How has the Coronavirus Pandemic affected You?

Here in Vegas, the Governor of Nevada declared all non-essential businesses to shut down for 30 days.
my husband was already working from home, but now his company laid him off for 30 days. He's upset that his
job is considered non-essential. (snort) It took him 3 days to finally enroll for unemployment the system was overtaxed and the computer just went in circles for three days.

My business as a property manager I got a record 55 cancellations within 2 hours of all casino's being shut down.
believe it or not, I still have people coming. I guess they are planning on doing other things besides gambling, eating and seeing shows. I suspect hiking in red rock or visiting other national parks.
that canyon is so crowded, I would be afraid to hike it, but maybe not now.


we are at home chilling. So far so good. We have plenty of food and water to last 2 months.
thanks to my husband who. took care of that about three weeks ago.


how are you doing? and don't forget to tell us where you're from and what restrictions you're dealing with.

I'm in the Seattle area and since we were pretty much ground zero for the US outbreak, things are more than a little stressed around here. Going to the grocery store is like Lord of the Flies - I absolutely WILL NOT attempt Costco while this panic-buying insanity is going on. I'd rather pay "retail" than stand around for an hour just to get into the place. All restaurants are take-out or delivery only, bars are closed, some of the malls are closed and a large number of people whose businesses are still open are working off-site. They are building temporary hospitals (hard-sided tents with HVAC) on several soccer fields and park and ride lots in anticipation of overflow from hospitals. Hasn't come to that yet, we can only hope they are not needed.
And as for personally being affected, since I flew to PHX last week and I am over 60, I am not allowed at my office, am forced to work at home, which is fine by me. Have been doing it twice a week for years anyhow. But the WORST is that my lady friend wants me to observe the two week quarantine and keep the six foot social distancing thing until then! Counting the days until it's done. Five down, nine to go

I was in the Seychelles until last Sunday; I grabbed the last flight from there to Paris in order to get back to the USA.

For those of us who have business around the world, it is a shock to know we can't simply hop on a flight and go where we think we need to be. It is a real shock to the system - and a realization of how fragile our relationship with nature truly is.

My home is in Southern Nevada and though we are not as big as the strip we have a few casinos and it's hard on the workers. I just got back to NY for some work and I am lucky my income is not effected thankfully.

Staying close to home, not eating out almost everyday as we have done for years. Staying out of coffee shops also. Not reading the paper at breakfast like I did for many years. Very careful with mail also and delivered boxes.

Late 60's, retired in Texas. Live full-time in an RV. Campground amenities are being closed, but not too much impact. Spring break is over, so masses of kids have left. We still walk around and talk to people. Not as much handshaking - i.e. NONE.

No card games in the rec center, basketball lor NASCAR watching parties.

Thank goodness that Redbox is open. Living mobile means no streaming is possible. Campgrounds don't have the infrastructure to support it, and cell networks are jammed.

Harder on grandkids. One granddaughter has been sent home from her office for several days with no pay. Boss at insurance agency is trying to figure out work for home, but even with fiber internet, the system is so jammed full that VOIP is not smooth. (In Texas, she doesn't have unemployment because her 'company' is too small.)

Two grandson's are home from school, doing work on-line. One is unhappy because he is heavily involved in JROTC and sports. That is out.

And the normal north Texas March, April, May of weekly storms, temps in the 80s most days, and tornado warnings.

Picked up to-go chicken for lunch today. No restaurants, but our budgets don't support a lot of that.

Normal semi-annual doctor's appts next week will send us into Dallas several times.

As a retired man I should not complain. Here in Denmark young people suffer much worse.

But anyway: My hair i growing too long. My hairdresser has too short arms, his arms aren't six feet long. He faces a $700 fine if police sees that he cuts my hair.

My pension savings last week shrunk a healthy 6 digits $$$ figure due to the stock market crash. It will probably recover some day, and otherwise I won't starve unless I happen to get 200 years old. And should that happen, then at least it will last an awfully long time.

I'll let you know in a year and a half...

Being a Delta pilot has been my dream for decades. I am getting close to being able to interview and then all this.

