COVID

[SimonDoom]

We're a little over 3 years removed from the COVID outbreak. Without getting into the contentious politics of it, or one's views about vaccines or masks, etc., I'm curious about my fellow Literoticans:

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?
2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?
3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?

In my case: I have not yet had COVID. Almost all of my family members have had it. By the time the lockdowns started, I was mostly working out of a home office, so it didn't affect my life as much as some. I had more time to write stories, so in a way it provided more opportunity to think about and write stories here, although my actual story productivity during the COVID lockdown was only so-so compared to 2017, my most productive year writing.

 

[Bazzle]

Got it, had 10 days feeling completely disinterested in everything. Definitely couldnt write anything!

 

[Littletoo]

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?

Yes I got Covid. It was like a bad case of flu. Really sick for a day, then weak for a week.

2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?

No

3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?

I wasn't very active at that time, so no.

 

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

I never had it but sadly lost quite a few friends and colleagyes to the virus. It affected my life a lot in that I used to travel a lot for work, particularly to Southern Africa, which was basically impossible for two years. If it weren’t for the pandemic, I probably wouldn’t have started writing. Now that we’re getting "back to normal", I’ll probably write a lot less.

 

[nice90sguy]

1. Yes (last month), 2. No, 3. Yes.

 

[MrPixel]

My wife and I got it super-early, like in March 2020. I was "lucky", I guess, as I was asymptomatic, and was a carrier who brought it home. I do know who I caught it from, and when. This was important, because it was before masking and everything, given the false assurances at the time that it would blow over. My wife was really sick for a couple of weeks - 104° fever a couple of times and we were both pretty scared, but she never was in serious respiratory distress, thank goodness. She did have up/down fevers for about three months. We were aware of the possibility of it being COVID at the onset, and her doctor was attuned to the emerging protocols, which I frankly feel saved her from the worst.

It affected our life considerably once the hammer dropped for everybody. As empty-nesters, we ate out a lot, and all of a sudden our options vanished. When things here opened-up enough to do take-out, we tried that, but got real tired of hot items being cold and cold items being mushy. We were really upset when the local Italian place shut its doors altogether as it was our twice-weekly go-to and was the only place where take-out worked for us.

Toilet paper -- how silly -- was never an issue for us. We had inadvertently stocked-up due to various excursions to Costco where we couldn't recall if we had enough on hand. When things started to get ridiculous we already had a two-year supply not by intent. We joked about standing on the corner selling "the good stuff" for $5 a roll.

LitE? And writing? This is when I started. I didn't necessarily need something to do since I had plenty of projects in the queue which didn't need "social" situations like shopping, though hardware stores here were "essential" businesses, thank goodness. But my music opportunities vanished so I took-up writing erotica as a creative outlet.

And here we are.

 

[alohadave]

I work in senior living and have been lucky to not get it. I never locked down since I had to come into work daily, and shopping for residents was my job during the entire time.

I consider myself lucky not have caught it, but we had stringent lockdowns in the building for several months, we had vaccine clinics where everyone could get them, and we are still wearing masks in the building.

Not having a cold or flu for three years has been a nice side effect as well. I'm thinking about still wearing masks at work when the pandemic is declared over on the 11th.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?

Yes, I got it back in December of 2020. I felt exhausted for a couple of days but kept working on stories. COVID ended up causing clots in my legs which migrated to my lungs so I spent three days in the hospital clearing up a pulmonary embolism. My wife brought me my laptop so I was able to keep writing there.

2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?

Nope. Other than the beach being closed and the shortages of a few necessities.

3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?

Not really. I was working on a novel to be published in early 2021 at the time so I was pretty focused on that. I did a short romance for Lit a month after getting out of the hospital.

 

[oneagainst]

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?

Got 4 jabs then got COVID after all that apparently, according to a RAT test I had to take for a thing, didn't even notice it.

2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?

Yeah, beaches got quieter, more parking

3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?

Yeah. I thought if this really is the end of civilisation, fuck it, and pressed Publish for the first time here. It gave me the kick up the backside to actually get on with life, I guess

 

[XerXesXu]

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?
2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?
3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?

1. No idea. I don't bother doctors and they don't bother me. I had all the coughs and sneezes the kids brought home.
2. Twelve teen and sub-teen members of my wife's clan were left with us for care and feeding due to their parents' loss of employment. Only one left now.
3. They got into the habit of sleeping all day and watching TV, playing music and doing Facebook and Tik Tok all night. I lost a lot of sleep and was very tired and busy during the day. I wrote a lot less, but I write very little for Lit.

 

[Bramblethorn]

We're a little over 3 years removed from the COVID outbreak. Without getting into the contentious politics of it, or one's views about vaccines or masks, etc., I'm curious about my fellow Literoticans:

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?

Dodged it so far.

2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?

We went through something like 262 days of lockdowns and restrictions of varying degree, so, yes. I'm an introvert, I like my partner, we didn't have kids living with us, and I'd already been working from home a lot, so it was probably easier on me than on many; professionally it benefited me, I got to work on a bunch of neat stuff that looked good on my resumé and helped other people have a slightly less shitty couple of years. But it was still hard. Not in any dramatic ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY kind of way, just that long slow greyness that kind of sneaks up on you, and the down-side of being an introvert is that once I get out of the habit of going out and doing stuff, it's hard to re-establish.

