Virus side effects?

[jclary]

Good Grief! Today, I decided to make a rare excursion away from home. Back when I was working in my business enterprises, I always kept up with mileage on my main vehicle for tax purposes. Old habits are hard to break and I still keep a record of my mileage. Taking a moment to reflect, I decided to check how many miles I drove last year? A whopping 3,070! Back when I was working, I could easily do that many miles in a week! My wife's commute to work was over 10,000 miles a year when she was working as a nurse at a local hospital. So, one huge effect of this pandemic virus and our efforts to avoid contracting it has been we've saved a ton of money by not buying so much gas.

Another effect is my concentration on doing a lot of home and building repair projects that previously had been easy to put off and procrastinate. Today's trip was to our local Home Depot for some supplies I need for a project. One of my Christmas presents was a Home Depot gift card. While attempting to find a place in my wallet to put the card a couple of weeks ago, I came across another Home Depot gift card that was years old and forgotten. It seemed strange to wander about in a huge big box store with few customers and I still feel a bit conspicuous and self-conscious wearing a mask. Anyway, I managed to return home with three new storage containers, two tubes of sealer, a new miter saw blade, and a can of primer for the new porch column I plan to build. The gift cards covered the purchase and left me with a little over three dollars balance. Oh...I bought the wood for the column months ago...but now's the time to "git 'er done."

These days, besides essential medical visits for my wife, we've rescheduled just about all optional public exposure like barber shops, dental cleanings, eye exams, physicals, etc. We have appointments to get our Covid Vaccines in a couple of weeks. My wife and I are not too pleased with the cumbersome and meddling DATA-MINING hidden in the government (CDC) forms to sign up and qualify for the vaccine.

Our church has televised instead of in-person worship services so I'm not sure I'm appropriately dressed in my jogging pants and a T-shirt while attending church watching from my recliner? Once a week masked trips to the grocery store armed with sanitary wipes are one of our more risky tasks. Last week, I needed to move my truck to another spot in the yard and it nearly didn't crank! So, last week's trip was to my friend's parts store for a new battery. I figure eleven years was pretty good for the old one.

So, besides not going to Studebaker gatherings, cruise-ins, shopping or just going for a drive for the fun of it...how's this pandemic affected your activities???

[rockne10]

I'm retired, but doing five 4-hour days in the office of a friend's auto repair business (still considered essential in most jurisdictions).
I drive to work in the morning, and drive straight home after; sequestering there 'till morning.

Tuesday's our market has senior discounts on all store brand products; so I stop there before going home.
Then I sequester. It's like a hermit crab that only leaves the shell for a bite to eat.
For some species it's their whole life.

Care for yourself and others; mask up; and get your vaccines as soon as your health authorities have them available.
With a modicum of patience we can put this behind us, just as we did polio in the 1950s.

Until the next one comes along.

[RadioRoy]

Some folks say it's an introvert's paradise.

I'm still in my laboratory (say it in your best Boris Karloff voice; lah-BOHR-a-tory) working on trains, then in two weeks the flood of car radios will start coming in.
So I'm still working - sixteen years after retiring. How did that happen?

[Lark Hunter]

Welp. At the start of it all, it put enough strain on a relationship that I ended up calling it quits with the girl I had been dating for ~5 years. Have lost contact with some friends as well.

Have been getting out and driving, though it's usually to no particular destination, and most often at night. The latter is pretty common practice for me, but being by myself is generally not. I sometimes take the family cat with me... oddly enough, she likes traveling, but seems to be a bit let down when we show up back at home after banging around in the truck for two hours, instead of somewhere new for her to explore. I feel about the same.

I'm glad that our local SDC chapter is still forging ahead with some activities (smaller scale and lesser attendance), as it helps a bit with maintaining our sanity. Another car club I belong to has canceled everything from last March or April to present, and on into the foreseeable future. Sadly, I've been getting the feeling that that club is in the process of folding up and calling it quits for good.

[Bob Andrews]

For me, it has affected my my usual activity schedule but not my activity level; I just filled it in with other things I love. We have nutty leadership here in NY so most of my activities were in other states. I was seriously ill and housebound for the first half of the year (non-covid related) and when I was finally well I made one of the best second halves I've ever had. And this year has started off great as well.

For us, we use rationality and clear thinking in place of fear and emotion. We follow the protocols, take the cards dealt, and play them to our advantage as best we can. I don't want to get sick anymore than anyone else, but I have never been able to live in fear. I trust my God, my precautions, and common sense protocol; and live my best life.

[sweetolbob]

It would be much more difficult without technology. My friends range in age from 74 to 86 years old. Early in the pandemic we met outside twice a week as several of us have decent yards. As fall came we need warmth so we moved into my and another friends pole barn and were doing OK until the cases started to escalate in late fall. At that point we decided it was better to disband until cases dropped or we could be outside again.

