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How to keep your sanity when you feel like the world is going crazy:
Hi there. How are you feeling today?
It's a loaded question right now. Many of us are having extraordinary feelings in response to extraordinary times. Hundreds of millions of people here in the United States and around the world are doing their best to help contain the spread of novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 by following World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control guidelines and, bluntly, staying the heck away from other people.
Even for a born introvert like yours truly, the era of prolonged, enforced social distancing is hard. Folks are either stuck at home alone, stuck at home with their families, or still having to go out into the world every day to work—either because their work is vital or their employers are being stubborn—and all the while, we're being buffeted by government warnings and endless waves of frightening news.
In short: right now, we're all exchanging some measure of our mental health in order to preserve our own and others' physical health, and that has limits. We're all in this together, for several weeks and months, if not longer, and basically, we need to avoid driving ourselves and each other crazy if we're going to get through it.
That, of course, is easier said than done. To that end, we called up mental health experts to ask what, realistically, we should all be doing to help ourselves and others.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday March 23 2020, @03:16AM
makes Jack a dull boy [youtu.be]
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 23 2020, @03:41AM (10 children)
Since I have to keep working, so long as the buses keep running this won't actually be all that different. I have zero social life to begin with, and have a tendency to stockpile nonperishable goods as a matter of instinct due to lifelong poverty (don't worry, they all get used, and whatever doesn't gets donated). "Social distancing" is what I refer to as "any given Tuesday."
I'm hoping this makes all the idiots in the country sober up and take a good, long, hard look at themselves. They likely won't, but a girl can dream...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @04:33AM (2 children)
Oh, I always thought you were male.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @06:46AM
She too
(Score: 3, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 23 2020, @03:12PM
Do you want me to mail you a used pad or something? Get over yourself.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @06:25AM (1 child)
If you cared one bit about social distancing, you wouldn't be going to work when you know you're sick. Many of the people going to your pharmacy for prescriptions are elderly or ill. Age increases the risk of serious complications from COVID-19. And people who simultaneously contract COVID-19 and another illness like the flu are much more likely to become seriously ill and require hospitalization. You admitted that you could have contracted COVID-19 but still went to work with full knowledge and consent that you were putting many other people at risk. You are a greedy and selfish individual, putting your paychecks ahead of the safety and health of your customers. Don't pretend now that you're conforming to social distancing when you already admitted otherwise. Go smooch with Rand Paul, you rotten bitch.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 23 2020, @03:10PM
Duh gubbamint says I'm an essential employee. Take it up with them. Nice try, shit-for-brains. If I start feeling feverish or in any other way ill I'll take the "2 weeks paid leave" offer the company has so kindly extended to us, of course.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Monday March 23 2020, @11:44AM (2 children)
Those like you for whom this is not much of a difference form the stable, calm islands around which other people can cluster and stop panicking. Having no social life can be lonely, but in this situation it comforts others to see it's not immediately life threatening, and that will help them get through it. We all have a critical role to play in the world, even if we can't always see it.
がんばって ください
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @05:33PM (1 child)
Have you seen her posts and how she interacts with others on this site? Stable and calm aren't the words I would use.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday March 24 2020, @06:31AM
Sorry-not-sorry if my tone scorches your delicate little ears, cupcake. I'm still right. Eat your liver!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @03:17PM (1 child)
I forget if you were the tranny I hated or tolerated on here. Either way good luck, we all need it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 23 2020, @03:25PM
So far as I know we have two MtFs on here, Kurenai and Barbara Hudson. I'm 100% womyn-born-womyn. Sorry (not sorry) if that bothers you, manlet :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Monday March 23 2020, @03:50AM (5 children)
I feel much better when I go on a news diet, consuming not too much and choosing it for nutritional value.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday March 23 2020, @05:12AM (1 child)
This hit me right in the feels. I'm a hardcore news junkie and there's nothing in the news anymore except for nonstop virus doom-porn.
