How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions... #3

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I still feel like I'm dealing with it even if there's no technical restrictions anymore. I still see old signs saying "masks required" and medical people still wear them. And a few other people too. That makes sense as COVID is not gone; it's always going to be around. It's yet another virus.

There's things we used to do that we stopped doing because of COVID, like shaking hands. That's gone it seems. Yeah I know there's germs but you can wash your hands. It was a personal kind of gesture I still miss, making literal contact with someone new you just met. I'm still feeling the consequences and what little in-person stuff I had before all this never came back. And I never saw some people again after March 2020.

Disco, Break, nonightowl thanks for your replies.

The consequences of the virus are tough. Thus, who said there’s no other virus to come. (Crossing fingers)

I’ve learnt this pandemia and its consequences are being bad for both extrovert and introvert people. I thought it wasn’t gonna effect myself because I’m right with only a little of socialisation, I can’t cope with more than a little. But, still I need it.
I still haven’t been able to be in a crowd. I always think better to wait to go to a concert or to do any indoors activity, just to avoid any risk.
Then, I feel as if after such a long time wearing a mask, now it’s not easy for me to be more open to people. The mask became a help, kind of support to be safer being myself.

Too bad, Break that now you all can work from home. I understand this reduces a lot your need to socialise. You must feel quite alone and stuck. I think you must feel the same as I felt when I had to work far from home but I didn’t dare to go outside and socialise. Thanks god that I had contact with my coworkers in the morning. That saved me.
At the rent flat I used to thought, oh my god! I I feel more and more disconnected.

I agree it had/has consequences for both extroverts and introverts. And it certainly still affects me because a part of my life is gone and will not come back now. I don't need a lot of human or social contact either but I do need some. It's wired into our DNA. We are social creatures.

I haven't been comfortable in big crowds long before COVID. I'm claustrophobic and that's part of it, I think. Even outside I can't stand a crowd that size, and people are getting ruder all the time now. It seems to me that the lockdowns, masks, etc. brought out the worst in some people. And these days I also think of mass shootings, since they usually occur where crowds are gathered like at parties or parades.

Like you I got used to wearing a mask eventually, but now I haven't worn one for months once they lifted that restriction. It's also too hot. But it did have some good points, such as hiding part of my face so my expression can't be read easily. Or I'm not recognized by certain people I want to avoid anyway. Plus it helped my allergies; they weren't so bad.

Working from home isn't an option for everyone. Some people need that face to face contact. Or they don't have that stupid Zoom thing or know how to USE it. Such a digital or tech divide in this country.

As far as this $hit building, it has never had a "neighborly vibe" and I thought that would change with the lockdowns. I couldn't believe this but it went off the charts. Nobody talked to anyone, people kept to themselves even more. And the high turnover accelerated. I don't know where those people all went with this housing crisis. So no sense of community, no stability. Nobody checked on anybody, nobody knows or seemed to care who lives alone and has nobody, etc. People suck.

@nightowl, I also thought world would be better after this pandemia but we learnt NOTHING. I don’t know if people suck but at least, we are alienated. World is hostile as hell.

I like this thread. It's very interesting! I too feel as though things will never be the same again. This is small, but after opening again my two favorite coffee shops have earlier closing times. I thought they'd go back to their pre-pandemic hours by now, but they haven't.

Yes, many things came to remain. Another example is bureaucracy. Oh, my…! They barely give an appointment to manage papers face to face and you need to do everything online. I know youth is able to do it that way but for me it’s not so easy. And you have to do all the work, many times, without you being sure if you are doing it correctly.

As for the bars or coffee shops and their open time, come to Spain, here there are more bars than citizens. 😂
I understand your deception. Maybe there’s another site you might begin going.

Oh I could write a book on how technology is not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s not easy for me either because until about 2 years ago I didn’t even have this smartphone. I relied on the library and they closed during Covid like everyone else did. Yet the government repeatedly told us to go ONLINE like I can just go to my frig for milk.

I’ve used computers since the 80’s so they are not strange for me. But technology moves way too fast and there’s too many variables on whether online activity will work right or be secure! And I’ve gotten error messages I didn’t know how to interpret and have nobody to ask.

Some online forms won’t give you the same options as a paper one or from talking to a human. It also depends on what you’re using, the network connection, etc. The library was slow to update browsers so some sites didn’t work at all.

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One place we used to go to started showing people which table they could sit at, this was under the reason of crowd control during the pandemic but they’re still doing it now - we don’t go there anymore because we prefer to choose our seats. I now look back and wonder how many of these things were really necessary or were more for convenience of the businesses.

I rode the bus recently and an announcement said masks are strongly recommended on board. But nobody was wearing one, not even the driver. Then a masked woman got on.

Then I went to the doctor and some doctors and nurses wore them and some did not. It’s like two different realties are crossing paths or two timelines….

(I like science fiction ) I mean Covid isn’t gone but restrictions are lifted. It’s not like the virus “knows” to stay in the bus of unmasked people and avoid the doctor’s office. This makes no sense to me, not that it ever did. The government is acting like Covid never happened, that it was some other alternate reality we nipped in the bud.

