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Pandemic personal consequences

Weekends is for (virtually) catching up with family, my parents are still snug as a bug in their isolation, my Dad is pottering around in his garden and my Mum is annoying him.
My Dad says it's like they're taking part in an episode of the Twilight Zone, they haven't seen anyone else in the flesh for several weeks but food and supplies keep magically appearing in their garage for them. They put the dog in the yard and my sister collects it, takes it for a walk and puts it back in the yard without either of them seeing her.
Spoke to my brother as well, both he and my sister-in-law are furloughed and staying home. One of his sons is a nurse who married a colleague last October in a wedding that was a massive family celebration that seems a lifetime ago. Both of them have had the dreaded lurgy and have made a full recovery, they're 27 and 26 (the same ages as Middle daughter and son's g/f) so I keep telling myself the same odds apply to them, almost convinced myself too.
My brother's youngest child and only daughter is a care assistant at the same home where my own grandmother spent her final days so I know it's a good one.
They have lost 13 (a quarter) of their residents in the past 2 or 3 weeks.
 
Honestly the subject just came up in the chat of one of the ESO guilds I am in (North America server) and the levels of loonspuddery and outright ignorance exhibited by just ordinary people was utterly terrifying. I am not feeling very happy right now.
 
We’ve ran out of lemon wipes - the antibacterial ones that are good for cleaning down kitchen work surfaces etc. Sainsbury’s have sold out with no idea for restocking.
 
Am out of the house for a blood test this morning (in FFP dust mask, god it’s uncomfy) and it feels so weird, haven’t been anywhere built up in weeks and everything so quiet. Only 4 people in the queue which is unheard of.
 
The hospital rang to offer me some work - collecting dirty scrubs and taking them to the laundry. I don't mind manual work but I'm in my 50s and have asthma, my missus had a major health matter a couple of years ago. The easiest thing was to say no thanks. Don't see the point in either of us ending up in an ICU just for the sake of some low-grade work a younger person could do at far less risk to themselves.
 
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I'm technically back at work this week - it's only a token gesture as they know I'm about to retire - though can't see the point of officially doing so while I'm being paid to stay home.
I'm also a hands-on teaching room repair person - I do a fair bit of sprinting to sort on the spot problems, but I'm useless on the end of a phone helping people connect their Apple devices to home networks.

But I've been turning up at the MS Teams conferences at 13.30 - mostly for the company - it also means they can say I was "available" - perhaps I should switch my Skype For Business status to "available" occasionally ...
I have to wait in today and towards the end of the week for deliveries ... of things for my new bike ... so I don't know if I'll be there every day - depends on what I find the situation is like on the local path and country lanes at different times of the day - I can't see the harm in accidentally nodding off in a remote spot and stretching the definition of "one hour's exercise" ...

I am also endeavouring to catch up on years of household neglect - with the reward being the consolidation of my tools and materials so I can start to get my head around revamping a whole house over the next couple of years ... my retirement plans were messed-up even before the current craziness...
It'll be nice to have my "cinema/disco room" available for the summer ..

Super-annoyingly I have a load of interesting things I ordered weeks ago trapped on my desk at work in a locked-down office. :p

It's extra-weird for me because the last two years in a row I was at home sick for months following viruses :hmm:
 
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I'm considering cycling to the big Chinese supermarket at some point - combining exercise and shopping - though I doubt they'll have wholemeal bread flour ...
 
Our friends on the organising committee told us yesterday that our Beer and Cider Festival (late-August) is now cancelled ... no fest at all until August 2021 now, we think.

We were none too surprised, and we were anticipating it, because the deadline for hiring the hall was as soon as next week :eek:, and Swansea CAMRA couldn't risk committing ourselves.

In any case, we would need to start sourcing and ordering beer no later than June, and our main ordering man (a professional brewer until recently) has had severe doubts for ages about getting hold of required beers ...... and you can't risk ordering anyway if you're unsure the event will happen.