I know this virus has hurt people a lot more than me and my situation but it's still stressful watching your lifelong dream unraveling before your eyes. I think Delta will survive and continue to hire, but I didn't see it getting this bad in the first place. Who knows what'll happen

In SF. Loaded up on pot, Two-Buck Chuck, and have a cupboard full of non perishables. I’m considered an essential employee but I can work from home. Very secure up on a hill.

johnboy wrote:

In SF. Loaded up on pot, Two-Buck Chuck, and have a cupboard full of non perishables. I’m considered an essential employee but I can work from home. Very secure up on a hill.

You win the COVID-19 internet award.

We’re just laying low. Venture out when we need something.

I'm in Taiwan so I have warched everything on TV and my life has been very minimally affected. It's surreal to know that this year all my personal friends con mainland China, Korea, Japan, now in Europe, the USA, and Argentina have been forced to stay home and suspend their lives, all the while I have been able to go out to restaurants, ride public transport, and go to busy night markets. I have a physical job but I also have online income so Im financially fine.

Kids are at home until, at least, April 6. Spring break plans have been canceled. Wife is working from home. I continue to go to work.

Making more food at home, though still grabbing take-out when I need to.

The Rolling Stones have postponed their tour. Likely I'll just get a refund.

Helping the kids with school work, and having more family meals.

No practices. No games.

All-in-all, life has slowed down a bit.

Derico wrote:

I'm in Taiwan so I have warched everything on TV and my life has been very minimally affected..

bein able to churn out 10 Million masks per day helps a lot with that.... but seemingly most infections are via contact.

best regards
Thomas

Regards from Germany.
It’s having a significant impact on my life and on my company’s business. Working from home, not getting in touch with my in-laws and parents, going to the grocery store once a week only. I’m lucky enough to have a garden so we can at least leave the house.

And yet people don’t understand and go out, gather, don’t keep their distance. Problem is there are too many stupid people out there.

Angela Merkel clearly said: It’s serious, take it seriously yourself.

In other words:
[email protected]
flattenthecurve

I’ll just be brief for now, as I’ll probably have an update during or post weekend.

Still required to commute to work. Buying grocery supplies has been a problem, but I haven’t ventured out to any shops now for nearly a week - I’ve been too busy at work, but yes, I am very grateful I still have a job.

A lot has changed in a week, and I can sincerely say I have not been one of those panic buying, but I never let most household items run really low anyway, and I don’t need to travel far for supplies. Saying that, I am nervous this weekend about having to get stuff, only to find empty shelves. I am trying to get creative in food and grocery choices as a result. I don’t mind a bit of intermittent fasting, and my body mass index is a bit high, so with this pending change in lifestyle I may be able to make an improvement on my overall health here...

The worst part of this week is not being able to fly and to see family over Easter. Pending cancellations to flights and tight state border controls for Tasmania I cancelled it. Seems that they are atop this week rather than down there.

I am also worried about public places closing or social distancing meaning the enjoyment (availability) of eating out and retail will be awkward. I’ll find out.

With the social distancing, I will say that I love it! I really dislike non-family, friends or non-intimate persons in my personal space. Now I can tell them to back off without them getting offended or upset! Half the population has disappeared, particularly with the fact that I have to commute. I’ll tell you a secret - having a perception of OCD and being highly sensitive, that I hate dirty surfaces and don’t deal well with crowds and noise, so the cleanliness of everything is fantastic! Keep up the good work! Even when this over!

For the most part too, people seem to be more connected, like the pre World Wide Web days. Everyone is moving slower. The traffic is slower. I likened it this week to a hybrid-1980s. Living the retro life, without the air pollution. That was before I got over it and the way it’s all changing so quickly, and got over-tired as well. Weekend looms here.

I’m in south-eastern Australia. To be honest, I’m still stuck in January, and still mentally dealing with the dreadful fires and the summer we had. I seem to be more worried about fuel for the car and cash supply, even though cash is being discouraged because of virus transmission!

I’ll leave it there for now! Thanks for the therapeutic thread.

In the UK, mid size town in Southern England.

My contract finished end February, so looking for a new job/contract, but things are a little quiet.

Social distancing not a big problem except buses and shops.

Some items are not available, (toilet paper, thermometers and Paracetamol). However, I have got some Ibruprofen, which is probably better than nothing. I have a visit to the Doctor due next week, so I can check that out.

