Local conditions

[Spike1007]

I'm also a home-loving introvert (and retired) used to staying home for days at a time. I live alone (with my cat) in my own house, with plenty to watch on TV, do & read, so I should be happy. On the surface, nothing has changed, but it does feel different and I do find myself going a little stir crazy. I'm also a news junkie, which isn't helping at the moment.

[mcdonna]

I've been binge-watching YouTube the past couple of days. News, late night hosts chatting from their homes, funny dogs, beautiful horses, watercolor painting lessons, you name it. I live alone and work from home but am not normally stuck here for days on end. Strategizing a grocery store run. My 14-year-old dog died in December. Now isn't a good time for me to adopt as I may be selling my home this year but I was surfing the PetFinder options last night and thinking about volunteering to foster....

[bwt1213]

I've been binge-watching YouTube the past couple of days. News, late night hosts chatting from their homes, funny dogs, beautiful horses, watercolor painting lessons, you name it. I live alone and work from home but am not normally stuck here for days on end. Strategizing a grocery store run. My 14-year-old dog died in December. Now isn't a good time for me to adopt as I may be selling my home this year but I was surfing the PetFinder options last night and thinking about volunteering to foster....

We've done fostering for Golden Retriever rescues for more than 30 years. Sometimes, it's really easy because you know that this dog is not for you and would be happier with someone else -- and it's a really good dog and you like it. But about half the time, the dog you foster will be one you'll keep forever. True story: a dog named Benny. He was owned by a single woman who married a guy with two labs, and the labs bullied Bennie mercilessly. She gave Benny to the rescue (my opinion is that she should have gotten rid of the guy instead) and so we fostered him. He was nearly white, with fur like cashmere, a gentle dog and friendly with everyone (including all our other dogs). The only trouble he had was getting into our cars -- an Impala and a Chevy Tracker. Then comes a lovely young woman, a school teacher who wanted a dog she could bring to school with her kindergarten classes. SHE had a Lexus. Bennie loved her. He jumped right in her car. There was nothing about that situation that wasn't perfect for him. Good-bye, Bennie.

[Inkita]

We've done fostering for Golden Retriever rescues for more than 30 years. Sometimes, it's really easy because you know that this dog is not for you and would be happier with someone else -- and it's a really good dog and you like it. But about half the time, the dog you foster will be one you'll keep forever. True story: a dog named Benny. He was owned by a single woman who married a guy with two labs, and the labs bullied Bennie mercilessly. She gave Benny to the rescue (my opinion is that she should have gotten rid of the guy instead) and so we fostered him. He was nearly white, with fur like cashmere, a gentle dog and friendly with everyone (including all our other dogs). The only trouble he had was getting into our cars -- an Impala and a Chevy Tracker. Then comes a lovely young woman, a school teacher who wanted a dog she could bring to school with her kindergarten classes. SHE had a Lexus. Bennie loved her. He jumped right in her car. There was nothing about that situation that wasn't perfect for him. Good-bye, Bennie.

What a wonderful story about Bennie! And what a lucky bunch of kindergarten students. I'm waiting until I am too old to travel on long trips before I get another dog but oh, how I miss canine companionship. Most of my life I have a herd of cats and one dog--now I'm down to one formerly feral cat that has taken 14 years to become truly bonded. I love to imagine myself getting kittens and a puppy together in some not so far distant future but right now both travel and responsible pet ownership (vet bills) are looking questionable.

[mcdonna]

Pandemic update: went grocery shopping again to get some basics. The first store had eggs, meat, milk, and a wide assortment of produce, but were completely out of rice and dried beans. They had shut down the bulk foods bins where you scoop out stuff. They had some bread but not my favorite kinds. They also had no toilet paper and were almost out of Kleenex (facial tissues) as well. Went to another store and was able to get one of the last 3 bags of rice, and my favorite bread.

Funny note: the first store had a bin of movie theater candy -- boxes of Milk Duds, Whoppers, JujyFruits, Reese's Pieces, and Good & Plenty, all in the packaging they have at the theaters. They were $1/box, a lot cheaper than at the theater. Since the local movie venues are closed, I'm guessing that they were glad to be able to dump their inventory with the grocer. Too bad they didn't get the popcorn machine as well!

We've done fostering for Golden Retriever rescues for more than 30 years. Sometimes, it's really easy because you know that this dog is not for you and would be happier with someone else -- and it's a really good dog and you like it. But about half the time, the dog you foster will be one you'll keep forever. True story: a dog named Benny. He was owned by a single woman who married a guy with two labs, and the labs bullied Bennie mercilessly. She gave Benny to the rescue (my opinion is that she should have gotten rid of the guy instead) ....

That's a great story! I've never fostered before but it seems like a good way to give back to dogs who give us so much love and companionship.

I contacted Portuguese Water Dog Rescue in California back in the mid-90s. They connected me with a breeder who had a female, Samantha (Sam), who had been purchased as a show-quality pup. When Sam was about nine months old, her fiancé insisted that Sam be spayed. So she spayed Sam and married the man, and then he decided that he didn't want the dog in their life at all. So Sam was returned to the breeder, who was thrilled to have her back because Sam's mom had died unexpectedly and she hadn't kept any of her puppies. Then she discovered that Sam had been spayed. Like you, the breeder and I both thought she should have kept the dog and dumped the fiancé!

