Shut down leisure activities-what are y'all doing to pass the time?

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corkybstewart

corkybstewart

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What are you doing to keep yourselves busy these days? I live in the hills of southwest New Mexico so I'm hiking a lot and taking pictures of the local wildlife. I'm retired but my wife works for the schools so she may be off until the fall, they're still trying to decide whether to start back up or not.
Right now I'm watching a herd of mule deer invade my hillside! Just 6 feet away there's a doe eating dirt from where the previous homeowner had a garden. We watch each other through the windows.
 

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Gadjobrinus said:
Baking loaf upon loaf of sourdough.
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We were late to the panic hoarding so we have our normal supply of flour-which isn't much.. Still haven't gone to town, a friend says there's nothing on the shelves so why bother. My wife asked me to bake some sourdough yesterday, but we have to ration our flour for foods I won't screw up.
 
Essential government worker here in Mass, so still working but less hours. Just popping out a brew a week pretty much now, stocked up on grain, yeast and have plenty of hops. So beer pipeline should last to August! On a warm day last Friday we had cocktails with neighbors, but all sat on their lawn six feet apart from each other. Walking dogs a lot more than normal, etc,
 
Non-essential university county extension worker. They've only closed our office to the public, so I'm in the office less, because I've got to cover daycare duties. Which means, I'm making up the hours in the evenings. I think I'm actually working more hours...
 
corkybstewart said:
We were late to the panic hoarding so we have our normal supply of flour-which isn't much.. Still haven't gone to town, a friend says there's nothing on the shelves so why bother. My wife asked me to bake some sourdough yesterday, but we have to ration our flour for foods I won't screw up.
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I know, it's crazy. I buy 50# bags from Central Milling, but that's only for the one baseline white flour (I custom blend flours for different things). My go-to whole wheat is King Arthur, but it's nowhere to be found. I'm getting some really fine-grind whole wheat from Central, as I make a lot of 100% whole wheats and related, but I really like the KA, a bit coarser than other whole wheats, and I like that because I will also pass whole wheat through a couple sieves to "extract" a lot of bran and germ out.

Very strange to go in and see the entire line of flours wiped out. Our local Pick and Saves ask you not to ask on a particular item when you call....I imagine they had to field a million "I'm looking for....do you have it in stock?....."

Crazy, man. Good luck in your area, hope you guys don't have any serious runs on anything.
 
I’ve been doing a lot of car detailing, and fell down a rabbit hole last night for how to do a ceramic coating on my vehicle. Bought the supplies for curbside pickup at a large auto parts store, and will start that process on the older car soon. I also fully broke down all my brewing equipment and cleaned and pressure cooked all of the connections and parts. We’ve also been walking the dogs a lot more.
 
ordered a 105k burner, two 13 gallon vitals vaults for fermenters, a pump and 25 ft of hose to get the beer down to the vaults in my ferm chamber in the basement.
plan to start filling kegs for the early summer even though i'm not even sure if i'll be having people over by then.
It won't go to waste.

Also still working from home so making crockpot soup and bread.
 
I'm self employed, about half my time is doing consulting design work (products, museum exhibits, simulators, furniture, etc.). The other half of my working hours are spent in the shop building custom furniture, doors, etc (typically high end stuff).

So the social distancing measures have not made a big change to my daily life. I did ask friends to pause stopping by for a beer until this passes, and I do miss seeing friends in person at church gatherings. But we're all staying connected online and by phone.

I was going to go do some whitewater canoeing today, but a big rain last night drove the water level too high. I took a nice hike on Saturday.

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We have two couples we're really close with, but both moved across the country about a year ago (one to Indiana, the other to North Carolina).

On Saturday we setup a Skype virtual happy hour, and it was a blast. Not sure why it took us a year to figure out to do this, but I think we're going to do this on a semi-regular basis now and even when this stuff all ends.
 
I've been working from home for 13 years so the big change during the day has been having my wife and to a lesser degree my daughter who's been used to that concept since she has been coming home from school or home on breaks for that whole 13 years. Wife is getting into the routine of working from home--she works for a large health system on the business side of things.

As far as passing the time, running, but that's cut back because my spring races got cancelled. Still its good to get outside. Last weekend I brewed and I took care of a small painting project I've been supposed to do for a few months. Watched all of Breaking Bad on Netflx over the last week. Ozark season 3 comes out Friday so that, brewing, and painting my office are the big weekend plans this week.
 
I am an automotive service technician who works for a private company which services public safety vehicles, (read: ambulances, which are, by my ex EMT boss' account, "veritable petri dishes, teeming with all manner of viral offerings.") We were deemed "essential" and high risk employees simultaneously, same hours. Hazard pay? That's rich. So basically life is business as usual or at least will be until we are inevitably infected... Outside of work I walk, bike, read, write, entertain wife, harass siblings, indoor garden, ('til last frost.)
 