Times are so tough I'm actually considering getting back into gaming. They say that CS:GO is one of the last gaming communities that isn't infected with AIDS, heard a lot of good stuff about TF2 as well. Any recommendations for good Star Trek games?
(Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @09:01AM
The media is making billions from this 'plague'.
I can't shake the feeling this has all been completely overblown, for profit, but a news sector that is out of all control.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday March 23 2020, @07:24AM
It's OK, if you need a break you can watch The Quiz Broadcast [youtube.com].
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Monday March 23 2020, @11:57AM (1 child)
I stopped reading the news years ago. My faith was broken when the New York Times through Judith Miller lied to sell the Iraq War; that, in turn, led me to immediately disbelieve the Russian Hoax and every other hit story and hoax about Trump. My suspicion was also heavily augmented by time at the Clinton Foundation, watching how incestuous they all were, how corrupted and biased they all were.
I did two things instead to compensate. Generally I use online commentators for headlines; they traffic in fear/rage porn also, but as they've already masticated and processed the media sources to some extent it's less toxic and noteworthy patterns can still form around issues that merit further investigation. For example, the Wuhan coronavirus began circulating there a couple weeks after it began, and as the numbers grew a couple weeks after that I stocked up and avoided all the panic buying.
The second thing I did to compensate was to read the abstracts of primary sources. Government reports, industry association prospectuses, and that sort of thing. For example, I've been reading the Congressional white papers on China for 20 years, which is why I have been sounding the alarm bells about them for 20 years. Nobody can read all of those sources, but it's not too hard to track a handful of topics or areas of interest. Even source documents are not 100% free of bias because no human-authored document can be, but at least the galling sensationalism is absent.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Monday March 23 2020, @04:54PM
Digging to primary sources is the other thing I do. Much recommended.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @03:53AM (32 children)
I miss my mind the most.
WTF? What's up with all the freakout?
I mean, I get it. People are scared, but we know what to do.
Best case scenario is that millions worldwide will be infected and tens of thousands will die. Note, that's the *best* case scenario here.
Panicking will only make things worse.
How can one maintain their "sanity" in these uncertain times? With big doses of the *truth*, and strong leadership to help us "flatten the curve."
We've been getting (at least where I live) lots of the former and a fair amount of the latter. Which is good, since something like 1/3 of the confirmed US cases are where I live.
What we're not getting is the support we need from the Federal government. They were woefully unprepared (which we've known for *years* [time.com]) and were very slow to get started when it became obvious (six weeks ago) to pretty much the entire Public Health community that we were in for a bad time.
We got no leadership, no preparations, no actions to bolster our ability to handle this pandemic from the Feds until last week. Rather, we got weaseling and claims of "hoaxes" and other *lies* to deflect responsibility. Apparently, unlike Harry Truman, the buck does *not* stop at the White House any more.
Which is certainly additional cause for trepidation and concern. However, we're in the middle of it now and we don't have the luxury of fighting one another over political points.
What we need is for us to recognize that if we want to save lives, we need to work together to slow the spread of infections and push hard to get the equipment and materials we need to treat seriously ill patients and protect healthcare workers.
Panicking does none of that. Consider this the slap in the face to stop you from freaking out. Get a grip and let's work together to create the "best case scenario" I referred to above.
(Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @04:09AM (12 children)
I'm guessing most people at least in the back of their minds understand that. However in addition to that, we have our governments saddling millions of us with mass unemployment and house arrest. The edicts change by the hour. That, I guarantee you, is where the real freakout among the people comes from.
(Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @04:24AM (1 child)
And to be clear, our civil rights have been suspended. That is very disconcerting to Americans who grew up believing we had "natural" rights of free speech and movement.
Say you suffer from government intrusion on your rights. Even if you could get a hearing in these times, the judge may just throw out your case and tell you to STFU because "national emergency".
