What are you doing with your time now?

[Scuba]

Our area has closed all non-essential businesses and DH and I are self-isolating at home. We don’t want to deep clean our house as we’ll be remodeling soon, and I’m all prepared for taxes. Here are some things we’re spending our time on. Any ideas from others?
- Hiking, walking or biking outdoors
- Talking on the phone with friends/family
- Games/puzzles
- Reading
- Cooking 3 meals a day since we can’t eat out
- Social media
- Unpacking boxes from our move 5 months ago to identify what we can purge. We were holding off on this before until after our remodel, but this is a good project we need to do at some point.

We are only on Day 1 of total isolation from human face-to-face interaction. Not sure how long this will last, at least 2 weeks but I’m guessing longer. Any ideas about how to stay busy and hopefully accomplish something too would be welcome!

 

[6miths]

Volunteer teaching gig has moved online 3.5 hours twice a week. Clean garage. Clean workroom. Help get mother ready to move to retirement place which is on hold until things settle. Hiking. Netflix. Family. Anxiously awaiting gardening season. And heading up to cottage.

 

[Katsmeow]

For me, this is really not that different from normal life. I am introverted and on most weeks I go out for 3 things: eating out a few times, lunch and visit with a friend, and as needed shopping/errands.

I have only been out of the house once in the last week (pre-existing doctor's appointment). We do most of our grocery shopping by delivery. DH has gone to the store a couple of times. But really life is pretty much the same.

I mostly spend time on the computer either reading to keep up with the world, or doing stuff like this or playing games. I also just read books. I do have some household projects that I plan to work on.

But, really my life is not that much different except for the fact that I am no longer going out to eat and not visiting my friend (we talk by phone).

 

[hopefullyoneday]

Nothing really different here either. I still go to work and out as needed. In the past few days I have gone to Lowes, home depot, Walmart, Brookshire's, AutoZone multiple times. Get fast food when hungry, go to dollar general to satisfy a sweet tooth later at night. Work around the house and on my old cars. I am not doing anything different from before this craziness.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Spending more time learning Italian. I want to go back in future years.
Practicing music.
Taking walks.
Giving the house and garden more love.
Repeatedly sanitizing door handles and handles and sinks in the kitchen and bathroom.
Binge watching old Perry Mason shows DH is recording (they’re a hoot and the music is over the top dramatic).
Decluttering in a big way.

Talking to my sister a lot. She is getting pretty scared. She’s a mid level nurse administrator in Washington state 60 miles from Seattle, in a state facility for severely developmentally disabled adults. Clients and staff are being hit hard with H1N1 influenza right now, but it’s only a matter of time. She’s 62.

 

[scrabbler1]

For me, this is really not that different from normal life. I am introverted and on most weeks I go out for 3 things: eating out a few times, lunch and visit with a friend, and as needed shopping/errands.

I have only been out of the house once in the last week (pre-existing doctor's appointment). We do most of our grocery shopping by delivery. DH has gone to the store a couple of times. But really life is pretty much the same.

I mostly spend time on the computer either reading to keep up with the world, or doing stuff like this or playing games. I also just read books. I do have some household projects that I plan to work on.

But, really my life is not that much different except for the fact that I am no longer going out to eat and not visiting my friend (we talk by phone).

Being an introvert, not much has changed for me, either. I still went to the supermarket to my food shopping (about once every 7-10 days). I still see my ladyfriend often, and my (snake-bit) friend once a week. The internet still works, as does cable TV (although the news is becoming more and more unwatchable). I discovered 2 high-numbered cable TV channels I didn't know I had, channels my ladyfriend (who has fewer channels) also has. I have had to drive my dad to some doctor appointments (a skin doctor, unrelated to any COVID-19) lately. Parking was a lot easier this week than when I took him last month.

I can still read my books although the local libraries are closed. Luckily, I had gotten 2 books from there a few weeks ago so I have stuff to read besides some in my own collection. I still have my old Strat-o-Matic baseball game cards and get in a few games a day.

My school volunteer work has been suspended, although this school year it has been a bit of a bust even before the COVID-19. My monthly diabetes support group meeting has been canceled.

I had gotten the tax returns for my ladyfriend, my (snake-bit) friend, and me done before the recent announcement allowing more time for the federal ones, so the last 3 of the 6 returns I will send out today.

 

[FIREd]

Day 3 of mandatory confinement here. I live in a 1-bedroom condo with no backyard. Thankfully, I have large windows to get some sunlight and fresh air throughout the day and I have a fantastic view over downtown and the surrounding mountains so I don't feel closed-in.

