How has life changed for you?

[AndyMichelle]

54 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

The biggest change for me is not working (should be home working soon which will be different), not seeing my grandson ( I normally look after him every Wednesday and he’s nearly 18 months) and having to shop for my parents.

 

John works in a Waitrose warehouse so nothing has changed much for him bless him. He had the long Easter weekend off so he loved pottering about the house and garden. Normally I’d be bugging him to go for a day out to the coast or a NT property! He was really sad to go back to work and I wish he could stay home in our bubble. I’m finding I really don’t like going out at all, I think some of us will stay home more after this is over.

 

One of my friends is getting bored at home but I really haven’t been, I’m quite content pottering about especially if the weather is good.

 

I know we’re lucky in that we still have money coming in but that doesn’t stop me worrying for him in case he catches it at work.I also worry about my parents (80 & 82) and my son who works for Sainsbury’s. 

Michelle is the same, she genuinely can't see a time when she will want to leave the house.. 

Very worrying times. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

38 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

A quick update .The stent did not work so they did a tube replacement and baby is now in ICU .

Next week they will inject a dye to see if it has worked.

I only found out last night that he was born with only one kidney so lets hope this does work.

I passed on the good wishes from all of you on here and the parents say  ....

"Wow ,people we will never meet,giving support means a lot to us tell them Thank you."    

So Thanks and will post the out come .

You all take care ,

                                  Kalos

I have no words Kalos, bless his little heart xx

[P&O SUE]

31 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Michelle is the same, she genuinely can't see a time when she will want to leave the house.. 

Very worrying times. 

Andy 

I would like to work from home all the time, in 2 minutes from my finishing time I can be on my settee 😁

[daiB]

To be honest we or rather, I, have found little difference in what I do. Apart from going to Rotary once a week and 41 club once a month I tend to be in the house quite a lot, especially in the winter. My wife ends to be out more often but not a great deal more.

Being both retired we have not been impacted by loss of income. In fact we are spending considerably less, as some others must find. I worked out it must be in the the region of £60 to £70 per week.

I use the Internet a lot and there seems to be far more things to interest me. Utube has a vast amount of material and of course we have sky Q so more programs to watch than you could watch in 10 years of lock down.


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[AndyMichelle]

4 minutes ago, daiB said:

To be honest we or rather, I, have found little difference in what I do. Apart from going to Rotary once a week and 41 club once a month I tend to be in the house quite a lot, especially in the winter. My wife ends to be out more often but not a great deal more.

Being both retired we have not been impacted by loss of income. In fact we are spending considerably less, as some others must find. I worked out it must be in the the region of £60 to £70 per week.

I use the Internet a lot and there seems to be far more things to interest me. Utube has a vast amount of material and of course we have sky Q so more programs to watch than you could watch in 10 years of lock down.


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I thought we were spending less.. Until I saw the food bill... 

Andy 

[daiB]

🥐[emoji487][emoji534]🧅[emoji506]🥨[emoji526][emoji524]🥟

Ours is about the same but well covered by our ’savings’ [emoji41]


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[P&O SUE]

I’m doing most of my food shopping in M&S at the money as that’s what my mum likes (she is an ex M&S employee) and it’s quite controlled and calm in there. Yes it’s a bit more expensive but as Dai says I’m not spending money on anything else at the moment, all the coffees and lunches out I used to enjoy!

[Eglesbrech]

41 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I thought we were spending less.. Until I saw the food bill... 

Andy 

Have you found that food prices have increased in your area? Ours have gone up significantly, there is plenty of availability but at a cost. Price rises are not  just a few penny’s here and there, things are going up by 30,40,50 p at a time. 

 

Some of it will be import costs which will have possibly increased and in shop costs for hand gells, distancing meaning less work from the same staff etc however I do wonder if some of it is profiteering by the supermarkets.

 

Like Dai overall we are spending less as we are obviously not eating out but I doubt the price hikes will come back down after lockdown as they seldom do.

[AndyMichelle]

3 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Have you found that food prices have increased in your area? Ours have gone up significantly, there is plenty of availability but at a cost. Price rises are not  just a few penny’s here and there, things are going up by 30,40,50 p at a time. 

 

Some of it will be import costs which will have possibly increased and in shop costs for hand gells, distancing meaning less work from the same staff etc however I do wonder if some of it is profiteering by the supermarkets.

