Original message (2093 Views )
| |  "Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Everyone!" , posted Sat 14 Mar 22:01  
I just wanted to check in and see how everyone's been doing during this global pandemic. How are you doing? How's your country handling things? How are you dealing with developments? What games are you catching up on while quarantining?
I'll go first.
I live in a top tourist destination in Thailand and the streets are quieter than I ever remember in my entire life. This has been terrible for the local economy, but it means people are also taking things seriously, which is heartening. There was a mask shortage for a bit, and many stores were engaging in insane price gauging. It also turned out that members of our own government were sellinh tons of masks to China for their own personal profit. This has promoted people to start hoarding masks and other goods, but thankfully it hasn't gotten as crazy as America. I went to a pharmacy last night and they were fully stocked on all sorts of supplies including masks and there was no price gauging. In fact you can report stores for that now, which is also heartening.
The thing I'm most concerned of out here is that we simply aren't equipped to accurately administer tests. And as a tourist driven economy a lot of leaders feel it's in their best interest to not test or report. We will never have an accurate assessment of what's going on. This is of grave concern to me cos if you look back at the Swine Flu it actually hit SE Asia really hard. 10x more fatalities than initially thought after the pandemic passed.
But life goes on. Gotta do the best we can. At my office, we have transitioned everyone to working from home. Doing our part to encourage "social distancing." Also gave everyone masks and we built everyone air filters too (mostly for burning season, but that's a whole nother matter--though the poor air quality will make the pandemic worse!).
Anyway, on the flip side, while I hope up at home, I can finally catch up on a lot of games! I was actually playing SamSho and GranBlue fairly regularly before the pandemic. We also just recently started playing UNIB at the office. Someone finally explained the basic mechanics of the game to me (which were confusing as hell at first but eerily intuitive once someone actually explains them to you). That game is SO DAMN GOOD. I am left wondering why anyone would play any other new fighting game over it now haha. I'll probably pick it up on Steam and practice at home.
I also recently started playing the original Sakura Wars as an excellent full fan translation dropped a few weeks ago. It's so good! Such dang charming!! Better than I expected! (I don't play a lot of visual novel type games so maybe I'm not the best judge).
I was thinking of picking up the latest DQ as well. Anyone got any advice on whether I should get it on PS4 or Switch?
Welp thats enough about me. How are y'all doing?
I wish you all the best.
Cheers!
www.art-eater.com
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| | "Re(1):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Everyone!" , posted Sun 15 Mar 01:09:
Ahoy Nobi! Welcome back to the BBS!
Here, it feels very odd given that Japan, logically thinking and considering its distance to the epicenter, should have a lot more reported cases. Being an island probably helps to a large extent compared to some other countries. But given that it's the second most popular tourist location for China and there was no inbound restrictions until recent, general assumption is that the government has been applying tests to only critical cases, keeping figures low to lessen impact towards economy and the upcoming Olympics (which they're still planning on running as scheduled). Ironically, it's helped the medical situation; hospitals are functioning thus far without being being overwhelmed despite that Japan has been one of the earlier countries to report its first cases. It wouldn't be surprising though if in reality the virus is already widespread, especially given how public transportation is the lifeline of the country. I am not sure why there aren't as many critical cases as Italy despite that the ratio and population of elderies in Japan is quite similar. If there were, it's extremely doubtful that the government can underplay it.
The rule of thumb for daily life right now is the same here as for other countries; keep indoors and tele-work without hitting the office if possible. Of course the reality though is that very few places except those confirmed to have had coronavirus cases are actually practicing this, and people are still riding the overcrowded trains during rush hours. Face masks have become extremely hard to come by and it's also the peak of the hayfever season, so it's a double whammy for people that don't have the working option of staying indoors.
In the streets, it's still the usual busy Tokyo, just a little quieter without the odd huge population of of tourists that exploded in recent years. Product shortages in supermarkets have been happening again and it feels like 2011 all over, just not as bad in some ways since leave aside being cautious when in contact with people, you don't have to worry about things being contaminated in the long term. People including myself have probably wised up since that experience.
In terms of taking this opportunity to catch up with games, the FF7Remake has unfortunately been delayed to next month but I'm playing Granblue Versus as well as the mobile original. There's a lot of games backlogged that I should be playing, but lots aside of games that needs to be done, too...!
