How is everyone doing?

Discussion in 'Referee' started by voiceoflg, May 22, 2020.

  1. voiceoflg

    voiceoflg Member+

    Dec 8, 2005
    How are you all doing? Gaining weight? Mentally still OK?

    I'm not going to lie. I am thankful my job is essential and I am still earning a paycheck. But I really miss running around on a soccer field. Part of my full time job is revoking the credentials on many things employees log into. Odd someone else adds them for new employees. But I get to remove them for employees who quit, get fired, are furloughed, etc. And I have been getting those tickets 10 to 25 at a time lately. That is starting to wear on me.

    Anyone else need to vent?
     
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  2. Orange14

    Orange14 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 27, 2007
    Bethesda, MD
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    I'm have been retired from the pharmaceutical industry for almost 10 years. Other than a bit of cabin fever everything else is OK. Stores are restocked and lots of places where one can safely walk in our neighborhood. Back in March I decided to put my research hat back on and began doing a daily newsletter for fellow retirees. It felt good to get back to reading technical papers. I'm cautiously optimistic that we will get through this mess.
     
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  3. mathguy ref

    mathguy ref Member+

    Nov 15, 2016
    TX
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I am a college math faculty member. I am thankful that I have a job that keeps the paycheck flowing but I’m going crazy redoing all of my content. I have 30 years of material designed around meeting students face to face and having them do work that ultimately culminates in a student taking a proctored written exam. That ship sailed after spring break. Everything had to be created for an online course. Back in March I had 2 weeks to record half a semester of lectures for 2 separate courses and create assessments appropriate for an online and unproctored environment. And once the curtain dropped and classes resumed I had 100 plus students that had to be guided through all that in an environment they never planned on learning in.

    Now I’m doing it all over again for a summer course that starts in 12 days. And to make it more fun I’m redoing my entire assessment model to eliminate exams all together.
     
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  4. Kit

    Kit Member+

    Aug 30, 1999
    Herkimer, NY, USA
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I am a high school history teacher. I had a weekend to adapt my classes from physical classes to virtual classes. I am not sure if I did everything right, but I did the best that I could with the time that I had.

    I miss soccer so much. This is the longest amount of time that I have been without officiating soccer since I started in 2000. I have been playing a lot of FIFA 20 on my PS4 to make up for it, however.
     
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  5. bothways

    bothways Member

    Jun 27, 2009
    math guy.,I feel your pain.I teach college too..but biggest class is 30
    I am lucky that I have been immersed online for the last,20 years
     
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  6. mathguy ref

    mathguy ref Member+

    Nov 15, 2016
    TX
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I had 4 sections, three of 32 and one that started about 20. I was down to just above 100 total when all hell broke loose.

    I first taught a blended (Hybrid) course about 10 years ago and and have done online before. It’s just not my favorite delivery method. Needless to say the courses I had this Spring were not made for this. But it’s clear that this is the way it’s going to be going forward. The world of Education changed at Spring Break and it’s not going back to what it was before. Our entire summer is fully online and our fall is being rebuilt as both hybrid and redesigned from 16 weeks at 8 week semesters.
     
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  7. RefIADad

    RefIADad Member+

    United States
    Aug 18, 2017
    Des Moines, IA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not going to lie, this has been pretty tough. While working from home does have some advantages, I miss being around my office and the people I work with. I like them, and I like my day job. I've certainly appreciated being home more, even if there are challenges around making sure the kids stay disciplined with schoolwork and don't just play video games all of the time.

    I definitely miss officiating, but I miss my son playing a lot more. He missed most of last fall after undergoing surgery on a bone cyst near his shoulder, so he's eventually going to see limited action for the better part of a year. I also don't know how this pandemic is really going to impact his current club. He plays for a MLS academy affiliate club and really gets some good opportunities to participate in activities around the MLS club. I don't know how this will look both from the club's perspective and whether others on the team will stick with the club (which has had challenges with numbers even when things weren't as up in the air as they are now).
     
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  8. bothways

    bothways Member

    Jun 27, 2009
    math guy..what state..what college
     
  9. mathguy ref

    mathguy ref Member+

    Nov 15, 2016
    TX
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Texas. Blinn College. Been there for 28 years, with stints at both Texas A&M and George Washington University before this. I spent 17 Chairing the Dept and thankfully just teach now.

