Share what you do while locked down due to Covid19

[davideo]

I work for the NHS - fortunately for me I'm not in the front line but do feel for those who are.

I can't believe how mad things have gone in the three hospitals I work at.

I just hope that people follow the advice given and help to protect each other from this awful desease

 

[kerkyra2007]

I am from the lucky ones that despite the fact all hotels in Greece are closed I am working from home full time and full paid.
Apart from this good think days are going very bad becasue home is not a working space BUT i cannot complain

 

[DaZZaBoY]

Still at work for now. Being part of the nuclear industry we are classed as critical staff.

Waiting for an announcement anytime tho.

 

[eteP]

I'm working from home (researcher at university). I am very lucky that my employment isn't at least immediately under threat because of the epidemic.

Haven't seen toilet paper in my local shops for a while now, empty shelves also where toast, canned food and pasta used to be. I heard that in France only red wine and condoms are sold out. Apparently they have an alternate approach in getting through the curfew...

 

[tbtorro]

Well, I'm ready to start panicking just about now. I had to close my PC repair workshop for customers on Monday 16th. The company I do most of the work for also doesn't know how long they can stay afloat. I'm still good for one month but then things could get ugly. Basically, if I lose this last customer, I'm left with no income and a load of bills to pay. I'm already going through my stuff and deciding what will end up on eBay and here. Worst case, I'll have to move in with my parents again at 42.

I really hope it works out for you personally. But I think this kind of situation is actually the root of the global economic threat right now. It's like as if the whole model is wrong and has been so for many years. I'm not an economist but how come firms don't have reserves for at least a few months of survival? All this "just-in-time" manufacturing, and rotating all profits immediately back to growth leaves any business exposed. In my grandparent's generation if you didn't have money to buy something you didn't buy it, instead of taking a loan. Small businesses grew using profit and surplus and not by taking on loans just on the promise of profit. And they had reserves for bad harvest, or just a bad year or whatnot. Just like private people do. Or should do. I personally always had savings for at least 6 months ahead should the worst happen.

Please don't take it as a personal critique Half-Saint, I'm talking about society/businesses as a whole. And this has been my opinion for a long time now, not only because there is a crisis.

If we come out of this largely ok, I hope this will be a wake up call about not buying second cars, getting new kitchens, better everything etc. I personally always use everything I have until it falls apart and irreparable. Even though there is something better out there and I could afford it. And actually I buy the best things available of everything when new, but then I stick to my choice and use everything to the very end.

 

[demolition]

So seems now that people have stocked up on toilet paper (check if your stock is sufficient here: https://howmuchtoiletpaper.com/), they are now hoarding chicken (at least in Australia). Live ones, that is. Apparently there was some shortage of eggs so people got scared they would not be able to get eggs at some point so they started buying live chickens in order to produce their own eggs. Nevermind the fact that it would take many months before they would start to produce anything (they were buying chicks). Also, if you don't have a free area of suitable land for them to live from, you will need to buy feed for them as well and it's not exactly free. If you can't live without an omelette every morning, I guess it might be nice though.

Eggs are nice, but I think I'll skip that trend and take my chances on that I can find them in the store from time to time. I live in an apartment so it's is not really an optimal setting for having chickens.
I do have a balcony, but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate it if I had chickens out there..

 

[fitzsteve]

People are pretty dumb at the best if times, I honestly think we're a few idiots away from the sixth extinction, these idiots out sunbathing during a lockdown, another idiot shipping in a zorb ball, idiots packed into tube trains because they're too lazy to walk one stop assuming they even need to be on that train, probably just going to the park 50% of them.

At least the supermarket situation is a bit better, seems to be a reasonable stock on the shelves again, we managed to get some supplies today as well as loo roll which is nice as we were down to 2 rolls.

Stay safe all. If we do as we're told, maybe we might just get through this a bit quicker

 

[demolition]

I haven't really noticed any shortages in stores here since they restocked after the 'world-wide toilet paper crisis'. The only empty place on their shelves is where there used to be hand disinfectant, but even the hospitals are running low on that (and they should definitely be first in line to get it). If I needed it, I could just make some hand disinfectant myself though using the recipe on the WHO website. I have all the ingredients already. One of the ingredients is hydrogen peroxide and I think most people in here should have some stock of that?

 

[salaxi54]

@ demolition : I kinda' envy fellows who can do that "chicken thing"! Not really feeling like it's that much needed, but autonomy is the name of the game. Always wanted a remote single house with a well, and perhaps a few animals (chicken too) plus a garden for vegetables.
Solar power of course, a basement (certainly for the mancave) etc. I will also agree with tbtorro on the "reserves" front, but especially on the financial reserves, things keep going bad for such a long time, one can't help but zeroize their stash real quick. Most of you are aware of the crisis we've been through here, i suppose. Just when we were (officially told) out of that one, there comes the darn corona thing..
Unemployment was already high, now getting even higher! Makes you kinda think conspiracy theories are maybe not theories after all.
Anyway, that being said, let's all try to keep a safe amount of retrolicious reserves for our hobby, as it appears to be a good free-time-spent kinda thing! Stay home as much as necessary, stay calm, and stay healthy folks!

