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Post by barnabaslives on Mar 17, 2020 7:44:33 GMT
So guys. What are we going to do pass the time for those of us who are self-isolating? What about a Dr. Who watch-a-long? Or Big Finish listen-a-long? We choose a story then all start at the same time & chat in a thread? Maybe a live chat if we all have twitter & use the same story hashtag? I can't get Twitter to work but we've had some listen-thrus here before some time back - Dorian Gray, Dark Shadows, Doctor Who - I think a couple of years ago we have a Six and Evelyn listen-thru, and discussed them in dedicated threads. It was lots of fun, might indeed make for a good diversion as long as it's not stories about viruses.
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Post by relativetime on Mar 17, 2020 9:00:10 GMT
Well, today at work I was hearing talk of implementing social distancing practices around the workplace. The biggest change to me was that we’re probably going to stop going to get breakfast together. It’s a really silly, small thing to get upset about yet it does kind of make me a little depressed. That was sort of the one thing I looked forward to the most every morning to be honest.
Bigger concerns, obviously, but all the same I guess I’m not as prepared for social distancing as I thought I’d be.
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Post by muckypup on Mar 17, 2020 12:09:42 GMT
Ok.. 1 of the 2 biggest supermarket food chains here in Australia.. Apparantly the main #1 warehouse interstate that's the size of a small town that holds the bulk of stock- is literally empty. On the radio they disguised a truck drivers voice who works as a contractor- he claims he saw this but no official announcement as the panic will increase. The last 2 days they have had that "pensioner hour" but the shelves were still empty so it was deemed a "failure". Some time next week they are going to close ALL the Woolworths store (unprecedented they will lose millions) and they are going to spend the full day with all staff restacking the shelves.. Then watch the chaos ensue the next day.. back to square 1. We already had a worker get stabbed inside the store with a knife.. WTH is wrong with people GGRR. The most shocking thing about that dude.....is you still have Woolworths! awwww I miss Woolworths here in the uk........ local shops here, still seem to have stocks of most stuff (toilet rolls included), while the supermarkets are empty support local, let the big boys shoulder the brunt of the losses........
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Post by Digi on Mar 17, 2020 13:37:52 GMT
Following yesterday's announcement of a nationwide restriction barring non-citizens and non-permanent residents from entry into the country, as of about an hour ago a State of Emergency has been declared here in Ontario. Gatherings of 50+ people banned. Bars and restaurants only allowed to open for take-out or drive-through. Many businesses closing their doors until April at minimum.
My sister's work (does photo work for schools) shut down last week when the province announced schools would be closed for at least 2 weeks after March Break, so she's been laid off. My mum works for a company that owns a chain of physiotherapy clinics, today they told staff they were closing all clinics until further notice, so my mum is now laid off. My manager is currently on a call with lower/middle/upper management discussing bringing our staffing down to barebones (ie: no more than 1 person on site at a time), so there's a very real possibility that I will be told today not to come back to work till further notice.
This is pretty well unprecedented here. The only even remotely comparable thing I can think of is that we had a nationwide state of emergency in 1970, but that was due to terrorism in Montreal and the restrictions were largely confined to Quebec (and it was 15 years before I was born).
I have had issues with anxiety since university, so this is not doing me any favours.
On the brighter side: My sister's cause-for-concern cold symptoms last week appear to have only been a cold. She had a fever that lasted only one day, and since then she's just been dealing with gradually lessening cold symptoms. My mum's been sniffling for a few days, having caught it from my sister, but nothing more than that. My dad is healthy and symptom-free, as am I.
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Post by charlesuirdhein on Mar 17, 2020 15:18:49 GMT
Not dead. Faceless Ones didn't arrive. BOOOOO!
Ok, normal service will now resume here.
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Post by fingersmash on Mar 17, 2020 15:37:07 GMT
Well, today at work I was hearing talk of implementing social distancing practices around the workplace. The biggest change to me was that we’re probably going to stop going to get breakfast together. It’s a really silly, small thing to get upset about yet it does kind of make me a little depressed. That was sort of the one thing I looked forward to the most every morning to be honest. Bigger concerns, obviously, but all the same I guess I’m not as prepared for social distancing as I thought I’d be. It really is the little things that make you realize how terrible this all is. I had the realization last night that there isn't a single child giving Mickey Mouse a hug anywhere, which is a very depressing thought. And yet, to be an optimist, all these cancellations and postponements and closures and social distancing and isolations and quarantines are a mass agreement that in order for life to go on, we need to press pause for a bit.
