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- Continuity7
Got an automated email from the Canadian embassy in Berlin last evening, advising all Canadians travelling in Germany to get their arses back home ASAP before it's simply no longer possible to travel.
I keep wondering if they're also directing this guidance to expats (which is what I am). Seems to me, if I were to follow their guidance to the letter, I would literally have to bug out: leave all my stuff behind, try to kill my rental contract way ahead of any notice period baked in (or worse, just skip out on it, leaving the landlord high and dry), etc, etc. Basically, I'd have to abandon my entire life that I've built up over the years.
Not saying I haven't idly thought of going back, especially since I'm unemployed and looking for work, but then I also wonder what the actual point of leaving would be (besides being closer to my mum and sister). My situation in CA wouldn't change that much; it would still be self-isolation and recession there, too.
Plus, if I go back now under the current global circumstances, it would have to be for keeps, which isn't something I would want.
So, terribly sorry, Government of Canada; thanks, but no thanks, I'm staying put here. At least for now.
- Good luck mate!OBBTKN
- Funnily enough, five minutes I posted this, I got an email from one of the places I sent my CV to in Munich, saying, 'We are still interested ...Continuity
- ... in your application. However, we will continue the recruiting process after normal business activities have resumed.'
Fair enough, I'm not going anywhere!Continuity - Yes!!OBBTKN
- also...why would you want to go through this mess a 2nd time...1-2month europe will be mostly ok,starting from the south.uan
- Exactly. If we were talking about something like civil unrest, violence, a disease so fatal you'd die just hearing its name, then yeah, I'd really consider ...Continuity
- ... bugging out. But this isn't that, by any means.Continuity
- I think the GoC should have been a bit more measured in the tone of its message to Canadians, and been a bit more specific about who they're speaking to.Continuity
- yes it seems a bit weird to say the least. whats the point in going back to canada? healing group hug or summat?hans_glib
- I love Berlin, but if I had to pick a city where to be when shit falls apart, Berlin is not it.. the winters are hard and the city is unforgiving.autoflavour
- ... yeah, but German women are very warm and cuddly so that makes up for it.robotron3k
- Countries around the world are closing borders to non-citizens. You might find Germany less welcoming in the near future.monNom
- Canadian snowbirds having to come home as health insurers will no longer cover covid-19 related expenses abroadmonNom
- Airlines reducing flights now. May be hard to return in future. On the plus side, the govt has $5000 to help you shelter in place where you are.monNom
- Well, Florida pensioners and expats aren't exactly the same deal. I am on local public health insurance here, thanks to my residence permit.Continuity
- Fair enough, just giving you some recent Canadian headlines. Stay safe out there!monNom
- already have a German woman here.. very warm and cuddly..autoflavour
- Nairn2
On my way in this morning I passed an ambulance with two people suited and masked up, going into someone's house with a trolley and a bottle of oxygen. :(
Further down the path, I could see ahead a Yout' acting shiftily - I saw him jump down from someone's wall he was sitting on, then stand in the middle of the pavement with his hands out, jostling them and looking around. A young mother passed by him and he sort of seized up, guiltily I assumed. Up to no good, I figured. I get up to him and he approaches and I think "fuck's sake, here we go - what does he want?". "Scuse me?". Uh huh, I think - cigarette? money? lighter? - in these coronal times, I'm not sure I want to engage in any contact with this clearly-miscreant individual "What's up?" I ask. He stammers a bit and says "uhh... can you do me a favour?" here we go "Do i ..er.. have a spider on me?" wat? I laugh and he pirouettes slowly as I scan him up and down looking "I could swear I had a spider on me - I've been bugging out". "I think you're good, man - I don't see a spider". I laugh and think a bit about how prejudiced I'm getting. I've been in this city too long.
- Plot twist: there was a small black spider with red markings on his neck. I said nothing. As I walked further down the street I could hear screams.Nairn
- haha. was he in no way connected to the ambulance incident then? Your journeys have the feel of police weapons training practiceFax_Benson
- where you have to immediately assess if the figure popping out is goodie or baddieFax_Benson
- that's norf lunnon for you...hans_glib
- most seem to have a surprise animal themeFax_Benson
- The twist, if true, fantastic!! Lmao... Cool story bro ;)OBBTKN
- Sadly, that bit was not true, OB :)Nairn
- Fax_Benson13
Might wade into the trans debate on twitter for a bit light relief.