Completely unrelated, I'm watching TV and half the commercials seem to be for paper cleaning products which are unavailable at the local store.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday March 23 2020, @07:04AM
Not much point to the blue bears fondling all that toilet paper when it's not in the store!
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @04:32AM (3 children)
House arrest? You mean mandatory quarantine for infected people? Or do you mean self-isolation because someone has been exposed to someone who tested positive?
Personally, I don't want those folks out in the street. Nor should you -- they'll just get more people sick faster, overloading our already stretched medical resources.
Or are you talking about "shelter in place" directives? I don't know about where you live, but that's not "house arrest." That's stay away from other people. Go to the store/pharmacy/doctor if you need to do so, go out and get exercise too -- just *stay away* from other people.
Which means exercising alone (running/biking?), but no *team* sports/games. It means don't use public transportation unless it's absolutely necessary.
That's most certainly not *house arrest*, unless you've been confirmed to be infected -- which isn't really enough, the experts say we should isolate those folks from the community -- as China did, by force in some cases. There's none of that here.
Stop freaking out about shit that just isn't true! We have enough to worry about without spreading misinformation.
As for the job losses and economic impact, that's going to be a *huge* problem in the US. Most people don't have even a couple months of expenses saved up.
Strong action needs to be taken, and some states are doing just that, by requiring paid sick leave, expanding unemployment benefits, restricting banks and landlords from foreclosing/evicting people who can't pay and restricting utilities from cutting off electricity/gas/water/Internet during this crisis.
But we need strong leadership from the Federal government and we're not getting it yet.
So yes, you're right. There are plenty of things to worry about, but freaking out isn't going to resolve those issues. And spreading misinformation just makes things worse.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @06:05AM (1 child)
What you call misinformation is reality in Italy, and soon will be reality in your state.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @06:15AM
Doubtful.
You must not be an American.
(Score: 2) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Monday March 23 2020, @05:03PM
In at least one state, home confinement ("house arrest") includes breaks for necessary errands and going out to the yard for exercise.
After a friend of a friend came down with a fever and cough I put myself on a no-groceries lockdown. That's stricter but of course justified.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday March 23 2020, @06:50AM (5 children)
You wish it's only that. Those "stimulus packages" of over trillion? When this is over, they'll need to be paid back one way or another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by black6host on Monday March 23 2020, @11:53AM
That's ok. I'm sure those corporations and people with all the money will be more than happy to to help pay it back. /s
When the bill comes due things are going to change even more for the majority of us. I doubt it will be for the better.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @03:43PM (1 child)
No. It is money legislated into existence. It will be "paid back" in form of all of our savings being diluted by the resulting inflation.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday March 23 2020, @10:16PM
One way or another. We're living on the expense of the future (and it seems the future just called our bluff).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 3, Funny) by Teckla on Tuesday March 24 2020, @12:34PM (1 child)
Fortunately, during the good times, we did the fiscally responsible thing, and paid down the debt, so that we'd be prepared for the inevitable economic downturn.
Oh, wait...
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday March 24 2020, @12:41PM
Wish I had a "+1 Sad but true" modding option.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 5, Interesting) by edIII on Monday March 23 2020, @04:40AM (7 children)
The reason have to be panicking is precisely what you laid out. Complete and total lack of leadership at the top. Outright lies, although I guess we call them "fervent wishes" to be kind. "Truth" is not coming from the top, and those we can trust (the doctors) are sounding the alarm bells louder and louder. Instead of the law being used to fund private companies making what we need (wartime powers), none of those orders have been given. We have Senators more interested in dumping stock, participating in political theater that there is no real threat, and buying up teleworking companies. Half the government goes along with an insane child that believes a virus is a political weapon aimed at him. Question him about it, and you're a nasty person interested in sensationalism.
Trump may bullshit his supporters, but he can't bullshit the stock market. We've never seen anything like this since 1929. Nothing on the horizon to to make it better.
