Castle Aching

[runs as required]

22 minutes ago, wagonman said:

It's interesting to note that, while the English are panic buying toilet paper, the Americans are panic buying guns and ammo! Neither course of action makes any sense when the enemy is a 'flu virus...

 

Surely it makes every sense. 

It would be real fun to have a whole heavily armed volunteer militia firing through slots in a thick wall of Andrex just outside the CA Drill Hall

dh

[Hroth]

34 minutes ago, wagonman said:

It's interesting to note that, while the English are panic buying toilet paper, the Americans are panic buying guns and ammo! Neither course of action makes any sense when the enemy is a 'flu virus...

 

 

 

Someones got to guard the 49th Parallel, can't have those pesky Canadians swarming south to leech Good Old American toilet rolls....

 

19 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Still, makes a nice change from talking about Brexit all the blasted time .........

 

Just think, back then there was debate about the merits (or not) of being cut off from Europe.  Perhaps now we need to brick up the Chunnel too?

 

[petethemole]

In California and elsewhere, Chinese and other Asians are buying guns in fear of violence against them;  https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-gun-sales-asian-california-washington-1491891

[Nearholmer]

Interestingly, or maybe not to anyone except me, the happiest and least worried person in my family at present is my aged mother.

 

She lives a very secluded life already, has experience of ‘holing up’ when she broke her leg three years ago, has an excellent support network for provision supply etc, a garden that she tends with care, and is as fit as a bucket of fleas.

 

Everyone else needs to engage with the world; she has long found contentment in doing barely any of that, and what she does do is strictly on her own terms!

 

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Regularity]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Still, makes a nice change from talking about Brexit all the blasted time .........

 

Actually, do you know? I rather miss those carefree days of summer and vicious squabbling whether or not we should ‘go it alone’.

Oh, no free movement of people. State support permissible.

It’s already arrived!

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

7 hours ago, wagonman said:

It's interesting to note that, while the English are panic buying toilet paper, the Americans are panic buying guns and ammo! Neither course of action makes any sense when the enemy is a 'flu virus...

 

 

 

 

Well as a firearms owner I suggest that they buy only the smallest calibre firearms available. I think a .50 S&W Magnum pistol would be considered ungentlemanly given the size of the prey. 

 

However all jokes aside it is the level of uncertainty at present that is the main issue for all of us no matter how much we put a brave face on it. The Australian federal and state governments seem to be prepared to make tough decisions which is welcome. But, and this is probably more important given the relatively low number of infections, the biggest problem emerging is the economic damage it is causing. Today our Reserve Bank dropped the official interest rate to .25 of a percent, and has begun buying government bonds following the quantitative easing practice the US introduced some years back. That isn't a good sign as people living off their investments or having invested capital are being hit very hard. The economy was trending that way anyway but this virus has devastated consumer confidence (except apparently in toilet roll investment). 

 

My day job, although I'm in my 70s is Secretary of a large club, and for years we had relied on our fixed term deposits to keep us in the black. Membership numbers are declining as clubs as a social venue seem to be going the way of the dodo due to the ease by which like minded people can access each through the internet. We had hopes that revamping both the website and our magazine would stimulate growth however along came the coronavirus - so much for considered planning.  

Edited March 19, 2020 by Malcolm 0-6-0
clarity

[Edwardian]

If anyone is yet to box-set (yep, not a verb!) the 5 seasons of Z-Nation (on Netflix), now would be an excellent time to do so.  Really capturing the spirit of these End Days, it's sick, gory, violent and hilarious.  Hope our apocalypse goes better than theirs! 

 

 

[runs as required]

22 minutes ago, Malcolm 0-6-0 said:

Well as a firearms owner I suggest that they buy only the smallest calibre firearms available. I think a .50 S&W Magnum pistol would be considered ungentlemanly given the size of the prey. 

...  My day job, although I'm in my 70s is Secretary of a large club ...

 

I am assuming the 'large club' is a Social Club rather than a Gun Club or an old fashioned Colonial style Club.

