stuck at home with Corona virus?

[awomanwithahammer]

Hopefully, not in the same household.

[phil]

I think a lot will be also switching jobs. My bro took early retirement. under normal situations people plug away at the same job and the time off may lead to a lot of people redirecting. Online shrinks might be in high demand

[Wackyshack]

Phil it is interesting that you should say that about redefining the wants and needs. While driving to work I was listening to NPR and they were doing a segment on "My Corona Life" and one section of their story montage was talking to a couple who live in a 700ft apartment in New York. The place wasn't small because they went out a lot, but now since they were both working from home, the shoe box was no longer desirable. The guy in the story said he wanted to move where he could have land, chickens, a garden - you know life like a prepper. Then the story switched to talk about another concept of house living where there was ample space but the lifesyle didn't suit the floor plan: the open concept. One guy in that one mentioned he loved his kids but didn't want to experience them 24/7. Rooms with some privacy was an appealing option.
They are discovering what we all ready know here.

[Nicholas]

I hate the stuff that's coming out of the US government, from the White House on down to the Tennessee governor, to our local officials. There's no guidance, no leadership, nothing but chaos. We need Captain Picard, but what we've got is Captain Jack Sparrow.

Making our real estate (and old homes they are built on) great again, keep it great.

[phil]

Ive been working so its pretty normal for me but my love has been cycling through emotions from happy and normal and thankful to angry at everything and everyone around her to rage and then after time sadness and crying, then apologies for the harsh behavior. It then repeats. She attributes it to going through the changes of a woman in her early 50's. I try to be supportive and quiet, to not fight back and to accept the rage and insults but its very hard to take. I had to call police a few times when it just got so out of control that it became justifiable. she ran out and slept at work a few days until they called the cops due to her rage. I've been fair with money , I've never cheated or intentionally hurt her emotionally or physically. I took a few day off and I booked an appointment for a counselor tomorrow and Ill take the day off for that even though it will just be over the phone due to distancing rules.
Any concern for her mental health seems to be met with rejection and denial. It's difficult for me to solve. this morning I said I dont know how to heal her. she said she's healthy and happy. Perhaps its stuff she just needs to work through or maybe it's some medical issue that I can't identify as I am trained to fix machinery not in psychological behavior. I feel I'm being mentally abused and loved at he same time and I cant' blame her for the rage because I think a lot of it is out of her control never mind my control.
It is very common , because of the stigma of mental health issues to reject help and it cannot be forced upon an individual unless it crosses the threshold of violence and threats , harm to themselves or others. Some people are not accepting of drugs to make them calm for good reason. I think we both have our guard up so high that it has become a barrier and yet we do share a deep love. I'm sure I'm not the only one experiencing such issues. Perhaps it even affects those in positions of governance, and police and medical staff and their decisions. I got in today to see that my employer posted links to the Canadian mental health association. They realize it affects workers. Return to work with distancing rules may come soon and that could alleviate some of it.
lucky to have a house I can only imagine the situation in a confined space especially under a quarantine situation. We didn't see quarantines or stay at home orders but they basically shut a lot of business down, highlighted the issues of hospital overcrowding and stepped up a lot of anti social distancing propaganda. People abide for the most part. It did flatten the curve but eradicating the disease through physical separation is a pipe dream. It stopped the issues of hospital overcrowding and probably saved a lot of lives. The economy may rebound quite well. I checked my mutual funds and they didn't crash. I dont think house values dropped a lot either but we may be a long way from being through the ordeal. Meanwhile its a sunny spring day, flowers are in bloom, My lilacs smell so nice a lady even stopped and asked to cut some to take home and I said she can cut all she likes. I love this time of year with the whole summer to look forward to. I cant' wait to fix my roof because it's dripping out of the hood fan when it rains. If I can just make it to my holiday , a few weeks I'll strip and replace that section. I have all I need but time to open it up and deal with it. One good thing about owning an old house is that there is always a source of progress and improvement and the resulting feelings of accomplishment. I think I'd really miss that if I were caged in a concrete pigeon hole like so many. I think having walls and separate rooms do help somewhat.
My love feels bored and misses the feelings of accomplishment and the stability of higher earnings. I dont know what bored feels like because I own so many projects and that provides inspiration. I think we all need objectives other than work and for each, the needs are a bit different. Maybe some get stuck without that as they depend upon work for more than earnings. Its often also a social environment and a source of accomplishment. Without that we can go off kilter.
I rewired an old barley twist lamp. I found a "Gaetz" a tag on the bottom that it was made in Canada by the same maker as my dining room table. the lamp had a silk cord and I changed it for a vacuum cleaner cord just to update the wiring. It has three switches and three bulbs plus the giant mogul bulb so there was quite a nest of wires and some had poor insulation. I changed the bad ones. Ill keep the old silk cord aside for now. it was neat but since we use it every day I thought it should be new wire. I think I'll obtain an adapter because those mogul bulbs are getting hard to find and expensive. maybe I can swap it to the LED type. the shade was yellowed but I managed to clean int in the tub with some CLR and carpet shampoo. It came out nice and clean. I have a second lamp that has a tattered old silk shade. Id like to replace the fabric but I'm not sure where to get it or quite how to approach that. I wiped on a little amalgamator on the woodwork which is pretty crinkled. Then I put some linseed oil and turps but the smell wafted upstairs and caused a little issue. when I was soldering I dripped some solder and flux on the base and it left a little blotch in the crinkle. It looks better anyway.

