Working From Home - Impacts of Coronavirus

[bd139]

I'd avoid cycling. NHS is rammed. Minimising risk is probably a good idea at the moment.

[AndyC_772]

Trouble is, just sitting around the house isn't good for mental or physical health in the longer term - and all signs are that we are in this for the longer term. Astronauts train for this sort of thing... the rest of us, don't.

I think it's important to think about what things we CAN do, now that virtually all normal activities are suspended. I normally work from home on my own anyway, so social activities are really important for my mental well-being, and I don't mind admitting I'm already finding it tough.

[bd139]

Yes agreed. Go for a walk instead

[Zero999]

Trouble is, just sitting around the house isn't good for mental or physical health in the longer term - and all signs are that we are in this for the longer term. Astronauts train for this sort of thing... the rest of us, don't.

I think it's important to think about what things we CAN do, now that virtually all normal activities are suspended. I normally work from home on my own anyway, so social activities are really important for my mental well-being, and I don't mind admitting I'm already finding it tough.

Yes, I'm used to cycling around 14 miles a day, both to and from work and I normally go out at lunchtime.  It's raining a bit now. I'll mow the lawn later and probably will go for a cycle ride at some point. The risk will be lower, than my usual commute to work, as it won't be rush hour and I probably won't do as many miles today as normal.

[PlainName]

Yes agreed. Go for a walk instead

Apparently not a good idea either - explicitly a 'not to do' activity on the NHS site. Presumably it's the half-life in aerosol form that's the issue there, and it can be blown hither and yon outside.

[SilverSolder]

Yes agreed. Go for a walk instead

Apparently not a good idea either - explicitly a 'not to do' activity on the NHS site. Presumably it's the half-life in aerosol form that's the issue there, and it can be blown hither and yon outside.

Funny.  The only thing not banned around here is going for a walk or a run, as long as you maintain distance.

[coppice]

Yes agreed. Go for a walk instead

Apparently not a good idea either - explicitly a 'not to do' activity on the NHS site. Presumably it's the half-life in aerosol form that's the issue there, and it can be blown hither and yon outside.

The NHS page I am looking at (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection) says:

If possible, you should not go out even to buy food or other essentials, other than exercise, and in that case at a safe distance from others. The 14-day period starts from the day the first person in your house became ill.

and I have seen NHS people on the news say to keep you distance when out walking, rather than to avoid it.

[Stray Electron]

School's OUT !!!!!!    

   "School's out forever"!

    Alice Cooper was ahead of his time!

[Stray Electron]

Trouble is, just sitting around the house isn't good for mental or physical health in the longer term - and all signs are that we are in this for the longer term. Astronauts train for this sort of thing... the rest of us, don't.

I think it's important to think about what things we CAN do, now that virtually all normal activities are suspended. I normally work from home on my own anyway, so social activities are really important for my mental well-being, and I don't mind admitting I'm already finding it tough.

   What? We aren't sufficient social company?

    I have to admit that after four days at home, I got in my truck and drove into town to see what was going on. I didn't stop anywhere but just looked. I was surprised at how many people were out and doing their normal activities. Two grocery stores were full, the usual long lines of traffic going in and out of the student housing even though the University is closed, even road (de)construction and the landscapers were at work.

[nctnico]

Trouble is, just sitting around the house isn't good for mental or physical health in the longer term - and all signs are that we are in this for the longer term. Astronauts train for this sort of thing... the rest of us, don't.

I think it's important to think about what things we CAN do, now that virtually all normal activities are suspended. I normally work from home on my own anyway, so social activities are really important for my mental well-being, and I don't mind admitting I'm already finding it tough.

Agreed. I already ordered a wetsuit so I can at least go for a swim in the lake nearby but I'll still miss the regulars from the pool.

[bsudbrink]

For those at home by themselves that might enjoy a lunchtime "pick-me-up", AV Geeks is doing a YouTube live stream each day at 1pm EDT.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV78nuSmJxTtHaD4wnzPJkA

[PlainName]

The NHS page I am looking at ...

