Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

It's a long way from here to there. Canada is a disposable worker economy, legislation to improve the working conditions of the hourly paid will fall foul of the myriad workarounds employers have at their disposal. Besides that, low wage work with low barriers to entry is valuable to high school kids, increase the rates and the formality and that puts casual work at risk.

The way to help people move up is, I think, free education, free vocational training. I understand that, even if you make training free, there will be people who can't take it, they need to work when the course is offered. Still, government can't save everyone; free education offers the chance to move from shop assistant to welder or brain surgeon, depending on talent. Hungry people will jump at such a chance. Some people will find a reason not to go for it, just as they would if offered a subsidy by an individual. At the risk of sounding like a conservative, society owes people a fair chance, not a soft cushion for a wide arse.

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

Memes are on fire right now. Humans can be so f***ing witty.

This would be a good time to rescue a dog and have the whole family train it.

This will forever change the workplace, the need to go an office, and forever change the delivery of education. I hope those with disabilities and other challenges will benefit from both.

I’m gonna meet all my neighbours out walking.

You have time to paint that back bedroom. Or any bedroom.

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

Weekends will seem twice as long - like back in the day when we were kids and nothing was open on Sundays. :p

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

Bloody hell.

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

$0.659 today at Costco in Ottawa. Average price in Ottawa 1 month ago was $1.06. Apparently the lowest price in more than 11 years.

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

It's 89.9c here in Kamloops. Apparently it's nothing to do with the virus, and something to do with a Russia and Saudi oil price war?

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

Employers will realise that people can be just as productive working remotely
Since i'm being forced to stay home and do nothing, if I manage to be employed for the summer i'll have a shitton of money saved up so that when i'm done school and this is all over I can travel the world until it runs out and my line of credit is maxed out.

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

Walking the dogs yesterday and the landlady of the local pub (closed) came out and told me to bring up some jugs/containers because she was giving away her beer before she has to throw it away.

So I did, she wouldn't take any payment. Rest assured, as soon as she's allowed to open again, I'll be in there like a shot!

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

I count this as a positive. About 6 weeks ago I bought 2 washable N95 face masks with a box of disposable filters, in preparation for a holiday that we've since cancelled. There was no shortage of the masks at that time, but they're impossible to buy now. But now Mum, who is 86 and has cancer, can at least have a bit of added protection when she's at the hospital getting treatment as can anyone who accompanies her.

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

i have not had to wear pants in 6 days. :)

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

No god botherers at the door. :rofl:

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

My working from home in the time of the plague is no different really from before. Aside from the fact that everyone else I work with is also working from home - so webexes with many people on are the norm. Beats trying to listen to a meeting going on in a room somewhere when you are hanging on the phone! As one wag put it - our company now has 2000 global offices. (We have around 2k employees across the world). No immense amount of time to do stuff but a need to keep kids/wife entertained who are not normally home. Its lead to more fractured days and I have made a point of getting out to walk the dogs in the afternoon when the weather is nice.

Many are stressing about home educating their kids. We're more philosophical - ours are 8 & 11 - and while they don't spend all day on a device or in front of the TV and are doing some educational stuff, again if the weathers good they get chucked outside to play in the snow!

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

As single semi retired (work 8 hours a week) person living in a one bed apt my routine has changed very little. go to supermarket use self check out, go to gas station gas up pre pay at pump, go to bank use the titless teller. keep sanitizer in car and use after every reentry to car. go to work at 4am (mainly to listen to cricket ) leave work when others arrive. go home spend rest of day on computer or playing guitar or watching progs on Acorn TV. or browsing BE. the only change is i cant go to the pub of 2 hours on a friday.

Re: Upsides of Coronavirus - positive vibes only :)
 

Quite different here. 10,000 users are being added to the VPN per day. Few of the 10,000 have worked from home before. Some are call center workers and so have high capacity needs.IT helpdesk overwhelmed. People working shifts 24/7.. All the new users are accidentally finding new ways to break security so that's been updated hourly. WebEx can't cope, most calls are inaudible. Cell phone network flaky. voip calls impossible. Teams looks relatively good; it never really worked and doesn't work now in the same way.

otoh, vets and farriers and liquor vendors are all essential services so nothing significant has changed.