Living alone during the pandemic and dealing with the isolation.

that is my story also ..finally got a haircut after 5 months drove to a very small farming town pop 800 ...no covid...got a haircut from 85 year old barber..lousy haircut but I love it..like you with dentist dr. blood wkup etc- no thanks- that is the price we pay for living and staying alive--you do not have to be a shaman to see this is going to get much worse over the next months -it is only just getting up a head of steam--

oddly, surprisingly and sadly enough --I proposed on this site for us folks to visit on skype zoom hangouts whereby etc, and was resoundingly rejected -
I then realized that we have some really odd and strange folks on here that want to type and blow it out their fingertips but don't want their faces on camera...

very odd anti social behavior and it comes from the supposedly friendly caring folks on this site--

I was stunned........

tho, I am online in that manner teaching English to other folks in other countries --so I guess in all fairness I am a bit accustomed to it..but geez skype id 25 years old...it is not going to go away...and neither is covid anytime soon,--

happy to visit online video with anyone ...seems to me it a tool that is available to us one of two...phone is the other one......I suppose.-

-perhaps an online forum with video for all instead of just one on one...maybe that was the hangup...I guess that indeed is what it was, a "hangup" my online times with English learners are saving what is left of my 13 neurons..
 

boliverchadsworth said:
that is my story also ..finally got a haircut after 5 months drove to a very small farming town pop 800 ...no covid...got a haircut from 85 year old barber..lousy haircut but I love it..like you with dentist dr. blood wkup etc- no thanks- that is the price we pay for living and staying alive--you do not have to be a shaman to see this is going to get much worse over the next months -it is only just getting up a head of steam--

oddly, surprisingly and sadly enough --I proposed on this site for us folks to visit on skype zoom hangouts whereby etc, and was resoundingly rejected -
I then realized that we have some really odd and strange folks on here that want to type and blow it out their fingertips but don't want their faces on camera...

very odd anti social behavior and it comes from the supposedly friendly caring folks on this site--

I was stunned........

tho, I am online in that manner teaching English to other folks in other countries --so I guess in all fairness I am a bit accustomed to it..but geez skype id 25 years old...it is not going to go away...and neither is covid anytime soon,--

happy to visit online video with anyone ...seems to me it a tool that is available to us one of two...phone is the other one......I suppose.-

-perhaps an online forum with video for all instead of just one on one...maybe that was the hangup...I guess that indeed is what it was, a "hangup" my online times with English learners are saving what is left of my 13 neurons..
Click to expand...
Joe offered to cut my hair. I told him no. I just put it in a bun. I'm alright with longer hair. If it gets too far past my shoulders I might let him take the clippers to it to shore things up.
 
boliverchadsworth said:
...oddly, surprisingly and sadly enough --I proposed on this site for us folks to visit on skype zoom hangouts whereby etc, and was resoundingly rejected -
I then realized that we have some really odd and strange folks on here that want to type and blow it out their fingertips but don't want their faces on camera...

very odd anti social behavior and it comes from the supposedly friendly caring folks on this site--

I was stunned........
Click to expand...
Oddly, surprisingly and sadly enough when I went to your profile there was no picture of you, no information you imparted about yourself--Nothing, zilch, nada.

I was stunned.........
 

boliverchadsworth said:
that is my story also ..finally got a haircut after 5 months drove to a very small farming town pop 800 ...no covid...got a haircut from 85 year old barber..lousy haircut but I love it..like you with dentist dr. blood wkup etc- no thanks- that is the price we pay for living and staying alive--you do not have to be a shaman to see this is going to get much worse over the next months -it is only just getting up a head of steam--

oddly, surprisingly and sadly enough --I proposed on this site for us folks to visit on skype zoom hangouts whereby etc, and was resoundingly rejected -
I then realized that we have some really odd and strange folks on here that want to type and blow it out their fingertips but don't want their faces on camera...

very odd anti social behavior and it comes from the supposedly friendly caring folks on this site--

I was stunned........

tho, I am online in that manner teaching English to other folks in other countries --so I guess in all fairness I am a bit accustomed to it..but geez skype id 25 years old...it is not going to go away...and neither is covid anytime soon,--

happy to visit online video with anyone ...seems to me it a tool that is available to us one of two...phone is the other one......I suppose.-

-perhaps an online forum with video for all instead of just one on one...maybe that was the hangup...I guess that indeed is what it was, a "hangup" my online times with English learners are saving what is left of my 13 neurons..
Click to expand...
🤦🏻‍♀️ Wow, I just love judgmental people-NOT. I don’t want to zoom, Skype, or anything else with anyone else. This does not make me anti-social, it does make me somewhat lazy though.