What has kept us in contact is we all have smartphones and computers so we can call, text or email. That keeps us up to date.

Family get togethers are Zoom calls with either my relatives or our family. It actually makes the Holidays a bit better as the entire family which is spread from Michigan to Missouri can attend.

Shopping is done by ordering food and groceries over the net and picking them up curbside. We can get about anything delivered so we take advantage of UPS, Fedex and the USPS. Don't start a rant about the USPS here!!!!

I'll miss Florida, my brother and golf in February but to quote some of the old folks in my circle - "This ain't nothing" - compared to what a couple of them have been through so we'll make it out the back side and move on.

I do go to Menard's and Home Depot on occasion but they are not crowded and it's a quick trip.

I should mention that the youngest member of the group (74) was not smart phone literate so the 86 YO and I fixed him up. If Gene (86) ex-auto mechanic and service station owner can be a smart phone and computer wiz then there's no reason most folks can't take advantage of the newer technologies. They really help.

Bob

[firestoper 25]

Ref ; post # 5 last paragraph

That sums up what my wife & I are doing. Here in Green Bay about the only difference in our routine is the mask wearing ( mine is red with Studebaker in script in black across the front). The stores are full, the roads are normal traffic level & the usual peak time 'rush' volumes. Yup the movies are closed but with the crappy selections of late we do not miss the event and just moved the $'s to eating out at the local restaurants. The small town we live in and other small population areas close to us the bars are as normal (kind of reminds us of the stories our parents told us about prohibition speak easy's). Next week we are driving to Milwaukee to pick up a Studebaker windshield washer system and the second stop will be at long time friends home in the area. We have some friends who have not left their house (kids bring them everything they need - delivery services, etc.) and others with various levels of past social participation. We have an unusual factor.....we were traveling in northern Italy Nov.-Dec. 2019, we used the state rail service to move between the usual tourist cities which was loaded (packed!)with people (you can guess from what countries....it was Christmas shopping season & beautiful !), we got sick. I only was hit with a mild case, our friend much worse and of course my wife got the grand daddy master four week whopper. Drs. here were mystified - never seen anything like it, nothing helped, we were getting worried and this just continued beating here down ( and she is a tough old bird). Very slowly started to see improvement. As time passed 2+2 started to make sense, her symptoms matched the list point to point, we were in the hot spot location in Italy at the time window identified for the bug. It has been verified she had it. She seems to mostly back to normal, but her sense of smell (and taste) is gone and she gets tired easily. I can make all kinds of comments about her smell being gone is not all bad! Your results may have different outcomes.

[64studeavanti]

For us, the side effects have been minimal. We still visit the same friends as we always did. We go out as usual - the only difference is that we don a mask where required. My bother in law, who lives in North West Montana, says that his whole family tested positive for the virus. According to him, he has had worse colds. Our daughter is still employed - she works from home. A casualty of the lock downs is my granddaughter. Once a gifted student, she is failing miserably at the on-line, study from home model. One of my sons, recently out of the Navy, has had his graduation from a trade school delayed about four months .

The impact from the various "eviction" moratoriums that have been passed has had the most impact. To supplement our income, mostly social security, VA disability and a small pension, we have a couple of rentals. One of our tenants decided to take advantage of the situation and stop paying rent. So, instead of receiving a modest return, we have had to substantially dip into our meager savings to continue to pay the mortgage, taxes, fees etc. Fortunately, she decided to move on, leaving us holding the bag for about $10,000. I guess she saved enough from us to afford a place where her rent was half again as much. We have retained an attorney and have filed a case, however, even if we prevail, we will likely not see any of the delinquent rent returned to us. In order to recover, we have been forced to sell, as we are reluctant to have a rental where the government could dictate that we provide housing to a stranger free of charge.

[Bob Andrews]

The insanity you are experiencing is widespread here in horribly managed NY. Good people are being destroyed every day through no fault of their own. So many have been beaten down to the point that they have lost their will to fight, lose their faith, and even their will to live. I have lost some great friends to suicide especially in the last 6 months, 2 just since Christmas. They lost everything through absolutely no fault of their own. An entrepreneur can handle failure; nobody is equipped for destruction based in rules that make no sense.

For me, I will keep fighting. I’ll do what I can. Evil can take charge, but it can’t take charge of my God. He will bring me through. I justl pray that fellow decent people will turn to him, and find the will to hang on. In the end, good always prevails.

[BobPalma]

It would be much more difficult without technology. What has kept us in contact is we all have smartphones and computers so we can call, text or email. That keeps us up to date.

