatives have come down with Covid, not bad enough to be hospitalized or anything. A few weeks ago, just after this Omicron variant came out, I felt poorly for a couple of days, sore throat, cough, but no fever. I think I may have had a touch of it. I didn't bother getting tested since no fever. I did stay home that week.
I think the government is going overboard with the restrictions, just use your common sense and I think we would be all right.
Funny to me that since this virus has come along, cases and deaths from the flu have just about disappeared........Hmmmmmm

 

All lockdowns have ended here, nobody has any reason to fear. Nearly the entire adult population of my country has been vaccinated, (over 160 million). Everybody is carrying their vaccination card, as you can't get into any shopping mall, any government office, any bank,, nor are you allowed to travel anywhere without it.

Best thing which I enjoy about this entire global pandemic. Is that too many people have now started doing their work from home, online - It wasn't possible before, but now, thanks to the internet, (which I consider a blessing), nobody wants to get back to work in the old way.

This saved a lot of time and energy commuting to and from work. But beyond all else, people realized exactly how much extra money they now save in a month, if they aren't constantly burning fuel - So this I too enjoy a lot, as now whenever I drive, I hardly ever get trapped in a traffic jam. My city is a coastal mega metropolis of over 20 million inhabitants, so just imagine the happy hour traffic nightmare, (not to mention the occasional road rage)...

And even though all restaurants are now open over here, people are still ordering online. Same story with supermarkets and grocery stores, (nearly all have hired out of work teenagers as their delivery boys). Schools and collages too are having a very tough time getting students back into the classrooms. As they too are happy studying from home.

People in general I think have also become slightly better behaved today, (more tolerant of others). Probably because they now spend more quality time with their own families at home. Meeting with friends and family members too is fast becoming a thing of the past, as now group video chat is the in thing!

Way too many people have also resigned from their jobs, as they didn't want to go back to work in the conventional sense. So a huge majority of them have started their own business, (oriented around working from home).

Lots of people, specially women, have decided to learn a new skill with all this extra time on their hands. While many others have enrolled back into studying, (to complete an educational degree which they couldn't do before).

Best of all, (and I know you all will love this), everybody's garden has improved a lot. Plant and seed sales are up, specially of vegetables. As many now want to remain food independent. Gardening equipment too is selling like hotcakes. And of course, less air pollution too, (because of less traffic on the road).

So if there really is a downside to all of this, then I at least am having a very hard time seeing it.

 

Well, yes, a bit, since I'm worried about my mother-in-law age 87. I also have friends with critical ailments that I only text or talk to on the phone. I miss them, and I miss dropping in to visit people without checking if they're well first. I love not feeling cramped at the shops, though, and I also like that I can cough discreetly behind my (no longer mandatory) mask and *whoosh* not cramped anymore.

The restrictions are slowly disappearing, we can travel again if we dare, and the tourists can return. We've had a baby boom in this country, people have taken up gardening and other hobbies, plus a few more nice points S-H already mentioned.

I'm also very happy we can move from the mandatory one-meter-distance back to the regular five-meter-distance us rural Norwegians like.

 

Hardly at all.
Because of my wife's disabilities, she rarely leaves the house except for jabs and visits to the doctors. My routine is golf weather permitting, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, plus shopping day on Tuesday. up until about five years ago we used to go out for a meal once or twice a week.
But for years, "we've not been anywhere or done anything," but we've plenty of hobbies to keep us busy.

Early on in the pandemic there was no golf for a few months, but everything is more or less back to normal. The pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in club members, so now it's full and there's a waiting list of over seventy people wanting to join. So our club finances have gone from being rather precarious to very healthy, in the last year.

 

MIKE ALLEN, that is a deep question. I spent the last hour thinking about it (an hour of thought is about all I can do) and decided that I've been minimally affected. I'm not very "social" so I don't miss seeing people, I don't like to shop so not going to stores is usual for me, there are no good restaurants near and I like to cook so not eating out is not a deprivation, and we are both in pretty good health, so we can get outside to do our usual farm type activities.
The only effect I have felt is a very short temper with stupid. Non-vaccinated and unmasked people deserve what they are going to get and I have no sympathy for them. The mantra here in Texas is "I got my rights" but those rights don't extend to infecting children, the elderly, and those who cannot be vaccinated. The sooner the herd gets culled, the better for the rest of us.
Good question and I'm looking forward to reading other's answers.

 

This may sound like a somewhat ridiculous thing to say, (and somewhat insensitive too if anyone has lost someone dear to Covid-19) - But I think this was the best time in history to have a global pandemic.

Medical science has today progressed enough, that humanity can easily create any type of vaccine in record time... Don't know if anyone would remember it or not. But just 2 years before Covid-19 pandemic, there was a massive ebola outback in Africa too. However scientists soon gained control over it, and not only contained it from spreading, but for the first time in the entire history of humanity - We now had an ebola vaccine too!

And of course, internet connectivity is what has made the biggest difference. The positive impact of real time communication really helped authorities coordinate a lot more effectively. So it's no exaggeration to say that had it not been for the internet, we could have easily lost this battle...

Working from home just wouldn't have been possible. No ordering food or groceries at your doorstep, (at least not at the speed and ease we do today).

I read somewhere that as soon as the first coronavirus DNA was mapped, they transmitted it over the internet to different labs simultaneously - Where researchers in different areas of the world immediately got to work on defeating it.

Downside is that conspiracy theorists, fake news fabricators, and other idiots too started bunching together over the internet. But thankfully, sane people still make up the majority...

Just imagine, if this coronavirus pandemic had occured during the early 2000s? There were no smartphones, not much broadband internet either. Or worse, what if it happened in the early 90s??? No way humanity would be able to have effective vaccines so soon. Nor any way of mass-producing it to inoculate nations across continents!

While the speed at which the virus would have spread, would have remained the same... I think it's not an overstatement when I say this - That we could have witnessed nothing but graves from horizon to horizon. Had this pandemic occurred only 10 to 15 years ago.

We have literally survived this by the skin of our teeth...

 

Eileen, when I went to the doctor for my yearly check-up, I told her, "Covid just might have found the cure for stupid." The poor lady nearly fell out of her chair laughing. She asked if I could needlepoint a sampler of that for her office!

 

Fab comments. Many thanks.
One thing that has affected me is. Due to lockdowns etc. Now getting out and about. My local High street is now, another world. So many shops have closed down due to high rents and no income. My High street is now being overrun with migrants setting up shop. There are basically, eateries, resteraunts and the like. Mobile phone shops. Barbers, and Mr Patels ticky tacky plastic bag and bin shops.

So we have in many ways been forced to using the internet. OK for some. However have you tried tracking down, ordering or attempting to order/buy some things.

For instance. I have spent hours on line. I wish to buy an adapter for my Olympus dslr camera to attach it to my microscope. Even contacting specific companies, I've been offered a complete kitchen refit and god knows what else. Gone are the days when I could visit my local camera shop. Hi. I am trying to find!!! I have often said that the internet is great. IMHO. it can also be a very dangerous place, also a complete waste of time. HELP! Beam me up Scotty!

 

I don't know where the line is between regular conversation and political. My life is greatly affected by the pandemic, but I will leave it at that. The rules of conduct in this website state no politics (bold red letters) so I won't say more. It's hard not expressing opinions and concerns, but I hope the garden is where all can go for peace and horticultural obsession

Community rules

 

This is exactly why I didn't reply to this thread earlier.
I will also leave it at that.

 

Daniel, so sorry that your life has been greatly affected by the pandemic, but glad you have the right attitude about seeking solace in gardening. We all need to follow your advice.

 

My apologies if I have stepped out of line.