OT - In these weird times

[KeepingTheFaith]

Did my morning shopping today. Everyone was pretty calm and quiet and aside from the usual suspects (TP, Sanitiser etc) shelves were pretty well stocked.

Even s olme of the other items (pasta, rice, flour) weren't as decimated as last week.

Maybe if Australia goes into total lockdown a second round of panic buying will kick in where I am, but for the moment people seem to be wising up.

Truth be told, things have barely changed for me because of this so far, but it's far from over so we'll see what happens.

Hope everyone else is doing OK.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Day 6 of isolation for me. Comfortable enough, got food and tp, no hand sanitiser but don’t really need it as I’m not leaving home except for a daily run/walk. Bored as hell though and it’s been really strange watching everything happen from a distance. Gonna be a relief to go back to work (my job is an essential service so I won’t be shut down).

 

[SpaceMonkey]

What's essential about the Warehouse?

They sell household cleaning equipment, appliances, basic clothing and some hardware. If your vacuum cleaner or broom breaks or you need some new underpants for your 3 year old you’ll be pretty glad they’re still open. I was musing about this the other day doing the vacuuming and wondering if my vac was on it’s last legs.

 

[Fufu Andronez]

sorry for the late entry, been meaning to contribute.

I work as a business analyst in a software development team for a big financial services company in Sydney. As of last Monday we were told to WFH for the foreseeable future. I'm not so concerned about the virus as I am about the repercussions to everyday life as we currently know it. My wife is also WFH due to the virus and we have a young bloke thats almost 2. Parents aren't too old but they along with my son are probably my main concern.

It has been a shitfight trying to get groceries for the house due to all the panic buyers around here. Luckily I am on the outskirts of Sydney so its not as bad as the CBD but still it is pretty shocking.

Times like these show the true colours of some people. Some band together and help out each other and some start hoarding food and supplies so the next person hasn't got enough.

 

[shiznit]

It’s a domino effect though, allow it for the Warehouse then KMart get involved, other businesses behind them then come in and say hang on, we cater to that market too, and now you have numerous outlets for people to visit during lockdown , which defeats the purpose of the whole process

Personally my job is waiting to hear if our major customer gets an exemption as well which would then open the floodgates for many more stores in that industry too

I get it... you make a good point.

but they just have to draw a line somewhere and if it’s not fair then so be it...

I personally think the warehouse can be considered essential because of what they stock and their reach.

And I recognise Kmart are similar but I don’t think having both of them going is necessary considering the warehouses reach.

it’s not fair to Kmart though.

 

[JJ]

Except the PM announced that we shouldn't expect to be able to go to the Warehouse, when all the previous information had been the opposite - FFS

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Except the PM announced that we shouldn't expect to be able to go to the Warehouse, when all the previous information had been the opposite - FFS

Everything is changing so fast that even the government are contradicting themselves on advice. The chief health officer in Aus was on TV last night saying you couldn't leave the house to exercise while in isolation, which directly contradicts their own website. I guess they're only human too and have to be across a LOT of new, constantly changing info right now.

 

[JJ]

Everything is changing so fast that even the government are contradicting themselves on advice. The chief health officer in Aus was on TV last night saying you couldn't leave the house to exercise while in isolation, which directly contradicts their own website. I guess they're only human too and have to be across a LOT of new, constantly changing info right now.

It’s a wild time

 

[SpaceMonkey]

But hey, we're arguing about whether the Warehouse should stay open and the Spanish are finding old people dead abandoned in their care facilities, so things could be worse hey?

 

[JJ]

Yep, they could, let’s hope they don’t...

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Big issue in Aussie is you have the commonwealth and their advisors then all the states and territories have theirs.
The schools are an example.
Its weighing up the pros and cons.
At the moment the health threat to children is extremely low, no current mass transmission with children (vs weddings) some parents need to work and education is extremely important long term. Vulnerable teacher and children should stay away, schools with positive test closed.

Victoria decided to go their own way and close 2 weeks early.
NSW said stay home if you can, so most if can seem to be. Daughter's class was down to 9 today from 18 day before from 27 as normal size.

Everyone has an opinion.

Problem it is hard to close society completely down, Drs, Nurses, Pharmacist, cleaners, food prep etc all need to operate a hospital.
Petrol station, postage, basic retail etc all still operate and someone out there will carry the virus past the lockdown and it all starts again.

Yes we slow it down, but it all starts again and have to start the measures again.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Working in a supermarket I can report the worst experience is the deliberate 'open coughing'.

I've had three lately. Number one, this man in his sixties, walked past the registers, dropped in a big, exaggerated cough, then shot me a smugly aggressive, 'what are you going to do about it?' look.

Two, this silly old man, with his wife. She mentioned the virus and was giggling and he thought it was funny to mimic being ill with it. This involved open coughing, right over me.

Three, the worst of all. This dad, about 27, had a toddler in his arms who was throwing a wobbly. I opened up another register for him but had to get up and unlock the gate so he could unload his stuff. As I reached down for the lock on the gate I gave him a subtle hand signal for him to stand back a bit, so his kid wouldn't be wailing right on top of me.

He then threw his own wobbly, obviously offended by my safety-first approach, and proceeded to call me 'pathetic', and followed-up with another big, exaggerated coughing fit.

He then ranted about the 'conspiracy'. Apparently, the Government has had a vaccine for ages, but won't release it'.

Out on the street, a friend was deliberately coughed over by a fat, 23 year old on St Patrick's Day. He'd just got back from the pub, she was out using the shopping centre's hand sanitizer whilst on a walk, he made a joke of it, and let rip.