So far I have been doing the following:
- cleaning. I am trying to keep my space as clean and pleasant as possible.
- cooking.
- talking to friends and family on the phone or via FaceTime.
- working on my tax return.
- writing in my journal.
- doing small repairs that I had been postponing for a while (touching up the paintwork, re-caulking the tub, etc...).
- watching some movies and TV series on Netflix / Amazon Prime, etc...
- I did a bit of online browsing and shopping on Amazon, which somehow made life appear almost normal for a minute.
- doing laundry.
- organizing my pantry to have a better idea of the food which I have on hand.
- balancing my checkbook

But shopping, dating, meeting friends and family for dinner, driving around the mountains just for fun, skiing, hiking, etc... are all off limits for now.

 

[aaronc879]

As long as the internet stay functional then I could never run out of things to do. I could be in isolation 24/7 for the rest of my life and be fine. If the internet goes out i'm screwed. I don't have anything to do without the internet except excercise and health issues limit how much I can do that. I don't have a single book in my house. All my reading is done online.

 

[Montecfo]

A lot of activities are the same. One difference is DW is working from home as schools are closed.

So read, organize, do taxes, cook, plan, watch TV, dig into things I have not thought about for a while.

Keeping up with family and friends by phone or text.

Took all of sons leftover clothing and related to charity. That took a while.

I need to think of something out of the box to do, to make the best of this time.

 

[Lcountz]

Too much teevee and internet has raised my anxiety level thru the roof, so I:

1) Completed my late brother's final income tax returns...my sister is exec, but she's an RN with enough to worry about right now (In NY State no less)...I find taxes somewhat relaxing..

2) Committed to self improvement. I am lucky. I live in a rural area on a ridge, with mountains, fields and woods behind my home. There is a large pond down the hill from me. I am committed to walking down the hill ( quite a change in elevation) to the pond, walk around it twice, and then the hard part...back UP the hill to the house!!!!.The hummocks in the field down to the pond make walking more a challenge which is good. Took me 30 minutes yesterday. I saw Canada geese pair is back to nest, 3 ducks. It was very therapeutic. Still chilly here, but I felt so good when I got back up to the house!!!

There is no chance of running into another human being, so it's safe. I did deep breathing techniques.

I was already strict keto, and started intermittent fasting on Feb 1. I eat once a day in a four hour window. I am not hungry rest of day. I crafted a menu based on my food supply for 30 days. I eat a lot of chicken! I figure I don't have to go out for me or cat foods for at least 30 days.

I think we will all be SICK of that word "coronavirus" pretty soon. I keep thinking: "this too shall pass...."

I worry a LOT about my sister. She is 62 and was planning to retire. No real pension to talk about, but she and her SigOther have been frugal and LB means thier whole life. They paid off their minifarm. They took out a HELOC that they don't use or need. He is already retired.

RN's are dedicated. She said she's cautious and realizes the risk, but she is "excited" ( her word) to be in this fight. She has asthma. She thinks she may be assigned to cardiac patients who don't have coronvirus ( she has that level of experience)....

I loose sleep worrying about her. Everything else is unimportant right now, to me.

 

[Midpack]

Losing restaurants really cramped our style but it’s understandable. But we’re doing carry out 2-3 times a week to support our favorites so they’re still in business when this is over. Servers are getting killed by this, very sad.

I thought I’d be able to continue with golf and sailing but my regular golf course and league closed on Tuesday and the community sailing center is closed-limited too. We’re reading, internet surfing and watching too much TV. We’ve continued with exercise and long walks. And we’ve been working in the yard more the past few days, hopefully that’ll pay dividends.

We used to do grocery shopping several times a week, now we’re planning only once a week. We have fresh veggies and fruit every day, we’ve bought some frozen just in case. We’re not stocking up on anything, it’s annoying to see empty shelves and a few people running around stores obviously hoarding goods. Some stores are now limiting, but I’m sure the worst among us just go from store to store. Selfish.

We have regular dental cleaning and exams coming up, not sure if we should keep them or postpone.

It’s funny to see working Mom’s and Dad’s in the neighborhood who don’t know how to occupy their kids every day. They post on FB every day asking each other WHAT TO DO, the kids are driving me crazy! I guess you can’t send kids out to play anymore, few do...

 

[Samething]

Still able to play golf at our local muni. They have put a one player per cart rule in effect. Trying to limit my contact with others. Yesterday 2 of my neighbors and I had a conversation while we were standing in our own yards lol. Talk to my parents on the phone daily. Ran out of projects on the house yesterday. Social isolation is ok for this introvert. One bad thing for me I was putting my house up for sale while looking at other houses. I was planning on using 100k cash along with proceeds from my home sale to buy my new place. I’m putting that on hold for awhile. We will get through this.