My daughter finally got me on zoom and I got to watch my 2 year old great granddaughter behave like a two year old for about an hour. Ugh. Yelling, screaming, uncooperative typical two year old. While I had to hold the stupid phone and agree, with my daughter, that yes she is a handful.

Reminded my daughter that she acted the same way (still does sometimes) at the age of 2, as did the granddaughters of my son. Assured my daughter, who is raising her granddaughter-her first from scratch baby-that she will live through it. Realized I’d rather get a text, than watch for an hour. Yup, zoom is not for me. 😂
 
CinnamonSugar said:
Hi @pip48 , welcome to the forum! I am still working as a nurse so once I get home on workdays I am glad to be isolated after a busy day lol. However, the weekends tend to be rather barren. I'm trying to work at a creative solution but part of the problem (I have noticed for myself, anyway) is that with all the conflict and contentiousness in the country + work + struggles within my family +++, I find my ability to concentrate on much of anything is very low. I think one thing I am going to start doing is listen to more classical music to ramp my concentration back up. I do enjoy playing on-line scrabble.
Click to expand...
Hi, CinnamonSugar, may I ask what site you play online scrabble on? Sounds fun.
 
Pepper said:
@pip48
I had some BAD experiences in South Carolina, and a very traumatic one in Walterboro. This was, umm, let me count backwards......55 years ago. So, nothing has changed. I don't know how people like Pecos and you can bear living with, being surrounded by, and outnumbered by these yahoos. I couldn't do it. I wouldn't do it.
Click to expand...
I don't live in So. Caro. like Pip48 does, but sound like Pip's in an area similar to mine, people not taking the virus seriously, etc. And there are a lot of reasons why people are unable to move (speaking from experience), especially when you get older, money, family concerns (or even if you have no family left, pretty hard to move to an area where you know no one when you're past middle-age & don't have the time left to make friends that could substitute for family). There are a lot of people in this country who are having to live in places where they'd rather not but are stuck there.
 
I am 76 and lost my wife of 48 years last year. I guess that I am in better shape than most people here as I own some property in a rural area. Not a lot but enough to have some livestock. If you count a couple of horses, some Angora goats, some pigs and a whole dumpster load of cats as livestock. I will not count the Deer, Squirrels, Raccoons, Camp Robber Jays and other assorted denizens as livestock, but as tolerated guests that can leave any time they want.. I have to get up every morning and feed them as they regard me a their MEAL TICKET on two legs.

Other than that I get to watch the antics of the animals and the interplay among them. Like the time a Camp Robber Jay landed in the middle of the cat food bowl at feeding time and DARED THE CATS to do anything about it. The didn't of course. (Worthless cats) One time I was out in the shed where I keep my live stock feed and saw a sleeping cat with a whited footed mouse sitting on top of him grooming it's self.

All I know that the Divine Creator has Created this amazing place called Earth that we just need to stop our mad long rush to set back and enjoy what has been put before us. Just put some bird/animal feeding station up on your balcony/roof (if you live in an apartment), or yard. The local denizens will find it and soon the location will be on the wildlife Telegraph. You can sit with some binoculars and keep count of all the species that visit. You may even send your daily count to the State Fish and Wildlife service so they can get an Idea of what and how many critters live in an area. (YOU WILL BE SURPRISED)

I guess what I am saying is ENJOY WHAT YOU HAVE AS IT IS A LOT BETTER THAN THE ALTERNATIVE.
 
CinnamonSugar said:
@Jamesed, if I missed your introduction, welcome to the forum!
Click to expand...
(I guess that I didn't write one. I wrote one on the Veterans thread but I guess I should have written one here also.

Any way I am a farm kid from Idaho. Never left the state until I joined the army and found myself in a glorious place in South East Asia. After Viet Nam I was Assigned to the Presidio of San Francisco where I was assigned to the Guided Missile Division (Nike Hurcules sites around the Bay area.)
From there I went to college at Pocatello Idaho. Got a ROTC funding on top of the GI BILL. Had to spend another 4 Years in the Service. This time as a Military Intelligence Officer. Yippy Skippy woopty DO!!! AND NO DO NOT THANK ME FOR MY SERVICE FOR IT IS I WHO SHOULD BE THANING THE TAX PAYERS OF THIS GREAT NATION who paid the taxes to allow this FARM KID FROM IDAHO TO GO OUT AND TRAVEL THE WORLD and be exposed to other peoples and their cultures. To see the great cities of ASIA and Europe, and travel the lesser know highways and byways of that area of the world.

