Here are the exciting tales of being locked up at home because there’s a pandemic going on! Tune in to find out what I did every day in excruciating detail! I’m writing this because:

  • it’ll probably be interesting to look at years from now
  • time tends to become a blur when I stay in my apartment without going outside for a very long time, so it helps me a bit to stay sane
  • it’ll help me to practice writing, and any kind of writing practice is good for me at the moment, since I want to start writing my dissertation – and since that is in English, writing in English is also better to practice

Day 1

First day of home office. Started the work day with a meeting with my professor to talk about my cancelled research stay in Berkeley, which would have started March 28th. For now the plan is to postpone to September, if the situation looks better then (though I’m pretty sure it’ll be worse, since the US health care system is nonexistent).

We also talked about what I’m gonna do now that my time plan is screwed, so now the plan is:

  • I’ll start writing whatever parts of my dissertation I can already write (especially the Theory and Methodology parts)
  • I’ll look at data for the stems of Corpus #1
  • I’ll look at the items that I use in my experiments in the Corpus #2

Then I had lunch (leftover Mac & Cheese I took from my partner), and then I quickly went to uni to pick up my work laptop and some other stuff.

Worked a lot on the structure of my dissertation for the rest of the day, then played some Grim Dawn (I think)…

Day 2

Started the day with a run, trying to keep my distance from people. Not surprisingly, most people don’t do that…

Don’t really remember what I did for work, but I guess more dissertation stuff.

My flight to the US was cancelled, so I got a full refund. Before today I only had the option to rebook to another date, but since we don’t know how the situation will develop, I prefer a full cancellation for now. So I’m happy that I waited a bit and was able to cancel now.

At 15:30 I left to cycle to my partner, and the city is still WAY too crowded.

I cycled through the city and took the dog for a walk in the forest yesterday and everywhere in jam packed with people. Teenagers who don’t have school think it’s a great time to go shopping and hang out on park benches. Those idiots will cause us curfews and police controls.

Same for the forest. People everywhere. WTF is wrong with people. Unless you have a very, very good reason to be outside (like walking your dog), stay the fuck home.

In the evening we played some Gloomhaven and got our asses kicked. The game is becoming less and less fun, maybe it’s because of our new characters… the previous ones were more fun.

Day 3

As usual when I’m at my partner’s place, I slept pretty late (until around 8am). We got up, had breakfast, and took the dog for a walk in the park, but had to rush back a bit because I had a meeting at 9 for a full-day workshop. Of course it was a complete clusterfuck for me, because the meeting tool didn’t work on my work laptop (I used it on my old MacBook before, didn’t use it on my PC because I only bought a webcam for my PC this week, and didn’t use it on my work laptop because I just forgot to check it there). So I had to use my partner’s computer, which worked but was a bit inconvenient.

Then the internet stopped working… So I tried to connect on my phone, which eventually worked, and ate my way through my data…

At 11:45 there was a break which I used to cycle home (after eating some Mac & Cheese), and here everything worked fine when the meeting continued at 12:45. BTW, the city was still full of people, though finally most non-essential shops were closed.

After the meeting finished I didn’t really do much more work stuff, but rather rearranged my bedroom a bit.

For dinner I watched an episode of The Magicians and had more Mac & Cheese.

Afterwards I played a lot of Grim Dawn – I finished the main story on Elite with my Cabalist (Necromancer+Occultist) and started the expansion content. Loving the creepy forest!

Day 4

Yesterday I did a lot of rearranging: I moved the ficus to the bedroom, because there’s more space for it here, and also because I really wanted more green in my bedroom. I hope the ficus will feel better here and stop dropping leaves…

Had another meeting at 9am, this time just with 3 colleagues + prof. I presented my experiments and we all said how sad it is that I won’t be able to actually perform the experiments for a while. I prepared that presentation only like half an hour before, but there wasn’t a lot of new stuff anyway. Then I had ten more minutes between preparing and the meeting which I used to watch Merkel’s address to the nation. I think it was the first time since she became chancellor that I watched something like this.

Then I did some more redecorating, had the final portion of Mac & Cheese for lunch and took a nap, from which I was rudely awakened by a neighbor having an argument with a delivery guy who refused to come upstairs. I guess it’s some new regulation by DHL 🤷‍♀️

I worked a bit on the feedback I got this morning, then had another quick call with my professor to talk about the structure of my dissertation. He had some feedback but allover was very happy with it and said it looks very good (though it’s basically only a structure with lots of bulletpoints at the moment).

Yesterday I ran out of chocolate 😱😱😱 Today I contemplated my options, which are:

  • go to the supermarket to buy new chocolate
  • eat the baking chocolate I still have
  • make cookies

Option 1 is too risky, and I only want to go there once I really have no food anymore. Also because I’m pretty sure that I won’t find everything I need there anyway. My partner went shopping in the morning today and sent me annoyed messages afterwards about everything being sold out.