Only real puzzle is the limit on buying food items. Makes sense re hoarding, but also means making more visits to Food Shops which are consequently crowded.

Most non-essential businesses have been forced closed other than restaurants, but they only offer take away. Grocery stores are hit and miss for products, idiots are still hoarding. I still have to go to work, essential services, doesn't bother me. Can't get a haircut tho, gonna be like a 70s revival when things get back to normal. Other than that, just taking everything as normal as one can.

The non-union auto assembly plant I work at is still running. They made it clear we will run until forced to do otherwise. They're continuing to spread the virus and delay the economic recovery in my opinion.

In Slovakia... Shops except supermarkets are shut and you can;t go in without a mask or some sort of face covering. Schools have been shut for over a week now but before that they were checking temperatures for a couple of weeks. Working from home luckily and the plant will be closing operations tomorrow. borders are closed but you can drive someone to the border, they cross it on foot and then they get picked up on the other side.. had to do it to get my sister back when the airport was closed.. Only slovak citizens and those of us with residency are allowed into the country and also anyone coming in now is subject to 2 weeks quarantine.. They must know who is breaking it as they have already prosecuted 200 people who didn't. Government's tracking mobile phones as well to see if people have been in contact with those in high risk areas. Otherwise it's pretty quiet. Going shopping later to stock up on the essentials of beer, red wine and Slivka.

Went from feeling I have the most secure job in the world to really questioning it. I sit about top 35% of a major airline pilot seniority list, as long as we stay in buisness I guess we should be ok. The wife has a good enough job that if we cut pretty far back we can survive on her salary, she’s a Physician Assistant, so basically the most secure job in the world with this situation.

[quote="VapourTrails"][/quote]

The past week in Melbourne has been a total head spin....

Shopping wise, things started getting a turn for the worse last Friday - went to my local Woolies on Friday night to find no mince or sausages left. Shopping on Saturday was crazy, had to go to multiple stores to get what I needed (and still couldn't get everything). Was finally able to get some mince tonight...

Really noticed Downtown Melbourne starting to empty out from Tuesday onwards with people starting to work from home, to the point that walking down Collins Street at lunchtime feels like a Sunday with the lack of people. Early in the week, my employer (government department) wouldn't allow us to work from home or at our suburban offices, things started changing from Thursday onwards, to the point where we have now been told to take home any work-issued devices at the end of each day & reminders have been sent to ensure our contact details are correct in case the office has to close. Managers have to report daily on staff whereabouts, especially those still on leave who might be overseas, and anyone who might be suspected of contracting Coronavirus, or if they have it - thankfully no one in our building at this stage. A very strange feeling at the office this week with how quickly things have changed.

Have also noticed that people are starting to clean the equipment at the gym after use, like they're meant to.....



Feels like the calm before the storm here.

- Working from home 5 days a week now (not much of a stretch as my team works from home and works remotely all the time)
- Spent last week getting two nephews home after being evicted from their college dorms with just a few hours notice. Getting our nephew from Rotterdam home was a nightmare, but now he's safe and sound.
- My spouse is a medical engineer. He's the guy who ensures respirators are working. So he's on the front lines and in the hospital each and every day. When he comes home, he strips at the door, tosses his clothes in the washer and immediately takes a shower.
- Grocery stores are decimated in my area. We've tried not to hoard, but it seems like many people have done just that. Turns out hoarders take little interest in vegan foods, so we're okay with vegan and we've stocked up. And by the way, non-dairy ice cream (which has largely been left untouched in stores) is really good! Since there's no real ice cream left, people should give it a try.
- We've been running errands for a couple of shut-in friends including one who just completed Chemo and is extremely vulnerable to CV-19.
- No noise outside - no car traffic, no heavy machinery, no voices. Just birds chirping...which is okay if not a bit eerie.

I work in hotel sales at one of the worlds largest travel companies - as you can imagine we’re not really able to sell to hotels right now.

We’re being told we need to work hard through this so the plan is to call hotels with great empathy. While closing deals is hardly realistic at the moment lay offs are not expected unless this becomes very long term. We need to operate with optimism and create relationships with our hotel clients now so we can help each other get back on our feet once life begins to go back to normal.

fr8mech wrote:

Kids are at home until, at least, April 6. Spring break plans have been canceled. Wife is working from home. I continue to go to work.