[this message was edited by Professor on Sun 15 Mar 02:04] |
| | "Re(1):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Everyone!" , posted Sun 15 Mar 06:50
quote:
I just wanted to check in and see how everyone's been doing during this global pandemic. How are you doing? How's your country handling things? How are you dealing with developments? What games are you catching up on while quarantining?
I can't speak for the whole US, but in my area people are mostly treating it as an annoyance. There have been no local cases yet, but a few false claims have been reported. I'd say that way too many think like President Trump, or at least believe the things Trump says.
A few companies and organizations are taking it seriously, or have orders from above to at the least follow certain new safety procedures. Schools and the local senior center are cancelling crowded events. One of the fast food chains has order much stricter sanitation and safety guidelines. I know of one business that has told employees to not attend meetings and to work at home if possible. My bank has a notice up saying to not come in if you believe you might be sick or are showing symptoms of being sick. But most seem to be operating as normal, with little to no attention or seeming care towards risks.
Like always, some people panic and clean certain items from stores, which in turn puts the pressure on others to also buy what they can or risk doing without. Yesterday, I saw a woman with a shopping cart filled with just toilet paper and paper towels, enough to probably last her months. I had to go to a Wal-Mart today, and the entire paper products section was stripped bare, the cleaning products section had taken some hits and the instant ramen section of the grocery was stripped except for a few lone cup noodle packages.
People stocking up in stores has itself made stores more crowded at the moment. I felt sick just being in that Wal-Mart, with the higher than normal crowds. (Not really getting sick, just that I felt like I was getting sick just being there.) Similar for places like banks, which seemed more overcrowded than usual. I don't know if it was from people getting money to hit the stores, or from people who felt they might not be able to go to the bank in the next few weeks.
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| "Re(2):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Everyone!" , posted Sun 15 Mar 16:06:
Florida Mankind is bizarre and depressing.
Finding basic staples like spaghetti is impossible. Yesterday I had to brave 6 stores to find meat. Toilet paper is a distant memory and I haven't pooped at home in 2 days. Tangentially related, McDonald's bathrooms are still gross. I've watched grown men fistfight over paper towels, and every driver on the road is an inconsiderate animal.
The panic has people truly reconsidering their attachments to physical possessions, especially those non-essential to post-apocalypse survival. When I went hunting for a bargain Xbone last week, someone scoffed at my $100 console only / no extras offer. This morning, she begged me to take it with the controllers for $70. Turned out to be an S.
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some food delivery services like Door Dash now have the option of "leave the food on the doorstep" so that you don't even need to get your delivery handed to you.
I'm a Dasher - in my area at least, they're recommending this but not reinforcing it, not making any app changes to facilitate it, or making any adjustments to delivery time expectations to include the extra steps. They find it quite optional - just like paying their drivers!
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I was thinking of picking up the latest DQ as well. Anyone got any advice on whether I should get it on PS4 or Switch?
PS4 if all you care about is pretty graphics, Switch for content / music / portability / replay value.
As for quarantine gaming, I'm checking out some old XB ports I missed over the years like Guardian Heroes and NGBC while I await PSO2uesday.
"Hai ... Shindekudasai?"
Switch: SW-3287-7029-8309
[this message was edited by Ungenesis on Sun 15 Mar 16:10] |
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| "Re(5):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Everyone!" , posted Tue 17 Mar 06:35:
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Toilet rolls are in the short here too, and one suggestion that's making rounds is to use pet litter sheets (aka training pads) instead, which does make sense considering they tend to be available anywhere and come in good quality. Using newspaper and washing afterwards (to get rid of any ink) is also being whispered amongst people.
Finally, a use for the Samurai 8 tankobon.
Although no cases in EL Salvador yet, they shut down the airport completely for inbound and outbound. I think its a Safe move.
Gaming, I have not yet and may not. I am watching Turn A Gundam for the first time. Would like to know peoples opinion on this. It is different. Odd thing is growing up, people spoke negative about it. It pushed me away. However, lately in the past 5 or so years, I have seen people praising it. Even calling it a classic and one the the greatest series.
Can some one fill in these gaps for me? So far I.....like....it?
Back to gaming. Still trying to blast my way to Blasphemous. RANT.......This game is hard, really hard, but hard to challenge you, Hollow Knight is not! Hollow Knight is frustration on a pill.
