Nailed It ..........stuff you have got done over the Covid 19 pause

[El Presidente]

 

 

Covid came but it didn't conquer! ....except Sydney 

 

Mind you, in those early days of FOH Zoom I was getting a touch worried about some of you ……no names…….(Mike/Javi)…….but you all pulled through relatively sane.

 

Most of you, excluding front line workers (God bless you!) used the time to “do shit” that you have always wanted to do but never found the time.

 

Build a project, learn a language, take up a hobby, write a book, sell a company, build a business, trash and sell a house (I am not referring to Ken specifically), talk to the wife, get a pet, read the bible etc etc.

 

Covid is one evil bastard but it did unintentionally deliver for many that rare commodity of  extra “time”.  Hell, it may have just been the lack of a daily commute  ………but how did you use it? 

 

What did you nail?

[inter4alia]

[Nino]

Proudly introducing my new best girlfriend : Jette.

4 years old and lovely like her sister Jule.

Best thing Covid dropped on me ... 🙂

[mprach024]

Things that improved:

My mixology skills

My tolerance level

My Zoom skills

My cooking skills

Less Travel

My online shopping skills

Things that got worse:

My golf game

My desire to go to a shopping center

My patience for a long drive

 

[Islandboy]

My guitar skills were stagnant for a decade or so, simply because I wasn’t picking it up to play very often. The last year and a half has made a huge difference. 

[triphitter]

Painted the entire interior of my house. Pretty amazing what a fresh coat of paint does to the look of your house.

Also, bought a bunch of cigars.

1 hour ago, mprach024 said:

Things that got worse:

My golf game

 

Helped mine! Not sure where you live, but Covid scared the weekend hacks off the courses, so was able to play more than expected and a lot faster.

[Chibearsv]

The good news - the mortgage business during Covid has been non-stop and busier than ever.  No real pause for us at all and I never stopped going to the office every day.  Even during the "lockdown".

However, my wife has been working from home since March 2020.  As a result, she needed some face to face interaction during the day that she was missing by not going to the office.  So we got our mini Aussie Doodle Tilly;

@Miss_Tilly_Poo on Instagram.  That one's for @Ken Gargett .  My dog posts regularly and has over 680 followers - don't ask me, I've got nothing to do with it.  Shows how ridiculous things have gotten.

In addition, we made a decision over a year ago that we are going to stay in Chicagoland and not planning to move out of state.  So we took the opportunity during my wife's work from home time to have our house completely remodeled inside and out.  Almost finished, and glad we did it.

 

[mprach024]

1 hour ago, triphitter said:

Helped mine! Not sure where you live, but Covid scared the weekend hacks off the courses, so was able to play more than expected and a lot faster.

I have no real reasoning for it.  I live on my clubs course.  I played plenty.  Nonetheless I developed some bad habits that has been tough to fix.  Been working on it.

[Zigatoh]

I'm a solo parent with kids so had less time than ever!

On the positive side -

I spent a lot of time with my kids.

On the negative side -

See above.

(I also learned how to make bread and ice cream)

[Hammer Smokin']

I gained weight, lost hair, and grew an ugly multi-coloured beard. 

probably not the best example of triumphing through Covid. 

 

 

[teamrandr]

Smoke triple the amount of cigars 

[Meesterjojo]

Started therapy with coworkers because the first wave was so bad the company insisted. 

Slept more.

Went to two restaurants. 

The end. The dream is over for another year it seems.

[nKostyan]

I have already written about this earlier, I completed the sauna with my own hands together with my son. Wood-burning stove with stones. There is enough space for a company of 7-8 friends. The temperature is 100-110 degrees Celsius (212-222'F). You warm up for 10-15 minutes, then a “contrast shower”. I have a special bucket of 50 liters, filled with ice water from an artesian water well. Immediately from the hot steam room you go into the shower and in a few seconds you pour 50 liters on yourself. Then you rest for 15-20 minutes (drink cold beer, play table games) and go back to the sauna. A great home vacation is especially good in the cold winter.

https://youtube.com/shorts/4j-EgfB3agk?feature=share

[El Presidente]

Brilliant work ! 

[WLC]

Never slowed down. We actually built a new house, doing almost all the interior finish work ourselves and a good bit of the other work as well.

My wife is a teacher and didnt go into the classroom from march until school started back in mid August 2020. Taught via zoom from home.

[Corylax18]

I've been working harder than ever since last march. I'm currently managing the build out of the ground network for my companies next generation of Satellites. First here in the US, then the Shengen, and Finally Down Under!! We've seen demand for our bandwidth explode during the pandemic, I cant work fast enough right now. 

I've had to postpone trips to both Germany/Austria/Italy and to Brisbane, but my domestic travel has been non stop at 1-2 week long roundtrips per month. I was getting optimistic for the European trip later this year, but now its looking like next year at the earliest. 

While I haven't had much time for "self improvement" outside of work, I have greatly benefited from the lack of Commute. Sitting in traffic is probably my least favorite thing to do. 5 years ago I was at 2-2.5 hours roundtrip each day. That dropped to an hour and 15-20 minutes a few years ago, then down to 35-45 minutes for the 6 months prior to the pandemic. Other than my 25 minute Uber/Lyft rides to airport, I have ZERO commute now. 

My mental health and overall happiness has directly tracked with that reduction in commute time. My team has started going back to the office on Wednesday's and I've found it to be an exercise in "going through the motions" we simply dont need an office and a conference room to be productive anymore. I have never needed a physical office or a regular commute. Actually eliminating both has been the "silver lining" of this whole ordeal for me.