how is everyone holding up during, what is effectively, another national lockdown?

I know we haven't officially locked down, but as now going to a restaurant/pub is an impossibility, and traveling to and from another province is extremely difficult, I consider it as such.

I pass most of my days reading books.

I'm currently over half way into William L. Shirer's 'The Rise & Fall of The Third Reich.'

I am enjoying it immensely. 

Audible is an absolute godsend, I love it.

Next I will be purchasing Carl Sagans 'Cosmos.'

After that Brian Greenes 'The Elegant Universe.'

 

This is how I plan to stave off the possibility of 'isolation madness.'

a term I use to describe what happens to a person when deprived of the outside world for too long.

Reading helps me a lot, though I find it only possible to listen to my books in 3/4 hour segments.

After the first segment has ended I will crack open a can & put on some music.

I'm also watching less News now as I find that contributes to the deterioration of my mental state during this covid crisis.

 

How do you lot cope with keeping the isolation madness at bay? 

Havnt noticed any real changes at all. Only difference to my routines is wearing a mask.Everything else, same same.

3 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Everything else, same same.

I like to dine out a lot with friends.

Cant do that anymore.

I like to go to the beach a lot 

Cant do that now.

I like to go for a massage.

Cant do that now.

I like to go for a pint in the pub. Can't do that now.

 

All I have is my books and my beer..

 

Life for me is anything but normal right now ???? 

3 minutes ago, WineOh said:

I like to dine out a lot with friends.

Cant do that anymore.

I'll bet the friends are thankful!   LOL

3 minutes ago, WineOh said:

I like to go to the bleach a lot with family.

Cant do that now.

Are you personally not white enough?   LOL

4 minutes ago, WineOh said:

I like to dine out a lot with friends.

Cant do that anymore.

I like to go to the beach a lot 

Cant do that now.

I like to go for a massage.

Cant do that now.

I like to go for a pint in the pub. Can't do that now.

 

All I have is my books and my beer..

 

Life for me is anything but normal right now ???? 

I suspect thsts more about "where" you live than anything else.

Living in the sticks most of the things you list are still available.

only thing that's changed is going out for meals at the weekend with the wife

 

I refuse to go to a restaurant if it's not serving alcohol, so make her get a takeaway and drink at home

15 minutes ago, WineOh said:

 

How do you lot cope with keeping the isolation madness at bay? 

 

Getting on with life helps....... ????

 

26 minutes ago, WineOh said:

Audible is an absolute godsend, I love it.

I find it necessary to increase the playback speed quite a bit. Understandably, narrators speak slowly enough for even the oldest listeners to follow, so, most new listeners would benefit by initially increasing the speed to 1.5x. After a few weeks, when your brain adapts to consuming books this way, they should try 2x, which is roughly the speed at which most people read.

I listen to audiobooks for 90 minutes every morning while swimming. It is absolutely my favorite way to exercise and I believe the increased bloodflow improves my brain's receptivity to new ideas. At 2x speed, I get through two or three non-fiction books each week this way.

At night, I read fiction for a few hours on my Kindle Oasis, a lovely device, far prefer it to paper books. I get through four or five fiction books each week.

 

I feel the same as you these days. I'm consuming audiobooks and playing my guitar. I haven't watched any news for 2 years because the obvious propaganda and bias is not good for my mental health. Oh, I also exercise everyday as I've converted one of my rooms into a gym. Not being able to get home to see my family and my mother, who is not getting any younger obviously has been really rough. 2 years ago I spent half my time touring around Europe. I can't see that in the near or medium term future as I'm sure it will require a vaccine passport. Some day I may consider the vaccine but until I'm convinced of it's success over the longer term I'm going to hold out. 

1 minute ago, fearless1 said:

I feel the same as you these days. I'm consuming audiobooks and playing my guitar

sounds good mate. 

hopefully life will get back to normal sooner rather than later.

Personally I dont see much difference, apart from not being able to go to the bar, I've got out of that habit after the last lockdown as long as I can have a couple of beers at home Im fine,

Im not bothered about traveling anywhere.

