QuoteI just don't get the people putting out completely made-up bullshirt on WhatsApp and Facebook. What goes through these people's minds? Do they think it's funny? Do they think they're helping?
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The big boys in temple bar with deep pockets to survive this have force the government’s hand. The pubs could have had a hundred max or as many they could safely handle to keep some cash coming in. I’d say many a good pub particularly in rural areas will shut their doors tonight for the last time.Originally Posted by osarusan
I just don't get the people putting out completely made-up bullshirt on WhatsApp and Facebook. What goes through these people's minds? Do they think it's funny? Do they think they're helping?
And with that the backstothewall family are in self isolation for 14 days.
I know this is necessary, but it's dreadful. Thankfully Mrs Backstothewall was in the supermarket when the advice changed so she's on the way back with a trolley load of stuff to keep us going.
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Without a doubt the strong will survive and a lot of the small family house type pubs will probably not bother reopening,get ready for a serious cull in high St Bookmaker shops as the likes of PP and Boyles announce their "temporary" closure.
You would imagine in due course, a lot of the smaller pubs will re-open, albeit under different ownership.
Life is going to have to go back to normal sometime - surely?
Is it true the number of people on trolleys has shrunk markedly - what's caused that? Were the figures inflated originally, or have people just been kicked out in preparation for this?
Heard there yesterday that a family on the estate have been in close contact the past few days with someone who was hospitalised yesterday. They're out of the country at the moment, but when they come back I guess I have to assume that it's now on the estate. Which is a bit close for comfort! It's all moving remarkably quickly.
All the language is referring to this as a war , after the last war they had the marshal plan to rebuild Europe the EU will have to come up with a modern equivalent. The only thing we can surmise is that the longer this goes on the higher the impact it will have on the world economy therefore on peoples everyday lives.
Yeah, that struck me as well. Though in this case - China has surely taken a good hit the past couple of months, albeit that it's mainly affected just one province. But China needs to sell stuff to Europe and the US to be strong. And the US policy seems to be to try ignore it and it'll go away - look at Trump standing with 15 other people nearby as he said that all gatherings of more than 10 people should be restricted. ****ing idiot.
So if China and the US have their own problems to deal with, who'll bail out Europe?
I suppose one reassurance is that at least Ireland can feed itself, which for example Britain can't do. But that's the sort of factor which triggers wars too.
I've decided to keep a diary of how this goes. There's little else to do and it's lashing out in Co. Antrim this afternoon. This seems as good a place as any to record it. It's pretty dull stuff, but a lot of you will likely have this ahead of you at some point.
Isolation Diary. Day 1.
Well here we are. First full day of isolation. Paddys Day.
The advice changing yesterday afternoon means we are here for 2 weeks. Mrs Backtothewall was in the supermarket when the news came, so we're well stocked up. Our freezer has been playing up recently. I think I've fixed the problem (ice had formed in the pipe which it drains through when defrosting, so i've cleared that) but even so I grabbed the spare from my dads lockup last night and have it sitting ready to go in the garage.
Plans for how to get through this have been made. We've got a list of activities and mean plans done. I got out this morning and gave the grass its first cut of the year, but it's raining now so that's likely the end of being outdoors for the day.The kids are loving the screen time they are getting. I'm not sure how we'll get away from that yet.
The first surprise of the day was when the parents in law pulled up out of the blue. They wanted to come in but we simply couldn't allow them. MIL was seriously ill last year, while the FIL is on immuno-suppressants. It inevitably ended in tears all round, but we simply wouldn't forgive ourselves if they picked this up,
The big thing so far is the psychological impact. The not being able to leave is fine, it's the knowing that you aren't able to leave that's the tough bit. The day really does become broken up by meals. I've been working from home since last Thursday and limiting contact when i could, so for me it was more of a gradual adjustment than Mrs Backstothewall. I've found my body clock shifting. I'm waking up earler and going to bed earlier. I'm also eating better.
This afternoon I've discovered another friend has to isolate. She's a secondary school teacher and has developed symptoms consistent with CV19.
This sucks
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I've often been critical of his style over substance approach, but I thought Varadkar's address on RTE tonight was top notch. Calm, clear and reassuring while not downplaying how bad things will get. He addressed concerns, talked to the right audiences, sounded like he was in control...
A couple of people said to me today how noticeable it was that SF had disappeared over the last week - it's almost as if they don't want to get into government right now.
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
I think the time for party political wrangling to be set aside has come for the foreseeable future anyway. As for the address itself I thought he did well , calm to the point and stuck to the facts. If he announced mortgage relief it would have been a job well done.
I agree.
It's obviously not a time for nationalist sentiment or anything, but at moments like this it really angers me that Irish people in the North are tied to London.
Last edited by The Fly; 17/03/2020 at 9:30 PM.
Absolutely, no points to be gained by criticising at this stage. Both FF and SF reps on Prime Time were keen to say how good a speech it was before angling in their own points.
Decent speech I thought, really trying to set the tone that this is a war, and the very fabric of society will change in the face of this challenge.
