Covid Help Topic

[Florin]

I guess we will have at least a tough year ahead, some of us will be OK, some of us will lose the jobs or worse.

If any of you, old bass bros is in real trouble, please shout here, so we can act like a real community and help each other. Nobody is alone here.

Stay safe!
Flo

 

[Nachobassman]

I needed to let this flow out of my head, so here it comes!

I lost my musician´s job and almost had no income since May due to the pandemic. I'm surviving doing day jobs like loading and unloading trucks and crappy stuff like that, and since I'm not married, I don't have children, and I'm under 50, I can't apply for almost any help, so life's been VERY tough lately. This situation is new to me and very different from any crappy time I've been through in the past.

I' ve sold almost everything except my basses and musical gear because I WILL BE BACK at playing music ASAP, and I know that if I sell everything it will be kinda impossible to me to get a decent gear back any time soon.

My brother, who lives in Florida (USA), has been sending me money to cover basic stuff and my lovely girlfriend, and partner in crime, has been helping keeping me sane.

This forum has been an anchor for me, too, a safe place, so to speak. So thank you guys for that.

Please be safe, take care of yourselves and your loved ones, this year has taught me that life is so frakin' fragil and it could change so fast that we aren't really prepared for the worst.

We'll be out of this crap soon, and I promise I will keep on smiling every time I hit the stage.

See you in the threads.

 

[DiMarco]

Hang in there bassbro! We all love you here.

 

[eyvindwa]

Sorry to hear that, @Nachobassman . I consider myself lucky to work in healthcare these days, where at least there is no threat of disappearing jobs.

Pretty rough that you cannot apply for any support, but good to hear that you at least have a few people you can lean on and that can help you pull through. Hope things will improve for you soon buddy!

 

[Hector]

Oooph.. that's horrible @Nachobassman I sincerely hope you can hang in there, things will change!

Have a great Xmas !

 

[BrusselsBass]

Sorry @Nachobassman to hear that. Not nice during this season....
But if you earn your money from music, hold on your gear - you'll need that hopefully very soon.
And good to hear your girlfriend and brother give the support you need.
Keep it up and stay with us here buddy - merry Xmas anyways!!

 

[Nachobassman]

Thank you all, guys.

 

[PaulS]

Hang in there Nacho, the vaccine is here, and while it is going to take some serious time to get it out there, it’s gonna happen. Wishing you the best.

 

[Florin]

Hi Nacho, I think after the pandemic our industry will bounce back harder than ever. It should, people need to get out, need music more than ever I guess. Take care, brother!

 

[kimgee]

Sorry to hear that, @Nachobassman . I consider myself lucky to work in healthcare these days, where at least there is no threat of disappearing jobs.

Pretty rough that you cannot apply for any support, but good to hear that you at least have a few people you can lean on and that can help you pull through. Hope things will improve for you soon buddy!

The health care situation here in the US is quite different. My daughter is a pharmacist at a hospital, and due to the cancellation of elective procedures, the hospital has been laying off staff members. She has not been let go, but things appear to be heading in the wrong direction again. For-profit healthcare is the bane of mankind. It is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the US.

 

[kimgee]

I needed to let this flow out of my head, so here it comes!

I lost my musician´s job and almost had no income since May due to the pandemic. I'm surviving doing day jobs like loading and unloading trucks and crappy stuff like that, and since I'm not married, I don't have children, and I'm under 50, I can't apply for almost any help, so life's been VERY tough lately. This situation is new to me and very different from any crappy time I've been through in the past.

I' ve sold almost everything except my basses and musical gear because I WILL BE BACK at playing music ASAP, and I know that if I sell everything it will be kinda impossible to me to get a decent gear back any time soon.

My brother, who lives in Florida (USA), has been sending me money to cover basic stuff and my lovely girlfriend, and partner in crime, has been helping keeping me sane.

This forum has been an anchor for me, too, a safe place, so to speak. So thank you guys for that.

Please be safe, take care of yourselves and your loved ones, this year has taught me that life is so frakin' fragil and it could change so fast that we aren't really prepared for the worst.

We'll be out of this crap soon, and I promise I will keep on smiling every time I hit the stage.

See you in the threads.

I hope you are doing well my friend. I have suffered a similar beating from the pandemic, but I am older (65 next month) and have support mechanisms in place. Although, not enough to pay my bills AND eat. So I have had to get creative. Have you considered applying your considerable music skills in other ways than perfoming? You could offer music lessons for instance. I don't have the playing skills for that, but I have been considering transcribing uncopyrighted sheet music from the G clef to the F clef and marketing it in various ways. I have always had a hard time finding sheet music for bass guitar. Most of the sites that sell sheet music have little in the F clef format. Or convert sheet music to the TABS format, since so many people can't read the sheets. I used to have a friend who made a lot of money doing music arrangements for all sorts of clients, both corporate and private. A lot of people are making crazy money on YouTube, which is another thing I have been considering. The thing I have had the best luck with is selling used stuff on-line. With the rampant inflation here in the US, a lot of items are now worth more used than what I paid for them new. The world has obviously changed, what is not so obvious to many is - it is never going to be the same again. It is tme to re-orient our thinking.