We were just starting to poke our heads out again when we suddenly lost a good friend - not covid, just awful bad luck - and it took a long time to get past that, to the extent that one ever does get past such things - so it's only in the last couple of months that I feel like I'm starting to get out of turtle mode.

3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?

In the short run, not much. I'd been on hiatus for almost a year when the pandemic hit; I got back to my stalled series, and finished it at what for me is a reasonable rate, and wrote a stand-alone that I'm pretty happy with, one where the pandemic plays a part. But since the lockdowns ended I haven't posted anything new here; I have a few things I've been working on slowly, but it's been hard to find focus and I've had too much else to catch up on.

 

[djrip]

1. Don't know. I've had a mild cough a couple of times in the last few years. I've had all the vaccines so I could have not ever had it, had it and been asymptomatic, or just had it mildly. I work from home when I have a cold or cough these days.

2. Remote schooling for the youngun was kind of a pain and I didn't feel like he was getting what he needed, but it didn't last too long and was for the best. My work went about 95% remote for a year or so, and even now, it's kind of go in if you want, don't if you don't. But I was pretty busy in '20 making that possible. Being fairly introverted it was nice to have an excuse to stay in for awhile.

3. I guess I did publish 3 stories in 19-20, but I didn't feel like it had anything to do with the pandemic; I published more both before and after. (Actually I guess only the two in '20 count, now that I'm remembering the dates better)

 

[SeraphNocturne]

1. I got it as Covid restrictions began to slowly lift, and children returned to school. My eldest stepson brought it home the first week of school. It didn’t feel as bad as the flu, but the fatigue had me in bed well over a week. I’m talking walking a few steps made me feel like I ran marathon. I spent almost all of the first week in bed. I didn’t return to feeling somewhat “normal” until well after two weeks of testing positive, but only recently have the “wheezy and winded” symptoms left, which is great because I’ve been happily hitting the trails ever since.

I swear the virus is man made. In my close knit household three out of five fell ill. My asthmatic stepson and six year old daughter did not, myself, my husband and our oldest were ill. I had it the worst, but none of us had anything more deadly than a hard cold.

2. I was a massive homebody so it didn’t really bother my regular routine, if anything… I really loved that things weren’t busy. I’m also an amateur survivalist/prepper and track news from all over the world. I was aware of Covid from October of 2019, stocking supplies well before the pandemic reached the US, and warned my sister (who thought I was crazy). She caught it extremely early on, in December… we live in Atlanta not far from Hartsfield-Jackson, also no surprise. But at the time I was working a job that required me to interact with the public on a daily basis. Ironic that I didn’t get sick until much later, I worked with the public through the entire pandemic. It did however open up a lot of opportunities which is how I entered the field I’m in now.

3. I didn’t write at all during Covid, ironically though, it had nothing to do with the virus.

 

[KeithD]

So far, I've escaped getting Covid.

 

[stickygirl]

I wouldn't be surprised if a number of those saying they haven't had it, have. I finally tested positive in January, but only because a mild cough felt odd and because I often spend time with vulnerable people, I test most colds. I found it less debilitating than a regular winter cold and it left fewer after effects. In short, I wouldn't have known if I hadn't tested. As we all know, it's a fickle virus, with innumerable mutations in a population with innumerable genetic variations, so it's always been difficult to provide classic symptoms.

Work quickly swapped to bubbles when we were rota'd to be on site. Endless zoom meetings, which is like having sex by proxy but less interesting but we were encouraged to wear a silly hat. Students got sent home - yeay!

The bonuses for me during lockdown were gardening, not having to deal with people face-to-face and as it turned out, more time for writing.

 

[EmilyMiller]

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?

• Yes, twice.
• The first time was very early, pre-vaccines
• I’m asthmatic and it was awful - can recall lying awake unable to breath and seriously considering getting taken to the ER - three nights like that in a row
• Second time it was like mild bronchitis (which I get all the time) - only knew from a test (think I had had three jabs at that point) - vaccines don’t stop you getting a virus, they train your system to get rid of it much quicker, so nothing to do with the efficacy of the vaccines (sad I have to say that, but anyway)

2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?

• I was at college - by that point I was doing research and our lab stayed open, but a lot of the faculty shut down
• It made my sex life rather less varied!
• I was fast tracking my masters anyway (started as a volunteer in the lab in my Junior year), but it limited some stuff I wanted to do and probably was a factor in me not staying on to do a PhD (there were other factors)
• But maybe the biggest impact is I’ve known nothing but hybrid working (apart from vacation jobs)

3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?

• Regularly working from home and doing flexible hours meant I could make a bit more time for writing in between

Em

 

[SyleusSnow]

I got it. Fortunately, I was vaxxed to the max so it was only as bad as a moderate flu. And no long covid symptoms, far as I can tell, so life continues. It did result in working from home full time, which would be wonderful were not the rest of the family also doing so.