Entirely possible it's changed since I looked at it last!

[Ranayna]

That mention of lack of social contact got me thinking, to be honest.
I am in the office today, but I am almost alone. The company I work for has more that 1000 employees at my location, in the office building where I am sitting, normally around 400, in the open space office where I have my desk, around 30, with two of those offices used by IT.

It's eerie today. My office is empty, except for me. In the other IT office are two guys supporting colleagues that still need stuff for their home office. And then there are maybe 20 people in the rest of the building... All others are working from home.

I always thought of myself as not really needing many social contacts. Due to my living conditions and general "introvertness" I do not have many social contacts outside of the office.
Now I am actually missing something at the moment. The office was always quite busy (which is somewhat of a disadvantage if you need to concentrate), but I am honestly missing the banter... Now the silence makes it difficult to focus.

Traffic in my area has noticeably gone down, even though it never really was all that busy on my commute. The supermarkets seem to do business as usual, even cheap noodles, rice, flour and toilet paper are available. Restaurants are only allowed to open between 6:00 to 18:00, non essential shops are almost completely shut down.

I reckon that this will last quite some time. I would not be surprised at 2 Months, and maybe even more severe shutdown of public life.
I wonder if we (humanity as a whole) will learn from this.

[AndyC_772]

I think we're all experiencing the effect of the shock to the system right now. Hopefully that, at least, will pass soon.

I'm quite used to being on my own during the day, but I try to arrange at least one customer visit each week for various reasons. If that has to stop - and it probably will, since most of the work I do *can* be done remotely even if it's not ideal - then it's going to be hard.

   What? We aren't sufficient social company?

IMHO one of the great weaknesses of EEVblog is that discussions deemed "off-topic" get stamped out so quickly, so I don't really know anything about anyone's interests outside of electronics. Imagine sitting in a sports bar and getting kicked out for talking about music, it would be ridiculous, but that's what seems to happen here.

[Black Phoenix]

I wonder if we (humanity as a whole) will learn from this.

Some will learn, most don't...

I kinda understand what you say, normally the IT and programmer guys are introvertive people. We like our space, if we have the computer we have everything we need to spend a day on, there is always something to do, something to check and something to fix.

[coppice]

Now I am actually missing something at the moment. The office was always quite busy (which is somewhat of a disadvantage if you need to concentrate), but I am honestly missing the banter... Now the silence makes it difficult to focus.

There are several key things you need to get used to when you start working from home. The change in social interactions is certainly one. Another is self discipline in time management, as exemplified by 

[SiliconWizard]

I wonder if we (humanity as a whole) will learn from this.

I kind of doubt it.
And it depends on what kind of lesson you're thinking of. If it means a major change in our economic models - I highly doubt that. If it means getting more prepared to such events, then probably yes, a little bit. Maybe in western countries we'll get to the level they are at in asian countries. I doubt it will be much more than this.

Funnily enough, all the survivalists that used to look like weirdos to most of us now start looking a lot less ridiculous. Will we all prepare like they do though? Nah (and it wouldn't be possible IMO anyway on a large scale.)

[SiliconWizard]

I wonder if we (humanity as a whole) will learn from this.

Some will learn, most don't...

I kinda understand what you say, normally the IT and programmer guys are introvertive people. We like our space, if we have the computer we have everything we need to spend a day on, there is always something to do, something to check and something to fix.

Yeah, many IT guys are like that. And even many engineers in general. But there's a wide gap between just liking your space, being not very social and being isolated. That's when they realize they're not as asocial as they thought.

Being confined looks a lot like home detention. I doubt anyone likes that.

[coppice]

Being confined looks a lot like home detention. I doubt anyone likes that.

