# COVID-19 - let's discuss how we cope and how it affect us - no political discussion please



## babylonwaves (Mar 19, 2020)

This thread is about discussing COVID-19, what it means to us personally as human beings and professionally as artists. The reason why I'm opening this thread is simply: I want one which is not about politics because it doesn't help people who're in the middle of the storm. 

I'm not, I'm at the verge of it and honestly, I'm getting scared. So if you with me, post your impressions here please. let's discuss how we cope-

cheers, marc


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## Uiroo (Mar 19, 2020)

Since my girlfriend is very anxious about the whole situation she proposed that I take care of the news reading and tell her if there's something important. 
Friends of ours do the same, maybe that's helpful to somenone.


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## Land of Missing Parts (Mar 19, 2020)

Staying indoors, in PJs. Making music, texting family/friends, reading. A friend just sent me his manuscript for a novel about the apocalypse. 🙂


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## Kony (Mar 19, 2020)

babylonwaves said:


> This thread is about discussing COVID-19, what it means to us personally as human beings and professionally as artists. The reason why I'm opening this thread is simply: I want one which is not about politics because it doesn't help people who're in the middle of the storm.
> 
> I'm not, I'm at the verge of it and honestly, I'm getting scared. So if you with me, post your impressions here please. let's discuss how we cope-
> 
> cheers, marc


Thanks for starting this thread - might be worth changing the title as politics will still come back by page 9. Perhaps something like this:

*CoviD-19 - let's discuss WITHOUT POLITICS how we cope and how it affect us*


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## babylonwaves (Mar 19, 2020)

@Uiroo - what you've said "she proposed" i though the sentence would end somewhat differently  - all the best to you guys anyway


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## Kony (Mar 19, 2020)

Land of Missing Parts said:


> Staying indoors, in PJs. Making music, texting family/friends, reading. 🙂



That's pretty much what I'm doing - staying indoors - plus working from home. A bonus is not having to shave so I'm going all


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Mar 19, 2020)

The only way it really affects me right now is that my karate classes aren't happening, which pisses me off. But that only means more private training at home.

Other that that, I live the exact same life as before. Lucky to be working from home anyways. So it's just staying home, doing my thing, making sure to relax enough and enjoy my free time. Living in a rural area - blessed. Going for runs and cycling outside in nature, where there's hardly anyone around. The standard procedure. And I hope it remains like that - and that restrictions and surveillance don't start going out of hand.

I'm positive. I don't think about Corona at all. No use, what for? The only times I'm consciously aware of it is when I have to leave the house for errands, watch news in the morning or when I hear from or see family, because everyone's always talking about it. Also staying positive and relaxed to provide a bit of a counterbalance for others.

Don't care about the media and their bullcrap. Never did and I don't need it now either. Also, particularly in situations like this, I think it's a good idea to consciously make sure to not sit home all day, glued to the screen because there's nothing else to do (there is!) and just consume the "updates" and opinions of other people all the time. I think it clouds the thoughts and over-stresses the imminence of the situation. Just stay safe, stay relaxed, stay positive. Stay ready.


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## babylonwaves (Mar 19, 2020)

Kony said:


> might be worth changing the title as politics


good point


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## d.healey (Mar 19, 2020)

Hasn't changed my life much. I don't socialize much anyway, I usually do grocery shopping once a week but at the moment we're trying out home delivery, can't get a delivery slot until next Tuesday though. I ran out of cookies so had to bake some this afternoon  I have a horse riding lesson once a week, the school hasn't closed but I think I'll miss next week's lesson just to be safe.


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## Zero&One (Mar 19, 2020)

I do think limiting the news to once in the morning and once at night is good advice. Personally, I watch once tops. My dad is obsessed with it, so if anything important was happening I'm sure my phone would ring.

If you watch it more than once, it's just a cycle. So this gives an illusion that things are even worse. Every 15 mins, you hear "And the top story, death toll has risen to 1000"

Talk to random strangers in the store... I do it all the time and it's great. People usually respond really well, we've lost this I feel in society. 
Today, some random shouted 'BYE' as he walked past me at the checkout. I quickly remembered he was the bloke I talked to at the biscuit aisle. Makes the world seem a little bit smaller and nicer... unless they rob you of all your belongings outside afterwards


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## Dietz (Mar 19, 2020)

Oh yes, it affects me. :-/

US-based guys might not know what the "ESC" is: The Eurovision Song Contest - the grandmother of all TV casting shows. With an audience of 200 million people it ranks amongst the biggest (if not as _the_ biggest) TV music show on earth. - This year's show has been cancelled yesterday, due to the pandemic.

