For what seems like forever, we have all been living in the house together, getting in each other's way, trying to work from home and homeschool and not commit murder. Going out for our daily exercise. Sending Dad to forage for food in the supermarkets, queuing up waiting to be let in (reduced numbers allowed inside due to social distancing). Yes, this is our UK Covid-19 Lockdown.
It hasn't been forever, though. Looking at Seb's schoolbook, he's been off school since 23rd March. And I've been working at home since 19th March. Seven and a bit weeks, then. Hmm. That seems both a very long time and not such a long time, in the grand scheme of things. It's just hard when you don't know how long it's going to be like this. Harder than if you had an end date set for everything going back to "normal". Or the "new normal", whatever that is.
Dad has been a bit sad because he can't play on his PC whenever he wants to, since I'm using it to work remotely. He was at home a lot because he's a "house husband" or whatever you call them, though he has been studying to be a teaching assistant. Before Lockdown he had college a few times a week doing English and Maths, but now he's doing that online. He's using our old Macbook to do that. The Macbook is too old to play games...
Seb has been getting more and more obsessed with Terraria (PEGI-12). It is all he will talk about. He plays it on the Playstation, or sings the music, or watches YouTube videos, or plays with his playset and figures. It's driving us all mad but at least he's happy!
He's been watching quite a lot of this guy on YouTube - Chippy Gaming:
Dad has bought a new headset, and a new flight joystick (for playing Elite). And me, well, I've been playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons a bit, and grinding my way through Far Cry Primal. I have managed to finish some games, since my last "Completionist Challenge" post, so I will have to talk about that at some point!
Stuck indoors with each other we've been trying to find ways to keep our sanity, and gaming's a big part of that. Dad and I are introverts, so we don't necessarily find not going out hard (though you miss stuff when you can't do it, I guess). Personally I'm finding it hard because I'm not getting any time when I am completely alone. I need alone time to recharge.
We've found a few things to do online that provide social contact. Seb has been playing Geoguessr with his grandad. If you haven't played it, it's a brilliant game. Basically, you get dropped into Google Streetview and you have to figure out where you are. You can play against friends. It can be very hard! I think we need to learn more flags...
I subscribed to Board Game Arena, which lets you play various board games online, either with friends (if you get them to sign up) or with random online people. So far my favourite game on there is Kingdomino. You can also play stuff with someone else in your house, sharing the same computer. There are some fun games on there, so definitely worth a look if you're into that kind of thing.
Dad has been playing various things with his friends online (things like Vermintide, War Thunder and Overwatch).
Seb's been playing some Minecraft online with a daughter of one of my work colleagues. He's been rabbiting away with his headset on. At this stage anything that gives him any kind of social contact is to be welcomed. She's older than his best friend (who also pops up on the PS4 every so often) and far more sensible. She is a good influence on him!
That's pretty much it, then. I work from home, play games in the evenings, try not to be jealous when other people are playing games when I'm trying to work... I miss cafes. I need to snack less. And exercise more. And maybe one day this will all be over...
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