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    Things you have discovered during lockdown...

    that are now firmly ensconced in your life. Not wearing masks or anything but positives.

    Smart shopping (you know, where you scan the goods yourself, put straight in your bag and pay yourself at the end). I appreciate that it is a further threat to comrade checkout assistant but it's so bloody convenient.

    Paying with your phone. My credit card stopped being contactless right at the start of lockdown but my wife showed me how to pay by phone and it has quickened up my shopping only slightly less than Smart shopping.

    Video bootcamps. Not Joe bloody Wicks but my mate who is also my PT who moved to Italy and started doing video bootcamps during lockdown for free. They are half an hour and every other day. You can do them in your living room and don't have to go anywhere. After a couple of months, we persuaded her that she should charge but they are still fantastic value.

    Writing pub quizzes. When the pubs shut down, a few of the teams at our local pub quiz did a zoom version and, whoever won, wrote the next week's and they have become more elaborate. We even managed to add our bingo round last week. As it happens, due to a couple of couples giving birth during lockdown, one having MS and the aforementioned ex-pats in Italy, we have carried on even now the pub quiz has started up again.

    "Parts Unknown" - the fantastic Anthony Bourdain travelogue (plus) that EIM introduced me to. A fantastic way of vicariously travelling through lockdown.

    "Tiger King" - yeah, like everyone else. However, I thought it was much better crafted TV than it was given credit for. That's my excuse anyway.

    "The Magnficent Mrs Maisel". As I am still watching "Parts Unknown" and "Tiger King" is unlikely to have a second series, this series is the one that I will be intrigued to see if it holds up post lock-down. I hope so as it was good entertainment.


    #2
    I have discovered that my wife and I can manage to stand each other even if we're cooped up in a small apartment for six months. In fact, notwithstanding small annoyances we get along really really well, even if the daily work distraction no longer takes us away from home five days a week. I feel extremely lucky.

    I have discovered that my parents do not care at all for lockdown measures, despite falling within several risk groups, and we really need to fight to keep them from coming over for coffee. I'd rather not be responsible for killing my own parents through this pandemic, but I also believe in their own right to live their lives the way they see fit. Their time on this planet is limited anyway, and who am I to forbid them to use the remaining time as they wish? This is a hard circle to square.

    I have discovered that my office is not just the place where I work, but also the place that allows me to split off my work life from my private life. Getting to have my own office where I can leave my work stuff, so that my own home is just for personal stuff, is not just an okay thing: it is an actively positive thing. I hadn't realised that before.

    The Kinks. Particularly their late-sixties output. It's great. They're great. More of this sort of thing, please.

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      #3
      I've discovered that not eating out means we have more money to spend on baseball cards and Lego and fun stuff.

      Also that I can still write for fun (it had been a while) and enjoy blogging like I used to.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Bordeaux Education View Post
        Smart shopping (you know, where you scan the goods yourself, put straight in your bag and pay yourself at the end). I appreciate that it is a further threat to comrade checkout assistant but it's so bloody convenient.

        Paying with your phone. My credit card stopped being contactless right at the start of lockdown but my wife showed me how to pay by phone and it has quickened up my shopping only slightly less than Smart shopping.
        I know we've done this before but I quite like being served by real people, for a number of reasons.

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          #5
          Me too (as I've no doubt said before)

          And I very much miss those quotidian contacts

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            #6
            Series-wise, it's been Taskmaster for us, thanks for their official channel uploading old episodes in order every Thursday. Makes for a nice weekly treat on Friday lunchtime.

            YouTube workouts, initially solely in order to make ourselves tired enough to sleep, because a couple of weeks into lockdown (we were locked down for about four months here before being allowed out for so much as a short walk, none of the 'outdoor exercise for as long as you like' stuff that I gather was the rule in the UK) my sleeping patterns had gone even more out of control than normal and we both had several nights in a row where we simply weren't tired enough to fall asleep.

            The biggest one has been less of a discovery than the unexpected speeding up of a process that had started anyway, and that's that this editorial business is a proper goer. I'd secured a new client in January who told me their normal pattern involved regular freelance help during the first six months of each year, but who went very quiet when their London office started working from home in March. They started to need freelance support in May, though, and then kept me very well occupied indeed until the first week of last month. In the last five months I've earned almost as much as my best ever whole year as a 'football journalist', and they were very pleased with my work and are looking forward to having me back on board in 2021. And to cap it all I was then contacted by my former tutor, who's remained a friend, and am going to be starting soon as a tutor on the proofreading course I graduated from in early 2018.

