C19 Adaption

[Leaverite]

Six months of this now. Tell us how you and your familys are doing.

I have been fortunate to be on salary. I have have assimilated our payroll dept. Not my manager. Still training her to even understand the basics of payroll. That's what you get with managers.

My brother is still an apple farmer. A huge crop this year. Surprisingly, he has guys to work. All the local farmers sell to the same gig. Martinellis Apple Juice. One of their major forklift drivers went down hard with Covid. The whole rest of the crew are quarantined. 10,000 tons of harvested apples, stacking up, needing to be weighed, accounted for and put into cold storage.

My nephew Adam. 18 Y/O. He worked at Aptos BBQ. Laid off. He was one of the premier kids on the Aptos High golf team. Resourceful little bastard. He got a job locally driving the ball pickup cart at the local driving range. He surfs.

Ben, his older brother is back at work at California Grill. Foodserver/bartender. 22 y/o his compadres from work have their own crib. Paying rent. Being humans.

Tell us about your families.

 

[Subway]

Working Remotely, business starting to rebound in advertising and media, slowly. I will likely never see years like 2018 and 2019 again. Partly due to pandemic, and also unrelated account shifts because I was basically making too much money. Typical sales management. Apply massive ongoing pressure, make tons of money and win awards, then they take away accounts when you do too well, and then wonder why morale is low (I’m far from alone in this scenario). My wife had great success teaching yoga on the beach the last 10 weeks, but as per the other thread, we need to find her a CDC compliant space to hold small classes over the winter. Cold weather kicked in early so the sunrise classes will soon be impossible outdoors. She has the following now to make it viable and net net several grand per month which will really help offset my income decline. Tons of overall anxiety. I have a solid safety net and cash reserve (for a white collar media guy anyway) but the future is precarious in general and it’s wearing on me.

 

[PRCD]

We're homeschooling this year which definitely interferes with my concentration at home. Our church has been meeting outside with no idea when we'll be back inside. Thinking of getting into something else that's highly localized and I control (ie, entrepreneurship). Like @Subway's situation, the goalposts are constantly shifting when you work for someone else. Now that I can't really meet the job description due to the circumstances, I worry about job security and my engagement with the job. The world is already drowning in digital content, how much more should I create?

A lot of older guys are retiring. I saw that you did. Good for you. I left my last job just before COVID without having trained my replacement or my manager. He didn't take my advice to improve the software stack to the point that it was usable for a newcomer (or at all), so it was on him to figure out how to train the new guy. I did what I could. Anyways, since I was leaving for a competitor, they took my badge and walked me out the door.

 

[One-Off]

I teach and can and probably will retire next year. I just have to figure out how to survive on what will amount to minimum wage. My wife worked part time at the local library which is still closed. My sisters, graphic designer and architect, work from home. Both their studios got PRP money and are managing. Bro in law, artist at Nickelodeon, works from home. That family has a lot of preexisting conditions and are hunkered down, in strict quarantine. I feel sorry for the kids (teen age girls). They're having a hard time without social interaction and because they are not getting along with each other.

I have a cousin who has a bar in SF. He also had a condo he aribnb'ed. All his income sources are gone. He's hurting. Had to move in with his folks.

Professional musician friend told me, "Good thing my wife is working." His touring is nil.

The library my wife worked at was a magnet for homeless people to hang out. She said she's seen an increase in young people theist could of weeks. She thinks it's because the financial stimulus checks have stopped coming.

 

[surfapotomus]

Parents of teenagers have my full sympathy right now. Some friends of ours; the guy has a heart condition, and the teenage son just wants to go out and hang with his friends. Fighting has become the norm for them.

 

[$kully]

Been unemployed since mid-may. My show got picked up for a third season but won't be starting till January. Hoping to find something to fill in the blanks cause I'm getting bored. Mostly smoking weed, day drinking, walking the dog, hiking, biking and yes surfing on occasion. But heat waves and air quality have gotten in the way of that. Its all fun stuff that's hard to complain about. Especially knowing that others are really suffering. But the groundhogs day of it all really starts to wear on me. GF started work again, only from home. So I cleared out my office and gave her my desk since I won't need it for a while. I'm on an iMac that I set up on the kitchen table. She never uses the office. Usually sits on her laptop next to me while I'm watching baseball. Only I can't tell when she's talking to me or on a call due to wireless earbuds. Wish she'd use the office that I cleared out for her. Been eyeing the real estate market but I'm pretty gun shy due to all the uncertainty and not going to work until January. Also considering looking for a bigger rental where we can have two legit offices and some outdoor space if this work from home thing is going to be long term. Good news is our lease is month to month and rent controlled and we don't have to do anything. Mostly looking for good opportunity.

 

[afoaf]

I teach and can and probably will retire next year. I just have to figure out how to survive on what will amount to minimum wage. My wife worked part time at the local library which is still closed. My sisters, graphic designer and architect, work from home. Both their studios got PRP money and are managing. Bro in law, artist at Nickelodeon, works from home. That family has a lot of preexisting conditions and are hunkered down, in strict quarantine. I feel sorry for the kids (teen age girls). They're having a hard time without social interaction and because they are not getting along with each other.

I have a cousin who has a bar in SF. He also had a condo he aribnb'ed. All his income sources are gone. He's hurting. Had to move in with his folks.

Professional musician friend told me, "Good thing my wife is working." His touring is nil.