I should mention that the youngest member of the group (74) was not smart phone literate so the 86 YO and I fixed him up. If Gene (86) ex-auto mechanic and service station owner can be a smart phone and computer wiz then there's no reason most folks can't take advantage of the newer technologies. They really help. Bob

I hope he keeps his smart phone updated, Bob...

[Dwight FitzSimons]

Our chapter (Greater Virginia Chap.) had meets last year during the warmer months only when we could meet outside. There was less attendance, but still a dozen or so members attending each. No Dec meet and no Feb meet (too cold in VA). April might be warm enough, plus members will have to feel safe enough. We also are not collecting any dues for CY2021, because there is less attendance and fewer meets. I still produce a newsletter every other month.
-Dwight

[Buzzard]

John,
You are correct that the virus has affected most of us in some way or another. In Western Canada we are mandated to essential travel only which obviously precluded our anticipated vacation to the SDC International Meet in Chattanooga TN. Our borders (USA & Canada) have remained closed for most of a year with little hope of reopening any time soon. Seeing as we are not allowed to travel to our usual winter destination in Western Arizona, we now simply pay insurance, taxes and ongoing expenses on our Arizona property with virtually no benefit to us. We can't even drive there for the purpose of selling everything.
Having an unforeseen mandate to stay at home for the winter,(and possibly upcoming winters as well), gave us no choice but to enjoy winter on our terms and not the governments'.
Here is a pic of Sonja and our pups (they go everywhere with us) motoring around a close by meadow in her new toy. We are blessed to live in the British Columbia wilderness with forestry trails everywhere so there is no need for us trailer anything anywhere.
If you have to be locked down travel wise anywhere, it would be difficult to beat our situation.

As for Studebaker driving, I have to be satisfied driving our US6 Snow Plow which moves an incredible amount of snow with it's 9 foot blade.
We hope all others are fairing as well and healthy as possible.
Cheers,
Bill & Sonja

[jclary]

Bill, I do a little daydreaming about living in a place like yours. However, I am realistic enough to know that the first moment I encounter harsh difficulties I would probably be out of there like a rocket! Instead, I watch some of the so-called reality shows about Alaska and Canadian wilderness living. Except for a few, I think those folks are much better funded than the shows want the viewers to see.

For the past few days, I have encountered a new challenge. It seems that the local Chicken Hawk union has decided to award me the best fresh chicken source of the community! They had one for breakfast and terrified the others so much that they refused to leave the coop. Yesterday, I finally finished stretching a 20 X 50 foot nylon net across their pen. Here, it’s been cold and wet. (Not Canadian cold) Cold enough to make my 76 year old fingers not work well on an awkward and delicate project. Just another adventure for my little corner of the world during the pandemic.

[6hk71400]

Welp.

I'm glad that our local SDC chapter is still forging ahead with some activities (smaller scale and lesser attendance), as it helps a bit with maintaining our sanity. Another car club I belong to has canceled everything from last March or April to present, and on into the foreseeable future. Sadly, I've been getting the feeling that that club is in the process of folding up and calling it quits for good.

The Southern Arizona Chapter is still holding a socially distance board meeting on the third Monday of each month at 11:30 at a local restaurant with a special room off the main restaurant. The main difference is we cannot do any long term events for the present, just a couple of months at a time.

The big event is usually the International Drive Your Studebaker Day in September, beside our usual January Banquet. We usually hold raffles to raise money for that so all the members to have their meal paid by the chapter for that occasion. Our raffle(s) have been curtailed; I have been thinking of doing a virtue raffle with the items we have.
By sending all the members a mailable flyer with the photos of the six items we may still be on track for September. Tickets are 6 for $5.00 on up. Everyone has been putting their name and phone number so they do not be present to win.

I will check and see if our board will want to do that in February. We can also determine a date the drawing will be held.

Bob Miles

[556063]

My wife and I both had Covid-19 early January. I have been working from home almost exclusively since March of last year, Wife is a teacher, so she has been remote most of the time through all this, but has been back to normal on and off this school year.

We are both 57. We got our second Shingrix Shingles vaccination December 31. New Year's day, and we thought we were having a moderate reaction to that. When we were still feeling bad the following Friday (1/8), I called my doctor to see if the Shingles Vaccine reaction could be that severe. The office suggested we get a Covid Test. By the following Monday (1/11), we were over the symptoms. We both had to isolate ten days after our positive tests.

I never had a fever. No respiratory distress. I felt like I'd been hit by a Mack Truck. Severe muscle aches and fatigue. Fog over my head. I actually worked all the way through it from home on Phone/Email/Zoom, but felt like I was getting over a bad stomach flu in the 1970's during the worst of it. Although I had no nausea.

We can't say for sure when we got it but we have been through it. I know some aren't as lucky, and I pray for them.