For balance, here's a couple of examples of women behaving badly too. One, an older woman, asking me something silly when we're extremely busy, I step back to get some space before answering her, she jabs me with her phone and says 'hey! I'm talking to you!'

Two, yesterday, this old bag was asking for the tenth time in a minute when the toilet rolls were coming in (she knows the answer) I was at the register, she then came within a foot of my face with an aggressive, 'Helloooooo! Hellooooo! Is there anybody there???!!!!!'

She thought it was funny, as she was playing up with some other older women in line. They didn't quite look amused.

Fun times. This sure aint bringing out the best in a lot of people.

Sorry to hear some of your experiences. Have seen some terrible hygiene by adults sneezing into their hands then try to hand over money.

Some may believe in karma to sort them out. But probably not.

Due to only 8 deaths in Australia many still complacent.
Media still pushing the number of infected now 2044. (Currently 0.4% fatality rate).

Hopefully things get better for you.
Try not to focus on the wankers.

 

[LeagueNut]

I work in the mortuary at a funeral home so I'll be continuing to work. We've got a bunch of extra precautions in place already and there's a shitload of other precautions ready to go if we start dealing with any Covid deaths. It'll be a tricky time with traditional funerals not being allowed to happen under the mass gathering rules but there's plenty of goodwill and understanding given the circumstances. (so far anyway)

Our little household should be OK as we're all in essential jobs although hours might be reduced for a while. Some other family members have already lost their jobs though which has been a real kick to the guts. Focusing on mental health is going to be a biggie throughout and beyond this lockdown I reckon.

I know it's down the priority list at the moment but I'm still curious to know what the Warriors are thinking of doing for their season ticket holders. Obviously there's still talk of a season resumption later on in the year and there's a lot of unknowns, but it's pretty clear that people who paid for a 10-home-game ticket won't be getting what they paid for. And even if they did start offering full or partial refunds, would people want to take them or would they leave it as a gesture of support for the club?

Sky will be another one to watch - will they do something proactive for all their sport subscribers who suddenly have no live sports to watch or will they sit back and wait for customers to suspend or cancel their subscriptions?

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Sky have emailed all subscribers, we didn’t have the movie channels and are getting those for 3 months for free and I think sport might be free as well

Personally I’m enjoying them dipping well back into the archives of various sports at the moment

Mortuary hopefully won’t be getting any extra busy for you fingers crossed !!

I see the govt bowed to the pressure late last night and said no the Warehouse

 

[JJ]

What an eclectic bunch we are, farms, mortuaries, universities, pharmacies, management etc etc... wow

Despite our shithouse team, what a quality wee forum this is.

Look after yourselves and your families everyone, and keep posting, a healthy break for us all

 

[TheDMC]

Escape from Absolom! My wife and I decided to up sticks and bail from Manila and return to NZ - was planning for this weekend but then Sunday afternoon Singapore announced that no transit through from Monday midnight. We basically got the last flight.

Now safely self quarantining at Ohope beach. We were already fully in self isolating mode for 12 days in Manila, as lockdown there been awhile. Flying back poses some risks obviously but was pretty good until we got to Auckland Airport. f**ken 300 people in narrow queues for Immigration which took 1.5 hours. 95% were kiwis and everyone had already been COVID informed/assessed at a checkpoint before immigration area so just regular processing here - why the hell didn't they have the electronic visa gates going? No contact risks needed - scan your passport and through you go. I would have still had to use the line and see immigration officer as I brought my wife with me and she doesn't have residency. But the line would have been about 5 people if kiwi passport holders were allowed through the electronic gates. We were both really shocked on how shit customs had set things up. All they were doing was to tell you to keep 1m distance, but the set up to enable that was f**ked. In contrast - Manila airport and Singapore airport - easy to avoid other people. Much better set up.

So if I get CORONA in the next week or so, I am pretty sure it will be from Auckland Airport.

Anyway, stoked to be back, and we are fully doing to the self quarantine thing right. No contact with anyone, mates dropping food and supplies off.

Happy to be home! And at the beach!

Cheers dudes

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Latest crackdown in Australia takes out my weekend job, but it also drops me below the threshold where I can get the stimulus payment. As long as that comes through I'll be no worse off and will have extra free time.....to go nowhere.

 

[Blair]

Latest crackdown in Australia takes out my weekend job, but it also drops me below the threshold where I can get the stimulus payment. As long as that comes through I'll be no worse off and will have extra free time.....to go nowhere.

I'm battling away in supermarket and don't get any stimulus cash! I'm bitter and twisted.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

I'm battling away in supermarket and don't get any stimulus cash! I'm bitter and twisted.

Yeah I don't envy you. The virus is worry enough, but you have to deal with people.

I was a creative designer (video production, photography, graphic/motion design etc) for several years but when my daughter was born I took on the primary caretaker role while doing only the things that could be done from home as my wife's job was more stable.

Was about to get back into it and start a new design business when all this happened. Now daughter isn't in daycare anynore, wife working from home, my peace and quiet gone and most of my clients either aren't operating or can't afford the extra expense.

I do have more time to create for the sake of creating though which is nice, and if nothing else self-isolation/lockdown won't bore or send me stir crazy.

 

[TheDMC]

I'm battling away in supermarket and don't get any stimulus cash! I'm bitter and twisted.

Critical job mate - gotta keep the food supply chains going - your a champion. Hope you aren't manning a till though!