Making more food at home, though still grabbing take-out when I need to.

The Rolling Stones have postponed their tour. Likely I'll just get a refund.

Helping the kids with school work, and having more family meals.

No practices. No games.

All-in-all, life has slowed down a bit.

The school closures are making a mess for my nephew. Prom has been cancelled, they are saying he may never go back to school and the graduation ceremony is on the fence. First world problems, but your senior year in high school blowing up like this pretty much sucks. I feel bad for the thousands of kids facing the same predicament both for these life milestones and potentially not going back for the year. Kids need to be in a classroom if only to be with their friends for social interaction. Kids were probably ecstatic at first, but it’s going to get old for them pretty quickly.

mbmbos wrote:

And by the way, non-dairy ice cream (which has largely been left untouched in stores) is really good! Since there's no real ice cream left, people should give it a try.

Don't give the hoarders any tips. I am quite fond of non-dairy ice myself (can't handle lactose) and would prefer not to have that sold out as well.

I work at a mayor supermarket chain, so for me work has to go on. It's a lot busier then normally.
We did split the department up though to limit exposure. On mondays and tuesdays I work with one colleague from the office. The rest of the week I work from home with other colleagues covering the office.

My social life is pretty much on hold. Plane spotting is rather dull with most planes grounded and military excercises cancelled (e.g. Frisian Flag). I like to dance salsa, but both the parties and the classes are closed. I was booked on a 2 week vacation to Cuba end of April, obviously that has been postponed indefinately.

Got up before dawn and drive 30 miles in heavy rain on narrow curvy 2 lane country roads, to be at the grocery store in a nearby small town when it opened. DW heard they were getting a shipment of TP last night. I like not sleeping outdoors in the rain, so I went.

No TP.

Did have paper towels which we don't need right now, but will before April is over. Bought a package, our normal brand and size. A couple other items. None of those in short supply except Oreo's. Guess with all the kids out of school and at home heavy purchases of Oreo's makes sense.

There was a police officer in the grocery store at the TP/Paper Towels aisle. Reminding folks that there was a one package per family limit.

Then he moved over to the milk and eggs coolers and hung out there.

Said no problems had been at that store, but police had been called to break up a fight at another store in the country seat. Some fellow got upset at the store imposed limit and punched out the manager for refusing to sell him all that he could load in four carts.

Some people had driven to this small town east of Dallas from Fort Worth because of the rumor of a TP shipment. Over a hundred miles. Crazy.

rfields5421 wrote:

Got up before dawn and drive 30 miles in heavy rain on narrow curvy 2 lane country roads, to be at the grocery store in a nearby small town when it opened. DW heard they were getting a shipment of TP last night. I like not sleeping outdoors in the rain, so I went.

No TP.

Did have paper towels which we don't need right now, but will before April is over. Bought a package, our normal brand and size. A couple other items. None of those in short supply except Oreo's. Guess with all the kids out of school and at home heavy purchases of Oreo's makes sense.

There was a police officer in the grocery store at the TP/Paper Towels aisle. Reminding folks that there was a one package per family limit.

Then he moved over to the milk and eggs coolers and hung out there.

Said no problems had been at that store, but police had been called to break up a fight at another store in the country seat. Some fellow got upset at the store imposed limit and punched out the manager for refusing to sell him all that he could load in four carts.

Some people had driven to this small town east of Dallas from Fort Worth because of the rumor of a TP shipment. Over a hundred miles. Crazy.

We got a bunch of these just in case. Gave up on the TP. Available March 22:

https://www.amazon.com/Pampers-Complete ... 201&sr=8-3

Another option. Provides a bit of humor as well:

https://www.amazon.com/ASSWIPES-Flushab ... 86&sr=8-14

I haven't been out in a week. A family member has done a few grocery runs during the day, while I'm telecommuting, so no reason for me to go out (you need a good reason since Monday in France, with a signed paper). So far we still get fresh baguettes every day, if we have to stop it will get bad (I'm not kidding).

I am an avid cinema goer, with an unlimited plan to go whenever I want, so I'm frustrated I can't go.

No restaurant is also tough.

We got meat delivered today, a first.

Brick and mortar stores will lose some business permanently, me thinks.

Amazon pantry has very few items though.