So yeah… supermarket is not a good option at the moment, I think.

Option 2 is alright, but it’s not really the best chocolate for eating. So I decided for Option 3, but since I only had 160g of butter left, I had to downscale my recipe a bit. It’s always a bit tricky with the eggs, so I hope it’ll work out. The batter needs to rest in the fridge, so I didn’t bake right away.

After I put the batter to rest, I wrote a bit of my methodology chapter (and realized I need to add a whole new chapter..)

Then at 19:00 I had the first ever online pilates lesson. It was super weird, but kinda fun. Well, a much fun as mat can be (I prefer reformer)

Afterwards I had some hummus for dinner and watched another episode of The Magicians. Then I started baking the cookies.

Day 5

Since yesterday there are no new infections in Wuhan, where this pandemic started. That gives us a good idea of how long we will have to deal with this pandemic until it starts to slow down… so since it started there in December, and it started here at the end of February, I’d say we have about 2 more months of staying locked up ahead of us…

Went for a run in the morning. There are a lot less people outside, but still quite a few (who don’t have dogs or are running)… after I went home, I wrote a bit and watched some Magicians for lunch.

After lunch I watched a bit of the CUNY conference (blogs.umass.edu/cuny2020/). Not really relevant for me, but it’s interesting to see how nicely an online conference can work. I have one myself next week from my research unit, thought it’s a very small one.

I wonder how much of all of this digitization will persevere after the pandemic is over.

The work day was pretty productive, I wrote quite a bit for my methodology chapter. Time seemed to fly by today (usually it doesn’t when I’m home all day)… I feel actually more productive here in my home office when it comes to writing. I guess this is what I’ll have to do when I will actually have to finish writing my dissertation as well, in the far far future, after the pandemic, and after my postponed research stay in California has actually happened.

In the evening I watched the new Westworld. Damn that show is weird. Season 1 was one of the best seasons of television I ever saw. S2 was… different. And S3 seems to be utterly different again. The sound mixing in the latest season is horrible. Dialogue is too quiet and background music is way too loud. Also the fact that there’s not a single scene without background music / noise stresses me out. I don’t know if I can keep watching this.

Then played a bit of Grim Dawn, but got frustrated because I’m too squishy and feel stuck. Maybe it’s time for a break from Grim Dawn…

Day 6

Woke up at 7. Decided to go to the grocery store. It felt like going on a dangerous journey. I thought about wearing gloves, but just put my hand sanitizer in my pocket (it’s a bottle I bought in Canada two years ago – it’s almost empty). The REWE only opens at 7, so I was there about 7:15ish. At the entrance there was a big sign that only 35 people at a time are allowed inside, and that everybody is supposed to keep a distance. At the entrance there was also a big dude who took care that not too many people are inside at a time, and that at least outside people keep a distance. I waited about a minute and was able to go inside. The people inside of course didn’t really keep much of a distance, not even the employees who were restocking the shelves.

I wanted to make lasagna, and thankfully I got everything I need for that. However, the stuff I wanted to buy for later the week to stock up a bit was all out. There was NO BREAD ANYWHERE! Literally the only bread they had was from their gluten free brand, and that was not even bread. The only thing I got was a pack of Aufbackbrötchen.

I am also on my last roll of Küchenrolle, and guess what there was NO KÜCHENROLLE ANYWHERE! And obviously also no toilet paper. DAFUQ. At least I have about 5 more rolls of toilet paper, I hope that’ll get me through at least 2 more weeks.

On a lot of the shelves in the Rewe there were already signs that nobody is allowed to buy more than 3 of stuff like toilet paper, flour, milk, etc.

Anyway, after I got back home I started preparing the lasagne, and once it was ready for lunch my partner already arrived here. We ate, watched BoJack and then hung out until around 4, when he had to leave to take care of the dog.

After that I played a bit, including 20 minutes with my partner to get through the really tough level. I was with my lvl 65 character and he with is level 91 character, and even he had a lot of trouble with the bosses in that level. Insane!

Then I had more lasagna for dinner and watched some Magicians.

Day 7

I slept super bad last night, no idea why. Despite that I woke up at 7 as usual and went for a run – but I was so tired and low on energy that I only managed to run for half an hour instead of the usual 40-45mins.

After I was back home I played Grim Dawn with my partner and we made really good progress with our play-together-characters.

After Magicians + lunch and a quick nap I worked on a sewing project for about 2-3 hours, but stopped eventually because I was too tired and had enough for the day.

