OFF TOPIC: How are you holding up during these troubling times?

I'm doing well so far.  My day job, (when I'm not moonlighting as a photographer) is working in the sales department of a manufacturer of transformers.  (The electrical kind, not the action figure kind)  That makes me part of an essential industry, and though business has seen a huge slowdown, we still have business.  

The Canadian government furthermore is doing its best to encourage businesses to keep employees on the payroll despite the massive slowdown in the economy, by offering to pay 75% of employee wages of companies who can show their business is down by at least 30% and encouraging, but not forcing the employers to pay the remaining 25%.  

I'm also very connected to my old reserve regiment, and the honorary colonel of the regiment, (a pretty wealthy guy) is making sure that anyone with ties to the regiment (active members, former members, members of the Artillery Association of Montreal, or 3rd Montreal Field Battery, the volunteer ceremonial battery which is supported by my old regiment, gets whatever support they might need in these trying times.  If someone is under quarantine and needs groceries, Steve Gregory will make sure someone is available to run out and get them. If someone needs help getting to a hospital or medical facility, ditto. A fund has also been set up for members in need of financial aid.  So far, I don't need any of this, but it's reassuring to know that someone has my back. Ubique!

Okay....The downside.  Most retails stores are closed and I can't get my hands on the foam core board I wanted to buy to start building my first real diorama this (long weekend). I've got to line up outside of liquor stores when I buy booze.  The police are patrolling public parks and making sure people don't get too close or go to far from where they live. Nothing on the news but COVID-19 news, SNL is nothing but reruns (okay, that's not that different from normal times,)  and there's massive uncertainty about the economy, but what can I say?  I'm okay for now, working (from the office) and I'm getting by.

Oh, and as an addendum, I'm wondering if I should change the change the global catastrophe in my post-apocalyptic collection from nuclear war to world-wide pandemic as it's a concept that seems a lot more plausible now than it was just a few months ago.

Stryker2011 wrote:Well, turns out I’m not as essential as they led us to believe at work. When I went last night (actually 2 am this morning) there was an email letting many of us know that we could be getting furloughed soon. This afternoon I got the email telling me I’m furloughed as of now. That was fast. Tomorrow I have to file for unemployment, I guess.

Ouch! That hurts. Sorry to hear about that.

shazzdan wrote:My miniatures business is doing better than ever. I guess lots of people are stuck at home looking for things to occupy their time. I had just got ready my largest ever batch of parcels to take to the Post Office when I get a message saying that Aust. Post is cancelling all but Priority overseas parcels due to flight restrictions and those that do get sent will have delays of 2-3 weeks. That knocks out around 90% of my business. My smaller items can be sent as letters so I'm hoping that the restrictions only apply to parcels and not letters as well. If so, I should be able to salvage 40-50% of orders.

Good to know you are doing well.

My wife works in the legal department for a casino in New York. Since all of those are shut down, she has been out of work for a while. Having to file for unemployment was a depressing day for her, she had trouble separating the feeling of it somehow being her fault from an unavoidable situation.
It’s just the two of us and we have been able to connect during this time in a way that gives it a real silver lining effect. We were fortunate to have made our usual grocery trip before anyone realized where this was headed, so we are sufficiently stocked up without having to hoard. 24 rolls of TP holds us a while. We keep large and family size versions of products to minimize our normal shopping, so we have soup and sanitizer and soap, etc. We have done everything we can to minimize our expenses and have turned off the heat in hopes of better weather. I venture out for milk, eggs, etc. and I wear gloves, N95 mask, dollar store disposable jumpsuit and eye protection. I strip down and sanitize in the garage before entering our home as well as dong my best to wipe down packaging.
I should mention that I am absolutely not worried about this virus, medically, but feel that these precautions are just good sense for my wife’s safety. I have asthma and allergies and as she says “ How would you even know if something was wrong?” Lol.
I had to fly in March and the experience of being in a commercial plane with only seven passengers on board was surreal.
I am not sure what my state, country or even the world’s exit strategy is for all of this. For now, all I can do is ride the ride along with everyone else and hope for return to normal in the future.

I'm sorry to hear about everyone's troubles during the current situation. It makes everything more surreal to me, because my life really hasn't changed through all this. Job is considered essential so I'm still working, no kids, so school closures don't affect me, and no husband to worry about. I was already extra careful about hand-washing and the like because my uncle has emphysema - a simple cold would be real bad for him, let alone this deal. I live in the countryside and hate being in crowded areas, so social distancing was already part of my lifestyle.