I'm the tech who programs/repairs/etc. two call centers in Morocco, suddenly Morocco is going into full lockdown tonight, so I have to program something so that agents can take calls from home.

I'm self quarantined I am working from home thankfully I moved into a different part of the company 2 years ago and they allowed us to work one day a week from home but I am recovering from flu and pneumonia as I am 56 with underlying heath conditions Asthma, Diabetes and Heart Disease I am at particularly high risk my doctor said if I get this it's not going to go well so my company allowed me to work full time from home. Going stir crazy and I need a haircut but otherwise ok. I really feel for the people in the hospitality and passenger airline industry. Hope we can recover from this.

Redneck bidet.

Old lawn chair with seat rotted out placed over a lawn sprinkler.

Haven't left the property since shelter in place was called last week but going out today. I am considered essential if I want but don't have a real need to go out. My wife is also 'essential' but staying home, no point in risking anything. I had put a rental house up for sale two weeks ago after spending 3 months working on it and expected to take a huge hit when it became illegal to look at houses but ended with getting $50k over asking price. I'll take it. We have a field across the street to run and are all doing an exercise regimen every morning, lung capacity is key during respiratory illness.

It seems I have quite a different story - from Vancouver BC.

I drive a cargo van for multiple customers. Things are generally bad as regular customers like high end retail, hotels etc close, sports being cancelled, freight volumes down due to production slow down in Asia (& everywhere but particularly Asia as 50% of cargo into Vancouver port is from China, Japan & Korea), flights stopping being far less air cargo, down to people not being around to receive goods anyway. Most of our trucks, particularly the big ones are parked as there is no work (we don't all delivery groceries).

However, we have a contract for a large courier company and Amazon home deliveries are exploding like xmas. So I am on contract there for the next month, it is good hourly money and with gas dropping $0.40/l in a week, that is as good as $100 extra in my pocket too.

The only concern is that being on the front line like this means I feel it is just a matter of time before we all get ill, out on the road you can't wash your hands every time you touch a gate or elevator button (I do have a bottle of hand sanitizer in my van).

So I drive around the quiet cul-de-sacs and side roads and to be honest it is quite refreshing to see society back to how it was 40+ years ago. Massive increase in families out walking together with the dog, kids playing in the streets, dads teaching the kids how to ride a bike, people gardening and washing their cars (beautiful spring weather), people sat in deck chairs in their front yards with a beer chatting to the neighbors across the lawn.

Traffic is light and everyone is so kind, friendly and genuinely appreciative with many kind words thanking me for working in these conditions. 90% of the parcels I can just drop on the doorstep, so there is actually limited contact with people once I am out of the terminal. But the apartments and businesses are a different story. I don't take signatures where required anymore, just ask the name.

My wife has just got back from the regular weekly grocery shop, the usual restrictions put in as everywhere, but everything is available in abundance apart from TP & hand sanitizer. She has been working from home, which is good as it saves her 90 mins commute time and we don't have to get up at 615 any more.

I have cut my own hair for 10+ years, #1 all over, so no issues there!

It's been.. not the greatest experience so far, although I and the people dearest to me have been spared from actual illness so far, so I'm trying to see the silver linings.

Earlier this week I had to say goodbye to my girlfriend for an indefinite amount of time (for now), as she's from the US and her program here in Europe got canceled, so on Monday morning I drove her to an eerily empty FRA from where her parents had booked her on one of the last remaining UA flights back to the states. I'm hoping things might relax enough that I can see her in the summer.

I planned to write my thesis but the start date for that got pushed back since my university has closed all buildings, including the library. The bright side of that is that there's a certain amount of research I can do at home, which may reduce my workload once my professor sets the official start date for that 8-week time frame I'd technically get to finish the thesis.

Now I'm just at home trying my best to isolate and socially distance myself (except for necessary groceries, which I also do for my grandparents so that they can stay inside) and I'm getting increasingly anxious about the future prospects in various aspects of my life.
As a consequence I'm also getting increasingly mad at people who ignore warnings and hang around as if nothing has changed and I'm wondering how much longer Germany is going to hesitate in declaring a nationwide lockdown like France, Italy, Belgium, Spain have done it.

I am a college student in India, and my college life has been messed up.

