Mainframe in the Time of Coronavirus-

How is everyone spending the time doing the social distancing thing? I honestly am pretty bored, glad to have my PS4 with me and using the time to try to beat my backlog of games, as well as catch up on some shows I missed. What about everyone else?

My time will be a mix of video games, movies and working. My job is considered an essential business so we're open regardless.

In some ways, not drastically and in other ways yes. My trips out for toy hunts have moved to being suspended as well as my gatherings on Friday for games and my support group have been canceled as well. My volunteering downtown at the mental health board also took a hit too due to the precautions needed to be taken for the coronavirus. The only time I am leaving the house now is if I need to go for supplies (often with my dad when I do) or my medical appointments. I've limited non-essential travel altogether. So I'm following the state's "Stay-At-Home" order. I know my dad doesn't have much of a choice because his job is considered essential, he drives truck. He makes sure people have supplies to get what they need from the stores. Without him the whole system collapses. So I do spend a lot of time worrying about him catching something. One saving grace there is that his immune system is significantly stronger than my own. He doesn't get sick easily at all which is a massive plus.

One good thing to come of this is that it's given me the additional time I need to work on Jurassic-Pedia stuff. So in a way, I'm happy about that and working towards clearing off a significant portion of my list before life as we knew it resumes.

My life hasn't changed at all apart from being unable to go to the grocery after work because everything closes at 8-10PM now, which sucks. But other than that, I still go to work and resume my life like I always have.

As somebody who's mostly an introvert, this virus hasn't affected me much. Besides, I have a powerful immune system so I'm in the majority of people that if infected, won't have serious health problems.

As for the reaction to the virus when it comes to society.....

I think that all this is stupid to be honest. Sorry, but unless millions of people are dying left and right every day, then all of this is needless. Even many experts say this is absurd. Not only that, but are we going to do this for every epidemic/pandemic from here on out? I don't think that's even possible. Mankind, between human nature, cabin fever, and the instant gratification of society via the internet (Amazon and Ebay comes to mind), is simply NOT wired for that. Being mostly locked-down past May 1st is an absurd thought. Even being locked-down a few days past Easter is probably too much for most people.

I just think that within a year or two from now, we'll be regretting what we are doing/have done and will say that it wasn't worth it. And all because of a stupid virus with a measly 1% death rate...

Here are some sources that prove my point.

https://www.deadlymedicines.dk/wp-content/uploads/G%C3%B8tzsche-The-Coronavirus-mass-panic-is-not-justified.pdf

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/

https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/global-covid-19-case-fatality-rates/

Yeah let's save the whole "this is stupid so we shouldnt be doing this and that" for another time. The virus has apparently been killing younger people with no health issues whatsoever now so it's a time for concern.

My state is officially under a stay at home order at 8 PM tonight and I have to work until 10:15.

My life hasn’t changed very much. I still have my job, for which I’m very thankful. I watch Netflix, play some games on PS4, read books... but the dating life has slowed to a crawl. To pass the time I’d otherwise spend going out and doing things, I’ve started to plan for the future; going back to school, buying a house, and so on. I figure I have all of this time, I might as well use it productively.

I've been supporting the #staysafestayjurassic initiative by streaming Jurassic Park games on Twitch and sharing entries of my Jurassic Park fan-fiction.

To be honest, I'm more afraid of the US public and government than I am of the virus. I'm a high risk person, as I have been diagnosed with heart failure due to heart damage last year. The way the President shows little comprehension and concern over the virus, and how many US citizens are following his lead, I find the situation terrifying. I barely leave my room because my nephews come over to use the internet for online school, but I have doubts if the father's actually taking care of himself. I really want to hug my nephews, but can't be near them in case they have asymptomatic carrying of the disease.

I'm also doing online school and participating in National Poetry Month by writing a poem a day.

I'm frustrated that so many believe this virus to be exaggerated by the media and some even believe it's a hoax. Last month, my cousins were in the same boat with them, quoting the death rate statistic of the US, which was low at the time. They said the media was fear-mongering. Now, one of them wears a mask all day. It's stupid.

