The very minor pluses of Covid19

[tee rex]

Not the nicest way to talk about your kids, but I guess this is a stressful time.

In "very minor" news, libraries in Auckland are all closed, so my overdue fines are capped as they stand.

[elguapo4]

The arse has fallen out of the extremely overpriced Dublin rental market. Air B'nB has collapsed and a lot of non nationals have gone home once their jobs closed down.
In February on one popular website there was 20 apartments to rent, there's 90 now. If you can get in now there's proper value in the market.

[Benjm]

You really don't. You'll be wasting your weeks of splendid isolation. After the Chateau d'If sequence, it's a pointless, endless plod of drawing rooms and marital discussions. I just finished it a month ago. Took me five years. Watch a film of it instead. Or - since I full expect you to ignore my advice and give it a shot - bail on it once you start wondering, "Does it get any better?" It doesn't.

Thanks, Lurgee - I'll bear that in mind if my interest starts to flag after the escape. I had wondered what the various film versions ditch in order to come in at less than 36 hours.

[Patrick Thistle]

My friend Mel says her NHS org has ramped up its VPN capacity massively to enable home working. In her words: "Funny what can be done in a crisis."

[Various Artist]

In "very minor" news, libraries in Auckland are all closed, so my overdue fines are capped as they stand.

This reminds me tee rex, is the wonderful Wellington Central Library still closed due to not meeting earthquake regulations? I stumbled across the news last year and was shocked, as it had already been about three months and was set to remain shut indefinitely. When I was living in Welly I practically lived in that library a lot of the time.

[Nefertiti2]

If I were in the US I could watch Ken Burns' baseball series

But i don't know how to get my VPN working.

[Moonlight Shadow]

My friend Mel says her NHS org has ramped up its VPN capacity massively to enable home working. In her words: "Funny what can be done in a crisis."

All non clinical staff will work from home...

[pebblethefish]

Work brought round a router for me last night. Wow. Did you know it's possible to watch things on line without it buffering every twenty seconds or so? This isn't just going to let me work from home, it's also going to make down time much more pleasant.

[elguapo4]

I would say that these days are bad times for the drug pushing industry.

The hardcore will always need their heroin but I'd say that the market has crashed in the so called party drugs, I could be wrong but I'm doubtful if there's too many people who fancy sitting in front of the TV with their family while off their head on cocaine or ecstasy.

And even if you want to score, if the dealer is known to the police, he's going to stand out like a cockroach on a wedding cake in the current empty city centres.

So the main men now have a problem, they have excess stock that they can't get rid of and they owe even more dangerous people money, with the police breathing down their necks. Fuck them, I hope their shitting themselves.

Further down the scumbag ladder ,it's going to be tough being a burglar when the kids are off school and most homes are occupied all day, and shoplifters, you can't go on the rob when everywhere is closed .

[Greenlander]

Further down the scumbag ladder ,it's going to be tough being a burglar when the kids are off school and most homes are occupied all day, and shoplifters, you can't go on the rob when everywhere is closed .

I won't link to our local rag as it's clickbait hell but apparently buglaries were up in Plymouth last week. Probably getting the last shift in before everyone's inside.

[Balderdasha]

My gym has confirmed it will be suspending all membership payments, including the direct debits for the children's swimming lessons. So that's £111 per month we won't be spending any more.

If we take into account all other things I won't be spending money on (football class, gymnastics class, piano lessons, art club, tennis club, rainbows, train fares to London for my husband, occasional taxis and bus tickets for me and the kids, eating out in cafés and restaurants, trips to the cinema, slimming world weekly fees), our monthly expenses are going to nosedive.

Sadly, it won't make up for the loss of income during this period, but it should mean that our savings last longer than my previous estimate.

[Sporting]

Many newspapers here in Spain are suspending their previously near-total or partial paywalls while the crisis lasts. How about in other countries?

[ursus arctos]

Reasonably common for COVID coverage (incl New York Times and Washington Post), less so generally

[Eggchaser]

It's a bright and breezy day, so the rotary washing line is up, saving a packet on running the tumble dryer non stop. No washing of school clothes or, for me, work shirts, either.

[Nocturnal Submission]

My daughter is baking cupcakes, to be distributed to the needy via Olio, though how many make it that far remains to be seen.

Photo being taken as I type.

[beak]

With Amsterdam almost completely devoid of touristsm, and most everybody else off the street, it is incredibly in Centrum. Decided to look through the Red Light District on my Thursday evening sanity walk, and encountered a dozen people, tops, and half of them police.

Thinking about all the vacant AirBnBs and trying to find an appropriate level of callousness with which to temper my feelings towards the economic prospects of the buy-to-holiday-let shitheads plaguing the city.

[Nurse Duckett]

• Son#1 had to leave University early - not great for him, but nice for us to have him home a few days earlier than normal
• Cycle ride in the sunshine today - much less traffic about that normal

[Patrick Thistle]

A toy shop near me had an emergency sale BOGOF on everything. I bought some brand new Lego sets for me and Mrs Thistle. Very few people shopping and I hand sanitised after I left the shop.

[Nocturnal Submission]

My daughter is baking cupcakes, to be distributed to the needy via Olio, though how many make it that far remains to be seen.

Photo being taken as I type.

Fourteen just collected by a retiree from a local care home where the residents are self-isolating.

[Satchmo Distel]

My wife has started shaving my head in the shower every few days, given that I am not going to be visiting the barber for a while. It's a nice, affectionate experience, but not easy. We also have the luxury of being able to have a swim afterwards. I freely acknowledge that I am privileged and very fortunate.

[tee rex]

This reminds me tee rex, is the wonderful Wellington Central Library still closed due to not meeting earthquake regulations? I stumbled across the news last year and was shocked, as it had already been about three months and was set to remain shut indefinitely. When I was living in Welly I practically lived in that library a lot of the time.

No idea I'm afraid Wellington life is a mystery to me, haven't been there in years. Lurgee might know better.

Sooner or later NZ will be getting another earthquake or eruption, just to cheer us all up. Might get a mention: "And in other news ..."

[Various Artist]

No worries, I just wondered if it had been in the national news at all. And you're quite right, at the moment a Richter 7 or so hitting the Cook Strait would barely scrape a mention would it...?

[Various Artist]

My wife has started shaving my head in the shower every few days, given that I am not going to be visiting the barber for a while. It's a nice, affectionate experience, but not easy. We also have the luxury of being able to have a swim afterwards.

Crikey you must have a big shower Satch.

[Lurgee]

I usually pursue a gluten free diet - not because I medically have to but because I think it is helping me lose weight. For the duration of the crisis I have decided to suspend it, to make life easier for my wife and so people who genuinely need gf aren't competing with me. So for a while I get to eat pasta and instant noodles and French bread again.

[DCI Harry Batt]

The arse has fallen out of the extremely overpriced Dublin rental market. Air B'nB has collapsed and a lot of non nationals have gone home once their jobs closed down.
In February on one popular website there was 20 apartments to rent, there's 90 now. If you can get in now there's proper value in the market.

Apparently similar things happening in London to Air B'n'B.