COVID19 - How it's affecting you

Lots of gardening. Walking. Beer brewing.

A word came out today that there are no pay rises for us this year, which given the state of affairs, is okay ,given that I still have a job.   

Lots of gardening. Walking. Beer brewing.

A word came out today that there are no pay rises for us this year, which given the state of affairs, is okay ,given that I still have a job.   

A bummer though.  Completely understandable and I know you are happy just to have job security, but you are allowed to be a bit bummed!

A bummer though.  Completely understandable and I know you are happy just to have job security, but you are allowed to be a bit bummed!

Thanks. I feel guilty being a bit bummed. But it does feel like I haven't had a pay rise in years, due to Scottish tax increases, and we had a few rounds of pension restructuring, so my take home pay has been stagnant for the last 3 years (and now another year of the same). So coupled with my husbands furlough of being on only 80% pay, plus a 90% chance he will actually be redundant afterwards, it's a bit of a downer. 

Thanks. I feel guilty being a bit bummed. But it does feel like I haven't had a pay rise in years, due to Scottish tax increases, and we had a few rounds of pension restructuring, so my take home pay has been stagnant for the last 3 years (and now another year of the same). So coupled with my husbands furlough of being on only 80% pay, plus a 90% chance he will actually be redundant afterwards, it's a bit of a downer. 

A few months ago I realised I technically haven’t made any “additional” money the entire 10 years I’ve been in the UK.  That was a killer.  So I definitely get it.  It’s not about the money, but just about feeling valued. It’s a thing!

And talking to my cousin who works on immigration visas at a very well known engineering university in Georgia...  you know the one...  she said a starting salary for a mechanical engineer in Georgia is 80,000 to 110,000 per year.  That was a bit of a kick in the gut for my husband and myself (he’s an ME). It’s just money though. Though I would prefer to be tearing up on a jet ski. 

I make not much more as an engineer now with 20 years experience than I did when I first started working as a new grad, thanks to UK salaries for engineers.  Oh well, love it here, so that's all that matters. 

It's so quiet. What's everybody up to? Something fun I hope! 

My husband and I have started a new survival Minecraft world, which I've named New Pandemia.  We will see how it develops over the next year or two before I am let out again.  This is the most we've played since we stopped a few months before we moved house in 2016.  There have been a lot of changes in the game.  So many new block types and changes to game mechanics.  It's been interesting to relearn.

Other than that, we've been just trying to come up with creative solutions to feed us with minimal trips to the shops (for my husband.... I am not going out!).

My husband and I have started a new survival Minecraft world, which I've named New Pandemia.  We will see how it develops over the next year or two before I am let out again.  This is the most we've played since we stopped a few months before we moved house in 2016.  There have been a lot of changes in the game.  So many new block types and changes to game mechanics.  It's been interesting to relearn.

Other than that, we've been just trying to come up with creative solutions to feed us with minimal trips to the shops (for my husband.... I am not going out!).

It's amazing how many people are minecrafting their way out of this zombie apocolypse.  Back in January I bought my boy a raspberry pi with the idea that we would make it into a minecraft server.  I thought it wouldn't actually work and he'd get bored, but I was totally wrong.  He and his friends are on it all the time.  He's constantly using SSH to get on to the server and doing command line stuff and he's learned a lot of Linux.  I'm chuffed to bits. 
By the way, I could make you one for about a hundred quid. 

I just read this article about computer gaming during the pandemic... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52210938  Apparently, everybody is doing it.

I find that gaming is a way to stay connected without the contact being the sole reason for being there.  Like, a phone call or video chat, you are there just to talk about things.  But with gaming, you can chat, but you also have the shared community tasks making it even more social.

I just read this article about computer gaming during the pandemic... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52210938  Apparently, everybody is doing it.

I find that gaming is a way to stay connected without the contact being the sole reason for being there.  Like, a phone call or video chat, you are there just to talk about things.  But with gaming, you can chat, but you also have the shared community tasks making it even more social.

I really hate calling people for a chat.  It's awkward and I hate it.

I really hate calling people for a chat.  It's awkward and I hate it.

But spending virtual time together in an online world, the conversation can just flow naturally.  And with the distraction of the game tasks, there's no awkwardness to just spending time together in silence (or in directed activity) with them if there's ever nothing to talk about.  The game is the focus, but the game facilitates the social interaction and companionship.

I really hate calling people for a chat.  It's awkward and I hate it.

Oh, that's definitely me

I've had a bit of a crappy time the last week or so... two weeks ago, I worked 66 hours in 6 days, then I ended the week with a great Saturday night, but a bad hangover on Sunday... and since then I've been feeling kind of burned out.

I think I've reached the inevitable slump in my detachment where I'm just feeling generally tired, emotional and fed up, which is not helped by the fact that I was originally supposed to be going home this week... I should have been at Disney World tomorrow night... but instead I'll now be here for another 2.5 months. Then again, I managed 3 months without feeling like this, when normally it happens about 7 weeks in.

Of course, though it feels a bit silly for me to be complaining, since I have it much better here than back home, and because I wanted to stay here longer. I can still go to work, I can go out and socialise, I can get out and about and I can go to the gym... but it's still not fun feeling kinda yucky every day

I've had a bit of a crappy time the last week or so... two weeks ago, I worked 66 hours in 6 days, then I ended the week with a great Saturday night, but a bad hangover on Sunday... and since then I've been feeling kind of burned out.

I think I've reached the inevitable slump in my detachment where I'm just feeling generally tired, emotional and fed up, which is not helped by the fact that I was originally supposed to be going home this week... I should have been at Disney World tomorrow night... but instead I'll now be here for another 2.5 months. Then again, I managed 3 months without feeling like this, when normally it happens about 7 weeks in.

Of course, though it feels a bit silly for me to be complaining, since I have it much better here than back home, and because I wanted to stay here longer. I can still go to work, I can go out and socialise, I can get out and about and I can go to the gym... but it's still not fun feeling kinda yucky every day

We get it.  Trust us, we get it.

I’m bored of binge watching tv.  ME!

I haven't really been on here in two years, but I figured with all that's going on, I wanted to come see how everyone was doing, hope you all are doing well