[Closed] 2 Years On.

* Seem to have more money in our current account than ever before. This is due to restricted travel, no holidays, less eating out.

* The bloody wall colour in our dining room/my WfH 'office'.

* The glorious weather we had during that first lockdown and the Be Kind mentality that briefly took over.

* There are some complete and utter effing bellends out there: COVID deniers, anti-vaxers, ill-informed, conspriracy theory idiots. Never, ever trust a Tory (although this was already in place).

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

the quiet roads, and generally slower pace of life.

I miss the mates we buried, and sitting ten feet apart at the funerals without hugs, that was, and is, shit.

What has changed for you?

One heck of a lot!  Ihave gone from being working with a partner to retired with no partner 🙂

What hasn’t changed?

I'm still the same argumentative twerp.  Mental health effects of my personal life have not helped nor has the mental health effects of the pandemic.  But I have been given a rather eye opening lesson on here recently about me breaking rule 1

Do you miss anything from the lockdowns

Lack of traffic

Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you

That a part of our society is even more selfish and stupid than I thought possible and that the tories are even more callous and nasty than I thought and even more corrupt than I thought

I'm 23 months into Long COVID. It's ****ing miserable. Haven't ridden my bike once. Or walked up a hill. Or walked around town. Or even got pissed in a pub with some mates. I am desperate to get some semblance of my old life back.

2 years ago today i started my motorbike forum.

It now has 145,000 posts on it...

As for what else has changed... not a lot. Apart from WFH every day.

Don't miss the commute that used to eat into my day - wfh is much better.

My musings; not fully thought out, but it is there or there abouts.

* What has changed for you?
I'm a few more friends & former colleagues lighter. The financial impact on the charity sector and the isolation of lockdown was the final straw for them sadly, as a result networks have become stronger and the need to keep an eye on one another has improved.

* What hasn’t changed?
The people who would take advantage of that & the people who constantly absolve themselves of what should be their responsibility to own.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
The sense of community that was evident in a few places, I feel like we're sliding back to the BAU of being polairsed and fighting over anything and everything.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
That requires a little more thought...

I used to travel to customers overseas once every couple of months or so, and go to events and the like. Now I haven't left my house for work for two years. In fact I've not been out of the house much at all. This is really difficult for me. Because my job is self-motivated to a large extent it's been really hard for me to find that motivation and the resultant self-imposed stress for being shit is compounding matters.

I've got fitter though as I rode loads through the first lockdown and I started racing in a Zwift team which really helped.

* What has changed for you?
* What hasn’t changed?

In the grand scheme of things, not much. I'm working from home, but I was anyway. I moved house but that had little to do with the virus other than it made an already awful process even more challenging.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

The peace and quiet. Personal space, social distancing was AMAZING for an Aspie.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

I managed to find that I was living with someone I actually liked. Based on comments from others who suddenly found themselves stuck at home with partners and families all day it seems that not everyone was that fortunate.

We take too many things for granted. Strawberries, pasta, flour, toilet roll... going to the cinema or the pub or generally socialising, having friends over to visit. You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

* What has changed for you?

I left my former employment, and took on new work... work that I have wanted to do for the last 15 years. I am now doing what I have always wanted to do - albeit without any pay (yet!) - and am a million times more fulfilled.

* What hasn’t changed?

The busy-ness of life. My youngest kids still need to be walked to, and picked up from, school, and there is still a lot of running around in relation to activities.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

Notwithstanding the fact that so many people suffered a great deal, I miss the incredible quiet of the first lockdown. I know that it was not easy for a lot of people, but for us in the Saxon household, it was bliss.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

How wonderful life can be when we stop chasing after stuff, and just spend time at home with one another, reading, writing, thinking, and playing.

* What has changed for you?
- I no longer have grandparents
- my work has become more meaningful than ever, more innovative and more relevant

* What hasn’t changed?
- my ability to procrastinate

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
- currently in isolation (except for work and travel to and from work)

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
- probably would never live in the uk again

Befriended our neighbours during the thursday night clappings.
Partially working from home.
Lost 8 kilos in LD1/furlough, only put 3 of it back on since.
Learnt how to cook decent veggie/vegan meals

However this sort of thing still kind of annoys me:

generally slower pace of life.

that was already available to you if you wanted it. I did not and neither do a lot of people.

Were you forced into it and realised that you liked it, or did you always want it and were just happy that other people were forced into it against their will?