[awomanwithahammer]

Oh, Phil, I'm sorry you're going through this. It's hard to tell what is naturally occurring as opposed to quarantine-related. I hope you can both get the help you need. Hang in there.

[Nicholas]

Thats quite the story Phil, and I am sorry you are going through this. I am also one of those that think the cure was worse than the disease, and it sounds that way with what is going on with you.

Some folks suspect what is REALLY going on with this "trial run", but I know this is not the place for that discussion.

Oh yea...old house....the house depresses me because it was supposed to be me and my wife (deceased a year after we refurbished) empty nest. So I picked up the classic car to divert. But I am also making slow minor changes to the house, I am also looking at possible tenting for termites soon.

Fully retired, living on a tighter budget, treading water, but at least I can see the sky...

[phil]

took aday off yesterday, we had a counselling session , she was a little uncooperative and stressed but at least committed to another session, meanwhile things do seem to be leveling out. I think I will just be nice and supportive and give it time. I slept with earplugs in and that helped a lot lol..
we had some sudden rains and water dribbles out of the hood fan and that was causing a lot of concern so I got up there and nailed down some runs of roofing felt over the roofing in the area and above for about 10 feet. Just a patch for now, Ill tear the section off when there is time to, and make it all right.
I have a 60's volvo. Its been in a car tent , some rust holes appearing around fenders and rocker panels. Ive owned it a long time and done bodywork and chased the rust in circles. the clutch cylinder leaked it's fluid but I got new parts waiting. Previously I did a lot to it and basically had every part apart. I balanced the engine , bored it to 2 litres, polished the ports, put in a hotter cam and a head with bigger valves. put in overdrive and lowered the gearing of the rear end. It's a riot to drive. I can lug it around like a granny or open it up and it really roars when the revs get up. I'm trying to decide if I want to just do some fiberglass type repairs or mig weld in patches to fix the rust holes. Its not perfect but I'm looking forward to getting back into that and having more fun with it.

[awomanwithahammer]

So, Lily, about the senior center and my mom. We have been very fortunate in that there have been only a few cases in one nursing home in town (not this one!) This is an independent living center, and we did weigh all the options. She can be totally isolated, as she will have an exterior door and a full kitchen. They are taking all the precautions they should, and we just don't think we can wait any longer. I am very nervous about it, but she is good about not getting out. The foot surgery may actually have been a blessing, in that she can't drive, so she can't get out and run around!

[Lily left the valley]

Odd things do sometimes turn out to be blessings in these times. This is in spite of things that normally would be perfectly innocuous which we now find suspect and potentially dangerous.

One of our latest "ummm..is this is a good idea?" that never would have been a hesitation before in my mind has to do with one of his nieces that is getting married this year. My invite to the in person indoor bridal shower on August 8th arrived in the mail this week. (It's taking place at a preserved historic house! For that alone I wouldn't want to skip it.) MiL confirmed that, yes, of course it's still on despite the pandemic, and of course she's driving up for it. The wedding isn't until October. They couldn't have at least scheduled it closer to the wedding?

You'd think after we just had a zoom memorial for her sister because funerals were not allowed in FL, she'd have hesitated even slightly on this matter, but nope. Despite being a smart lady, when family gets involved--toss that science backed common sense out the window. This is also with her knowing that CT has a two week out-of-stater quarantine in place for now 19 states. Some of the invitees, if they do choose to go, are from some of those states. Not my MiL nor myself, but things could change in both states between now and then. CT even recently held back on their next opening stage (3) indefinitely just last Monday as a precaution due to the spike in other states that reopened.

And don't even get me started on family drama related to the now canceled Disney birthday party in February...which was only decided within the last week based on what family members that work for Disney had to say about the chances of the FL park being fully open by the beginning of that month.

I get that some folks are getting a bit stir crazy and crave a sense of normalcy. Yet we'll never get on top of this thing if folks keep coming up with excuses why they can't follow what will help stomp it out.