- NBQ002
Home-office is so cool. Working via VPN. Much better working atmosphere and no distractions. Looks like this will be the case for at least next few weeks.
Anyone else ordered to do home-office?
- i work from home all the time (studio [=shed]) at the bottom of the garden. so really no difference for me. except the wife is here as well, invading my space..hans_glib
- yupmoldero
- I'm here till mid May.DRIFTMONKEY
- work from home has been the norm for me for 4 years. took me about a year to finally get used to it.capn_ron
- yep, and had home officed for 3 years before when freelancing. Things I learnt:shapesalad
- 1 - Go outside before 9.30am. Be it cycle, run, walk. Get out at the start of the day. Mandatory.shapesalad
- 2 - Aeropress and a decent selection of teas are your friends. Optional.shapesalad
- 3 -Don't have any candy/sweets in the house. Else you eat them all. Like I just did. 3 packets of wine gums in 2 days.... what a mistake to make.shapesalad
- Working from home studio for the last 5 years, love it, but like hans, now my wife and daugthers are invading my space...OBBTKN
- @shapesalad 0. start your day like you would go to an office. (people tend to forget basic daily things like shower :D
we went to home-office mode on monday,sted - Yep but daycares ordered to close too, net benefit = nil.ben_
- luckily I didn't had to teach anyone how VPN works because we're already using it, and we had to home office for a few weeks last year.sted
- it's only cool if you're single and without kidsmonospaced
- My wife's company is so disorganized as well, trying to daycare in shifts is a really un-funny joke.ben_
- @mono that is an ugly truth :) and I was in this mood until monday started and my duties at work doubled.sted
- I have a fear that my colleagues who have kids will go nuts next weeksted
- story of my life for 15+ years now... and for those w/kids at home—think of what you're saving on daycare costs :PPonyBoy
- I am, good thing I'm prepared, have 3 monitors + mbp + beefy pc hackintosh/win10, good chairernexbcn
- Yes!maquito
- I save many thousand in daycare costs. And other costs as well actually.monospaced
- bjladams12
aha Canoe - it does look like that. I had the truck for a week to get from fiordland up to the north.
this trip was a bit of self-therapy and a month away from noise to let my brain rest; i'm not sure if i've mentioned here, but after 10 years of being completely deaf i've had a receiver installed in jan and this is all part of the recovery from surgery and learning to hear again. it's been quite life change, and being away for the month has been nice.
- Fax_Benson0
The riskier the public place you're washing your hands in, the narrower the gap in the Dyson airblade
- PonyBoy9
Last Friday I got in my car and headed to what I thought was my 'new' job. When I got there I was halted from sitting at what I knew to be my new 'area' and told there was 'news'.
"We've had to put on a hiring freeze cuz of this virus 'thing'... you're welcome to work out the day and we'll pay you as a contractor. There is still a ton of work for you to do but you will now be paid as a contractor per instance. We will not be hiring until the Fall at the earliest. We've had to let a number of our Staff go just this morning... sorry."
** ummmm... but... I signed an NDA last Tuesday... filled out the fucking forms and tax shit... I even see my new Mac... it's... right there. **
To add insult to the already aching kick in the balls... some dude was just arriving to my 'area' and was dismantling that gorgeous new cheesegrater that I'll now never touch...
... no shit... took the fucking thing apart and tossed it in his little IT cart right in front of me as I was being told I had no job.
:(
So I went home. Some might call that foolish... that I should sit out the day and hope for contract work. Instead I had some freelance opportunities already out there so I opted to just head home and get to work.
Today rolls around... got a phone call from ^ Them ^ and they are now up my ass about a ton of rush work pertaining to this retarded virus and their current business relationship w/their vendors and the public. I told them I can't get it to them till Friday as I have other shit in front of them. They're cool w/that... and proceeded to add more work to my list.
