Shard

That looks watchable Interesting opening line "New York City 2022..." !! Gracias.

ddsrph

I just finished reading “A canticle for Lebowitz” for second time after 35 years. A classic novel of the aftermath of WW3 and 18 centuries to the bigger and better WW4. By Walter M. Miller. The first couple chapters are a little slow maybe but keep going. It was a highly rated best seller in 1959. I found it by chance in early eighties.

Shard

Vaguely familiar title. I'll put it on my list, thank you for for the recommendation. I tried reading some Asimov a couple of years ago (something I have meant to do since high school) but I found it a bit slow going so have to pick it up again.

MikeyF

I definitely feel the fatigue/burnout from this and I don't even work in health care. It's just lingered on for so long and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.

SultanOfSwing

That's to be expected, it's affecting us all, and the burn out is real.

Lion in Winter

There is improvement in the sense that we have both vaccines and treatments, and the death rate has plummeted, but we are all not only dealing with the stuff that is still going on but processing all the stuff that happened. I was minimally affected compared to so many, but I did lose my job (luckily got another one after three months of sweating) and I couldn't see my son (we are in two diff countries since he is a uni student) for over a year and a half. I feel like I missed a significant chunk of his life, although of course we talked over internet. It made the empty nesting thing way more acute. No way that's not going to leave a mark. And most of us will have something like that.

robin1234

One truism of the pandemic, celebrated in facetious opinion pieces & New Yorker cartoons right from the beginning, is that introverts and loners were less adversely affected than gregarious people or those who like, or need, other people around them. Parties, gatherings, celebrations of all sorts have always stressed me. At work, I was always better doing stuff quietly on my own, rather than giving a presentation. I’ve found I’m much more comfortable speaking in a zoom meeting than in a room full of people. So yeah, there’s aspects of the pandemic I’d like to see retired (difficulty of long distance travel, for instance,) but other aspects that don’t bother me.

Lion in Winter

In many ways I'm like you, but as an introvert those human interactions that I do want, and there aren't a lot, are very important. Being deprived of those specifically is a bear.

SultanOfSwing

I realize how this will make me come across but most of you know me well enough and those who don't can always just ask me to clarify things but for me now it's increasingly becoming the issue that we have the vaccines and treatments, and that the death rate is dropping but there are a large amount of people who still won't let go of our alpha/beta era behaviours. They'd have us all in masks and wrapped up in bubble wrap for the rest of our lives, and just because they're socially disabled doesn't mean the rest of us are. I can't go by much longer without my ability to use non-verbal communication (my eyes can only express so much), and I can't be starved of contact and the availability to travel anymore.

Lion in Winter

Not a medical person here, but I agree that the focus ought to be getting everyone everywhere fully vaccinated.

I strongly suspect that in the UK Johnson would far rather keep people focused on covid than on his failings, and also he can blame the wreck of the NHS on covid, rather than on the 11 preceding years of underfunding and dismantlement. I don't think we are wrapped in bubble wrap, we are just being distracted at this point. Not sure about the US. But even for introverted humans, too much separation from social contact isn't good.

SultanOfSwing

Well as the song says, Boris Johnson is still a f****** c***

People are always wrongly describing introversion wrong. Mostly the virgins over on reddit to be fair, but it's always the conception that introverts can't be round other people or whatever but that isn't (always) true. It just means we prefer to recharge on our own but quite often introverts crave the company of others as much as any extrovert, who themselves just recharge around other people and are often more than happy by themselves.

Too much introvert = misanthrope crap floating around and every time I see someone leaning hard into the whole "I like being isolated and all alone and therefore we should force everyone to keep doing it for my own convenience" I just about lose my shit.

Lion in Winter

Agree. I would call myself an introvert and that often means that I actively need other people to draw me out. If I spend too much time alone or with limited contact I just get depressed, which isn't the same thing at all.

Also, I had to take my son to O'Hare today to fly back for uni, so I prob won't see him until May now. Not huge against the problems of others I know, but it's still a downer.

SultanOfSwing

I will default to being quiet mainly because that's the path of least resistance but I can quite happily talk your ear off if I get comfortable.

That is a pretty large problem you have though all things considered.

Lion in Winter

Could be worse. At least we are moving to the UK and will be based in the same country, so it will make things a lot easier.

Apparently I'm very, very bad at empty nesting though. It's like someone you've loved dearly for 18+ years suddenly isn't there any more. I expect him to grow up, and certainly don't want him to live in my basement or not get on with his life, but it is hard sometimes. OK, often. Covid kinda slammed the door shut. It'll be ok when I get there.

I'm also happy to talk. I like good conversation quite a lot. Just not all the time.

SultanOfSwing

Yes it could be worse. You could be stuck here

Our parents felt the same as well. And so it goes on. But you'll be able to visit him and he will be able to visit you so it won't be so bad once you're settled in the UK again.

Exactly, on our terms. Usually I don't mind 99% of the time, especially if I have a few drinks in me.