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How has your life changed since Covid? (1 Viewer)

AAABatteries

Footballguy
Was thinking about this the other day.  Please don't make this political - I put it in the FFA for a reason.  Everybody was impacted small and large by Covid and I'm just curious how things have changed for the folks here in the community.  Here's a list of things I've come up with:

  • More remote work and less commuting - like many this seems to be much more permanent than we thought early on.  I'm all for it and it makes life better
  • Much less eating out in person - we do food delivery more now and rarely go to restaurants.  Before, we'd go at least once or twice a week
  • Outdoors at home more often.  I think a big factor in this (for me) was moving to a new home so maybe it doesn't belong on the list but I spend part of every day outdoors now - gardening, yard work, just sitting and having a drink.  Try to get more time in the sun than previously
  • Showering and deodorant - I've always had dry skin and would commonly take 1-2 showers a day.  Probably average 10-12 a week.  Now, I'm down to probably 4-6 a week.  Has helped my skin.  I still shower after workouts and yard work but during the week working remote I'll skip a day frequently.  Also, almost never wear deodorant any more.  I remember that thread by @Postradamus and I'm slowly morphing in to him I think
  • I keep hand sanitizer in all my vehicles now - I was always good about washing my hands but early on when there was concern about groceries (lol) and fomite transmission we started doing it and I've continued the practice. 
  • Wearing masks while doing yard work - this is one I always thought I should do but never did.  After going two years with a bunch of masks around I now do it to help with allergies
  • Seems like they've greatly reduced the amount of parents meetings and things of that nature at schools.  I'm assuming that's partially due to Covid.
I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of right now.

 
The only real change is work going to a WFH standard.  We have been a go into the office one day a week group for the last 2 years.  This is going to open up to a 3 day a week in the office soon but nothing official for that change. 

Otherwise nothing has really changed for the way we do things at this point.  Still eat out just as much.  Still go to events as we always have.  Basically just business as usual.  

 
Good thread. 

- On the school note, I much MUCH prefer doing parent/teacher conferences over Zoom.  I hope that's a keeper.  Far easier than having to hustle up to the school, wait for the other conferences to end, sit down, race through it then hope you can navigate to the next classroom on time.  Zoom conferences are a homerun.

- Curbside pick-up for items is a blessing.  I never really used this pre-Covid, but during the pandemic, if I wanted something from Home Depot or Best Buy, I would buy it online, then swing by the store on my way home, meet a human in the curb-side pickup area, show them my receipt and be on my way.  Glorious! 

Personally, our family changed a little over the last 2 years.  Got one kid off to college and it was a challenge to visit different campuses with all the various restrictions in place but he's very happy at Oregon (which, deep down, was where I had hoped he'd go all along). 

We adopted a rescue kitten early on which the kids really enjoyed as a distraction from remote learning at home.  I had secretly hoped the kitten would alleviate the pressure I was feeling from everybody to get a dog.  I was absolutely adamant that we NOT get a dog; too much on our plate, I bellowed.  But I lost the battle and we rescued a puppy right before Xmas 2020.  Now he's my best friend and he gets my fat butt out on long walks, which is good for me.  In fact, once the pandemic hit, I started walking A LOT.  That's helped regulate my mental health quite a bit.  I try to get 30-40 miles in a week.  It's not Crossfit, but I'm happy with it.

Like you, we spend a lot of time outdoors too.  Gardening, landscaping, grilling, eating outdoors, jumping on the trampoline, shooting hoops, yardwork.....just happier outside.  Always have been, but during the height of the pandemic, we'd sit out front and talk to our neighbors, offer up a social-distanced chair on the lawn, a frosty cold hand beer, some good tunes and just....getting to know our neighbors a little better.  That's been great.

 
For me personally, I'm definitely much better at washing my hands and using sanitzer than I was before. I also find myself looking for more restaurants with outdoor seating. For work life, I've grown to almost prefer teleconferencing for client meetings and procedural court hearings. 