While this is a real disaster in general for all the thousands of people involved (artists, producers, technical staff) and a pity for those who love this kind of kitsch and the annual ritual of a friendly fight of the nations, it has an especially bitter taste for me: As a music mixer I was part of the team which produced the song for Bulgaria - this year's clear, odds-on favourite: -> https://eurovisionworld.com/odds/eurovision *sigh*

... and to make things even more painful: Pretty much the same group of people was involved with the production of Austria's highly controversial ESC winner in 2014, namely Conchita's "Rise Like A Phoenix". This means that we could have been most likely the first production team with two ESC winners in the history of the Contest ...

Thank you very much, Corona. 


... and apart from that I really hope that we all get through this healthy.


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## Zero&One (Mar 19, 2020)

Dietz said:


> ... song for Bulgaria - this year's clear, odds-on favourite: -> https://eurovisionworld.com/odds/eurovision *sigh*



Good to see the UK had 1% chance of winning... surely that's higher than normal


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## Stringtree (Mar 19, 2020)

Zero&One said:


> Talk to random strangers in the store... I do it all the time and it's great. People usually respond really well, we've lost this I feel in society.




This happened twice. A near collision of carts (trolleys) and a "Go ahead!" and then "no, you!" A smile and a nod. See? Good people who know nothing about one another and an affirmation of decency toward one another. It was more than just a physical coincidence in space.

A woman with her lights still on in the parking lot, her friend in a motorized shopping buggy. "Hey, good morning. I saw your lights were still on." and an appreciative "Thank you!" 

On the other side, the cold eyes above masks and aggressive behavior of shoppers who cart-block and sprawl around the store like one is a competing animal. 

No, I never felt I'd be robbed in the parking lot. I was more worried about slipping on discarded masks and gloves. 

I need webcams, since all the legitimate sellers are closed. Now I can't even source them locally, because so many people are working from home. 

The rain falls. 

Greg


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## dzilizzi (Mar 19, 2020)

Well, it's going to get interesting.  I work from home. Have for years, with about 4 or 5 business related trips a year. I'm the IT person in our house. Not usually a big deal but... starting today, my husband is going to be working from home. Mostly attending online or telephone meetings and doing training. So far, I've had to help him figure out how to get into a web meeting in a program I've never used. Fun. It's going to be interesting.


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## Stringtree (Mar 19, 2020)

dzilizzi, have you ever thoroughly read a manual for software you needed to use? Not me, nerp. I still never read about Kontakt or Reaper except when it doesn’t chooch. Same with Photoshop, or Resolve, or Illustrator. 
I’m guessing the end of August for this. California’s tens of millions of people need to stay home.

As an IT person, will this infrastructure we have hold up to it?

Interesting. Instead of putting on dirty coveralls and going to the factory with lunch in a pail and being watched all day by a beady-eyed, overpaid manager, we could have worked from home all along. 

Wow. It took a microbe. 

Greg


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## dzilizzi (Mar 19, 2020)

LOL! I'm an accountant/analyst. My IT knowledge is just a side effect of having to work with computers and databases for over 20 years. And having to do my own IT on my personal computers. I rarely fully read a manual. They are normally for troubleshooting only. 

I should probably read some once in a while. 

But at some point people will have to fix things. At that point, they will have to go back in to work. Unfortunately, not everyone can work from home. My husband's job really needs to be done in a hangar. They test things on airplanes, so they need to fly.


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## jononotbono (Mar 19, 2020)

I'm still in the game but running low on criticals!


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## Stringtree (Mar 19, 2020)

You rock star, you.


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## dzilizzi (Mar 19, 2020)

jononotbono said:


> I'm still in the game but running low on criticals!



Scrub hard! They say that's what breaks down the virus.


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## JEPA (Mar 20, 2020)

jononotbono said:


> I'm still in the game but running low on criticals!



have you considered to start a "serie"? You are talented!