Incidentally, I've now had all three of the major vaxes (Pfizer, Moderna and AZ) so the 5G reception at our place is absolutely awesome.

My writing is just as slow and painful as ever. Wish there was a vaccine for writer's block and my tendency to edit as I go.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?
Yes, got it in March just before lockdown, because I was going into the office. It was like flu, unable to do more than crawl out of bed to the bathroom, for about a fortnight, then another month or so of able to fix one meal a day then collapse with exhaustion. Spouse had similar, with added cough, but never quite bad enough to call the doctor. And adult children and sister. Managed to move sister and kid in with us, so between the 6 of us, and food delivery and kind neighbours, we got everyone fed.

After that, I had a good year of not being able to do more than walk up one flight of stairs before needing to rest for 15 min. Spouse had that for about 6 months. Then we managed to get somewhat fitter, able to walk a couple miles as long as we didn't rush.

Got Covid again just before Easter. Thankfully only two days in bed and then a week of being very tired, though spouse is only today back working as has needed 2 naps a day.

2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?
Hugely. Having kids back with us and suffering mentally, and nearly losing our jobs (thankfully we could work from home, but there's a limit to how many times a day you can fall asleep), was hugely stressful. And the neighbours dying. Worrying about our elderly parents (mum was bed-bound and unable to speak for about a month, earlier this year - but has thankfully recovered).

3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?
Given a couple years lying down as much as possible, tapping out words on my phone which often ended up on Lit kept me (vaguely) sane, not to mention the community here. Love you guys (except the trolls and tossers!)

 

[Northstar4695]

1. Yes, but after the vaccine and a booster. I got pretty sick, but it passed.

2. Change life? I don't know about that. If anything I was more social because we could meet outside and nobody had anything else to do.

3. Covid is why I write here. I missed out on travel; my first story was an expression of wanderlust. Most of my stories are about interesting places far away (at least interesting to me).

 

[Djmac1031]

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?
2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?
3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?

1: No, I've been fortunate not to have caught it.

2: Yes, especially my job the first year of lockdowns. But fortunately I remained employed because my job inspecting public fire systems was still considered "essential."

3: actually, in a way, I suppose yes, in that, with things locked down and less to do, I was looking for a creative outlet, and finally tried writing my own stories here instead of just reading others.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

1. Yes. I got it in June 2020, before there were any vaccines. My spouse brought it home from work, where 15 others had contracted it.
I had a headache that lasted two weeks, felt horribly nauseous and couldn't eat anything. All I wanted was ice water. I lost twenty pounds, but it sure wasn't a fun to lose it. Back then, we had to go to the hospital to be tested for the virus. Since I didn't have a fever, and hadn't lost my sense of taste or smell, the doctor said he didn't think I had COVID, but they still tested me. Then I got a call telling me I was positive and that I should quarantine at home.

2. Luckily, my spouse had a milder case, and after a week felt fine. I was so weak I couldn't walk up and down the stairs and taking a shower was exhausting, and that lasted for over six weeks. It took a while to get my strength back. I was just glad that no one else in the family got it.

3. It was about a month before I started writing again. But with everything shut down, at least I had my writing to me occupied. We're all vaxxed to the max, and hoping we've seen the last of it.

 

[lc69hunter]

I didn't get it. However, I was part of a crew that sailed a 72 ft racing sailboat from Tahiti to Hawaii. We were supposed to have a crew of 12. 4 didn't make it because of Covid. Being short handed kicked our collective asses.

 

[Emotional]

1. Did you get COVID? If so, how bad was it?

Nope, although I worked 6-7 days a week through it, mostly without a mask. I tried, but it's warm and humid where I worked and it was miserable wearing them. All four of my kids had it with one getting some pretty bad side affects from it.

2. Did the outbreak affect your life much?

Yeah, it doubled my income.

3. Did it affect your writing at Literotica much?

In my case: I have not yet had COVID. Almost all of my family members have had it. By the time the lockdowns started, I was mostly working out of a home office, so it didn't affect my life as much as some. I had more time to write stories, so in a way it provided more opportunity to think about and write stories here, although my actual story productivity during the COVID lockdown was only so-so compared to 2017, my most productive year

I just started writing last year. It may have planted the seed as I read a lot more in my free time.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Haven't got it, and am fully boosted, so touch wood.

Working from home anyway when it struck, so lockdown made no difference.

No impact on writing - was doing a house reno through much of it, so time grabbing didn't change much.

I wrote one of Lit's first Covid stories, early in April 20. One commenter said, how could you exploit that? People are dying. Then Lit ran the Covid Anthology, and oddly enough, the comment disappeared shortly after. I'm sure I didn't delete it, and figured the site was removing contentious commentary. I didn't notice it gone, for a long time.

 

[Grendelpuppy]

I might have gotten Covidvirus, but it was mild enough to be mistaken for the flu.

My wife got Covidvirus really bad. It was really bad. Her doctor told her that the new variant was very resistant to the vaccines so it didn't matter that she was not vaccinated. Fortunately; he prescribed Ivermectin so she eventually got over it.

Her convalescence gave me lots of time to write.