I'm reading "Oh Crap! Potty Training" in prep to train my little girl. Also, wrangling my little girl while the wife attempts to work from home, making client calls and attend virtual meetings with a loud toddler in the background.
 
I'm in industrial sales with a metalworking focus.

Most of my customers are operating but not letting non-employees into their facilities.

I'm taking phone calls, email, and watching online product seminars for the products
I sell.

I'm a hobbyist screen printer. Was thinking about making some shirts for the company. It'll fill in some time.

All the Best,
D. White
 
One thing I need to get working on is adding some new shelves to one side of our pantry.

I should also design, and then build, the outdoor table I've been planning for my Kamado grills.

The problem is that both of those things would require trips to the hardware store, and I'm trying to avoid those right now.
 
I'm a manager of a software engineering team for a large international healthcare company. We are certainly open for business, but my particular office is closed due to a couple of confirmed COVID cases. We were only "encouraged" to work from home before that happened.

Unfortunately, working from home and/or remotely from colleagues is common for us, so there's not much slowdown. For someone with staff, it's challenging to keep tabs on everyone's productivity, but on the other hand, I feel that this is not the right time to bust chops. I certainly want my boss to give me space, so I'm following suit.

I'm continuing to follow my standard recreational practices. I play jazz guitar every morning; I exercise every day (run or lift); I continue to roast coffee and brew espresso; and of course, I brew, drink, and read about beer. I'm savoring every day that I can get outside to walk or run, enjoying the slowly warming climate. It's really nice to have so few vehicles on the road. There is a silver lining, however fleeting it may appear.

We are alternating between cooking at home for 5 people, and patronizing local restaurants for take-out. So many of them are going to fold before this is over, which is terrible for all involved.

I would love to take on a project to pass some time, but I can't really put my finger on what. I don't want to go buy a lot of stuff right now. And I'm determined not to look at my crippled investment portfolio either. :(
 
I work in store support for a rather large chain of discount stores. With stores closed, I have nothing specific to do, so I'm on a 2 week (for now) paid furlough (YAY Paid!!!)
Unfortunately, I don't have time to do most of my pastimes - we have an almost 5 year old who's home too, and my wife is working from home. So, it's up to me to have daddy school.
I wanted to get out running and or biking most days, but have only gotten a couple so far - I only get a chance in his nap time, and I have to postpone my own lunch to be able to move like that.
Definitely can't carve the time to brew - though I have a full keg and a half (and no keezer…) and ingredients for about 4 brews.
Of course my other pastime - golf - is out - why, I don't really see - you're generally more than 6 feet from people that whole time -
and guitar playing again I can only find small amounts of time to do.
 
McKnuckle said:
I'm a manager of a software engineering team for a large international healthcare company. We are certainly open for business, but my particular office is closed due to a couple of confirmed COVID cases. We were only "encouraged" to work from home before that happened.

Unfortunately, working from home and/or remotely from colleagues is common for us, so there's not much slowdown. For someone with staff, it's challenging to keep tabs on everyone's productivity, but on the other hand, I feel that this is not the right time to bust chops. I certainly want my boss to give me space, so I'm following suit.
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Yeah, I'm a field application engineer for a data storage company. Most of my colleagues are remote, so working from home is a norm for us. I happen to be located near one of our major offices, so I used to go in several days a week and work from home other days. But we got a new puppy in January, and I moved to basically ~100% work from home at that point so he didn't need to be crated all day which wouldn't be fair to him.

For my job, if people aren't capable of being productive while working from home, they've mostly flamed out of the job anyway. Heck, I'm in SoCal and my boss is in MA, and I might only see him once or twice a year anyway.

But I think there are a lot of people having trouble with the transition to working from home. It takes discipline to continue the routine and maintain productivity.
 
wstumper said:
My bad! I should have noticed the difference!
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No sweat, way amateur bird watcher here! The only reason I know the difference is that there are a few coveys that pass thru and hang out on our property regularly. Such cool birds to watch. The male (not sure of the correct term) gets up on something high to keep watch and they constantly chirp at each other. They do not wait around when spooked...
 
Still able to work in the office since we're considered vital moving med supplies ect. Since we're still on lockdown once I get home, I've tapped my two maples for syrup, started planning for the garden, brewed and tinkered with my raspberrypints configs. Might do a bit of wood working this week.
 