The above could have applied to a lot of things from the last two years honestly.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

the quiet roads, and generally slower pace of life.

This

that was already available to you if you wanted it. I did not and neither do a lot of people.

The big difference is not having to commute for 1.5 - 2 hours a day. That was a squeeze on time which I can now spend with family, relaxing, or doing stuff I want to do at whichever pace I like.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

Actually no, I won't get into Politicians. It was nothing new but laid it bare (again).

* What has changed for you?
All my life I have always been a very optimistic, pint half full type of person, Covid has given that side of me a proper kicking.
So a bit like doris5000 ,for a long time Covid left a lot of shit behind and I now don't trust my body to deliver on things that I used to take for granted. Not sure if old age was going to bring this anyway but I don't have a time machine to go back and try the last 2 years Covid free. I also lost a few people that I really cared about and still get angry that I wasn't allowed to be with them in their last few months. Things like that and having had a lot of time to re-evaluate what I want from the next few years has made me take the decision to retire early and leave a job that I love.
To use the age old saying 'life's too short' so don't put things on hold.

* What hasn’t changed?

There are still nice humans around, so I try to ignore/manage the cruel, ignorant and narrow minded.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
The lack of traffic and the everyday kindness of good humans.
I know they are still around ,just a bit less visible.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
In simple terms
Yes,I know where I can find a balance in my life,what I want to do and who I want to be with.
My glass is filling up again 🙂

* What has changed for you?
Lockdown and WFH has done far more damage to my slightly precarious mental health than I realised as pretty much all my old roles and certainties have changed

* What hasn’t changed?
I'm still ridiculously proud of my wife and kids and the volunteers I support in various local groups who kept going through lockdown and came back stronger.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
Sunshine, low traffic levels, being kind to each other, appreciation of "key workers"

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
There is very little black or white in this world, most things are somewhere on a continuum of greyness, and getting too argumentative about how grey something is or should be is pointless.
That there is a minority of people who don't think societies rules and expectations apply to them, and they will flourish if all the good people do nothing.

* What has changed for you?

Quite a lot for the better, we've more money as we're not spending as much, we sold our rental house, and have a bigger house after a loft conversion and a load of other work.

I built my first set of wheels, so I have a new 'skill' as well.

Unfortunatley, I've lost all the fitness I had going into lockdown and am the heaviest I've ever been @ 110kgs!😕 Partly to do with WFH. Starting to get back to doing more again just need to stop eating buscuits!

Ooh look its lunch time....

I discovered from Rishi Sunak that along with 3.5 million other people, I didn't actually exist

It came as quite a shock

generally slower pace of life.

that was already available to you if you wanted it

It wasn't always so easy to get though. If your employer made you WFH during lockdown, and now demands you come back to the office, that's going to affect your perceived pace of life.

* What has changed for you? New job and lots of work from home. Generally less travel overall, both personal and business. A good few friends in hospitality have never really recovered from the restrictions and the changes it's brought. I'm now a lot more conscious of supporting local business and generally being a conscious consumer than I was before. I'm also the fittest I've ever been.

* What hasn’t changed? Most other stuff, I still see people, I still go to pubs and restaurants, I'm still happy to go on holidays. I still do largely the same job, albeit in a different firm.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns? Not really, no.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you? Avoid the news, it'll only make you depressed. I like people more than I thought I did.

* What has changed for you?

The biggest change in my life happened 6 months before Covid struck, my wife died.

* What hasn’t changed?

Pretty much everything, I've been to work every day as normal as you can't do engineering or call outs in a flour mill from home.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

It was very relaxing going to an from work with hardly anyone else on the roads and the lack of airplane flights was nice.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

I am quite a self sufficient sort of chap & though I miss Carolyn terribly I am quite content to spend the rest of my days on my own.

Echo many of the comments above - quiet roads, lack of commute, kindness, though feeling a lot better after a year of long covid I also am not confident in my body.

I spent a lot of time at home alone due to p20 being a key worker, and I don’t miss that. It wasn’t good for my mental health. Being able to go into work 1-2 days a week now makes a big difference, but I will never go back to going in 5 days a week (that’s my long lasting impact).

I do miss the slower pace - it seemed more ‘acceptable’ to just sit outside in the sun with a coffee and listen to the birds. Now the diary is full (both work and pleasure). Work trips are increasing again which feels like a mixed blessing.

House and garden both look better for the extra cash due to lack of spending.