I don't think I've made the same significant changes as some have mentioned here. Once the CDC loosened its restrictions my wife and I probably went back to things as "normal" except for what I stated above. I haven't worn a mask in probably a month and we still dine out, attend events, etc. as we did pre-Covid. We are vaccinated through the booster and got Covid-19 during the Omicron variant breakout. 

 
Like you, we spend a lot of time outdoors too.  Gardening, landscaping, grilling, eating outdoors, jumping on the trampoline, shooting hoops, yardwork.....just happier outside.  Always have been, but during the height of the pandemic, we'd sit out front and talk to our neighbors, offer up a social-distanced chair on the lawn, a frosty cold hand beer, some good tunes and just....getting to know our neighbors a little better.  That's been great.
We did the same. I know my wife really enjoyed doing this during the pandemic. 

I was fortunate enough that golf stayed a relatively consistent healthy and doable activity during the pandemic. 

 
Good/bad - good, I've had a little more free time to go to breweries either solo or with friends but bad as we would somewhat routinely have a work happy hour at a brewery or restaurant and that's no longer an option.  I like the trade off of remote work but happy hours were fun.  We tried doing virtual happy hours with mixed results.

Another big one I can't believe I forgot about.  We have most things delivered now.  Our once or twice a week Costco or Publix run is now maybe once every other month.  Love it - I hate that kind of shopping.  I do feel a little guilty though as the amount of cardboard delivered to our house is insane.  I recycle it all but still it seems like a waste.

 
Good:

  • Im never tired anymore since I WFH. I wake up later and goto sleep later.
  • Save time/money on commuting
  • I can take my son to his activities without worrying about leaving work early, etc
Bad:

  • I stopped going to the gym. I used to goto the office gym everyday at lunch.
  • I snack more around the house. The two combined mean I gained weight
  • Remote learning ruined my son both mentally and educationally. Its given him bad anxiety now where hes seeing a therapist.
 
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Was that due to being able to do your work remotely?
I was always able to but due to covid, now my wife was too. We bought a condo in Boise in December 2019 and expected to use it as a vacation home for a few years. We travelled back and forth every other month through most of 2020 and early 2021 but decided to make it permanent and sold our house last June. Best thing we ever did!

 
My life is completely different.

Physically - Got into the best shape of my life.  Early on I realized that being overweight was the most significant factor that could help against covid and I shed the weight.  From that perspective, it's been life-changing.  If I can keep this up I easily could have added 15-20 years to my life, as heart problems run in the family and a heart attack in 10-15 years is where I was headed.  That's the good news.

Family life - Got a divorce. We were so very cautious with covid early on.  My contributions to the covid thread are a living example of the caution I had.  From March 2020 to November 2020, our family basically hung out just with ourselves.  We tried to have zoom hangouts, we did things remotely, we all texted and talked to friends/family...but we put covid caution ahead of our mental sanity.  And while I won't go into the details, we got divorced.  I can't tell you the time I've spent wondering how I could have done things differently, but we can't go back in time.  But I will never put physical health way above mental health again.  There are always risks, and the risks we took while protecting our family from the minimal risks of covid bit us in the butt.  (fyi, after an admittedly awful 1.5 years, we all seem happy again, so life can go on after a divorce as I'm sure you all know)

Work:  Went from frequent travel to basically doing everything remote.  Love it.

Social Life:  Had serious fomo pre-covid.  When friends were hanging out and doing things, I always wanted in.  Now I enjoy whoever I hang out with, whenever I hang out with them.  I do have some fomo feelings come up from time to time, but for the most part I find myself not caring about that stuff anymore, and admittedly the divorce has had a lot to do with it.  But covid played a big part as well.  The isolation taught me to value my quiet time.

Alcohol:  Went from an occasional/social drinker, to an everyday drinker during covid, to a guy who developed a drinking problem post-divorce, to a guy who currently doesn't drink and isn't sure when/if I'll start again.

 
Now that things are "normalizing", there's been no real change except I only go into an office to work 3x a week, and hoping my company keeps it that way.  Going to 4x a week would suck.  

