COVID-19 and your life

[Gorn]

I think that a significant hike in restaurant prices will be inevitable. Eating out will become a rarely-indulged luxury saved for special occasions.

My own life was significantly affected by the pandemic, since my company's plans to move me to our new US office have been placed on indefinite hold. After months of preparations, I've finally reached the visa interview stage, and I prepared myself for moving in a couple of weeks... and then all the US embassies worldwide were shut down. Even if they were to reopen today, I have no idea how I would travel to the US, since all the local airports are closed, and I think the ban for EU travelers is still in place.

I've mentally readied myself for remaining where I am for months, possibly even a year. Fortunately, I haven't taken any irreversible steps with my moving yet, but it is difficult to make any long-term plans since I have no idea where I'll be this time next month. My wife doesn't know whether to start looking for a new job locally once her maternity leave ends (not that there's many openings right now), since we've decided that she won't return to her old job due to wage cuts and worsened conditions.  It affects even the little things - I should either buy a different car or invest significantly in my current one, but I don't know how long I'll even be driving it.

[RhaenysBee]

12 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I didn't have all that much, really, and haven't had anything today outside of a beer and a last toast.

A last toast. That sounds poetic. Hope you still had as nice a time as possible given the circumstances. 

7 hours ago, JEORDHl said:

 

I was just happy to get anything back, honestly, because we weren't going and I wasn't going to be responsible for risking the exposure of the kiddos, my father, or myself. Comparatively, the money didn't matter [though fuck me for paying everything more or less upfront, lesson learned] then two weeks ago I finally got my refund [the owner of the company had been stranded somewhere] and contrary to previously agreed they refunded the entire amount less the deposit.

And, said if I book ahead for summer 21, the deposit they kept would be there for me to use again. Was a nice surprise after I'd more or less forgotten about it, but I wasn't bent either way.

I suspect, or hope, that for your sister the disappointment was about more than just the money. My daughters were pissy for a few days when I told them the houseboat trip was off. 

They're children though.

That seems like a pretty fair way to handle the corona vis major. Haven’t heard of many companies to offer such considerate solutions. Will you book for 21? Airlines and flight prices are a mess and with brexit complications and coronavirus boarder regulations I’m not even sure when or how I’ll be let in and out of the UK. Don’t see the point in booking anything ahead as of now.

it was a friend (the sister is Zorral’s) and I presume it was about the lost trip as well of course. My sister’s pissy about school mostly, she’s dealing quite well with her upcoming birthday’s being spent in quarantine. There aren’t any children in my close family or friend circle, but I can imagine how much they struggle too. Well there’s my cousin but I don’t think he feels the difference as long as there’s internet and Xbox. 

3 hours ago, Gaston de Foix said:

First time it took a week.  After a week they reported they had lost my wife's test results and we had to go back in.  The second set of results came in 24 hours.  We both tested negative but our physician said that we had COVID notwithstanding the test results based on our symptoms and recommended self-isolation.  Fortunately we both had mild versions and are mostly fully recovered. 

Oh. I suppose the system needed some time to work out their routines and processes. Glad you both got your results eventually and got through it unscathed. 
 

And @Fragile Bird knew something when she told me to not put away winter coats. The heating is on, it’s 8C outside. I suppose that’s still better than wearing rubber gloves and a face mask to the grocery store in 30C. 

[BigFatCoward]

WRT bars, restaurants etc, although 50% capacity on a Friday/Saturday will be a problem, dont we think that mosts nights previous to covid they were below that?

Everyone will be desperate to go out and they can make the difference up with busier midweek nights? 

[Blue Roses]

My kids seriously need to go back to school. I''m in massive trouble for spoiling the ending of Romeo and Juliet. Which goes to show spoiler alerts never die......

[Buckwheat]

39 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

it was a friend (the sister is Zorral’s) and I presume it was about the lost trip as well of course. My sister’s pissy about school mostly, she’s dealing quite well with her upcoming birthday’s being spent in quarantine. There aren’t any children in my close family or friend circle, but I can imagine how much they struggle too. Well there’s my cousin but I don’t think he feels the difference as long as there’s internet and Xbox. 