I'm actually overwhelmed at the moment and should get the fuck off QBN and get some shit done. Since Monday I've managed to gather up a few additional projects which will more than provide for Me and Mine the next couple months. To be cliche a moment: It's certainly 'funny' how things work out. :)
Hang in there, Everyone. <3
- Stay golden. Honestly. I hope one day we can have a beer and a smoke.monospaced
- Sounds like a plan... Sooner than later, Dude. :)PonyBoy
- Stay golden Kev, a hug, mate! ;)
A beer is waiting you here too... LolOBBTKN - Keep hustling, dude.stoplying
- ouch, that sucks about the job man :( but at least you have the plenty of work coming in. keep on keeping on :)lvl_13
- autoflavour1
so wanted to check local major supermarket today after it being the first day of them shutting early to ensure time to stock shelves.. at most i would say a 1/4 of the shelves are restocked.. things like vegetables, bread etc.. but all the non perishable stuff is one box here, one box there.. still looking like a soviet Russian supermarket.
bigger bit of news i was eves dropping on the store manager having a debrief to a few staff members.. quote "we had an extra 15 people packing and cleaning last night.. our stock is currently on a level 6 but we have been directed that next week we wont be needing those staff as we cant expect to get deliveries like we have this week"
- that's good news, most of the aldis here looked like this the other day: https://i.imgur.com/…
https://i.imgur.com/…sted - tesco in UK are 'streamlining stock' which includes max item purchases + removing all multibuy discounts to stop hoarding - not reducing prices though, thanks!kingsteven
- that's good news, most of the aldis here looked like this the other day: https://i.imgur.com/…
- kingsteven4
Fuck, i've been pretty much constantly reading about this outbreak for weeks now. I was off work on strike for the best part of a month and for the first fortnight really getting in to mixing a record but this last week in particular has been real hard going... Multiple tabs of QBN, Twitter and news outlets open - reading with the urgency of someone searching for a cure but actually just selfishly trying to flick that "ENOUGH INFORMATION ACQUIRED" switch in my brain to release the satisfaction neurochemicals to let me be creative again, or just sit down and enjoy a film.
Woke up at 5am this morning with the absolute fear and just went to my office, sat down and started work thinking 'I need something mundane to take my mind off this'... Working from home from Monday, I knew I had a book to design for a university course, it's a medical textbook, currently on the third chapter 'Public health approach for vaccines'. It's postgraduate level stuff so it makes assumptions about the reader's prior knowledge of drugs, pharmacology and the like - i doubt any of us would fully understand it without a decade of study and professional experience. While the language is similar, even in comparison to even the abstracts of clinical drug trials i've found myself reading for the treatment of Covid-19 (intended for a much more general audience) this book is absolute fucking gibberish to me.
And just like that, the switch was flicked... I am not a medical person, this is only making me sick, activate pleb mode, went for a big walk with the dog this afternoon and played guitar for 3 hours, heartburn gone, head clear, hopefully this feeling lasts a while.
- you're procrastinating. get back to work! :)hotroddy
- Please f’ing tell me THAT is the book cover design, and if it’s not, it needs to be.mg33
- hah, i think i'll get it enlarged for my office wall in university for when this all blows over :)kingsteven
- the older i get, the more i need to stay focused. Im pretty prejudice with what indulge in.plash
- pango7
fuck you all who's fueling this shit.
- disgusting mentality.Beeswax
- +moldero
- Well, well, well.., it looks like Asian white privilege has been revoked.robotron3k
- fuck you bobomonospaced
- the fuck is asian white privilege?
the fuck are you talking about?
fuck you bobopango - Yup, it‘s sad. Things like this show how many dumb people exist on the planet.NBQ00
- lol bobomoldero
- LOL @pango BOBO is his name from now on!!!renderedred
- &monorenderedred
- Agreed. I have Asian friends that were legitimately worried after the London attack. I never thought the pango Asian jokes were funny either.garbage
- Much love pangz, and as much as I hate it because my dog's nickname is Bobo, "fuck you bobo".garbage
- Pango is upset I asked him to be my accountant for my weed shop Bernie was going to fund for us Latinos.robotron3k
- the fuck you talking bobo?
that's the worst idea ever! i suck at accounting!pango
- renderedred2
in israel, demonstrations and unrest in connection to new fascist measures (as i reported earlier police and internal security got OK to follow whomever they want now without a law or reason, and if i know this government well, they won't recall it after the virus), 5 arrested.
in other news, my supermarket is fine, stocked fully.