Megaman Zero/ZX legacy collection is out. Got my FU-UN Super Combo Copy. I am really anxiously waiting to play Luminous Avenger X soon hopefully. Can give some quick reviews for those who may be interested.
Blazing Chrome - 7/10 It pretty radical. Fun and challenging. Pretty short but its 16-bit glory. Its a good run.
Jamestown+ - 5/10 I dont like games that require you to play the same stage on different difficulty settings to unlock more stages in order to progress the campaign. That sucks. Bad way to kill what seems to be a decent shooter.
Ghost Blade HD - 6/10 its OK. Nothing to peak the interest as much.
Crystalis 7/10 - There is some potential there. My only complaint is the splitting of the gems. Its a newly implemented strategy that can be effective, but can hamper your results if you are trying to play quickly.
Long Live I AM!
[this message was edited by neo0r0chiaku on Tue 17 Mar 06:36] |
| | "Re(4):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Everyone!" , posted Tue 17 Mar 23:35:
Bread vanished over the last few days. Shelves were stocked over the weekend. I'd heard that when one store brought a cart of bread out from the stockroom, the cart was half stripped by customers before it even reached the area to be shelved.
Rubbing alcohol and hand soap/sanitizer vanished not long after the paper products. I still don't understand why toilet paper vanished first, like some weird post-apocalyptic fantasy situation was happening where you wouldn't be able to buy it again.
Meat sections are starting to get stripped. Food still seems to mostly be vanishing based on how easy it is to fix, how long it keeps, and just general desire. There is still plenty of food on the shelves, but it is impossible to find certain types of food. You can't get bread, but you can easily get all the ingredients that you would use to bake bread.
Multiple stores are starting to cut back hours in various ways. A local Hardees was telling customers to call first before arriving, because orders from above might switch them to only drive-through service. A number of other fast food chains in the area have already switched to drive-through only. (At least some of the places that haven't don't seem to be seeing much in the way of sit down customers anyway.) At a Dollar General, they had a sign up saying that they were shortening hours and that seniors would be given preference when checking out. A local grocery store has warned that they might end up temporarily closing if they don't start getting more stock from the warehouses, but right now I wouldn't guess that they are suffering profit-wise as people just switch to buying whatever is available.
I'm seeing more people that seem to be taking matters seriously. Though they also mostly seem to be older people, the ones who were already willing to take even the regular flu seriously. I even saw people jokingly bumping elbows instead of shaking hands. A fair amount of younger people still don't seem to care.
Over the weekend, my state's governor warned that they were considering ordering everything to be shut down for 14 days. Hasn't happened yet, but maybe the threat alone has helped some people take the idea of prevention at least a little more seriously.
[this message was edited by Baines on Tue 17 Mar 23:50] |
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| "Re(5):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Everyone!" , posted Wed 18 Mar 00:24
Hey everybody, I've been away for a while but I thought I'd stop in to check on everyone's wellbeing!
I recently moved countries to Canada, and while the number of cases we have here are still small compared to the States, lots of things have been shut down, like schools and all government offices. I have at least one friend who while self-quarantined has developed some respiratory issues, but she's prone to them anyway, and it could still be just a cold or the flu! That's the excruciating part here-- every time my partner or I cough, we wonder if it's just a cough or if it's the Rona.
I'm in the same boat as Gojira where I have a pair of elderly parents on the other side of the continent, one of whom is on oxygen and has a galaxy of respiratory issues. Add to that the fact that they seem to feel as though they're invincible to all this, which again is excruciating. Delightful times we're living in!
Anyway, stay safe Cafe-ers!
You have to carefully reproduce the world of "Castlevania" in the solemn atmosphere.
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| | "Re(7):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Everyone!" , posted Wed 18 Mar 10:50
My nearby supermarket is likely getting an influx of customers from farther away, because I don't think the local population is dense enough to deplete the store. Baking powder and yeast were both sold out today, as well as flour. Plenty of eggs on the shelves, but only 2 purchases per household, though.
The Bay Area where some of my friends are is shut down super hard, basically like Wuhan levels of shutdown ("shelter-in-place", meaning nobody is to go out except for food/medical needs, or if you work for one of those or an emergency service).