 

Like Dai overall we are spending less as we are obviously not eating out but I doubt the price hikes will come back down after lockdown as they seldom do.

It's the 'offers' that were always on that seem to have disappeared... 

Probably needed as the supermarkets rush won't last forever. 

Andy 

[jeanlyon]

I guess I must be spending a bit more on food and supplies as the local Co-op is more expensive than Tesco.  However, I am not driving anywhere, so saving a ton of money on fuel.

[Adawn47]

55 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I thought we were spending less.. Until I saw the food bill... 

Andy 

Before lockdown I used to meet my friend every Wednesday in town. We'd have lunch and a natter and then do our bit of shopping together. Usually toiletries, fruit and vegetables a few luxuries from M&S food hall . Now I have to get everything from Asda. Luckily, I'd already had a recurring delivery slot for quite a while so didn't have the problem many had. I order for my next door neighbours as well who can't get out. I pass it over the fence and walk away so they can come out for them. The financial side is a bit complicated but it's working ok. After deducting their bills from mine I can tell  how much I've been spending.   After picking myself up from the floor I realised exactly how much my weekly spend had been. When the total was spread over 3 or 4 different stores and over 2 days it never seemed that much. Time to tighten the belt me thinks. Might even save enough for a second cruise.😆

Avril 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Adawn47

[pete14]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

I thought we were spending less.. Until I saw the food bill... 

Andy 

which included local bakery delivering cream tea? Looks very nice though but I am of course not envious😷🤨

[daiB]

Have you found that food prices have increased in your area? Ours have gone up significantly, there is plenty of availability but at a cost. Price rises are not  just a few penny’s here and there, things are going up by 30,40,50 p at a time. 
 
Some of it will be import costs which will have possibly increased and in shop costs for hand gells, distancing meaning less work from the same staff etc however I do wonder if some of it is profiteering by the supermarkets.
 
Like Dai overall we are spending less as we are obviously not eating out but I doubt the price hikes will come back down after lockdown as they seldom do.

Not noticed this at our local Morrisons, many offers are still on. I do all the shopping on my big scooter so I have a good idea of prices and I have not seen increases.


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[BrianI]

We have just finished watching the 25th anniversary production of the Phantom of the Opera, which has just been made available for a 24 hour period, till 7pm tonight.

Absolutely brilliant.

 https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/watch-phantom-of-the-opera-free-youtube_51416.html

 

Brian

[Eglesbrech]

2 minutes ago, daiB said:

Not noticed this at our local Morrisons, many offers are still on. I do all the shopping on my big scooter so I have a good idea of prices and I have not seen increases.


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There are no “offers” at the supermarkets here now. They removed all the BOGOFFs and three for twos to discourage people buying more than they actually needed but the prices remained the same so in effect there was a steep cost rise.

 

Ive also noticed a sharp rise in the price of basics like vegetables for example asparagus was £1.25 a pack now £1.75. As this is now in season it should be less, not more. Same for other veg, particularly imports like peppers. It appears I’m not the only one to notice price increase, see below.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/16/price-of-high-demand-food-in-uk-rises-sharply

 

It will be different in different parts of the country, I’m glad yours is still the same and hope you are lucky and it stays that way. 😀

 

It is fine for me but I do feel for people who are already struggling on 80% of their salary.

[daiB]

8 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

There are no “offers” at the supermarkets here now. They removed all the BOGOFFs and three for twos to discourage people buying more than they actually needed but the prices remained the same so in effect there was a steep cost rise.

 

Ive also noticed a sharp rise in the price of basics like vegetables for example asparagus was £1.25 a pack now £1.75. As this is now in season it should be less, not more. Same for other veg, particularly imports like peppers. It appears I’m not the only one to notice price increase, see below.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/16/price-of-high-demand-food-in-uk-rises-sharply

 

It will be different in different parts of the country, I’m glad yours is still the same and hope you are lucky and it stays that way. 😀

 

It is fine for me but I do feel for people who are already struggling on 80% of their salary.

Agreed although I have not bought any peppers or asparagus of late. The Indian and Chinese ready meals, very good BTW were still buy 3 for £6.00 and the cheese slices offer was still on.

 

I do realize that we are in a somewhat privileged position not having our income reduced. 