The "I'm not responsible" attitude, combined with desperate pleas for medical supplies from governors who get rebuked because of optics, desperate please by doctors and scientists, and we're all left with a scary fucking truth. We don't have a real president, and now it's showing more than ever. This is not fighting over political points, but pointing out that there is an entire side bereft of any confidence whatsoever in the future. That cannot be fixed by anything less than a new president, or the removal/death of the current one.
Has the administration or Congress figured out the bailout has to be Main Street this time? We've been pushed too far, and our society was already in a fragile state. More fragile than we care to admit, both physically with our infrastructure and social safety nets, and mentally. There is no morale left.
Panick? It would help to have reasons to believe in the future. Continuing reports by the CDC, doctor's associations, the Faucci guy, and plenty of sources completely non-partisan, all paint a scary ass picture desperate for leadership. Obama could've given us some confidence at least. Even his most fervent detractors would've believed Obama could've handled this better. So would Bush. You know who definitely would've had the leadership nailed? Reagan.
We don't have a real president. It's an actual fact, and while there are many Trump supporters desperate to not acknowledge this, or happy with the ends justifying the means, they're not fooled either. I'm sure that has an awful lot to do with the economy, and mental stress, of every American. This isn't a dirty fight over control over our politics anymore, or religion controlling the Alphabet people, or how to fix our government. We're dealing with an incredibly serious problem, one as serious as world War II an any invasion of American soil. We're at war with a biological threat, and no longer have the luxury for internecine bullshit. The asteroid is 113 days away, and time keeps getting shorter.
I've already gone through my five stages for this country. I'm at acceptance that our country already hit critical failure and died when checks and balances abjectly and utterly failed us. The top of the country is wholly owned by an incredibly corrupt and brazen group that flaunts the lack of accountability now. The Justice department is owned by the Emperor now, and it interferes with investigations and squashes justice. Our checks and balances are unable to remove the cancer within. It was truly the moment of death for our social experiment, our America.
This feels like the beginning of the end of society, and maybe many societies around the world. I've come to terms with that. It's not panick anymore, just grim acceptance that this is our world now.
I just take things one day at a time. Like I suspect anyone does in the dystopic movie that is our world now.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @04:53AM
Yep. You're mostly spot on.
But as I said:
I'm over 50 but don't have any underlying conditions or a compromised immune system, so I'll probably be okay.
But I also have an elderly mother and other family members who are older or have compromised immune systems. I'm scared for them, and for others in the same boat. Which is why, regardless of the lack of leadership from the Federal government, I'm glad that many states are pushing hard to *slow down* the spread of the virus.
And most people seem to be on the same page too. We don't want our fellow Americans to die. If we can slow the spread enough, we can actually save lives. I can't speak for anyone else, but I believe that's a worthy goal.
Fuck Trump and fuck anyone else who makes the suffering of our fellow humans worse. We're better than that. Many, many people are rising to the occasion and that gives me hope.
But hope isn't always enough -- I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @06:17AM (4 children)
I'll just leave this here:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/ [foreignpolicy.com]
Note that the article above was published on 31 January, a full *six weeks* before jackass started taking this seriously and stopped calling it a Democratic hoax.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @11:16AM (3 children)
This man on Twitter looks and sounds like a doctor and he finds the virus suspicious: https://mobile.twitter.com/ROHLL5/status/1241900290783109121 [twitter.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday March 23 2020, @08:17PM (2 children)
So you're linking to a Twitter expert? Don't you have something better to do?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 24 2020, @12:27AM (1 child)
The video was posted by someone who was retweeted 7 times by @realdonaldtrump who has 75 million followers.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday March 24 2020, @04:14PM
(Score: 3, Interesting) by digitalaudiorock on Monday March 23 2020, @02:33PM
While that's mostly true, I found this little bit of optimism (from someone who knows what they're talking about) interesting:
https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-03-22/coronavirus-outbreak-nobel-laureate [latimes.com]
While he clearly thinks the current social distancing is critical, his take on how this will play out is less dire than other predictions, and his previous predictions seem to have panned out.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday March 23 2020, @05:32AM (8 children)
WTF? What's up with all the freakout?
