[6.04] Fly Away
No surprise. People these days are so flaky, amirite?
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For those of you living in areas affected by COVID-19, I’m interested in hearing about your stories/experiences thus far, how things have changed, etc. if you don’t mind sharing! As for me, I’m in my last year of college and as many of you have probably heard, a lot of universities across the US, including mine, have basically shut down due to the virus. I’m pretty heartbroken to have to spend my last few months taking online classes, being separated from my classmates and professors, and likely not even walk in spring commencement. But I realize that everyone affected by this situation has their own troubles so there’s no use complaining about it. At least I’m not out of a job or a place to live, so very grateful for it.
Also suggestions for how not to die of boredom during a quarantine are appreciated (as much as I love drawing this comic I’m not going to do it 24/7, and as much of an introverted art person I may be, I cannot stand spending too much time indoors).
Stay safe and wash your hands y’all.
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6.04 Transcript
Kiro: That was all she wanted me to come up to do? Just sniff me and leave?
[Kiro: Wait a second. Doesn’t A know about her too?]
[Kiro: I will wring that information out of him.]
[Kiro: Also, he better have made breakfast.]
Not much going on wfhere I am. Almost every business has either been forced to close, or closed voluntarily, so it’s only a short step from there to quarantine. As far as keeping myself relatively sane? I’m doing it now. ^^
Huh. So it really was just to go up there and be talked at for a bit. Lot of effort for so little. Poor Kiro.
As for COVID, I work at UPS (warehouse, not driver) and we haven’t stopped yet. They locked up the break rooms, bathrooms still open, of course. and are putting soap and hand sanitizers everywhere.
I ordered some puzzles and some craft kits on amazon. I figured I might as well learn a new hobby while I’m stuck at hone. I’m also picking up some foster animals today, because kittens make everything better. I live in a decent sized city so I’m lucky that there’s still tons of place open for delivery/takeout and there’s enough grocery stores where The food shortage isn’t too bad. It’s still bad enough that I can pre plan any meals and I have to figure out what to cook based on what’s there though. I had to cancel my trip to Japan, so I might use the time to maybe actually learn more than a few key phrases for when I get a chance to actually go.
I’m a student too and my school was canceled Monday. I have been trying to keep learning with online worksheets because my school refused to provide any online courses. I have 2 pet birds so I try to keep myself busy by playing with them (but they kinda get annoyed and angry because I play with them too much). I play oboe so I try to keep that up by practicing 40 min every day. I clean my house every day. I wipe down everything and vacume my floors then do the laundry. I’ve taken up cooking because I have so much spare time. I find I always have too much energy to go to bed or sleep so I read until 12 most nights. I follow about 5 webcomics because I can’t borrow from my local library.
My uni has closed too (I live in Scotland), and a lot of the shops have closed up or reduced their opening hours. It’s weird, but it’s not too bad, I don’t live far away from my university so I’m just staying with my parents for now. Why don’t you try a new creative hobby, if you don’t want to draw all the time? I find things like knitting, sewing and making cards to be quite fun at times, although my real love is writing. I really love your comic! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to write such a long comment -_-‘
We had school canceled, and we started online school yesterday. Honestly it is very easy (my teachers are being nicer than I thought they would). We also had an earthquake, which was kind of cool. My state has not had one that big since 1992 I think.
I live in Italy and (currently) work as a secondary school teacher. All schools and universities are closed, and I’m giving lectures online. It’s really a poor substitute for actual classes. Things are progressing fast, and in the last few days literally EVERYTHING has closed down, except for supermarkets (strictly for groceries) and pharmacies. In companies of all kinds, everyone who can is “smart-working”… Working from home. We’re all quarantined, supposed not to go out, not even for a short walk. It is surreal and quite alienating… I still have to work quite a lot, so I’m not really bored. But not being able to go out is driving me crazy. I also have two daughters aged 3 and 6, and keeping them entertained and explaining why we have to stay inside is not easy. All in all, we are hope this finishes soon, but it doesn’t seem very likely.
I live in the UK and I am over 70. The authorities are saying we old folk will have to stay at home for at least 3 months. Not looking forward to that.