 
A non-exhaustive list:

  • Got a new job a year ago. I was already looking before the pandemic, but the way my previous employer handled Covid provided me with fresh motivation. It's one thing when mindless bureaucracy causes minor annoyance. It's another when it puts your health and that of your family at risk. The new job is one I really love and could see myself staying in for a long time, so that really has been transformative
  • As part of the new job, I am much more invested in WFH. Officially, I have to come into the office on days where we have internal meetings (usually twice a week). But my whole paradigm has shifted to the point where, if I don't need to be in the office, I see zero point in shaving, dressing up and driving 30-45 minutes each way just to show my face.
  • I had already lost some weight in the year before the pandemic, but this really sped up the process. Main factors were a) deciding I was going to go running every day; b) eating out a lot less; c) embracing routines in my eating habits. I would estimate that I eat the exact same breakfast 6-7 days a week, and the same lunch 4-5 days. I would estimate that I lost about 15 lbs in the year before the pandemic and then another 20 afterward, although I've since put 5-10 back on.
  • Having said that, I also made one of my pandemic projects exploring new beers. It started with doing curbside pickups at local microbreweries as an excuse to get out of the house, but now I get most of my beers from the local Total Wines store. Either way, I'm always on the lookout for a new beer I've never tried before, and I'll typically have one every night with dinner
  • My wife and I still bicker, but we argue a lot less than we used to. I attribute it to us both being home more, and therefore having less stress around commuting (hers was much worse than mine, but now she's 100% WFH) and running around to pick up the kids.
  • If you've read this far, you're probably thinking, "Hey, this whole pandemic has been pretty good for you and your family." That's true, except that in Sept. 2020 we lost my father-in-law to Covid. And I would trade all the positive developments I just mentioned to have him back in our lives.
 
1- Buzz off my own hair now. Used to go to the barber every 6-8 weeks. Bought some nice clippers and just buzzed it all off myself one day. Miss getting that nice taper in the back but other than that i kind of love doing it myself. Clippers have already paid for themselves and then some.

2- Got way better at procrastinating. Have errands piled up that I've been putting off forever. Need to hit the dentist, the mechanic, the tailor, etc. Dreading doing all of those things. Last week I got my first covid booster and I went to the dmv to get that new Real ID. Felt like i accomplished so much knocking those two things off the to do list in the same week.

3- Got really good at cooking. Simple stuff like sauteing chicken breast in the pan as well as pan frying burgers, they come out perfect. Making my own pasta sauce, velveting chicken breast just like a chinese restaurant, etc. Had a lot of time to watch cooking channels on youtube.

4- Became more knowledgeable about investing and retirement stuff. Been socking money away, did well on crypto and nft's. Have a roth IRA. Redid an old tax return after i discovered an error I had made and ended up getting a $900 refund. Pre-covid Willie wouldn't have cared about any of this stuff.

5- Discovered a newfound appreciation for older movies. Had never watched, or cared to watch, stuff from past eras. Watched stuff like the Marx brothers, a few Andy hardy movies, classics like Casablanca. Got in to watching the old what's My Line episodes from the 50's and 60's on youtube. Getting a glimpse into the past and having a better understanding about what life during my grandparents time must have been like. Fascinating stuff that i had never thought i would appreciate. Watched California Split on Amazon Prime over the weekend, a Robert Altman movie from the early 70's about a couple of degenerate gamblers. It's great.

6- Stopped wearing deodorant unless going to be out and around people. Used to wake up shower and slather on the deodorant. Once we were at home all the time didn't really need it. Now if I go to the store or anything I just shower and skip the deodorant. Don't need it. Pits smell great. Save it only for occasions now i guess.

There's more but i need to velvet some chicken for later.

 
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jobarules said:
Good:

  • Im never tired anymore since I WFH. I wake up later and goto sleep later.
  • Save time/money on commuting
  • I can take my son to his activities without worrying about leaving work early, etc
Bad:

  • I stopped going to the gym. I used to goto the office gym everyday at lunch.
  • I snack more around the house. The two combined mean I gained weight
  • Remote learning ruined my son both mentally and educationally. Its given him bad anxiety now where hes seeing a therapist.


Sorry to hear that, but know that you are NOT alone.  Our 9 year old daughter is talking to a therapist now for anxiety.  A *LOT* of people are dealing with anxiety currently and finding a therapist with open slots is tough.  