First, my summer vacations have been preponed to now till May 31. When the college reopens, we will have a raft of exams - sessionals, lab exams, assignments and end sem exams in a rather short period of time.

Second, my summer internship has been jeopardized by this virus. It might get cancelled now . This hurts ... I was about to go to live in a new city for 2 months, and I had made many plans .... Now god knows what will happen ....

The past few days the weather here in Seattle has been beautiful and all the home-bound folks have gotten outside to enjoy it. I live near a river and the walking/biking trail along the bank has been as crowded as a mid-summer Saturday. But people are respecting the distance between one another when approaching.
It's affected me in a way that I didn't think of when posting my response yesterday - actually it's affecting me and my dog. We volunteer at Seattle Children's Hospital at at the airport (SEA). He is a registered therapy dog and just loves people. Of course those programs are on pause for a while and I can tell he misses his visits. Also our competition obedience an agility classes are cancelled as are two agility trials we were entered in during April. I can practice the obedience stuff on my own but don't have agility equipment so we'll be pretty rusty when things start up again

YVRLTN wrote:

However, we have a contract for a large courier company and Amazon home deliveries are exploding like xmas. So I am on contract there for the next month, it is good hourly money and with gas dropping $0.40/l in a week, that is as good as $100 extra in my pocket too.

My wife would be one of those seeing you get those Amazon packages routed properly. Knowing that she'd be in contact with dozens of drivers and sorters of unknown background and risking our known-to-be-clean home environment, it just isn't worth going to work, although Jeff has offered an extra $2/hour for those who continue coming. Package count was down over 50% last week. Amazon has floated shutting down.

YVRLTN wrote:

So I drive around the quiet cul-de-sacs and side roads and to be honest it is quite refreshing to see society back to how it was 40+ years ago. Massive increase in families out walking together with the dog, kids playing in the streets, dads teaching the kids how to ride a bike, people gardening and washing their cars (beautiful spring weather), people sat in deck chairs in their front yards with a beer chatting to the neighbors across the lawn.

Traffic is light and everyone is so kind, friendly and genuinely appreciative with many kind words thanking me for working in these conditions. 90% of the parcels I can just drop on the doorstep, so there is actually limited contact with people once I am out of the terminal. But the apartments and businesses are a different story. I don't take signatures where required anymore, just ask the name.

Hopefully, not all the long term changes will be negative.

DLFREEBIRD wrote:

How has the Coronavirus Pandemic affected You?

Here in Vegas, the Governor of Nevada declared all non-essential businesses to shut down for 30 days.

how are you doing? and don't forget to tell us where you're from and what restrictions you're dealing with.

Adjust and adapt. Instead of a lap dance...


Little Darlings defies shutdown decree, will offer drive-thru peep shows

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/mar/19/little-darlings-defies-shutdown-decree-peep-shows/

Cool, the return of drive-in theaters.

Currently working from Home in NC.

Office was shutdown and we were told to stay home. I stay busy, but the kids and wife are home as well, along with a happy/confused dog. Been hiking, and biking with the kids, and trying to keep things normal. Little stressed, but it is from a lot of work going on to help with all those working from home. and the business shift in vlans that IT companies are implementing worldwide.

The schools are closed. Restaurants and bars are takeout only.

It has been good weather here the last few days so it makes it easier to go out and take a breather.

Will see how all this feels going out further.


On the plus side, I can have Friday Happy Hour beers while still working.

Yes, I may be laid off.

Confuscius wrote:

DLFREEBIRD wrote:

How has the Coronavirus Pandemic affected You?

Here in Vegas, the Governor of Nevada declared all non-essential businesses to shut down for 30 days.

how are you doing? and don't forget to tell us where you're from and what restrictions you're dealing with.

Adjust and adapt. Instead of a lap dance...


Little Darlings defies shutdown decree, will offer drive-thru peep shows

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/mar/19/little-darlings-defies-shutdown-decree-peep-shows/

that didn't last long, before the governor just asked, for businesses to shut down. So when Little Darlings did this, he declared it an emergency, so they are now required by law to shut down.

I’m one of the lucky ones who get to say there has been so far little direct effect at a personal level.

My last flight was a week ago and I have been working from home (NTX) since which is, so far, routine. Though my employer has offices around the country and beyond, most employees are not required to go unless necessary, and I rarely visit even in virus-free times. Right now, going to the office is strongly discouraged anyway, but not disallowed (unless by law).