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Post by nottenst on Mar 17, 2020 17:32:28 GMT
Now that I won't be commuting to work everyday, I realized I need to build in a Big Finish virtual commute. Listen to 25 minutes or so of something before working and after working at home.
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Post by Digi on Mar 17, 2020 17:34:23 GMT
So last night, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made an appearance on CNN, being interviewed about the COVID crisis by anchor Chris Cuomo -- his brother -- and the very end of the interview is just absolute gold
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Mar 17, 2020 19:58:43 GMT
Ok.. 1 of the 2 biggest supermarket food chains here in Australia.. Apparantly the main #1 warehouse interstate that's the size of a small town that holds the bulk of stock- is literally empty. On the radio they disguised a truck drivers voice who works as a contractor- he claims he saw this but no official announcement as the panic will increase. The last 2 days they have had that "pensioner hour" but the shelves were still empty so it was deemed a "failure". Some time next week they are going to close ALL the Woolworths store (unprecedented they will lose millions) and they are going to spend the full day with all staff restacking the shelves.. Then watch the chaos ensue the next day.. back to square 1. We already had a worker get stabbed inside the store with a knife.. WTH is wrong with people GGRR. The most shocking thing about that dude.....is you still have Woolworths! awwww I miss Woolworths here in the uk........ local shops here, still seem to have stocks of most stuff (toilet rolls included), while the supermarkets are empty support local, let the big boys shoulder the brunt of the losses........
Australian Woolworths (or Woolies) is different to the UK brand- formed here in 1924 LOL
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Mar 17, 2020 19:59:54 GMT
Ok.. As I am "linked to both the major supermarket chains with Rewards cards I am getting email updates .. Here is the latest.. it's a big one : "COLES COMMUNITY HOUR AND 5000+ NEW TEAM MEMBERS TO BOOST SERVICE Dear Shane, We're announcing a range of new measures across our business during the COVID-19 outbreak to safeguard the wellbeing of our customers and team members, while also ensuring we can provide groceries for all Australians, particularly the elderly and most vulnerable members of the community. New Community Hour and changes to trading hours From tomorrow, we will launch a dedicated "Community Hour" from Monday to Friday in all supermarkets to improve access to essential groceries for the elderly and disadvantaged, during this time of unprecedented demand. Our supermarkets will temporarily change their trading hours to open 7am to 8pm every day*, with the first hour of trade on weekdays exclusively for customers who hold a government-issued Pensioner Concession Card, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, Companion Card and Health Care Card^. Once this hour is complete, all other customers will be invited through the doors to complete their grocery shop. Supermarkets will also close no later than 8pm to give our team members the time and space to extensively clean our stores and replenish the shelves for customers the next day. *where state laws allow ^ these arrangements will be reviewed as necessary. Recruiting over 5,000 new team members To help us continue to offer the best possible service to customers during this busy time, we are recruiting an additional 5,000 casual team members to join our supermarkets across Australia. This will allow us to serve more customers and replenish shelves faster, while offering employment opportunities for Australians in industries impacted by COVID-19. We'll be fast-tracking inductions so we can boost the number of team members on the shop floor as quickly as possible. Ensuring everyone has access to everyday essentials To allow everyone the opportunity to purchase everyday essentials, we will be implementing a 2-product limit per customer on the following items from Wednesday 18 March: • Sugar • Dairy milk • Grocery milk • Canned tomatoes • Pasta sauce • Liquid soaps These restrictions are in addition to current item limits already in place in-store and online. To view these please visit www.coles.com.au/customernotice Changes to Coles Online Our Coles Online home delivery service will temporarily be diverted to focus on elderly and vulnerable members of the community. Delivery vans in our network will focus on delivering groceries to those in genuine need, including retirement and nursing homes. We apologise to our regular online customers for any inconvenience this may cause. To avoid inconvenience for our Coles Online customers who have been receiving incomplete Click&Collect orders due to lower product availability in stores, we will temporarily not be accepting Click&Collect orders. We will also be cancelling our UberEats delivery service during this time to enable team members to improve availability in stores. Community personal hygiene focus To minimise the spread of COVID-19 we are suggesting that all customers regularly consult the Government website www.health.gov.au, which recommends regularly sanitising hands. Customers who are unwell with COVID-19 symptoms or who have been required by the Government to self- isolate should not attend our stores, and instead shop online with us, or ask family or friends to help with their shopping needs. Supporting the community If elderly