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    #26
    Did a grocery run this morning. It involved going to six different stores when, in normal times, it'd be two or three. Still came up short — baking ingredients have vanished from this geographical area apparently. This is a bone of contention between La Signora and I. She thinks I'm leaving the house too often. I say it's better to run around a bunch of stores once a week, than make several shorter trips over the same period. I can see this discussion going the distance.

    Things are noticeably different now. Grocery stores require customers to use hand-wipes on entry and exit. They have six meter increments marked out in tape on the floor. Packing your own bags is a requirement. Everyone wears disposable gloves — including me. Only two similar items per customer are allowed. Security is visible. Coffee shops are take-out only. The pet-food store only allows two people in at a time and they're not allowed to wander the store. You stay by the till and the staff will get you what you want.

    It's also noticeably quieter, especially given the kids are out of school. Very few cars on the road, stores are not empty but customers are thin on the ground.

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      #27
      I 'phoned my mother this morning. It would have been my father's birthday today. I really worry about her but she was in good form. She's got enough groceries for a week or more and the people next door have offered to do her shopping. I'll be getting them a nice present when this is all over. Then I finished my German homework ready for tonight's lesson which I'm really looking forward to. We went online last week and it was great but, sadly, tonight's is the last this term. Like GO on another thread, I find having to stay at home a real problem. I'm comfortable in my own company as long as I can get out even it's just to read a newspaper in a pub. But I've managed it for a week now and I realise I'm in a much better position than many. I've got to go shopping tomorrow and I'm really not looking forward to that.
      Last edited by Capybara; 24-03-2020, 13:08.

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        #28
        Officially I am on holiday until Thursday.

        However, I have been told the Independent Training Provider I work for is shutting down today for the duration. As in now probably.

        I have been in contact with employers and more importantly the engineering apprentices I train and whose apprenticeships I manage in terms of the administrative process.

        I have put plans in place for distance learning on Mircosoft teams and some learning platforms from the awarding organisation like City and Guilds and EAL.

        Thursday and Friday are going to be spent on detailed lesson planning and planning remote meetings.

        Next week will see the start of the distance learning. My colleagues and I have to meet the terms of our Education and Skills Funding Agency contract otherwise we won't get our monthly funding and will go under. The only way this will happen is through distance learning.

        I hope the ESFA hold up their end.

        Anyway, interesting times.

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          #29
          Day 5. Tuesday 24th March.

          Second day of home-schooling. I take back what I said about Joe Wicks. The kids requested to watch him again. It's something fixed and familiar already. More variety of movements this morning. We also played half an hour of ringfit adventure on the Nintendo switch afterwards, so basically started the day with an hour of exercise. Followed by drawing, and then I revealed my piece de resistance, two tupperware pots of tiny dinosaurs frozen in ice that I stuck in the freezer last night. Gave the kids a variety of implements (fork, spanner, small hammer) and they spent a happy half an hour in the garden trying to free the dinosaurs. Plus twenty minutes of entertainment afterwards throwing ice at each other while I cooked lunch.

          Did some of my daughter's schoolwork. Drew dotted outlines of my son's name for him to draw over with crayons. Watched a magic grandpa video about Florence Nightingale (school curriculum).

          Had a (virtual) board of trustees meeting for the charity last night where I explained I can't be chair any more now that I'm home schooling full time. Sent an email to one of the other trustees asking if he's willing to take over the role.

          Husband took the kids to the park to play football while I did laundry and cleared the kitchen (so many more dirty dishes now we're all home full time). As mentioned on the Covid-19 thread, all the play equipment from the playground has been removed or roped off.

          Milkandmore failed to deliver our order this morning, but we still have plenty of food, though we've run out of eggs, and have a Morrisons delivery booked for tomorrow (fingers crossed that turns up).

          My husband ordered a set of clippers which arrived today. I trimmed his hair then the kids fought over who got to hoover up the hair from the carpet. Then we watched Wizard of Oz while my husband trimmed our son's hair.