Absolutely correct decision, but still a big shame. I get there are far worse crises around, but still! :(
 
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Epona said:
Part of this whole "Pandemic Personal Consequences" thing is that due to reduced income and work related uncertainty, whole swathes of us are clutching 3 litre bottles of cheap cider and eyeing up bottles of WKD and Thunderbird with a newly found ability to mentally calculate value based on a £/abv analysis. Criticising someone for drinking Stella sounds fairly petty to some of us right now.
Click to expand...

:D
We're not drinking for now (Dry April for us), but we totally understand the mental calculation thing :cool: -- have done for years. Bang for Buck thoughts aid maths skills!

Saying that, there are limits, and cheap cider would beat Stella any time! ;)
 
Badgers said:
Just checked my UC account/page/thing :hmm:

My claim is dated from the day I claimed not the day I stopped working :hmm:



It will be paid on the 26/04 which is 4-5 days later than first promised :hmm:
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Yeah, it always starts from the day you claim (specifically, the day you start your claim, not the day you submit it), not the day you stop work. If you want it backdated to the day you stopped work, you need to apply for it specifically and give a "good reason."

Can I get my benefit backdated? | Get your benefit backdated | Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council

Information about backdating of Housing and Council Tax benefit and how to request backdating
www.hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk www.hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk

There's a link on there for the online form to apply for backdating.

I think they might be a little more flexible about reasons to claim backdating at the moment, so it's worth applying.
 
chainsawjob said:
I thought they'd specifically said that currently they'd pay from day one, unlike normally?
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Normally (pre-covid) they don't pay until a few days (can't remember how many, sorry) after you first claim, unless you can demonstrate a reason why your claim was delayed.

Now they're apparently paying from the day you started your claim, again unless you can demonstrate a reason why your claim was delayed.
 
I actually just got a call from a UC person this afternoon, which was quicker than I expected. He said that the assessment period started from the day you started the claim, and after a month there would be a message in your "journal" as to what you were getting for that month, and actual money would come through a few days after that.

If you start the process and don't complete it within a certain time it gets cancelled btw (a month I think).
 
andysays said:
Normally (pre-covid) they don't pay until a few days (can't remember how many, sorry) after you first claim, unless you can demonstrate a reason why your claim was delayed.

Now they're apparently paying from the day you started your claim, again unless you can demonstrate a reason why your claim was delayed.
Click to expand...

Yes, the difference is that there used to be a difference of about five days between when you started your claim and when you were actually got paid for it.

But it was never from the date you stopped work unless you applied for backdating.
 
pseudonarcissus said:
MiL decided to go to church yesterday (some sort of evangelical thing, I think) and went to bed with a bit of a fever, diarrhea this morning :facepalm:

I'm sure that's too quick for symptoms, but who the hell is encouraging 70 somethings to gather in church halls :mad:
Click to expand...

I'm sure my brother (lab tech in a hospital) said the mode was 2 days but that still sounds a bit quick. Remember all the other bugs are still around.
 
old bill (or pcso at least - are they young bill?) were doing a road block on one of the main roads in to reading this morning and stopping cars.

i obviously managed to look respectable enough for them to take my word that i was going to work and who i work for and what i do without me having to show work identification or the 'key worker' letter that employer has given us

meh
 
Puddy_Tat said:
old bill (or pcso at least - are they young bill?) were doing a road block on one of the main roads in to reading this morning and stopping cars.
bank
i obviously managed to look respectable enough for them to take my word that i was going to work and who i work for and what i do without me having to show work identification or the 'key worker' letter that employer has given us

meh
Click to expand...

I had to laugh at the old bill in Sussex pulling people over, coming into the likes of Brighton & Worthing over the Easter weekend.

Where are you from? <somewhere outside Sussex> Where are you going? <the beach> No, you are not, here's your £60 fine, now turn around & go home, if you come back you'll get a £120 fine.

Some of these twats had drove over a 100 miles before being forced to turn around & go home! :facepalm:
 
The gf is working from home for a minimum of 2 months starting tomorrow.

She’s commandeered our dining room as her home office and said she’s looking forward to not having to wear shoes for work!

A536DE16-1B2A-47FA-8F51-5AFA59901EAA.jpeg
 
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