What covid changes in your life will be permanent?

[Rain Man]

I've made a bunch of changes in my life over the past nine months, and frankly some of them have been pretty good experiments. In some cases I'll revert back, but in others I probably won't.

How do you think you'll think/act differently going forward as a result of this?

For me, some changes that will stick are:

• I'll work from home more.
• I'll probably continue to give people distance when I pass them on the street.
• I'll go to restaurants less often and get takeout more.
• There'll be notable changes to my business office, though not sure what yet. It'll definitely be less space than we pay for now.
• On an investment front, I've learned that tech is a safe haven now, so I've upped my tech allocation in my investments, and that won't go back down.
• I'll likely get a bidet as I redo a bathroom so I don't have to worry about future toilet paper shortages.
• I've discovered a lot of good new foods as a result of online shopping, so my dining at home will carry forward these discoveries.

Some changes that might stick in whole or in part:

• I'll keep getting groceries delivered instead of going to the store. I'm not sure if this one will stick or not just because I live a block from a store.
• If I have a cold or flu, I'll wear a mask.
• I'll go back to running in parks and on trails, but I've found good alternate routes that I'll continue to use (routes which allowed greater social distancing but are generally pleasant).
• I'll be more likely to get a regular flu shot given what I've learned about contagion.
• I'll probably go back to doing more crowd things (e.g., shows, parties, etc.), but less than before and mostly because my wife will want to go.

Some changes that won't stick and will revert back to normal:

• My leisure travel will go back to old habits. However, I may consider more road trips for a while where feasible.
• I've been a very casual dresser for the past nine months, and have been barefoot more than I've ever been in my life. That'll need to change if I'm doing more in-person meetings again.
• I look forward to being able to go back to my local mall, buy some Panda Express, and people watch while I work remotely. I actually may miss that more than anything else.

[WhiteWhale]

Awww... how cute. You guys think this will be YOUR decision.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Hopefully the awareness of personal space.

Pre-pandemic here in South Florida people generally didn’t care about personal space (i.e. standing right behind you within skin contact in line at a store, automatically greeting people with the Latin kiss hello, etc.)

All of that shit needs to permanently stop.

If you travel to most asian countries, you'll quickly notice this concept is foreign to them.

And you'll be grossed out in china by all the loogie hacking. They just hack and spit.

****ing weird. If you ever visit china you'll see why shit like this spreads so fast there.

I love the new social distancing fad. I cant stand being crowded on.

[DaneMcCloud]

COVID has affected nearly every aspect of my life and because of that, I'm doing some major renovations to my home so that I'm more self-sufficient, especially if another virus causes similar issues.

We have a small laundry room, which is just below a 7x12 balcony off the Master bedroom. I'm having that room demolished and expanded to 12x14, which will include a separate space for the washer and dryer, a utility closet for chemicals, the broom, vacuum, etc. and a refridgerator/freezer. The rest of the room will serve as a pantry, so that I can really stock up on food without the need to head out to shop every 7-10 days.

On top of the new addition, I'm having a room built out off the Master that will become our workout room. We'll have a Tonal or Pelaton, a high end treadmill, probably around 320 pounds of weights and a bench press, a rack of weights, a large area for my wife's Pilates and Yoga exercises and a 75" TV. Our roof access is off the existing balcony so I'll need to put in a "Trap Door" so that there's roof access but it will also be cool to go up there at night, as I can see the entire South Bay/Pacific Ocean from my roof, along with all of Hollywood.

I'm also doing other renovations, including replacing a 10 ton A/C unit with two units so we can finally have our home zoned but that's going to require tearing out some walls and ceilings, which is fine because the exterior walls of the house are very poorly insulated, which is why our electric bill is sky high when it's more than 80 degrees on a daily basis.

We're also fully decking our 1,100 square foot patio which for most of the 17 year we've owned this home, had been a toilet to our two yellow labs that passed away in 2018. We're going to hang lights, install probably a 12x14 covered structure with a fan, TV, bluetooth speakers, a fire pit and whatever else we can think of adding out there.

And while we're at it, we're converting our existing playroom for the kids into more a adult oriented room with one or two of those huge sectional sofas with USB ports and recliners, a couple of 75" TV's for sports and gaming, a gaming table and again, whatever else we can come up with for that room.

The bottom line is that we need to be more self-sufficient and have more options, whether it's food and food storage, exercising and fun so that if this happens again, it won't be quite as difficult to live through and manage.

[Chief Pagan]

If your going to be a prepper, shouldn't you move to eastern Montana?

[Stryker]

Absolutely NONE! This like anything else will pass and life will go on. It is the nature of things.

[Stryker]

Scratch that - bottom line - Is this a political move or is this a true solution. Hence, only time will tell. I will remain skeptical until the immunization is deployed and the over all numbers decrease. That is where I stand. Why I am on the fence - the proof is in the pudding.

[Titty Meat]

It's all shit we should have been doing pre covid anyway

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

It's all shit we should have been doing pre covid anyway

This is absolutely true in my case.

I'd been saying for years that we needed a freezer in our garage to cut down on the time I spend each month shopping (which is anywhere from 8-15 hours) but by the time the pandemic hit, literally every freezer within 100 miles had been sold by April. I continued to check all summer long and it wasn't until around October that I found the right sized frost-free unit and by then, I'd put my plans in motion for renovations.

Same with exercise. Before kids, it didn't matter because I'd hit my gym 5 days a week but since 2008, it's been difficult if not impossible. Add to the fact that it's now $5 dollars to park and I'd end up spending $1,200 dollar per year just to park at the gym, it was way past time to create a plan for a workout room in my home. And while I've done the majority of my cardio at Lake Hollywood for the past 10 years, the rainy season made it difficult to put in the time during the winter, so this was long overdue.

The other renovations were going to happen at some point, regardless of the virus but like so many other things this year, it just sped up the process.