Getting used to new habits for Coronavirus....

[JOdel]

On Sunday morning the water heater died.

It was last replaced sometime in the '90s, so that was not a big surprise. And it wasn't a violent failure, just a drip. And when I turned off the pilot, the drip slowed down to practically nothing (although it was still dripping, because the puddle never dried up). And the plumber that the landlord uses was out of town.

So he turns up on Tuesday morning takes a look. For some indiscernible 1929 reason the water heater stood on top of a wooden platform about a foot and a half high with a storage space underneath it. 90 years later the structural integrity of this platform might not unreasonably be called into question.

So that needed to come out. There is a valve in the basement which turned off the hot water to my apartment without needing to turn off the water to my whole half of the building -- which is a very good thing, since everyone is home these days. So I wasn't without water during the process. Just *hot* water. Until Thursday evening.

It turned out to be one of those jobs that keeps throwing out additional glitches each time you deal with the last one. Which in a 90-year-old building is probably only to be expected. First off, hauling the drained dead water heater out the back door and down the stairs revealed that the staircase (metal, free-standing, and not unstable) was no longer attached to the building. The studs that it had been bolted to had rotted out.

Then, after having dismantled the platform the old heater had been standing on, it occurred to them that it might not be a bad idea to replace the 90-year-old intake pipe as well.

This got my downstairs neighbors into the act, since the plumbers had to run the pipe through their wall as well.

Oh, yes, this also meant taking out the wall.

So, as of Wednesday evening I had a new water pipe, but half of my interior wall was missing. Thursday the plumber showed up without his helpers, patched the wall, and installed the water heater.

I've got the weekend free to wash my hair and do some laundry, and then they will be back on Monday to start dismantling my exterior wall (from the inside) to replace the rotted studs and re-attach the staircase.

Eventually I'll be able to reassemble the service porch.

All in all, I've had more people in and out of the apartment in the last week than I have in an average six months.

 

[robert952]

Wow... don't log in for a couple of days and a whole bunch of stuff gets posted.

@Hornet3d I, too, spotted the G-scale rolling stock. Nice layout.

@McGyver Great images of the train layouts. Lots of fun challenges in getting to look that nice. And the angles of photographing are superb details. I really like the night scenes with the snow.

These hobbies become a labor of love (and aggravation sometimes). I got a small 'sign' from the Nautical Research Guild. It reads: "If you have to hurry, it ain't a hobby." (NRG is a ship modeling organization. They sum up their purpose in their succinct mission statement: Advancing Ship Modeling Through Research.")

I do have a couple of G-scale model boats that I doubt I will make historically accurate. But they do look like a fun scale to work.

This all goes to prove the adage: "The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys."

 

[Hornet3d]

My recent project of building a gaming setup meant I was in the market for a new monitor so I started looking on line and I guess I was surprised at just how many models were 'temporarily out of stock'. Thinking about it I shouldn't have been surprised as I am sure that the lockdown has resulted in a large number of people spending time gaming and watching movies. It actually worked in my favor as I finished up buying a monitor that was not my first choice but it turned out to be a real gem.

With my experience on buying a monitor the shortage of products was in the forefront of my mind when I logged onto one of the DIY sheds website looking for paint for the garage floor. I wanted grey but every shade of grey was marked 'temporarily out of stock' so I looked at other colours and they were all marked the same. The one colour I could get was white/off white but certainly not practical for my garage floor, in fact I don't know where it would be practical other than a hospital situation.

So one change the virus has made is to convince me to 'buy forward' by ordering products that I planned to buy later in the year when I have been advised I will get a further pension payout. This payout is due to the fact that the legal wrangling over my pension pot, when the company I worked for went bust, which was expected to take up to 6 years is going is coming, thankfully, to and end in year 12. I fear now that when I have the payout much of what I want to buy will just not be available. Hence I am now ording products I expected to buy later this year or early next using a mixture of credit cards and savings. My savings are now earning me 0.55% per annum so I will not notice the drop in interest. Not that I am stockpiling, for example my 4TB NAS drives are running at about 84% capacity and due to be around 95% capacity towards the end of the year when I planned to replace them. I now have 2 6TB drives set for delivery early next week.

All of this has left me wondering just what the future holds, I am certainly aware of the impact the virus has had on employment and the economy but I wonder just how businesses are going to survive even when the restrictions are lifted. If you are in retail but cannot buy products to sell on life is going to be hard and I don't expect the hospitality industry to suddenly return to where it was before the virus. Added to that when you look at the deaths, every one of which will have impacted a large number of people, this will result in either reduced spending or spending in different areas.

My heart goes out to all who will have to step out into this new world, many missing the people around them that used to support them. Cleary this is going to be a time when we all need to have a rethink of where we are, where we are going and how we can make it easier for those around us to cope with the change.