 

[Bamaman]

1. We're still trying to get straightened out after our recent move. It's hard to get the garage cleaned out and items removed when it storms every other day. Huge job.
2. We cancelled this Saturday's trip to Berlin & Poland, and had to cancel each hotel and car rentals online manually. Now we're fighting with a travel agent that doesn't return messages to rebook or get our money back.
3. Spring cleaning on our lake house--including spending 1 week getting rid of last Fall's mountain of leaves.
4. Entertaining our 8 year old granddaughter and taking her 20 mi. to allergist for shots 2x a week.

 

[JoeWras]

Spending too much time here.

I got some gardening to do. Time to get off my duff.

 

[jcretire77]

Icing my very sore knee after fertilizing my lawn. The joy of getting older. It does remove the temptation of golfing. Anyway we are giving Netflix a beating. My DW is still playing a little tennis with friends.

 

[Bir48die]

We have been Spring cleaning like many are. Couple of trips to the Goodwill. Had four smaller projects on the list. Finished all four and added two.

Our golf course has taken steps. Closed the grill and the clubhouse is limited. No practice balls. Arrive fifteen minutes before your tee time. No motorized golf carts. Weather is decent this week and tee times are booked for days. Only organized way to be outside

 

[Music Lover]

We've been away for all but 3 weeks since Jan 1. My GF moved in December 1 and I'm also finishing up a major renovation of my house. Half of her stuff is still in boxes in the garage from the move and also because of the reno so we're now unpacking and also purging as we combine 2 houses of stuff into 1.

In addition, GF's mother recently moved to assisted living and she has a house full of stuff to be dealt with before it can be sold.

We have no shortage of things to do!!

 

[pjm-7]

Like most just staying in as much as possible. Go for my daily walks. Washed the car the other day. Plenty of bays available. Volunteered at the animal shelter yesterday. Got a truck of dogs in yesterday that needed to be processed. We have always had strict contagion control protocols so felt pretty safe.

I am in the process of moving so the house is very clean. Waiting to see if there will be any showings this morning before the snow storm moves in. If no showings will work on packing a few more boxes. Might watch a movie this afternoon.

 

[aja8888]

Our County finally shut restaurants and bars down here so today is really the first day of confinement for many.

I still went to my daily ROMEO meetup at Burger King @ 7:00 AM and we (6 - 10 guys) sat outside on a patio for an hour or so. Ordered thru the walk up window.

Brought DW breakfast from BK as I can't take her to Denny's or any other sit down place.

We have 30 rolls of TP, so we are good for 90 days! LOL

My 5 dog walks a day are still on schedule.

 

[Lewis Clark]

My college is moving on-campus classes to online delivery. I teach online already. I'm spending my time helping faculty learn how to teach online, at least at a basic level.

This is a LOT HARDER than many people appreciate.

 

[Moemg]

I have been on partial lock down for three months due to bacterial pneumonia so moving to full lock down has been pretty easy . I have an exercise boot camp that I do ,lots of books to read , normal household chores and cleaning closets . The only thing I am wondering about is how do we handle hair cuts and root touch ups . I have an appointment but I am unsure of whether I will cancel .We stopped restaurants last Friday but we will do some take out as I am getting sick of cooking .

 

[Rianne]

Obviously, I'm here, reading this. And will for ~ hour or two. And watching the eaglets grow in NE Florida eagle nest. Eating. Playing with dog. Watching Youtube videos of late night comedy.

 

[LRDave]

DW and I are going on a field trip to hike in a WMA about 1 hour from here. One of the finest spring native wildflower hikes in the country (and world) and we've had this on the agenda for weeks. I expect we won't see anyone else, as it is relatively obscure. If we do, we will able to easily keep more that 6 feet apart.

 

[Nemo2]

'Usually' we do a thorough house clean before we go on trips...(so that the place doesn't look as if it's been ransacked by Visigoths when we return); other than that it's on an ad hoc basis, (i.e. "Have you seen the vacuum cleaner lately?")

Yesterday, (without rushing into it), we decided to put an hour or two a day, (or maybe every other day), aside, ('aside' being a break from putzing around), to do things such as cleaning copper pots, ("Damn, there's no Brasso......and using vinegar/salt/baking soda is inadequate"), and other ventures that "We really should......"

Interrupts our ongoing monitoring of catastrophes...but that can't be all bad?

 

[Ronstar]

I’m reading a stack of several years worth of National Geographic magazines. Then some unread Clive Cussler works. Along with the usual napping, photo processing, and woodworking. And watching a lot of YouTube videos.