It does annoy me to no end the fear-mongering that is going on. I have enough of a background to understand the workings of this virus, and fully agree that extra precautions are necessary, especially for those with weak or compromised immune systems. However, terrifying the hell out of people and making them scared to live is not the answer. At all. And tightening the restrictions on businesses that are still open to keep away the people who won't stay home doesn't work. They're not going to stay home regardless, and it makes a hard situation even harder on everyone else.

Sorry about the mini-rant. Still trying to figure out how banning people from a store's paint or garden section 'flattens the curve'.

Very cool of Stryker to start this thread, and give everyone here a place to sound off.  Glad to see everyone is safe and healthy so far, and so sorry to hear of a lot of your struggles with this.  Scary and unprecedented times.

I have very little to complain about.  My job thankfully can be done remotely, and I've actually been busier than usual, often working later now than I did in the office (and no, nothing remotely essential or in any way helpful to anyone during all this).  But no commute, no need to put on pants, and I can do everything from the comfort of my couch.  My cats are better company than a lot of my coworkers, so that's a plus as well.  We're well stocked on food, and have used a variety of deliver services (including a restaurant supply place that's converted over to doing home delivery).  We even got a pile of beer delivered earlier this week.  I've barely left the house, and I'm weirdly ok with that.  I thought I'd have a lot more free time, but not much has changed.  Maybe a bit more time to work on projects on weekends, without anyone trying to coax me out, but that's mostly it.  There is a general tension in the air, and my heart goes out to everyone who has been way more effected by this than me.  I'm just keeping my head down and making the most of this.  

I will say, I was on vacation shortly before this all went down.  We stocked up before we left as a general caution, but it was nowhere near as pressing as it later became.  Spent a few straight days just drinking a ton, eating amazing food, and generally enjoying the care-free vibe of New Orleans, completely ignoring the news.  I came back to the apocalypse, and the Uber driver who picked us up from the airport was just beside himself telling us about the shortages everywhere, and the general feeling of panic.  It was definitely a sobering return to reality.

I also have a friend who works at our local hospital, and I can definitely attest, all the concern over this is valid.  They were out of ventilator by the first heavy weekend, and conditions have been pretty dire and intense ever since.  They had to convert the cafeteria to a 70 bed Covid wing. I'm right outside NYC where hospitals have had to get creative with overflowing morgues. I've had a few friends who have had it, and it hit them bad.  All fairly young and healthy people, but claimed it was the worst they've ever been sick.  Another friend's parents were hospitalized, but are thankfully recovering.  It's scary (censored), and I genuinely think this caution is justified, and not just fear mongering.  

Stay safe and stay well everyone.  Keep being smart and cautious, and lets all get through this together.

hi there,

thanks for asking, i hope you are all doing alright healthwise. sorry for not really being active lately, but somehow my other hobby was eating up most of my spare time and i couldnt get my lazy butt into action to finish the various stuff i got laying around.
as for recent events, my family and i arent really affected, yet. so far the company pays normal wages even with reduced worktime, on the downside it'll soon be the end of the one store i'm working at, meaning i get transfered to another, a little farther away. so not that much of a downside, IF they keep their word that is. i guess its wait and see, not that i have a say in the matter anyway, nor any responsibility on whats going on in the big picture.
being an avid gamer, staying at home is what i normally do and theres lots and lots of new and very good titles to play through.
again i hope you guys and girls are doing fine and at least have some quality time to spare.
cheers
tjolnir

ReverendSpooky wrote:Very cool of Stryker to start this thread, and give everyone here a place to sound off.  Glad to see everyone is safe and healthy so far, and so sorry to hear of a lot of your struggles with this.  Scary and unprecedented times.

I have very little to complain about.  My job thankfully can be done remotely, and I've actually been busier than usual, often working later now than I did in the office (and no, nothing remotely essential or in any way helpful to anyone during all this).  But no commute, no need to put on pants, and I can do everything from the comfort of my couch.  My cats are better company than a lot of my coworkers, so that's a plus as well.  We're well stocked on food, and have used a variety of deliver services (including a restaurant supply place that's converted over to doing home delivery).  We even got a pile of beer delivered earlier this week.  I've barely left the house, and I'm weirdly ok with that.  I thought I'd have a lot more free time, but not much has changed.  Maybe a bit more time to work on projects on weekends, without anyone trying to coax me out, but that's mostly it.  There is a general tension in the air, and my heart goes out to everyone who has been way more effected by this than me.  I'm just keeping my head down and making the most of this.  