No let up in the amount of work (yet).

Meals are a mix of home cooked and deliveries, but so have they been for a long while now, as is the weekly curbside grocery pickup. Stepping out a little less than usual (and not getting out of the car much when I do), and washing hands more.

I wonder how I will feel four weeks from now when (I wish I could write “if”) I will have been home non-stop for the longest stretch I can think of and will not have seen a single one of my teammates.

So far so good, but it is still early (unfortunately).

South-eastern Australia: Went to the shops today, first time in a week after commuting to work only for the past week, which is the ordinary routine anyhow - for now. I was pleasantly surprised with my experience. Traffic and people was about half the usual. Everything was still open for business. Enquired about getting a hair cut - before that option is closed off. They’re working reduced hours at mo. Everyone had slowed down - the pace of life of a country town rather than a city.

No queues anywhere. The supermarkets were very calm and orderly, compared to a week ago. No deliveries or click and collect, so had to go in. My take on the calmness is that the panic-buying has either plateaued, or people are heeding the messages or warnings from authorities - maybe. There were police in the supermarket I went into to buy but they were not guarding any aisles so to speak.

Got most of what I needed, but definitely not TP. Some of the products left in pasta and rice for example, were the organic ones - the higher price end LOL. This is fine as I had changed to a semi-organic diet anyway. Got my laundry detergent I wanted. There was no problem with dairy milk, but I’d already got it elsewhere. Carpark was half empty. Only about half the people I saw were practicing social distancing, which the government was harping on about by the time I switched on the evening news. They responded there by closing Bondi Beach!

The weather here at mo is beautiful. It’s very quiet in the neighbourhood. No need for those noise cancelling headphones LOL. For those of us near an airport, the reduction in air traffic is very noticeable. I don’t mind it. I didn’t mind it before, but it is pleasant to experience what it is like to be at home without it during this time. Be interested to hear from others that live near LHR for example as to how their lives are different on the ground - with the air traffic reduced. I guess the same goes for levels of air pollution in large cities.

I am keen to hear of studies made on the environmental and social impacts from all this.

Aesma wrote:

I haven't been out in a week. A family member has done a few grocery runs during the day, while I'm telecommuting, so no reason for me to go out (you need a good reason since Monday in France, with a signed paper). So far we still get fresh baguettes every day, if we have to stop it will get bad (I'm not kidding).

Brick and mortar stores will lose some business permanently, me thinks..

It seems there is a lot of people in the streets in Paris and IDF. I was watching videos with some stupid Parisians jogging along the "quais" (not to mention crowds in places like St-Denis; but this people is not very educated and probably live in overcrowded premises; but your average person living in the 6eme or 7eme?). Even in my street (a relatively busy "avenue") I see a lot of traffic all day long. And it is not about ambulances or delivery trucks. Passenger cars. Where are they going to?

Not to mention, it seems most French people think this will have no impact on the economy. It certainly helps that the 2008/09 did not lead to a major recession in France like it did in other countries like the US, Ireland or Spain.

The average French lives in complete denial about the impact and consequences of this. They will wake up for a hard call.

Northern New Zealand

I was in Melbourne for the Formula One last weekend when things really hit. If was crazy to see how few people were in Melbourne on Monday compared to Thursday and Friday. Formula One was cancelled unfortunately.

The New Zealand borders effectively shut on Sunday night. I was repatriated on a flight back to Auckland on Tuesday night. Only 60 pax on a 787-9. Arrived into Auckland at 0155 Wednesday morning. All the e-gates were closed, all entries into the country were processed manually. There was more than an hour of standing in queues, filling out paperwork, answering verbal questions from ministry of health officials and customs officers whilst they sorted out quarantine procedures. Finally arrived home at 0345 Wednesday.

Spent the first day of quarantine at home doing gardening, unpacking from the trip, washing and cleaning. Also waiting for some things I ordered online to arrive. Send a few emails for work.

