Mrs. Denmarkguy and I spent quite a lot of time "Adulting" today; basically going out into the world to visit stores and run errands... an odyssey that ended up eating about six hours off the clock, all told.
On reflection, it was the first time in maybe three months we'd gone out for much longer than "going to the supermarket and post office... and back."
Gratitude for the Self-Employed Life!
Home again after having been out and about, I find myself having unusually much gratitude for our work-from-home lifestyle, and for the fact that we pretty much don't have to leave the house very often, for much of anything.
As we enjoyed this evening's coffee we once again concluded that "being in lockdown" isn't really that much of a hardship. It's not like we're giving up very much, and — in a sense — the pervasive presence of Covid has taught us more mindfulness, in terms of when we go out, and why.
Of course, I should hasten to add that we are both not very social introverts, to start with. Thus, being told "you have to stay at home!" doesn't exactly result in "Oh, bummer!" feelings...
Somewhat Sick...
Perhaps it's the result of pretty much only having eaten home cooked food made from scratch for the past five months...
... but the fast food (Taco Bell) we "treated" ourselves to for lunch not only tasted very substandard, it has left me feeling distinctly queasy in my nether regions... 5-6 hours later. There's something I really don't miss: "Convenience food," because we're in a hurry with lots to do, and it's the easiest solution.
The slightly odd feeling about it all was that it most off all felt like being in a foreign country where you are not used to the food.
Rather Tired...
Getting a lot of stuff done is exhausting!
I really don't miss standing in lines at stores and service businesses — whether it's six feet apart due to social distancing, or otherwise — and I really don't miss store employees who have little to no idea about what they are selling.
Of course, things actually seem worse nowadays, because evidently (for many people) having to wear a mask out causes people's brain functions to operate at half speed... in stores, in parking lots, in lines.
Among our errands, Mrs. Denmarkguy needed to get a larger SD card to expand the memory of her phone, and we needed to to a "reset/calibration" at the factory store to get it to hold a signal better... and you'd think we'd asked the employee to solve a quantum physics problem!
By the time we were done with having visited seven destinations — all in the town 45 minutes away, because where we live is too small a place to have these services/stores — we were both ready to just sit down and stare at a wall.
Reflection...
The thing I ended up reflecting on was whether or not the whole quarantine/lockdown issue is mostly annoying to people because we don't like being told what to do, rather than for more functional reasons.
In the end, the healthiest thing we could do for ourselves on being back home was take a stroll about our peaceful garden!
Thanks for reading... and hope life is treating you well!
How about YOU? Are there things YOU really DON'T miss about not being about in the world as much? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20200806 22:45 PDT
0094/1322
I'm like you: I didn't go out much before, so not much has changed for me. I haven't had fast food (other than 7-11 pizza) since Inslee shut us down in March; that's a healthy change I plan to stick with.
Our food habits have definitely gotten better, rather than worse... no more convenience food, and now we're growing a lot more of our own food. And that's a good thing!
Being introverted myself, the lockdown wasn't bad at all. Having a house with 2.5 acres of property gives me lots to do at home. Especially because there were no gardens when we moved in last year so I had all that work I was planning and 4X the time to do it in since I didn't have to go to work. The mask thing is getting to me, though. It was implemented here long after we've flattened the curve and isn't based on anything other than opinions and observations. The asymptomatic spread being very rare is also observational data but that side of it gets ignored so they can make healthy people wear masks. Something fishy is going on with that and I'm having a hard time risking my health to put that on, knowing it's not doing anything but putting myself at risk. It's hard to avoid big business and shop local when it's the locals who are pushing my business away over a piece of virtue signaling cloth.
Yes, this has hit a nerve for me. I'd be happy with staying at home if I didn't have to work next year, that's for sure. And I WANTED to travel - we took this year off, so that was important to us.
But we're happy as pigs in mud pottering around home and simply BEING. I don't miss shopping the way we used to. Click and collect is working just find, thanks. I enjoy being more mindful. I do miss popping over and seeing my parents though - I used to spend so much time just hanging out with them, as they're like best mates and I feel so peaceful there.
Are they your photos? I love the one of the Buddha in the garden! Amazing.