This comic is good. It has a Cthulu feel about it. (Cthulu is a rpg that I used to play) Thank you for putting it on line.
I work at a local convenience store.
I’ve been in the habit of washing my hands frequently already, did not need any special event to do so.
We are now wiping down the counters, the credit card pad, the pens, the door handles every half hour.
Even if I were to contract Covid19, I’d be expected to go to work, but to acquire gloves and a mask out of my own pocket first. I might be exaggerating, but sadly I really don’t think I am.
The local university has closed down.
A coworker’s girlfriend isn’t allowed to work, as she provides home health care. So now she’s not getting paid, and the people for which she cared aren’t getting very much needed care.
A lot of other people in my community who really can’t afford it have been forced out of work.
Furthermore, as we live in a somewhat isolated city, stores are wiped out of things like ramen and other dried noodles, toilet tissue, soups and other canned foods. I haven’t had either the time or the money to have gone shopping before tomorrow, so that is going to really suck.
There is talk about forcing quarantine, but as I live in an apartment complex that doesn’t help… we have shared vents. That’s just setting people up to get sicker. Also, those of us who don’t have savings, who live paycheck to paycheck (i.e. 90% of the residents here) simply can’t afford to miss work like that.
To be fair, I am a bit bitter about the whole situation.
I’d asked weeks ago to have the 21st and 22nd off from work so that I would be able to play Animal Crossing locally with my brother, tried really hard to do the right thing, submitted the request in writing and all… and of course I won’t get it. My brother and I work opposite schedules so I haven’t seen him for more than ten minutes at a time in six months. Unfortunately, I’m “too valuable an employee to not having working the peak hours, especially in times like these.” If I didn’t care about the customers (I have zero loyalty for the upper management at this point, and trust them not at all), I’d just leave.
That and the difficulty of finding a new job at this particular point… I would like to be able to afford to continue to live indoors, to continue paying for food, to continue being able to get the occasional new game or movie, to make sure my mom has a warm and safe place to live.
If I am somehow locked up and forced to stay home, assuming I don’t run out of food, I have a backlog for my 3DS and Switch. I have a handful of comics I haven’t read simply because of lack of time in general.
I also plan to stock up on good alcohol, something that seems like has not yet gone into shortage, just to keep on hand.
I live in Switzerland. Public life here is supposed to be shut down, to break infection chains and to flatten the curve. Assemblies are forbidden, all theaters, movie theaters, operas, concert halls, museums, bars, night clubs etc. are closed. Restaurants are limited to food delivery and take away. All shops here are closed since Tuesday 2020-03-17, except for grocery stores and pharmacies. The government asks all to stay home, except for necessary grocery shopping, work which cannot be done in home office or helping others. There is no nation-wide curfew yet (so one is allowed to leave one’s home, with or without good reasons), but if people keep disregarding the social distancing recommendations (which some do), I guess there might soon be decided that there will be one.
I work at an applied university, and teaching there was suspended for the full current week to be able to prepare for remote education effective beginning of the coming week. Many co-workers have switched to home office. Today I was the only one present in our open-plan office, and maybe also the only one of our institute. (I still go there, because I live really close by and I figured someone has to handle the non-electronic mail we sometimes get.) The situation is probably similar in the other offices and institutes or the university, so the cafeteria (which is still open this week, but only allowed to have 50 people in it at any given time, including cafeteria staff) will be closed from Monday due to lack of patrons.
Each evening, pasta and toilet paper are sold out in some shops, even though there seems to be no good reason to hoard those: The chains have sufficient supplies in the centers of distribution, but they simply can’t get them onto the shelves as quickly as some people buy them off. (And there’s no shortage at all on any other food, be it fruit, meat, dairy, bread, …, nor is there any indication that grocery stores would be closed down or that any possible curfew wouldn’t have exceptions for grocery shopping.)
Not much happening in my area. I’m worried about my grandparents, but besides that I’m fine. The toilet paper situation at the stores is kinda stupid if you ask me. Selling out of meat though, that I can understand a bit. I hope everyone else is doing well!