 

We locally have had the old trad. style Co Durham 'Social Club' losing members. Whereas our old village pub, for the past decade threatened with demolition, has succeeded in being declared a Community Pub (we all own it as Shareholders) and has proved astonishingly successful with all age groups - thanks to a sparky volunteer lady who offered to bring her 'Social Media' skills into play. 

A whole lot of special interest groups now meet there through the week - and the committee are currently energetically facing-up to the challenge of the Big panD

 

Good Luck

dh

Edited March 19, 2020 by runs as required

[dunwurken]

On 17/03/2020 at 17:01, Compound2632 said:

 

  - there's clearly more than one petty kingdom that's being overlooked.

Fife.

 

On 17/03/2020 at 23:22, sem34090 said:

I'm musing about what, if any, might be the positive effects of the virus.

The cancellation of the Scottish national teams football, rugby etc. matches has meant that up here in North Britain the usual dark clouds of gloom and doom have given way to bright sunshine and a general lifting of the nation's mood, lowering of the suicide rate etc. etc.

And secondly I am finding time to keep up with this thread.

 

Re all this panic about no loo rolls.  This must be a modern, I.e. post internet phenomenon, as I seem to recall in the old days there was an ample supply of old newspapers which could be recycled as loo paper. For my part I still have a newspaper delivered every day (due to current crises 6 weeks free delivery now being offered) and instead of re cycling via the Council I am building up my stock of yesterday's papers just in case I get caught short.

 

Malcolm

[TheQ]

1 minute ago, dunwurken said:

Fife.

 

The cancellation of the Scottish national teams football, rugby etc. matches has meant that up here in North Britain the usual dark clouds of gloom and doom have given way to bright sunshine and a general lifting of the nation's mood, lowering of the suicide rate etc. etc.

And secondly I am finding time to keep up with this thread.

 

Re all this panic about no loo rolls.  This must be a modern, I.e. post internet phenomenon, as I seem to recall in the old days there was an ample supply of old newspapers which could be recycled as loo paper. For my part I still have a newspaper delivered every day (due to current crises 6 weeks free delivery now being offered) and instead of re cycling via the Council I am building up my stock of yesterday's papers just in case I get caught short.

 

Malcolm

Have you put a nail in the wall to hang them on?

[dunwurken]

1 minute ago, TheQ said:

Have you put a nail in the wall to hang them on?

Slight problem there.  Typing this with my left hand whilst holding back a flow of water with my right thumb. Could you call a plumber for me.

Malcolm

[TheQ]

1 minute ago, dunwurken said:

Slight problem there.  Typing this with my left hand whilst holding back a flow of water with my right thumb. Could you call a plumber for me.

Malcolm

Sorry not an essential worker...

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

Just now, runs as required said:

I assume the 'large club' is a Social Club rather than a Gun Club or an old fashioned Colonial style Club.

We locally have had the old trad style Co Durham Social Club losing members whereas our old village pub threatened with demolition has been declared a Community Pub and has been astonishingly successful withal ge groups - thanks to a volunteer lady who offered to bring her 'Social Media' skills into play. 

A whole lot of special interest groups now meet there through the week - and the committee are currently energetically facing-up to the challenge of Big panD

Good Luck

dh

 

No it is the Antique & Historical Arms Collectors Guild of Victoria. Which as the name suggests explains its members' interests. We have around 820 members at present.

 

We are beset by other conditions beyond the failing economy, not least of which is that collecting valuable antiques and arms of historic interest is an expensive hobby, and these days so few young people (by that I mean people still paying of mortgages and raising children) have the disposable income for such interests. Firearms ownership in Australia is quite tightly licensed and controlled, which is as it should be, however by following the regulations as laid out in the various states' Firearms Acts there is nothing to prevent anyone from becoming either a sporting shooter or in our case a collector. In fact we collectors have the tightest restrictions of the lot but I am able to collect what I wish and have been doing so for over 50 years.

 

That tightening of disposable income is a leading cause of membership decline in the collecting area, however at the grass roots level of ordinary sporting shooting we are experiencing growth in both longarm and pistol shooting interests. These are also tightly regulated. 