Edited April 18, 2020 by daiB

[Eglesbrech]

1 minute ago, daiB said:

Agreed although I have not bought any peppers or asparagus of late. The Indian and Chinese ready meals, very good BTW were still buy 3 for £6.00 and the cheese slices offer was still on.

I don’t tend to but any ready meals but may give them a try on your recommendation for the odd night I feel lazy as I do really like Indian food. I have been making my own curry’s and chapatis as I have so much time on my hands,  like us all at the moment.
 

We have been avoiding the shops as much as possible and putting in a large order every 2 to 3 weeks. Necessity is the mother of invention and I have found a whole load of new and interesting recipes to try out to use what we have left, it’s like ready, steady cook here most nights.

[moonstone01]

Our lives haven't changed much as I work in a bakery and my wife works on the stroke ward at our main hospital.  Sadly we have had to buy for her some safety equipment but its not a problem as her safety comes first.  At my place of work we have had to have our hours cut due to lack of business.  North Wales survives on its tourist trade and there will not be one this year anyway. Although as soon as the government extended the lockdown the amount of people who came up here was ridiculous.  I wish they would listen to the many doctors and nurses who are pleadi.ng with us to stay at home, stop being selfish.  

I was speaking to my neighbour who is 93 and I said that she must have seen all this before in WW2, she surprised me when she said that she thought it was worse now then it was back then😷.  

Stay safe everyone and good wishes to the little one Kalos, things can only get better.

[tring]

Not much different for us as we are retired and lucky to have a garden and live in pleasant area with a variety of walks available within the suburban style setting, though look forward to being able to travel a few miles to more open spaces and the local coastal areas.  I agree we are spending more on food as Tesco have stopped all offers and not so easy to shop around as we did.  We were lucky to have completed a 5 weeks land/cruise holiday towards the end of February though, so cannot complain.

 

The main effect for us is that my very elderly MIL was diagnosed with a terminal illness a month ago.  Her life expectancy at that time was a max of 3 months but more likely 4-6 weeks and she is getting weaker now He and our son have been allowed to see her in her residential home this week (wearing mask, apron and gloves).  I must say I was surprised to hear that the staff are not wearing PPE to prevent infecting the residents, which is quite possible at present, not that it would be a big problem for MIL.  Care homes are a worry, but we have also been thinking about a funeral when our single son will have to travel to/from the service on his own.  He is very close to 'Grandma and is very sensitive so I do worry about the possible effect on his mental health as he responded badly to my mum's death a number of years ago.  He is working from home and seems OK at present.

 

I am also thinking of the effects of other health issues by the pandemic with appointments/treatment delayed.  I can see that people could be reluctant to seek medical help for more urgent matters for fear of infection as has been mentioned by Chris Witty.

 

Overall we consider ourselves very lucky, but I do feel for those who are ill or working in health care, as well as those living in flats or inner city areas, especially if they have young children.  I have never been considered an optimist, but I do see this going on in some form for a very long time.

 

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by tring

[AndyMichelle]

48 minutes ago, tring said:

Not much different for us as we are retired and lucky to have a garden and live in pleasant area with a variety of walks available within the suburban style setting, though look forward to being able to travel a few miles to more open spaces and the local coastal areas.  I agree we are spending more on food as Tesco have stopped all offers and not so easy to shop around as we did.  We were lucky to have completed a 5 weeks land/cruise holiday towards the end of February though, so cannot complain.

 

The main effect for us is that my very elderly MIL was diagnosed with a terminal illness a month ago.  Her life expectancy at that time was a max of 3 months but more likely 4-6 weeks and she is getting weaker now He and our son have been allowed to see her in her residential home this week (wearing mask, apron and gloves).  I must say I was surprised to hear that the staff are not wearing PPE to prevent infecting the residents, which is quite possible at present, not that it would be a big problem for MIL.  Care homes are a worry, but we have also been thinking about a funeral when our single son will have to travel to/from the service on his own.  He is very close to 'Grandma and is very sensitive so I do worry about the possible effect on his mental health as he responded badly to my mum's death a number of years ago.  He is working from home and seems OK at present.

 

I am also thinking of the effects of other health issues by the pandemic with appointments/treatment delayed.  I can see that people could be reluctant to seek medical help for more urgent matters for fear of infection as has been mentioned by Chris Witty.

 

Overall we consider ourselves very lucky, but I do feel for those who are ill or working in health care, as well as those living in flats or inner city areas, especially if they have young children.  I have never been considered an optimist, but I do see this going on in some form for a very long time.

