How is everyone in the current situation? General Chat

Our lockdown is being eased slightly from midnight - it was supposed to only be until 18 October but the government kept delaying any easing of restrictions - not that a lot of people took any notice of the lockdown in the first place. The new regulations are still quite restrictive but I think it will be like last time - give some people an inch and they will take a mile.

I have no idea what the situation is like regarding normal shopping here as of course I am still a shut-in, but so far I have had just about everything in my online grocery orders and no problem with getting the delivery slots I have wanted. I have a delivery due at 6pm today and the packer telephoned me earlier to say three items were out of stock but that there were almost identical substitutions if I wanted. He said that a lot of the major truck drivers were either sick or in quarantine so the supermarket had not had all their deliveries in, and apparently the order he was packing before mine was missing over half of the items.

When I read UK newspapers it all seems confusing to me, with the different tiers and regulations - are people really panic buying again? Sometimes it is difficult to make out whether some of the pictures are from the first lockdown or are current, as many are undated.

I hope everyone is OK. Tikva is her usual happy little self and I am so past being bored with not being able to go out that I forget what it is like beyond what I can see from my open door, that I frequently wonder what real life is like now.

I have heard people have view swaps , where you can watch what is outside another persons window somewhere else in the world , online.

I had the idea walking through the rainforest last week , with two dogs out front on long lead,

that a dog walk channel would make sense , new walk every day , or maybe people add their walks too .it was actually quite interesting I thought.

Seeing snake or Goanna tracks in the dirt , baby brush turkeys , plants , birds , insects , an actual adventure unknown, investigating surroundings , hard walks up hills and the like.
Checking the gps map , finding a way and a way back.

it would be a good channel for home exercisers too , on treadmills or pedaling .

i decided I like my anonymity too much to become famous , good idea for somebody else ,

I breathed hard and enjoyed the exercise , not sure how viewers might enjoy that too.

Well of course some channels already exist .

Don't go out into town very often, once every 2 weeks normally. Everyone here in my part of France wears face masks whilst out shopping and quite often they wear them in their vehicles too whilst driving, not sure what that's about as there is no need for that kind of protection, I find the masks really uncomfortable. I feel sorry for the young peeps in the supermarket having to wear them all day long, it must be horrible..

We are in the lowest area for risk - oddly termed Medium. We have a High risk built-up area two miles to the East, and a High risk low-density area two miles to the West. I don't know what tier that makes us, but we are so used to staying in that walking the hounds and trips to the supermarkets have become outings!
They say that the Greater Manchester hospitals are filling up with second wave cases, but some of my less cautious friends are gadding about normally and don't seem to be suffering any ill-effects from doing so.
The first two Championship shows of 2021 have already been cancelled!

I’ve gone out to see some live music, twice in the last 2 weeks. The first time was because the owner came into my work and heard the music we were playing and invited us for free. He’d just very recently started having live music again. It’s an indoor/outdoor restaurant/bar. You have to make a reservation. If you want to dance you are supposed to stay near your table. Have to wear a mask except while eating or drinking. Most people were compliant. It felt really nice to go out, eat, dance, be around other people enjoying themselves. I probably wouldn’t have gone if I hadn’t been invited, but they seem to be doing a pretty good job with how they’ve distanced the tables and they give you a piece of paper with the “rules”, and ask you to follow them so that they can keep having events.

Good for you Marc - you deserve some enjoyment and I hope you are able to go again.

We are in the lowest level too. However, it's looking like quite a lot of areas where we get most of our visitors from will be going into the highest level by next Monday at the latest.

Our local council is still urging people to come in from those areas despite their being a 'strongly advised against travel' warning once they do go into the highest tier. We are doomed

The rules are too complicated. There are too many variations, too many exceptions, and almost no enforcement. One spokesperson will say that the respiratory wards are full, another will say that there is adequate capacity - but will an adequate number of staff be available?
Chronic diseases are getting overlooked - it's really not good enough to take your own blood pressure and let them have the reading. It is almost impossible to see a GP, and there are very long waits for hospital appointments. Thank goodness for the practice nurses.

