The Coronavirus Boredom Thread

Yes I'm bored hearing about coronavirus but that's not what this thread's about.

Here in Portland they've shut down bars and theaters for 30 days, closed schools and limited restaurants to serving takeout food only. Libraries are closed for 2 weeks and so are most bookstores. It's a bitch trying to stay occupied, especially for me as I retired 2 months ago.

Who else here is under lockdown and how bad is it? And let's help each of us get through this! With the limited resources you have, what are you doing to stay occupied? What are your suggestions? Let me start.

Call up friends. It might just be a drinking buddy from a bar you frequent and you see him/her often enough there that you feel no need to contact them further. That is, until now. If you have their number call them and see if they have anyone else's number. Then get together at someone's place, as long as you're not feeling sick.

Go for a drive or a bike ride. The weather here has been pretty nice lately so I've been able to ride my bike around and get some exercise. Anyplace further away and I can drive there or take the bus.

Browse. Go the the stores that are still open and look around.

Play video games. Or board games. Or mind games. No, scratch that last one.

Surf the web. See what other websites are out there.

Do the chores you've been putting off. Clean it up, get it taken care of, tie up any loose ends!

Let's kick this off!

 

Get a kindle. Read everything.

I have a Kindle, but it's not in use. My day is lots of times spent online.

I exercise twice doing jumping jacks for 15 minutes each time instead of going to the park to run because there are most times other people there (I'm trying to stay home more).

I have PlayStation 3, but I don't feel like overdoing that. I'm playing Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns.

That's about it...

 

I've got plenty of books I haven't read. I got out of the habit of reading books many years ago. I really should make the effort. Also I've got an electric and acoustic guitar which are very unloved and calling me to play them.

 

I’ve been there! Spent a couple weeks up there not too long ago. Amazing place, great people and good vibes.

 

I am simultaneously bored and overwhelmed by the amount of things I should/could be doing.

 

Also me:

"Oh, I should go to....oh wait, no, that's closed"
"I know! i'll swing by...oh, nope, closed."
"This weekend would be a good time to travel to...guess that is closed too"

 

Same here. Bored of hearing this corona bullshit.

 

I have plenty of books and projects to keep me busy. I also have been watching an Eagle nest. They have three eggs that will hatch in early April. It will be more exciting then to watch the activity. I have been watching for ten years since they first set up the cameras. Enjoy!

Raptor Resource Project: Conservation, Education, Research

 

nothing has really changed for me yet. work is different, but i still have to go every day. then after work i usually just sit at home and fuck around online or play video games, which i can still do now. i usually hang out with friends a couple times a week, and we sometimes go out to the bars. so now we're just staying in when we hang out.

 

Yeah, iRacing is nuts at the moment. So many drivers online.

 

having lived "socially isolated" most of my life, i'd kind of almost forgotten how difficult that can be for a lot of people.
so my life is the same as its almost always been. the last time i went to a movie i think i was still living in a shared house with a bunch of furries.
as for bars, i think that was, well i don't remember for sure, but more then three decades, probably more then four.
even libraries its been probably more then a year. basically everything is on line, except i don't spend money on line.
i ride the bus to go shopping or do laundry, which is only about once a week anyway.
but it was a bit of a surprise to me when the bus driver on the express bus that ends it route at the mall mentioned that the mall itself, the entire mall, not just the stores in it, was locked up tight.
some of this stuff it seems strange. but the lower polution from not so many people driving, i wish we didn't have to have something like this for that to happen.
i doubt i'll ever know if i come down with it or not. i'll either be dead when its all over, or i won't be. i think the odds are fairly good i'll be among the living, but that depends on a lot of things,
like how long its going to last and all that.
i think there's a lot of good that can come out of this having happened.
i think there's some good things starting to happen now. though of course people dying and suffering is not one of them.
entertainment is an illusion though it is easy when its being fed to you.
there are still lots of things, if you're actually alone alone, without anyone to distract you from doing them, you know we all have imaginations,
and for those who don't believe they have any skills to express them creatively, there's no time like the present to develop them.

you don't have to create a masterpiece to get enjoyment out of having created whatever you do.
and there are plenty of ways to explore, without coming within six or nine or whatever feet of anyone,
and of course on line too.

i do like outdoors, but in a city, outdoors isn't really, other then being exposed to the weather.

and of course, there's always fatigue hallucinations if that's your thing.
and meditation, when the internal dialog ends, good dreams sometimes begin.

many mind exercizes. analyse things you've never thought to question. i mean doing so without bias.
even the analyzing of what might have it origens in bias and finding ways to avoid having it interfere in your analysis is a good healthy mental exercise.

i think people realizing assumptions they've always taken for granted don't really always, and many not even at all, work they way they've always expected them too, or been told to expect them to, i know for some people this might be painful, but i also think that is a very good healthy thing for everybody. and this situation forcing people to do that, to me, i think that is a good thing.

 

Wanting to stop a rapid spread of the virus that could disrupt services and overwhelm hospitals makes sense, but a few month on things will need to change.
Once the earlier sufferers have recovered, they will need to mingle. Crowd immunity (where contact with them gives you some of the antibodies that they have developed) is a vital part of slowing any virus down.
Hopefully governments will take their advice from doctors, rather than relying on politicians to make the decisions.

 

Today after breakfast I cleaned my kitchen counters, the stovetop, the outside of my refrigerator and some appliances. After that was done and I showered, then I got on my bicycle and went on a bike hike.

Rode around a few miles, stopped at a coffee shop where they told me they can't let people sit outside, so I got a coffee and walked a block to a bar that was closed and used their outdoor tables.

After I finished my coffee I rode to a friend's place and dropped in and smoked a bowl with him, neither of us thinks we're sick so we took the chance.

Then I rode to a Subway Sandwiches and got a sandwich to go of course, rode home and had half for lunch and will eat the other half for dinner.

Now I'm writing this and it's only 2:45, still have a lot of time to kill. Guess I'll surf the web. do some reading and make a phone call or two. I have a couple friends who have backyards with a big barbecue grill, maybe we can put together a pandemic party!

 

I'll be playing in the garden, soak in a little sunshine, moving rabbit pens getting ready for my new gardening project.

 

I haven't been inconvenienced yet but it's probably coming. I wouldn't be surprised if we are told not to come to work next week. So, I'll probably visit my brother for a few days and watch some movies or whatnot, then stay at home listening to a buttload of music and rereading books. I'm an introvert anyway, staying away from people is no problemo for me.

 

No you can't visit your brother omg bro isolation.