h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

But social contact doesn't have to be close up. Even just a casual interchange in the street or in a shop, even with a stranger, is quite a lift to the spirits. Or a very small group socially distanced in a quiet location.
Obviously not the same as an intimate natter with friends, but not as bad as being totally isolated.

I like casual interchanges in the street or in shops, but my psychiatrist thinks it's not enough. I think he's procrustean, wanting things a certain way regardless of what the other person is comfortable with.

"I think the big mistake was allowing pubs & restaurants to open with '1 metre plus' distancing."

Yes, that's what confuses me, that social distancing doesn't seem to factor now... Six people at a table in a restaurant is not equivalent to six people two metres apart from each other in the open air...

Glad you felt comfortable at the choir rehearsal, Teasswill - sounds well organised indeed

Hearing some of our acquaintances pondering how to manage groups of 6 with their various children & numerous grandchildren, we feel for once, grateful that we have no choice in the matter. With one single offspring now in our social bubble & the other with their family living on the other side of the world, no contest. Sadly, even my mother's death relieved us of a social bubble dilemma.

Grateful, but but we'd rather have the dilemma...

At least four companies are testing potential vaccines. Johnson & Johnson is the latest to announce tests.

Mr T has taken the plunge & downloaded the app because he's going to an event where they want people to use the QR code. I have pointed out that although he has to give his contact details, it's not obligatory to use the QR code.
As it doesn't log you out until midnight, or until you log in somewhere else, seems a bit dodgy to me.

Can't be bothered to look back down the thread to see if this has been posted before, but before after he was Dennis Pennis and before he was Thoros of Myr in Game of Thrones, look at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0noRU0WI84

Gosport. Looks like I'm living in a tier one area as from tomorrow.

How's it looking where you are?

Tonight we will probably get a layered response system as well. So everything we still want to do freely will have to take place before seven… (which is probably not a good idea)

No change here so far..

Roughly one in ten Bostonians has had the Coronavirus.

I rarely get closer than six feet from anyone without a mask on.

I've just taken my temperature. It's 97.7 degrees F.

A coworker spent time with her family this weekend and got a call after that her brother tested positive. So, she is now required to quarantine for 14 days and must have a negative test result before returning to work.

Here's the kicker. She has to use her PTO (paid time off, formerly vacation/sick time) and LWOP (leave without pay, ie bupkis) for at least two weeks.

What really sucks is that I was involuntarily sent home for a couple of months because of budget issues and used something called "Weather and Safety" leave that was allotted for the CoVid pandemic. None of that is now available for people actually needing to stay home due to CoVid apparently. During a recent hurricane threat, the center was closed and folks that were working also were not allowed to access that same "Weather and Safety" leave while I was using it and not even wanting to.

Sorry.

This has been a bad year for a lot of people.

My former therapist said that depression has gone up sharply because of social isolation.

I was doing pretty well for several months. The lockdown actually relieved me of a lot of social stress. I didn't have to worry about my social skills if I wasn't allowed to socialize anyway, right!? No wondering if I bored others, or over-talked. No wondering if I was being excluded. I just found some video games and spent time exploring them instead. Wonderful!

But with the added stress of medical issues (and the further stress of insurance and pay issues) it's definitely getting to me. I'm finding the negative thoughts returning more often.

Several billion people could use group therapy. Remotely, of course.

Well all I can offer is and
in leu of the real thing and a promise that I will be available as a sympathetic ear. Globally we are all in this together.

We certainly are.

I've never been through anything like this.

I tend to be shy and enjoy solitude, but I need *some* contact with people. I get far less contact than I did even 8 months ago.

I'm not saying that my contact wasn't stressful 8 months ago, but anyway....

It's a new one for me.. but I'm lucky to be living in an area that has some of the lowest stats and deaths in the UK which means life has some semblance of normality...for now.

Remdesivir has been approved for treating the virus in the U.S.

Boris Johnson and Donald trump got the best medical care when they were sick. You and I could not count on that.