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## Uiroo (Mar 20, 2020)

JEPA said:


> have you considered to start a "serie"? You are talented!


Jono Not Bono
a VI-Control Original


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Mar 20, 2020)

It's great to see that Jono's still having fun.


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## JEPA (Mar 20, 2020)

Uiroo said:


> Jono Not Bono
> a VI-Control Original


@jononotbono could include music from members of the forum that are wanting to contribute!


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## philamelian (Mar 20, 2020)

Obviously the whole thing is quite scary although me, my other half and our little one not in the risk group. We live in the UK and don't have a family here, catching the disease would be quite complicated for us for this reason. So before any lockdown announced by government we took our son from the nursery as of the beginning of this week after seeing an article about comparison of data between China and Europe, and started working from home. Also in case one of us ends up in the hospital its quite a burden on mind that there is a possibility some healthcare professional might end up in a position to decide against someone else's life because you are there. 

We work in shifts... while one of us works the other one looks after our son. Staying at home gave us a chance to spend a lot of time with our little one that we never had chance before. That feels great... at times... honestly that is great.  Spending time with a toddler everyday gets quite difficult and considering you work around the clock everyday without seeing anyone and rarely go out, it puts quite a pressure on you. There is not much option we will keep doing this until the seeing the other side of the curve and will try to stay healthy.


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## mikeh-375 (Mar 20, 2020)

A.P.P.L.E.

Might help ......

https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/apple.htm


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## Ben H (Mar 20, 2020)

i work in a supermarket, so I don't have to worry about losing my job thankfully.

OTOH shit's out of control. I've been doing this for 20 years and I have never seen people behave so feral and so animalistic. A couple of times I have been genuinely worried about my safety. Customers be crazy.

Old people are bursting into tears crying in the aisles too, because they haven't been able to get essentials because of people panic buying. It's sooo heartbreaking. :'(

If everybody just bought what they needed, there would be ENOUGH shit to go around. :/


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## mikeh-375 (Mar 20, 2020)

What we all need @Ben H is guarantees from all governments that freight and supply lines will remain open over borders - it's do-able. A simple announcement of intent _should_ quell that behaviour.


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## JEPA (Mar 20, 2020)

Ben H said:


> i work in a supermarket, so I don't have to worry about losing my job thankfully.
> 
> OTOH shit's out of control. I've been doing this for 20 years and I have never seen people behave so feral and so animalistic. A couple of times I have been genuinely worried about my safety. Customers be crazy.
> 
> ...


that's what I was saying all the time. DON'T PANIC, buy normal. But Human beings are the idiotic being in the Universe... buy 5 liter sanitizer blocking old people to reach some, but and be infected by some one anywhere. All the toilette paper will not help anyway... I haven't used 5 liter sanitizer in my whole life...


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## Ben H (Mar 20, 2020)

*@mikeh-375*, it's a little different for me, since I am in Australia, so no borders to worry about... other than the oceans full of sharks lol. But as a nation we are pretty self sufficient anyway. E.g WTF are we selling out of toilet paper repeatedly when we have 3 different companies manufacturing it 24/7 over here. It's not like we aren't going to be able to get it from somewhere anymore.

Another thing... no one over here has any confidence in our current (incompetent) government. That is one of the key things driving this whole panic buying I believe.

Also I think, people think back to the old wartime when certain things genuinely DID run out, although manufacturing and supply chains these days are VERY different to back then. No one can explain WHY they are stockpilling up on toilet paper, but that's what they are all doing, because that's what you're supposed to do... apparently. It's not like one of the symptoms of COVID-19 is extreme diahorrea.

*@JEPA, *elderly people getting shoved and stuff even snatched from their hands or trolleys... one blind woman had a pack of toilet roll taken from her trolley and she didn't even realize because she cannot see. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I could give you plenty more examples like that.

My supermarket chain and the two other majors over here have now implemented a shopping hour purely for the elderly and disabled for the first hour of trading everyday. And you MUST have a government card to be allowed to enter. Then anyone else can shop AFTER that hour.

We also have quantity limits on certain categories of items now too.


