Can we talk COVID and how it affected you financially, emotionally, physically, etc?

[disneysteve]

Kind of a minor one in the grand scheme of things but one of our favorite restaurants in Florida went out of business. We ate there once or twice on every trip. It was a buffet and they simply saw no way to ever reopen with that business model. Buffets have largely disappeared. Most now either serve family style or have a buffet line but with someone serving you your food rather than self-serve.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I ran into a man Karen while jogging in my neighborhood, me not wearing a mask. Black guy in his 30's wearing a mask walking in the opposite direction coming towards me. He walks into the road and I'm thinking "is he avoiding me?" Sure enough when we get near each other he is yelling at me to wear a mask (lol). Los Angeles has an indoor mask mandate but outside none unless it's an even with mass gatherings such as a sporting event. Even when I'm driving I often see a single person walking on the sidewalk wearing a mask and I think to myself "if that makes you feel safer by all means wear it."

[QuarterMillionMan]

For clarification, I'm not an anti-masker. People don't have common sense wearing a mask while walking on the sidewalks with few other people in the vicinity. I can see if large crowds are walking the sidewalks like Times Square or downtown in a major city. People are so stupid like that man Karen who was yelling at me.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I just placed my order for 4 free tests.

[disneysteve]

I just placed my order for 4 free tests.

We did that too.

[disneysteve]

For clarification, I'm not an anti-masker. People don't have common sense wearing a mask while walking on the sidewalks with few other people in the vicinity. I can see if large crowds are walking the sidewalks like Times Square or downtown in a major city. People are so stupid like that man Karen who was yelling at me.

Can we please stick to the topic of how COVID has affected you personally and stay away from criticizing how others choose to act unless it directly affects you? The guy yelling at you fits the topic for sure. The random stranger wearing a mask outdoors that you see as you drive by really is of no concern. I can tell you that if you follow me around you will sometimes find me walking outside by myself or driving alone with a mask on. There are perfectly good reasons for that. They just aren't relevant to this thread.

I think this is a great topic. I just don't want to see it devolve into something else.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Okay.

Edit to add: sometimes it's hard to see the forest from the trees & I never thought I'd be the 1st to violate the policy, my bad.

[disneysteve]

As I've said, many negatives when it comes to my job, but also one huge positive. We've switched to a system where patients are largely scheduled, rather than being 100% walk-in. That's relieved the single biggest stressor of the job and patients love it too. Our satisfaction scores have climbed during the absolute busiest period when intuitively they should have plummeted. I spoke to our lead physician today and she's fully in favor of keeping it that way permanently even after COVID dies down. Hopefully the administration will agree.

[mumof2]

prices of food have gone up..they already had due to the 2019 bushfires but they have gone up so much more now...rents have become out of this world (for what you pay to what you get)...all non emergency procedures have been stopped as they don't have the staff to deal with it now with covid...so things like endoscopy/colonoscopy etc which could potentially save lives is no longer being done for now...and for me who really struggles to breathe with a mask I can barely go anywhere as masks are mandatory and I can't wear them for long...almost passed out in a store the other day...walked off to an empty space to take off and try to catch my breathe and the staff kept walking up to check on me...which was great but when they did I had to keep putting my mask on which was defeating the purpose....but hubby and me got out of there and our daughter does most of it for us usually for this reason...so glad that we can order groceries and do direct to boot pick up

[MonkeyMama]

My life remains largely unchanged. I did worry about relatives early on in the pandemic. But some of the younger ones with health issues have been able to work remotely (maybe permanently) and all the elders in our family were some of the first to be vaccinated (and boosted). Ask me again in another few weeks or months, with this latest surge.

My work hasn't changed at all. Which is good. Remote work does not appeal to me. But I have always worked a hybrid/flexible schedule (20+ years). & I expect work and work socializing was a good distraction, particularly early on. Just a lot of normalcy I had that clearly others did not. My husband was laid off for 18 months, but financially it's been *shrugs* because of unemployment money and stimulus (which replaced any lost pay). & even that wasn't really unusual as he just works very part-time/seasonally (with the bigger job of raising kids and running the household).

We are largely homebodies who home cooked all our meals before. I much prefer the gym, but we have equipment at home and have lived many years without a gym. All of this kind of stuff has been easy to roll with or was already how we lived our lives. All the outdoor things (most of how we spend our time) never went away. Speaking mostly to hiking or things like going to the beach.

We've always had family all over the world and have had family gatherings online and mostly communicated (with long distance relatives) over Skype. So that is just very normal for us. Heck, my husband has always collaborated online with his writing partner (because said partner has mostly lived in LA and SF).

I am so grateful that my kids were not younger, that said. What a nightmare. I feel for parents of younger kids. I think pregnancy through something like age 10 would be particularly difficult. But I was just thinking to remote learning with very small kids, parents balancing work and daycare, the extra isolation for new parents, etc. I realize reading more recent replies, that it's also very different having kids who have been vaccinated since Day 1. This has obviously been a very different world when it comes to younger kids (who haven't been vaccinated yet or had to wait longer).

Edited to add: I'm an introvert to the extreme.

[myrdale]

I just placed my order for 4 free tests.

This is one sticking point for me about our cultural understanding of "free".

The WhiteHouse.org fact sheet states the government is buying 1 Billion test kits to distribute to the public for free.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/01/14/fact-sheet-the-biden-administration-to-begin-distributing-at-home-rapid-covid-19-tests-to-americans-for-free/

They are not free, they are being paid for with our tax dollars. Has anyone seen a cost listed for how much the government is spending on these? $1 each? $10? $25? $100? x 1 Billion

I am curious how accurate the test are in the hands of the average person. I guess it is cheaper to say do it yourself instead of having a doctor or pharmacist administer the test.

[disneysteve]

They are not free, they are being paid for with our tax dollars.

No different than the millions of tests that have already been done at testing centers across the country. Patients don't pay a penny for. those tests either, even if they have no insurance.

As for accuracy, no different than when you drive up to CVS and they hand you the packet to swab yourself.

Back to the actual topic of this thread:

I was reminded again of how the supply chain disruptions are affecting all of us when I took my weekly trip to the supermarket this morning. Once again, I found many empty shelves and out of stock items. One item that had been out of stock for several weeks at multiple stores was actually there today so I bought several packages (it's frozen so I can stock up). I wouldn't normally buy more than one at a time but it could be weeks before I find it again and I use it regularly. With worker shortages, production interruptions, and shipping delays, many items aren't consistently available.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Before the test kit shortage CVS had Binax Now test kits for $24.99 which I believe contained 2 tests in each kit. I wish that I had bought one but shoulda, coulda, woulda. The Feds probably get a discount for the bulk order but who knows.

As for the supply chain shortage CNBC this morning said now over 100 ships waiting to port. Past months 60 or 80's was the high. It is getting worse.

[rennigade]

Was just at sherwin williams. Wanted a can of the sample paint. Guy said they havent had sample sizes for a year. I had no clue. I knew the price of paint went up, didnt realize there was a shortage of that too. ffs

[myrdale]

After further thought, I have been impacted in the way of delivery times. I ordered a lab refrigerator a few months ago that went from a quoted three weeks, to six, to twelve. Finally we received it around the twenty week mark.

I priced a 4,000 gallon alloy reactor and my preferred vendor said they love to help but they are closing their doors. Two other vendors have quoted 50+ weeks. I would have expected half of that.