Nothing really changed for me as I still worked the same.

Only thing I miss from lockdown is empty roads, I mean completely empty driving for sometimes over a hundred miles I’d not see a single other vehicle.

Can’t say I’ve learnt much just made it even more obvious how selfish and blinkered some people are.

* What has changed for you?

Firstly, I'm down a parent and an uncle who died from covid. Secondly, I'm down a small but significant number of former friends who've persisted with posting covid sceptic memes on social media because their narcissistic need to tweet/post conspiracy theories is more important to them than acknowledging that people close to them experienced grief and loss. Thirdly, I'm also down a job thanks to the impact of covid (and Brexit) on our local economy.

* What hasn’t changed?

The less small but significant group of friends who've been absolutely brilliant and remain so. I start a new job next month and will be commuting to the office - at least until I get my head around the office culture there.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

Not really, except the quiet roads and sense of camaraderie in my local community - everyone mucked in to help everyone else.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

Yes.

* What has changed for you?

The main one is WFH, I haven't been into the office for 2 years. And while I missed it at first, these days I'm really quite happy with my new daily routine. The other major change was getting a dog last October - nothing directly to do with Covid, but WFH made it possible. The dog of course needs regular walking, so my wife and I go for a stroll every evening when I finish work, again something that didn't happen previously.
And we still have to wear a mask indoors in public areas, Spain hasn't lifted that restriction yet.

* What hasn’t changed?

Where I work has changed, but the job itself is identical.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

I enjoyed seeing more of my wife and daughter, we'd have lunch together every day and just chat. These days that only happens at the weekend.
And the lack of traffic - there was one period where we were allowed out for 2 hours a day, from 10-12 IIRC, but weren't allowed to stray beyond city limits without a decent reason. Luckily for me there's a decent climb about a 10min ride away, a twisty road with a few hairpins and a steady gradient. Usually it's not the nicest of places to ride a bike due to the traffic, and the visibility around the hairpins isn't great which is always a worry when a car comes up fast behind you. But for a few, glorious, weeks during lockdown the only people using the road were cyclists.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

It's confirmed what I already knew: I'm quite happily married, I like having a dog, most people are decent and concerned about others, and a small minority are ****s.

* What has changed for you?

Me and her now WFH full time, and will do for, probably, ever, and that home is now a cottage in the Peak District not on a housing estate in Gloucestershire

I've lost a couple of kilos from not being around continual birthday/house move/wedding/engagement/new baby/etc cakes and sweets in the office

* What hasn’t changed?

I'm still inexplicably not really riding that much.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

I actually miss the limitations, in a way, as we learnt to enjoy our home and garden and a simpler/quieter life within it. Now everythings open again, it feels like we've quickly got back on the treadmill of having evert weekend until god knows when booked with doing something/going somewhere/seeing someone

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

Confirmed, rather than learned, that The Public are, pretty much in equal measure, both absolute saints and complete idiots.

Confirmed, rather than learned, that The Public are, pretty much in equal measure, both absolute saints and complete idiots.

I had hoped for a more favourable ratio, which was a bit disappointing.

* What has changed for you?

Work-wise, nothing, you cant operate a power station from home. Missus was WFH until they told everyone to get back to the office despite assurances they would be allowed to continue so she found another job 5 minutes from the house rather than an hour and a half each way (including dead time).

Lost my dad, not due to covid directly but probably as a side effect of the general situation, not going to say much more than that.

* What hasn’t changed?

People are still twunts and have very selective memories.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

The weather and restrictions forced you to make do with what you had and I did feel relatively happier for it. That said, I'm desperate to move now.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

Don't take things for granted and try to appreciate what you have.

It wasn’t always so easy to get though. If your employer made you WFH during lockdown, and now demands you come back to the office, that’s going to affect your perceived pace of life.

Ok that has cut some hours from your free time which I totally agree with and understand - if I was saving 2 hours a day and got to work in trackies rather than a suit I'd be singing its praises too.

Its the "enjoy my own garden" and "sit in the sun" and "not having to book in some activity every weekend" to take quotes from this very thread. You could have done that at any time.

If you enjoyed it great, just please dont try to inflict it on, or sell it as a good thing to, the rest of us who hate it. We were forced to try it. We didnt like it. Roll on normality.

Admittedly, this was more of a 2020 opinion where people wanted everyone to be like them.

People in this thread are merely sharing their own experience, so if you are happy, I'm happy for you.

