Prepping for a Pandemic... 15

[FuckThisWind]

A lot of us have been here before. We Prepped for Brexit. Some of us are Heathcare workers. We prepare for the worst every day. It's difficult to predict what will happen in our lives. In our lifetime. Will we get Cancer? Will a huge meteorite wipe the world out?

One thing is for sure, this new virus is either affecting us, or is going to affect us all very soon. You are all already onboard. I hope you are prepared and much as you can be. And in the meantime this thread is here to support us all.

This week will bring many new challenges. We are almost certain to have some sort of lockdown. Like other parts of Europe. We aren't special. We aren't different. We are all
fragile souls. But I hope we live to tell the tale.

God Speed.

One of my sons classes is still continuing too, to be fair to the instructor he is using hand sanitizer at the entrance, at drink break half way through and at the end. He has stopped all contact elements and carefully positioned the children 2m apart. It’s his livelihood on the line so I can understand why he wants to continue, still I’m not sure if we should keep attending!

Exochord that's shocking!
It was Tesco. I’ve emailed but just received an auto reply saying they aren’t replying to emails due to the crisis. So I’m stuck with a load of substituted food that I can’t eat because I’m allergic. And I have no way of getting my money back so I can spend it on food I can actually eat.

I'm in Costco now. Its mental. No bog roll left it sold out in about ten minutes. They say it comes on every day but about 400 people queued since 9.15.

With this in mind I'm sticking to shopping after 3am from.now on in.

I have three disabled kids but there is no provision to reserve anything.

Feels like survival of the fittest now 😭😭😭. I still think once deaths ramp up people will be too scared to shop. Plus no money left to stockpile plus everyone o ly has so much freezer space right?

@echobench do you know the branch it's delivered from? I would call the actual branch or use social media to get in contact. One of my big fears about food security is that those of us with allergies are vulnerable to low stock and supermarkets limiting stock.

Checking in on first full day of household quarantine. DS2 has been coughing on and off at night for a while, but is now coughing regularly during the day. I suspect it isn't CV, but obviously following the advice to isolate the whole household. I've lurked on this board since pre-Brexit days, but never posted. I've name changed so I don't need to worry about anonymity - I used to be a marsupial with a penchant for martial arts, if that means anything to anyone!

I had a big spike of anxiety last night, but I'm pretty calm now. We're as ready as we can possibly be - even DP has stopped taking the piss out of me for my pepper tendencies - and we're quite rural so have a fair bit of space for the kids to run around in. Just need to get through the two weeks without locking the kids out of the house and refusing to listen to any more complaining. They're 10, 8 and 3. The 8 year-old is fine. The 3 year-old is climbing the walls already, and the 10 year-old is slouching about in a strop because he normally does 17 hours of gym a week and can't possibly imagine how he is going to survive without it.

I'm not sure how much work I'm going to get done this fortnight. I'm a writer, so in theory I should be able to carry on as normal, but I'm struggling to concentrate with everyone in the house, and with the constant temptation to check the latest news.

Overall, we're in fairly good spirits, but not sure how long that will last. Probably as long as the wine...

Our Morrisons is still 90% out of stock of all fresh produce. Our Thursday fresh stock up is not looking promising

@Legoandloldolls that's what I suspect too the levels will normalize a little once people run out of money, space and are limited to how often they can leave house. I'm hoping so anyway seeing as I have very little freezer space for fresh fruit, veg and meat.

Really wish I had gone ahead with my plan of getting a variety of hens for eggs and meat.

Do you have an Aldi? Ours had much better stocks of fresh than tesco or Asda!

I still think once deaths ramp up people will be too scared to shop
This is exactly what’s driving the stockpiling.

@Exochord I get my deliveries from Asda so it might be different for Tesco but Asda have a page on your account where you can request refunds for unsuitable substitutions. I usually hand substitutions back to the delivery person but sometimes I’ve accepted something thinking it looks okay and then realised it had some ingredient that I can’t eat (allergies too) and they’ve always been good about refunding. Asda have a helpline that are good too. Hopefully Tesco are the same and you can get it sorted soon 🤞🏻

I've ended up getting things from the local corner shop, also if you need something ask the shop worker if he can get it from the cash and carry for you when they next go. Mines said if I need anything he will grab it because they know we will buy it off them!

Just used a mould spray and my god it's so strong still no luck with getting the darkened areas off of the sealant though will I have to reseal the shower because it looks disgusting!
Also any tips on how to get the metal hose to look sparkly again?