If only people would swallow their pride and follow the guidelines, then we can get over this pandemic and move on sooner. But, no, they have to prove how smart and brave they are by risking the lives of people like me by going out with no protection and not social distancing. I hate how states are saying that they barely have cases, so there is no reason for a stay home order. That's the prime moment to execute one, when there are few cases! Are they going to wait until more people die and they run out of supplies and this thing grows out of control to finally say, like that idiot governor, "we didn't know"? Trump won't lead in example by wearing a mask because it won't match his desk and he'll look silly, according to the interview he had. He basically said that, I kid you not.

I just want everyone to be safe so we can reunite with loved ones and go outside again. Why is that so difficult to comprehend?

Last Thursday, my employer FINALLY decided that we're worth giving hazard pay and cut store hours to. This was ALL we wanted... 3 WEEKS AGO. When it came to light than an employee in Michigan had died, and that Michigan's governor released a press conference condemning our employers lack of effort in keeping their employees safe, there began rumblings of a mass walk out, and corporate was effectively shamed into going beyond the bare minimum for us. Still, I'm grateful they're FINALLY doing something, even if it is late.

Yesterday, I'd started to develop chemical burns and a cough from frequent spraying of bleach at work.

My efforts have been more or less trying to focus on staying at home and keeping my mental health in a stable and positive position. I think the biggest adjustment is my lack of ability to come and go as I please. I had been leaving the house a bit more often ever since I recovered from my major surgery in 2015 to do my support groups, grocery shopping, do my medical appointments, do my toy hunts, and visiting friends. Now with COVID-19 being a very real and credible threat and the state mandated stay-at-home order I don't leave unless I absolutely have to and it's only for getting groceries for myself or helping my dad getting them.

I've sort of been moving back to how I handled things in 2012 and 2013 when I was first diagnosed with my schizoaffective symptoms and my impulse control was very out of whack due to being in a state of crisis. I originally thought this wouldn't bother me too much, but it sort of is in a lot of ways as it does remind me of that specific time period and my mental state at that time. The difference of course is my mental wall is still up and working in helping me keep the darker and turbulent thoughts I routinely experience at bay mostly by keeping those impulses in check. I am hoping there's a light at the end of the tunnel here in some ways I guess. I just honestly don't believe we're going to be able to go back to how things were before this all happened. The virus is still going to be "out there" as I've seen many people state. It's not going to just simply go away altogether unless we develop a vaccine of some kind and that could take a while potentially. This is dissatisfying for me in a sense because of the need to establish a relatively new normal to function off of here on into the future when I was otherwise content before with things.

The other component is I found out one of my friends may have contracted the virus from where she worked because her employer was too busy devoting himself to conspiracy theories. It took a wider slap from corporate to shut down their offices and push for the programmers to work from home. This makes me angry because not only should that guy no longer be the manager of that office, but he shouldn't ever touch a leadership position of any kind again for buying into the conspiracy theories and pseudoscience BS that is permeating the human zeitgeist anymore. If anything does happen to her I feel like I could impale that manager with my fist for his reckless and irresponsible decision. So I'm routinely checking in with her to make sure she's doing okay, but I am worried for her and will be very distraught if something bad happens in terms of outcomes.

Otherwise everything else feels operationally speaking normal. I am probably going to pick up DOOM Eternal on Steam in the coming weeks (waiting for the Easter sale) and I've shifted my toy collecting to online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon instead of physical brick and mortar locations. That doesn't stop me though if I go to a store like Walmart or Target from stopping in the toy section to see what's there. I know nothing new is coming right now because of everybody (including Mattel) shifting to manufacturing the necessary medical and protective equipment to help people combat the virus. One good thing is that it's giving me an opportunity to go back toy wise and get things I had missed or put off due to constantly staying up on the newest wave. Simple things like this and contemplating them have been peaceful and helpful for me. As for work with Jurassic-Pedia, I'm slowly finishing up my backend fixes and might return to doing some entry work in the coming weeks. I'm hoping to work up to doing more there in the next while as well as I hope we can get more people contributing wherever they will and can here.

Man all I do is work, work and more work. Then again, Maryland is no longer shut down and I have reasons to hang with friends again.