- sorry, thought i was in coronathreadrenderedred
- No worries, now all threads are corona threads ;)OBBTKN
- ...and this thread did start with someone going out to get a snack.webazoot
- also we have netniyahu announcing and ordering stuff without actually being elected.renderedred
- grafician7
I actually quit smoking and drinking.
Sober for a week.- Under these conditions? Fuck me, you're brave. I don't have the balls for it.Continuity
- Yeah, simply stopped buying cigs and beer.grafician
- Shit, I started smoking.section_014
- I read this and thought "I need a fucking cigarette" and then realised I've left my tobacco at home.
NOW I REALLY WANT TO SMOKE.Nairn - Chris Martin of Coldplay - doesn't drink, worth $180m.shapesalad
- good ... please stop smoking cigarettes, they're pretty stinkymonospaced
- Cigs! Could use one right now too, but must resist.futurefood
- Don't "think" you need to quit. Just "forget" to buy cigarettes or beers.grafician
- dont think not drinking has anything to do with how much money you have.pango
- Ditto; NOT a good time for an addict of any kind to be giving into addiction(s).
Clear head / nice work @grafician.ideaist - Glad I gave up the cigs nearly a decade ago. DO want a beer though but on antibiotics for cough, might just bite the bullet ;)microkorg
- Zero cigs in a week, simply i stopped buying themOBBTKN
- ^yeah, that exactly!grafician
- Smoking will make you more susceptible to the virus, good to stop now.yuekit
- I stopped smoking about 2 weeks ago after I felt like I was getting sick. Now thinking I'm gonna stay off the smokes for a while. The drinking.. Not so much lolsea_sea
- I am so glad I quit drinking when I did.DRIFTMONKEY
- @yukit - i was under impression that smoking actually induced a chemical restriction to uptake, but once it took led to an increase in susceptbilityNairn
- Was vaping for 2 years after quitting cigs. Been nicotine/thc free since Nov and booze free for over a year now. U got this...whatthefunk
- Nairn where you read that? I'd be surprised if they made any such specific findings.yuekit
- What we know, this virus kills your lungs. And of course smoking weakens your lungs.yuekit
- AHA, HERE IT IS. I've been looking for this goddamn post for ages, where I loosely referred to smoking impacting ACE2 receptors C19 latches ontoNairn
- Which is to say CALLED IT!
:)
/sadfuckNairn
- Bennn28
Just a quick message to say that I'm glad we have this community here, again, to share thoughts during a hard time. having real thoughts from people from many places is great. Love QBN
- Alone together.grafician
- +1
Occasional photo of how your car is doing out there would boost all our spirits too I'm sure.webazoot - ^OBBTKN
- Less yak more yaris! :)kingsteven
- I agree 99% with you Bennnutopian
- how is that car?utopian
- My car's fine, spring is coming, snow is almost all gone. he's happy.Bennn
- I appreciate you, Bennn!Krassy
- I found a picture of my first car in snow in my drawer and thought of you!SimonFFM
- haha :DBennn
- lolwebazoot
- :)sea_sea
- totally agree, great to hear all your info and jokes and angry thoughts .. thanks guys!srhadden
- I'm here every day. Love you all.DRIFTMONKEY
- cheers, new and old schoolersBonSeff
- mg332
I did the right thing - for society and my anus - and bought a Toto C100 bidet seat. It came yesterday, got it installed, goodbye toilet paper, hello decadent hands free cleanliness.
