Content creation during a pandemic.

I think I would rather be in Australia with the restrictions. More than twice the Swedish population, but the Swedes have 50% more cases and over 15 times more deaths.
Cheers
Bob
 
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I think I would rather be in Australia with the restrictions. More than twice the Swiss population, but the Swiss have 50% more cases and over 15 times more deaths.

But that could all change if just a few individuals decide that isolation is not for them, or officials make a wrong call (e.g. the "Ruby Princess" Carnival Cruise Ship fiasco), or politicians decide that their personal popularity is more important than public safety. As Annie pointed out just a few posts ago, there are those who just cannot mentally take the restrictions (many of the repeat violators here have had mental health "issues") or simply want to take on the authorities - Aussies have a long history of defying authority.
 
I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say, I would be highly disappointed if I got sick or my family got sick simply because someone didn't pay attention or care about this.
 
But that could all change if just a few individuals decide that isolation is not for them, or officials make a wrong call (e.g. the "Ruby Princess" Carnival Cruise Ship fiasco), or politicians decide that their personal popularity is more important than public safety. As Annie pointed out just a few posts ago, there are those who just cannot mentally take the restrictions (many of the repeat violators here have had mental health "issues") or simply want to take on the authorities - Aussies have a long history of defying authority.

Yay I finally went out in the pouring rain no less to pick up a few things. I saw a couple of gents at the supermarket today walking around without a mask and I overheard them saying the whole thing is a hoax etc... As I listened I thought that it won't be a hoax when one of them gets infected by someone else who thinks it's a hoax. Speaking of masks, I looked like a bank robber from the wild west with an old ca. 1970's-something bandanna across my mouth and nose.

We also have a few of those politicians who keep telling people to go to church for Easter and go back to work. In some places beaches have been opened again. Sadly more people will be sick. I'll gladly stay home and Trainz. I made some good progress today on my model railroad route.
 
About masks. Three weeks ago I went to the supermarket during old f@rts hour (7am to 8am-Mon, Wed and Fri) and was the only one wearing a mask and disposable gloves. The following week most (not all) were wearing a mask. I think people were embarrassed to wear one initially.
Cheers
Bob
 
I have noticed the same. But the part that I don't get is that all the advice from the experts is that masks do not stop you from getting the virus. To do that you would need full medical quality masks (not the ones you can buy in the shops), eye protection (to stop the virus entering the mucus membranes around the eyes), gloves and protective clothing. The masks stop you spreading the virus, any virus, to others. So are all these people saying "I've got Covid-19" in which case they should not be out shopping.
 
Yes pware, that is what they were saying. But being in my 70’s, diabetic and with cardiovascular disease, if I get COVID-19, I’m as good as dead, so I take all the precautions. I managed to get some P2 masks off ebay before prices went through the roof.
Cheers
Bob
 
Just read a report in the latest New Scientist (which I now get online rather than going down to the shops to buy the paper version at about twice the price) looking at the effectiveness of face masks.

In particular, the studies they cited have shown that:-

  • re-useable and washable cotton masks are much more likely to get the wearer infected than single use medical masks
  • if you have to make your own masks then vacuum cleaner bags (strangely) were the most effective material, tea-towels were reasonably effective but cotton and silk were the least effective

Overall, they found that there was a small benefit of protection to the wearer in having a mask but that they were much better at protecting others from an infection that the wearer might have.
 
No activity in this forum thread for two weeks. That's the self isolation time so maybe everyone is now out of quarantine and free:D. Probably not :(.

One change in my habits that this pandemic has caused is that I am now buying things online - necessity can change all things. Previously I had to see and feel the product in a store before I would purchase - the exceptions being software (Trainz, AV and the like). Now I am regularly trawling the online pages of well known local retailers for all sorts of things - even groceries.

Online grocery shopping has turned out to be a disappointment. The best (from one of the two biggest supermarket chains in Oz) took 3 days to deliver and could not supply everything we ordered. The worst (a smaller more local chain) took 11 days to deliver (yes, 11 days! but they told us that when we ordered). We thought that we could avoid going to the supermarkets and thus limit our contact with potential covid-19 carriers. The supermarket deliveries have been struggling under the increased demand even when restricting deliveries to "oldies" such as ourselves. It turned out that going to the supermarket was cheaper (no delivery fee), simpler, quicker, easier and we get to choose our own alternatives when the brands we wanted were not available, so that is now our method of grocery shopping.

I have purchased entertainment hardware and software and communication hardware online - something that I would never ever have considered doing. A new larger HD TV (my partners old TV was just not good enough anymore), a WiFi mesh extender to get the WiFi signal to every corner of the house, and some BluRay movies and TV series sets. Most of these all arrived within a few days of clicking the "Submit" button except for some of the movies which I had preordered before their official release date - they should be here early next week.

