I’m curious what everyone is finding out about themselves during the pandemic lock down.....???

For me, the biggest surprise is how the wife and I have adjusted to being together in the same space for weeks at a time. I always worried that we would kill each other in retirement being under one another’s feet all the time, but we have actually done very well and sort of figured out how to give one another the space they need to breathe!

The second thing for me is that this has really whetted my appetite for retirement and is causing me to refocus on what I need to do to jump off the miserable hamster wheel of corporate life as quickly as possible!

And finally - there are going to be a LOT of babies being born beginning in about mid-January of 2021.....

 

Are you trying to tell us there may be an addition to the ddellwo family in Jan of 2021????
If so, bad time to look at getting off the hamster wheel!

I am retired, wife is not. We are actually doing well in "hunker down" mode. We have equipped her with a home office docking station and monitors so she can work from home. She may never return to the office, as she is really liking working from home. We are walking during her lunch hours and enjoying it immensely, along with the health benefit.
You are absolutely correct in the killing each other part of dual retirement. Neither of us has entertained thoughts of pulling out a pistol and shooting the other. We really enjoy the give and take of existing under the same roof 24/7 for months at a time.
A big benefit is the credit card bill has gone way down, as has the gas bill and our out of pocket cash expenditures.

 

I've been retired for 5 yrs and the much younger wife was working until 3 months ago. Corning lost a lot of business due to the trade war with China and she was one of many who got laid off. So, we have adjusted to being together 24/7. I'm more worried about the economy collapsing than the virus.

 

96 cent gas here and nowhere to go!

 

My wife and I both retired nine years ago. Four years ago we bought a summer home in NH and would go back to VA for the winter.
Having two houses is a headache, always worrying about where you ain't.
So we sold the VA house last summer and did our first winter in NH (snow forecast for Monday April 27th!).
Anyway town pop. is 4,000 and we have four corona cases, none in the hospital.
Talked to my old next door neighbor in VA last week, his wife has the virus.
And last night there was a shocking double homicide arrest in my old neighborhood.
Up here the chief of police said crime is at zero because of the virus.
The only crime we have is spitting on the sidewalk and now everyone is wearing a mask.

 

Sorry, forgot to answer the question.
Communication is key to successfully coping with the lock down. I've found the best medium to utilize in these extraordinary times is interpretive dance.
In the morning I'll enter the kitchen while making several delicate moves that express my innermost desires.
My wife watches my performance, nods and says,
"I understand. You want bacon and eggs and a english muffler. What in hell is an english muffler?"
Patiently, I repeat the most intricate contortions and she says,
" Oh, english muffin. Ok, now get off the damn table."

This medium works best during the lock down while wearing a tutu.
It is a freeing garment and will make you feel like a princess.

 

Went to Walmart this morning. Walmart is doing its part to keep the virus from spreading by rearranging the entire store so I had to spend twice as much time finding everything on my list.
My county's population is about 234,000. 75 people have or had the virus, 48 have recovered, and 3 have died.
75% are white. 14% are black. 8% hispanic and 3% didn't know. I guess they haven't gone to ancestry.com yet.
0% under 17. 11% 18-24. 35% 35-49. 32% 50-64, 22% 65+.

 

My county's population (Jasper) is 120,000. 16 cases, no deaths. My city's population is 50,000, 6 cases, no deaths. Joplin is in 2 counties, mostly in Jasper, The other county with a population of 110,000 (Newton) has 10 cases and 1 death.

 

We've had one death in the extended family and another that's in the hospital and not doing well. The wife and I are doing fine, we're staying in and haven't gone anywhere in weeks. I filled my truck's gas tank 6 weeks ago and I still have most of the tank. We're saving a fortune in gas and in not eating out. OTOH I'm ordering piles of stuff from E-bay and Amazon so that offsets some of the savings.

Roadie, get the Hell out of Walmart and stay out! Most of people in there don't look healthy in the best of times.

 

I agree that Walmart is probably the most likely place to get it. Another grocery store a little more upscale, where we shop, had a clerk who got the virus. So, it can be anywhere.

We need to figure out the best way to pay back China for their negligence or intentional warfare. When they shut down the city of Wuhan, they still allowed international travel from Wuhan and that spread it all over. Then, they had the nerve to protest when the President shut down air travel from China.

 

Our county is one of the few in NC that has zero cases, but we may as well be overrun with it. Everyone is wearing a mask, some even in goggles. Most all stores, restaurants and public parks are closed I don't get out much, but when I do I take Raoul's advice and wear a tutu. I don't feel as much like a princess as Raoul, but it sure as hell makes everyone give me a wide berth on the way down the aisle in the grocery store. Yesterday, I was standing in front of the last two family sized packages of toilet paper doing my obligatory Plié. Surprisingly nobody wanted the other package, so I took both.

Ya'll stay well now, ya' hear!

 

Plenty of toilet paper here now, but still a 1 package limit. One store has individually wrapped rolls, limit 8.

 

Toilet paper and paper towels have been in pretty good supply in my part of Houston for several weeks now as long as you are not too picky about the brand, and I’ve noticed a lot less hoarding activity as I’m out and about nowadays. I’m expecting some spotty meat shortages in the next few weeks because of all the packing plants that have closed down lately due to virus outbreaks. Been trying to order takeout from some our favorite local restaurants a couple times a week to feed them some business and (hopefully) help them survive the pandemic.

Hopefully our “elder statesmen” like Bluejay and Paw are doing well and avoiding any of the issues that seem to have been hitting the older folks a little harder than the general population!

 

Meat prices here are already going up.

 

Guess we got to get past this life blocker thing with baby steps !