Almost thought about starting a thread for parents with kids dealing with anxiety, but I'm still learning on the fly.  I don't have much input to help.  It's tough.  

 
jobarules said:
  • Remote learning ruined my son both mentally and educationally. Its given him bad anxiety now where hes seeing a therapist.
This for both my daughters. One on Zoloft and in therapy for severe depression - she's heading off to college this August and I'm terrified for her mental health. 

My youngest, 15, basically shut down and now seemingly has no friends. She's starting therapy in a couple of weeks.

Good times.

 
Sorry to hear that, but know that you are NOT alone.  Our 9 year old daughter is talking to a therapist now for anxiety.  A *LOT* of people are dealing with anxiety currently and finding a therapist with open slots is tough.  

Almost thought about starting a thread for parents with kids dealing with anxiety, but I'm still learning on the fly.  I don't have much input to help.  It's tough.  
I have relatives that are raising pandemic toddlers - kids that have only known/lived during the pandemic - and it's interesting watching them grow as this is their "normal". It's been tough for everyone, but especially children that were used to interacting with peers but haven't fully formed their social skills yet before COVID shut it down.

 
1- Buzz off my own hair now. Used to go to the barber every 6-8 weeks. Bought some nice clippers and just buzzed it all off myself one day. Miss getting that nice taper in the back but other than that i kind of love doing it myself. Clippers have already paid for themselves and then some.
This is a good one. I also haven't paid for a haircut since early 2020. It's actually not that hard to cut your own hair as long as you have someone around to clean up any mess you've made.  

 
The amount of people on this site that dont want to wear deodorant is alarming.
People vary A LOT in how stinky their pits get naturally. And how much they sweat in general. And whether or not anti-perspirant/deodorant really works for them at all.

There are also easy alternatives to deodorant that quell the smell. Some people wipe their pits down one or twice a day with isopropyl alcohol. Not everyone can do that due to differing skin sensitivities and such, but if you can tolerate it ... that smell-producing bacteria doesn't stand a chance.
 

 
It's been a mixed bag.

+ Had two kids still in the house when all this started (who were both around a ton with not much to do). Ended up getting a ton of extra time with them.
- We now are empty nesters (which is a weird experience but was going to happen anyway).
+ The Summer of 2020 was awesome. We had all our kids over for game night once a week, lots of good food and spirts, and an awesome time.
+ Everyone in the family is now getting along and communicating with each other much better these days.
- I ended up getting COVID and was laid up for a couple of months. Still haven't gotten all the way back health wise.
- Mrs. Anarchy has been fully remote for work since jump street. Never have the house all to myself anymore. Perhaps too much togetherness.
- With her working from home every day in "casual attire", she rarely wants to go out (would require getting cleaned up and dressed and she's not looking to do that after work).
- Opinions and political alignment with the wife on the pandemic are drastically different.
- Mentally worn out by the past 2+ years of the pandemic and what's going on in the world ever since.

 

 
We moved out of Brooklyn to the Hudson Valley 3 months before the pandemic, so my two young sons were pretty isolated in the beginning.  But the tradeoff of quick access to the outdoors was worth it.  They are both thriving now but near 3 years later it still feels like we just moved to town and are outsiders.  However as a family, I think we benefited a lot from being together so much. I pretty much only saw them on weekends before quarantine, so the time with them was great.  We all get along much better these days.  

I still have to physically go to work 4 days a week so that hasn't changed much but I have to deal with covid constantly as part of my job.  That's not so much fun.  

 
I was getting a little squishy before the pandemic, and then I put on 5 more pounds during the first few weeks of WFH.  I took full advantage of all that unstructured time during the summer to get some additional exercise, and I watched my diet pretty carefully for about a year or so. The end result was losing 15 pounds and keeping it off.  

I'm drinking quite a bit less than I used to.  I still have a drink most evenings, but it's one or two, not three or four.  Obviously this connects back to keeping my weight down where I like it.

No more ties at work.  I still wear one every once in a while, but it's a weird exception that occurs once every few months, not a multiple-times-per-week thing like it use to be.