I guess my conclusion then, is that "slower pace of life" can be added to "new normal" as a phrase I never, ever want to hear again.

A lot has changed, mostly for the better. I gave up a very highly paid (but stressful) job to become a student, and my wife and I work from home now in a shared office. So less money (by far) but much more contentment and less stress.

I am closer to my family (was never estrange or anything, but Covid just made things a bit more urgent, and a family wide group chat etc keeps people talking more than before).

I am fed up with the shops all being half empty, and having to hunt for specific items if you need them.

Certainly don't miss the commute, the ironing of shirts, the filling the car up twice a week...

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

Seeing police in parks telling people to keep moving, and not allowing people to rest on benches.

Not being allowed to see my family for months, even outdoors.

Essentials only in shops - not being able to buy a kettle in Sainsburys but being able to order one via Argos and then pick it up in Sainsburys.

Not being able to buy a book, other than on the internet, for months.

Being made to feel guilty about buying Easter eggs for my kids when the supermarkets and media were pushing 'essentials' only.

Feeling anxious about genuinely bumping into friends while riding in the woods and none of us knowing if it was ok to stop and chat.

Being criminals by straying a few 100m over a county line while out on a ride.

One way systems that wouldn't allow you leave the premises through the door next to you but would force you to walk all the way past all the other people in the place.

Not being able to spend time in the places I love with the usual solitude because they were invaded by hordes of people who seemingly had never been in a green space before.

There's very little from lockdowns that I miss.

For me, weirdly it should of been a horrid time, i have long COVID which caused Type 2 diabetes and last year half my house flooded due to burst heating pipe, meaning a 6 month fight with insurers whose plumber made situation 10x worse and left me to redecorate whole house, new kitchen, new floors and bathroom..

But perversely, i have come out of really positive, despite a wife working 80 hours in NHS too, I am 2 stone lighter, exercise 6 days a week instead of 1-2, eat better than i ever have, learnt a lot about DIY (and myself) renovating house, i don't have 2 hours of commuting a day, so actually get 7-8 hours sleep and I grow most of my veg in the summer months..

Now bring on some sunshine....

* What has changed for you?

- I haven't been into an office once in more than two years
- I haven't met in person anyone I work with for 18 months and even then that was just a one off. I haven't met anyone from my current job - even though it's well over a year now.
- I get a bit more time with my kids but I seem to be permanently fatigued due to lack of sleep (kids waking up all the time) and the fact every day is the same
- It's the first time in my career I've spent c460 working days in the same tiny room
- my "world" feels incredibly small. In the week I don't go further than 0.75 from home / no time for bike riding to or from work

* What hasn’t changed?

- Job insecurity / constant financial pressure
- a very challenging home / family set up - which probably feels a lot more challenging from a mental health perspective due to lack of face to face interactions with adults e.g. at work, travelling etc.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

- The reduced noise levels due to lack of flights / traffic - hearing things like woodpeckers and owls in the local park that I hadn't ever heard before

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

- Yes. I need space, variety and face to face interactions with other adults. Without cycling to work / going somewhere else to work every day I hate working.

Anything we learned?

We should never have closed the schools. That was a travesty and the price is now being paid by our children - two suicides in my son's school so far, one close friend with a daughter missing (she's previosuly been sectioned) and another on suicide watch. There's a tidal wave of critical mental health breaking among our children.

Good discussion, and lots of great points made.

I enjoyed the quietness, and the sounds of nature, the roads being mainly empty and being able to ride roads I wouldn't normally go near. Oh, and the weather during the first lockdown was a bonus.

I recall articles on how things could change for the better; nature's way of telling us to slow down, etc Do we really all need to commute into work every day? And at the same time?
Predictably, we're almost back to normal.....

I liked the empty roads and that all the local nice little outdoor spaces were being used loads! I soon got grumpy that all my quiet little outdoor spaces were no longer quiet but hey.

Little un #3 arrived at the end of 1st lockdown, I'll keep him. Also keep the new job I got.

tbh with a 6 yo 4 yo and 21 mo we wouldn't have gone out much in the last 2 years anyway, so the ability to WFH and the extra time has been boon!

A new forum member who joined in Dec 2021 and who has made some some hair-raisingly insensitive covid-skeptic related comments has replied, so I'm now out. Bye folks.

* What has changed for you?

Like so many others, we're missing a relative, my FIL in my case. Work (IT Security and consulting) has changed a lot, not radically, but the pace of change upped hugely.

