Chat about Novel Coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - COVID-19

Who is on the advisory panel?
Will they be responsible for rationing?

Base rate cut to 0.1%, not much room to pull that lever again.

Bonkers. I mean why bother? If you’ve told everyone to go home and stay home what good is going to do making their money cheaper?

It’s like sticking a knife in the heart of the economy whilst simultaneously offering an aspirin

so life on east ham high street this afternoon as i break my self isolation WFH stroll after lunch

1. pawnbrokers emptying their shopfront windows but not closing
   
2. plenty of old folk out shopping for bits and pieces putting brave faces on
   without masks.
   
3. greggs sausage rolls, is it me or have these now shrunk still £1 each take away only
   
4. £10 for 4 pack of toilet roll in the corner shops
   
5. punters verbally abusing chemist staff as they queue single file outside
   
6. only handful of salad bits left in the veg racks of Lidl, Iceland, Tesco Metro, Sainsbury overheard a kid asking 'why dont we eat cucumber mum'
   
7. Primark empty
   
8. JD sports closed
   
9. footlocker closed
   
10. all betting shops empty
    
11. McDonalds empty take away only
    

Had a panicky call from my ex about going back to NZ. Her and our kids have NZ passports but I’ve just realised that my Returning Residents Visa isn’t in my new passport.
I’m freelance and haven’t worked for a couple of months so it’s looking likely I won’t be able to pay my rent next month.
I had resigned myself to just hanging on for a few months and trying to ride it out but now if they go back I’ll seriously consider just dropping everything (debts, most of my possessions etc), and heading out.

This all assumes that they’ll keep borders open for residents and we’ll actually be able to get flights.

Not sure if an over reaction or not.

I get it won't happen overnight and that in the meantime there's going to be a lot of pain felt by a lot of people. But I still don't see why things won't recover. Slowly, falteringly, yes. But recovering from where we're at, and where we'll end up, is possible. Hard, but possible.

Shouting into the ether here but how much food and loo roll do we fucking need? How many thousands of tonnes of of food is just going to get wasted?

Yeah no idea, they left a mountain of boxes behind.

See this lots. It´s because their shite diet means their cardboard recycling bin keeps filling up before the lorry comes round to empty it. In this part of the world (BE/NL) supermarkets have dedicated crates behind the tills where staff put empty fruit n veg boxes so that customers can reuse them to take their shopping home. Sometimes it´s hard to find the boxes under the heap of frozen meal cartons.

This is me. In times like these we need strong, dictatorial leadership.
(When missus-ru recovers and is out of bed, obviously I will defer to her.)

what do we think this is going to do to the most important market of all... vintage bikes?!

In my situation I have entered into contracts with suppliers and handed over money. Most of these suppliers have had contracts with their largest clients cancelled and are now living on borrowed time. They only carry enough reserves for a few months of operation.

So the big reason why a lot of small business owners won't be able to give it another go will be because they won't have any money to do so.

In my case, it looks likely that I will have lost a minimum of 50% of my startup capital.

So the big reason why a lot of small business owners won't be able to give it another go will be because they won't have any money to do so.

Don’t worry the govt will pay you to borrow it

https://youtu.be/dPwl9YHjoS8

Please share...

How long do I pay my employees for knowing that they likely won't be able to get another job when I stop paying them?

When all my money runs out? How do I decide who's needs are more important? It's shit.

Contact INZ or whatever they are called. They should be able to tell you if you meet the criteria to have your RRV transferred into your new passport.

If so it may be a simple case of pay the fee and am guessing they would prefer you send in the passport for the label to be issued.

(I used to work for INZ and handled partnership visa applications but things my have changed since then)

how come they were completely out of all bread and milk by 11am today?

50 person shopped on that days instead of the usual 15.

Suspect the local funeral home is going to be the only place giving bonuses at the end of the year.

Wonder what you need to do to qualify for a bonus?

Yep

Shit has changed a bit

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/already-have-a-visa/transferring-my-visa-to-a-new-passport

Drive a JCB?

That's so grim

Sorry to read about all this. There's a lot of hard shit right there, could you work out a reduced payment to your staff to try and make it to clearer waters? My sister's just been semi-laid off, but with a £145 per week payment and the option of re-hiring when the pandemic is over.

I see...

Ah cheers, I hadn’t seen that page. Been trying to call Visa section at the Commission. Looks like 15 days if I go for an eVisa.

Would it be worth going down to NZ house to try and sort?

My partner was offered a permanent contract, but they are shutting down most of one part of the company in England, so it is unlikely he gets it now. So he may get reduced hours for now, but he has money left and I can pay all bills. So it is totally a luxury problem but it just show how it can happen to lots of people in many sectors (he is PM for manufacturing)

One a lighter note, the estate agent nearby has a note on the door: Please knock for information and is now communicating via the means of letterbox shouting and passing notes.

WD tesco express was full yesterday, today theres absolutely nothing.
Effra rd sainsburys is the most baron shop ive ever seen in my life, the only two items in the fresh fruit and veg aisle were pomegranates and lambs lettuce

No meat other than chorizo. no tofu.
No crisps, cereal and not a single item on the canned/dried food aisle.

Is there any way to stop this with crowdfunding?

If say, at least the rent/bills are paid on the building will that help?