McDonald's just announced they will be closing all their UK and Ireland restaurants tomorrow night at 7:00 pm. If you want your Big Mac or McFlurry fix and are in those places, hurry.
I've been confined for a week now. I'm getting used to not leasing my appartement and only communicate with my friends and family through the phone, skype or WhatsApp.
I am now working from home, and only leaving the house every few days for shopping. My middle son is the only visitor I will allow as he has moved out, and soon he probably won't be allowed to visit anyway so we are making the most of it while he can.
Over here, since a large amount of idiots failed to heed the advice of social isolation and instead went to the parks and gathered around teh weekend food markets (which shouldn't have been running anyway), the local parks will shut down. I'm apalled at how people in London are not taking this seriously. I'm all for a quick walk ina park to keep sane, but not have a fucking group picnic.
It's got to the point where it is only a matter of days before my work shuts down, if not by end of today even if management decides. Emails have been distributed and I think I will be getting full pay, so will be nice to be at home to help around the house with the kids a little more. Not being able to leave the house seems inevitable at the point though, and I'm not sure how that will work with two very energetic children!
I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that being outside while keeping a reasonable distance from strangers is one of the safer, sanity-saving activities a person could do right now, especially if you have kids who need exercise. Certainly safer than going to a cinema or shopping mall where you're breathing recycled air and touching a lot of door handles. Joining an impromptu frisbee match with a bunch of strangers would be stupid, but having your family on a picnic blanket seems reasonably safe, as long as you can keep your kids from licking all the trees.
I tried going to the grocery store for the first time since the Coronapocalypse started and things seemed reasonably well-stocked until I hit the toilet paper aisle. No luck with soap or some staples I never buy anyway like flour, sugar, and spaghetti sauce. As someone who lives alone I don't usually keep much food in my apartment because anything fresh will go bad in a few days if I don't eat it right away. And when I'm bored at home that's when I overeat, so it's usually better for me to have to walk five minutes to grab a shwarma or a Subway sub. With the great, cheap cafeteria at work and so many restaurant options in my neighbourhood I've gone years without having to cook anything. There are still plenty of takeout options close by, but if things get any worse I might have to re-train myself on how to make Kraft Dinner.
I think it's hilarious Big Brother Canada hasn't shut down yet. They've had a quit, two people tossed for inappropriate behavior, and someone threatening to quit now with only one person voted out. And none of that has to do with Corona. Now there's a state of emergency in Ontario where it's filmed. And they're not even a third of the way through the game.
Tenet: Criterion Edition. Now with more Backwards Man.
The best thing about the confinement is that every evening at 8pm, everyone gets to their window to shout and clap hands during a couple of minutes to express gratitude and solidarity to all the doctors, nurses and all the medical personnel on the front line these days.
Anyone running out of things to watch might consider signing up for Mubi, which is currently offering a three-month trial for $1. They have some classics I've never seen like Elevator To The Gallows, Diary Of A County Priest, and 3 Idiots. There's also b-grade trash like The Toxic Avenger for those of you with less cultured tastes.
I've done a few free trials on Mubi (one through the site, the other through Alamo Victory). It only ever seems to be super obscure Eastern European films and whatever forgotten D-list movie Nicolas Winding Refn found in a dumpster somewhere.