 

However now with the coronavirus the committe will have to make the decision whether or not to cancel our next club meeting which is on the 30th and also cancel the April and May meetings as well. These are not decisions I welcome however better safe than sorry. Troubled times.      

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

13 minutes ago, dunwurken said:

Re all this panic about no loo rolls.  This must be a modern, I.e. post internet phenomenon, as I seem to recall in the old days there was an ample supply of old newspapers which could be recycled as loo paper. For my part I still have a newspaper delivered every day (due to current crises 6 weeks free delivery now being offered) and instead of re cycling via the Council I am building up my stock of yesterday's papers just in case I get caught short.

 

Malcolm

 

Our sewerage authorities issued a panic stricken warning forbidding the use of newspaper as it would result in irremediable clogging of the sewers. 

[dunwurken]

8 minutes ago, Malcolm 0-6-0 said:

 

Our sewerage authorities issued a panic stricken warning forbidding the use of newspaper as it would result in irremediable clogging of the sewers. 

Newspaper in Australia must be of a better quality than that in Britain!  As far as I can tell, from admittedly limited research, newspaper disintegrates into mush whenever it touches water.

Malcolm

[sem34090]

I suggest that anyone seeking toilet paper might be advised to take up the Daily Mail's offer of free delivery.

 

The only issue is that it may be counterproductive as one might end up wiping cr*p onto one's backside from the page rather than off it...

[jcredfer]

1 hour ago, dunwurken said:

Fife.

 

The cancellation of the Scottish national teams football, rugby etc. matches has meant that up here in North Britain the usual dark clouds of gloom and doom have given way to bright sunshine and a general lifting of the nation's mood, lowering of the suicide rate etc. etc.

And secondly I am finding time to keep up with this thread.

 

Re all this panic about no loo rolls.  This must be a modern, I.e. post internet phenomenon, as I seem to recall in the old days there was an ample supply of old newspapers which could be recycled as loo paper. For my part I still have a newspaper delivered every day (due to current crises 6 weeks free delivery now being offered) and instead of re cycling via the Council I am building up my stock of yesterday's papers just in case I get caught short.

 

Malcolm

 

Not sure that modern newspapers would work properly, as they are already so saturated with effluent before they could be hung.   

 

Julian

 

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

If anyone is yet to box-set (yep, not a verb!) the 5 seasons of Z-Nation (on Netflix), now would be an excellent time to do so.  Really capturing the spirit of these End Days

 

I'm struck by the parallels with the 70s series "Survivors"

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivors_(1975_TV_series)

 

Anyhow the 11am sortie was a bust - all the supermarkets in the district were empty gaping caverns of nothing.  Ok there was a fair stock of booze available, pet food and infants nappies are readily obtained too.  But panic buying marmalade and jam?  We're certainly living in Interesting Times!  I pity the poor devils who thought they were being sensible and not panic buying.  No bread, little milk, no tinned food whatsoever, no meat, very little fresh veg, no pasta, no rice, no flour. Not to mention toilet rolls...

 

Mind you, when this is all over there's going to be so much stockpiled food that the shops will go bust due to lack of demand.

 

I've decided to build a corner in Terrys Chocolate Oranges. Aldi are selling them at 99p each for 157g of choccy, which is a good price per 100g for any half decent chocolate.

 

All we need now is for the Martians to turn up...

 

 

[Annie]

[drmditch]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Interestingly, or maybe not to anyone except me, the happiest and least worried person in my family at present is my aged mother.

 

She lives a very secluded life already, has experience of ‘holing up’ when she broke her leg three years ago, has an excellent support network for provision supply etc, a garden that she tends with care, and is as fit as a bucket of fleas.

 

Everyone else needs to engage with the world; she has long found contentment in doing barely any of that, and what she does do is strictly on her own terms!

 

 

Best wishes to your admirable aged mother.

 

I should point out however that references to 'a bucket of fleas' (and I was not aware that such animals whether Pulex Irritans or Xynopsella Cheopsis could be contained in a bucket) may be not be the best analogy to use when humankind faces another worldwide pandemic.