We had two birthdays in our family since everybody is staying at home, and a third one in the month just before the virus came here. Everybody got their own cake. There was quite a lot of cake-baking and cake-eating recently.

25 minutes ago, Blue Roses said:

My kids seriously need to go back to school. I''m in massive trouble for spoiling the ending of Romeo and Juliet. Which goes to show spoiler alerts never die......

Wait, so the school wouldn't have spoiled it if there were normal classes there?

[A wilding]

9 hours ago, JEORDHl said:

Silliness. Several months ago I booked a houseboat for a trip on the Shuswap. 500 deposit, paid for the rest as soon as I got the invoice. Late March I'd decided it was probable it might not work out so started negotiating with the rental company. At first they were all, you've passed the penalty free cancellation period, but extenuating circumstances I say, et back and forth by phone and email for a week or so until we finally settled on them keeping both my deposit and half the rental fee.

I was just happy to get anything back, honestly, because we weren't going and I wasn't going to be responsible for risking the exposure of the kiddos, my father, or myself. Comparatively, the money didn't matter [though fuck me for paying everything more or less upfront, lesson learned] then two weeks ago I finally got my refund [the owner of the company had been stranded somewhere] and contrary to previously agreed they refunded the entire amount less the deposit.

And, said if I book ahead for summer 21, the deposit they kept would be there for me to use again. Was a nice surprise after I'd more or less forgotten about it, but I wasn't bent either way.

I have been impressed and touched at our experience of how the UK holiday industry is handling this. These days we generally holiday in the UK and arrange it all ourselves. staying in individual self catering accommodation, B&Bs, and small hotels. We have had to cancel two holidays. All of the five places we were due to stay at have kept only fairly small deposits and have said we can put them towards a future stay. One even offered to return the deposit, but I said they probably needed it more than we did.

Probably UK law does require them to return the money (though I understand it is arguable), but even so, full marks. It further confirms my preference for using small businesses wherever possible. I just hope they make it through this.

[Blue Roses]

29 minutes ago, Buckwheat said:

 

Wait, so the school wouldn't have spoiled it if there were normal classes there?

The school would have put 'the spoiler' at the end of the play, where Shakespeare put it; not the beginning, like muggins here 

[Jeor]

1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

WRT bars, restaurants etc, although 50% capacity on a Friday/Saturday will be a problem, dont we think that mosts nights previous to covid they were below that?

Everyone will be desperate to go out and they can make the difference up with busier midweek nights? 

Yeah, they'll probably not lose too much money on quiet weeknights when they wouldn't have been full, but I imagine a lot of business models rely heavily on Friday/weekend patronage to actually turn a profit.

My dad's an accountant for a lot of small businesses and he says even in good times, the vast majority of restaurants lose money and are only afloat because the owners work themselves to the bone and don't pay themselves properly. There are numerous costs that are pretty fixed (staff, rent, fixtures, licences/taxes, raw supply) and only one way to make money (sell food/drink). Added to this there are plenty of risks that can spell doom for a restaurant - key person risk (owner or chef gets long-term sick), inventory mismanagement, reputational risk (bad reviews) etc not to mention they are the first thing to suffer when disposable income takes a hit.

When I was young and liked cooking and made some random remark, he said that I should never go into the restaurant business unless I had a hardworking wife and six children who could be used as cheap labour. To this day I'm not convinced my father was joking. It's a real tough business to be in.

[BigFatCoward]

1 hour ago, Jeor said:

Yeah, they'll probably not lose too much money on quiet weeknights when they wouldn't have been full, but I imagine a lot of business models rely heavily on Friday/weekend patronage to actually turn a profit.

