I’ve still been going to work every day. My wife has been working at home. Since she is a project woman, this has given her ample time to think up projects for me since I’m not at home and not really doing anything around there. Overall, I would say that this situation has had a negative impact on my available hobby time.
Being that I drive a semi for a living, my time hasn't changed at all. Unfortunately, my son was laid off from his job at a small town Ford dealer, but the dealer pretty much has one foot in the grave already. My daughter and ex are working from home, but because I'm sharing a house with them, I don't get much modeling time. and, because of the virus, and a nagging back problem, searching for my own place is on hold.
On my side I had a bit more time to focus on my son's layout Envoyé de mon SM-G970F en utilisant Tapatalk
And of course the inclement weather does help a little....less yard work or time with the classic car. RAIN TIME IS TRAIN TIME !
I can't even go browse the shops or club house. I tried looking at new apartments but I'm not allowed to enter so, it's been put off. Maybe we will get another gift from them. It would be nice.
My biggest issue is placing an order, they send an e-mail with the order number and that it will be ship in a couple days. Then I found they had taken the full charge ($1,900) out of my Master Card. Three months later - no electric bike. Then some more unfriendly e-mails to include that the order number doesn't exist, cancellation of the order and that the money was returned (not). The cancellation of the Master Card charge also caused trouble with my bank. So I get to walk more with this war damaged leg. Oh well!
Yeah, I order stuff from a Hobby Shop in Tokyo and most of it is stuck at the Tokyo post office. I'm torn between changing the shipping, but they only kind I can get is the slow boat (literally) which can take a couple months with no tracking or insurance, or leaving it express mail with tracking and insurance and waiting for this whole thing blows over. It doesn't seem to matter, both would take months for it to reach me.
Well, I now have even less free time, since my original response. My few free hours off work are spent on a chore or two, and attempting to simply relax for a couple of moments.
Since I RETIRED in January after 40+ years of driving over the road, this COVID-19 stuff isn't hitting me to hard. I can finally STAY HOME for a full week. I am in the process of learning FACEBOOK[talk about being on online TIME WASTER], Picked up ZOOM & good camera. Hooking up with local NMRA, MCR, Div 8 and NRHS online meetings, all via ZOOM. Buying supplies, and whole ___tload of Code 40 And Code 55 rail and track. Handlaying here we come.
Well the whole Covid thing has not granted me more time per se. Before all this went down I worked 8 hours a day from 4 to midnight. I work at a military hospital so while essential, I can do my work from home. A week into working from home I ended up getting laid off, but someone who I used to work for got a new job and I took his position as he was not laid off. Now I work a normal 8-4 day shift, and we are back to working in the office. So I don't get any more time than before, just a different time frame. Good news to all this BS we have been dealing with... I got some money from Uncle Sam and used it to pay off a loan... That freed up $200 per month and now I can buy some train stuff every now and then that I could not afford before!!
The stay home order hasn't effected me much because I'm retired and stay home anyway. Have got to work on the layout some, chores keep getting in the way. LOL Joe
Been working from home since March. Finally decided the time to actually build a layout (Z-scale) had arrived. Started placing online orders for track, scenery, building kits, etc. I've been doing my best to support small businesses during this time, and have been ordering from many different dealers. I won't mention names, but I have to say I've had excellent service from the stores I've ordered from - clear communication, fast shipping, everything well packaged. Also have been reading extensive backlog of model railroad books and magazines for inspiration.
On my end, the LHS reopened a few weeks ago (with some restrictions, 10 people at most in the store at a time) and I finally got around to getting my train fix. I was having withdrawal symptoms... Nothing like taking in the aisles full of nice trains...
Unfortunately, There aren't any train shops near me. I've been ordering online and doing some planning for an HO Scale switching layout for whenever I get my own place.