That depends who you share your home with. I was working from home when we married, and my wife was a student. The flexibility that gave in how I allocated my time was just wonderful for a newly wed. If you aren't getting along well with the others in your house, or you live alone, you may find the opposite result. As with most things, one size does not fit all.

[andy3055]

Working from home needs very strict discipline to keep at it and not get distracted which I could never do. In my case, I could be home alone and still get distracted! For that, I am glad to be retired. 

[SiliconWizard]

Being confined looks a lot like home detention. I doubt anyone likes that.

That depends who you share your home with. I was working from home when we married, and my wife was a student. The flexibility that gave in how I allocated my time was just wonderful for a newly wed. If you aren't getting along well with the others in your house, or you live alone, you may find the opposite result. As with most things, one size does not fit all.

Of course, but that's still exactly like home detention. Sure it's not as bad if you have good company, but the rest is just the same. What does differ currently is that there are (as of yet anyway) no specific time of the day you're allowed to get out and you have no electronic device stuck to you ankle, but the rest is the same (over here at least): you can't get out for long, you must justify the reason, you can't get out too far away from you home...

[Zero999]

Trouble is, just sitting around the house isn't good for mental or physical health in the longer term - and all signs are that we are in this for the longer term.

Going back to mental health again, I'd say I'm in a fairly high risk group, as I've had mental health problems in the past and nearly ended up in hospital as a result. Exercise does help me with it, but I often find I need something to motivate me to get out of bed in the morning.

I got round to mowing the lawn today, but didn't cycle and will try giving it a miss today, partly because I hope resting will help my cough. I do hope to get back to it, before I go back to work. though.

[james_s]

I'm working from home full time now due to it being mandated by my employer and it doesn't really bother me although it has thrown my routine out of whack and now I have trouble knowing what day of the week it is without looking at my phone.

Unfortunately I don't think it really does me any good since my partner manages a 24 hour animal hospital she is working even more hours than normal dealing with the fallout from the Covid panic, thus she is exposed to more people than usual and whatever she is exposed to I am virtually guaranteed to be exposed to. That's life though, the world doesn't stop turning when something happens and wait for everyone to solve the problem.

[Zero999]

Do you have an "unofficial" start of autumn there in Australia like we do here?

Nope, 1st March is Autumn.

Surely that's the unofficial start of autumn there. Astronomically speaking, autumn starts when the sun reaches one of its equinoxes (crosses the celestial equator), which occur twice a year six months apart. The March equinox this year occurs on 19th March at 03:34 UTC. The September equinox happens on 22nd September at 13:15 UTC.

Can't say I've ever heard anyone in Australia use astronomical dates.
"1st of December, summer, you bloody ripper!"
"1st of June, winter, bummer"
And it seems official according to our BOM:
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/glossary/seasons.shtml

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/meteorological-versus-astronomical-seasons

Our country is not that bad yet with the number of those infected. Yet government is starting to take strict actions. All schools in our country now closed. All gatherings of 100 or more people are prohibited. Pretty hefty fines (about $150.000) for people violating quarantine laws.

I'm not sure at what point that is going to happen in Sydney, but I'm sure there is threshold somewhere...
There is a decent chance we get away with this for now due to our warmer climate and just days out of summer here. But if that happens, winter would be open season.

No one knows enough to say that yet. Southern China''s climate is pretty similar to the most populated parts of Australia, so I don't think you should be too complacent. For example Sydney and Guangzhou have fairly similar mean temperatures in the coolest months.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney#Climate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangzhou#Climate

Never take anything for granted.

[rdl]

I went back to the grocery this afternoon. They had restocked a bit, but surprisingly low stock on almost everything. There was one bag of frozen chicken wings left so I bought it. I got my prescriptions refilled okay, 90 day supply. And I also got a hair cut.

The lady who cuts my hair knows I like what I call a 6 week cut, which I will usually try to push out to 8 weeks before getting it cut again. Today I told her, because the way things are going, I might need a 10 week cut. She just laughed and went to work. My hair is now really short.