Coronavirus (Covid-19)

[Daniel]

How y'all holding up? I'm sure a few can relate, what I do has been closed so I've been homebound this week and likely for the next three weeks. Not ideal, but can't really do anything about it.

My nearby markets have been crazy! Every time I've gone they've been sold out of what I like, been living off of soup and rice. People and their hoarding! I literally felt like Norma from the Twilight episode "The Midnight Sun" the other day... practically running through the isles trying to find anything. That's what this all feels like, very Twilighty!

Hope you are all safe and keeping alert. Hopefully things get better real soon.

[James]

Back in February, a few weeks before this hit the west, I heard a news story talking about how it was a good idea in general just to have a month's backup of food and certain other household products. I wasn't expecting anything like this to actually happen and so soon. But I still thought it was a good idea, so went out and bought a stash of nonperishable food and some other things. Most of it was stuff we could use eventually anyway. Just a little more. And a lot of it generic, rather than whatever name brand I might usually buy since it was probably going to be sitting in storage for an emergency that would more than likely not come. One of those things... toilet paper! I bought 60 rolls of the cheapest toiler paper they had -- $10 total! I stored it in the garage thinking it would probably be there for a very long time.

Flash forward to last week. The social isolation rules are just starting, people are going a bit crazy, and I run out of toilet paper. Head to the stores and, well, you've seen the empty shelves yourself probably! I was very glad to have that backup. But, oh man did I find out why it was so cheap!

[ShyViolet]

You too Dan, and James, and everyone else here, both members and lurkers. I’m really glad we’re all still posting here regularly; it definitely helps with the stress/anxiety of this situation.

My nearby markets have been crazy! Every time I've gone they've been sold out of what I like, been living off of soup and rice. People and their hoarding! I literally felt like Norma from the Twilight episode "The Midnight Sun" the other day... practically running through the isles trying to find anything. That's what this all feels like, very Twilighty!

Lol it was exactly the same here with me; when I was stocking up on stuff on Monday I was fortunately able to get most of what I wanted, but not a whole lot of it. And yeah, quite a few shelves were half or even completely empty. You kinda just had to take what was available.

Yeah, totally reminded me Norma in TZ/“Midnight Sun” too! Grabbing what you can. Still LOVE that episode.

(Oh this really doesn’t matter much at all, and I totally understand that Serling conceived this as science FICTION, but there’s not a chance in h*** that the Earth could EVER change is orbit. Its orbit is based on magnetic forces which are perfectly aligned with that of other planets, who have their own orbits too. If the Earth somehow did suddenly start moving closer and closer to the sun instead of around it, all the planets in our Solar System would crash into each other. Which doesn’t seem too likely...physical forces both on earth and in space are there for a reason.)

Whoops sorry I guess I went off on a tangent there lol.


Also people grabbing random items reminded me of the Simpsons ep: “Hurricane Neddy” where Marge and Lisa struggle to find groceries they need at the Kwik-E-Mart.”

“Creamed Eels? Corn Nog?” Not very appetizing. Lol.

[Daniel]

Aww, group bump!

[Otis8]

I'm so bored! and there's nothing good on tv...

[Daniel]

I'm watching the Christmas movie marathon on Hallmark Channel. As if things weren't surreal enough!

[Bill1978]

I feel like I'm living in some form of Bizarro World everyone is living in a COVID world, while I'm not. I have my government telling me all these instructions to reduce the spread. Stay at home, limit the amount of people in one place etc but yet they have kept schools open meaning I still have to go to work and be surrounded by 100s of people. And in /cramped' indoor spaces. My life is business as usual, while there are hoarders running around stock piling for the zombie apocalypse, including people from the cities hopping in minibuses are driving to my country town to buy our products. It's really hard for me to balance the severity of the issue when I'm expected to not change any part of my regular routine per se. The only thing that makes it almost real for me is that we are preparing for online lessons IF the call is made to shut schools.

[Ben]

Can I just ask what the thing is with loo rolls and eggs? Why can’t we find any loo rolls and eggs!?!!?

[Dan]

Oddly enough, despite living in California, my regular routine hasn't been upended all that much. I've been a stay-at-home type of a guy usually, so the order on Thursday hasn't affected me socially. It's whether or not I'll be going into work that I'm keeping an eye on.

[Bill1978]

Can I just ask what the thing is with loo rolls and eggs? Why can’t we find any loo rolls and eggs!?!!?

I know here in Australia, the initial panic on loo paper was a result of misinformation that all our toilet paper was made in China and China was closing their borders. So buy now or you will have to use gum leaves to wipe your butts. Turns out 60% of Australia's toilet paper is made in Australia but that still hasn't stopped people stockpiling the crap. The eggs no idea, I don't eat them so it doesn't affect me. All I know is the farmer's association has released info saying that annually Australia produces enough food to feed 75 million people and Australia only has 25 million people so stop stockpiling Australia isn't going to run out of food.

At the moment the only way COVID-19 has affected me is the cancellation of Eurovision.

[EricJ]

Every time I've gone they've been sold out of what I like, been living off of soup and rice.

Canned soup? You need a crockpot. Your freezer will fill up with leftovers very quickly, for times like these.

Can I just ask what the thing is with loo rolls and eggs? Why can’t we find any loo rolls and eggs!?!!?

For some reason, I'm reading that as "Egg rolls", and that "Loo" is a regional Chinese flavor...

I'm in a place where I can't use my freezer, but in the old days, I would be stocked up for a MONTH before the big blizzard. (I still have a great trapped-in-the-house pasta-sauce recipe that's rescued my rationed food supply on many an ice-storm day before our grocery started delivering.)
Nowadays, I have to buy from week to week, and underestimate just how much the shelves are cleaning off: Just today, I went for a special on chicken, saw a sign saying "Only 2 per customer", and saw five yards of meat shelf...empty.

What's particularly embarrassing is, going in for those genius long-range essentials, like peanut butter or anti-bacterial dish soap, and discovering that EVERYBODY already had the exact same idea that you had.
And yes, buying fruit juice does feel like the Midnight Sun.

[Ben]

S'ok, Bill. They’re doing some kind of virtual Eurovish...!?

[Randall]

Hello, all! It has been a crazy week for everyone. Schools closed here this week, and I was laid off work, along with many others. Everything is shutting down for a while. All for the best, though. I am glad that Canada is acting relatively quickly, but it has made for a big adjustment. Fortunately, I am in a good position to weather this for a while, and I am just happy to be safe at home. No purchases for my collections will be happening, but buying groceries is no problem.

My wife did a great job of shopping for us. Though all stores ran out of toilet paper for a couple of days, stock got replenished quickly. Canada makes its own toilet paper too, and once the panic buying ends, the shelves will be stagnant for months. We signed up for meat delivery with a local farm, and bought a freezer. Currently, we can stay inside our house for at least a month if not longer.

We must all make the best of it. I have stacks of movies and books to get to. Time with the family. Projects in the house and later the yard as it gets warmer. Time to exercise. I also have a little writing job that will help keep me busy for a day or two.

Take care, all!

[Daniel]

That's how I'm looking at it. I'm right there with you on movies and TV shows. I've also been wanting to clean for so long and go through my junk but kept putting it off. Now I have no excuse! Tons of stuff to keep me occupied.

[Ben]

We're calling it a HAH! — Holiday At Home!