For dinner I wanted to continue with Magicians, but Plex didn’t want to. I hate Plex so much these days that I installed Jellyfin now and hope it’ll run better. Anyway, for dinner I watched the first episode of “Beforeigners”, a Norwegian TV show about people from the past appearing in present day Oslo and the society that develops from that. Looks pretty interesting so far, and it’s always fun to watch a show and recognize places I’ve travelled to.

I spent the rest of the day doing nothing in particular. I’m happy about Merkel’s new restrictions, because it means I can go and visit my partner without having to worry about breaking the rules for getting out of the house.

Honestly I can’t wait to get out again, I literally can’t remember the last time I spent so many nights in a row sleeping in my own bed. Also starting to feel the loneliness creep up a bit, because I’m becoming painfully aware how few people really seem to care about me. I asked one of my friends for a Skype chat and didn’t get a response… makes me wonder. Though maybe I just feel like this because I didn’t spend the weekend at my partner’s this time. And the lack of sleep.

Day 8

Starting to get back pain. Maybe it’s the new chair that I’m not used to yet? I hope it’ll get better, the point of the new chair was to get less back pain. Or maybe it’s from the sewing I did yesterday.

In the morning I spent some time cancelling all the reservations I made in February for my trip to California, Portland and Canada. I got refunds for all but one accommodation and for the car rentals, but I’ll still have to see about my 3 flights. I’m deeply annoyed that I have to cancel all of this stuff and that I have no clue when I will be able to travel like that again. Stupid damn virus.

After lunch I had some serious brain fog and a bit of a headache, which I tried to deal with by napping. Didn’t help that much, so I procrastinated for another hour or two by calling my father and then my mother. By the time I was done with that the aspirin seemed to have kicked in and I wrote a bit more for my dissertation. The morning was already fairly productive, I wrote two and a half pages – stupid methodology stuff, but it’s something and gets me into the flow. While working, I keep wishing that I had a second screen, because it can be really helpful to have my word processor on one screen, and the material I’m writing about on another (like journal articles and stuff). Maybe I’ll buy one once my salary for March comes in, since I already spent way too much money in March. Staying home and having access to online shopping all day is definitely not good for my bank account, especially when I also have a bit of time to think about things such as sewing projects…

But to be honest, I really don’t actually have as much time to do cool stuff as I’d like. I keep reading all these articles about “10 TV shows to binge watch in quarantine”, or “What to read in isolation” and blahblah, but seriously, when do people do all that stuff? I’m busy working, and after work I barely have time to do other fun stuff after maybe relaxing with one episode of some tv show. And it’s not from a lack of stuff on my to do list…

In the evening I had another online Pilates session, which worked much better this time.

After that I watched more Westworld. Still annoyed by the bad sound mixing this season.

Day 9

Nothing interesting to report today. Managed to do a lot of stuff for my dissertation, and then went to my partner’s place at 15:30.

We took the dog to the forest, which was very lovely in the sunshine. Apparently she missed me, because my partner said she wasn’t this happy when playing ball for the last few days. Unfortunately when we played ball with her today she had a bit of a crash, and only when we were back home we saw that she had a scrape on her foot. It wasn’t too bad though, wasn’t really bleeding and she didn’t limp either.

After we were back, we did a bit of German, then we finished watching BoJack Horseman. We were both a bit disappointed by the aimless final episode and felt that the second-to-last would have been a way better final episode.

After that I played a bit of Witcher 3 and my partner was very amused by my clumsy combat.

Day 10

Another beautiful sunny day which we started with a walk in the park with the dog. After that I had to dash home, because I had a workshop starting at 10. That’s basically how I spent the day, listening to those 2 talks and the discussion afterwards. It worked pretty well, but I feel that real-life workshops are more interactive and less monotonous.

After all that listening I really needed some activity and first cleaned my apartment (wow, it gets so dirty when I actually spend time here!), and then did a bit of sewing. I’m trying to upgrade my curtains.

Then at 7 I had another online pilates session, which was super tough. Mat pilates is SO much harder than machine pilates, even though you might think the opposite… I was so sweaty after that that I needed a shower. I’m super sore in my core muscles today.

The sessions are led by the guy who owns the studio. He’s a funny super-stereotypical gay Italian. Yesterday while he was checking our videos he said to some of the people “do you have more lights, looks like a porn there!” I’m glad that even though the situation sucks we can still have some fun like that.

After pilates I played a bit of Grim Dawn with my partner and we finally reached Ultimate with our play-together-chars. Level 62 now!

Day 11

Day 2 of the never-ending workshop (also, Day 11 of #StayHome)… it is turning into a bit of torture to listen to these talks and discussions all day. I started getting a headache after an hour, and in the afternoon my ears starting hurting from the headphones.

