COVID Confessional

So I was reflecting on 2020 and what a unique year it has been.

I also skimmed one COVID thread which is locked. I really don’t want this to head in that direction, and I’m not sure it’s even worth trying, but I’m going to give it a shot.

Specifically, the question for this thread is “How has TacomaWorld helped your mental health in 2020 with the background of a pandemic?”

 

My answer:

I was out of the truck game for about a decade during which I got married and had two boys now aged 5 and 3.

Being married isn’t easy. Parenting isn’t either. Life was not a cakewalk for me in 2019, plenty of stress and tension and rough times.

But it took on different characteristics in 2020. Stuck at home with no escape from the family for months and no good options for planning travel I began to feel a little bit trapped.

I don’t want that to sound like too much hyperbole. My life is pretty damn good overall. On the whole we are all very healthy. I live somewhere where it’s easy to be active outdoors all year. I’m a genuinely happy person (or at least I think I am).

Still, there was an itch that needed to be scratched. TW has filled that role for me this year.

I learned a ton about lighting by reading crashnburn80’s excellent threads on the topic.

I’ve made a few internet friends who I hope to one day meet IRL but even if that never happens, my life is enriched by those interactions.

Most of all, I’ve rekindled my hobby of tinkering with vehicles which began in my teens. Back then, in the ‘80’s, I had to read magazines or ask the local car stereo shop to learn. Now I have access to a pool of like minded people who are often willing to share their past experience so I can overcome a hurdle or improve on a design.

Because of this support, I am far more willing to tackle challenges I would have been too intimidated to consider without it.

I sincerely appreciate this forum and its impact on my happiness.

Cheers

 

I see no one has added anything to this post so I'll add my confession and I wouldn't be surprised to see it locked. I've been keeping my own set of numbers since July 2020, on an Excel spreadsheet. I'll try and upload my spreadsheet so you can draw your own conclusion. Sorry, not every country or state is listed. Check the Tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet to see additional countries and states. I did this to try and make some sense of the reported numbers as the news media was comparing the numbers to anything, just reporting numbers.
First, all my numbers come from a Google search and converted to a percentage of the population and the population is estimated as of July 2020. Second, when you look at my numbers, remember that the vaccines are at best 95% effective. Third, I read/saw an article not long ago that said only about 60% of the population surveyed would get the vaccine and it's a two-part vaccine.
My latest numbers are from 12-24-2020.
About 5.6% of the US population has gotten Covid19 with about .1% of those dying from it. In my home state of Minnesota, just over 7% of the population has gotten Covid19, with about .1% dying from Covid. The positive Covid numbers seem to be cumulative without removing those that have recovered.
As far as China's numbers go, it's what is stated in the Google search. For whatever reason, some countries have a lower positive count, but a slightly higher death rate and it's the same with the states. My searches don't go that deep, that is for the experts.

Below is the frontor top Tab of my excel spreadsheet. I hope the whole spreadsheet loads up.