Mostly though. Its our relationship, the details are too hard to share even here, I had a breakdown back in Autumn, and we came incredibly close to separating in December, our 'happy' marriage has been anything but for the last year and Covid and my FIL passing was a huge part of it. The good news is that after a lot of counselling for each of us and together, things are on the mend. I haven't been this happy for a while.

My Wife on the other hand has been off-sick since December, on top of everything else, she just couldn't keep on Nursing whilst dealing with mourning her Dad, our problems and the stress she was under being redeployed and 'failing' her patients because there were so few resources left that weren't given to dealing with the pandemic. She's going back to work in a few weeks, very slowly and carefully, she'll be back to 100% hours a month later.

* What hasn’t changed?

Between the Pandemic and associated supply issues (which bleed into the situation in Ukraine) it's hard to think of much that's the same now as it was in Feb 2020, I suppose bringing it back into the STW sphere it's the riding, I'm still hanging out with my mates riding bikes, in fact thanks to a desire to socialise more post lockdown, I've got some new mates via Twitter.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

The nice weather of the first lockdown? The sense of community from the early days (not the clapping shit) not much is the honest answer, it's easy to forget the bad stuff - but as nice as the first lockdown was weather wise. Like so many others I was stressed to **** about losing my loved ones and also financial collapse etc.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

A better understanding of the difference between the individual and 'mob mentality'. How different people react to inconvenient facts and the willingness of some to use those fears to make a quid.

On a more positive note, things I hope never to take for granted again. Friendship and Family, the 'little things', freedom of movement, the world away from the TV & sofa, local riding spots, the joy of a beer in the sunshine. Being 'nice' and saying hello to strangers and a reminder that life is finite and precious.

What has changed for you?
I'd only started a new job the November before - I can remember coming home from London on a commuter train with only two of us in a carriage that would normally be standing room only, that was really eerie... It's been WFH more or less ever since, if I've been in the office 15 times since then, that's about it. So I had more money, but now I just spend more on other stuff. 🙂

Definitely feels like an increase in hostilities on social media.

What hasn’t changed?
Life is still life with all the stresses and strains.

Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
It was lovely being able to walk round the local reservoir without fear of being run down. I seem to remember a scenic picture of London taken before and during lockdown, might be photoshop but the improvement in air clarity was noteable.

Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
I never thought of myself as needing to be with people, or have them around me, but I have mightily missed having people to chat to at work, poor Mrs Pondo has had a daily burden to bear when she gets home... 🙂 So yeah, time to start heading back in to work, at least from time to time - been there nigh on 30 months and still don't really feel I know anybody! 🙂

As noted above, just being nice to people, people being nice to me, I appreciate the value of that much more. Holidaying in the UK has been surprisingly fantabulous - that said, can't wait to get abroad.

What has changed for you?
Health has not been great thanks to Long COVID - no smell, intermittent chest pain and fatigue for nearly two years now, and cycling has been a challenge. I miss racing so much! Dog was replaced with another mid-lockdown. Acquired a few extra initials.

What hasn’t changed?
I'm still a science geek and still looking for COVID therapies.

Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
I'd say traffic, but didn't really drive anywhere. So I'd say the very high population engagement with protection from what still for some is a serious pathogen.

Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
Social Media is not real life. It is perfectly OK to live with uncertainty, because plenty of 'experts' have been confident and proven wrong. Explaining that uncertainty is the role of the expert. When given clarity, the public are generally pretty reasonable.

Acquired a few extra initials.

#humblebrag

😉

* What has changed for you?
My kids mental health is shot and it has ruined some of their plans.
(I know of three teens in our town who have tried to commit suicide through this as well. Awful).

My wife's mental health and physical health has taken a battering - and as a uber vulnerable person with immune disorder and (we think, still waiting scan) scarring of the lungs means this headlong dash to get rid of masks and any controls is frankly frightening.

My elderly father is increasingly cut off, with the church still 'banning' people from congrgating outdoors in the community garden he has spent a decade helping fund and build - and gardening is his life as a retired horticultural lecturer. He has been unable to visit his sisters and brother as they go through life limiting illnesses.

Our circle of friends has narrowed a lot.

* What hasn’t changed?
We are still here, working, playing outdoors and occasionally seeing friends. The world goes round.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
The peace that a closed A9 road brought our garden.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
Mental health is a b*gg*r when illness gets you, and like all illnesses it takes time.
There are some immensely selfish people in this world, and our Westminster politicians failed us in so many ways when we needed them most.