    ETA - I guess I all but outed myself. So much for an anonymous username. ;)
     
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  10. bothways

    bothways Member

    Jun 27, 2009
    so you are d.b cooper!
     
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  11. threeputzzz

    threeputzzz Member+

    May 27, 2009
    Minnesota
    The current situation hasn't been as hard on me as it has many others. Just today the 2 youth leages in MN called off their summer seasons, and I'm fine with that particularly since I'm currently dealing with persistent knee issues. It remains to be seen if there will be fall seasons this year, youth and high school.

    My job as a software engineer allows me to work from home, so I'm fortunate in that respect. Working for an aerospace company though the security of my current position is tenuous.
     
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  12. Dayton Ref

    Dayton Ref Member+

    May 3, 2012
    Houston, TX
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    I do software development as well. I am a little concerned that because both my wife and I both work for school districts our jobs will be at risk in the future as funding will be reduced in the future.
    However, I've worked out every day since I'm not commuting 2.5 hours a day. Also I can't cheat with snacks at work so I'm down about 15 pounds.
     
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  13. MetroFever

    MetroFever Member+

    Jun 3, 2001
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    I started out coaching as a teen and then became a ref later. I've been doing both for a very long time. When you do a bit of summer soccer, go full swing into the fall season and do winter indoor soccer, a "break" in the spring season isn't the end of the world for me after being involved in the sport for so many years.
     
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  14. Bubba Atlanta

    Bubba Atlanta Member+

    Mar 2, 2012
    Yep, Atlanta
    Club:
    Atlanta United FC
    Well, my wife says, "Aren't we lucky we like each other!"
     
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  15. Gary V

    Gary V Member+

    Feb 4, 2003
    SE Mich.
    Similar to mine. She says she's glad I can work from home, because she gets to talk to someone.

    I figure it's a trial for retirement - if we can get along now, we should do fine when we're not working any more. Now if the stock market would come back so we can afford retirement .... o_O
     
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  16. Rufusabc

    Rufusabc Member+

    May 27, 2004
    #16 Rufusabc, May 23, 2020
    Last edited: May 23, 2020
    This is the first Memorial Day weekend I have been home for years. I have been doing a women’s college showcase on this weekend for as long as I can remember. It’s my favorite tournament to do, the play is great, 99% per cent of coaches, players, and parents are nice, and it’s good money. But, since I had major knee surgery in February I wasn’t going to make it this year anyway.

    i just started working out in earnest this past week after a real stop start due to complications. I am gearing up for an August return coinciding with the start of the HS season. Really making a conscious effort to watch what I’m eating, and mentally prepared to lose weight and get back to my reffing Weight! But, after reading between the lines of some reports yesterday, I think we will be hard pressed to resume HS on time this fall near me, let alone HS sports.

    I have been retired for 7 years now, and I cannot imagine having to work my job remotely. The interaction with my staff and co-workers was what made the job great. I also worked in NYC and although for some of you that might not be you, I found it exciting and vibrant. To see that maybe going away is sad, for me.

    i also feel badly for two sisters who live across the street from me. One is graduating college this week, while the other graduated HS last week. No ceremonies.

    In my county, we have had over 500 deaths with nearly 7,500 cases. More than the majority of states.
     
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  17. Soccer Dad & Ref

    Oct 19, 2017
    San Diego
    A group of parents and our kids have sneaked on to a local school to scrimmage the last two weeks, so have been able to play a little. Really missing the game though, thankfully Bundesliga is on. Working full time from home, and wife is an RN, so full incomes still coming in, very fortunate for us.
    Kids going a little stir crazy, doing a few hikes a week to get fresh air.

    Can’t wait for play to resume. We’re hoping CalSouth gives us the okay to start practicing in a few weeks. Not sure how summer tournaments will look like yet though.
     
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  18. chwmy

    chwmy Member+

    Feb 27, 2010
    The last game I reffed was a lowish quality VB high school game that ended in overtime and the home fans rushed the field like it was some sort of championship- in the absence of other games I replayed situations from that game in my head for weeks. To be sure I miss the game. As it was in my youth, soccer is the sport I love and an amazing relief from the stresses of life and work.

