I've seen a few people in my neighborhood out talking...but always at a more-than-safe distance.  Like, last Sunday, someone was visiting my neighbor across the street.  He and his wife were sitting on their front steps...the visitors had brought camp chairs and were sitting close to fifteen or twenty feet away.

In reply to Shard (msg # 148):

I agree the panic is in the mail. As soon the spread stops being more-or-less contained it's going to get bad, fast.

Good times... :(

I got sick last week (fortunately some sort of stomach bug - and there's a phrase I never thought I'd use).  I was off work for three days, plus the weekend (when I don't work anyway) with my boss phoning me twice a day (three times on Sunday) to confirm my symptoms - "Do you have a fever?  What about a sore throat?  Coughing?  Okay, well stay at home anyway until you're sure you're okay.  You understand?"

Was very surreal.  She's not normally like that.

Been back at work since Monday.  All good now.

My county just issued a stay-at-home order, effective at midnight tonight.  Altogether uncertain how it's going to affect me.  They explicitly said, during the press conference, that all amusement parks, water parks, etc are ordered to close...but we've technically been closed since the end of October.  So, does that mean we keep going?  Or does that mean all operations cease for the duration of the order?  And, if the latter, does that mean those of us on salary will also have our paychecks furloughed?

Life just got more complicated...

Rule here is that only people with vital jobs should go to work.  But according the boss my job counts as vital because by looking after dogs we are allowing people with really vital jobs (medical staff, fire crews, truck drivers, etc) to go to work.

And the local train company has put longer trains in service, even though there are less people commuting, because it means that people don't have to sit so close together.  I was on the train this morning, and I was the only person in the carriage.  :)

Yeah, a lot depends on whose definition of 'essential' is being used.  I hope we get at least a few days to transition and button things up, because I've got half-finished projects all over the park.  Thing is, I could work on things for a couple of weeks without getting within twenty feet of anyone else.

The government, I suspect, should be the ones to decide what jobs are vital.  Not the businesses themselves; if they have to decide, there WILL be bias.  Not malicious bias, just bias.

That's not to say that the government itself isn't biased, but on a broader basis, rather than an individual one.  And I'd give them better odds about properly deciding what is essential, though our bloody premier has apparently decided that pot stores are.  Though there is, at least, some medical justification for it.

I'm so sorry, Rhijans.  People getting hit with job and salary loss through this is just agonizing.  :(

Government here is advising, but not forcing anything.  Working on the principal that companies know their own circumstances better than politicians do - things like how well they could survive a potentially prolonged shut down, taking into consideration the size of the company and the location.  Which, of course, varies between companies even in the same industry.

At the same time the companies are being told that employees who choose to take time off should be allowed to do so, with no consequences for them.  Government will pay 80% of their salary while they are off, and the company pays the other 20%.

Where I work there are currently only two employees, and a small number of customers, so less risk of infection.  But the branch I work at is slap bang in the middle of a change of ownership (so not a good time to be closing down for a few weeks).  I'm still working there to smooth the transition, but later I'll be switching to another branch that is part of the original company.

The faster the change goes through, the sooner I get to move.  So I have little incentive to take time off just now (though I will, if it becomes necessary).

Well, so far, it sounds like it's just a case of 'we're closed to the public', which is the same status we've had since the end of October.  My car's been in the shop for the past week, so I've been off, anyway.  But one of my concerns was how to pay for the repairs, and still having a paycheck is worth something.  There's also a chance that my other job will get one of the business loans that are being offered, and pay at least some of us (since almost all of their management personnel are family members...there are a few others who've been with the theater long enough that we're treated like family...)  I'm not banking on that, though.  That's an extra $400/month that I could really use...luckily, I just got a raise at my primary job that should ease the pain on that a bit.

I'm not sure what to do honestly.

As a medical facility (pet hospital), we're allowed to remain open. The original plan was to stay open for medical needs and emergency cases.  But the vets/owners just bought this practice a year ago and have no financial cushion.  So "emergency only" has turned into "Sure, bring your pet in for a ~@#%!$@^@~ nail trim!"

And some (a minority) of our clients are acting fussy and entitled over every little thing, which would not be terrible in normal times (customer service being what it is).  But I take exception with being potentially exposed to this over a nail trim.  Everyone's nerves are on edge.  Everyone's frayed at the edges.

To add icing to the cake, we're now told we have to wear face masks whenever we interact with customers or are handling pets.  That's, like, 90% of my day.  I can tolerate a face mask for an hour, maybe 2.  Then I start hyperventilating, my claustrophobia kicks in, and I have to constantly fight off panic attacks.  During which time I'm supposed to make sure I provide the usual customer service to fussy clients over things that, really, they should NOT be breaking quarantine over.