 

[Hornet3d]

OK so there has been some progress, the game setup is pretty well finished and operational although I still have not had the chance to play a game in anger so there maybe some tweaking to do. I have tried to base it on the idea of a games arcade around the time driving games were being install. I think I was in my late teens but it could have been late twenties.

The garage itself still has some way to go, the floor needs to be to be screwed down a little better to stop the odd creak and then needs to be painted/carpeted. I am losing a lot of space at the end of the garage at present as I cannot use the space right back behind the door as, being and up and over door it needs room when opening. I have a quote for the door to be changed to the roller type and all being well the guy should be here tomorrow to measure up with installation in four to six weeks.

 

[Hornet3d]

Other changes made during this lock down spell, well my 500G SSD holding my poser content was about eighty five percent full so I have moved all the content onto a new 1Tb SSD. I am in a similar position with my NAS unit which has a pair of 4Tb drives, which sometime in the next few days should be upgraded to two a pair of 6Tb drives.

I have managed to help my in laws move on a new computer running Windows 10 and I have to say I am not only happy but amazed at how well they have picked it up. My wife and I have decluttered the shed and spruced up the garden back and front so boredom has not been an issue but crawling to bed in the evening has become the norm for me at least.

 

[Janet]

Well $#!##%

Someone on FB just posted a job that sounded perfect for me. I contacted them and they messaged me right back. She needs someone today. Then I remembered I'm on lockdown. If not for my son's reaction to me going out I would have taken it.

 

[Hornet3d]

Well $#!##%

Someone on FB just posted a job that sounded perfect for me. I contacted them and they messaged me right back. She needs someone today. Then I remembered I'm on lockdown. If not for my son's reaction to me going out I would have taken it.

Oh the cost of being good, sorry you missed out.

 

[Janet]

Oh the cost of being good, sorry you missed out.

My son is the one person I do NOT want angry at me. Been there done that.

 

[Hornet3d]

Well progress is slow but then the weather is hot.

No point in racing it either as I have a few weeks to wait before they change the garage door from an up and over unit to a insulated roller style. That should keep it a bit more habitable and give me a lot more room at that end of the garage, enough hopefully for a exercise space and maybe even a cycle holder with rollers so I can cycle indoors when the weather is vile. I also need to give some thought to the lighting but that can wait until after the door has been changed.

 

[Hornet3d]

The Coronavirus has already changed my habits and it is clear that it is going to continue to do so. It has occured at a point when my life was going to change anyway but the virus is going to ensure the changes are more profound. My personal view is that we will be extremely lucky to find a vaccination for this in the short term, if ever, so I am expecting that self distancing is here to stay for some time. That is not to say that the lockdown will continue, clearly it has to end at some point but we are never going to return to life as we knew it.

When my wife retired some three years ago we made plans to try and ensure that the retirement was enjoyable but we also knew the first few years we were going to have to make many changes with retirement in mind and to invest a little into the house. The house had been neglected for a few years while we were busy working so it needed some work but much of that work had to take our growing ages into account. The bathroom was a case in point for, while it was still functioning, the units were very old fashioned and tired thus needed replacement. This would be the first major change in over twenty years so we had a plan to try and make it work for us for the next twenty. While we are still fairly mobile it is clear that this mobility is going to suffer in the years to come and so we had the bath ripped out and replaced with the biggest walk in shower we could fit in. It is nothing that special as showers go but it is easier to get in and out of than any bath and there is room enough to put a shower chair in there if the need arises.

Slowly we have worked through the house modifying and updating each room and trying to ensure maintenance would be a lot easier. All along the garage was going to be the last major project, it had to be last is was just too valuable as a dumping ground for working material and appliances that were on their way out. Hence the change of purpose for the garage as I expect to be doing only odd jobs for a good while to come.

So here we are on the verge of the end of a three year plan where we expected our life to change. The plan has had it problems and changes along the way but it most cases it has worked as expected. What we did not expect was, of course, the virus and it is going to mean a very different lifestyle than we expected it would be just three years ago. We did intend to travel a little more, we still will but not as far as expected, or maybe even as often. We are lucky in that all but two of our immediate families are here in the UK so we will see a lot more of them, the virus has certainly shown how important this contact is. We expected to be going out for evening meals and coffee mornings a great deal, again that will still happen but not to the same scale and certainly not for sometime. Our shopping habits have changed and, I suspect like many others, many of the changes will become the new norm.

So why have I shared my tale of renew and update, well only to try and put a little bit of positivity into an very negative situation. While the virus is real and deadly, for many, it's impact will be how it changes our lives, how we value those around us, family, friends and neighbours. How we remember those who did not come out the other side and how we care for those left behind. As the lockdown here begins to slowly ease my wife and I feel we are stepping out into a very different world but we have the chance to try and make it a better one than the one we leave behind.

