1. Not old. Vintage. :)

What are you up to during lockdown?

Discussion in 'SIG: General Chat' started by Andy Barr, Mar 26, 2020.

  1. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
    Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine

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    Hi Graham, Baz and everyone,

    Baz, OUCH...take it easy mate...Hope all is better...Hope Bev is getting better daily.
    Graham, you sound like you don't have 5 mins to yourself which has to be better than thinking about this appalling state of affairs. As for Bojo, very apt his initials are BJ which is about right for him. As expected Boris talked a lot yet offered nothing real, we can now 'exercise' in the park all day but fines for breaking the lockdown have gone up and yet we are allowed to drive to places, how in the wide wide world of sports does all that mix, sounds like its just an excuse to fine us more. How do you define who is breaking lockdown yet driving to places as allowed?

    Utter lunacy and do not expect a lifting of the lockdown anytime soon, key people are being allowed to work but the rest of us must remain on this lockup (but we can lose weight), more talk of growing your own food, what do I do, dig the park up?
    How kids can return to school or cafes etc can reopen is silly, you can't peddle pandemic and do that, even if the R number drops then logic says there still is risk until no new deaths happens and its sustained so how you can timetable opening of social gathering places seems silly.

    Begs the question of just how deadly this virus is and as seen on the briefing, the medical guy made a huge slip up but revealing openly that it may say COVID19 on the death certificate yet you didn't die from it, good old live TV. So what are we dying from in flu season....Seems its not Covid..

    As for the dickheads, if its the Lea Valley I know, just after Lower Clapton then with the golf course and the skating place and loads of greenery you are bound to get the idiots, the fields behind me are more alive than ever, what used to be a trickle of dog walkers is now a field full of folk and of course my idiot neighbour is bringing folk to the block almost daily and the Police do nothing, its got to a point where we don't use the block front door, but rather our own back door (joys of the ground floor) to avoid these dirty bastards who drop food, spit and don't wear gloves or masks. The nut job even left her washing out for 4 days on the lines, then got it, put more out that got caught in yesterdays big winds and it went all over the floor yet she just left it on the ground for hours.

    And we had fights at the Tesco yesterday, they oddly decided to close early, apparently for staff safety?? now our Tesco like most has people who know the closing time and leave it to a min before to turn up and expect to wander in and do their shopping at their speed ie arrogant DICKHEADS so we had people turning up 20 mins before expected close time being turned away and they were not happy at all, as the staff struggled to keep them out people trying to leave were being caught up in this and all social distancing had gone to hell by now, people outside were grabbing staff and people leaving and fighting them. I being a nosey git sat in the car having finished the shop early as asked and watched as the last minute brigade now arrived, full on fights erupted. Not only did the supermarket not close early but the recently smashin doors got smashed again and at that point we buggered off.

    And another odd thing, while shopping they kept playing a pre recorded message about only buying essentials, this was played every 5 mins or less. Very odd, apart from flour and cleaning stuff they were pretty well stocked and this was the first time I'd heard this message. All very odd..

    Incredibly odd times we are having yet the rich do as they like, no politicians wear masks or gloves but we are being at the point of being told masks are going to be a must in shops and the shopkeepers are almost paranoid about people coming in to smaller shops and yet the masks do very very little, if the person does not have a cough or sneezing then its almost pointless in that the mask won't stop you catching anything, it just stops ill people passing it on by projecting the virus as a cough or sneeze yet if you are like that you should not be out.
    Oh well, ordered some cheap clippers as haircuts are not going to happen for ages yet and I'm starting to look like a tramp that was dragged through a hedge backwards..

    Have fun if you can folks and stay safe...
     
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  2. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
    Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine

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    Oh dear, breaking news, Wuhan in China has reported a new set of virus clusters which will obviously lead to a reimplementation of lock down at some point. BJ will of course cut plans for lockdown easing I'd have thought citing the cases coming back after they eased their lockdown.
     
  3. by Graham
    Graham

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    Well the good news (well I hope) the 800 Arrives today !! the Bad , at my Mums ...
    This morning, replaced the 5V linear reg with the switching one (its bolted to the rear heatsink (which wont, be needed now ( :) )
    And just removed the 12V one. A Few Cap's to replace, a new Switching 12V reg. Hmm and how the hell do I test that ..
     