          They're having a bath now. It's been a perfectly pleasant day.

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            #30
            I combined my daily exercise with a trip to the shops this morning. It wasn't as bad as I'd feared. There were very few people about and those that were kept their distance for the most part. Plenty of 'buses running but hardly anyone on them. I want to support a local shop that provides good stuff and isn't a supermarket so I went there and picked some fresh veg, cooking oil and a few other things that will keep me going for the next week. And some beer. No bread, though, which is a shame as I'm down to my last crust/heel/entame. The Iceland over the road was operating on a one-in-one-out basis and I arrived at the right time and got straight in to pick up a couple of other items. Directly ahead of me at the till was someone from my German class (there's only four of us). A bit odd to find oneself talking in German to a Greek bloke in Iceland. Back home now feeling a lot better not least because the weather today is beautiful. The afternoon will be spent doing a few personal admin tasks.

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              #31
              My wife's working from home from today, so at least I've got some company...

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                #32
                Popped out this morning to Santee. Bought some very good donuts from our excellent local donuterie. But on the drive back, there were park rangers blocking access to the 7,000 acres of Mission Trails. Donuts are essential, but going for a walk in the relative wild is not.

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                  #33
                  I did a bit of what I laughably call gardening out front earlier.

                  At one point a car pulled up outside my neighbour's house, the teenage son ran out of the house and jumped in the vehicle and off it sped. Presumably a social meet-up with a friend or friends. This is Day 2 of the lockdown!

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                    #34
                    Today I did relax, but still kept an eye on the work email.

                    I also phoned a team member who is unwell, but doesn't have the Covid-19 virus, according to NHS111. She is never ill, and sounded awful. She is a single parent and I asked if there is anything I can do. It's a futile gesture, but I feel better for offering and she is a member of my team. When she is better and her two boys are in the clear (2 weeks) I will pop over. I don't care what anyone thinks.

                    l also received a WhatsApp video call from a colleague/more of a friend from another team. It was lovely to speak to her as she is a naturally optimistic person, with a great sense of humour. She cheered me up as she knows I not an in doors type. Particularly in this weather.

                    I have also spent the day messaging/texting other colleagues and friends. It's been nice.

                    I don't think I will ever lurk on that Office Annoyances thread again. No offence, but that thread seems trivial and petty in the current climate.

                    I will miss my colleagues and I will miss my friends.

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                      #35
                      Day three for me; day one for my wife. She's already not happy. Then again, she doesn't pour industrial quantities of wine down her gullet to keep her going...

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                        #36
                        Day 6: Wednesday 25th March.

                        Made porridge again to use up a banana past its prime. Started the day with a slightly more low key exercise class, cosmic kids yoga. This is fantastic, a woman in a onesie telling a story based around yoga moves, with a cartoon background (today's was under the sea themed).

                        Daughter did schoolwork while I drew shapes for my son to colour in and cut out. Then I set up some toy animals and paper in the back garden for the kids to do shadow drawing (see photo).

                        Our Morrison's shop arrived, hurrah! A few missing items and a few suggestions but nothing worth complaining about. Annoyingly I had forgotten to include eggs in the order. The kids gorged themselves on fresh strawberries, mini cucumbers and fish sticks for lunch. I had to use a breadknife to hack out the excess ice in the freezer to fit everything in.

                        After putting everything away, I had to head into town to pick up a prescription. My first outing apart from the park since last Friday. There was so little traffic that if a pedestrian came towards me I could generally walk in the road to avoid them. Boots pharmacy was closed for an hour for a deep clean and to allow staff to eat lunch. I asked the staff member outside M&S food if they had any eggs, no luck. After donning medical gloves (my husband managed to buy a pack off Amazon last week) I went to Wilkos to check if anyone had handed the medication I think I left there last week. No luck again, but I flippantly said to the woman who checked for me "you don't sell eggs here do you?" and she said "no, but the butcher's on the market square have some".