More generally, I give far less of a AF about work than I used to.  Part of that is because I'm now two years closer to retirement -- I still have about another 6-7 years to go, but there's no reason for me to sit around and worry about professional advancement any more, which takes a gigantic amount of pressure off.  No need to engage in any self-promotion, networking, or any of the other extraverted stuff that I've always hated.  But it's not just that retirement is vaguely within sight.  It's also that the pandemic shifted my priorities away from work for an assortment of reasons.

 
Both of us now work from home full time.

We do curbside pickup for groceries and misc items all the time. (Walmart and Target.)

We don't do restaurants. (But we were minimal in restaurant before that anyways.)

Way too much fast food, pizza, etc. Probably more of a function of my wife having been in online grad school until just recently. Always looking for quick meals. And I'm not much of a cook. That needs to change.

I've gotten extremely lazy with regular showers, etc. That needs to change.

In general just homebound alot (but neither of us have been the "go out" type.)

Did the grocery wipe down for a long time. Finally stopped a few months ago.

Still wear masks out and about indoors. Up until just recently I even did thru drive thru.

More online ordering of everything. Amazon loves us.

I did a concert recently (PJ) where I went maskless before (restaurant/bar) and during. Felt a little weird about it. Also felt very liberating. Luckily no Covid result.

 
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Compared to what my life was life before covid, I now wfh.  Everything else is the same.   I was starting to slack with the showering and especially the shaving, but now back on the morning shower routine minimum and shaving every other day.  

 
This for both my daughters. One on Zoloft and in therapy for severe depression - she's heading off to college this August and I'm terrified for her mental health. 

My youngest, 15, basically shut down and now seemingly has no friends. She's starting therapy in a couple of weeks.

Good times.
That’s rough, my niece and a good friend’s daughter have had a rough time. Do they play sports at all? I have three boys, freshman, junior and junior in college. My oldest is like my wife, extremely social so never worried about him. The younger two are more like me, social but more of a core group of friends. Junior has a girlfriend which has been great for him, just had prom last weekend. Freshman is the one who’s a bit more introverted but still has a core group of friends. I think phones have changed kids as much as the pandemic. Back to sports, outside of some cancellations, the HSers have had lacrosse to lean on and we’ve played a lot throughout the pandemic, especially travel. I think that’s really helped keeping them active. I think those two are in the best shape they’ve ever been in due to junior going to the gym every day he can and the freshman emulating him.

If it weren’t for the sports side never really shutting down, life would have been a lot more locked down.

 
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I was getting a little squishy before the pandemic, and then I put on 5 more pounds during the first few weeks of WFH.  I took full advantage of all that unstructured time during the summer to get some additional exercise, and I watched my diet pretty carefully for about a year or so. The end result was losing 15 pounds and keeping it off.  

I'm drinking quite a bit less than I used to.  I still have a drink most evenings, but it's one or two, not three or four.  Obviously this connects back to keeping my weight down where I like it.
Impressive... I'm the opposite and growing a dadbod. :kicksrock:

 
If anything we eat out more because we missed it during the 6 or 8 months whatever it was and got in a quick habit of going out more once it was back.  2020 delayed one trip out of country by a year.

Other than that, nothing.

 
Honestly, not much has changed in our house. We probably spent more money than before trying to support local restaurants, whether it be takeout or dine-in when allowed.  Both of us still had to report to work every day.  Got a little more careful about face to face meeting with clients, but couldn't avoid them altogether.  I generally prefer to be alone rather than in a group, so I found that I didn't have to come up with dumb excuses not to attend events.  That part was nice.

But we don't have kids.  Breaks my heart to read about the issues some are having. 

 
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A. I now WFH almost all the time. I go into the office anywhere between once a month and once a week depending on what's going on.

B. Because of A, we sold one of our cars because we rarely ever used it anymore. 

C. Also because of A, shaving is an every other day thing for me now, at most. I still shower almost every day because my hair looks like I stuck my finger into a socket if I don't. 