Come Thursday, it's into lockdown we go.

Can't say it's much of a surprise

You are going back into lockdown just as we are going to start easing out - and what is the betting that as soon as we do the figures will shoot up again, just as they did last time?

Hannukah starts on 10 December so it will no doubt mean a third lockdown around that time as the schools that will be open - and as yet there is no definite date for them to start opening again - will closed for the festival.

Pretty good here in Australia today.
Hot here in the north , no new cases reported or deaths in the entire country today.

Victoria is coming out of lockdown more now.
We’ve been pretty free in Queensland really , movement wise for quite a while since the initial lockdown.

was surprised to see a young dingo/ wild dog pup earlier on our walk today ,
Saw us coming and it ran off , very close to houses ,

a lot of people are evaluating the places where they live ,
When all the borders do open back up , there will be some shuffling about.

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I wish we were at the stage you are now.

It is Election Day here in the US. The only way we have any chance of gaining any control of C19 here is if the current President is voted out of office. He has continued to hold rallies without social distancing and very few wearing masks. He keeps saying we are turning the corner on the pandemic while we are experiencing our largest daily infection rates ever. He tries to blame this on more tests being given, but the reality is testing had gone down slightly but positivity rates are shooting through the roof in some places. He keeps talking about the great wonderful beautiful strong vaccines that he claims are about to come out. From what I read if these first vaccines show any promise, they may only work on some people, and we have no idea how long any immunity will last. It’s blowing smoke up peoples butts. He refers to the US military as being his military, the Justice department as his Justice department, he refers to everything as his, when in reality it is ours, belonging to the citizens of the whole country. He talks as if he’s only the president of the people who support and vote for him. This man is so divisive, he loves and admires dictators and autocrats, has pushed away and insulted many or most of our historic allies. He acts like a spoiled little boy when he doesn’t get his way. He has no decorum or respect for other world leaders, and no respect for the office he holds and those who occupied that office before him. He continually claims that the election is rigged. He is living very far from reality. I am not a man that prays, but today I pray that our 4 year national nightmare comes to an end and that this man is voted out of office by a wide enough margin that there’s no way he can claim it’s rigged and try and contest the results.

I second all that you say, and hope that the early predictions are accurate.
Trump has neither the language nor the demeanour of a statesman.

I am very wary of polls and early results. 4 years ago it seemed like there was very little chance he would win, yet he did. I will be on edge until I hear definitively that he has lost. If he wins I will be on edge for 4 more years. I don’t know if I can handle that...

Well seems like we won’t know the final results tonight, and possibly not for days... I’m done paying attention for tonight, I’m going to watch something that will hopefully grab my attention so I stop thinking about the election

Saw 2 dingo pups yesterday evening while walking , and saw one again tonight on our walk.

So we have a family of dingos living maybe 130 meters or so away from where we live in long grass.
That explains why the dogs bones end up over there and why sometimes the dogs sniff in the morning as though we have had visitors over night .

I have just about given up reading newspapers and checking figures because the lines between what is actually happening and what is merely predictions of what might happen are totally blurred.

The same is now happening with the US election.

I have no idea where this year has gone. The last time I went into the macolet was in February - it is now November and the chances of me going into the macolet again next February are virtually nil.

Yes I am lucky in that I have no problems regarding online grocery delivery slots, and yes I am lucky in that if I want anything from the macolet I just have to telephone Hai and someone will bring it over. But I have to rely on someone appearing who will take the key and go check my mailbox and it can be weeks before that happens. The mailman just keeps stuffing things in my mailbox which is crazy, as he has to go past my home on the way back to his house and he could easily drop it in for me [he uses a golf cart thingy].

And I really really really would like to choose my own fruit and vegetables. Not that I have any complaint about what I am sent, either from the supermarket or what Hai sends over - but it is not the same as being able to choose it myself.