I've had a request for a meeting to discuss attendance - it is within the original seven day quarantine for dc that has now been extended to 14 days for the household

Poor dc has had a terrible winter due to chronic condition (we even missed Xmas ffs), and picks up everything going despite us dropping social contact at weekends etc.

We're both in the vulnerable group for isolating (which I hadn't anticipated - thought it would just be dc and have planned as such), and rather than feeling supported (had already requested work from school) I feel persecuted and pretty pissed off.

I suspect dc does not have coronavirus, just a cough, but as there is no testing I am not going to take that risk, and I suspect other parents and the teachers would support that.

School also have no guidance for how they are going to protect vulnerable students ready for when dc does return (one day before Easter hols begin).

Also our very sweet guinea pig died yesterday, and I had to stay up late to try and edit tomorrow's Ocado order without a mega queue.

Am feeling quite tired and drained by everything today.

If anyone is rural, feed stores / farmers shops often sell sacks of potatoes and nets of carrots. Popped into my local one yesterday for catfood, I was the only person in the store and they had pallets of potatoes etc.

UPDATE - all non essential foreign travel FCO advising against it. Initially for 30 days but could be will be extended

Really wish I had gone ahead with my plan of getting a variety of hens for eggs and meat.

You would still be able to get hold of laying rescue hens. I would think carefully though since the feed will be the problem. That's why eggs were rationed in the war - we couldn't feed the hens.

Had my Waitrose delivery today. Only missing things were loo roll (no surprise there), minced beef and garlic bread! They didn't offer substitutions at all. Anyway was happy all the other stuff was there. Popped into local butcher to get steak for dinner (my birthday) and the woman in front of me literally was buying everything. She must have spent £300+ on meat. Hope she has a big freezer!

I have old school friends in Hong Kong, Japan, the US and the ones in Asia said the panic buying settled after a few weeks and shops are stocked as normal now. So here's hoping people calm down.

We the hire car people refused to collect the car 'because we are self isolating' after a phone call to head office they are getting it this afternoon

Boiler man was booked for a service this afternoon & I am letting him in (but apologetically not offering a coffee)

DD is starting to live stream her latin/fitness classes on Twitch & apparently I have to watch!

For the teen with gym withdrawal there are lots of ideas online for continuing gym workouts without equipment plus fittness classes- DH will be skipping to replace some of his tennis that is part of his daily physio

@WinstonWolf was it a letter? If so it might be an automated kind of thing? My eldest was often off poorly with asthma and we’d sometimes get these letters. The school said not to worry as they get sent out automatically.

I'm trying to stay calm but it's increasingly concerning. Prepped as best as I could but didn't stockpile - and I'm struggling to book a new delivery slot. Mostly worried for elderly relatives who are only now finally accepting I wasn't being OTT. They refused to let me order them anything because they insisted on going to supermarkets. They just wouldn't accept they were at risk. I'm so grateful to their lovely neighbours for getting them some essential food. I have no idea when or if I'll be able to visit them.

I'm so tired but going out with DP for a walk later. Whilst we still can.

If only our government hadn't taken a short-term approach. A month or so of strong China like action would've saved lives and the economy.

@WinstonWolf I would tell them sure however they will have to come to you due to isolating. And please only turn up wearing masks and gloves to protect you from them too.

@HasaDiagaEebowai the feed was my concern. But then realised that we are rural and could probably source some more easily than most.

I am on another forum where it has been pointed out that the word for prepping in Belgium translates as 'hamstering'. I think it sounds much nicer than prepping so will be using it myself in future!

@PancakeFiend - yes, it was a letter. It's been hand signed by the attendance officer Dc has chronic asthma so her attendance typically evens out to an acceptable level once flu season is over (usually after the Easter hols). Her primary school used common sense, but Secondary have been hounding her/us, and their response to this has been ridiculous.

@Readyme - I didn't think to invite them round! Could always let them stand in the front garden so we can discuss the matter through the window. Sure thr neighbours would love that

Love hamstering!

Local outstanding and well respected secondary school has just announced they are closing as of today until “at least the end of the Easter holidays”. They have decided their staffing levels are unsafe. I imagine other schools will start to fall like dominoes around them now.

Oh no @WinstonWolf that’s ridiculous.
We actually had the same thing (chronic asthma too), primary were lovely about absences, secondary the opposite. They wouldn’t let my dd go on the end of year trip as she’d had absences due to asthma :( - one of the reasons I started home educating.
You’d think they’d be sensible about these things in the current climate though, even if they aren’t usually!