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  4. by Andy Barr
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    Looking really good, Graham and I'm sure the 800 - if it's all good to go - will give you much pleasure - it's a great, robust quality machine.

    Thank you ever so much.

    Does the drive power up now from the PSU? I think you might get a light come on or a little whirr from the drive mechanism? I'm trying to recall what it does when it's switched on as it's been years since I last powered the bugger up.

    Hmm, maybe it needs a 3" disk inserting before this happens...

    There's a chap here using one -



    If all else fails, just send it back when you're good and ready and I'll link it up to my Oric and report back, fella.

    Cheers, Graham.
     
  5. by Graham
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    Paul It seems so damed crazy, Lea Valley park as you are aware is pretty big as I could walk all the way into London from here, (about 17 miles following the lea Navigation) I should have taken a picture at the time, had a Police crew van parked opposit, the side door open, and a Policeman holding in one end of the Quad they had just conviscated, the other half was sticking out the side and thay had to drive arround to get it out of sight. Just round the corner by the entrance, a Low loader with a Van, both the 'fisherman' had been arrested due to there behaviour when questioned by the officers whom caught them for the 3rd time the same day, as they made it back to their van (uninsured and no tax) other officers were waiting, causing a scuffle.
    The Quad had been reported apparently several times for using the footpaths, and the FF ing idiots driving straight at people on bikes or walking, and trying to do a bit of sensiable exercise.
    Anyway I'd better get back to Andy's Microdrive !!

    Andy (BAZ) Hope the Ibrufen are working, although I was told they could cause an issue due to lowering the bodies defences against Corona Virus, better on Paracetamol ? I'm sure Doc and Nurse Bev will sort you out, and It's so easily done as well.
    Keep safe.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2020
  6. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
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    I used to live in Dalston as a kid so know the Lea area really well (or did, so much has changed in my old stomping ground), used to go to the pitch and putt all the time, Ice skating was never my thing :)

    As for those idiots, yeah we have the same here, when we first moved on the estate there was a car or a bike burnt out almost daily, that has all stopped but we have some Irish families at the back of the fields and the lads from the family are daily riding trails bikes for hours up and down at people and just creating a racket. The Police know who it is but avoid going to the property.

    Seems like it might be similar types that you saw, total idiocy on their part but I suspect apart from a fine they won't pay all they will get is a community service order that of course they won't do. I feel bad for the Police, having to wrestle these twats to the floor, not knowing what they have and no doubt getting spat at at the same time.

    Good luck with the micro drive, such a useful add on for a door stop :)

    Take care, avoid the dickheads mate..

    Paul.
     
  7. by Andy Barr
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    Thanks, Graham.

    Mate, my sister has just text to say the same thing re. the COVID advice but for what it's worth, my back is screaming at me and there's not a peep on the virus front in my battered bones.
    I know Bev's had it and I need to be extra extra careful - but if it wasn't for the ibuprofens right now you might be able to hear me from yours screaming the joint down here - I shouted out several times last night and most of it can't be repeated on this channel but am sure you get the gist. Effing murder was about the extent of the shooting pains coming from my lower back whenever I as much as tried to turn over last night... might as well have been hot needles being jabbed in there.

    Again, those "tales by the riverbank" of people just doing whatever the hell they want and continuing to be a menace to everyone else (who are out for their daily law-abiding exercise) again sums up what our world's become these days - full of selfish shit-for-brains taking the piss whenever they fancy as they feel that they are untouchable.

    I tell yer, I wish something nasty and virus-like would touch them... soon.
     
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  8. by M.D.Baker
    M.D.Baker

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    Still alive and well at the Baker estate. But our vehicles are not. Currently all three of our vehicles are down, we are borrowing a vehicle from a friend and starting to look for new vehicles. It has been like the game wack-a-mole around here, as soon as I fix one issue with a vehicle, another pops up. It's become so overwhelming, even with my brother to help out, that we have started looking to buy vehicles. One hopefully soon, the others once our $1200 in government stimulus arrives, which could be months, as the news says they are months behind on getting out the stimulus.
     