 

Yea if you depends on bars then your screwed. I am lucky just moved my home gym from my old house to the new. Can keep on working out. 

 

Not that big on dining out with friends always seem to consume a complete evening. Thankfully we now live in a big house with a pool and combined with my gym i can keep busy.

 

Computer games help too if you like that kind of stuff. 

Life really has n't changed too much,I like reading fiction,watching movies and working in the garden,always something to do and a few beers before dinner......it's village life.My G/F village is in lockdown for 2 weeks,so no visiting family,but they are allowed out to buy food.

 

If i was living in a beachside tourist area i'd do a lot of beachside walking but even now that would n't be good with wearing  facemasks  now mandatory.......not a lot of fun.Have to ask "when is it all going to end"?

I'm in a gated community, hardly anyone wears a mask, it's all private grounds.

We've got plenty of room to walk around and a nice village green to sit out on.

Nothing much has changed for me.

Just now, BritManToo said:

I'm in a gated community, hardly anyone wears a mask, it's all private grounds.

We've got plenty of room to walk around and a nice village green to sit out on.

Nothing much has changed for me.

So does the Virus stop at the gates?

Just now, KannikaP said:

So does the Virus stop at the gates?

My family have already all had COVID.

one thing that really helps is "being ok with your own company"......many people need other people to be around,are social,need the bar to drink with friends etc.....these times for them might be difficult.

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

My family have already all had COVID.

Hope you are all OK, with no lasting effects.

Masks are really to stop you passing anything onto others, not to protect you.

At least a few less to vaccinate, or will they still 'do' you?

7 minutes ago, thasoss said:

one thing that really helps is "being ok with your own company"..

I'm fine with my own company, up to a point.

What I miss most of all is the freedom to roam around the country I reside in.

 

And to be honest, dare I say it, I'm actually starting to miss the foreign tourists..

Wait, did I actually say that? ???? 

46 minutes ago, WineOh said:

I like to dine out a lot with friends.

Cant do that anymore.

I like to go to the beach a lot 

Cant do that now.

I like to go for a massage.

Cant do that now.

I like to go for a pint in the pub. Can't do that now.

 

All I have is my books and my beer..

 

Life for me is anything but normal right now ???? 

Nearest restaurant, bar, massage 2 hours, nearest beach much more.

 

We used to stay sane by going on holiday every 3 weeks but not an option now so yes boredom has hit big time. Thanks for the tip, will look at audio books and dig out my guitar.

 

The only think keeping me sane is my wife.

Bored, but then I always zoom out pretty quick and look at the folks who have to work through all of this and at those whose businesses are falling apart because of the failing economy...  

54 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Havnt noticed any real changes at all. Only difference to my routines is wearing a mask.Everything else, same same.

 

I also noticed the groundhawg day effect as well  ????

1 hour ago, WineOh said:

I'm also watching less News now as I find that contributes to the deterioration of my mental state during this covid crisis.

Watching the news on tv makes me angry with or without corona. One has to wonder if that is their intent, when they tell one about bad things happening all over the world but never never never about anything positive or good.

3 minutes ago, Rimmer said:

 

I also noticed the groundhawg day effect as well  ????

As the saying goes "same sh"" different day" ...5555

I work a lot more and save a lot too. I'll be having the holiday of a lifetime when this finishes.

I suspect most peoples (expats) life's haven't changed much at all. I mean if you generally do nowt anyway how much can that change??

25 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

My family have already all had COVID.

Shhhhhhh. Don't detract from the narrative that it is deadly. Some might be upset that you all had it and recovered without problems ( like, apparently the vast majority that do catch it ).

31 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I'm in a gated community, hardly anyone wears a mask, it's all private grounds.

We've got plenty of room to walk around and a nice village green to sit out on.

Nothing much has changed for me.

 

Jeez. What a 'life'. LOL. 

3 minutes ago, WineOh said:

And to be honest, dare I say it, I'm actually starting to miss the foreign tourists..

Wait, did I actually say that? ???? 

yes,if living in a tourist area it must be depressing to see everything closed.