            I do sometimes look at the last few months and think 'I really should have taken that course before I moved here and concentrated on proofreading from the start', but I'm trying to see it as a good thing that I've finally done this now, rather than as eight to ten years wasted.

            I've finally got back into reading for pleasure on a pretty much daily basis, more or less because of the increased workload and income, as well. For years, not having any work coming in made me feel like I shouldn't be just sitting around, so I'd be on the computer checking Twitter or reading about what was going on or watching football games even though I knew there'd be no money coming in for it. Getting through a novel every week or two is a lovely feeling to have rediscovered.

            And also, thanks to the new workplace rewards scheme instigated by my employer (me), I have discovered Zacapa Centenario rum. It is, I gather, quite a bit more expensive in the UK than it is here, and I'll tell you what, it's fucking spectacular.

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              #7
              Zacapa rum is amazing. Wish I could find it here.

              I have a shirt which i like which I accidentally scribbled on with a whiteboard marker during a training session towards the end of last year. I had washed it a couple of times in the vain hope that I'd shift the marks, but it was clearly not going to work. However, since the scribble is at belly level and when I do training via zoom, people only see me from the chest up, turns out that I haven't yet needed to throw it away.

              That's it. Beyond that I got nothing

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                #8
                C&C soda - it's really good. Not blighted by artificial sweeteners, not overly fizzy and a lot of flavours you just don't get over here.

                The Super Famicom - I've been meaning to get into Japanese import gaming for over 20 years but only really started just as lockdown hit. Far cheaper to collect for than the European SNES as well. Paying less than a tenner for games that would cost ?50+ for the PAL version? Yes, please.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by ad hoc View Post
                  Zacapa rum is amazing. Wish I could find it here.
                  There's a wine, spirits and fancy food shop four blocks from my flat which sells it for (at the exchange rate I got today, and the peso's getting weaker by the month) the equivalent of ?25. Twenty-five quid a bottle! I recommended it to my best mate who thanked me, went to see how much he could get it for, and informed me it goes for four times that in the places he could find in London.

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                    #10
                    I will go further than I did before and say that during lockdown here one small compensation involved those brief conversations with supermarket and other shop staff, whether they were at the checkout or stocking shelves. In neighbourhoods such as ours you get to know people, if not by name then by sight. If you're stuck inside most of the day these short exchanges make a hell of a difference. Of course, the shop assistant isn't supposed to stop to chat for even a minute, but good maanagers know that a happy worker is a good worker.

                    I had more of these kind of conversations, short but enjoyable, about everything from mask-wearing to the weather to football to whatever, during lockdown, with strangers in supermarket queues, street cleaners, postal workers and others. I think people became more friendly. And a good percentage of people were able to keep their jobs, and maintain their families, and their dignity, instead of being ousted by self-checkout machines and the like.


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                      #11
                      Homemade pizza

                      That not eating lunch at work ( or eating in the pub on Wednesday film nights) has taken off nearly half a stone

                      That I really could lose my job or retire tomorrow and cope with not going to work

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Felicity, I guess so View Post
                        That I really could lose my job or retire tomorrow and cope with not going to work
                        Me too on this, particularly because of all the time I used to waste commuting.

                        And also:

                        Prime Video - we've had Netflix for ages, and I've only really dabbled in it, but we got Prime early in lockdown and I find a lot more to watch on it than I ever did on Netflix. I know it's all part of the global takeover by Amazon and I feel uneasy about that but launching into the full run of Friday Night Lights is going to get me through the winter evenings.

                        Bits of the Lake District I'd never been to - because all the organised events have been cancelled I've had time and energy to explore. Similarly when I've been out walking round Carlisle I've seen signs for footpaths I've never ventured down previously and with not much else to do I've had a wander.

                        New recipes - particularly in the first few months when every single meal was home cooked from fresh, we were running out of ideas and having to find new things to make. Daughter had already subscribed us to Simply Cook before lockdown and at times we were getting through four of them in a single week.

                        Things I've largely undiscovered:

                        Televised sport - it's a struggle sitting through a behind closed doors game, and the messy start to the college football season means I'm not spending a lot of hours watching those games, which I normally would have at this time of year.

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                          #13
                          That you lot on here don't bite. I got a really nice message about my wellbeing a couple of months back from someone I don't know and never met.