                        It's a tiny butchers, I've never been in it before. They had a sign outside saying only one customer at a time. Nobody was there so I went in. No sign of eggs, but when I asked the proprietor he produced a hidden crate of eggs. It felt very blitz-era black market. I bought 24 eggs for £7.

                        By this time, Boots was open again but following a 'one out, one in' policy. I was 4th in the queue on the street. Everyone was spaced out two metres apart. The woman in front of me in her 50s or 60s grumbled for the whole time until she got to the front of the queue and the girl on the door explained that half the pharmacy staff were off sick. Inside Boots there was black and yellow tape marking out distances on the floor. It took about half an hour, but I eventually got two months of my mood stabiliser medication. I've got more than that of my synthetic thyroxine so I shouldn't need to go back to a pharmacy for more than two months now

                        While I was out, my husband played a boardgame called "Enchanted Forest" with the kids. It's basically a primer for poker. I read books with the kids when I got back and then, as they were getting restless, I took them out for a litter picking walk. We found a whole bagful of litter in the hedge on our front garden, including a carrier bag with a plastic toddler toilet topper in it. Who would just shove that into a hedge?!? We found another bagful in the park. We walked around the hedgerows and stream towards our local pub and found most of the rubbish near a bench by the stream. My kids had a go tree climbing (they're pretty wimpy), and were thrilled when they found 6 pennies and a rainbow painted rock. There were only a few dog walkers around.

                        Back home, after thoroughly scrubbing everyone's hands and sticking our coats in the laundry, my husband made egg fried rice with green beans for dinner, followed by a 'bread pudding' made with cinnamon and raisin bagels (inexplicably my kids don't usually like these bagels, but if you bake them in enough custard they'll eat them).

                        Nearly bedtime for the kids. Another very pleasant day.


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                          #37
                          I'm not looking forward to when it starts raining again.

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                            #38
                            Originally posted by Gangster Octopus View Post
                            I'm not looking forward to when it starts raining again.
                            Yes, I was thinking that when I was queuing outside Boots. All well and good standing there in the warm sunshine, people probably wouldn't be as amenable if it was pissing it down. The girl on the door kept apologising for the wait. I told her she had no need to apologise, she was doing a great job, and she blushed and said thanks.

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                              #39
                              Originally posted by Sporting View Post

                              BISCUIT! You're bleedin British, innit!?

                              (just joking)
                              I refer to almost all biscuits as biscuits, but chocolate chip cookies, well, they're cookies, aren't they?

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                                #40
                                Also spent a happy half an hour in the back garden scooping leaves out of the paddling pool with a fishing net. Tomorrow looks like another warm sunny day, I might put some hot water in and get the kids out there in their wet suits.

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                                  #41
                                  Originally posted by Balderdasha View Post
                                  I had to use a breadknife to hack out the excess ice in the freezer to fit everything in.
                                  Bad move! (I've done it often myself!)

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                                    #42
                                    Originally posted by Balderdasha View Post
                                    I bought 24 eggs for £7.
                                    Is that a normal price?

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                                      #43
                                      In an effort to support a local business and eat something other than oatmeal, I got Thai food delivered yesterday. They said it would take about an hour and it took more like an hour 40 minutes and wasn't really hot. I just wish they could have updated the time along the way. I was suspecting that it was never going to come.

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                                        #44
                                        Originally posted by Sporting View Post

                                        Is that a normal price?
                                        Possibly for a farm shop. Pricey for a supermarket (Tesco does 6 free range eggs for 89p), but I didn't want to go into any more shops than absolutely necessary.

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                                          #45
                                          Day 9

                                          Woke up at 4.45am, tried to get back to sleep, but got up at 5.30am to read (Jamel Brinkley's short story collection 'A Lucky Man'), listening to Kate St. John and then Ane Brun. Made coffee at 7, had breakfast (muesli with fruit), perused the paper but it's too depressing to go into, except for the Arts section, but that was depressing too because I didn't realise that Gabi Delgado of DAF had died. Read the review of Woody Allen's autobiography, which is also being rushed out in German, and wondered who on earth would bother to buy it and read it.

