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.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Ah. Why do you contract it "reside"? Seems unnecessary.

So bottom line, we're scared of residue. i might get stuff on my hands.

Ohmygod. Whatever shall I do?

Look, I'm not scared of some residue. or 'fluids.' Or whatever.

I've been covered in mud for days, as recently as a couple months ago. Drank water from a river. Didn't shower for a week while fishing 10 hours a day in 90 degree heat and ate food with my unwashed hands. I've been up to my armpits in the chest cavities of more than a dozen deer, or otherwise covered in the blood of countless gamebirds and animals. And shook a lot of hands while doing so over 4 decades. Not to mention to dozen or so quail I pulled the innards out of earlier this year.

Actually, the two best handshakes I can remember was the time I was covered in the guts and blood of my first buck with my dad, and when my brother finally got his first deer a few years later.

'Reside' isn't really a thing for me.

Looking at it now, I'm infinitely glad I wasn't raised to have such phobias.

Do you guys wash your hands immediately after finger-banging your girl/boy friend before you get to homebase, or do you just forego putting your naked finger inside another person entirely?

Must be kind of inconvenient, not to mention something of a mood killer.

This is really convincing me to not shake hands with people.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

This is really convincing me to not shake hands with people.

You're really on a roll, bud.

Personally I think it's hilarious that people are scared of sweat, or that someone might scratch themselves over their pants, but this is the world we live in now.

[dirk digler]

Great thread Rain Man.

I would hope that working from home will stick. I didn't think I would like it because I had done some limited work from home in the past and found myself unproductive but now I can't see myself going back to work. I enjoy rolling out of bed and putting on shorts and not going anywhere but to my PC.

Some changes that might stick:

1. Staying away from extended family during the holidays
2. Wearing a mask during flu season (only if I am forced to go back to the office)

Changes that won't stick and go back to normal:

1. Travel
2. Eating out inside restaurants
3. Football games and concerts.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

Who hasn't rushed a poop and smeared the wipe a bit on base of your thumb a few precious minutes before a meeting and made a business decision to just roll with it and shake hands?

What, you don't know about the ass pennies?

[TrebMaxx]

Originally Posted by tmax63

And you think you won't be transferring germs with an exchange of small token gifts.
As for me I'll gladly return to all pre-covid activities. Getting our immune systems challenged is good. Heard the saying "that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger" is actually pretty accurate when it comes to our immune system.

That's my train of thought.

[displacedinMN]

Wife has been cutting my hair. She is getting good at it.

[stevieray]

I built a chopper and really enjoyed it...might try to find a Honda 360 and build a scrambler.

[jerryaldini]

Great list!
I've learned to really enjoy frequently preparing meals at home and surprisingly the simple task of doing dishes.
Work from home as much as possible, and be outdoors more than ever.
Avoid close contact in public with periodic mask wearing.
Cut my own hair, convenient and enjoy doing it (never cared how it looks anyway).
Give away most formal clothes.
More meditation time.

The one return is hopefully go back to gym.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

You're really on a roll, bud.

Personally I think it's hilarious that people are scared of sweat, or that someone might scratch themselves over their pants, but this is the world we live in now.

Nah, I seriously doubt there are many people out there who are actually scared (hell, I've known actual germaphobes who will still shake hands, because that's what you're supposed to do)... another alternative that makes much more sense is that people recognize hand shakes are a germ spreader, mostly because people are incapable of washing their hands and not touching their face.

And yeah, that's (usually) not life or death or anything, and we all still do it, and I doubt many people immediately sanitize their hand after or have nightmares about getting sick, or whatever other hyperbole.... but, it does spread germs for a largely pointless act.

[Spott]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHeaven

Maybe I should elaborate. I don’t care about any germ aspect of handshaking. I generally get sweaty, dirty and occasionally bloody at my job so germs are never going to bother me. It’s the occasional asshats that want to break your hands with some stupid death grip that gets annoying. Either that or it’s someone that does the exact opposite and has a totally limp wristed handshake. A good firm handshake using about the same amount of grip one would use jerking off five minutes before shaking hands with a stranger should be the standard.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Nah, I seriously doubt there are many people out there who are actually scared (hell, I've known actual germaphobes who will still shake hands, because that's what you're supposed to do)... another alternative that makes much more sense is that people recognize hand shakes are a germ spreader, mostly because people are incapable of washing their hands and not touching their face.

And yeah, that's (usually) not life or death or anything, and we all still do it, and I doubt many people immediately sanitize their hand after or have nightmares about getting sick, or whatever other hyperbole.... but, it does spread germs for a largely pointless act.

Welcome to your POV.

Though, from my perspective, being worried about someone touching their face, or 'germs' in general, as a healthy adult, is ridiculous. Americans have been conditioned to be wary of 'germs' like one 'germ' is going to get you somehow. If that were the case, there wouldn't be a human race. Every time you hold hands with your gf/bf/wife/whatever, kiss, hell, every time your mother patted you on the head there were germs involved. Your body kills them off 99.9999% of the time. Whoop-de-doo.

There are germs on you right now. On everyone you know. There are germs on virtually every surface in your house, car, at work, on your food, everywhere. The phone your using to write posts right now is covered in germs. Or your keyboard or whatever. Oh God, what should we do?

Nothing. your body deals with germs everyday, all day, 365/7/24.

you might as well worry about being struck by lightning.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Spott

Maybe I should elaborate. I don’t care about any germ aspect of handshaking. I generally get sweaty, dirty and occasionally bloody at my job so germs are never going to bother me. It’s the occasional asshats that want to break your hands with some stupid death grip that gets annoying. Either that or it’s someone that does the exact opposite and has a totally limp wristed handshake. A good firm handshake using about the same amount of grip one would use jerking off five minutes before shaking hands with a stranger should be the standard.

This I agree with. There's always a dipstick that wants to see if he can hurt you for some stupid reason. And then there's the increasing number of twits that shake hands like their hand is a dead fish.

Why is it so hard to just have a good grip and a one up-one down? Just show the requisite level of respect and move on.

though I never thought about it in terms of jerking off . . .

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

It really is amazing the difference in hand shakes. All hispanics go with a limp wrist method for some reason. Meanwhile Cowboys want to crush your digits. I have a lot of hand pain from, well , my past work and it KILLS me when some dick wants to crush my hand. Thank God for Covid and the fist bump era!

[Megatron96]

OH GOD.

I JUST TOUCHED MY FACE.

Excuse me, I have to go take a shower with 90% rubbing alcohol while wearing a haz-mat suit.

****, the dog is licking my haz-mat suit. I'm totally screwed.

Hashaha, someone gave me a thumb's down.

How about this?

Yesterday I gave my dog a 15 minute rubdown and scratched his belly, then WITHOUT WASHING MY HANDS OR TAKING A SHOWER WITH DISINFECTANT, I COOKED AND ATE DINNER. OH, THE HORROR!!!

And I've never disinfected the dog either. He licks my face daily.

GAME OVER, MAN, GAME OVER!

[Bump]

wearing a mask