  9. by Andy Barr
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    Shoot... sorry to hear, Matt. Sounds like we're all having issues of one kind or another, ie. financial (most), emotional (most), health (several of us) and then vehicles packing up on us just when we're needing them most... ie. you guys. As you mention, things could be worse - at least your have your bro there to chip in and help out/rally round. Great to hear.

    I truly hope we're all in a better position before very much longer and that the guys we haven't heard from in a week or so - Klyde/Manu, Richie, Allen, Mark/Thark, Rob, Andy and co are also bearing up well considering the incredible strains many are under right now.

    Take care one and all.
     
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  10. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
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    That back sounds awful Andy, my tramadol would sort that out but not trying to push meds on anyone. They are very strong and people often feel like they are having an out of body experience when taking them initially. (that goes soon)

    Nurofen as Bev etc knows is great for reducing swelling, not so much for pain but if the swelling is the pain then its effective.

    And my marathon walks have caught up with me, went to go up the road for exercise and my right shin feels like I'm getting tendon ache so had to use the car. Walking is very very sore but nowt like your poor old back.

    Hoping a full speed fix..

    And just listening to BJ on the TV, what a plum, wear masks in shops now, but if you look on the WHO site it says only people caring for people with the virus OR people showing symptoms of the virus should wear them. So now we have people who are advertising themselves as having symptoms then standing next to you in a queue yet the likelihood is that they have nothing wrong....Confusing or what!

    Drive to places now but don't break the rules but you can stay out in the park etc..Which effing one is it BJ..

    But now you will fine me twice as much yet I won't really know if I'm breaking the rules.
     
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  11. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
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    Jebus Matt, that's shit luck right there...I can only hope things turn around but hearing the stimulus is delayed as I expect the same thing will happen here. I can only wish you the best and hope that they get their finger out, wish I could help but we all seem to be in a similar boat at the moment.

    Wishing you all the very best..
     
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  12. by Andy Barr
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    Here, here, Paul.

    You manage to find clarity in the bunkum - it is crazy and about as clear as mud when you try and sift through what they will now permit...but what they might not...depending upon "people using commonsense" and different police forces interpreting different things in different ways... we are in a complete fix here and really we should all be asked to wear a mask - a different horror mask to display our displeasure to the measures, ie. Dracula, Frankenstein, Mummy etc to show how arsey we're feeling, so in respective order, "It's a pain in the neck", "Yes, I've been in lockdown so long I look like I'm made from different body parts - that don't necessarily fit" and "I'm all wrapped up in this thing - get me out of here, mother!"

    Hmm, go steady on those walks - you predicted your body would rebel and sure enough, fella - I predict a riot so take it steady. Yep, my damaged soft tissue area is definitely swollen and even going into spasm at times so I;m currently hitting it with an ice pack and paracetamol laced with codeine. I'll raise you x10 ibuprofen for 2 tramadol if I'm no better by weekend, Paul!

    Do take it easy folks and do keep smiling/helping each other through - as we all know, small acts of kindness (eg. switching Boris off) can work wonders for you and your nearest and dearest!
     
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  13. by AlexDrito
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    Hi everyone, sorry for being late in this thread. I've read the most of it but there are many messages I still have and want to read. They are all interesting as they come from real life's experiences during this unbelievable time we all are living.

    Back at the good old A.S. I was known as Cercamon, here I changed my nickname and avatar thanks to the kind advice of my daughter. Alexdrito is one of her characters, she likes to invent stories and screenplays, especially with comics-like drawings and animations. So this is one of her protagonists.

    As some of you may recall, I live in Switzerland with my family and it's more than two months now that everyone except me doesn't put their nose out of the house building. There would be so much to say about how the local and the Swiss federal government have managed this emergency but I don't want to get you bored and then most of the things I should say are not convenient in this context.

    Let me just say that me, my wife and two daughters are in good health, we try to work from home, the girls attend their Uni classes with videoconferencing software and so on. Since a part of my job is to support the IT department of business companies, I had an increase of requests when they went for smart working, with so many things to arrange quickly to let them continue to work together.