The library my wife worked at was a magnet for homeless people to hang out. She said she's seen an increase in young people theist could of weeks. She thinks it's because the financial stimulus checks have stopped coming.

did you see that Saint Rocke is for sale?

we should buy it and make it a cool all ages venue with more than just shitty bar bands

the south bay needs some culture

(this is premised on one of us winning lottery)

 

[TheEl]

Ive worked a total of maybe 15 days since March 13th. Like someone said, luckily my wife is still working. She has always worked from home so nothing new there. Unemployment is gonna run out soon. Looking for a new job locally(NCSD) so I don't have to deal with going back to LA anymore. Want something simple that pays somewhat decent ($20/hour or more).
Will be a big jump down from what I was making but thats ok. Just want to work with good people. Would be great to work in something that makes a difference in the world instead of advertising and entertainment. I guess entertainment helps people pass the time but feels pretty vapid. Advertising is the devil. Been doing it for 16 years. Probably time for a change.

 

[Subway]

Yeah advertising can pay well and sometimes it’s nice to see your work helping a cool business grow, but it certainly ain’t the lords work. it’s literally selling something to help people sell things

 

[Why_was_I_banned]

I build things.

People still want things built.

I'm lucky beyond my hopes.

Last couple of years, I've been working solo, crawling under old houses, and bolting them down. Yesterday's 4.5 I'm sure will help.

That and the occasional remodel. I've got work until the vaccine is abailable.

Almost all my clients appreciate how covid cautious I am. It makes them feel safe.

My realtor called, and wants to know if I want to sell my house. He has buyers.

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

No changes to my work. I’m “essential”.

I work all over the state of California. Lack of traffic has been great.

 

[grendel95]

Been very lucky through this stuff.

I'm an electrical utility worker, only change has been the split of office into two locations. Nearly got sequestered at work when lock down happened. Glad we didn't, though the paycheck would've been nice. Recently swapped with a co-worker to work in the other location. First time I've had real world contact with some co-workers since March and no plans of all of us returning to work out of the main office. City has been hurting since a certain amusement park has been shuttered and just offered the golden handshake to the retirement age employees.

The wife was furloughed in March with the "firm" promise to come back in July. July came and her manager wouldn't take her calls, then the employment firm she was contracted through notified her the contract wasn't going to be renewed. She works in a pretty niche job and her experience (15+ years) served her well, new full time gig and an upgraded title within a month. Old manger came crawling back a couple weeks ago asking if she would consider coming back.

Daughter is doing well with school from home, she's a good student and likes to participate. She took some video the other day of her class getting infiltrated by telemarketers, pretty scary/funny as all the kids started yelling at the interlopers to "get out!" Teacher had to cancel the class.

I'm really glad she's only 11 as she still likes Mom and Dad.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

clients are essential workers/business. wife is a school psychologist so we're safe. kids are really well disciplined and the schooling at home still isn't that easy. with that being said I'll be taking my son on my work trip this week so we can hit up numerous skateparks, hang out, and just get away from mom and sis. it's gonna be great. hot spot, hotel wifi will make sure he's just like he's at home.

I fear for what's in our future though. this crap is gonna fall off a cliff. bigger corporation clients are not hiring everyone back that is needed and are really pinching pennies. Those that are employed are running really hot. I think it's pretty telling. gonna be a lot of people out of work in the future.

 

[manbearpig]

No change for me with work, we got deemed essential right away. I took off one really cold rainy day but then worked the rest of the cold rainy week . We are a team of about 25 and when things were really bad in the spring clients were putting holds on their work to see how things panned out, except my clients. So a lot of guys were told to stay home. I think there was a full week of me being the only person coming in, it was weird. And then there would be sporadic days off for the other guys or short days, while I’m still putting in 10-11hr days everyday. But things started back to normal and recently have been super busy with storm damage response.

family all worked from home and holed up at my parents place together farther out on the island in a small town. They have a good set up away from everything with lots of amenities and comfort. They all stayed healthy, and we thankfully got my grandparents up from Florida healthy and ok. Just starting to see the rest of the extended family again.

 

[One-Off]

No changes to my work. I’m “essential”.

I work all over the state of California. Lack of traffic has been great.

In LA everybody does 85 mph on the freeways these days.

 

[Autoprax]

did you see that Saint Rocke is for sale?

we should buy it and make it a cool all ages venue with more than just shitty bar bands

the south bay needs some culture

(this is premised on one of us winning lottery)

Can my band play there?

Well, it's just me in the band so far but . . .

mybike-2

 

[One-Off]

I build things.

People still want things built.

I'm lucky beyond my hopes.

Last couple of years, I've been working solo, crawling under old houses, and bolting them down. Yesterday's 4.5 I'm sure will help.

That and the occasional remodel. I've got work until the vaccine is abailable.

Almost all my clients appreciate how covid cautious I am. It makes them feel safe.

My realtor called, and wants to know if I want to sell my house. He has buyers.

I don't know how you do that work. Didn't you have back issues? I remodeled our bathroom this summer and had to crawl under the house to cut the bathtub drain line. I almost got stuck. Seriously, got my arms into a position that would not allow me to back out the access hole and I could barely get traction to pull myself forward. We have very little crawl space. I literally had to put my face in the dirt to get under a joist...you earn those bucks my friend.

 

[One-Off]

did you see that Saint Rocke is for sale?

we should buy it and make it a cool all ages venue with more than just shitty bar bands

the south bay needs some culture

(this is premised on one of us winning lottery)

Will they accept Monopoly money? That's about all I got...

 

[Firebird]

I'm busier than ever.
My only complaint is not being home enough with the wife and kids.

 

[santacruzin]

I work in business platform engineering for a large software company. The business I support has had its best year ever, in part due to my team meeting some crazy deadlines in this weird new environment .

I have been working remote since March and we wont be going back to the office at all until Summer 2021.

This situation has completely changed how my industry thinks about office spaces and remote work.
We are probably never going back in the office full time and the working hours are now really flexible.

Moving to a new spot a couple blocks from the ocean and plan on surfing a lot this winter, making the best of this bullshit year.