- Welcome to the future!zarkonite
- Used one once after a flight to Japan... pooped, washed, dried... and omg, what a stench. Didn't clean me at all. Not after a messy one...shapesalad
- lol, because of toilet paper?monospaced
- They still have toilet paper in this pic? Belt and bracers approach I guess.webazoot
- they forgot to photoshop the toilet paperutopian
- ^ Ha! I didn't even notice that.mg33
- we got one last year as a treat for ourselves. its fited but not got anyone to hook it uo to elec to get workgin yet lol.microkorg
- I use the three seashells methodmoldero
- i use my neighbour's catpango
- An outlet that low, and that close to a toilet is not only terrifying, but it's gotta be against building code.section_014
- So thats why outlet so close to your assNBQ00
- I still fail to really get how this gets you more clean than tp. Just based on my vast experiences rinsing peanut butter off a knife.mantrakid
- been using bidets for 10+ years; wouldn't ever go back. you'll upgrade to a real fancy one in a year. profile settings, air dry, warm water. you'll love itplash
- Your shit sticks to your ass like peanut butter?? wtf are you eating??? Have you tried wiping a peanut butter knife with tissue paper??? wtf kind of analogy..Khurram
- You can't even wipe a ceramic dish clean with tissue paper and its adequate for your ass?? stupid people.Khurram
- so much passion for ass wiping. love this place :Ppango
- I am intrigued. Never used one. Afraid it would tickle me to no end.monospaced
- that shit freaked me out what i was in japan. never has my butt hole been tickled before.pango
- NBQ002
I know this is firstworldproblems right now but sucks I can‘t go to the gym for the next few weeks as they closed off. And i have no gear at home for full body workout. I can lift some stuff but it‘s not the same. Especially missing the machine to train the back and neck area which is benefitial when we sit so much working.
- Work standing up, problem solved ;)OBBTKN
- J/k... Yes, I'm not a gym guy, but can't go out to walk, hike or ride my bikes, now that I've got time...OBBTKN
- And the worst, wife and daugthers confiscated my roller, put on a MTB bike on it and I can't touch it!!OBBTKN
- You can definitely go out for a hike or walk or run ffs.monospaced
- A resistance band and youtube is all you need.shapesalad
- omahadesigns-5
Are you more efficient or distracted when working from home?
- i get distracted to be more efficientsted
- efficiently distractedPonyBoy
- extracted deficiencyGnash
- distracted. mostly spend time snacking or procrastinating with different home tasks like sticking the washing on etc.microkorg
- Distracted. I need help.monospaced
- When my kids were little, going to work was like taking a break. Fun little fuckers but exhaustingGnash
- No way one can work with them at you anklesGnash
- More efficient. Also more prone to bad habits.maquito
- distractedethered
- pornlajj
- OBBTKN1
Hi
- grafician0
Starting Monday, all of our country Romania would go in total lockdown - borders closed for foreigners, everybody stay at home and only allowed to go out around their house/block for shopping/dog walking and only people with vital jobs are allowed to travel - 6AM - 22PM
We need to sign personal assurance papers to go out during the night 22PM till 6AM
Anybody that does not comply would be put in quarantine under guard on the spot!
Basically all the measures China did, more or less.
We expect about 1 million tests coming in from South Korea to begin mass testing.
So far we only have 367 confirmed cases, 59 new ones today, 52 recovered, no victims.
Personal status: hopeful, but idk
- *fingers crossed
I hope it's a girlNairn - Trump has been promising 1 million masks for over a month. Philadelphia's hospital systems are now up 2k test kits, no masks, ventilators - few and far betweenutopian
- Yeah, well, he will go down in history as the biggest failure in the US history so...grafician
- You racists!!! How dare you control your borders.Hayoth
- Closing borders, testing everybody, quarantine the sick, the rest can go to work - 98.98264287% WINgrafician
- From my personal experience; take your loved ones and go out until tomorrow, is it sunny in RO? This is going to take long, mate, good luck!!OBBTKN
- Can't, my parents are in another city, I'm alone in the capital. But on the phone with them, we will go thru this alrightgrafician
- Take care!OBBTKN
- You too guys! this will last at least 1-2 more monthsgrafician
- *fingers crossed
- fadein110
The perfect storm.
- C.R.E.A.M. - Corona Ruined Everything Around Me...grafician
- https://twitter.com/…robotron3k
- mg334
This may be utterly pointless to think about, but I'm sitting here listening to some pretty somber music by Icelandic composer Olafur Arnulds, and wondering... which musicians will be making the music that responds to this global crisis? What will it sound like? Will it be reflective of the lives lost? Will it be hopeful and forward-looking? Triumphant?
I love music's ability to reflect a time and place and unknown aspects of the world we live in. I keep thinking about the film score from Interstellar, and the main theme that plays throughout the movie.
- it will sound like apocalyptic zen music
https://www.youtube.…hotroddy
- it will sound like apocalyptic zen music