The bill collector. Who is going to stop them?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @06:23AM (6 children)
Strong action needs to be taken, and some states are doing just that, by requiring paid sick leave, expanding unemployment benefits, restricting banks and landlords from foreclosing/evicting people who can't pay and restricting utilities from cutting off electricity/gas/water/Internet during this crisis.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday March 23 2020, @07:38AM (5 children)
That comment is both reassuring and depressing. Outside the US, national governments are directing virus response policy in a coordinated manner. In the US it's the luck of the draw about how your state governor is going to handle things, some are handling it well, others badly. Real leadership from the top, rather than random press statements often contradicted minutes or hours later, is almost entirely absent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @09:20AM
> Outside the US, national governments are directing virus response policy in a coordinated manner.
hmmmm, get informed.
(Score: 4, Informative) by SpockLogic on Monday March 23 2020, @12:54PM (3 children)
I don't F'n think so. My daughter is an RN at a leading teaching hospital in London. Her surgical ward has been turned over to treating coronavirus patients and they are very sick. The staff are running out of PPE and the morgue is nearly full. She said that British PM Bojo is living in an alternate reality just like our orange shit gibbon. Here in the US we are about two or three weeks behind the UK. It's going to get a lot worse, an F'n lot worse before it gets better.
I find gallows humor is the best medicine so I made myself a new ringtone from REM's "It's The End Of The World".
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @09:19PM
No one outside UK thinks that they have real government right now (not even half of the people in UK) with that buffoon on the top.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Tuesday March 24 2020, @02:58AM (1 child)
After the US, the UK has probably the second-worst "leadership" in a crisis situation. I was talking about countries with actual leadership. Take for example Bulgaria, a... not very functional country where things sort of work some of the time. They activated 40-year-old Warsaw Pact bioweapons attack protocols and put some Major-General with an unpronouncable name in charge of running things, with the PM stepping back and letting those trained for it run the show. Given the limited resources and other limitations due to the fact that it's, well Bulgaria, they're actively responding and getting shit sorted as best they can. Fricken' *Bulgaria* has better leadership in this crisis than the most powerful country on earth, whose Covid19 czar wants to let Covid19 carriers back out in public ("Vice President Mike Pence indicated on Sunday at a White House briefing about the virus that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would issue new guidelines on Monday, allowing some people who have been exposed to the coronavirus to resume working outside their homes if they wear masks"), and whose leader is twittering about unproven drugs that he reckons are miracle cures.
(Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday March 24 2020, @04:45AM
Here in Canada, it is the various "Chief Medical Officers", regional, Provincial and Federal that are doing a lot of the leading and getting as much public facing time as the politicians, who are mostly involved with the economic part.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday March 23 2020, @06:55AM
A big note on the door and window, reading "Active Corona inside. Stay out (or get those bottles to the bin)" (grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Monday March 23 2020, @04:59PM
I've been relying heavily on principles from the Stoics.
One is to concentrate on dividing the world into things you do not control (government incompetence and idiots gathering in large groups) and things you do control (washing your hands, checking in on your neighbors, staying away from crowds). Then you (try to) put all your energy into the things you can control.
It's easier said than done but quite worthwhile.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Monday March 23 2020, @05:38PM
Disagree.
I lost my ball point pen! Yes, really. Not only have I lost my mind, but I lost my pen!. I LOST MY PLASTIC BALL POINT PEN !!!
Young people won't believe you if you say you used to get Netflix by US Postal Mail.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by EJ on Monday March 23 2020, @04:08AM (3 children)
When you were a little kid, did you dream of being an astronaut? Well, you failed. You can't cut it. You lost your mind even though you can easily go outside and enjoy spending time with your family.
