What is Covid-19 like on the other side of the pond?

[Composite]

Not really...I’ve got a mate in the Press...he’s been told he has to work......”at risks” have been sent home. No one has any hand gel.

[Rakkasan187]

Interesting how some lifestyles have changed due to the recent situation. Businesses closed, restuarants and bars closed, mandatory stay in door requirements, working from home (which I am doing now) and I am reflecting back on what my mother and father told me about them growing up during the Great Depression and World War Two. In some instances it is comparable to what we are facing today. (Empty food shelves, limits of canned items and other essentials allowed per person per visit).. My wife was making a soup this morning from some of our leftovers and I remember my mom and dad telling me how this happened during the war years that since food was rationed and in some cases depending on where one lived they would stretch their meals out.

My dad remembers during the war that in his town of Bangor, Maine where there was an Army Air Corps Airfield, Bangor would have "meatless Tuesdays" where meat sold in stores and by butchers would go to the Army in order for the troops to have the proper nourishment. His mother and father canned vegetables they grew on their small farm and they made do, is spite of the rationing restrictions, ration books and OPA points..

My mother's family is from Sicily and they had relatives there during the War and of course finding food for them was also very difficult. Some of the relatives who had immigrated to the US prior to the war would send care packages and parcels to them in Italy. In some cases the packages arrived and in other times the family never received the items. My mother's family grew up as farmers in Italy and what they grew on their land was what they ate. My grandmother taught me one of the simple meals they would make after working in the fields all day.. "The poor mans meal" is what she called it but it was enough to sustain them. They grew wheat so they had flour to make pasta, they grew tomato's so they could make sauce and they grew green peas and other vegetables. My grandmother used to make a meal called "macaroni and peas" which again all came from their fields.. I still cook this today, it is simple and it was a wartime staple for many Sicilian families. I still cook this meal today for my family, it is filling and is easy to make...

This pandemic has brought up some stimulating conversations, especially with some of our younger generation and it also brings back memories, especially for my parents in my in laws..

My mother in law grew up in Nazi Germany and by the end of the war she had to steal food and forage in the fields for potatoes just so she would have something in her stomach. The first American Soldier's she encountered were African American tankers and they gave her some K-rations and a blanket. Initially she was told things about the US Soldiers and what they would do to young German girls but when the GIs gave her rations and a blanket she had no idea that a stranger could be so compassionate. That was when she realized that Hitler had been wrong. When she moved here to the US after the war as a war bride she had no idea the abundance of food and other essentials that they had to steal in Germany was on shelves in stores at nearly every corner. But she still had uncertainty. During the 1st Gulf War in the 90's my mother in law panicked and thought that the rationing and food would disappear off the shelfs as it did in Germany 50 years earlier. She went out and bought 2 large garbage cans and filled them with dry goods, pastas, cake mixes, powdered milk, because the memories of her town being bombed (She lived in Ludwigshafen which was 98% destroyed) she feared that the local grocery store would be bombed...

I learned much from my parents about being prepared and using all available skills at our disposal. My wife and I know how to grow our own vegetables, can our own foods and make multiple meals from one dinner. We were talking the other day as we are both teleworking now that the Crockpot was a great invention and we have been talking about getting the bread maker out and giving that a try. We are both in the high risk category due to medical conditions and we only go out if absolutely necessary but in spite of this current situation we see the good that has come from this, we are reflecting on what our parents had passed down to us, not as just a passing thought but now we are implementing some of the same war time mentality and thoughts of our parents into our daily lives..

For all those who have been inconvenienced, laid off, unemployed, for all those still on the front line as first responders and medical workers from the custodial staff who are disinfecting to the nurses and doctors and the scientists trying to find a cure my thanks and my Prayers and thoughts go out to all of you..

For my forum family, although strangers in some cases we share common bonds and interests, I hope that all of you will be safe and your families will be safe..

Best regards and Blessings to you all..