I will say, I was on vacation shortly before this all went down.  We stocked up before we left as a general caution, but it was nowhere near as pressing as it later became.  Spent a few straight days just drinking a ton, eating amazing food, and generally enjoying the care-free vibe of New Orleans, completely ignoring the news.  I came back to the apocalypse, and the Uber driver who picked us up from the airport was just beside himself telling us about the shortages everywhere, and the general feeling of panic.  It was definitely a sobering return to reality.

I also have a friend who works at our local hospital, and I can definitely attest, all the concern over this is valid.  They were out of ventilator by the first heavy weekend, and conditions have been pretty dire and intense ever since.  They had to convert the cafeteria to a 70 bed Covid wing. I'm right outside NYC where hospitals have had to get creative with overflowing morgues.  I've had a few friends who have had it, and it hit them bad.  All fairly young and healthy people, but claimed it was the worst they've ever been sick.  Another friend's parents were hospitalized, but are thankfully recovering.  It's scary (censored), and I genuinely think this caution is justified, and not just fear mongering.  

Stay safe and stay well everyone.  Keep being smart and cautious, and lets all get through this together.

Good to know you are okay!

I consider myself and family fortunate.

I walked out of a job that expected me to be the only public interface with the company. Told them flat out..."I ain't doing it. My name isn't on the sign...yours is."

Upside is I'm able to make that call for myself and not jeopardize the family.

Playing disc golf four or five times a week and making it my business to get in at least 10,000 steps everyday. A damn virus might get me, but inactivity won't.

You all stay healthy.

Oh, the irony. 2 years ago I was also "locked up" during the same period. Went from Intensive Care to Revalidation. I should have died back then but the world didn't get so lucky because of doctors being too competent. It lasted one month and a half, with some luck the "easing" will also begin mid May.

Our company is considered essential (it really is), hence suddenly I am essential too (remembering the times they tried to get rid of me ...). Well, still being at work has its advantages too : I still get paid (with a small bonus), I am not really locked up in my house and as work is 30 km away I have some "roaming" freedom.
Only real problem is I can't fetch the 15 vintage Phicen dolls I purchased and want to present in a new thread.

DarthJ wrote:Oh, the irony. 2 years ago I was also "locked up" during the same period. Went from Intensive Care to Revalidation. I should have died back then but the world didn't get so lucky because of doctors being too competent. It lasted one month and a half, with some luck the "easing" will also begin mid May.

Our company is considered essential (it really is), hence suddenly I am essential too (remembering the times they tried to get rid of me ...). Well, still being at work has its advantages too : I still get paid (with a small bonus), I am not really locked up in my house and as work is 30 km away I have some "roaming" freedom.
Only real problem is I can't fetch the 15 vintage Phicen dolls I purchased and want to present in a new thread.

Glad to hear you’re doing better health-wise. I was right there with you around the same time.

For anyone who was wondering, blackpool is alive and well. But, I’ll let him tell the story, if he feels so inclined.

Stryker2011 wrote:

DarthJ wrote:Oh, the irony. 2 years ago I was also "locked up" during the same period. Went from Intensive Care to Revalidation. I should have died back then but the world didn't get so lucky because of doctors being too competent. It lasted one month and a half, with some luck the "easing" will also begin mid May.

Our company is considered essential (it really is), hence suddenly I am essential too (remembering the times they tried to get rid of me ...). Well, still being at work has its advantages too : I still get paid (with a small bonus), I am not really locked up in my house and as work is 30 km away I have some "roaming" freedom.
Only real problem is I can't fetch the 15 vintage Phicen dolls I purchased and want to present in a new thread.

Glad to hear you’re doing better health-wise. I was right there with you around the same time.

For anyone who was wondering, blackpool is alive and well. But, I’ll let him tell the story, if he feels so inclined.

Good to hear.

Stryker2011 wrote:

DarthJ wrote:Oh, the irony. 2 years ago I was also "locked up" during the same period. Went from Intensive Care to Revalidation. I should have died back then but the world didn't get so lucky because of doctors being too competent. It lasted one month and a half, with some luck the "easing" will also begin mid May.

Our company is considered essential (it really is), hence suddenly I am essential too (remembering the times they tried to get rid of me ...). Well, still being at work has its advantages too : I still get paid (with a small bonus), I am not really locked up in my house and as work is 30 km away I have some "roaming" freedom.
Only real problem is I can't fetch the 15 vintage Phicen dolls I purchased and want to present in a new thread.

Glad to hear you’re doing better health-wise. I was right there with you around the same time.

For anyone who was wondering, blackpool is alive and well. But, I’ll let him tell the story, if he feels so inclined.

Thank you, I've been really worried about him!

I'm not too bad. Occasional cabin fever, still, I was only going out one day a week even before lockdown. Heat and fatigue are affecting me a bit now, but that's weather related more than illness. Can't seem to focus on much and just drift from day to day.