    What did I do during these quarantine days? Well, not much except working. Saw many movies with the family, cooked a lot, went for grocery shopping once every week, bought a lot of flour and yeast... No gardening, our apartment is at the 2nd floor of three in the building and we only have two not so big terraces with a few plants and flowers to take care of. On the retrocomputing side, I could dedicate some hours to cooperate with the staff of RetroMagazine in order to get our first English issue published. It was a lot of work but we got a fine success and a great feedback from all over the world. Other than that I could go on with some retro coding projects and read a couple of books about the Atari 8 bit and TI 99 assembly programming. Last but not least, Monsieur
    Klyde was good enough to keep the contact with me and tell me about the sad dismissal of the Sector. I'm sorry I could not participate to the group calls of the recent past with you all, but I kept reading your emails and your messages here. Klyde confirmed to be the gentleman we all know when he also offered to help me build a gotek drive for my msx2 which lost the services of the embedded stock 3.5" disk drive. So we are now arranging what is needed and also learning a few things while working on this little project.

    Ok, I now go back reading this thread and your last messages in the forum. I've got to make up for lost time. :) #staysafe
     
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  14. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
    Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine

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    Great to see you on here and so glad you are all safe and sound.

    No one likes the screwed up lifestyle and I fear its just going to get worse with us now being told that the virus may not go away (a very strange prediction or an ominous warning). We have been told to get used to the new 'normal'.

    It amazes me that we as a world have gone through worse than this a few times and we never changed the way of life and now suddenly we have to get used to a total change. For me it stinks.

    At the moment my daughters Uni starting is up in the air and being Art its not really a possible thing via video as she needs certain stuff in the facility.

    Oh well, our families are at least safe and sound and we can still enjoy our hobbies..

    As for our governments, walking disasters making a mess of everything..
     
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  15. by AlexDrito
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    Many thanks, Paul. I kind of missed the long threads of AS that I used to read, so it's great to have the chance to read about you and the other guys. I always appreciated your posts, full of honesty and little stories coming out of the real British life.

    So many things to say about the virus, so many voices, so many fake opinions, the media and the governments have both shown that they are not up to the task. And I'm talking about the countries that I know best: Itay and Switzerland. And when the fear struck the nerve of these two countries, a couple of months ago, I could see the inner and the deepest differences between them. They were called to choose between money and health, human values against mundane values, life or shares. Of course, they're both important, but what's the real priority in a moment like this?

    I live in Switzerland and I have witnessed an unseemly and horrible spectacle from the political and government authorities, both local (our region Ticino is part of a federation, a bit like in Germany or Scotland) and national/federal. What's emerged is that the economical interests have prevailed at the beginning of this crisis and only because of the many protests by enraged citizens they have changed their initial idea of letting the virus spread without any effective actions. A bit like what happened in the UK, where your frankly clueless Prime Minister was forced to backtrack from initial decisions. In Italy, everything went very differently with strict measures taken on time and with the idea of saving as many lives as possible. The same happened in France, as far as I know, and in many other European countries.

    I don't think that people will really change their lifestyle after that or because of that. Certainly, people will still be divided into two fronts: those who will stay cautious and respect the rules and those who will think that everything is over so that they can happily return to their former lives, no matter what. Me and my wife, we definitely belong to the first group, especially because we'd like to keep the virus off our daughters, even if they are now grown up and probably safe from any danger to develop the disease in a risky form.

    I'll keep reading your impressions, opinions and stories. The moment is a crucial one in our lives, so it's important to be informed and reflect on our condition. #staysafe
     
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  16. by Graham
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    Welcome AlexDrito !

    I guess it goes without saying how nice it is to hear other people’s outlooks on the current situation the world faces, alas with the hardships it’s also causing,
    Gives a whole new meaning to what we all hold dear to us.

    Matt I'm sorry to hear of your problems with transport, I'd be guessing, but I think you live out in the bookies so transport is a must. I guess the long trip to help your Brother hasn't helped one of your trucks. Shame you can't nick bits off one to fix the others so to speak, but I'm guessing even if they were the same manufacture, they would be different ages with different parts. Life can really suck, and then some, but I guess the good thing is that you have helped your brother, and likewise being with you you'll now get his help and companionship and who knows maybe another convert to things Retro.


    The best we all can do is being there for our families, especially in time of need.


    Keep safe all of you
     
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