 

[Dano]

So seems now that people have stocked up on toilet paper (check if your stock is sufficient here: https://howmuchtoiletpaper.com/), they are now hoarding chicken (at least in Australia). Live ones, that is. Apparently there was some shortage of eggs

Did the weekly shop today, plenty of eggs available.???
Dunny paper, flour, rice, pasta and lots of cleaning products missing from the shelves ATM

 

[cugar124]

Whats lock down we are still busy in the factory working 12hr shifts or 8hr ones. This man made virus is causing panic everywhere. May all our amibay friends stay safe or heal quick please God.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

 

[Dano]

Was in Toowoomba yesterday (city of about 100,000 in Australia), the place was little like a ghost town everything was shut, thought wow they are really good citizens and staying at home. Then I found out it was the annual show day (public holiday).oh::ROTFLOL2:

 

[quantum8]

Was in Toowoomba yesterday (city of about 100,000 in Australia), the place was little like a ghost town everything was shut, thought wow they are really good citizens and staying at home. Then I found out it was the annual show day (public holiday).oh::ROTFLOL2:

and just like the Ekka, you're guaranteed to catch something from the sheer amount of people there!

 

[Half-Saint]

I really hope it works out for you personally. But I think this kind of situation is actually the root of the global economic threat right now. It's like as if the whole model is wrong and has been so for many years. I'm not an economist but how come firms don't have reserves for at least a few months of survival? All this "just-in-time" manufacturing, and rotating all profits immediately back to growth leaves any business exposed. In my grandparent's generation if you didn't have money to buy something you didn't buy it, instead of taking a loan. Small businesses grew using profit and surplus and not by taking on loans just on the promise of profit. And they had reserves for bad harvest, or just a bad year or whatnot. Just like private people do. Or should do. I personally always had savings for at least 6 months ahead should the worst happen.

Please don't take it as a personal critique Half-Saint, I'm talking about society/businesses as a whole. And this has been my opinion for a long time now, not only because there is a crisis.

If we come out of this largely ok, I hope this will be a wake up call about not buying second cars, getting new kitchens, better everything etc. I personally always use everything I have until it falls apart and irreparable. Even though there is something better out there and I could afford it. And actually I buy the best things available of everything when new, but then I stick to my choice and use everything to the very end.

I just spent 10 minutes writing a reply and when I pressed Submit, I got an error message and now I have to type it again... oh boy!

Well, the service sector is the most affected by the government imposed quarantine. Almost everyone had to close shop including hairdressers, massage salons, beauty parlors, dentists, restaurants, computer repair shops (like mine) and others. Small shops that don't sell food also had to close. The only things left open are the post office, banks, the ER, pharmacies and grocery stores. Shops that sell on-line are currently unaffected. For small business owners such as myself, the problem is that we now have no way of making money but are expected to pay all the expenses as usual including rent, electricity, water, tax, health insurance and pension on top of all the other regular costs of living. I'm lucky that I don't have to pay rent for the workshop at the moment but many don't have that luxury. Some small business owners already closed shop for good and claimed unemployment benefits. How many small business owners do you think can afford not to work for several months? I used to skip vacation time because it would cost me double: the loss of income from not working for a week or two plus the money I'd spend on vacation. I can take a month or two of this but then it will simply not be viable for me to keep the business open. Luckily I still sell a few items on eBay here and there but, if this situation continues, people are gonna stop buying. This is already evident in retail where many stores are giving large discounts in order to sell their stock.

The government is now considering ways of helping small business owners financially but I'm not sure I'll be able to qualify. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[demolition]

I just spent 10 minutes writing a reply and when I pressed Submit, I got an error message and now I have to type it again... oh boy!

This is why I always do Ctrl-A + Ctrl-C before I press submit.

Would it be allowed to run a 'take-away' computer repair shop? I.e. people can explain their problem and book a time over phone/mail, then drop off their stuff and pick it up again when it's done? This means there will no longer be a customer area in the shop, so no hanging around, browsing or talking. E.g. the front door could be locked and a note with a phone # to call when they need to pick up/drop off.
But if the rule is to only run critical businesses, then I guess there's no way.. Fixing a computer isn't exactly critical, unless you have doctor's offices as clients..

 

[Half-Saint]

I just spent 10 minutes writing a reply and when I pressed Submit, I got an error message and now I have to type it again... oh boy!