Smitty

[Rakkasan187]

I just wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on how this has become a norm for some folks and how it has been albiet a scary situation, how it has been bringing others closer (not in the literal sense) but in my neighborhood alone, folks are outside and under normal circumstances some of our neighbors don't even talk to one another, but now that everyplace is closed (minus grocery stores) people are asking each other if they are alright, if they need anything and other acts of kindness and generosity.

My wife and I were talking to our neighbor last week and she was mentioning how she waited too long and didn't get toilet paper or anything else. We were on our way to drop off a food suuply to my in-laws and we mentioned that if we found any extra we would pick some up for her and her family.. She also said she would do the same when she was out and about with her kids..

A few days go by and I get a phone call from my neighbors husband, He told me his wife found 2 packs of tiolet paper and one of his girls was going to bring it to us.. We were so moved at this act of kindness..

Now here is the kicker to this whole story.. My neighbor and his wife have 6 kids and the father's dad lives with them in the house, so thats 9 people living next door, and they brought us a pack of toilet paper, my wife and I,, only 2 people...

I can't tell you how that made us feel that someone would sacrifice the needs of their own family to take care of others...

We have been vigilant and are watching out for our neighbors.... We have a motor home that is full of LP gas and we have a generator and it sleeps 6 so if something really severe happens we can offer this as a place of refuge and shelter...

These stories of hope and compassion really do help in times of distress and despair and amongst all the gloom and doom,, it helps to tell others...

Best regards and Blessings...

Stay Safe everyone...

Smitty

[BrodieBartfast]

Thank you for writing that, Smitty. It really puts the present crisis into perspective, and reminds us all here that human beings are always capable of compassion, even in the apparently selfish world of today. When things hit the fan, people look out for each other. Times of great tribulation bring out some of the worst aspects of people, but they also often bring out the best.

Whatever happens, whatever damage has been done by the end of this pandemic, it is a sure thing that humanity will come out alright in the end. We always have, and we always will.

Regards, B.B.

[reneblacky]

Was actually pretty good at the supermarket this morning, got everything we needed! no mad rush! meat was on the light side though, but still got what we wanted..

[Pauls1970]

Likewise Rene, we managed to get our weekly shop today, a spirit of decency seemed to prevail !
Regards
Paul

[Rakkasan187]

Greetings everyone,,,

Just an update for everyone this morning from my neck of the woods in far West Texas.. A few more cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed which was to be expected and more safety precautions and closures have been put in place (as was expected) but the overall atmosphere and attitudes here are positive and for the most part many are adhering to the social distancing procedures and are only going out based on necessity for essentials (food and gas)…

Our Local supermarket chain opens now at 7 am and closes at 9 pm. The parking lot was semi crowded at 7:30 when we arrived. My wife and I were weighing the risks and debated about going out yesterday and decided last night that we would go out one final time for the foreseeable future. I normally would not have gone out but I needed distilled water for my CPAP machine and my father in law needs it for his oxygen machine as we have a very high calcification in our regular drinking water and it would have wreaked havoc on our breathing machines and a water softening machine is not in our budget at the moment....

So the bottled drinking water shelves were empty for the most part but the store was stocking cased bottled water (limit 2 per person) and it was in decent supply..
I was able to find 6 gallons of distilled water on the shelf with no limits on it so I got all 6 with the intent of keeping 3 gallons and I will run half of what I got to my father in law this week and he should be set with his oxygen machine for at least the next several weeks..

There were no fresh eggs, egg beaters or egg substitutes in the refrigerator section but they are expecting a shipment on Monday (we weren't looking for eggs but some folks were asking) (We also have several other smaller food chains in our city) (Our population is approximately 850,000) and we border Mexico (but the border has been closed to non-essential traffic)..

The flour and sugar was also all gone (flour is a primary ingredient for tortilla's in our region) but there were some bags of self rising flour and bread flour so if folks have bread machines it is an alternate. For obvious reasons the cake mixes and cookie mixes that require other than water were in abundance (most mixes require eggs and oil) so those shelves were not empty) The bakery was in full swing still pushing out premade cookies and cakes and other pastries so there is still an abundance of those items.

