- Joined
- Sep 22, 2020
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- Name
- Andy
What has been your own personal story/experience during 2020 with the Coronavirus pandemic?
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Quite early on around mid-March I decided to take on a second job; supermarkets were crying out for staff, I have previous experience, and thought I could use the extra money to pay off a bit of debt as well as getting some outstanding work done on the house.. It was a bit of added security too, since I wasn't sure at the time whether or not I would be furloughed from my job as an IT technician for a secondary school.
Indeed, schools closed a week or two later. However we were asked to continue working from home, supporting with password resets and anything else that we could assist with remotely. My wife had already been working from home for a few weeks, and we had our daughter to take care of having taken her out of nursery as a precaution. We compromised, and managed pretty well with the support of our employers.
Unfortunately I lost my Grandad to COVID-19 over the Easter weekend. He fell quite ill the week before, was tested positive and seemed to be on the mend - but he very quickly deteriorated soon afterwards. We remain grateful to the Hospital staff that looked after him, and they allowed my Uncle to be by his side.
Then in May, my wife dropped a bombshell that she wished for us to separate. It was utterly heartbreaking, but not a complete surprise since we'd been struggling for a while.. I moved out in July, and continued to see my daughter for a few days every week. I relapsed with my mental health, and went back on to anti-depressants.
I returned to working on site at the school throughout the summer, whilst continuing the extra work I'd taken on at the supermarket. In August I had to be tested for COVID myself as a precaution, though I was confident it was just a heavy cold. The first test returned "unclear", but the second came back negative. From experience, I can tell you the test itself is quite unpleasant!
I'm working 60+ hour weeks as standard, have paid off a good bit of debt, and the extra money has helped to get my flat kitted out with the essentials (thankfully it was fully furnished).. Oh, and I haven't touched a drop of alcohol since NYE 2019 despite everything that's happened..
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Quite early on around mid-March I decided to take on a second job; supermarkets were crying out for staff, I have previous experience, and thought I could use the extra money to pay off a bit of debt as well as getting some outstanding work done on the house.. It was a bit of added security too, since I wasn't sure at the time whether or not I would be furloughed from my job as an IT technician for a secondary school.
Indeed, schools closed a week or two later. However we were asked to continue working from home, supporting with password resets and anything else that we could assist with remotely. My wife had already been working from home for a few weeks, and we had our daughter to take care of having taken her out of nursery as a precaution. We compromised, and managed pretty well with the support of our employers.
Unfortunately I lost my Grandad to COVID-19 over the Easter weekend. He fell quite ill the week before, was tested positive and seemed to be on the mend - but he very quickly deteriorated soon afterwards. We remain grateful to the Hospital staff that looked after him, and they allowed my Uncle to be by his side.
Then in May, my wife dropped a bombshell that she wished for us to separate. It was utterly heartbreaking, but not a complete surprise since we'd been struggling for a while.. I moved out in July, and continued to see my daughter for a few days every week. I relapsed with my mental health, and went back on to anti-depressants.
I returned to working on site at the school throughout the summer, whilst continuing the extra work I'd taken on at the supermarket. In August I had to be tested for COVID myself as a precaution, though I was confident it was just a heavy cold. The first test returned "unclear", but the second came back negative. From experience, I can tell you the test itself is quite unpleasant!
I'm working 60+ hour weeks as standard, have paid off a good bit of debt, and the extra money has helped to get my flat kitted out with the essentials (thankfully it was fully furnished).. Oh, and I haven't touched a drop of alcohol since NYE 2019 despite everything that's happened..