    My son, a graduate student in New York, continues to play- he’s joined a men’s league there that has small side internal league but also campaigns an 11 v 11 team that he was pleased to have made. His mentality and edge have always been dependent on him getting exercise and competing- he has been patient but I see that his motivation and mood are deteriorating without soccer. We have a small field and a full size goal in our back yard, so he is working out some, but as we all know it’s not fun if it’s not competitive.

    my daughter is a junior at a college in Boston. She suffers mightily from social anxiety and her college time has been one of ups and downs. This past semester she was really doing great and enjoying herself, then really had the rug pulled out from under her, and the distance learning was kinda disappointing. She seems to be managing ok for having so much of her near future being uncertain.

    for myself, I am essential, but it would be overstating it to say I am front line. But even if my work does pose some additional personal risk, I feel lucky to be able to work and do my thing, and we have done well to keep our employees’ hours stable despite a severely reduced revenue.

    I really think that youth activities are able to return to normalcy with minimal impact to the health of the nation. What sport has better spacing than soccer? Let’s get back out there!
     
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  19. ManiacalClown

    ManiacalClown Member+

    Jun 27, 2003
    South Jersey
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Managing. The restaurant has kept me busy, surprisingly.
     
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  20. Bubba Atlanta

    Bubba Atlanta Member+

    Mar 2, 2012
    Yep, Atlanta
    Club:
    Atlanta United FC
    She also says, "Wow, you really work hard!" Well, yeah ... sometimes.
     
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  21. IASocFan

    IASocFan Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 13, 2000
    IOWA
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I am retired after 46 years in DP/IT. I referee in Texas in the Winter, so I got 23 NFHS games on a fairly light schedule with my last game on March 6. My wife and I are getting along very well, but miss seeing our grandsons as often as we would like. My biggest problem is staying motivated to keep in shape. Looking forward to the season reopening. Youth soccer is on hold in Iowa until at least July 6.
     
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  22. DefRef

    DefRef Member

    Jul 3, 2017
    Storrs CT
    I am one of those whose problems are definitely 1st world issues. I have been working from home for 3-4 years, so no real change there, although the work load is down dramatically. As a result, my pay grade was all required to take 3 weeks furlough. Ironically, if you don't consider 401K and HSA contributions, I actually made more take home pay from unemployment than my regular paycheck...

    But I miss soccer unbelievably. I have averaged 150+ games for the last 5 years and I am ready to start breaking things if we don't get on a field soon. And I figure I lost about $10K in reffing and assigning pay for the spring. I really really hope the unsanctioned Latino league near me starts up soon. Figure the players will want to play, but town may not let them.

    On the health side, my family is locked in tight and I don't even know anyone who is dead, sick or even positive. So very lucky there (even here in CT which has relatively high numbers).

    So while I will always complain, I really consider myself fortunate and hope all of you are safe and well also.
     
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  23. roby

    roby Member+

    SIRLOIN SALOON FC, PITTSFIELD MA
    Feb 27, 2005
    So Cal
    Probably not. :unsure:

    [​IMG]
     
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  24. Pittsburgh Ref

    Pittsburgh Ref Member+

    Oct 7, 2014
    da 'Burgh
    I work for a federal contractor and am able to work at home with all the technical capability I had in the office. I can see working 1-2 days a week at home "when things go back to normal." What I miss is the face to face connection, and serendipitous detours into topics that are useful both on and off the clock.

    Soccer-wise, I am very torn. I did two National League ARs first week of March...and that's it this spring (games were great, btw). My U18 son had his club season squelched right after I made the last payment and without so much as a single sweat stain on his (new!) uniform. I was looking forward to my first season of O50 soccer and filling in for my erstwhile O40 team here and there. For the first time in 15 years my spring is without soccer and I have been doing lots around and outside the house.

    We are all in similar "straits" when it comes to spring soccer. And to put it mildly, nothing we are having to "endure" with regard to missing out on soccer is anywhere near what so many others are going through--economically, emotionally, physically.

    And that's where I'm torn. Like most of us on this board, I am The Guy Who Does Soccer. I love it, it feeds me, it brings me joy and fulfillment and many esoteric conversations. But the prospect of a return to play with distancing or small sides or anything else...it doesn't seem worth it. If fans need to distance, how is it ok to have kids on the field with their sweat and their snot and their spit? And unlike coaches and parents who are able to stay 6 feet from everybody during the game, a ref in a youth game is not...the moreso the younger (and less hygienic) the players are.