My career as a professional musician of 18 years basically halved. Two of the 3 gigging projects that I was involved in have now folded as a result of Covid. Typically I did 70-80 gigs a year pre Covid. This year I've got less than 20 in the diary.

My online guitar teaching really took off during original lockdown. I had an 80% continuation rate and loads of amazing feedback from parents and schools etc. Fast forward to September 2020 and approaching lockdown 2 etc....the novelty of online teaching had worn off for all involved. My teaching dropped by 50% and I ended up driving a Waitrose delivery van. Did that alongside guitar teaching and occasional gigs until leaving in October 21. My teaching is now actually almost back to pre Covid levels, but it's been a slog.

We've also had an insane amount of other things going on during that period.

My mum caught Covid (from us) and was VERY poorly. She was off work for 7 months.

Sold my gf's house and my house.

Bought a motorhome to live in whilst doing a barn conversion.

Got engaged.

Became an uncle/aunty for the first time.

Unfortunately lost my gf's grandma suddenly just before Christmas.

Hopefully 2022 is starting to settle down for us a bit now. The novelty of living in a motorhome has now worn off! Got plenty of really positive things to look forward to. I've started my Mountain Leader award, started a book club and have loads of cool plans with both my girlfriend and our friends. Just need to get this barn sorted.

Lots of varied and also similar experiences then for us all. Very few who've had no real change, which is surprising as I'd thought there would be more who's jobs/careers had just carried on as normal.

So onto my answers now I'm at a keyboard:

* What has changed for you?

Basically my whole life has been changed. Before it all I had a decent job delivering cash, well paid and only had to work 4 days a week to get full pay which meant lots of riding time on days off. Sadly the first lockdown killed off my depot so I've had to retrain as a HGV driver to keep my wages to a similar level, Bye bye 4 day week, a 20 minute cycle commute is now a 1-1.5 hr drive (pending moving to a different city and country!), totally different ways of working and different experience in total.
MY friend base has changed after the behaviour of people I thought I knew, from anti-vaxxers to people just not being there when needed. I've massively thinned out the group, strangely the ones that survived seem to all ride bikes!
My hobbies have changed. I still ride bikes but nowhere near as much as I used to (mainly due to time constraints) and I've picked up RC cars again thanks to this place. I've also picked up a project car that's proving to be a massive time and money whore but I don't mind that really.

The major one though is that I planned to move out of the city and embrace a more balanced life nearer to the countryside. Somewhere with a quieter pace, riding from the doorstep and less stress. Sadly the pandemic has made everyone else have the same idea and now rents, house prices and the general cost of living in the areas I had an eye on has jumped up so much it's put it out of reach.

* What hasn’t changed?

Very little. I still have the same car as a daily driver but that's pretty much it. Everything else is relatively unrecognisable from my pre-pandemic life.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

The space and the quiet mostly. The respect everyone had for each other would have been good to keep too, seeing people go back to their old ways so quickly has been a bit of a shock if not unsurprising.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

That there really isn't any time like the present. If you want to do something and are able to, just do it. Whether that's call a friend, go see a show or take a special trip. Do it now as you might not have the option in the future. Oh and society as a whole is pretty much ****ed if a worldwide pandemic can't change things for the better.

* What has changed for you?
This time two years go I was 4 days into redundancy. Managed to pick up a lead on a job the same day and started in May 20 and which is what I'm doing now. Whether I'll still be doing it by the end of the year is doubtful, it's become increasingly stressful and is playing merry hell with my brain. That's about it, everything else is much the same.

* What hasn’t changed?
Everything else. Same car, same house, same bike.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
I know it's been said but the quiet was amazing. Those couple of months where I wasn't working through the first lockdown we had great weather and I rode the bike a lot (for me). Baking, I did a lot of baking, it was very cathartic.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
Don't just go jumping into the first job you get offered without thinking it through.

* What has changed for you?
I've learnt how to use Teams. I've spent a load of time working with my colleague in Singapore, which has been brilliant - she sent me a food parcel in June last year just after my mum died with really nice and interesting food stuffs. We've broken into a new market as part of all that work. My workload has been higher. I've discovered a number of people I thought were good friends, err, aren't and I no longer have much contact with them except for being hugely and ridiculously polite when I meet them. My partner and I have lost 7 members of our immediate family in the last 2 years.
* What hasn’t changed?
Work. It's incessant. Actually that's not true - it's even more incessant.
* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
The quiet.
* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
Try not to rely too much on other people, but there are some people who really come through for you.

