The best of a bad situation

[cricketfieldclarets]

Read this question and answer on quora and it’s absolutely brilliant and so true.

My dad said when it started that people are moaning about not being able to go to jobs they moan about and that’s true also and very similar to this.

There’s a lot I’ve learnt in this time and while I’d sooner normal return soon, there’s been a lot of perspective seen.
——
What are the biggest mistakes a person can make during the coronavirus pandemic?
The biggest mistake someone can make during this pandemic is to squander this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

People (at least the people in my life, including myself) tend to complain about never having enough time to do what they need to do. They talk about all the things they would do around the house if they had the time… how they’d like to spend more time with their children… how they’d take better care of themselves if they had the time.

They complain about the stress of their jobs… of going to work… of their commute.

Well, here’s your chance, people. The government literally ordered most of us to take a long break… to simplify our lives… to stop commuting. If you’re working from home, like my wife and I are, your bosses aren’t just tolerating your work from home arrangement, but they’re encouraging it and participating in it too.

How much time have you saved just in commuting alone? Have you been using that time wisely? You’re a few feet away from your kitchen all day… have you been making healthier-than-take out meals during this time? How clean is your house now? How much better do you know your own children now?

We’re two months into this government-required life simplification. I can honestly say that this is the healthiest I’ve been, the healthiest my relationships with my family members have been, and the cleanest my house has been in at least a decade. My summer “to do” list (I’m a teacher, so I always have a summer “to do” list) is done. Now I’m tackling the “things we’ve been talking about for a long time but didn’t think we’d have time to do until we retired” list. Things like getting our will done, weeding the part of the yard that is only visible from the house anyway, and learning how to play a song on the piano.

I learn something new about my children every day. Our mornings aren’t a mad rush to get ready for school and get to the car. Our afternoons aren’t a mad rush to get their homework done, make dinner, make sure they eat, and get them to some sports practice. There isn’t an 8-hour chunk of time in the middle of the day where I don’t see them because we’re in different places. We play together. We eat together. We hang out together. And, the whole time, we’re talking to each other, and learning things we never knew about these young people who’ve lived with me their entire lives.

My almost 10-year-old son has all kinds of feelings about things that I never knew he had. My 6-year-old daughter is much better at math and reading than I thought she was. And my 20-year-old daughter, who was forced to move back in with us because her dorm closed… she’s every bit the young woman her mother and I hoped she’d become.

The romantic “spark” between my wife and I never really dimmed, but the reduction in stress in our lives has made that spark as bright as it was when we were first dating… before the stresses of children, mortgage payments, and work deadlines occupied so much of our waking hours.

I’m also taking the opportunity to see what I’d look like with long hair. I’m about a month away from being able to pull off a top knot. Right now, I just look really scruffy. But it’s socially acceptable right now, with the barbers all being closed and all.

The satirical newspaper The Onion ran this story way back in 1997. The “Clinton” in question here is Bill, the president at the time:

Clinton Calls For National Week Off To Get National **** Together

It was satire, true, but, like most satire, it was funnier because it was true.

It’s been two months, people. No one is totally sure when this government-mandated time off will end. You should be taking advantage of it while you can, because you may not have this much free time again until you’re retired.

When they re-open the schools and my children and I have to spend our days working or learning elsewhere, a small part of me will be sad that it’s over… our perfect excuse to de-stress our lives and get to know each other better… it’s over, and an opportunity like that probably won’t come again in my lifetime.
55.4K viewsView UpvotersView Sharers

You upvoted this
Upvote
·
2.2K
Share
69 comments from Stephen Taylor, Kang-Lin Cheng, Bill McDonald and more

TheWealthCapital
Sponsored

[Tribesmen]

Hummmmmmmmm all i can say i planned to paint the outside of the house and had given myself a time frame until Sept to get it done . Yet got it all done in 8 days in April , now what to do .

[Rubstuds]

Hummmmmmmmm all i can say i planned to paint the outside of the house and had given myself a time frame until Sept to get it done . Yet got it all done in 8 days in April , now what to do .

Give it a second coat. ?

[mdd2]

Hummmmmmmmm all i can say i planned to paint the outside of the house and had given myself a time frame until Sept to get it done . Yet got it all done in 8 days in April , now what to do .

Paint it a bit earlier than planned this next time so that you will have it re-done by the time we can move around like before all this started.

[huw.Y.WattfromWare]

Hummmmmmmmm all i can say i planned to paint the outside of the house and had given myself a time frame until Sept to get it done . Yet got it all done in 8 days in April , now what to do .

8 days?
Spray gun or a 2" brush for Tribesmen Mansion?

We did ours last year. By hand and it's pebble dash. Never again. I'll be buying a professional spray gun next time.

[Fenwick]

8 days?
Spray gun or a 2" brush for Tribesmen Mansion?

We did ours last year. By hand and it's pebble dash. Never again. I'll be buying a professional spray gun next time.

You could spray it, but you will also end up spraying your garden, your car, next door's garden and anything else within 20 metres

[huw.Y.WattfromWare]

You could spray it, but you will also end up spraying your garden, your car, next door's garden and anything else within 20 metres

Very probably.

[Silkyskills1]

'math'. ???

[Tribesmen]

I used 40 litres of paint sort of tape up one day paint day two and so on .
Yep it's a big job it's the 3rd or 4th time i have pained it since we have lived there .