How are you doing with everything right now, how are you coping?

[Zuben]

Pretty much alright. Staying at home playing video games/watching Youtube or Netflix was my primary me-time anyway, so all I'm losing is going outside every now and then to meet friends. Instead I meet them online more than before, which is nice in its own way.

[downnola]

I'm lucky enough that I can do my job from home, so it's business as usual for the most part. I'm worried that my company will go with mass layoffs if this extends out into the summer, though.

I have enough food and supplies to last a couple of months plus enough money in savings to go unemployed for an extended period of time, but I do worry about the state of the economy. There's a lot of people out of work right now that aren't as fortunate as me.

[Puupi]

On lockdown since mid January. I'm hanging in there. Online classes have finally kicked in enough to cover living expenses, and while I'm not especially fond of online as a format I can live with it. The main thing I have hanging is that I'd like to be able to start lining things up for the move to Baku.

Why are you moving to Azerbaijan?

[Cruor]

Annoyed and bored. I had to cancel my vacation because all the beaches got shut down. You cant go anywhere, and I used to eat out a lot but now cant. I cant even get fast food because French Fries NEED to be fresh (in terms of minutes) to be tasty and I refuse to eat in my clean vehicle.

This whole thing is dumb, only 3% die and they all already were on the way out or had issues. IMO life should continue as normal, the immune deficient quarantine and the other 95 - 97% get on with life. This world is the opposite of Spock's wisdom. Here, the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many. How many jobs have been lost to prevent a small % of the weak from dying and the vast majority from getting a little cough and the sniffles for a week?

[shadowmouse]

Why are you moving to Azerbaijan?

Back when I was in practice, my focus was international law and international trade. When my body tried to shut itself down, I had a Chinese doctor at the chronic pain clinic. I'd cleared my docket for health reasons, so when she talked to me about moving to China it was something I had the freedom to try. I got to come here as things were opening up more, twenty years ago. I got to see things first hands and form my own opinions. Over the years I built a new career, had interesting times, and met good people.

I feel like it was worth doing, but times have changed. The kids today are the Little Emperors and Empresses, and while many of the steps the current administration is taking have been a necessary readjustment after the Wild West attitudes of earlier days they are also things that I no longer have patience with. "The Herd" as I've taken to calling the closest of my friends and old students are a good group and I'm proud of them, but I can pretty much draw a line across my years here that coincides with an observation my middle "daughter" made: "Dad, they're just one class younger than we are, but in China we see them as a different generation. I don't understand them either." I only count two people on the other side of that line among my close friends, and they're not really part of the Herd.

Midlife crisis v2.0? I came to China when I was 40 because things lined up in a way that I had an opportunity. Now I've turned 60 and things have lined up again. I ended up not getting married -- basically when the infection hit me, Pink's family pitched a fit and told her it proved that I was too old to take care of her and they wouldn't agree (a situation I respect more than I would have "marry him quick, take out more insurance") while various things are making the environment here more and more hostile for foreign professionals. The Herd want me to stay. I've been offered a beach front house by one of them, another wants to set me up in Inner Mongolia, and they're ready to auction me off to get me married ASAP. I was supposed to kick the bucket before I turned 50 -- I keep forgetting to do so, so I'd might as well set out on one last adventure. I'm not quite ready to hang up my hat.

I'd thought I'd choose Mongolia for that, and started to get enthusiastic as the time in the hospital went on. It turns out though that when word got out that I might be in the market for new adventure, I got some other suggestions. Azerbaijan made an offer that I couldn't really see myself passing up.

Long story, apologies for wall o'text.

[melodramocracy]

Practically nothing has changed, I don't go out any more or less than I used to really.. which really speaks to how uninteresting my life is. Job is secure (thankfully) and fairly essential due to who my teams main customer is.

[Puupi]

*snip*

Oh, interesting.

But why not go to the US/Canada or EU? Don't like the western world anymore or?

[Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang]

Physically I am fine, after coincidentally coughing my lungs out for one month since Valentines... I even get to go work at the office since its deserted.

Not seeing family is tough as is refraining from all activities outside of home. I miss going out for lunch break with colleagues.

While health does not concern me in particular, we are all a bit wary about my parents, especially my dad who has a poor health and is turning 65 this year, and for my grandma in the Philippines who is turning 99 this summer. Hoping we can still all visit her for her 100 next year.