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My husband just tested positive for covid the second time, we thought he had a cold but he looked ghastly this morning so I suggested a test. He’s pretty much the same as first time so far, some congestion and a nasty cough, very tired. We had to cancel an event we were planning on going to but he wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it anyhow.

Me and our son are so far well and negative I’ll check again with another test in a few days and stay away from vulnerable people.

There was a woman coughing a lot on the bus the other day so I do wonder if that was it - at the time I was annoyed by her not covering her mouth but so many people still don’t. It’s so basic.

Disco, I’m sorry your husband has to go through it again. Hope he gets better soon.

We have learnt NOTHING after the pandemia, neither hygienic education. If I had a cough, I would wear the ****ing mask. It’s not so hard. Blast!
If authorities don’t say anything, we are unable to have a little bit, only a little bit of common sense. 🙄
Citizenship education is something we lack, in many cases. Not all, of course.

Thanks Azul, I agree, I don’t understand why people can’t cover their mouths when they cough - even just a handkerchief or elbow.

He’s so tired and sleeping most of the time which I guess is the best medicine. Every bit as unwell as the first time he had it. Other than going to work I’m keeping away from people but no symptoms yet.

That reminds me of how they got rid of something I really miss at my grocery store. Since everything reopened in 2021, with no restrictions like masks and capacity limits, I thought they'd bring it back:

They used to have these huge bins with large scoops in them, of stuff like trail mix, various nuts, chocolate covered raisins, etc. You could measure what you want and place it in a plastic bag. There was a scale where you weighed it, then a little device that printed out the bar code for you to stick on the bag. That way the cashier knows what price to scan.

As soon as COVID broke out, they took it all away. It was replaced with pre-packaged trail mix, etc. in these tiny containers. Of course the price is higher with the quantity not even being a full pound but just 12 oz. I thought by now they'd bring it all back but it doesn't look like it. I used to love to get as much as 1 or 2 lbs. of my favorite trail mix or nuts.

One of the grocery stores where I mostly shop was never very big on bulk foods so there wasn't much to remove during the pandemic (or bring back afterwards). The other store has always been big on bulk foods. They were in obvious distress early in the pandemic. They switched from scoop-from-the-bin to prepacked and didn't even try to keep up with the demand for certain products like their store-packaged trail mix. However, they not only kept their system of "gravity dispensers" like these...



... but (as far as I can tell) have even expanded it to more products than before. You wrap a plastic bag around the spout, hold the bag in place with one hand, and operate the dispenser handle with the other hand. The dispensers in that picture look a lot like the ones at the store but the picture comes from a website that sells dispensers.

Personally, I much prefer those dispensers to the open bins. Many years ago, at a store that's now long gone, I came across a wad of bubble gum tucked into the sunflower seed bin.

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I see this stuff as much more hygienic.

I'm sure it was done for hygienic reasons, all those hands using the scoops and opening the lids. They also had the gravity dispensers too; I forgot about that but then it WAS over 3 years ago now...... Even on those, you pull down on the handles, so all those hands on the lever.

Anyway the point is they never brought it all back. When I see that, it feels like 2020 again. I can't get my trail mix in bulk now and don't feel like going to a specific bulk type store either. My store doesn't have a lot of bulk stuff as it's not that type of place but they do have some items in bulk.

Hi, folks!
I have a question for the ones who were positive in covid.
I was talking with my niece yesterday about those days she caught the virus. She says that after suffering the covid, her sense of taste won’t be the same as before. It’s six months since she was sick.
Have you experienced something similar?

I had covid in 2021 and lost taste and smell completely for a few weeks, it came back but not as well as before for quite a while. I would say it could’ve been a year before it was back to normal but it seems okay for me now. I hope that your niece will get her taste properly back with time.

I read that exposure to strong tastes and smells can help regain this sense. Things like lemon slices.

Thank you very much, Disco. I will tell her. She will like to know that it’s a matter of time.

Thank you 💖💖💖

Are people even bothering to get tested if they get sick? One of the guys at work just missed a few days and he was back today. I asked him if it was Covid and he said he didn't bother to get tested. I said it couldn't have been covid because he actually got sick. Someone else laughed. I had respiratory symptoms for a month and never got tested. I still have a bit of phlegm.

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I guess it depends on your circumstances Ace, most people don’t test because tests aren’t free now here. However I buy them, don’t test often but it has identified when we’ve picked it up. I’ve got contact with clinically vulnerable people though so I prefer to be aware. I’ve got pretty good at identifying the covid cough though!

I guess if someone have strong symptoms they will take a test.
I have something but not more than a cold so far so I don’t see the need to test myself since I wear the mask to avoid pestering others than my partner lol!

I had covid month ago I didn’t have respiratory symptoms at all. First time I did.

My local senior center still has one of the entrances/exits closed, since 2020. Even though they reopened in July 2021, they still won't open it. Of course it reminds me of 2020 and I've even seen more masks. They stopped asking for vax proof in that year too I think.

Still, it's kind of a pain to go out of my way to go in/out because only one entrance/exit is in use now, except via the patio but that takes me more out of my way.