Married my BEST Friend from College, (a FIREY RED HEAD) That alway made my life intresting but never dull. GOD how I miss her. You noticed I did not say the LOVE OF MY LIFE as the love of my life almost drove me to SUICIDE. Nope marrying your best friend is deffinately the way to go. Loves come and go but BEST FRIENDS ARE FOR EVER!!!

All the critters around this place are the result of her. She had a way with animals. Hell she could hand feed all the DEER, RACOONS, SQUIRRELS, BIRDS and what ever else showed up. All the cats on the place ARE THE DIRECT DECENDENTS OF A BLACK KITTEN THAT SHE ADOPTED IN Pocatello.

Well I hope that is enough of a introduction.
 
Jamesed said:
I am 76 and lost my wife of 48 years last year. I guess that I am in better shape than most people here as I own some property in a rural area. Not a lot but enough to have some livestock. If you count a couple of horses, some Angora goats, some pigs and a whole dumpster load of cats as livestock. I will not count the Deer, Squirrels, Raccoons, Camp Robber Jays and other assorted denizens as livestock, but as tolerated guests that can leave any time they want.. I have to get up every morning and feed them as they regard me a their MEAL TICKET on two legs.

Other than that I get to watch the antics of the animals and the interplay among them. Like the time a Camp Robber Jay landed in the middle of the cat food bowl at feeding time and DARED THE CATS to do anything about it. The didn't of course. (Worthless cats) One time I was out in the shed where I keep my live stock feed and saw a sleeping cat with a whited footed mouse sitting on top of him grooming it's self.

All I know that the Divine Creator has Created this amazing place called Earth that we just need to stop our mad long rush to set back and enjoy what has been put before us. Just put some bird/animal feeding station up on your balcony/roof (if you live in an apartment), or yard. The local denizens will find it and soon the location will be on the wildlife Telegraph. You can sit with some binoculars and keep count of all the species that visit. You may even send your daily count to the State Fish and Wildlife service so they can get an Idea of what and how many critters live in an area. (YOU WILL BE SURPRISED)

I guess what I am saying is ENJOY WHAT YOU HAVE AS IT IS A LOT BETTER THAN THE ALTERNATIVE.
Click to expand...
Maybe it’s better maybe not, depends
 
Jamesed said:
(I guess that I didn't write one. I wrote one on the Veterans thread but I guess I should have written one here also.

Any way I am a farm kid from Idaho. Never left the state until I joined the army and found myself in a glorious place in South East Asia. After Viet Nam I was Assigned to the Presidio of San Francisco where I was assigned to the Guided Missile Division (Nike Hurcules sites around the Bay area.)
From there I went to college at Pocatello Idaho. Got a ROTC funding on top of the GI BILL. Had to spend another 4 Years in the Service. This time as a Military Intelligence Officer. Yippy Skippy woopty DO!!! AND NO DO NOT THANK ME FOR MY SERVICE FOR IT IS I WHO SHOULD BE THANING THE TAX PAYERS OF THIS GREAT NATION who paid the taxes to allow this FARM KID FROM IDAHO TO GO OUT AND TRAVEL THE WORLD and be exposed to other peoples and their cultures. To see the great cities of ASIA and Europe, and travel the lesser know highways and byways of that area of the world.

Married my BEST Friend from College, (a FIREY RED HEAD) That alway made my life intresting but never dull. GOD how I miss her. You noticed I did not say the LOVE OF MY LIFE as the love of my life almost drove me to SUICIDE. Nope marrying your best friend is deffinately the way to go. Loves come and go but BEST FRIENDS ARE FOR EVER!!!

All the critters around this place are the result of her. She had a way with animals. Hell she could hand feed all the DEER, RACOONS, SQUIRRELS, BIRDS and what ever else showed up. All the cats on the place ARE THE DIRECT DECENDENTS OF A BLACK KITTEN THAT SHE ADOPTED IN Pocatello.

