Serious question....

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

This too shall pass.

Think of the stories we'll tell in 10-20 years. 

Exactly. Past pandemics haven't lasted forever, and neither will this one. It sucks for now, but there's berkeley-all we can do about it.

My attitude is "embrace the suck" like they do in the military. Recognize that the situation is bad and make the best of it. As others have said, find new hobbies, try to improve your fitness, watch all those old movies you never had a chance to see, etc. But this will end, maybe not soon, but it will. And that will be glorious.

For me, 

1. I'm looking forward to 4 days camping in the mountains as the aspens are at peak color. 

2. Working out the bugs of my track car. 

3. Moving back into my house that I foolishly rented out this year for a downtown condo that I hate. 

4. Taking the trucks out for some time in the mud and some trail running on most weekends. 

5. That peaceful hike I take first thing early Saturday morning. 

6. With the new way my business re-orged, I'm looking forward to only 1 maybe 2 business trips a quarter vs 1-2 a month last year. 

I guess I have a lot to look forward to. 

I'm looking forward optimistically to challenge this year. If autocross clubs can still do their thing, I'm hoping this isn't too different. Maybe hotel party will be different, but I'm not much for parties anyway. 
Looking forward to the new Bill and Ted movie. Even if it's only streaming and I see it alone on my couch. Station! 
Looking forward to getting more involved with shooting sports, pretty much guaranteed to be socially distant there.
looking forward to driving the thunderbird (hopefully this weekend!) even if we don't go to Florida. Building a car to drive out there means we built a car to actually drive and it should be pretty quick. It'll turn heads either way. 
looking forward to riding my motorbike more. 
There's stuff out there. It's different. But I'll be damned if im gonna let the apocalypse ruin my life. 
Shoot me a message if you need a fresh set of ears, or, if you want a real escape, come on out to Utah. Things are pretty normal still around here. I can't put you up, but I can take you camping! There's dirt machines, boom sticks, fishing, hiking, sitting and watching paint dry, whittling sticks into smaller pointier sticks...pretty much everything except regular baths.  (I'll extend the offer to anyone,btw)

In reply to barefootskater :

Hmm... How close are you to Zion National Park? 

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

It's a little less than an hours drive. 

So this came/comes from a lot of frustrations and my own devil on my shoulder (aka depression). My job sucks the life out of me day to day. The wife is a teacher, just started back to school but virtually. Because of our internet situation she still goes to school. Neither of us give 2 E36 M3s about this virus. It takes us it takes us we no longer care. We're tired of the continual bombardment from every angle. 

They're starting warehouses less than a mile now from my house and in direct view. Adding an exit to our little county road off of I65. Our home was our last sanctuary but that is getting overrun. Travel is restricted. Time is too as we are both either at or going to work 10 hours a day. She's super stressed and I have to keep my E36 M3 together just to try and help her, though I doubt I am really doing a great job at it. 

Seriously, 2021 is so far away at this point in our mental state, it's almost like thinking about the year 2100. Just needed an outlet. I overload those I complain to as it is... so consider this my overflow

Depression in this time is a f'n bitch. At least my therapist is back from maternity leave. 

As relevant today as it ever has been:

https://www.slideshare.net/vmission/who-moved-my-cheese-114784

It's never too early, or too late, to start looking for some new cheese.

For me it hasn't been the changing of 'things' getting me down nearly as much as the changing of people...Or perhaps the revealing of them. It has been a struggle for me to see who they have become, or shown themselves to be, and was really affecting me for a while. Thankfully I think my mourning period for them seems to be coming to a close, and things are looking brighter again.

On the flip side of that though, there was an autox practice the other weekend where I got to absolutely torture the hell out of the crappy old tires that came on my 'sporty' car as a big middle finger send-off to them, we have been enjoying the minor resurgence of drive-in movies, we have been and will be going on camping trips, and we're going to be making closer bonds with a few families from school that we're pulling together for a COVID/learning 'pod' to spread the online-education load.

In reply to bobzilla :

Are y'all berkeleying enough? Srsly, berkeleying really brightens my mood.