Ever dream of getting your own boat, and sailing around the open seas? Well, you failed at that too. You lost your mind even though you're not cut off from the world just because you have to stand 6-10 feet from other people. You can still wave at your neighbors and even go online to do all kinds of social activities.
You people are weak. You would be the first ones to fall in any kind of societal collapse scenario.
As for me, I am in paradise right now. I could happily be the hermit who lives on top of the mountain (e.g. The Grinch) as long as I can still get the supplies I need.
(Score: 3, Funny) by shortscreen on Monday March 23 2020, @04:32AM (1 child)
Same here. I'm at home doing whatever I want. Neither unusual nor trying. Your sailing or hermit on the mountain scenarios don't sound bad either, though I'm not sure if I'm up for the astronaut one ;)
Now, if I was a kid hearing the news that I would be out of school for months at a time I'd be freaking out like a gameshow contestant who just won a million bucks.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday March 23 2020, @06:05AM
Very nearly the same here. New Year days have always been a day of reflection for me. I reflect on some of the really dismal places and circumstances in which I've spent my New Year, as well as the best places. Well, this is something like a New Year. None of us alive today can remember anything quite like this pandemic. 9/11 had some similarities, but not a lot. We haven't faced anything like this before, so it's comparable to a New Year, in a way.
And, the circumstances in which I find myself today are quite comfortable. I'm in my own home, with the woman I chose for a mate, and the kids around. I've got food, water, shelter, and I'm comfortable. The internet, where I can bullshit with everyone at SN, and beyond.
OK, I'll admit, I'm still working, so I don't have the financial pressure that a lot of other people have at the moment. Still, people aren't being evicted for being a month behind on rent, are they? Power companies aren't turning off electricity, are they? Water isn't being turned off. Food. If you have access to food, then things can't be too bad, can they?
I've got things good, and I doubt that very many people in the US actually have it bad.
More of us should have traveled, to see what "bad" is.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Monday March 23 2020, @05:41PM
I'm right there with you. I lose a substantial piece of my sanity (which leads to a shortened lifespan) every day I go to work. It took a massive panic like this to activate my workplace's managers' second brain cell -- the one that realizes working from home isn't going to destroy the universe. Some cities in my state have issued a shelter-in-place order, and I'm crossing my fingers that mine follows suit. I'm hoping that this Corona virus panic never stops, as it's prompted amazingly positive changes that I thought I would never live to see.
Unfortunately, managers around the world will happily discard all of the productivity gains that working from home provides to the company in exchange for the continued ability to be able to exert their psychotic control over their employees once this scare is over.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @04:29AM
(Score: 3, Interesting) by petecox on Monday March 23 2020, @05:06AM
... we should give up trolling for lent.
Now I'm not Catholic but in these enforced solitudes, maybe he has a point.
Love youse! :)
(Score: 2) by deimios on Monday March 23 2020, @05:26AM
"Set aside some time to talk and to think about the illness or other crisis and how it should be managed every day. Do not talk or think about it otherwise. If you do not limit its effect, you will become exhausted, and everything will spiral into the ground."
- The 12 Rules for Life - Jordan Peterson
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rich on Monday March 23 2020, @09:25AM
I live alone and mostly work from my home office anyway. I've got a ton of customer programming work piled up, a music synthesizer design to be readied for small-scale production, a DIY-theremin to be finished, a vacuum cleaner to fix, and general spring cleaning to do. If all that gets done, there's an old car waiting for a gearbox overhaul and much much more. I won't run out of occupations 'til all this is over.
I miss heading downtown for a beer with friends after a "shift" though. So far I've been successful at convincing myself that I'm a brave cosmonaut on a one-year mars mission in my little house-ship. My Japanese robot assistant "Tora" (a milk-carton shaped tiger who lives in my fridge and makes comments based on the time-of-day; only Japanese can come up with that stuff) occasionally entertains me a bit. And of course, there's "interplanetary" communications with friends & family.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday March 23 2020, @10:19AM (2 children)
I'll be installing Slackware on my spare laptop as soon as I get a chance.