This is why I always do Ctrl-A + Ctrl-C before I press submit.

Would it be allowed to run a 'take-away' computer repair shop? I.e. people can explain their problem and book a time over phone/mail, then drop off their stuff and pick it up again when it's done? This means there will no longer be a customer area in the shop, so no hanging around, browsing or talking. E.g. the front door could be locked and a note with a phone # to call when they need to pick up/drop off.
But if the rule is to only run critical businesses, then I guess there's no way.. Fixing a computer isn't exactly critical, unless you have doctor's offices as clients..

There are exceptions for certain emergency repairs. I actually did what you suggested with the computers that were already here for repair before lockdown. I told people they should call me 5 minutes before they arrived and I'd just place their computer in a large cardboard box at the front door. The door would be locked. Have to see, if that's legit or not as I don't want to get into trouble.

 

[tbtorro]

..
For small business owners such as myself, the problem is that we now have no way of making money but are expected to pay all the expenses as usual including rent, electricity, water, tax, health insurance and pension on top of all the other regular costs of living.
..

But this is exactly my point. Why small (or even large) businesses never have significant savings and reserves? Yes, to pay all the basic expenses (not wages) for say 6 months and still survive? I mean this is a discussion about the whole current economic system, not only about your country, not even only about small businesses. The way I see it, it would be even more important than unemployment insurance. One makes a business with the promise of no upper limit on income per time unit. As opposed to being an employee where the income is more or less capped as you are selling your own work in monthly chunks. So theoretically it would make sense for any business to create reserves on their own to counter bad times. This should be the price for that promise for unlimited income. The issue is in the current system IMHO is the lack of balance. All surplus of a business is usually either taken out (spent) or rotated immediately back into the firm in the name of the all mighty Growth. And this I suspect is true for most private people in western countries too. Their needs always magically grow with their income.

 

[demolition]

Why small (or even large) businesses never have significant savings and reserves? Yes, to pay all the basic expenses (not wages) for say 6 months and still survive? I mean this is a discussion about the whole current economic system, not only about your country, not even only about small businesses.

I would say it is just gambling. If you invest your savings in the company, it could make it grow faster and either make you more money or be used to grow your staff. Keeping money in the bank usually doesn't generate much earnings and even less so now that you have to pay a significant interest to keep money in the bank. If it's a traded company, I can image it would be quite hard justify for the share holders why you are paying expenses simply because you are keeping idle money in the bank. I'm not much of a gambler so I like to save for a rainy day. I do that for my personal economy and would do the same if I was a small business owner. Like you, I think that one should keep at least 6 months worth of expenses as a buffer (unless you think you can control the world), but I will also accept that people can choose for themselves what kind of risk they are willing to take.

 

[tbtorro]

Why small (or even large) businesses never have significant savings and reserves? Yes, to pay all the basic expenses (not wages) for say 6 months and still survive? I mean this is a discussion about the whole current economic system, not only about your country, not even only about small businesses.

I would say it is just gambling. If you invest your savings in the company, it could make it grow faster and either make you more money or be used to grow your staff. Keeping money in the bank usually doesn't generate much earnings and even less so now that you have to pay a significant interest to keep money in the bank. If it's a traded company, I can image it would be quite hard justify for the share holders why you are paying expenses simply because you are keeping idle money in the bank. I'm not much of a gambler so I like to save for a rainy day. I do that for my personal economy and would do the same if I was a small business owner. Like you, I think that one should keep at least 6 months worth of expenses as a buffer (unless you think you can control the world), but I will also accept that people can choose for themselves what kind of risk they are willing to take.

Well yes, people should be able to choose. But not companies who have a bigger responsibility. There is a reason that once a firm is traded for example, it has to have a board of directors and the owner can't just gamble away. I think having reserves is not entirely cost generating. On the contrary. And the reserves can be kept in say government bonds if simple deposits have negative rates. In short it doesn't have to be cash, but something of a relatively liquid asset that can only be used in an emergency.

But it's true, in the current economic model shareholders would never accept that a firm's assets are laying around without generating maximum income. In the US I think there are even corporate laws that make it outright illegal for a firm not to act in a way that maximizes profit. And this is my argument, that this has been wrong for long time now.

I think it should be the opposite, firms should be required to allocate reserves constantly adjusted proportional to their fix costs or size. Similar mechanism has been in effect in the banking world for centuries now, it's called fractional reserve banking. Which is actually still not a perfect system IMHO, but at least it provides some buffer for bad times. Applied to firms, would it slow down the economy? Yes it would, but at least we would avoid too big to fail economic scenarios, and taxpayers wouldn't have pay to "save jobs" in bad times in the form of reduced public services, increased taxes or inflation as a result.