The Hard Reset and COVID-19

[DanOregon]

So my computer went on the fritz and I had to do a hard reset. Took awhile and I didn't lose any files or anything, but had to reset my passwords on various apps (big fan of tw0-factor authentication here, even if its a pain).
But it seemed kind of metaphorical - or allegorical - or a parable? Whatever. It being September, Labor Day weekend, kind of a "second launch" of the year.
Made me realize that COVID-19 is the ultimate "hard reset" - when we retain the vital stuff, but might realize a lot of the "junk" we accumulate in our lives, things we think are important in our lives at the time - just isn't needed.
Curious what "things" or habits or parts of your life you truly hope to "reset" and which you now realize were just things you held on to for no apparent reason.

Me? I think I miss the way sports marked the passage of time. The Derby and the Masters in Spring. County fairs in the summer. Fantasy sports? I don't need it. Keeping up on everything all of the time? The big stuff will sort itself out while a lot of the "news" that marks the daily cycle will be forgotten in two days anyway.

 

[Webster]

Really, once it looked like things weren't going to get better by the start of summer, Labor Day and the first day of school (which is later this week for my kids) were the mythical lines where everything was supposed to return to normal. Not the case.

 

[Moderator1]

Normal as we knew it ain't never coming back. Ever. This is our new normal.

 

[maumann]

Gwen's brush with death three years ago, coupled with my fun with the state's criminal justice system and getting the "this time it's permanent" layoff from Turner pretty much reset us pre-COVID. Adding on retirement and this life of being prairie dogs hiding from a virus has really made us stare at all this crap in the cabin and wonder why we're saving it and who's going to want it? We have no children.

We're not getting Oktoberfest in Helen this fall. Bummer. We're not going to Florida this winter. Double bummer. I don't know when we'll get to see Mom and Dad next, because we don't need to be in their "bubble" and Gwen's not comfortable letting our guards down. And with good reason. She's No. 1 with a bullet on the COVID hit list, having played the ventilator game and won. We have no interest in a rematch.

But we've got things to occupy our time, both from a "to do" list and a "take a nap any old time" list. Waking up is pretty much the only requirement right now. What we do after that depends on our moods, the weather and how many scheduled doctors visits on the calendar app.

I'd thought I'd miss the sports schedule more, to be honest. I thought I'd be excited for baseball, and haven't watched more than a couple of games. I saw a few Stanley Cup playoff games, but just can't get into the conference finals.

It was nice they ran a 500-mile race at Indianapolis (mainly for TV and sponsors), but I would have been fine had they not. Same with the Run For The Roses yesterday. We went to an empty Churchill Downs two days after the 500 a few years back and watched $5,000 claiming races. The whole sports world lacks ... gravitas, for a better word.

Those of you with careers and families and stress, I feel for you. There's no real way to shove this to the back burner, with bills to pay and kids to protect.

 

[DanOregon]

Probably the best thing I "lost" was the sticky notes that contained all those passwords from things I don't need/use anymore. Google/FB/Yahoo can recover anything I need. I did have a sticky of stuff I wanted to watch on TV - (like I said, things we thought were important, but really aren't).

 

[Alma]

*I haven't really missed movies in theater. Thought I would. Haven't really. Now I can go and haven't yet. I'll get around to it. Tenet is not the movie to drag back in there.

* I got tired of eating out 3-4 weeks ago. I've done my part, I feel like, for those places. I'm done for awhile.

*I've watched a good chunk of the NBA playoffs as I've expected.

*Church...well, we're back, and we mask up. Then after it's done we go outside and talk to each other. It's weird. But it works.

*I have a nephew in the air ventilation business. He's working his ass off. Making decent money, too, that gets socked away.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Haven't gone out to eat yet. Plenty of takeout. It's not the same. You have to bus and wash your dishes. Didn't go to many movies before the virus. Miss the crowds at sports events more than I thought I would. For all the bells and whistles and cardboard cutouts, the empty seats emphasize one of the worst aspects of this situation, the feeling of isolation and loneliness. This comes up even though by most standards I have a reasonable virus social circle, golf buddies, a wife too good for me, and my son and his fiancee living with us for the summer.

 

[MileHigh]

This has been such a surreal three years. And I'm entering a dreaded three-week anniversary/remembrance period since the crash. Just had a long talk with my parents, who are planning to come out here to my sister's for a few weeks, but my brothers and I didn't want them taking the usual route because it would coincide with the anniversary of the crash. (They agreed. They're going a different route.)

I feel like my entire life has been reset since 9-16-17. The crash. Having to handle the large estates. And the ups and downs of beneficiaries. Laid off. COVID. Starting a new job with impossible expectations.

What do I miss? Being on the field/court, though got on the field yesterday. Playing real blackjack. People acting like humans and respecting others.

 

[Cosmo]

Agreed on movies. Just haven't found myself pining to get back to a theater.

Big things I miss: The ability to travel abroad and quite honestly, sitting at a bar. The whole point of going out and grabbing drinks by yourself is the chance that you'll meet interesting people along the way. Now, you can go out with your group but tables are encouraged not to interact. Really hard to meet people that way. And dating during this whole thing is a mess.

 

[Mngwa]

Traveling, going to the movies, live music, my book club, friends.

 

[Songbird]

Labor Day Weekend into the start of the school year has always been the change of season that most bound us together.

The last 6 months have been such a daily dreary mush and here we are on Labor Day Weekend Monday. Does this Labor Day Weekend Monday feel like it always has?

Or has it become just another in a line of weird unknown days?

 

[Michael_ Gee]

The juxtaposition of having the US Open at its regular time on the sports calendar and the Kentucky Derby on the same goddamn day just weirded me out, far more than the in-the-bubble NBA and NHL playoffs have. I keep time by sports. Always have. And now time is distorted.