wanderer78

Yeah, it's just mind boggling. I'm hoping this pushes people to fight back. Elect better politicians, hold CEOs accountable. But I'm not holding my breath.

Si, you're so right about the virus. I live in one of the biggest cities in the world. And we don't have enough respirators and hospital beds. No one does. My governor has been begging retired health care workers and ones who have switched careers to come back. Italy has an excellent health care system, but they couldn't keep up. The only thing we can do is keep the infection rates down. Hence the quarantine. My state lost an infant this weekend to the virus. And our president did admit that the measures we're taking have to go on through April.

And it's nice that tattoo parlors and aesthetic clinics are donating masks. A lot of fashion designers in the U.S. (like Christian Siriano) are sewing masks for health care workers. Which is pretty cool.

Anyways, I can only work on myself right now. I can't keep up with my dirty dishes. They keep piling up.

stlavin95

Hahaha, nice

L i N d $ @ y

Julie, yeah your PM was on the news and he got the virus. Hopefully he recovers well. And yes, you are absolutely spot on about taking their money to make them stay at home.

Pia, I'm glad you have a positive view of politics. The only bright & shining light of politics is our newly elected mayor who has done so much for my city vs. our national government. He's making me look at politics differently these days and under these circumstances. How are you finding the latest season of This Is Us?

Si, yikes that is worrisome. It's true that there have been a shortage of ventilators and in my country's case also a shortage of health workers. Most of them go to another country because doctors & nurses don't get paid well here. Thanks about the facial mask usage. It's definitely ideal to dispose of them after a long use or at the end of the day.

stlavin95

No they shouldn't, the CEOs and other executives should be the ones doing that

Sulieter

Some retired NHS workers are being brought back to work in hospitals in the UK. Most of the virus victims are in London. I'm hoping that it doesn't spread too much to other parts of the country. Where I live (extreme south west) the population isn't very dense so it's easier for us to keep apart from each other.

I have been forcing myself to do extra housework but I keep having to check Fan Forum so the housework was delayed. I have done some housework today though.

L i N d $ @ y

Same here, Julie. They're calling on retired health care workers because we're saturated and some of our top doctors have already succumbed to the virus.

Good for you! I usually do house chores in the weekend. But it's difficult to do the grocery these days so when I do that, I need to buy EVERYTHING worth for a week or 2 weeks for me. I live across the mall and I usually just walk to the condo with my groceries but because it's difficult these days, I have to bring the car.

Sulieter

Luckily I have a supermarket a few minutes walk away which is near my allotment so I can make one journey to both. I haven't needed to venture into town which is in walking distance in the other direction. I don't want to do that because the shops are close together so it's difficult to keep away from people. The supermarket I go to has a large space around it so I can keep away from people easily.

wanderer78

I have a small store in my building. But it was closed for about 4 days, so I had to venture out. The place I went to was only letting in 5 ppl at a time (after 5 ppl exited). Even then it was a little difficult. It wasn't crowded but I probably was a little closer than the recommended distance a few times.

Lindsay, I'm not crazy about the leadership at the national level. But I've been pleasantly surprised by our mayor and governor. Which is a good thing. I voted for them in the elections, but they weren't my choices in the preliminary elections.

And I really liked the 4th season of This Is Us a lot. I just finished it yesterday. The last two episodes fell a little flat for me. But overall I loved it. The only character I don't love is Sophie, I wasn't happy that she came back. And I am a bit weirded out by Omar Epps playing a grandfather (even a young one). I do miss the TIU board on FF.

I also started Devs during the quarantine, which I'm enjoying.

I do a little bit of house work everyday. I fell behind before all this happened because I got busy with work and school. And I was sick for a lot of the winter. So I have *a lot* that I need to do. I am seeing a little progress even if it's not as much as I'd like.