                          I've always feel a bit overawed by the quality of writing and debate around these parts so have always a watcher from the wings. My post count to time spent on here ratio must be among the worst but I've probably posted more than ever over the last few months. Still a bit scared of joining a virtual thon as I'm never sure I've got anything interesting or amusing to say.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Greenlander View Post
                            I've always feel a bit overawed by the quality of writing and debate around these parts so have always a watcher from the wings. My post count to time spent on here ratio must be among the worst but I've probably posted more than ever over the last few months. Still a bit scared of joining a virtual thon as I'm never sure I've got anything interesting or amusing to say.
                            That won't have stopped anyone else.

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                              #15
                              In fairness Greenlander , I used to be exactly the same. A few years ago I had my own personal lockdown (5 months in a quarantine hospital room), and quite frankly it was mainly this site, particularly the Mundane and the X11 threads, that kept me sane at that time.

                              In this lockdown I have found that I actually like working from home, and do put in the hours (although the fact that I'm posting on here at 11am does kind of belie that), whereas I thought I'd be way too distracted. I've also found out that ordering stuff online is less scary than I always thought it was, and also that I get far too excited by Parcel Tracking Updates.

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by EIM View Post

                                That won't have stopped anyone else.
                                Actually thought about you the other day as a lad went on the ferry with personalised FCUM plates on his Triumph. Had a decent chat with him about the club and he told me that he was one of the founders.

                                I know you don't go anymore. And I hope that doesn't sound creepy.

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by EIM View Post

                                  That won't have stopped anyone else.
                                  You should join in to show us how it's done.

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                                    #18
                                    Since lockdown, it's been mostly a swap to realising/finding how much local stuff there is to do. Usually I'd have been out in central London on evenings and weekends (likely true for many people living in London suburbs), but over the course of 2020 I've come to really appreciate a lot of my local amenities. For example I'd never been in the park by my house for the 5 years I've lived here, but now go loads (it has a mansion house cafe and some converted stables that have an outdoor bar and small cafe too, plus has woodland as well, so has been vital to keeping me sane). I don't think I'd go back to quite how things were before.

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                                      #19
                                      Interesting what people are saying about retirement. As someone who is retired, lockdown has been the first time since retirement that I've felt I'd like to be back at work.

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                                        #20
                                        Becoming a regular at a local supermarket, every Sunday morning. This was the one I did the drive-by to during the second thon, according to Tactical Genius. I always have a quick chat with the girl on the checkout and we ask after each other’s dogs.

                                        I’ve also enjoyed the garden more and more.

                                        And I’ve enjoyed extra precious time with Emily the dog, who turned 15 in August and is increasingly wobbly.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Greenlander View Post

                                          Actually thought about you the other day as a lad went on the ferry with personalised FCUM plates on his Triumph. Had a decent chat with him about the club and he told me that he was one of the founders.

                                          I know you don't go anymore. And I hope that doesn't sound creepy.
                                          What was his name?

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                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by Sporting View Post

                                            You should join in to show us how it's done.
                                            If I wasn't busy running a pub into the ground I would.

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                                              #23
                                              Things I've discovered during lockdown.

                                              1. I love litter picking
                                              2. It is possible to spend extended periods of time in my house with my children without murdering them
                                              3. A new exit route to/from our local park
                                              4. A new walking path along the river
                                              5. Where are the local drug hotspots (depending on when litter picking whether I'm picking up nitrous canisters and balloons or syringes and teaspoons)
                                              6. My children are less fussy when eating at home regularly
                                              7. There are many things I used to spend money on which are completely non-essential (eating out, haircuts, takeaways, having my legs waxed or my eyebrows threaded or my nails painted (all possible to do at home, less time, less money), taxis, soft play centres, etc)
                                              8. I really enjoy the company of my husband and children (like even more than I thought I did)
                                              9. Gardening is really good for my mental health
                                              10. Nintendo switch exercise games are not as effective as real exercise classes

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                                                #24
                                                TV-wise it was Billions. It's not particularly great, but it's a good guilty pleasure.

                                                Food-wise it's that I really like kale

                                                Work-wise it's almost nothing as I always worked from home and am always an antisocial git

                                                Exercise-wise it's that despite all good intentions it turns out that I am genuinely fundamentally lazy and even with gaping days in front of me need to work really hard to motivate myself to get out of the house

                                                Social-wise it's that despite obviously disliking the anti-social aspects of lockdown, I am a much happier person when all the touchy parts of socialising are removed: no fake hugs, or forced handshakes. We're back to being stand-offish, and it's great.

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                                                  #25
                                                  We've only a tiny patch of grass in front of our living room and three rose bushes, but seconded on the gardening for mental health. Nothing like snipping off a few sprigs for dinner from the rosemary pot, hoping the heather doesn't die on me, trying to evict the fuckin aphids from the roses.

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