I am about to order an Android TV device - one that connects your home WiFi to the TV so that you can stream TV shows and browse the web. We do not have any subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon, Disney, etc but there is enough content on the free-to-air streaming services to keep us happy.

So it has been a learning experience for both of us. We have taken "baby steps" into new areas that others have taken for granted.
 
I've been out maybe four times since early March: once to a hardware store (Bunnings), once to the local chemist to get an oldies flu shot, once to a shopping centre to get some prescriptions, and once to the green recycling area at the tip. Not sure if the tip counts. But I've trimmed all the hedges, picked up about a million leaves and mercilessly pruned (hacked) a tree in our back yard. Up here we consider Anzac Day to be the start of winter although I confess we've had our heater on for a while. It was foggy this morning that might ground some flights but then there no flights anyway.

If you are bored you might consider joining in the Multiplayer Surveyor (MPS) beta trials Tuesday and Friday (Oz time). Its kind of fun when it works. Yesterday it crashed on me 5 times in the first half hour and then came good. Someone asked what we were supposed to be testing and Tony responded (on the Discord channel) "beta user patience". Sometimes you need a sense of humour to be a beta tester. :hehe:
 
Our Level 4 Lockdown in EnZed ends at 11.59pm on Monday 27th, when we'll return to Level 3.
Level 3 here is almost as strict as Level 4, but with a few more workers in certain industries allowed to return to work (with severe physical distance and other restrictions) and some school children and teachers allowed to return to schools (mainly to allow those essential workers to return to work) whilst most others stay at home for home-schooling/ distance education. Most retail stores will remain closed, but greater allowance is being made for an extended range of online ecommerce goods purchases and deliveries to be made.
New Zealand has (and a number of neighboring Australian states have) managed to get the infection rate for Covid-19 down to an Ro less than 0.4, so hopefully, we won't see a resurgence of this epidemic in the near-term, especially as all borders remain closed to external passenger traffic, except for a handful of repatriation flights destined for quarantine.
We are still not allowed to carry out any of our usual conservation work on public lands such as national parks and regional forest parks like mine, so we eagerly await Covid-19 Level 2 conditions for resumption of our kiwi-handling, restoration and pest trapping volunteer work.
In the meantime, my productivity levels have been execrable, given my addiction for lurching from local and global news reports relating to the pandemic to constant Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings with all and sundry.
I did manage to download, install and test the Platinum version of TRS19 and have made some tentative forays into further route and session-building again. (Good to see that my existing routes and sessions from TRS19 build 105096 all came over with zero issues.)
Mildly annoyed by some of the new Pause-state behaviours in Surveyor and the difficulty in Driver mode of adding new consists/ commodities to wagons, in sessions on the fly... (Accordingly 'Plus' is a Minus from my point of view).
Have a gigabit broadband connection here, so seriously considering looking at joining the Multiplayer Surveyor trials sometime, if only to enjoy more of Tony's sense of humour.
 
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Our Level 4 Lockdown in EnZed ends at 11.59pm on Monday 27th, when we'll return to Level 3...

Just curious - are you allowed to travel between the north and the south island? There was some talk here about opening up links between OZ and NZ. Some states here have closed borders. Not sure if that is even legal.
 
Nope - Cook Strait ferries are for cargo and trucks/ trains only. At Level 4, all internal traffic is for essential purposes only and strictly local.
Yes, given the similarities and extent of control of the virus in both nations, as long as that continues in months to come, it would make sense for us to extend our 'bubble' across the Tasman as a first step to opening up our borders to the rest of the globe.
Don't hold your breath, though. Will probably take a lot longer than our League and Rugby teams would like!
 
I have to chuckle when I read of folks' newbie experiences about being in lockdown. (not just on here).
I've been in solo 'lockdown' since December 2017 when I had a traumatic fall in a shopping centre (mall), it affected me physically and mentally, but that's another story.
I am now very much used to not seeing the outside world these days, so I make use of the technlogy available.
I use Google Earth for my outdoor adventures and sightseeing.
I have excercise equipment to keep me fit.
I use forums for chit-chat and serious discussions like Trainz :)
I love to watch my favourite football team play using live steams, but sadly, that's a pleasure that I no longer have due to Covid19.
Music is online too either via Spotify or YouTube videos.
All of my shopping is done online, including groceries.
I also use YouTube to watch trains in the real world via their 'Live Now' links, right now I am watching Warsaw Zachodnia station on another screen whils typing this out.
https://www.youtube.com/c/UrządTransportuKolejowego/live

The most important thing for me is that I have Trainz! What a lifesaver it has been for me.

Honestly, going out is so overrated :hehe:
Welcome to my world!

Stay safe my friends :)
 
..it would make sense for us to extend our 'bubble' across the Tasman as a first step to opening up our borders to the rest of the globe.

And I for one, welcome our new Kiwi overlords. As a trusted Trainz personality, I'd like to remind them that I could be useful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.
 
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