No systemd and learning....mmmmmmm, learning.....
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @02:27PM (1 child)
I actually did that last month (investing two week free time) on a high-end chrome-book (oxymoron detected).
Slackware-current played well with everything except for the built-in audio hardware. After rebuilding the kernel three times and exhausting the boolean-search space for this problem on the web search engines, I punted and plugged in a USB audio interface. Works dandy.
With 2-6 months sabbatical looming, I may revisit the problem, though I dread the prospect of reverse-engineering alsa, pulse-audio and proprietary intel audio hardware. You say "linux audio". I say "dumpster fire".
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday March 23 2020, @08:32PM
First, I explored Artix Linux, because I LOVE Manjaro, but would like to dump systemd.
Artix is good but did not feed the brain, so going to Slackware.
If I had more time, I'd try out Linux from scratch again! Sadly, working too hard.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @01:41PM
Yeehaw, state-enforced hikikomori-ism. The time has finally come. I must be a guide to those around me
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday March 23 2020, @01:58PM (1 child)
This pandemic is only a twist on the craziness we've been in the last decade. With a development of this scale, it's only going to amplify. The Bretton Woods structure that has held sway the last 70 years could come undone. China's integral place in that system could be reversed, with widespread consequences of its own. The EU might not survive. In the past dislocations like these are often accompanied by wars and revolutions (SEE: the wars that followed the break-up of the Soviet Union); maybe we'll get lucky this time and avoid that.
In other words, if you're not already strapped in and taking care of your priorities, the pace of events could catch you out. Hop to it. Feelings are a luxury.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @04:40PM
Pandemic! I got that Pandemic over here!
(Score: 3, Touché) by inertnet on Monday March 23 2020, @02:55PM (1 child)
I don't feel sorry for myself when I think about the people in really poor countries, who live from day to day and have to go to work for their daily meal. They're not going to self quarantine and starve to death as a result. They'll keep going outside, which will soon result in millions of deaths. In the developed world we can fight this pandemic, but all of them will catch the virus, without any hope of medical assistance.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @07:24PM
My money is on them doing better than us being kicked around by the state.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 23 2020, @04:35PM
This isn't any different from the time i played EVE, 2008-2017.
Total isolation, a model m keyboard, 2 laptops and 3 more screens, headset and several voice channels in it.
Except this isn't an interceptor in nullsec, this is an acquiring bank (the general principle is the same - don't fuck up and keep pressing keys).
My diet is suffering tho, no more average of 10 to 15 plant species per day, cos canteen is closed and i have no time to cook ;_;
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Monday March 23 2020, @07:08PM (1 child)
Social Distancing is SOP for me. I live alone, and my extent of "going out" is picking up takeout. I'm going to limit that as well, so now my only excursions now will be going to work and once a week to the grocery store. Sunday's trip to the store was ok, found what I needed including the distilled water for the CPAP (stores had been completely out the last two weeks).
I did cancel any get together with family for my birthday over the weekend, so that was a bummer. Instead I had a couple long phone conversations with Mom and my son.
My life at work the last week has been setting up remote work for the users. It's easy to enact social distancing when no one is here! Management is taking this thing seriously, and anyone who can do their job from remote is strongly encouraged to do so. I'll be coming in until they decide to close the plant.
I do have a treadmill and weight machine at home, so I won't be going full couch potato. TV and video games are my life :) I'm 51 and in decent health, so I'm not extremely worried.
Answer now is don't give in; aim for a new tomorrow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 25 2020, @12:21PM
Instead of using distilled water you can wash your tank out with vinegar every week or so. That'll clear up any mineral deposits from normal water.
(Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday March 24 2020, @02:51AM
My wife and I drove to Fort Lee and took a day long bicycle trip through Manhattan. We visited many of our favorite places that never going to look quite the same to us.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.