On Thursday I went up to the farm and have been staying in a small cabin up there. The dealer delivered my ATV back from it's service on Thursday afternoon, and speaking to him (at a distance, obviously) was my last "external" interaction. We've always kept a really good supply of canned goods and other non-perishables up here so could stay there for an extended period as needed. Solar power and rainwater collection too. I've always dreamt of some Armageddon like situation whereby I'm forced to stay here for a while so most things are fairly well prepared. I've brought got a whole lot of good books and magazines up here and my laptop is loaded with a few episodes of Better Call Saul and Homeland.

I've spent the past few days chopping up firewood logs for winter in the forest taking them uphill in the ATV and stacking it up to dry out. Also been planting a few things in the garden and having fun offroading. It's been nice not waking up to an alarm very early and having plenty of time to read. I've got to paint the roof at some point - just waiting for a day with good enough weather for that. A few times a day I'm walking up to the top of the driveway to get cell phone reception so that I can deal with work emails, receive WhatsApp messages and check a.net.

Sometime next week I'll have to go into Warkworth to get some fresh fruit and veges. Would like to get some seedlings and maybe some potting mix too.

Regarding work, it's not looking brilliant. I'm not expecting to get laid off but there will be less work to do for a while as things return to normal or whatever normal might be. Overall I'm fairly fortunate with the way I'm positioned compared to most.

I work at one of the core data centers of one of the biggest banks; we are an essential service so can't be shut down but management is actually taking steps to let us work from home. Not sure if that's going to actually happen since we're some of the very few people who are allowed to access these core applications that management doesn't want anyone accessing from anywhere but the data center - behind about five layers of security. They've actually gone so far as to issue me a laptop, I'm surprised at that. Waiting for either the "start working from home" announcement or for nothing.

There's a little mom-and-pop Chinese restaurant called 1st Wok near where I live that "I've been meaning to try" for about a billion years now. Now that small businesses apparently really need our help, I finally went ahead with it. Had the best Hunan-style spicy bean curd I've ever had, and one totally kick-ass hot-and-sour soup.

What the heck was wrong with me, waiting that long to try them?!??!?

When in Minneapolis, go to Calhoun Village and get your Chinese food from 1st Wok!!!!!

Well I'm getting 25% of my hours cut, our workload is down, and now I can't goto the store with out having to deal with the crazies, used to be able to go in around 9am and see next to no one now its a rush of people all buying the same silly things in bulk.

The wine country is very quiet without all the seniors coming by weekday and IT warriors by weekend. Everyone's worried about the health of the industry but pretty much all the winery owners on the central coast know each other and it's a very supportive community. It's the early part of the year's growing cycle so all the vineyards will be keeping busy with getting their properties sorted before summer hits.

Made me utter a sentence I never thought I would say in my life: "I still need my travel permit issued".

Best regards
Thomas

SCQ83 wrote:

Aesma wrote:

I haven't been out in a week. A family member has done a few grocery runs during the day, while I'm telecommuting, so no reason for me to go out (you need a good reason since Monday in France, with a signed paper). So far we still get fresh baguettes every day, if we have to stop it will get bad (I'm not kidding).

Brick and mortar stores will lose some business permanently, me thinks..

It seems there is a lot of people in the streets in Paris and IDF. I was watching videos with some stupid Parisians jogging along the "quais" (not to mention crowds in places like St-Denis; but this people is not very educated and probably live in overcrowded premises; but your average person living in the 6eme or 7eme?). Even in my street (a relatively busy "avenue") I see a lot of traffic all day long. And it is not about ambulances or delivery trucks. Passenger cars. Where are they going to?

Not to mention, it seems most French people think this will have no impact on the economy. It certainly helps that the 2008/09 did not lead to a major recession in France like it did in other countries like the US, Ireland or Spain.

The average French lives in complete denial about the impact and consequences of this. They will wake up for a hard call.

Well the quais have been closed with drones now being used to patrol them.

Yes some people are hopeless. My sister lives in Saint-Ouen (brand new building in a gentrifying zone) and it's a mixed bag, but she's young so not at much risk, in fact she's considering volunteering to take care of children of medics and the like.

My parents and I live in a western neighbourhood of Paris that is already calm in normal times, very calm now. My parents considered going to their second home in Brittany but in the end figured hospitals are better and more numerous here...

For cars and trucks, well the government is sending a very mixed message, social distancing first, but keep working if you can. My company has decided to close most construction sites, but other (smaller) companies are still open.