One thing which I wonder about is that in places like San Francisco which is full of young single people how that affects exposure rates. A family of 4 only needs one person to go out to buy groceries (and indeed, that's what Wuhan had an edict for at one point), whereas 4 single people need to each go out for groceries individually, resulting in 4 people out on the streets. At the same time, younger folk are not a high-risk group when it comes to mortality for this disease....
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| | "Re(10):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Everyone" , posted Thu 19 Mar 06:42
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Oh, and did I mention the president was advised to stay quarantined as he's strongly suspected of having contracted the coronavirus... and yet he left quarantine to hug his supporters (who are mostly elder people) at one of the public manifestations?
The main thing I'm learning from this thread is that every country seems to have their own President Trump.
Locally, our governor has ordered the dine-in area of all restaurants and bars in the state to be closed. Drive-through and take-out are still allowed, though I know several have switched entirely to drive-thru. As of yesterday morning, the state had 44 confirmed cases.
Apparently the meat sections are getting cleaned out in supermarkets around my area, and ingredients like sugar are also vanishing. I don't know if they are getting bought out or if they are just not being restocked as normal though. Bread shows up, bread vanishes. It is kind of funny in how it vanishes, as you can get an idea for which brands people aren't interested in by how long they remain on the shelf. Some brands get cleaned out quickly, while others just linger on the shelf, slowly picked up by customers who find no other options remain and yet decide they absolutely must have a loaf of bread regardless.
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| | "Re(3):Re(10):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Ev" , posted Tue 24 Mar 06:32:
I don't know how everyone else is doing, but the US has over 40,000 confirmed cases with 577 deaths. The Surgeon General has tried to warn that its going to get bad soon. Ignorance and greed certainly isn't helping. Too many people either believe it doesn't affect them. Or just don't care that it affects others.
My state now has now ordered schools to stay closed until May 15. Grocery stores are cutting hours shorter again. One county is pretty much closing its borders to non-residents, people with business will need to request travel permits to enter.
EDIT: Well, that escalated fast, as expected. 16 states have now ordered people to stay home; I wouldn't be surprised if my state passes a similar order by the end of the week. My state's reported cases jumped enough in the last 24 hours for the jump itself to make news, even though it is still below 400.
Meanwhile, Trump has said that he wants America "reopened" as soon as possible, and would make the decision after 15 days. He not only promised the US wouldn't be shut down for months, he went as far as to say that shutting the US down for an extended period would probably result in more deaths (through reasons like suicide) than the virus itself causes.
[this message was edited by Baines on Tue 24 Mar 20:22] |
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| "Re(6):Re(10):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Ev" , posted Wed 25 Mar 18:33
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I'm okay? People need to realize that this is SARS more or less.
Glad everyone here seems to be okay.
You know, it's more and less, but it really does lean pretty heavily toward the "more". While the base fatality rate is lower, this new virus has hit 7 times as many countries and has already infected and killed more than 15 times as many people as SARS did total. I agree that we'll get through it, but there's no benefit to downplaying the severity of the issue.
Canada seems to be doing a fairly good job with their response, and I feel like I'm fine where I am. Toilet paper has been hard to come by, but our last expedition was successful. We had to visit seven different stores to do it, but we were finally able to get our hands on some of those coveted rolls (and grab a pack for an elderly neighbor).
I do worry about the US. Leadership at the federal level is inconsistent. Some individuals seem to be more concerned with enriching themselves than in protecting the people they profess to serve. State leadership is going to be very important, and a lot of states suffer from poor/sluggish/indecisive/moronic governance.
Glad that Canada's being smart or at least, taking this response scenario seriously. Whether or not elderberries work, I don't know. Maybe.
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| | "Re(6):Re(10):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Ev" , posted Fri 3 Apr 19:44
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Not if the virus claims him before november.
This should be a lesson to America that you don't make people that didn't put in the time by being in other government positions the leader of a noteworthy country. At least Ronald Reagan placed in time. The influence of Biff ("Back to the Future" for those that are not old enough) didn't, and I don't need another 4 years of him.
Thanks for all the responses. I'm glad to hear that so many folks are at least safe at home for now. Please feel free to update how you're doing here. It's heartening to hear how folks are doing all over the world, good or bad. This is the first time in my life where I've experienced anything on such a grand global scale like this. We are all in this together.