Both myself and my wife are on forced leave from the UL campus, so both home with the kids and teaching online where possible, although in my case, the international students are just getting the hell out of dodge for the most part.
Email from the UL president the other day about how UL will likely serve as a field hospital in the coming weeks.
This is coming, and after tonight's address, maybe people are getting a sense of the scale of it.
Not a huge difference for my family so far, myself and the wife work from home quite a lot of the time anyway, but teaching the kids and having to mind them 24/7 is going to get tedious very fast.
Ad revenue from Foot.ie was never a whole lot, enough to cover a hosting package for the site (which I do for "free" anyway). Zilch the last few days. Everyone browses from work.
I don't really understand the complaints and bitching though. It's only been a few days for fecks sake. Sure, it's not great, but we just need to get on with it. We'll have plenty of time to get depressed about this, it's a bit early yet.
My biggest concern isn't getting sick, because odds are I'd get through it despite how awful it is. My biggest concern is the people that will be out there now working out how best to take advantage of this. And I'm not talking about your common-or-garden crook, I'm talking about the ones that already have plenty of money and power.
Last edited by dahamsta; 18/03/2020 at 9:30 AM.
Isolation Diary: Day 2.
The wife and I were supposed to be getting a night away to Portrush last night. Needless to say that's a trip we're never getting.
Today started with an unexpected surprise. Mrs Backstothewall was bathing our son this morning, and heard a loud noise behind her. A starling has somehow got into the roofspace, and from there into the hot press cupboard in the bathroom.
I had to clear the entire bathroom, open the window, then open the hotpress door before diving out the bathroom door closing it behind me. The upshot was that the bird escaped, the entire bathroom was cleared out by 9am, I had a day's annual leave booked and nothing to do, so it made a lot of sense to put a coat of paint on the place. At this rate the house will be sitting like we're getting ready to put the for sale sign up by the time this ends.
Mrs Backstothewall had a hard day. Her father has been told he is in line to be redeployed as a hospital porter. He is on immuno-suppressants, but is refusing to get in contact with occupational health to advise that his would be at increased risk of infection. She was a bit weepy at times and I'd be surprised if she wasn't. The man is taking a crazy risk with his own health.
So far the consensus in the WhatsApp group I'm in with the bunch of friends I've been getting ****ed with for the last 15+ years is that if our parents were actively trying to catch this thing they wouldn't have to adapt their behaviour an awful lot. The youngsters partying on Paddys Day story never materialised. They seems to have got the message. But the 55-70 age group are easily the most reckless as far as i can tell in this crisis. My own mother decided to head out to get her hair cut today. I've done everything i can to stop her but I'm trapped here and she simply won't be talked to.
But the bathroom is painted.
Last edited by backstothewall; 19/03/2020 at 2:40 PM.
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Can very much relate re the over 60 age group. Wife is at her wits end with parents insisting on traipsing around the shops and in seeing her sister and the grand kids. Wife and her brother and his kids are not seeing them, but defeats the purpose if they keep wandering about as normal and seeing the others. Her Dad would be very high risk too, major heart issues since his 30's. No talking to them, even though they were massively paranoid for weeks about it and keep giving out that I'm still getting the bus to work (even though the only person I see is my wife). It's crazy stuff. On the plus side, commute to work is a pleasure, everyone has at least a seat to themselves on the bus and I have my own office in work so hardly see a soul. As someone who always fancied life as a hermit, it's great.
Tallaght Stadium Regular
Isolation Diary: Day 3.
Today was a good day. No avian invasions, and I was back to work which gave me something to be getting on with. Mrs Backstothewall was able to get in touch with someone from occupational health in her work who advises that our isolation period actually began when we started isolating our daughter. As long as nobody else starts developing symptoms and the country isn't locked down we will be out of here this day next week.
I've managed to organise Mothers Day presents online. My mum and dad are struggling with not being able to see their grandkids. I think Sunday will be a hard day for my mum so hopefully the few bits and pieces i've been able to organise will help with that.
One of the upsides to the isolation is that we've been able to relax the handwashing regime. If any of us have picked this up we're all going to get it no matter what we do, so there's little point continuing with it while we're all cooped up together.
I'm doing a bit of work this evening with a view to claiming the time back during daylight hours tomorrow. There's a wall in the garden that is next in line for a coat of paint so I'd like to do that rather than working.
We're going to go out for a drive on Saturday. We'll have to stay in the car unless we can find somewhere completely deserted to get out. But we'll take a picnic and we all just need the change in scenery.
The eldest daughters school are starting to get things in place. There will be some proper work for her to do next week hopefully.
I'm not going to lie. This is tough.
Last edited by backstothewall; 19/03/2020 at 9:15 PM.
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Further restrictions to come into effect from tonight.
What do people think - are we coping well enough so far, or not doing enough?
Govt talks about following the S. Korea modeal but one thing we are way behind on is testing - they tested like crazy right from the start, and identified carriers much much earlier than we have.
Hopefully these further restrictions will firstly, restrict the impact of the 'unaware positive' carriers of the virus, and secondly, while movements are restricted, more carriers will become aware they have it and self-isolate.
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