 

(And yes I am aware of the differences between the viral Covid-19 and the bacterial Yersinia Pestis.)

 

It's the problem of being such a large, complex, and very populous social animal. 

Edited March 19, 2020 by drmditch

[CKPR]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

I'm struck by the parallels with the 70s series "Survivors"

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivors_(1975_TV_series)

 

Dangerously on topic - the entry for "Survivors" in my copy of  The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction  (1979) noted that the eponymous survivors of a lethal virus (which, as the the author of the entry wryly noted, seemed to have miraculously spared middle-class professionals and wiped out the urban proletariat) wasted a lot of time and effort trying to get fuel for diesel generators when they could have much more easily have used preserved steam engines. Which in turn reminds me of a contemporary comic strip in "Warlord" in which a group of  plucky teenagers and old codgers fight back against a Warsaw Pact invasion of the UK  using old steam engines including IIRC  'City of Truro' and a Dukedog. 

Edited March 19, 2020 by CKPR

[Donw]

4 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Well, apart from being exhausted and a sort of perambulating sack of mucus (apologies to any indulging in a late breakfast), I don't feel too bad today.  I am, at least, perambulating. 

 

I motored into town this am.  Having been unable to buy whole categories of goods for days, yesterday I was tipped off by our local supermarket staff that the Idiot Panic Buyers descend at 6.30 every morning to strip the place, so, this morning I resolved to beat them to it.  I am now the proud possessor of 4 loo rolls, though it took my best Paddington Bear stare, pregnant with the implied threat of breathing on her to get one geriatric hoarder with a trolley already bulging with a 9-pack to back off and leave a pack on the shelf. Sadly, before this is all over there will be people found dead in this town with cupboards full of unused loo rolls and hand soap, and their estates will make a killing on Ebay.

 

My biggest concern was the complete lack of any dog food yesterday.  Dogs panic buying, who knew? So my major and essential triumph this morning was a slab of tins and a bag of dry food.  i refuse to buy more than I usually do, so will need to repeat this morning's Supermarket Sweep in due course.

 

 

 

 

 

Well that amused Marion greatly. The concept of a dawn raid armed with only a Paddington Bear stare and perhaps the odd cough ....

We are fortunate in that sometime before the pandemic started the supermarket was offering reduced prices on two 9 roll packs and ever on lookout for bargains she had taken the offer. The local Coop gets a delivery each morning, We often see the lorry unloading as we return from walking the dogs we may be reduced to hanging around to await the stuff being put on shelves as flour, pasta and rice have all been cleared from the shelves seemingly for days. 

 

Don

 

 

[Talltim]

On 17/03/2020 at 20:51, Buhar said:

Unfortunately, my wife (and stonemason) is stuck in Turkey which has just gone into lock-down a

 

Are they the same person or has she gone on an extra-curricular holiday?

[Donw]

For those without a supply of old newspaper do not use old model railway magazines. I can remember as a young lad the fuss caused when the drains were blocked with glossy magazine pages. The talk among the neighbours in our row was who the hell could afford glossy magazines most families used the Daily Mirror top seller in those days.

 

Our MRC decided last night to suspend future meetings and the AGM scheduled for next week will have to be done via email/post. I had already made the same descision and didn't attend last night. 

 

We have no children and all our parents are deceased, my sister and her brother live some distance away so we can avoid visitors. We have a large garden and lots of work to do on the house, rarely eat out so Social distancing is not an issue. As long as RMweb keeps going the social exchange on here will do me fine.

My best wishes to all of you during these troubled times.

Don

[CKPR]

On 17/03/2020 at 20:51, Buhar said:

my wife (and stonemason) is stuck in Turkey

 

Mrs CKPR-to-be's daughter (i.e. she who lost my stock of card and brass - see "Mealsgate" thread ) went to Vietnam last September to teach English and it looks like she is now there for the duration. Given the way things are panning out here, she's probably better off where she is as long as we can get parcels of socks, Marmite and old Penguin Modern Classics out to her. 

Edited March 20, 2020 by CKPR