Here are some updates from Thailand:
The good: People are finally starting to take the Pandemic seriously. We have been on lockdown as a nation for nearly two weeks now. Barring special cases, there are no more international flights and most places are closed down other than essential services. When I go out (about once a week) for supplies it's like a ghost town until you get to the packed supermarkets. Almost everyone is wearing a mask, as they should. We thankfully do not have a mask shortage. They've always been a part of the culture and there are limits everywhere on how many you can buy at once. It's also illegal to price gauge on essential items at this time, thank goodness. So far I haven't seen any panic hoarding. Some things like alcohol and hand sanitizer are almost constantly sold out, but we are good on food and toilet paper and masks.
The Bad:
I did see a few folks without masks while i was out. It was ALWAYS older people, foreigners and Thais. Old folks are so stubborn! I confronted every one that I saw. It's actually store policy at every supermarket that you can't enter without a mask, but Thai people are too nice. It's deeply ingrained in them to respect/shrink at your elders. I'm not mean about it, just very direct. "Excuse me sir? You need to be wearing a mask, it's store policy? You don't have one? Well you have to buy one or make one. This is for everyone's saftey!"
The Ugly:
Our government is INCREDIBLY corrupt and willing to kill its own citizens for profit. We don't have a mask shortage for now, but the gov keeps exporting masks to the US. Jack Ma donated millions of them to Thailand (and other countries) and our Gov took them and sold them to the US. There was a university that was offering free testing. They made hundreds of their own kits. The government stepped in, took them, and again, sold them to the USA. This kind of greed isn't just local, we don't live in closed ecosystems. The ineptitude of the US feeds into corruption worldwide. IT SUCKS.
Anyway, the silver lining in all this is that people in Thailand don't trust their government to take care of them. So they know they have to save themselves. People have stopped being so casual about this and are actually practicing self isolation pretty well these days. I'm in a very fortunate situation where i can continue working from home. I don't know what's going to happen to all the poor folks who don't have that option. Things are gonna get really bad before they get better.
I don't mean to be a downer, but I think a bit of fear is healthy right now. Don't freak out and lose hope or panic hoard. But stay informed, be careful and stay safe everyone!
www.art-eater.com
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| | "Re(2):Re(10):Re(10):Pandemic Check In - Stay " , posted Thu 30 Apr 16:52
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It's been over a month since my original post and things here have changed quite a bit.
Back in mid-March, the streets here were still busy but with less tourists than usual. However things changed earlier this month when the government announced a state of emergency and asked for most businesses to shut down until May 6. Right now we're in national holidays so there's probably more people than the past week out in the streets, but it's still quiet compared to usual-- check out the Shibuya livecam if you're interested.
The state of emergency call was made because the hospitals here were about to get overloaded-- it's overcapacity already, but the government at least had the competency of trying to keep hospitals as a recovery facility rather than a final pitstop before a funeral. So it was announced a day or two ago that the state of emergency will be extended beyond the initial schedule in hopes to further lower the infection rate. (We have about 450 total deaths so far excluding the figures from Diamond Princess.)
It's being assumed that Japan is currently in its second wave of Coronavirus infection; the first wave from China was succesfully stopped, and we're in the second wave from Europe. Experts predict that a third and fourth wave will be inevidable, and it'll be a hard issue to tackle while reopening the economy.
Good to hear again from you, Professor!
Yeah, one of the things which has been noted is that multiple countries which have closed their borders will likely still see new cases of coronavirus victims, but they will likely come as a result of domestic infection.... which is small comfort.
The bizarre parallel situation of China and the USA on this is quite something: it was very hard to trust any statement from the government of China, because you tended to assume they were downplaying the severity of things in order to not look so bad (the entire situation with the early doctors who reported the coronavirus is absolutely reprehensible), but on the other hand it seems like they managed to get strong buy-in from the populace. In the USA, the numbers feel more trustworthy, but there's a substantial minority of people who truly don't believe the severity of the situation to the point of staging protests about it in various state capitals.
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| | "Re(3):Re(10):Re(10):Pandemic Check In - Stay" , posted Fri 1 May 00:00
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In the USA, the numbers feel more trustworthy, but there's a substantial minority of people who truly don't believe the severity of the situation to the point of staging protests about it in various state capitals.
To be blunt, the US is increasingly becoming the land of the stupid.