Sam's next family kept her for almost four years before deciding that she was "unmanageable." They said she wouldn't walk on a leash, charged through doors, wouldn't come when called, etc. So they returned her to the breeder and got a Golden Retriever, whom evidently they could train. Tough for Sam but good fortune for me as she was a great dog. It took less than a week to teach her to come, sit, wait for okay before going through the door, and walk on a leash without pulling. She was an independent thinker but was smart as a whip and just needed clear boundaries.

Sam loved everyone she met, including cats, and was always up for playtime. We had many good years together; she passed away a week shy of her 16th birthday. She has her own web page at https://mcdonnas.com/sam/ though of course she hasn't updated it in quite a while.

[bwt1213]

We've been getting groceries by having someone in the store bring them out to us. I've noticed in various places that almost no one seems to be wearing a mask. My wife and I are both in several high-risk groups and we wonder about the lack of good manners and good sense; masks are supposed to stop YOU from giving whatever you have to someone ELSE, not so much the reverse. But that's apparently not what most people think. Or maybe they just don't care about anyone else. It's rather sad.

[bwt1213]

We're not at European levels in this new round of infection, but perhaps we'll get there. We did set a new daily high for the USA and Wisconsin has been a hot spot for the last several weeks and it's pretty obvious why. But I was talking to my brother in Michigan and they're rationing toilet paper and out of disinfectant again, with scattered shortages of various other items. I haven't seen that here yet and hope not to, but how about everyone else? And how is it in Europe right now? I understand Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Chechia, and a whole swathe of other countries are being overwhelmed -- we just set a record with more than 101,000 new cases today, but if we (the USA) were at the peak levels in Europe in some places, we'd be over 500,000 new cases each day. That's simply incredible, and I hope it doesn't turn into a massive dying in a few weeks. News, please?

[crazykate]

Well, cases in Austria have seen a sharp uptick in the past week or so, which is why our government has just announced a sort of semi-lockdown and curfew to take effect next week. Shops will remain open with strict distancing rules in effect, but all events are cancelled, restaurants are restricted to deliveries and hotels, cinemas, concert halls etc are closed.

What you have to consider when comparing numbers is that different countries have different testing strategies. Of course some countries are harder hit than others, but if two countries use different strategies for testing, the numbers will look different even if they actually have a similar rate of covid cases. For example, in Austria, when someone tests positive for CoV, the contact tracing strategy means that everyone who was in close contact with that person up to two days before they first developed symptoms that prompted them to get tested, will be tested as well, and they also have to go into quarantine for 10 days. If they also test positive, their contacts will get tested as well. This means that many asymptomatic infections are caught and quarantined as well. Ideally, this method stops a cluster of infections to spread further. It doesn't always work as intended, particularly if there was a big party involved (about a month ago there was a cluster with a few dozen infected at a wedding with 700 guests). But some countries don't test all the contacts, they just send them into quarantine. Since you usually find out that one of your acquaintances has tested positive about 2 or 3 days after they started having symptoms and they could have been infectious two days before that, it's possible that you caught it and passed it on before confining yourself at home, which means that by not testing quarantined contacts there's more of a chance that further infections will not be registered.
A lot of employers also have employees take weekly covid tests to be on the safe side. Healthcare workers may be tested even more often.

Of course the development is worrying, but the hope is that with the new restrictions we'll keep the hospitals working well below maximum capacity.

[floppers]

Melbourne, (and Melbourne Metropolita) Victoria, Australia, has been in various stages of lockdown for the past 7 months, the requirement of the lockdowns have been...work from home if possible, retail shutdown excluding supermarkets/grocery/fuel/pharmacy..most retail has moved online delivery/click and collect...zero onsite/instore dining, alcohol...drivethrough/takeaway/delivery only. Schools/preschool/childcare closed except for the children of essential services workers, all workers required to hold a permit. Mandatory masks for over 12yos, people with medical exemptions, teachers when face to face/classroom environments (I've elected to wear one all the time), at all times when outside the home. Four reasons to leave home 1. obtaining essential supplies (food/medicines), 2. medical appointments, 3. 1 hour outdoor excercise, with a maximum of one other person not from your household, socially distanced, 4. Caring (ie. for elderley/ill/incapacitated), all activities within 5km of your home address (with the exception of work/medical). "Intimate Partners" not living together, for maybe a month and a bit we had a 9pm to 5am curfew. No gatherings, no visitors, physical/social distancing....I think that was about it. We have had a reasonablygood social security response, and pretty good support for helping businesses stay afloat (but there will be, and already are casuaties. Testing levels are high, fourteen day infection average is 2.2, we have had two days of 0 infections, 0 deaths.

Restrictions have eased in the last week...now 25km from home, schools reopened last week, retail is open with strict distancing rules, numbers allowed in store, same with restaurants, hair and beauty...junior sport is recommencing...we are in the last month of Spring. Fingers crossed.