Business as usual for me. Miss how everything slowed-TF-down during the first lockdown though, that was nice.

* What has changed for you?
I'm no longer Vegan, it's just awful. Even when go Gregg's earlier

* What hasn’t changed?
The cat is still a ****

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
The slower pace of life (at least when not working)

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
Nope

Two years ago roughly I remember having to build up the courage to start the car to drive to work as I thought I was going to catch COVID and die leaving my wife and kids, and even if I didn’t die myself, I was going to lose friends and colleagues.

Ironically it turned out that working in intensive care was probably the safest place to be, as we had all the gear on.

Now, I’m sat at home self isolating as I finally caught the bloody thing…

For me, a couple of months before lockdown I was diagnosed with MS so many things have changed for me and continue to change. I'm working fewer hours now (Yay) but I'll never walk in the hills again. I also discuvered that being in an office evironment is good for my overall well being. I would never have guessed that.

The M25 at 11.26 Sunday April 26th 2020.
The trails were busier!

First, what a superb post.

What has changed for you?
I was instructed to work from home - no more leaving the home at 0700 and getting home at 1945. I gained work/life balance again.
My mental health improved.
My relationship with my family improved (I actually saw them when not tired and grumpy)
My wife was instructed to work from home
I learn new skills: built a summer house (cedar clad, double glazed, SIPs, AC) - wife moved into the summer house
I lost two aunts: not through covid.
Both daughters started at a new school (amazing new school)
Daughter no 2 diagnosed with dyslexic
Work completed the first round of re-organisation that resulted in a down size of resources and just finishing the second round of re-organisation resulting in further loss of staff (I work for Network Rail)

What hasn’t changed?
Brexit is still a cluster ****

Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
The oh so quiet and peaceful roads
The sudden kindness that descended on the country.
The lack of air pollution which benefited by asthma

Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
The disappointment in the minority who saw Covid as an opportunity to make massive financial gains at cost to the tax payer. And worse still, they were endorsed and supported by those in power.
My confidence in Tories has never been lower.
Don't sell your mountain bike 4weeks before an international lockdown, even more so when the new bike isn't in my hands.

* What has changed for you?

Mental Health, I became a lot more uncertain of the future and suddenly an old 50 something. Large parts of the Highlands are screwed forever as I don't want to return to them because of the dirty camping. Educating kids who have had little socialisation or routine for 2 years is brutal. My Mum has Dementia, Covid took the last months she recognised me.

* What hasn’t changed?

I still prefer my own company but appreciate the friends I have.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?

The 2 years of my life I will never get back. My climbing/hill mate since we were wee boys who died (slowly) of Covid. On a positive my son moving in full time.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?

People are selfish, too many break rule one, we weren't all in this together; obviously. The desire to kick the shit out your ex brother in law who calls mask wearers/anybody jabbed "sheeple" dissipates if you walk away from him.

M4, Newport, Saturday, 18th April 2020, 3.30pm.

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2 years to the very day that I was the most relieved ever to come home from a foreign trip. 2 days earlier the ski resort in which we were staying went to instant quarantine and we had to hitch hike (with my wife and then 6 year old) in an italian girls car back to Innsbruck passing police road blocks, then wait it out for another 2 days for our flight as the borders locked down around Europe. Interestingly got back to the UK and it was still like there was no pandemic on the horizon for at least another week and a bit.

What has changed for you?
My eyesight as a result of permanent screen work! And also now moving to a hybrid work model. That said I have grown quite fond of working remotely and even managed to change job during that time. Met my team for the first time in person a couple of months ago after a year and a half of working with them!

* What hasn’t changed?
The biking never went away, but it did become a massive part of keeping me sane.

* Do you miss anything from the lockdowns?
The long hot summer! I really enjoyed 2020 and exploring the UK. Went to the IOW for the first time in about 35 years and also to the Lakes for the first time. I miss the little family walks that we used to do every tea time too. Also one of my friends is a musician and did a number of lockdown gigs on social media. So I sat in the garden with a beer on a wednesday afternoon while WFH.

* Is there anything you’ve learned from all of this and will take forward with you?
How to make the most of what is on your own doorstep. And to strip back life's chaos and enjoy a nice simple time, not permanently rushing from a to b...although that is starting to creep back a little.