Another thing I look forward to is the biweekly GRM Happy Hour zoom chat. I couldn't join in this week, but it's fun. I'm not super social these days, but actually seeing faces and hearing folks shoot the breeze is pretty therapeutic for me anyway. 

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to bobzilla :

Are y'all berkeleying enough? Srsly, berkeleying really brightens my mood.

I'm pretty sure he means you and your wife but knowing him he might be suggesting the Busia down the street.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to bobzilla :

Are y'all berkeleying enough? Srsly, berkeleying really brightens my mood.

We try but due to meds I've been on long term let's just say it's not as .... helpful as it once was. I mean I can go into details if you want but I am sure most don't want that.

bobzilla said:

Just needed an outlet. I overload those I complain to as it is... so consider this my overflow.

We're good, bitch away.  Since none of us live with you we can tap in and tap out as needed.

Lately?  Not much. I'm hoping to get this elephant foot off my chest.  Moving on from a job that's rapidly turning toxic. Looking forward to the day when I wake up wanting to stay alive for more than just SWMBO and the hellspawn.  It's asking a lot,  but I hope.

I look up.  If you want to discuss further, message me any time.

Bob, is it time to move? In your area, I bet that your property has appreciated enough to make it worth it to consider - especially when, as you note, the things that are beyond your control that made it your sanctuary are now causing you significant stress. And we all know that moving is easy and low stress (that part was sarcasm). Hell, that is the reason my cousin lives in the raging Metropolis that is Giro, Indiana even though he works in Evansville - no chance of anything getting close to him in his lifetime, and he was able to buy enough land to prevent that from happening anyway. 

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5995-Pumpkin-Vine-Rd-Lebanon-IN-46052/2078433987_zpid/?

Also, if I can make some unsolicited advice: it time for you to turn off the cell phone, TV, and computer. Work on the cars, property, relationships, call people, see people (it is not impossible or even difficult to do it safely), build a flamethrower, find something to distract yourself. But the news, social media (including many threads here), and "other things" are not improving your life at all and appear to be actively harming you. 

You seem to be attributing your unhappiness to things that you can't control. And some of what is making you happy is also making you unhappy - your rural sanctuary doesn't get internet because it is rural. I'd imagine that changes within 5 years, but by that point you won't be happy with it at all as a sanctuary. Learn to deal with it and get over it, or know that you won't be happy, and move somewhere you will be. 

Stampie (FS) said:

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to bobzilla :

Are y'all berkeleying enough? Srsly, berkeleying really brightens my mood.

I'm pretty sure he means you and your wife but knowing him he might be suggesting the Busia down the street.

It's Babushka.  An eastern european head covering old ladies wear.  
 

Babushka is like the neighborhood Trabant.  Everyone sees her stocky frame out on the porch and wants to go for a ride, but at the same time nobody wants to be seen inside it.  

In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :

Maybe Patrick the elder has moved onto Polish grandmothers.  He is getting older you know.

In reply to bobzilla :

Have you asked your doctor if there's something you can do for that?  Maybe additional pills or a different medicine without the side effects.

Also, when I think of you, I think of this: 

My wife and I have played Pokémon go for years so we still get out and walk or ride bikes any day it's not raining. I look forward to hanging out in my basement building and tuning up bicycles. We have a small group of friends who like us have been tested we still hang out with on a regular basis. They are mostly my car buddies but my wife gets along with everyone.

this has been harder on my kids because we haven't done any of the normal summer trips. Even the local drag strip canceled there big summer event. We got them a trampoline and they still hang out with the 3 neighbor kids they always do.

both me and my wife are essential employees and this has made staffing very short were she works so she's been working a lot and it's 3rd shift so I really just look forward too the nights she's home, even if it's just crappy Netflix movies and hanging out.

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

build a flamethrower

Finally, some helpful advice in this thread! 

What's there to look forward to?  This crap finally lifting and us going back to normal.

Man, I'm terrible at advice but at this point Mrs. Hungary and I are in "try anything" mode just to get by these days.  Not everything has worked out well, but we have got a few keepers in there.