                                          Wrote my weekly column, pondering in a 'pulling-a-theory-out-of-my-ass' kind of way whether millions of football fans might have fallen out of love with the game during the shutdown, based purely on anecdotal evidence, much of which comes from me wondering whether or not I'm going to turn my back on the game in a few weeks time. I continue to not miss football, at all.

                                          At around 11 I went for a 4-mile run. There are a lot more runners than usual down the park, and some of them look like they haven't been jogging for a long time, judging by their 90s tracksuits and red faces. Came back, showered, had a quick nap, had sardines on toast with pesto sauce for lunch. Had an appointment at 1.45 to go to the supermarket with frau imp, who took a break from her intense tele-conference calls I've been shutting the office door on. Turned out she needed me along to schlep back more soil for her balcony plants. Had a brief fight on the way about whether or not to already buy vegan yoghurt and milk for an impending new arrival - the (German) daughter of friends in China who has just started to study in Capetown has to leave already (university's closed down), but as the Chinese are issuing no visas they've asked if she can come here. She has a flight booked for tomorrow. Will be happy to add to our small community and adjust the in-flat dynamic, probably for the better.

                                          At the supermarket we queued outside, which is actually great because our local supermarket is really cramped (I'm sure ursus arctos knows it), and rationing customers makes perfect sense. Stocked up on veg - beetroot, cauliflower and potatoes - with a vague notion to make something vegan. Cauliflower borscht?

                                          Back home, I downloaded some new music based on reviews in the latest MOJO, which is all I have to go on these days. Nadia Reid is already a favourite. Called my dad, who's bored with no sport to watch on telly. "I've 14 different tablets to take, so that gives me something to do," he noted. He's been sitting outside in the sun and watching the bird-life. Someone had yelled at my step-mum, who walks their sick neighbour's dog, for not clearing up after the dog, even though she always does. That's the extent of excitement in a Lincolnshire village with no pub and no shop.

                                          Called my mum, but she didn't answer, so I left a message. Got an email 10 minutes later saying she'd been hanging out the laundry, the only time she'd left the house all day. Did some French, but only for an hour as I needed to start dinner. Found out that the French verb 'fourrer', which means 'to put something inside something', also - logically enough - means 'to fuck'. Listened to US Girls and Nadia Reid while cooking, opened a bottle of Petit Chablis. We had pork chops with tates, carrots and a salad - one last carnivore-fest before the vegan arrives. Thinking that it would be no bad thing to go full-on vegetarian, at the least. Couldn't do without my cheese, though.

                                          At dinner frau imp and I had a detailed discussion with impette 2 about the third series of Stranger Things. She's watched it three times, and thinks we have no empathy because we didn't cry at the end of series 3 last night. We think the parts in between the action scenes are great - very funny and clever - but that at least half the kids (Will and Mike), the monster and the fight scenes are tiresome and superfluous. She tried to teensplain the Cold War, but we stopped her and parentsplained that we'd lived through the whole fucking thing, and that ST3 wasn't adding anything to that particular chapter in history.

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                                            #46
                                            Just paid well over the odds to a Spanish language bookstore for five pounds of Jasmine rice

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                                              #47
                                              imp, is the Kleinmarkthalle open? It could handle distancing reasonably well.

                                              Given what I have long been used to in Manhattan, no German supermarket ever seemed cramped to me.

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                                                #48
                                                Tesco delivery man just knocked on the door. Wasn't expecting a delivery but he was adamant it was for my house. Checked the receipt and our landlords have sent us a full weekly shop! I now have so much food that I don't have enough space to store it!!! Very sweet of them, but still. I might have to set up a shop in the front garden.

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                                                  #49
                                                  Your landlord is spectacularly different to mine. And almost everyone else's.

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                                                    #50
                                                    If Carlsberg did landlords...

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