My hope is that everyone here gets a similar chance and we all end up in a much better place in the not too distant future.

 

[Stezza]

we are allowed to go out now, went out for lunch today at our local cafe with the missus & some friends for the first time in about 3 months ... the last time we were there was the last time they were open, everything shut down after that day!

was good to get out and eat somewhere.

 

[Hornet3d]

we are allowed to go out now, went out for lunch today at our local cafe with the missus & some friends for the first time in about 3 months ... the last time we were there was the last time they were open, everything shut down after that day!

was good to get out and eat somewhere.

That must have been quite a special outing when it was something that was an everyday event before.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Philadelphia has yet to begin reopening. We are still under stay at home orders. Large gatherings are still prohibited, and travel is still limited to "life-sustaining" purposes.

So what happened today?

A crowd of about 200 to 250 people gathered in a vacant lot in Philadelphia to party for hours. That party spread out into the street for a good block. Most didn't bother wearing a mask, or bother with even attempting to maintain six feet apart.

Behavior like this is why the very thought of Philadelphia beginning to reopen in less than two weeks terrifies me. We are still at a high level of risk of community transmission. While the number of new cases in Philadelphia is decreasing, we are nowhere near the two week average stated by the governor as one of the criteria toward reopening. Widespread testing ... another criteria for reopening ... is still not available, and testing is still restricted to those with symptoms and with doctor referrals.

There is nothing measured, nor scientific, about the approach to reopening. The governor has bowed to pressure from those who believe the virus is fake, and those who have absolutely NO intention of taking any steps to protect their neighbors, friends, family, or even strangers they encounter. All they care about is getting back to "normal" as fast as possible. Me ... all I want is to stay healthy, and that means continuing to stay away from everyone. Because anyone I encounter may be contagious ... knowingly or unknowingly.

The first phase of reopening allows people to move out into the community again, but it is recommended they continue to wear masks and observe "social" distancing. However, what this weekend has shown all over the country is that a large number of people are ignoring those recommendation.

I understand those unable to work from home need to go back to work. But just how is partying at the shore, or in vacant lots, or in bars pay your bills or feed your family?

Nothing has been learned.
Nothing has changed.

 

[Hornet3d]

While there have been some minor modifications to the lock down in the UK they have not really changed much day to day although I does look as things might changed quite a lot during June, we will see.

With that being the case I am still clearing items of of my 'to do' list and finding a few more along the way. Today had been very successful but very tiring. I have re-sanded the block driveway which had a few holes appearing thanks to some very industrious ants. I also decided to that no amount of technology was going give me a suitable Internet link in the garage (a problem as I intend to use it as a playroom, and so I bit the bullet and ran ethernet straight from the back of the router. Of course that required crawling through the loft, which was unbearably hot for any prolonged period, and drilling holes through brick walls which is not one of my favorite pastimes. It was worth the work though as I am now seeing speeds close to 200Mb/s. With that out of the way I had another attempt at finding a resolution to a baffling problem in that, having upgraded my NAS drives I was attempting to use the old 3Tb drives for day to day storage but Windows 10 insisted they were only 746Gb drives. I tried many of the solutions suggested on the Internet but finally I attempted to install Windows 7 by adding the drive to an old system. Once the Windows 7 install had formatted the drive I aborted the installation and was able to move the drive back to windows 10 which now saw a 746Gb partition with the remaining shown as an unused partition which I was then able to format. Strange that I had to jump through so many hoops to get there and I may not have persisted had it not been for the lock down. So this cloud at least does seem to have a silver lining.

 

[Stezza]

Rugby League season starts back up tonight in Oz

 

[Hornet3d]

Rugby League season starts back up tonight in Oz

Sport being played, that is a big step forward.

 

[Stezza]

sure is, we have pretty much flattened the curve, NRL starts tonight the AFL in a couple more weeks and junior sport is starting back up as well.

everyone was pretty good today at our shopping center, was pretty well packed but distancing was observed by all. Some of our State borders are still closed the only ones that have stayed open was NSW & Victoria.

We could see international travel open up between Oz and NZ very soon as well.

 

[Miss B]

This is good news Stezza.

 

[Hornet3d]

sure is, we have pretty much flattened the curve, NRL starts tonight the AFL in a couple more weeks and junior sport is starting back up as well.

everyone was pretty good today at our shopping center, was pretty well packed but distancing was observed by all. Some of our State borders are still closed the only ones that have stayed open was NSW & Victoria.

We could see international travel open up between Oz and NZ very soon as well.

Great to see that the restrictions are being lifted but also that people understand just how fragile this recovery might be and taking the reight steps.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

I wish they understood that in every country. Unfortunately, that is not the case in the US.

I so hope that come January 2021, we can get back to some sense of sanity here. Not that I will hold my breath.