1) I took a left down a dirt road that really never went anywhere.  It turns out that dead end I thought was a dead end, was merely a 90-deg turn down a little more obscure dirt road.  Much exploration followed (i'm talking "Mrs. Hungary's Saab 9-3 can handle it" type of dirt road here).  We found an awesome field to walk our dogs complete with blackberry bushes and a couple apple trees.  We've been walking our dogs there every saturday morning before it gets too warm.  This saturday we're going berry picking.  If nothing else, it's just nice to be out of the house and yard for an hour or so to breathe.

2) Cooking.  I've always liked cooking, but this year I'm using it as an outlet.  I've been making a lot of freezer jams, syrups, soups (canned and in the freezer),etc.  Our freezer is stuffed!  This has nothing to do with us actually needing the food right now, it has everything to do with my sanity (I've been doing a lot of baking too, but that goes to the neighbors).  It doesnt have to be difficult either.  Go buy a bag of frozen strawberries and learn how to turn it into syrup and preserves.  rinse, repeat.

3) garage time:  clunk.  This is what I actually set myself up for.  Big bottle of argon, scrap metal bin, aaaaaaaaand no.  The kids are home, work from home is NOT the vacation I thought it would be, Mrs. Hungary needs a break from the kids, millions of things get in the way.

4) archery:  Clunk.  You can do this in the yard, costs a little over $200 for a basic recurve setup with arrows and a target.  I thought it would be awesome to polish back up my archery skills.  Nope.  See all the reasons above, add in 4 dogs and three cats in the yard and you get utter stressed out failure.

5) fun stuff with the kids:  Music lessons on the electric keyboard, spot the space station, virtual museum tours...  lots of plans with this one.  It turns out that when you are quite literally trapped in the house and yard with the kids 100% of the day, the last thing you want to do is more things that require more of your precious little energy just to be trapped inside with your kids all day.  On this note, we've accidentally discovered a few grassy park areas in town where no one else is.  Bring a kite on a day with no wind and it turns out the kids will quite literally run themselves into the ground with exhaustion.

Like I said, we had ideas.  Some worked, some didnt, some kinda worked.  Keep plugging at trying ANYTHING and something is bound to stick.  Do the things that stick and dont dwell on the ones that didnt.  Even if they are your normal hobbies, things arent "normal" right now.  Vent when it's needed.

In reply to bobzilla :

I hear ya. I don't know where or when or how, but I have slid into the same grove. At first it was a dedicated attempt to avoid the virus, but in doing so I have spiraled into what is almost a hibernation lifestyle. I have absolutely nothing to complain about truth be told other than this sense of malaise that has settled over me. Have not been in the shop for months and not feeling anyway at all about it.

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

It's Babushka.  An eastern european head covering old ladies wear.  
 

Babushka is like the neighborhood Trabant.  Everyone sees her stocky frame out on the porch and wants to go for a ride, but at the same time nobody wants to be seen inside it.  

I'm berkeleying done. I'm trying to get through some horseE36 M3 meeting, not giggle at some texts I just got, then I read this. I have to go outside before I burst. 

I bought a 1931 Model A.  Unrestored original.

It's not a project. Even so, there is so much to learn. 
 

My wife and I are planning a long distance trip in it. That's not something you plan in a couple of days. 
 

So, we are both learning. Learning how to connect with new people in that world. Learning how to buy parts. Learning about places we'd like to go. Learning about how to do basic maintenance on a car that is nearly 100 years old. 
 

And we take a short drive every weekend. We wave at people and smile as we pass them on the street, and talk about things we never see when we are going faster.  
 

It's kinda fun. It's automotive enough that it feels familiar, but it's so completely different from anything I've ever owned before that everything I do is different, new, and fresh. 
 

My wife even said she wanted to pick up the wrenches. This coming from a woman who NEVER had any interest in cars. In fact, cars sometimes came between us in our relationship. Now, we enjoy doing something different together. This weekend we will adjust the wheel bearings. Then we will go for a drive. 

What about taking the race truck for a spin around the Schweinefiletring?

Get some tenderloins "to go" and get away for an afternoon. I need to fix a throttle position issue with mine, but I might be available to join for at least a part of the loop if I get it going.