My dad's an accountant for a lot of small businesses and he says even in good times, the vast majority of restaurants lose money and are only afloat because the owners work themselves to the bone and don't pay themselves properly. There are numerous costs that are pretty fixed (staff, rent, fixtures, licences/taxes, raw supply) and only one way to make money (sell food/drink). Added to this there are plenty of risks that can spell doom for a restaurant - key person risk (owner or chef gets long-term sick), inventory mismanagement, reputational risk (bad reviews) etc not to mention they are the first thing to suffer when disposable income takes a hit.

When I was young and liked cooking and made some random remark, he said that I should never go into the restaurant business unless I had a hardworking wife and six children who could be used as cheap labour. To this day I'm not convinced my father was joking. It's a real tough business to be in.

I would say that most will be busier than previous on a midweek night so they could recoup their losses.  If I go out midweek, restaurants/Bars are 25%-33% full.  Hopefully people will fill out the capacity up to the 50% as they can't go out on weekends. 

[RhaenysBee]

2 hours ago, Buckwheat said:

We had two birthdays in our family since everybody is staying at home, and a third one in the month just before the virus came here. Everybody got their own cake. There was quite a lot of cake-baking and cake

Well I bet you’ll all remember these birthdays. And great job on so many cakes! Sister is ordering herself a cake and I’ll treat her to a brunch delivery in memory of the Friday morning brunch habit we developed since she moved in with me. 

she shares her birthday with the new dog, btw, so we’ll try to make some dog friendly treat at home as well. 
 

anyway. It appears that our epidemic situation is vastly different in the street than it is in front of screens. People are just going on about their business, I’ve even seen two women with Starbucks cups. About 50% wears masks on the street. People do seem to cover their faces in shops though, then again the drugstore cashier wore her mask the wrong way. Public transport isn’t as crowded as it usually is, though it’s the middle of the day and I only saw two trams pass from the street. Everything is fully stocked with soap and hand sanitizer at this point and one can even buy surgical masks in the drugstore. Out there I feel like I’m doing too much and I should ease off on the virus paranoia already. Then I open the news and the opposite hits me in the face. This is one insane world we live in. 

[Argonath Diver]

4 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

WRT bars, restaurants etc, although 50% capacity on a Friday/Saturday will be a problem, dont we think that mosts nights previous to covid they were below that?

Everyone will be desperate to go out and they can make the difference up with busier midweek nights? 

That is a fair point. Folks like my parents enjoy going out on slower nights, and many people who want a meal at a certain spot they enjoy would make a reservation on a midweek night instead of their usual date night.

That said, almost every place I have ever worked at would fail in a system requiring safe distancing. My current place barely stays in the black as it is. Even if our customer base flattens out over the week, waiters are going to be fighting over shifts even more than they do now. My L-shaped bar would be limited to a couple at both ends and one in the middle, no more. The very reason for a bar to exist is the social aspect, which ceases to be when people have to stay distanced. If the 6 feet requirement stays through 2020, as I expect it to, our place won't survive.

Every bar I worked in New York City was designed for packed houses before a Broadway show, sporting event, commuter rush, etc. Square footage in Manhattan is priceless - it's one reason you see so few pool tables there. I already know one friend who poured their life (and life savings) into a wonderful new bar in Brooklyn. She's already closed the doors forever. One another hand, let's say I start coughing. Taking unexpected two weeks off means you're getting replaced, not many spots are like Applebees where big staffs can work around people disappearing at will. 

At the same time, I directly know three people who have died to COVID-19, and a good dozen more who have lost a loved one. I'm not calling for full capacity Saturdays and elbow-to-elbow bar seating, though that's the only way my career continues. I have no answers. I've stayed very positive during my hermit mode, for the most part. I am at a loss to know what my world will look like in the winter.

[Zorral]

11 hours ago, Argonath Diver said:

My parents know this and are terrified for me to go back there. Dad's a super high risk for COVID, and I've effectively been their only outlet to the world for two months. Once I'm working again, I'll have to keep away from their house, and as it stands they need more help every season.