or vulnerable people are unable to get to a supermarket to buy essential items, they can also log on to Foodbank's website www.foodbank.org.au to find a local charity or service nearby. Foodbank provides food relief for 2,500 agencies across Australia with deliveries of items such as toilet paper, tissues and pantry staples to people in need. Temporarily moving to a digital catalogue next week We know how important the Coles catalogue is for customers to help them get the best value products each week. As a temporary measure, we have decided to not distribute the Coles paper catalogue to households from Wednesday 18 March. Look out for a digital version of the catalogue next week at www.coles.com.au that will include specials and recipes for the products on which we have availability. We will still continue to have a wide range of products on special each week in store and encourage customers to keep an eye on the yellow tickets when they visit their local Coles. Change to our rain check policy To give our team members more time to replenish stock on shelves and help customers, we will be speeding up and simplifying our in-store processes. This includes suspending our 'rain check' policy. We will continue to take all possible steps to improve the level of stock for the community, and we ask that customers continue to respect and support our team members, particularly in these busier times. Best wishes,"
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Post by sherlock on Mar 17, 2020 21:23:16 GMT
On a lighter note, fans of Time-Flight, Who Killed Kennedy and The Scales of Injustice may find the name of the British government’s new emergency ministerial structure somewhat familiar...
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Mar 17, 2020 23:00:21 GMT
Other than a dose of black dog induced insomnia, everything is okay with me. The dog’s fucked off for the time being, I’ve now had two good nights of sleep and the Star Wars book I’m reading is boring.
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Post by Digi on Mar 17, 2020 23:12:41 GMT
Which book is that?
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Mar 17, 2020 23:24:18 GMT
Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge. it’s just not grasping me.
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Post by Digi on Mar 17, 2020 23:31:59 GMT
Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge. it’s just not grasping me. Oh, yeah none of those three novels landed well. I didn't read that one, but I know that the authors of Honor Among Thieves (James S.A. Corey) did not care for the process of writing for someone else's universe. And the one that was to be the third but then became split off to become one of the first of the new canon universe, Heir to the Jedi? God I freaking hated that book.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2020 23:33:55 GMT
I'm a little confused about Boris' announcement today here in the UK. 'Diabetics are to sheild themselves from Covid-10 for 12 weeks'.
As a diabetic myself, I'm asking, what does 'shield' myself mean? Is it self-isolation: never leaving the house, or do I still go to work as normal?
This doesn't kick in until the weekend apparently, but if anyone here can clear this up for me, I'd be grateful.
Stay safe!
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on Mar 17, 2020 23:54:41 GMT
I'm a little confused about Boris' announcement today here in the UK. 'Diabetics are to sheild themselves from Covid-10 for 12 weeks'.
As a diabetic myself, I'm asking, what does 'shield' myself mean? Is it self-isolation: never leaving the house, or do I still go to work as normal?
This doesn't kick in until the weekend apparently, but if anyone here can clear this up for me, I'd be grateful.
Stay safe!
Yes. Shield themselves is a strange term that needs further clarification.
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on Mar 17, 2020 23:55:14 GMT
So this is happening on Saturday.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Mar 18, 2020 0:39:35 GMT
Ok.. I was at my Surgeon's office organising details for my 3rd operation. It's "open ended" so I could theoretically have it next week, next month etc.. Surgeon is concerned about the current world chaos ATM he suggested maybe hold off a couple months.. My boss called me twice I couldn't talk the calls..
It's "official" emergency time- all departments are being split up and grouped into mixed teams so if 1 person gets it they don't wipe out the whole team. Those that are "non essential" will be working remotely from hom. My team is a team of 4 technically, we are the "Liam Neeson's in the "Taken" movies- a particular set of skills for all of Australia (not joking either). They cannot afford us 4 to be in physical proximity of each other at this time so it looks like someone will drive down to my house and setup a laptop and connect up the Government blockers etc and I will be working from home. Should be interesting when my boy is here as he does 4 days a week kindy..
I offered to go back to work a few days early as I am technically only on annual leave not sick leave from my operation.
:-(
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Post by pazzer on Mar 18, 2020 4:31:59 GMT
Not great, stress has aggravated existing health probs. Running low on toilet paper and food. Seems everyone is doing online shopping and so no delivery slots for week or more. Going to check local supermarkets and see if they have anything. As nearby shop has empty shelfs.
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