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## dzilizzi (Mar 20, 2020)

On another note - when people, who usually use the facilities at their work, school or whatever, now can only use the facilities at home, they use more toilet paper. So there is some explanation for it. And as I said somewhere else, the smart people are stocking up for a month with TP, cleaners, and food. And then staying inside. The stupid people are stocking up and then going out again. The whole point to stocking up is not to hoard, it is to allow you to not have to go out again for a while.


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## Dewdman42 (Mar 20, 2020)

Note to self: emergency kit needs to include toilet paper


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## Uiroo (Mar 20, 2020)

dzilizzi said:


> the smart people are stocking up for a month with TP


If you're talking about now, stocking up for a month is simply too much, the industry cannot compensate that, especially the toilet paper industry, which isn't designed for changing demand. Remember, the demand for toilet paper is pretty stable, over decades.

Smart people have stocked up in january or at least the beginning of february. Those who went to the stores in the last three weeks and bought supplies for a month are NOT. SMART. okay? They're simply to late to be one of the smart ones.
They are the reason the shelves are empty, why people loose their shit, panic-buy and why grandma next door needs to wipe her ass with a towel.

Of course you want to buy lots of stuff in order to stay at home as long as possible, but you need to do that early enough so that there's stuff left for others. 
Think about it, when there's nothing left, those who came to late need to go to the store more often and the infection rate goes up again. Which means you just helped yourself on the cost of others.


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## dzilizzi (Mar 20, 2020)

Uiroo said:


> If you're talking about now, stocking up for a month is simply too much, the industry cannot compensate that, especially the toilet paper industry, which isn't designed for changing demand. Remember, the demand for toilet paper is pretty stable, over decades.
> 
> Smart people have stocked up in january or at least the beginning of february. Those who went to the stores in the last three weeks and bought supplies for a month are NOT. SMART. okay? They're simply to late to be one of the smart ones.
> They are the reason the shelves are empty, why people loose their shit, panic-buy and why grandma next door needs to wipe her ass with a towel.
> ...


The smart part wasn't the stocking up per se, it was the after stocking up, STAYING HOME. If you are going to do it, don't keep leaving the house. 

I don't disagree that people should have been buying a bit more tp every grocery trip for the last few months. I usually stock up at Costco when they have a sale - about every other month. Unfortunately, the current sale coincided with this virus outbreak so I was getting low. I'm sure others are in similar situations. Costco kind of trains us this way.


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## jononotbono (Mar 20, 2020)

JEPA said:


> @jononotbono could include music from members of the forum that are wanting to contribute!



A VI Control composer competition. Winner gets a 4 pack of toilet paper sent to them via fed ex? 😂


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## Uiroo (Mar 20, 2020)

dzilizzi said:


> The smart part wasn't the stocking up per se, it was the after stocking up, STAYING HOME. If you are going to do it, don't keep leaving the house.


Yeah I get that, and that's true, and unfortunately some people don't get that. 
But my point is: Too late to be the smart one in the first place.

We started to stock up water and food late february, just a little bit every time we went to the store. We stopped as soon as we noticed things are slowly getting empty 2-3 weeks ago. So not totally on the smart side either. 
We missed the toilet paper thing, down to five rolls for two people, there wasn't any toilet paper the last four times we went to the store.


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## Land of Missing Parts (Mar 20, 2020)

jononotbono said:


> A VI Control composer competition. Winner gets a 4 pack of toilet paper sent to them via fed ex? 😂


Jono, becoming a plumber might be a lucrative career move for you. What, with people flushing things that aren't toilet paper, and getting their pipes clogged. :emoji_toilet:>>>>💰💰💰 😮


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## JEPA (Mar 20, 2020)

Uiroo said:


> Yeah I get that, and that's true, and unfortunately some people don't get that.
> But my point is: Too late to be the smart one in the first place.
> 
> We started to stock up water and food late february, just a little bit every time we went to the store. We stopped as soon as we noticed things are slowly getting empty 2-3 weeks ago. So not totally on the smart side either.
> We missed the toilet paper thing, down to five rolls for two people, there wasn't any toilet paper the last four times we went to the store.


like in the old times:

water + tree's leaves...


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## Cinebient (Mar 20, 2020)

Family member has fever, some friends feels not well too, job might be not go trough this crisis as well. 
Young (dumb) people making fun of coughing at older people and shout out loud "Corona". 
Nothing good to see here yet sadly. 
Making music at home became even more important to calm down a bit from this bad reality.
But i guess it just started and will get much worse.
Good luck and health to all!