I have no words to express how affecting reading your words is.  I'm just so goddamned sorry, all the way around, about it all -- except your gdd boss who more than likely voted for the person doing this to us.  But that ultimately ... well, whether the gdd boss realizes it or not, we are all in this together.  The virus won't spare him or his family particularly either once you all are cooped up for 10 - 12 hour shifts together -- with all the customers flocking in.

 

[kairparavel]

12 hours ago, kairparavel said:

Northern Virginia isn't opening with the rest of the state on Friday and it looks like some of the DC adjacent counties in Maryland will also hold off on reopening as well. Our (DC) extended Stay at Home order was supposed to end Friday but I expect Mayor Bowser will tack on to at least May 31 but possibly even mid June. Guess we'll see. 

DC extended until June 8th. I wonder if that will slide further and my June birthday falls into SaH. We had booked a vacation (way too early, in the Before Time) to LA for mid July. Their SaH looks to be pushed to at least July but possibly longer. We've had no illusions about going since this all started but we could sure use a refund and not the credit I suspect the airline will offer.

[Larry of the Lawn]

NY State is looking at opening three regions less affected that have numbers qualifying for phase one of reopening on Friday.  This one entire carpentry crew I know, which has been working the entire time and not even wearing masks into gas stations or grocery stores or limber yards, is all planning to go up there take a week vacation.  Hopefully they are an anomaly, but I give it a month before we see a big uptick where they reopen.

 

[DMC]

14 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

NY State is looking at opening three regions less affected that have numbers qualifying for phase one of reopening on Friday.

My county in PA moves to the "yellow phase" on Friday for reopening - my birthday!  I'll be celebrating by...getting drunk and high in my apartment with my brother.

[Larry of the Lawn]

I put zero stock in astrology but just realized that you me and Tywin are all Tauruses, explaining why 2/3 of us are stubborn assholes.

[Zoë Sumra]

12 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

I put zero stock in astrology but just realized that you me and Tywin are all Tauruses, explaining why 2/3 of us are stubborn assholes.

Add Triskele, Mormont and my good (?) self to that... Lockdown was not how I planned to spend my 40th, but, stuff happens. The cake was decent.

[Argonath Diver]

35 minutes ago, Zorral said:

I have no words to express how affecting reading your words is.  I'm just so goddamned sorry, all the way around, about it all -- except your gdd boss who more than likely voted for the person doing this to us.  But that ultimately ... well, whether the gdd boss realizes it or not, we are all in this together.  The virus won't spare him or his family particularly either once you all are cooped up for 10 - 12 hour shifts together -- with all the customers flocking in.

 

Thank you. I feel selfish lamenting my own future right now. I make much less here than I did in larger cities, but that was a sacrifice to live near my parents, and in a calmer setting. So I'm currently making about as much from the $600 a week as I was when I was working. I haven't spent 5 nights a week paying for a post-shift pint or six, so I'm healthier than I've been in a decade. That also means no fun nights out, but c'est la vie. Almost everyone's immediate situation is worse than it was previously, but mine, objectively, is probably better. My tough times resulting from this are still around the corner. Hence the routing and networking textbook next to me I'm furiously avoiding.

In a grander sense, the world I love - bar life, the restaurant world, the work hard, play hard mentality that we generally have - is not coming back the way it was until all restrictions are relaxed. I cannot fathom that happening for a long time. Similarly, my film and theater friends back in NYC are struggling mightily with both their immediate situation and the daunting future of limited shoots, cancelled productions, and failed venues.

[DMC]

19 minutes ago, Zoë Sumra said:

Add Triskele, Mormont and my good (?) self to that... Lockdown was not how I planned to spend my 40th, but, stuff happens. The cake was decent.

In my adult life I've moved to three different cities.  Each time when making new friends I'm always struck by how many have birthdays around my own.  I really think people apparently have sex more often around...August I guess?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

55 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

I put zero stock in astrology but just realized that you me and Tywin are all Tauruses, explaining why 2/3 of us are stubborn assholes.

Come now. I'm a flexible asshole.

I agree astrology and the like is largely worthless, but I do enjoy being a bull and a dragon.