OnePlate said:
I'm reading "Oh Crap! Potty Training" in prep to train my little girl. Also, wrangling my little girl while the wife attempts to work from home, making client calls and attend virtual meetings with a loud toddler in the background.
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Best of luck with the toilet training-my 2.5 year old granddaughter was recently very well trained until one day she decided not to be
 
corkybstewart said:
Gambel's quail. We have 3 separate coveys on or around our property
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We used to love watching them when we lived in Tucson. The mom with her chicks would walk single file on our cinder block fence, jump down to check out what had fallen down from the bird feeder. Instead of scratching with one claw, it looked like they were running in place, using both legs.
 
I work in a big box home improvement chain.. I will let you guess which one. Life is as normal I avoid large gatherings but everything else is as normal. In fact the last couple of weeks at work our sales have been way above normal.....

Life goes on.... for now.....
 
McKnuckle said:
For someone with staff, it's challenging to keep tabs on everyone's productivity, but on the other hand, I feel that this is not the right time to bust chops. I certainly want my boss to give me space, so I'm following suit.
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We had a "town hall" meeting this afternoon and this theme came up a lot. Thanks to the openness of our management more than a couple people admitted distractions from families suddenly at home, home schooling, anxiety, internet issues, etc causing them to be distracted and working weird hours. I know personally I've suddenly jumped from trying to leave after a roughly 9 hour day to 10-12 hours but my productivity has not increased.
 
Honestly my life style hasn't changed a whole lot. work is still open but with a higher awareness of sanitizing and shifted lunch breaks. other than that I go to the grocery store on weekends and do the normal shopping. there was a spurt of panic buying here but that has pretty much been it, grocery stores are still pretty well stocked. ND is adapted to a week shut down with blizzards etc. we will see what happens when there is more time tacked on.
 
Man, I wish I could feel the relative normalcy that some of you are experiencing. As of today, March 25, there are "Stay at Home" orders in only 9 states: CA, NY, IL, CT, NJ, LA, OH, DE, MI.

For those of you not living in one of these places, you are probably still impacted. Your kids might be home; your workplace might have restrictions or even be closed... There is likely some prohibition on public gatherings, but not very disruptive ones for some people. The full effect hasn't hit you yet. Count your blessings (for now).

A Stay at Home order means you may leave your home only for essential reasons like buying food or medicine. Thank goodness we are still allowed out for walks or exercise, alone or with a family member. And the police don't seem to be checking randomly on people in cars, or arbitrarily hassling anyone, but I have noticed that they are out monitoring citizens' behavior in my suburban area.

The progression of these restrictions from here on out is uncertain. A lot depends on whether people comply, and if/when the infection rate eventually slows down. And my gut says that what we're enduring now in those 9 hard-hit states is going to find you, sooner or later, in the other 41. I sincerely hope I am wrong.
 
McKnuckle said:
Man, I wish I could feel the relative normalcy that some of you are experiencing. As of today, March 25, there are "Stay at Home" orders in only 9 states: CA, NY, IL, CT, NJ, LA, OH, DE, MI.
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TN (as of yesterday if I haven't completely forgotten what day it is) has issued a "safer at home" order. Basically a nicer way of saying keep your ass at home. I work for an "essential retailer" but am lucky enough to be able to work from home.

We picked my daughter up from college last Thursday, I've not left the house since we got back. I've made some beer, done a little bit of yard work, and a little bit of actual work. Other than that, I've been essentially bored out of my mind and reminded that there is NOTHING on TV during the day
 
McKnuckle said:
Man, I wish I could feel the relative normalcy that some of you are experiencing. As of today, March 25, there are "Stay at Home" orders in only 9 states: CA, NY, IL, CT, NJ, LA, OH, DE, MI.

For those of you not living in one of these places, you are probably still impacted. Your kids might be home; your workplace might have restrictions or even be closed... There is likely some prohibition on public gatherings, but not very disruptive ones for some people. The full effect hasn't hit you yet. Count your blessings (for now).

A Stay at Home order means you may leave your home only for essential reasons like buying food or medicine. Thank goodness we are still allowed out for walks or exercise, alone or with a family member. And the police don't seem to be checking randomly on people in cars, or arbitrarily hassling anyone, but I have noticed that they are out monitoring citizens' behavior in my suburban area.

The progression of these restrictions from here on out is uncertain. A lot depends on whether people comply, and if/when the infection rate eventually slows down. And my gut says that what we're enduring now in those 9 hard-hit states is going to find you, sooner or later, in the other 41. I sincerely hope I am wrong.
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My mom (NJ) got told to go home when she was parked in her car. She (77) and my step-dad (83) went for a drive and parked somewhere down the shore in a parking lot and they were reading in the car. Normally she said that lot is crazy full. The police officer asked them what they were doing. She said reading. He told them to go home. I told her she should have said they were necking. Then she said she should have said they were having a quickie.

She wasn't mad though, she says she might have missed the last announcement. They're both home now isolating. Reading and playing games on their tablets. She has a some outside plants to take care of too.
 

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