Si_Crazy

My town has gone back to its normal state The city hall following along the president's speech is not thoroughly enforcing the quarantine, now it's more like guidelines, and the for the past 2 days the town is full of people walking around like things are back to normal.... I even had to listen from a few people that the virus is part of a conspiracy to make people afraid for political reasons I'm in a state of just saying "yeah, whatever" to almost everyone.

I really need to watch This Is Us, stopped mid season 1, but everybody keeps saying that the show is still good even after a few seasons, so I'm curious
I wanna finish Vikings (only one and half seasons to go), and Signed, Sealed, Delivered which I'm also almost finishing, by my counts I might be done with them this weekend

L i N d $ @ y

It's the same here. They only let 20 people inside the grocery so there's a long line for it. The wait isn't that difficult since there's chairs to sit on, social distancing is in place and the AC is on but it's still a long wait just to get inside the grocery.

Pia, I also voted for our current mayor and we're seeing the 'rewards' of what we've voted for. Other cities here are not in a good state, relief packages are not delivered on time and just yesterday, some poor citizens marched to the streets because the local government isn't giving them food. The soldiers & police made arrests and now everyone's angry because they're not doing a crime, they're just hungry and yet they're being arrested.

I want to watch Devs as well. And This Is Us was just okay to me. I feel like the 1st half was a letdown with all those amazing guest stars and I enjoyed the second half more. I like Randall the most but this season, he's been really insufferable which I like because it's always Kate & Kevin that they put in a somewhat bad light on the show. I always like seeing William/Ron Cephas Jones so anytime he's back on, I tend to like the ep.

Si, I can understand. Being on lockdown takes a toll on the economy and tbh, if this lockdown is extended over here, I don't know if my country can survive it. There's no news if the lockdown is extended beyond April 14th here but I have a feeling it will be extended because we're still at the peak here and we haven't "flattened the curve" yet.

Sulieter

I don't understand why people think any politicians would benefit by making up a virus and frightening people. People aren't working and they aren't paying tax so the politicians wouldn't benefit from that.

wanderer78

Exactly. We have the same conspiracy theories in the U.S. Like why would Italy and China care about the U.S. elections later this year? A Brazilian woman put it brilliantly in saying the economy is important but you can't make money off of dead people.

Lindsay, I don't blame those people for protesting. I'm ok for today. But I'm still waiting for my benefits to kick in and I'm worried. And some of it is my fault. My birthday was last month and I was in "Treat yourself!" mode.

Si, I'm so sorry. Politics is making your life very scary and difficult.

And we have a lot of awful politicians too. A governor just put a stay in shelter for his state because he "just found out" yesterday that asymtomatic people can spread Covid-19. His state has 11 million people, the world's busiest airport, and irony alert: our country's center for disease control. I'm trying to be positive and be grateful to the leaders in my area. But I don't live in a bubble, and moronic leadership around the country will affect me and my community.

Anyways back to T.V. Lindsay, you'll probably finish Devs before I do. And yes, I did love the most recent season of This Is Us. Maybe because so many other shows and movies have been disappointing me this past year? I actually really disliked Randall last season. I felt he redeemed himself somewhat this year. Kate was probably my favorite of the big three this year. But I like almost all the characters.

And Julie, how are you liking Frasier?

L i N d $ @ y

Julie, UGH! It's the same here. Some politicians are using this crisis to further their political agenda in time for the 2022 elections over here. It's so toxic.

Pia, at least you already celebrated your birthday before all of this happened. And yeah this is why I hate politics and usually steer clear of discussing it because I always have nothing positive to say about it.

I haven't started on Devs yet. Randall was insufferable last season, that's for sure. I don't have a favorite this season but if I were to choose maybe it's Rebecca. She gets on my nerves most times but the older Rebecca I can stomach.

stlavin95

Why did you stop watching This is Us?

Sulieter

Indeed. It's an international problem, not just an American one. Hopefully, most people realise that the lockdown is about not overloading the medical services, not about trying to control people.

I absolutely love Frasier. I love the fact that Frasier and Niles are snobs and I love their reactions to things.