I’m retired and live alone, so thus far there has been little impact on my day to day life. My savings have taken a major hit but that’s mostly a paper loss and may eventually rebound… uh… some day.
Austin, Texas, started shutting things down about a week ago. *Finally* the state has followed suit. Only grocery stores and pharmacies are supposed to be open. My old university (Rice, in Houston, Texas) has kicked everyone off-campus and gone online-only (except for a few grad students). The students moving out organized an impromptu march and concert. That may be the only real “graduation” they get this year.
At least Austin is not as badly affected as some places (crosses fingers).
I’m from Sri Lanka, a country which is rather underdeveloped on health care or so my father say. So it’s kinda terrifying to go outside at the moment. And as for what I do to keep myself sane, I usually read what’s available. I have a good collection of books and so does my dad. I also read comics (both books and the online version like this one). I also like to watch tv series and playing video games. Also I read, review and write on Fanfiction under this same username (but the writing bit’s on hold because of the dreaded “Writer’s Block”. But I’m not exactly giving up just yet.) So, yeah. That’s the story of what’s happening to me cuz of this virus. Hope it was not too boring!
I work in an Wal-mart deli, which places me in fairly unusual position. I see people grabbing a half dozen chilled rotisserie chickens while wearing earmuffs , gloves, and a face mask, and since no one wants to have some stranger handling their meats; by and large I am left at peace. Part of me feels for the fear they must be experiencing , I think, but I can’t help but chuckle at their scrambling. As for what to do to stave off boredom, learn some new skills, I went ahead and bought a guidebook on weaving to make use of the loom that came with my house.
Going outdoors is fine as long as you stay away from other people, the UV in sunlight does sterilize surfaces.
I’m in a Canadian west coast suburb. My life hasn’t changed much. I’m unhappy about being unable to go to restaurants, but even when I did, it seemed like I was spending a lot of money for the sake of convenience. There aren’t any other reasons for me to go outdoors, aside from grocery shopping (and I stocked up a couple weeks in advance) and just enjoying the outdoors, which I can still do as much as I want. Which is not very much, since even now the road noise is still a problem.
The UV in sunlight does eventually kill what doesn’t reproduce quickly enough, but “sterilize” is a bit of a strong word for it. On the other hand, while I’ve heard that this virus can survive for a significant time on a surface (unsure how much that would be shortened by sunlight), I’ve also heard that all or virtually all confirmed cases contracted the virus in a more direct manner. That may very well be wrong by now though.
I work at the parts department at a car dealership in South Dakota. Our business has slowed to a trickle and I’m uncertain if we will shut down or not. Yesterday all the stores were out of toilet paper but we had no problem stocking up on food items. Most of the restaurants are either closed or drive through only.
California here. My son’s college paid to fly all out-of-state students home, and my daughter’s special-needs program is closed. So we’re back to four people in the house. Same closures and stir-crazy everyone else is reporting. But I was already full-time work-at-home, so at least my job isn’t affected.
Love your work (I just finally caught up today)!
Sweden here. I have no real grip on what is going on, at least we haven’t been told to stay inside, merely to stay away from each other when out and about. I happened to be an extended sick leave anyway.
I’ve never had a problem keeping myself occupied, especially not since the internet filled up with endless amounts of reading and videos on any and all subjects. I heartily recommend Citation needed, from the Technical difficulties, or anything involving Tom Scott if you’re into random knowledge. Or just click the random page button on wikipedia yourself, but a good dose of humor certainly makes it better.
Or webcomics! Read the entire archives of Magellan, Kevin & Kell, Not a Villain, Dude in Distress, Back Office, Widdershins, Sam & Fuzzy, Grrl Power, TwoKinds, Order of the Stick, Think Before You Think, Leftover Soup, the list goes on… and holy guacamole you just killed several weeks if not months! Especially if you read and partake in the comment sections as well.
It’s a little strange to se this post now because now (August 1, 2020) everywhere populated by humans is affected by COVID-19.
uh… I’m here in 2021 but still pretty much in quarantine, finished my entire 6th grade year online a couple weeks ago. I have done a lot more reading than I did before Covid (like about 3-4 hours a day) cause I’m bored.