I love my job, my coworkers, and my employers.  But this is just rough.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:32, Mon 06 Apr 2020.

My province of Ontario has been issued a pretty strong non-essential business shutdown. One of the categories of essential business is manufacturing, which thankfully, my workplace is. So  my job is safe. Actual business is very slow, but right now we're having all the workers come in three days per week and paying them for five. As a manager/administrator I'm basically free to come in to work or not as I see fit. My son works in shipping here so I'm basically coming in the days he's in, and staying home the days he's not (he lives with me, so I'm his drive).

So, at the moment, we're okay. And every day I take a moment to be thankful for that. Even a five years ago (working in hospitality with no savings), this thing would have just destroyed my whole life.

My main issue right now is where to get crickets for my many pet tarantulas. And that's not even a real problem.

So, who ended up with ISB IDs out of the group?

Sorry to hear about the insanity, Juragga.  :(

Haarmon is correct about Ontario (and I'm bloody astounded by how well Doug Ford is actually doing, by comparison to some leaders!).

For myself, I'm finding myself completely computer-burned out.  I'm a research technologist.  I'm supposed to be in the lab.  Sitting and writing on a computer for hours?  I enjoy that.  Sitting and working at one?  Kills my motivation.

I'm really happy I can work from home, and I know I'm lucky.  So I'm not complaining.  It just leaves me without a great deal of drive to do MORE computer stuff afterward, even the stuff I enjoy.

I'll try to keep up.

I had thought I was being pushed into the ISB role.  I'm cool with that.

I think either one of us would work for it...really, anyone would work for it (except Juragga), but Hedine's got no field experience that we know of and Haarmon's not known for his commanding presence under pressure (although he's come a long ways...).  But I didn't knowingly push for anyone in particular to have it, just kinda figured whoever they could most easily create an ISB ID for would be the one getting it.

I've actually had it pretty lucky, all things considered.  I work at an amusement park, which would normally be open on weekends at this point, but the county board of health specifically ordered the closure of such places as they are inherently impossible to really maintain any sort of proper social distancing and surface sanitizing (I hadn't really thought about it until just now, but bowling alleys, which were also closed, would be a nightmare...one carrier gets the virus on their hand, then on their ball, which gets on all the ball-return equipment, and then on all the other balls...)

Anyway, I'm in the entertainment department there, and we don't start our shows until Memorial Day weekend or later, normally, so I'm not missing anything I wouldn't be missing anyway.  But they have all of us working behind the scenes taking care of stuff...extra cleaning, painting, small construction projects, etc.  So my schedule...my work schedule, anyway...hasn't really changed at all.  But all of the stuff I used to do after work is closed...no thrift stores, no movie theaters...a bunch of my theater friends in the area have started up a Facebook group to do readings of play scripts, via Zoom, which has been a fun change of pace for me.

* considers pushing everybody into ISB roles, especially Juragga... *

Hmmm... Wookiee in disguise, stooping to appear shorter, and with a false moustache - got to be some way I can use that.

*ponders*

Have Juragga be the ranking ISB officer...*laugh*

*warbles in Wookiee*

On the plus side, due to underlying health conditions and potential exposure at my job, I got tested Monday.  Came back negative, so there's that. :)

Glad to hear it.  :)

Sounds like a rough situation for you, Rhijans.  :(

But good news for Juragga!

Well, my first line of mental defense over the past couple of decades has been to throw myself into work, so this actually doesn't feel too out-of-the-ordinary, for me.  Oddly enough, I actually feel like I'm getting more social interaction (granted, it's all online, but, still...) that I would be getting during 'normal' times.  I'm in a Facebook group that does script readings of shows we like, or would like to do.  We do it via Zoom three nights a week, that's a bunch of people I would normally never meet at all, much less spend several hours a week with.

And another group of my friends have started doing a regular Friday night online game night...which is something I haven't had anything close to in over a decade (more like a decade and a half).

So, in some ways, yeah, it's a tough situation.  In other ways, it's actually better than normal...

One of our customers got tested because she has breathing problems prior to the pandemic, is in a high risk job (works at a hospital), and she got sick.  Test result was negative - she has pneumonia, possibly due to strain from working way too much overtime recently to cover for staff shortages.

Interestingly, "You have pneumonia." is now classed as good news.  :(

Interesting times indeed.

I don't know that I would categorize it as 'good' news...more like 'less bad' news...

Sounds like a friend of mine in Sweden.  She posted on FB today that she went outside for the first time in five weeks today...it wasn't Covid-19, but she's had a string of illnesses that have had the same basic effect on her, all the way down to being hospitalized because she was having so much trouble getting oxygen in her lungs that her lips were turning blue.  It's good to hear she's able to get out and about again.