I recently had a guy tell me, with all seriousness, that most of the news companies are intentionally inflating claims and driving the story because the crisis situation balloons viewership numbers, which in turn balloons ad revenue. He went on to claim that he knew the reported death numbers were fake, that he'd been told by an insider that some place that had been claimed to have 40 cases really only had 1 case, and that (because he'd gone to some quick outpatient service at who knows when) that hospitals were empty of patients. According to him, nursing home deaths in particular are being inflated, in part because those people are so old that anything would kill them, and many have been misdiagnosed. He also sometimes mixed up counts for people being tested and deaths, and then cited his own mistake as evidence that the numbers were being faked, that the media couldn't even keep their lies straight and/or were intentionally trying to confuse viewers.
We've got cities and states that have been falling all over each other to be the first to re-open.
We've got people like the Lieutenant Governor of Texas. You might know him as the politician quoted for saying "There are more important things than living" in regards to his push to re-open the state. That wasn't an out of context quote; he appears to truly believe that the shutdown is destroying America. His argument and belief is that people should be and are willing to risk death to save the country for their children.
Part of the issue (besides the US's ailing education system, and how the people in various positions of power only seem to be making the education system worse) is that the US is just so big and spread out. A lot of people live in low risk, or even potentially no risk areas. They see the stories, but the only thing they see affecting them even indirectly are the precautions.
You can point out that the US has over 61,000 reported deaths so far. But the people around me look and see that my state has only a few hundred deaths. (Roughly double the death rate for flu, but we don't shut down the country for flu.) The number looks tiny versus the size of the state. You can count the confirmed deaths in my county on a single hand. Its easy to see how people in my area just don't believe the risk is real, and there are lots of such areas across the US.
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| | "Re(2):Mental Health" , posted Tue 12 May 08:45
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How is everybody here doing as far as mental health goes?
Personally, my disposition has changed quite a bit. It goes between jaded and slight optimism. I find myself more annoyed with people than I have before all of this happened. I've seen quite a lot of rude people out there recently. For all the good that people are trying to do, there always seems to be more negativity to pile on top of that kindness and compassion.
If I lived alone I suspect I would be going a bit stir crazy but, thankfully, Mrs. Ishmael and I are making it through pretty well.
One thing I have been enjoying during my home stay is that a neighbor has been regularly feeding the local wildlife. Every day I can look out the window and see squirrels and a host of different birds enjoying a meal. It's like I have a membership to a private zoo. The only problem is that all the animals are enjoying the free buffet a bit too much and are getting really fat.
My folks were worried about the same, so they tried not to put too much food out there.
At the family home we've been cultivating flowers, hedge-trees, fruit trees, and so on, and now that some of them have gotten good and big, they provide enough cover for birds to hide in them. The greater quantity of fruits and flowers also draws in bugs, which the birds will feed on. There are rodents that are troublemakers, and my folks have been careful to select bird seed that the raccoons would find really annoying to eat (so no big sunflower seeds or anything like that). Leaving some fruit to die on the tree is also a good thing, because it's a source of food for the animals as well as a further draw for bugs. There's really no substitute for having a healthy ecosystem! It brings in all sorts of delights, beyond just the flowers or the fruits.
However, I am not at the family home due to work, and being stuck in an apartment would definitely be maddening without the internet. Heck, it's maddening even WITH the internet!
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| | "Re(2):Mental Health" , posted Wed 13 May 02:59
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I think the pain extrovert people pour online over not being able to meet people, go to parties and have drinks is similar to the one introvert people feel but rarely express when they were forced to meet people, go to parties or have drinks.
So, yeah, I'm among the privileged ones for whom the current situation is healthier and happier than the normal thing of going out and having to interact with people!
Also, Brits outside treat the situation with the lack of interest I have for cricket, so I'm even less inclined to go out because they seem to do everything in their power to speedrun the virus spread. I have never seen so many people cycling and running, regardless of weather.
I feel like my nature is a weird dichotomy of extroversion and introversion, which arguably just means I'm normal, but I definitely notice that I am much less effective and much less energetic without the company of other people. I enjoy being alone and I enjoy solitude, but I certainly have the stereotypical extrovert trait of gaining energy in social environments as opposed to social environments immediately draining me. As a result, I really don't like working from home!
For an extreme geek like me, hating working from home is probably a little weird!