I am also a bit concerned about my pregnant future sister in-law who is due her 1st baby in June, hoping things get a bit more normal so my bro gets to be with her and spend time with the baby, and of course no complications. Same for my sister who is due in September... (I get concerned about deliveries, as my wife's last two faced complications and required heavy care). Wishing them not to give birth in a war zone.

I am mostly concerned about the future and the upcoming economic crisis. At least my job is much less threatened than I thought at first but on the global stage the future looks grim. Its a bit compounded by the fact we bought a house in the nick of time : while we got super low interest rates which have been rising ever since, I fear the banks response to a potential market devaluation... and I am absolutely terrified at what people, relatives included, in poorer countries will be facing in the near and more distant future...

[shadowmouse]

But why not go to the US/Canada or EU? Don't like the western world anymore or?

I'm American, so at this point I'd prefer to continue on my adventures and see other things. It was years ago, but I've lived in Italy, Canada, and West Germany -- all nice places that I'm sure I'd enjoy going back to, but once again not as much of an adventure.

Azerbaijan though, that gives me an opportunity to see what Europe became in the years after I left but to get a fresh impression rather than revisiting places. I like to see things for myself, so I'll get to see it from a post Soviet country. Since my middle "daughter" is in Germany, I'm sure I'll get to take trips there during breaks.

To get back on topic a bit more clearly (although thinking about making a 20 year change in my life actually has quite a bit to do with how I'm coping with things now), I'm seeing about getting an EU account set up for WoW so I can start trying to get ready to lose all of my progress in WoW since it released in China. Hmmm ... no heirlooms, already did the grinds on allied races so 1-120 isn't going to be anything fresh, won't have things like the old mission table farms to build bankroll. Just a sec <shadowmouse goes to hold his toy kitten and pulls the blanket over his head> Oh, well, you play the cards as they fall, and I should be able to get a couple of weeks of the Winds of Wisdom buff to make a stronger start.

[hellhamster]

I'm stuck in the Netherlands with no way of retuning to Greece. If my parents get sick, I can't be there. It sucks.

Now I'm sick. My work here told me to take 2 weeks quarantine leave, when it's probably a small cold. They are right of course, but it still sucks that this thing is dominating our lives.

We have to enforce a new reality upon our old one in order to go forward. We have to let go of what we knew, and that is hard. The sooner we learn to accept it, the better. My only hope is that we learn a few things to improve ourselves in the process.

[lagiacrux]

why is there no option "im doing fine"? cause im doing fine.

[Flarelaine]

My daily routine is practically the same. In fact it is even more boring because I don't get to do the stuff that breaks the routine like drinking with friends or visiting family. At least I have online games.

[shadowmouse]

I don't get to do the stuff that breaks the routine like drinking with friends

Zoom party seems to be the workaround.

[Flarelaine]

Zoom party seems to be the workaround.

Oh, I still get my weekly D&D, but that also moved to Discord and Roll20. Close, but not quite the same.

[Xarkan]

How are you doing with everything right now, how are you coping?

After the first week of Denmark being kinda shut down i joked that if it continued i might go crazy and go to the local supermarket and hit people with a Trout

That day is getting closer every day..

To be honest I am doing ok, i can work from home (not that would not prefer to work from where the office is) and my company has no intention of firing me.. I am not overly social.. and i do not currently have some deadly virus nor do i know people who have claimed to have any deadly virus

[Polyxo]

I've graduated to trying to implement barbell work into my apartment when it's too rainy or whatever outside. So far, I still have lamps and a tv.

[molliewoof]

Doing well generally but being able to work in your underwear stops being novel after a while.

Worried about my.mum who works face to face with people and getting on in years, also my sister is due to give birth today with her first child. Kinda pissed off that she and her fella won't have anyone around to help.

Other than that doing well, work from home and most people in my company struggle to go to a website and type a username and pass in so my work has become more frustrating than usual. I never thought I would be asked how to save a document by someone that has worked on a pc for twenty plus years

[Fencers]

Doing pretty great. Aside from a few minor inconveniences, this is one of the best times of my life actually.

[Nobleshield]

I'm doing fine just annoyed that nothing is fucking open and my Facebook is full of what I thought were smart people freaking out and seemingly buying into the media BS and fearmongering.

The only thing I'm worried about is the erosion of freedom.as more and more idiots are fine with bullshit like curfews and other oppression.

[ErrandRunner]

Life goes on, with or without my own subjective commentary.