    Without any of my usual in-person soccer contacts, I don't have anybody to bounce this off of. I can't tell if my pendulum has swung too far toward hunkering down, or if it's just that the people (adults) pushing for return to play aren't the ones with the potential to be really impacted. I can't tell if waiting for "return to normal" before playing soccer is misguided and there's going to be no normal for so long that we need to adapt soccer, as everything else, for participation after the Dawning of the Age of COVID-19.

    My seasonal anchor is cut loose and while it's been easy to write off the spring, my view of the way forward is cloudy with a chance of rain-out. As much as sport boosts those involved, I am having a hard time giving soccer a place on the hierarchy of things we need to re-tool to minimize chance of exposure.

    Sorry for the bummer. I wish you and your clubs and your leagues and your families every happiness and all good health.
     
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  25. Law5

    Law5 Member+

    Mar 24, 2005
    Beaverton OR
    I think I know too much. I've been following our state's Health Authority daily postings. In the entire state, there are only 25 people in intensive care that have been diagnosed with Covid-19. Out of 147 deaths attributed to Covid-19 in our state, only one did not have a pre-existing health condition (e.g. diabetes, COPD, etc.) There have been no deaths in the state by anyone under the age of 40. Only three people in the ages 10-19 have been hospitalized with it. Yes, I know that people have died from this stuff. Not as many as have died from heart attacks related to anxiety over it, however, according to one health researcher at a major university in the area, never mind others with lockdown related causes of death, such as suicide. All of this has only increased my frustration.

    Then I'm on a state high school association committee talking about how to plan for a fall soccer season. It does not help that the governor's reopening criteria do not even mention schools. "If a county is on phase 2, the schools can reopen, right?" Crickets. We've pretty much agreed that, if kids are not in the school, the school cannot have a sports program going. Just not operationally possible, much less politically viable. too many nervous people who wouldn't want their kids to be in school "until there's a vaccine," so nobody else should be allowed to go to school either. Why do they get to make the decision for everyone? CDC last week said that transmission from surfaces is "very unlikely." But we're still wiping down everything in sight every half hour. This isn't science! This is superstition. "We can't do anything until there's a vaccine." We've gone 20 plus years trying to find a vaccine for HIV-AIDS and no vaccine has ever been produced for SARS and MERS. That goal may be a mirage.

    I did the last soccer game played in our state before the shutdown. I was only in Albuquerque NM, to officiate the NCAA Division 1 Indoor National Track & Field Championships, for two hours before the NCAA cancelled all spring sports. So I'm doubly frustrated. But, really, I'm more concerned about education than the sports. The LA Unified School District says that 15,000 students have never logged in for on-line instruction and 40,000 students have not been in contact with their teachers on a daily basis. A neighbor who is a high school computer ed teacher said that was about in line with his experience with his students. I saw an e-mail this weekend from the President of NISOA saying that they've been told by some D3 colleges in New York that if they can't have students on campus this fall, they will have to close their colleges permanently.

    I've been running about six days a week, ever since the shutdowns started, about two and a half to six miles a day. Unfortunately, all of the schools prohibit anyone from coming onto the property, so I can't run on the track, just on the sidewalks, dodging people walking their dogs and/or kids. (There's a young guy in our neighborhood who has two Scotty dogs. With them being young and with such short legs, he has the black one in a baby stroller and the white one is in a backpack, looking around at everything behind him.) I am keeping my weight down and I'm probably in marginally better shape than I was, say, a year ago.

    My businesses are "essential," so I'm at work every day, and the only real changes are 1. none of the restaurants are open, so I have to bring my own 2. the commute is about half as long as it normally is, so I can't finish the recorded lectures I normally listen to every day. Business is about what it would be without the shutdowns. None of my employees or any of their family have been sick, well, other than the son of one guy, who thought he was coming down with the virus but it turned out to be appendicitis. At least in our state, the chances that you will be diagnosed with Covid-19 are less than 00.09%. And unemployment is running just over 20%. I'm reminded of that classic book, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds."
     
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