Well I hope that is enough of a introduction.
Click to expand...
My husband did not enjoy his trip to Vietnam at all. But, hey, at like your positive attitude. Welcome to the forum
 
SenoraDiamanteTex said:
Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and am hoping someone is listening. I can tell you a little about myself, I live in Texas, I work in an elementary school I love working on my yard. My husband passed away a few years ago, but when I feel alone I have my grandson to keep me company. However there are times he is busy because he makes movies, but his success makes me proud and understanding. I have other children and grandchildren, but I never get a call to see how I’m doing just what they need usually. Thought maybe I could make some friends on here.
Click to expand...
Welcome! Yes, you can make friends here! I look forward to getting to know you here.
 
pip48 said:
I am 72, and up until 5 months ago was working part time, doing grocery shopping, having my grandson spend the night, going to the movies, seeing my son and his family, having pedicures and manicures regularly. Now............I stay home, have my groceries delivered to my porch, no contact, if I see my children or grandchildren it is outside and far apart. I even had my medications sent by mail now. I am in solitary confinement! I read romance novels, total fantasy, or watch tv. I talk on the phone with a couple of friends and my son, but human contact that is about it. I have only been to the grocery store 5 times in 5 months. I had to get a ct scan, and I have canceled dentist appointments, eye doctor appointments etc. I have had virtual doctor appointments, but, I am going to have to go get a blood test for a medication that I take and I am uncomfortable about it. How are you all coping with this isolation?
Click to expand...
I am in a way, also avoiding tests and doctor visits. Just an overall feeling of distress. I do understand. All senior centers closed in my area.
 
boliverchadsworth said:
that is my story also ..finally got a haircut after 5 months drove to a very small farming town pop 800 ...no covid...got a haircut from 85 year old barber..lousy haircut but I love it..like you with dentist dr. blood wkup etc- no thanks- that is the price we pay for living and staying alive--you do not have to be a shaman to see this is going to get much worse over the next months -it is only just getting up a head of steam--

oddly, surprisingly and sadly enough --I proposed on this site for us folks to visit on skype zoom hangouts whereby etc, and was resoundingly rejected -
I then realized that we have some really odd and strange folks on here that want to type and blow it out their fingertips but don't want their faces on camera...

very odd anti social behavior and it comes from the supposedly friendly caring folks on this site--

I was stunned........

tho, I am online in that manner teaching English to other folks in other countries --so I guess in all fairness I am a bit accustomed to it..but geez skype id 25 years old...it is not going to go away...and neither is covid anytime soon,--

happy to visit online video with anyone ...seems to me it a tool that is available to us one of two...phone is the other one......I suppose.-

-perhaps an online forum with video for all instead of just one on one...maybe that was the hangup...I guess that indeed is what it was, a "hangup" my online times with English learners are saving what is left of my 13 neurons..
Click to expand...

I don't think we are "odd" or "antisocial" or unfriendly for not wanting to do the video thing. Most of us are older, some of us are frail and vulnerable, and simply don't want to splash ourselves all over the internet. We're not antisocial, we are just careful.

And some of don't have the ability or equipment to share video even if we wanted to.
 
I've been a "hermit" since sep 2019, sold my car cause i knew it was time, and then this covid came along..so I've been very reclusive...miss getting out a bit, but then I'm okay with my company, not sure anyone else is, as no one comes around or calls...lost the wife 4yrs ago today, so sorta melancholy today...I get my groceries, pharmacy delivered...get a ride with a part time caretaker when I do go to docs, which isn't often...have severe
COPD so have to be careful...low back destroyed from 3 surgeries..so cannot do much of anything anyhmore...ah well...we aren't supposed to be in great shape when we go anyway!!! LOL.....
 
Hi, @hawkdon
I understood your post, which you wrote out well...describing how some of us are living with the many limitations we each have, and the minimal interactions with people....

And I am sorry for the loss of your wife, and it sure makes the date melancholy.

Do you still have a kitty? The one in the picture, maybe? Or a different one?
I find it helps a little, though surely not the same as family or friends or neighbors would be, or the ability to get out more, would be.
 
Kaila said:
Hi, @hawkdon
I understood your post, which you wrote out well...describing how some of us are living with the many limitations we each have, and the minimal interactions with people....

And I am sorry for the loss of your wife, and it sure makes the date melancholy.

Do you still have a kitty? The one in the picture, maybe? Or a different one?
I find it helps a little, though surely not the same as family or friends or neighbors would be, or the ability to get out more, would be.
Click to expand...
Yep still have "Beau", he's 16 yrs old himself...rescued as a feral kitten when he was only a couple weeks old, ornery as me too LOL....and if you add 30lbs to my belly, that is me....HAHA
 
I've been a hermit since 2013. I find it a lot less stressful to not have to be "on" for people anymore. I think it's because I spent most of my life taking care of someone else. When I go out to buy food, I'm actually glad to come home. I can go to bed without first cleaning up after someone else. I don't have to prepare for the next day either. Cats don't care, they get fed and are satisfied. They like my company too. Can't say that was always the case with the people in my life. Just glad I don't have to do for anyone anymore. It's liberating. I respect others who enjoy that sort of thing, but I don't miss it one bit.
 


Back
Top