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## Uiroo (Mar 20, 2020)

Cinebient said:


> Family member has fever, some friends feels not well too, job might be not go trough this crisis as well.
> Young (dumb) people making fun of coughing at older people and shout out loud "Corona".
> Nothing good to see here yet sadly.
> Making music at home became even more important to calm down a bit from this bad reality.
> ...


Oh my, where do you live?
All the best to your family!


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## Cinebient (Mar 20, 2020)

Uiroo said:


> Oh my, where do you live?
> All the best to your family!


Thank you!
I live in Germany and they didn´t learned. Now we pay the price.


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## dzilizzi (Mar 20, 2020)

JEPA said:


> like in the old times:
> 
> water + tree's leaves...


Just make sure they aren't poison oak or ivy.


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## Uiroo (Mar 20, 2020)

Cinebient said:


> Thank you!
> I live in Germany and they didn´t learned. Now we pay the price.


Ah, me too. Yeah, things will be way worse than they have to be, but I think that won't be different at most places.


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## babylonwaves (Mar 20, 2020)

Cinebient said:


> Making music at home became even more important to calm down a bit from this bad reality.


same here. and you know, I enjoy it. I'm sitting here with a glass of wine, playing around with a mandolin and a urban beat. the daughter of an old friend sent me a sketch (she sings and play some Hawaiian chords over it) and i'll make something out of it tonight. that's the little side project and it will be fun. we'll rock ESC next year for sure haha. @Dietz - we won't make it easy for you in '21


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## AndyP (Mar 20, 2020)

jononotbono said:


> I'm still in the game but running low on criticals!



You must really be crazy! When I see how you handle precious toilet paper in your videos...
I hope that was just fake toilet paper movie prop!


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## jononotbono (Mar 20, 2020)

AndyP said:


> You must really be crazy! When I see how you handle precious toilet paper in your videos...
> I hope that was just fake toilet paper movie prop!



It's always a great reaction when the audience just don't simply know. It's magic of cinema. It's the difference of a B Movie and a AAApartment Blockbuster! Yeah baby!


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## Zedcars (Mar 21, 2020)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> The only way it really affects me right now is that my karate classes aren't happening, which pisses me off. But that only means more private training at home.



It would be a shame if you had to give that the chop.


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## JJP (Mar 21, 2020)

Went out yesterday to donate blood. Severe shortage in the USA. The minute I walked in the door I was stopped, asked to clean my hands with hand sanitzer, and my temperature taken. Then immediate questions about any symptoms or contact with people who had symptoms or had been exposed. Only then did we move on to the usual check-in. People were in good spirits at the blood donation location. As one nurse put it, "There's always some risk to what we do."

Stopped at the grocery store for a few essentials on the way back. They are only allowing a fixed number of people in the store at one time to maintain social distancing, so there was a moderate line outside. Fortunately people were keeping ample space in the line. There was no butter, sugar, or white flour to be found. Pasta was almost gone. They also established a "seniors only" policy from 7am-8am each morning.

It's eerie for LA to be so quiet now that all non-essential businesses are shut down and people have been ordered to stay at home.


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## C.R. Rivera (Mar 21, 2020)

Hello all, 

I am in one of the so-called high-risk groups so my wife keeps me "handcuffed". However, I am also teaching parttime at a local college, but we went on-line for the rest of the term. I am able to work well from home preparing my lectures and presentations, but I still find time to exercise my eyes, mind, and spirit by taking regular breaks from academic work and generate "noise" and tracks as exercises.

I did notice one particular thing, as probably others have, but I am eating more, whether for comfort or stress relief. My wife does not want me outside as I generally love walking outdoors with my "yuge" iPod. I find it very refreshing, but the wife says Nyet!

Anyway, I am of a certain age, and have seen many bad things come and go over the decades. In the immortal words of FDR in March 1933, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

Good health, good food, good semi-company, and good music-making to all!

Carlos


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## jononotbono (Mar 21, 2020)

You can't let the loneliness of self isolation bring you down. We gotta do whatever it takes. The party never ends!


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## Dietz (Mar 28, 2020)

Social Distancing everywhere ---


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