 

[kimgee]

Hang in there Nacho, the vaccine is here, and while it is going to take some serious time to get it out there, it’s gonna happen. Wishing you the best.

Yeah......that vaccine. That hasn't really turned out like they told us it would. I did a lot of reasearch and decided to wait for the Novovax vaccine to be realeased, but it still is unavailable........but close now. I ended up getting the Pfizer double jab, but only because my pregnant pharmacist daughter started freaking out about my unvaxed status. So, I turned guinea pig so she wouldn't loose her mind. The effect on her was great, however, that was about 2 months ago, and I haven't felt well since. And now, we are learning that the vaccines are not nearly living up to the hype. Sigh. Anyway, if you have had a similar experience to the vaccine that I did, you may want to investigate black seed oil. I started taking black seed oil capsules, that I purchased on Amazon, 4 days ago and felt much better the very next day. So, it's too early to tell if I am actually better, or if my brain is lying to me yet again, but it looks promising. Personally, I think the new tech mRNA vaccines were unwisely and unsafely rushed to the market. New studies coming out are beginning to make this point glaringly obvious. But I also feel everyone should be responsible for their own health care desisions. So, here in the USSA, that makes me a far-right, conspiracy theorist, domestic terrorist, nut job, etc. etc. etc. It is truly sad how our formerly, relatively, free thinking and free speaking societies have devolved into their currect totalitarian thinking mess. I believe this is being driven, at the root, by our current educational system. I tried to raise my daughter to think for herself and be skeptical of pretty much everything. Skeptical is not the same as suspicious. Open minds are apparently now considered a threat by many. Unfortunately, after she finished grad school, her thinking became very rigid. Whatever the CDC says is written in stone, in her opinion. I hope with the life experiences she gains as she ages, that rigid thinking will be tempered by reality in a positive way. I have hope for this because, it was in my mid to late 40's that I realized that the way the I was told the world works by my educators, the media, our leaders, and even my parents, was so very far from the reality of it. I hope all of you are staying as safe and as happy as is possible in these incredibly trying times we are all experiencing these days.

 

[Hector]

Hi Nacho, I think after the pandemic our industry will bounce back harder than ever. It should, people need to get out, need music more than ever I guess. Take care, brother!

Coming back to this almost a year after..... Indeed, this is what happened here locally, but it made the cases go up something horrible.. People are so desperate to go out, they starting bending (then breaking) the rules, so now we are looking at climbing infection rates (as the cold weather sets in and people go out to nightclubs etc using fake Covid certificates, even though the vaccine is offered for free).

Personally, I waited until the Janssen vaccine was available (single dose, viral vector) and took that. I was "out" for 3 days with a bad cold/flu symptoms. Although I am certain I had had it twice already (once in March 2020, then again last autumn).

So, I'm vaccinated (happily so) but can also see that some of the news reports saying we're all still doomed seem a bit dubious....

 

[Mac22]

It seems to be the same over many parts of the world @Hector !
I hope all of you stay safe and get back to normal or as close to normal as you can.
The multiple lockdowns have suited my PTSD and other issues. Seeing and interacting with people is way down the bottom of my to do list lol

 

[Hector]

It seems to be the same over many parts of the world @Hector !
I hope all of you stay safe and get back to normal or as close to normal as you can.
The multiple lockdowns have suited my PTSD and other issues. Seeing and interacting with people is way down the bottom of my to do list lol

Indeed, during the lockdown, I did enjoy not being woken up every Sunday morning at 3am by the idiots leaving the local nightclubs. I don't know how they are able to make so much noise... Oh, and I could actually find a place to park my car that was not 1km from my home !

 

[Hector]

Well, it seems we have come to an end of Covid here in Europe.

Switzerland has stopped all Covid restrictions (no need to have a even in hospitals or public transport), and Germany is now "maskless" just about everywhere that isn't a hospital or public transport (last I heard / understood). I have also heard that other European countries have done similar.

How have all of you survived ?

 

[DiMarco]

I got the covibastard couple of weeks ago. Hit like a heavy flu. No taste or smell so likely Delta. All fine now.

Facemasks in NL only in hospitals afaik. Everything else returned to normal except for the raging "special op" in ukraine keeping minds busy. I will not share my opinion on the matter just that the extra stress right after the pandemic is quite unwelcome.

Meanwhile in NL there's a big shortage of workers, houses and soon gas.

It's times like these you learn to live again.