Another area where I was surprised to see low to no supplies was the pet food aisle. Canned cat and dog food was nearly all gone as well as most of the dry food... Pet owners (like my wife and I) have enough food for our cat and we still feed our stray that has taken up shelter in our back yard, so they will be taken care of..

Milk and other dairy products were also in decent supply but one area that I saw that was almost out was butter, margarine and spreads, butter and those things can be frozen so I guess folks were gearing up for the inevitable here in our region. Cold meats and hot dogs were also scarce but I do have to hand it to our stockers, they were filling shelves as fast as possible and I do have to say that the atmosphere was pleasant and everyone was cordial to each other and only picking up what they needed.. I did not see any instances of hoarding or supermarket carts being filled to the brim, so through all of this many folks have kept a good attitude and have kept their manners and good cheer.

There were a few Soldiers at our supermarket which leads me to believe that the commissary on base was in low supply of some foods, and keep in mind that the Commissary only gets resupplied once a week (usually Thursday's) down here so they may not have been able to get what they needed on base. We have about 40,000 Soldiers and at least 20,000 family members and dependents so they are also part of our community and hopefully our Military are finding the means to provide for their families during this crisis. There are some Soldiers who are TDY from our installation and based on guidelines they are quarantined at other installations and are unable to get back home to their families. My wife encountered this last week with a woman and baby. The woman is German and fairly new to our community and her husband is in school at another military base. She is scared and alone right now. My wife is German and she has offered to pick up supplies when we go out for this woman and her small baby.

So we are now back at home and we are hunkering down once again, we have heard about some more potential closures in our area and once I know more I will update everyone..

So once again I hope that all my Forum Family members are doing well, what ever region or state or Country you may be in,, I Pray for you and your families and hope that you all stay safe and healthy..

Best Regards and Blessings..

Stay Safe..

Smitty

[Composite]

...'thought there'd be a lot more posts [not this thread] on all Forums (there ARE others!) as virtually everyone's "isolated"...'doesn't seem that way....or have they all gone "off the grid".......

Perhaps we only communicate when we get something new and shiny??..if that's the case will the last person to get something in the mail please turn the lights out.... :-)

[Watchdog]

Hi Ade, I know what you mean but hopefully most people are not "isolated" but following the work from home protocol. All things being even (assuming people "play the game" as it were) then no one should have any more spare time to be on here than when working normally. I for one am working late shift so I haveven't clocked on yet

Otherwise people may have altered priorities at the moment, somebody has to buy all those beans and toilet rolls (I think there might be a corelation there )!!

For my part, I just got a call from my boss who told me to "WFH" because I am in the "At risk" category (if I recall our conversation at Malvern correctly I think you appreciate this?). As far as I am concerned this is a "swings and roundabouts" situation. The extra precaution / protection is good as is the more relaxed working evironment of underpants and strong coffee on tap (in a Homer Simpson style less the Duff Beer ) but the downside is that it means I will be doing the whole team's paperwork / file prep

I am still ready to post on any thread whenever I have anything of use to add but I have to say the fewer "me too" or "nice one" posts the better, that I think is covered by the like button

I am expecting something "shiny" in the post (at least that seems to be largely unaffected) in the next day or so and then there will be a post in technicolour on the NVA sub-forum

For me, here on the Forum it is business as usual and I hope it is so for everyone else.

Stay safe lads.

Keep Calm and Carry On (posting)

Mark

[Composite]

Agreed...don't get me wrong re "WFH"...I was a WFH-er for a while and used to work harder (and a lot longer) than when not doing so.....

The one thing that does scare me is getting the Vaccine right.....'cos that Mother's gonna go into just about EVERYONE on the planet.....'anyone watched "I am legend" lately?...not as good as Charlton's version of course but makes ya think!

As UK approaches CONTROLLED shut-down I kinda hoped we'd've sold more books to all those folk who'll need a book or two over the next few weeks/months...assuming everyone ends up Netflixed-out.....I only hope the survivors of the Vaccine can read.....in the dark! :-)