covid-19 and work

[bayswater]

So I guess our band is banned. (see what I did there)

25? I was in a band that had no trouble complying with that regulation.

[Phil O]

Yeah, I've been in those situations before too. This band plays for ballroom dancing. If we ever had a crowd of less than 25, we wouldn't get hired again.

[HCMarkus]

I did some weedwacking yesterday. Just sayin'.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I did some weedwacking yesterday. Just sayin'.

Is that code?

[Phil O]

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Don't laugh! It can get lonely in isolation. Idle hands are the Devil's plaything.

[HCMarkus]

I did some weedwacking yesterday. Just sayin'.

Is that code?

Don't laugh! It can get lonely in isolation. Idle hands are the Devil's plaything.

I guess that could be misinterpreted. Should have known MLC would be all over it...

[funkyfreddy]

My gigs have all been cancelled and my studio clients are all hunkered down in their homes for now.

It looks like my regular summer gigs might be off the table for 2020 as well..... things are looking pretty lean and scary right now

[Phil O]

Yeah, things are getting pretty scary here. My bank has closed for all but drive through transactions. Schools are closed, restaurants are closed, cats and dogs living together...

[MIDI Life Crisis]

It’s downright bleak in beautiful downtown Burbank. Right out of a post apocalyptic 1950s B sci-fi flick. All but the very desperate and small shops are shuttered. No cars. Few pedestrians. Just the empty streets and a point of view.

[HCMarkus]

It’s downright bleak in beautiful downtown Burbank. Right out of a post apocalyptic 1950s B sci-fi flick. All but the very desperate and small shops are shuttered. No cars. Few pedestrians. Just the empty streets and a point of view.

An opportunity for the independent filmmaker to wander about getting shots of deserted streets?

[mhschmieder]

Although I do not depend on music for my main income, my primary job is in pro audio, and we're at a standstill as no one is allowed to leave their homes unless in an emergency profession, so manufacturing obviously had to be halted. I am not free to talk about it more in public, and everything is up in the air by the hour anyway, but I fully expect to be up the creek without a paddle by end of month.

It would be great if the time could be spent visiting older relatives, consoling my dad back east about my mom's recent death, jamming with musicians, but unfortunately the only thing useful I can really do during this time of uncertainty is the taxes. And I was too scared to start them until the news last night that we'll get an extension if we owe.

As I have/had comfortable retirement savings (luckily much of it is bonded and thus not affected much by the market dive), I am probably in better long-term shape than most, but short-term decisions will have to be made in a vacuum of incomplete knowledge and with no real flexibility in avoiding the long-term impact of such decisions.

All of the things I would normally think of doing under such circumstances, such as teaching kids, tutoring, etc., are off the table. And I don't have any skills in fire fighting, medicine, or police work.

As for weed whacking, I did some of that today, but technically it is not allowed as we are supposed to literally stay in our homes behind closed doors unless going to a doctor's appointment.

We may have the most severe quarantine in the nation at the moment, but based on the experience of one Italian town, it can save lives, as long as testing happens too, and right now that's not the case.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

It’s downright bleak in beautiful downtown Burbank. Right out of a post apocalyptic 1950s B sci-fi flick. All but the very desperate and small shops are shuttered. No cars. Few pedestrians. Just the empty streets and a point of view.

An opportunity for the independent filmmaker to wander about getting shots of deserted streets?

I like the way you think!

[mikehalloran]

One composer I work with called me this morning. He’d taken a temp job with the Post Office over Christmas and kept up 2–3 days a week. Well, now he’s so busy he has qualified for benefits and with his music gigs drying up, not only can he pay his rent but a big project with me is back on.

We’re going to be able to ride this out if our tenants can pay their rent. If not, we’ll make it work somehow. If we don’t get sick.

Strange days indeed.

[mhschmieder]

I am now officially unemployed for the first time in my life; albeit with a hopeful end date that is at the mercy of the disease and stay-in-place orders.

If I could only get well (I don't think I have Coronavirus; probably just the common cold), then I can use this opportunity to really flesh out my offerings on the composition front vs. my usual fits-and-starts piecemeal work on the side. But right now it's hard for me to take advantage of the situation, and of course calling musicians to the studio is out of the question, so it has to all be MIDI mock-ups.

I'm even more up the creek than expected, financially, but imagine my predicament is nothing compared to most of you, and I am not really at liberty to talk in detail publicly about any of this anyway.

The most frustrating thing for me is that I am well-positioned to help others, as a result, but there's not much I can do without in-person meetings. This all came without warning, and thus I would need now-unavailable outside help to set myself up as an effective from-home over-the-phone helper. No adequate cell coverage here.