D. Also because of A, I mostly wear T-shirts and shorts in the summer and sweatshirts/ratty sweaters and khakis (jeans aren't comfortable for me) in the winter. I only wear collared shirts if I am going into the office, have a work Zoom with someone other than co-workers or have a social engagement that requires it. 

E. My son (now 11) has been home schooled by my wife since January 2021 because he has ADHD and dysgraphia (which is like dyslexia except it manifests itself more through writing than reading) and remote learning just didn't work for him. We haven't sent him back because the school district tended to sweep his issues under the rug even before the pandemic. 

F. I did not wear a tie between November 2019 (my last work conference before the pandemic) and April 2022 (my first in-person work conference since the pandemic). 

G. I wear masks in crowded indoor spaces and probably will for as long as highly transmissible variants are circulating. I do not wear them outside or in uncrowded indoor spaces. I am vaccinated and boosted but I have enough risk factors that I can't be completely carefree about the virus. 

H. We do takeout/delivery far more often than eating in at restaurants. 

 
That’s rough, my niece and a good friend’s daughter have had a rough time. Do they play sports at all? I have three boys, freshman, junior and junior in college. My oldest is like my wife, extremely social so never worried about him. The younger two are more like me, social but more of a core group of friends. Junior has a girlfriend which has been great for him, just had prom last weekend. Freshman is the one who’s a bit more introverted but still has a core group of friends. I think phones have changed kids as much as the pandemic. Back to sports, outside of some cancellations, the HSers have had lacrosse to lean on and we’ve played a lot throughout the pandemic, especially travel. I think that’s really helped keeping them active. I think those two are in the best shape they’ve ever been in due to junior going to the gym every day he can and the freshman emulating him.

If it weren’t for the sports side never really shutting down, life would have been a lot more locked down.
That's awesome -- I agree about the phones, they spend a lot of time looking at insta and other SM, probably seeing people in their grades having a great time and it just makes them more depressed. Oldest does dance/tap, has friends, went to her prom, has good days and bad days. The bad days are terrifying, but she's had a string of solid days and yesterday her therapist laid out a plan for her short term and longer term when she's in college that has everyone hopeful.  Youngest just doesn't seem to care about anything, refuses to reach out to any friends, so they've kind of just dwindled away. She runs track and when I go to the meets I could care less about how she does in the race, I'm looking to see if she interacts with her teammates, and she rarely does. Also hopeful therapy will help her. They're both shy, take after my wife, so it's tough knowing how to act, I can't force them to be sociable. Don't think this is all Covid related, but Covid probably exacerbated existing problems.  

 
That's awesome -- I agree about the phones, they spend a lot of time looking at insta and other SM, probably seeing people in their grades having a great time and it just makes them more depressed. Oldest does dance/tap, has friends, went to her prom, has good days and bad days. The bad days are terrifying, but she's had a string of solid days and yesterday her therapist laid out a plan for her short term and longer term when she's in college that has everyone hopeful.  Youngest just doesn't seem to care about anything, refuses to reach out to any friends, so they've kind of just dwindled away. She runs track and when I go to the meets I could care less about how she does in the race, I'm looking to see if she interacts with her teammates, and she rarely does. Also hopeful therapy will help her. They're both shy, take after my wife, so it's tough knowing how to act, I can't force them to be sociable. Don't think this is all Covid related, but Covid probably exacerbated existing problems.  
Best wishes for your family.

 
F. I did not wear a tie between November 2019 (my last work conference before the pandemic) and April 2022 (my first in-person work conference since the pandemic). 
I cannot remember the last time I actually wore a tie although that streak is going to end this weekend.  My daughter is commissioning into the Army and it's a formal event so I have to wear a tie.  It's been so long I had to go buy a new shirt and pants because I had nothing that was acceptable anymore.  After this event, it will probably be many years before a wear a tie again,  

 
For the folks eating out less, cooking at home more, exercising more, drinking less - is that a direct result of Covid and concerns about being overweight and catching it or just a general plan to get healthier?

I think I've said a few times that I was the opposite of IK and several others - I let my weight go up and I drank more - I think there was an element of depression in there but also was just easy to do.  I've reversed course but don't feel it was directly related to Covid but just I needed to get out of my rut.

 

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