 

 

Thoughts are with your Mil Tring. 

Keep safe and look out for your son, I'm sure you will. 

Andy 

[Vampiress88]

On 4/18/2020 at 11:53 AM, kalos said:

 

A quick update .The stent did not work so they did a tube replacement and baby is now in ICU .

Next week they will inject a dye to see if it has worked.

I only found out last night that he was born with only one kidney so lets hope this does work.

I passed on the good wishes from all of you on here and the parents say  ....

"Wow ,people we will never meet,giving support means a lot to us tell them Thank you."    

So Thanks and will post the out come .

You all take care ,

                                  Kalos

aww bless him. Sending lots of pixie dust to Sheffield. 
I wouldn’t have had my two children if it wasn’t for the experts at that hospital 

[happy v]

Fingers crossed Kalos.

[P&O SUE]

I have all my work PC here including two monitors! Very flash 🙂 Definitely feel like I was at work today as I had to phone the IT help desk as I can’t get into one of my drives! However the guy who answered was also working from home and he said I’d be getting a phone call or email telling me when it’s sorted. I’m not working as I haven’t got a work phone yet ( I was just trying everything out) but I feel trapped now as I don’t know if I can go for a walk or not! I haven’t been for a couple of days and feel sluggish so I was going to make the effort and go early!

[ollienbertsmum]

In Gibraltar we were in lockdown earlier than UK.  I suppose we were getting shocked at the awful stats coming from our neighbours in Spain.   The border with Spain is still open but only for people who can produce their contract of employment.   There was a good number of Spanish ‘Cash in hand’ workers such as cleaners and nannies who are left without employment at the moment.  

 

Our stats are good, we have had no deaths as yet.  The numbers have got to a point where Govt have to be thinking about easing the restrictions.   All of our thoughts are with those countries with the awful numbers.  

 

I am doing fine.  DH is retired and I work in healthcare but not in contact with COVID patients.  I can do some of my work from home, we are working 50% home 50% at the clinic just to keep the social distancing.  All patient care is done over the phone.  

 

I had my birthday over the weekend.  That was strange but actually busy.  By the time I had picked up my present sent by my youngest off the door mat, FaceTimed my 90 yr old parents, made my own cake, enjoyed a family pubquiz arranged as my ‘party’, ordered a home delivery from my favourite restaurant and made DH change into a smart outfit, I really felt as if the day was non-stop.  

 

I have to say that the supermarkets are busy, but one of the busiest businesses are the takeaways and the home delivery services that support them.  They are practically the only vehicles on the roads! 

 

I am a Sheffield Uni student - doing distance learning.  I agree that this little one is in the best place.  I have walked past the Children’s Hospital many times.  Hope he is getting stronger.  

Edited April 20, 2020 by ollienbertsmum

[AndyMichelle]

8 minutes ago, ollienbertsmum said:

In Gibraltar we were in lockdown earlier than UK.  I suppose we were getting shocked at the awful stats coming from our neighbours in Spain.   The border with Spain is still open but only for people who can produce their contract of employment.   There was a good number of Spanish ‘Cash in hand’ workers such as cleaners and nannies who are left without employment at the moment.  

 

Our stats are good, we have had no deaths as yet.  The numbers have got to a point where Govt have to be thinking about easing the restrictions.   All of our thoughts are with those countries with the awful numbers.  

 

I am doing fine.  DH is retired and I work in healthcare but not in contact with COVID patients.  I can do some of my work from home, we are working 50% home 50% at the clinic just to keep the social distancing.  All patient care is done over the phone.  

 

I had my birthday over the weekend.  That was strange but actually busy.  By the time I had picked up my present sent by my youngest off the door mat, FaceTimed my 90 yr old parents, made my own cake, enjoyed a family pubquiz arranged as my ‘party’, ordered a home delivery from my favourite restaurant and made DH change into a smart outfit, I really felt as if the day was non-stop.  

 

I have to say that the supermarkets are busy, but one of the busiest businesses are the takeaways and the home delivery services that support them.  They are practically the only vehicles on the roads! 

 

I am a Sheffield Uni student - doing distance learning.  I agree that this little one is in the best place.  I have walked past the Children’s Hospital many times.  Hope he is getting stronger.  

Happy belated Birthday. 

Andy