I bought some new PC components the other day, the intention was to fit them all this weekend, but, the aforementioned heat and fatigue have put paid to that. Thankfully there is cooler weather on the way, so I can rest up and tackle things when I feel ready.

Facebook seems to have degenerated into Trump Wars and is starting to do my head in a bit. I want coronavirus and Donald to do one so FB can go back to us all discussing all the stuff that united us as friends in the first place. Hopefully both will happen by the end of the year.......

Not much has changed at all. I work in retail and we have never shut down so work is the same except that we are busier than ever and there are major stock shortages. My online miniature business is still very busy and I'm struggling to keep up with orders. I'm up till 1 or 2 in the morning preparing and packing orders.

I have two teenage girls who spent most of their time in their rooms even before this started so not much change there. My youngest is 10 and he is starting to chafe at being home all the time. I'm going to risk getting pinged for "unnecessary travel" and take him out to spend a day in the bush tomorrow. Social distancing will be easy - the closest person will be miles away.

Australia is talking about easing some restrictions because we have smashed "the curve". We are lucky to have political leaders who actually listened to medical experts and took this seriously from the start. We set travel bans in place very early and every new case was followed through with thorough contact tracing. Despite ramping up testing significantly, we only have a handful of new cases every day now. None at all in some states.

You guys definitely seem to have gone the right way about things and seem to have been reasonably responsible. Our retail sector is going down the pan fast and I really wonder what will be left go to when we finally can. Our biggest fear is of reinfection should we relax things too early, the problem being, if we do it too late, it could be too late for a lot of things that could hit us harder than the virus did. My nearest city could be a shell if retail doesn't pick up.

Right now, we just have to take it day by day and focus on what 'we' can achieve

Retail was going down in the US long before the COVID outbreak. A record number of 9,300 stores closed last year with a record number of 77,500 retail job losses. There was always going to be a recession this year. If this pandemic never happened, there would have been another catalyst. The current crisis will make it longer and deeper than otherwise.

There's 2 malls in my nearest city that could fold, they were being propped up by small fashion houses and some big chains, some of which were in danger already so it's balls to the wall time for them. Without these retail hubs, once fine cities will fail and it will be sad to see.

One of the large malls over in the Minnesota Twin Cities is already being demolished — but that was going to happen anyway. Retail has been dying in the US for over ten years — thanks in large part to Amazon, and other large online sites. Retail jobs have been vanishing for awhile, but jobs in other areas were climbing steadily over the last couple of years. We had record job performances — the best we’d seen in almost 60-70 years — last year before this, now there’s record unemployment thanks to the Kung Flu. Hell, I’d even gotten a raise for the first time in 6 years. Now...

The "interesting" thing about this phenomenon is that purchasing by mail order is nothing new. It predates large shopping malls which are a product of the post WWII mid-century economic boom. The difference being that in the past, customers purchased by mail order from retail chains who in addition to maintaining their stores, did a lot of mail order business, especially around Christmas. As late as the 1970's all the kids in my neighborhood would wait for the Eaton's and Simpson's (two former retail chains here in Canada) catalogues to arrive in September, then go over the toy section, show are parents what we wanted, and they would order the items by mail order form.

Somewhere along the way this died out, and companies like Amazon popped up, perhaps to fill the gap at first, and then as major competition later on. I do remember a time however, when Amazon was losing money as opposed to making it.

Another big irony is that our receptionist at the office, who lost her job in a bookstore when it closed down because they couldn't compete with Amazon, is a very frequent Amazon buyer herself. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right.

I have mixed feelings about this all myself. I really like going into bookstores and getting my hands on the books before purchasing them. It's also the best way of discovering books you never knew about. On the other hand, I do appreciate the fact that I can get so much stuff online,although truth be told, what I mostly buy online is stuff for my 1/6th figures.

The bottom line; technology, in this case the internet, drives changes, many of which are unexpected. Those unable to adapt to the changes vanish....

So true, PB. Pretty much anyone my age (our age) here in the states used to do our Christmas shopping looking at that mail order catalog From Sears (rarely did we have to order), because we could then go to the store and get what we wanted. Of course, Sears didn’t adapt fast enough to the surge of Amazon, and online ordering — and thus... died. I was sad when Borders Books went out of business — again thanks to Amazon’s unbeatable prices (which was the largest contributor to their operating at a loss for a number of years). But, I was just like everyone else — I’d find books I wanted at the store, then find them for half the cost thru Amazon. And I have to have the physical book — unlike my wife who reads all her books on her iPad. Ugh!