I skipped one session in the afternoon because of the headache, and promptly got an e-mail from my prof telling me to not skip any sessions. I spent my time doing something useful instead, which was to finish sewing my first upgraded curtain. Still need to finish the other one though.

In the evening I watched Magicians (only 2 more episodes then it’s over…), and then I was so bored and unmotivated to do anything else that I installed the Gloomhaven digital adaptation. It’s pretty chill, but also sometimes just as frustrating as the board game.

Day 12

All the days are melting into each other… today was day 3 of the never-ending workshop, so I spent most of it in meetings.

After the last meeting I left to cycle to my partner, where we immediately went to the forest with the dog. This time we played a bit with a stick. She’s always very proud of her sticks.

After the forest we decided to do the grocery shopping for the weekend. First we went to Fressnapf to get dog food – the place was emptier than ever, I think there was only one other car on the parking lot. At the cash register they added a huge plastic screen to protect the cashier and also marks on the ground for people to keep distance. There wasn’t a whole lot of dog food left there either, seems like people are panic buying that too.

At the Rewe there was a long line outside (everybody kept their distance), and before you we allowed inside they disinfected your hands and the handle of the cart. Inside again however, most people didn’t really keep the distance. We got almost everything we needed, by the toilet paper and kitchen towel aisle was still completely empty. Also no gloves, no disinfectant anywhere…

After we were back home, we had dinner and then tried tabletopia to play board games online. It works pretty well, but it’s rather annoying on my laptop, so next time I’ll just do it at home on my gaming pc.

Day 13

We spent a wonderful day together and almost completely forgot all the shit that’s going on in the world right now. We did a lot of painting together, I played a bit of Witcher while my partner watched, and in the evening we cooked. Then we watched a movie (Dolittle with Robert Downey Jr…. it’s pretty meh, but I guess kids will love it), and after that took a nice bath.

Day 14

As usual I went for a run in the morning, then thanks to the clock change it was already time for lunch. My partner and I watched another movie for lunch (Onward, the new Pixar movie – it’s pretty nice, but super predictable), and after that painted some more before we took the dog for a short walk in the rain, and then I already left for home.

At home I mostly just tried to cope with a migraine. I took a new triptane that my neurologist gave me, which works, but the side effects are pretty terrible – super severe upper stomach cramps and extreme flashes of tiredness. I wasn’t up for much after that, just played a bit of digital Gloomhaven.

Day 15

It’s already the third week of the not-an-actual-lockdown!

It was also Day 4 of the never-ending workshop, and again I just spent the whole day sitting in mostly boring meetings. At least in one of them I got to talk myself, but a lot of gibberish came out of my head thanks to migraine. Took another of those pills and today I realized that yesterday’s symptoms were actually side effects, because the exact same thing happened. I actually had to take a nap with a hot water bottle to deal with it.

Anyway, during the last meeting I switched off my camera and just had my wireless headphones on the whole time, so I finished sewing my curtains while those people were talking and talking and talking… so at least I felt like I achieved something today, and it also made me feel better.

After that I had online pilates during which my internet connection died twice, which was very annoying. But it’s also getting a bit easier now.

Day 16

Honestly If I wouldn’t write this, I’d totally lose track of time.

I didn’t feel so great in the morning because of migraines, so I didn’t really do much.

In the afternoon I had a meeting that didn’t really happen, so after that I left to go to my partner. We took the dog to the forest and had a nice walk.

After that we played Chronicles of Crime, then watched Castlevania, and then went to bed.

Day 17

I stayed at my partner’s place in the morning because I had a meeting that started at 9, and I wouldn’t have been able to cycle home in time. The meeting was fairly boring for me…

Afterwards I went home, where I had lunch and the spent the afternoon working a bit on my dissertation.

At 7 I had Pilates again via Zoom – with a few hiccups, because some people accidentally shared their screen. It’s painful to watch people trying to use a computer sometimes…

Day 18

Went for a nice run in the morning, and then had another extremely boring meeting (for the never-ending workshop).

After that I watched the final episode of The Magicians for lunch. It’s such a great show, and so sad that it’s over. I’ll probably just watch it again now rather than sitting through other probably more boring shows (like Doctor Who S12)…

I spent the rest of the day being super unproductive waiting for meetings or being in meetings… the last one (with people from the US) started at 18:00 😴

Day 19 of the new normal…

I had a meeting at 9am, then worked on my dissertation a bit during the day until the next meeting at 4pm. It was another horrible meeting of watching people being unable to use their computer. It took us 20 FREAKING MINUTES to actually start the meeting, because various people couldn’t use this or that video conferencing tool…

After that excruciating meeting I played Grim Dawn with my partner, and after 2 hours of that I went to his place.