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| | "Re(1):Mental Health" , posted Wed 13 May 11:14:
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How is everybody here doing as far as mental health goes?
For someone that loves to take random strolls as a pasttime such as myself, mental health during this pseudo-lockdown here is coming in a form that I didn't initially anticipate. Given that it's become harder to hit out-- constantly being cautious not to cross paths with people blabbing without a face mask, most stores being closed down, and opened locations often asking for hand sanitizing at the entrance before going in (good call), it starts to get tiring when you're actually outside, and staying at home really starts to feel cozy.
Fortunately people without a face mask is an exception more than the norm right now-- maybe there's about one maskless person out of ten, at least in the commercial/shopping areas. However people seem to go loose and maskless when they're in their own neighborhoods, and to add to that, there's a lot less people in the commercial areas and they're more apt to be in their local areas because of the stay-at-home movement. So ironically, it actually seems safer to hit the bigger streets rather than the local streets of Tokyo. Which is unfortunate as I yearn of the days of taking random strolls to various locations and taking snapshots of anything interesting.
On a side note, it's very interesting here as I realized yesterday when walking through an underpath that even the homeless are wearing face masks. I can only assume that some philanthropist or NGO are giving it to them. Thumbe up.
[this message was edited by Professor on Wed 13 May 11:24] |
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| "Re(2):Mental Health" , posted Thu 14 May 23:43
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Fortunately people without a face mask is an exception more than the norm right now-- maybe there's about one maskless person out of ten, at least in the commercial/shopping areas. However people seem to go loose and maskless when they're in their own neighborhoods, and to add to that, there's a lot less people in the commercial areas and they're more apt to be in their local areas because of the stay-at-home movement. So ironically, it actually seems safer to hit the bigger streets rather than the local streets of Tokyo. Which is unfortunate as I yearn of the days of taking random strolls to various locations and taking snapshots of anything interesting.
I'm coming across that situation as well. An enclosed space like Whole Foods feels oddly safer since everyone is wearing masks as opposed to residential streets where people want to go jogging barefaced and wheeze on everyone.
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My folks were worried about the same, so they tried not to put too much food out there.
At the family home we've been cultivating flowers, hedge-trees, fruit trees, and so on, and now that some of them have gotten good and big, they provide enough cover for birds to hide in them. The greater quantity of fruits and flowers also draws in bugs, which the birds will feed on. There are rodents that are troublemakers, and my folks have been careful to select bird seed that the raccoons would find really annoying to eat (so no big sunflower seeds or anything like that). Leaving some fruit to die on the tree is also a good thing, because it's a source of food for the animals as well as a further draw for bugs. There's really no substitute for having a healthy ecosystem! It brings in all sorts of delights, beyond just the flowers or the fruits.
Contributing to a full ecosystem is a good idea and probably healthier for the animals than the high starch diets the animals around here are enjoying. The other day I saw a pigeon who had grown to be nothing more than a giant ball of meat lumber from one pile of seeds to the next in his single-minded urge to eat as much as possible. If one of the foxes in the neighborhood ever takes a detour through this area they are going to be delighted with all the easy meals to be found.
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| |  "Re(7):Brazil" , posted Tue 26 May 00:55
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I do hope everyone here and their family are doing safe. I have been keeping up with news about Brazil and it is very alarming...
Just a quick update on the status here, the Japanese government has just lifted its emergency alert for the major cities and covid hotspots, meaning the whole country will soon be put back onto economical course, although it'll be a very different course where life will be in compromise with the virus. The decision was made since the infection count has been deemed acceptable for the past week. Question is, how really safe is it...? It's hard to tell since they're just testing clearly symptomatic cases, meaning the true figures are completely unknown. One thing at least is that they can't skew the death rate, at least not heavily since the morgues need to cremate and there'd be reports if they were getting too many bodies.
I wouldn't be surprised though, if the infection count suddenly goes up in the next week; the figures we're getting right now are from two weeks ago when everyone was tucked home during national holidays. By next week, we'll be getting results from when the workaholic culture reared its head again.
https://www.tripzilla.com/japan-to-pay-half-travel-expenses/110564
My coworkers mentioned this to me, and we figure at some point once we feel safe about traveling again, we'll definitely go to Japan.
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probably not
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"Re(8):Re(10):Pandemic Check In - Stay Safe Ev" , posted Fri 24 Apr 09:39