Plus, Amazon can buy and build its own warehouse and then not have to pay the ridiculous prices that landlords demand if they had to have retail space in a pre-owned building — putting that money into wages for warehouse workers.

Stryker2011 wrote:So true, PB. Pretty much anyone my age (our age) here in the states used to do our Christmas shopping looking at that mail order catalog From Sears (rarely did we have to order), because we could then go to the store and get what we wanted. Of course, Sears didn’t adapt fast enough to the surge of Amazon, and online ordering — and thus... died. I was sad when Borders Books went out of business — again thanks to Amazon’s unbeatable prices (which was the largest contributor to their operating at a loss for a number of years). But, I was just like everyone else — I’d find books I wanted at the store, then find them for half the cost thru Amazon. And I have to have the physical book — unlike my wife who reads all her books on her iPad. Ugh!

Plus, Amazon can buy and build its own warehouse and then not have to pay the ridiculous prices that landlords demand if they had to have retail space in a pre-owned building — putting that money into wages for warehouse workers.

Survival of the fittest. Those who fail to change with the times.....

Yeah, this has definitely been a boom time for online services. Even big multiplex cinemas are going to be in serious trouble, what could have been marquee releases for them are going straight to streaming. The landscape will look very different by the time we eventually emerge into it.

I like try before you buy too, but, you can find some reasonably trusted reviewers online that can help with your choices. It's easy to spot those that are genuine consumers and those that have just been given the product by the company. I have trusted retailers for most stuff I want, so I should still do ok.

Well, I just got notified that me (and the rest of the guys in my division) will be starting up piece-meal next week. Whew! Money was getting super tight, I’ll be glad to get back to work.

Stryker2011 wrote:Well, I just got notified that me (and the rest of the guys in my division) will be starting up piece-meal next week. Whew! Money was getting super tight, I’ll be glad to get back to work.

Good to see that things are looking up for you! Most of us are living paycheque to paycheque and it doesn't take much to derail the train.

Stryker2011 wrote:Well, I just got notified that me (and the rest of the guys in my division) will be starting up piece-meal next week. Whew! Money was getting super tight, I’ll be glad to get back to work.

Aww, good luck... and stay safe! <3

Yeah, I can only echo the others. We're not out of the woods yet. Stay safe.

Well it looks like they are planning to gradually reopen the economy here (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) starting May 11 and our VP operations had me translate a letter and a phone message he prepared for the various factory workers we laid off at the start of this (about 1/3rd the total) summoning them back to work for the 11th and at the same time threatening them with losing their jobs if they were to scared to come back to work.  Not a pleasant task.  I had to first translate this from Third-World dictator wannabe speak into English, and then again into French, softening up the tone as I did.  

For my money, most of them will be only to eager to come back to work so this was probably a waste of time.  As far as the office staff is concerned, we have not lost a single day's worth of pay so far in this mess, and I am thankful for this.  I'm on (paid) vacation for a week as of 5PM today and plan to spend as much of it as possible shooting outdoor photos of my figures. The weather has warmed up here all of a sudden and tomorrow promises to be a sunny day.  I will post images as I shoot them and in the meantime, I wish everyone all the best. Stay safe!

Hi folks I can only echo what the others have been saying about staying safe.

I took a weeks annual leave in the middle of march to use it up before the new leave year started in April I usually do this and combine it with a visit to my folks in Cornwall this gives me a chance to celebrate my birthday with them and get down there before Easter and the influx of holiday makers.

Well this year my week with them was punctuated by the 'situation' things were getting steadily more closed down by the end of my week the Monday I returned to work we had a socially distanced team meeting and were told to take our laptops and work from home so that is what I've been doing for the past 6 weeks attempting to monitor and keep our local government care services running as far as we can.

So what have I been doing: well my folks gave me a small 12" cube aquarium for my birthday so I've been setting that up as an aquascape by way of that and this hobby I think I've had more deliveries than ever hats off to the delivery people.

Purchases well I had my Vitruvian Hacks Pegasus arrive I ordered it via kickstarter 2 years ago! i had hoped that this would be the right scale for the 1/12 figures but unfortunately it's 1/18th and it shows oh well.

I also had a delivery of my Henry V figure so will be posting more about this later.

So now I need to go and venture into hostile territory, supermarket, with my trusty list of things I wont be able to find on the shelves and a long bo staff to ward of the ignorant and stupid (those who think 'i'm all right jack and sod everyone else' )

PS you will be glad to know I have been teaching my girls to sew and they have been sewing masks for the figures in other parts of the world/country who are affected by the virus.

Keep well and keep safe
Susanna