General Table Talk

Sorry for the delay, things have been a bit busy for the last few days. I should be able to post within a day or three.

no worries :slight_smile:

So, our city just implemented mandatory masking in the town center.
Luckily, the worst of summer is behind us. The sun is trying to kill me.
Still... Social distancing, it leaves a toll on relationships. And I'm kinda used to it, and I see people, so I worry about elders.

Anyway, I want to go back to the spider. I like to have her in my headspace. Sadly, I have little time for this.
At some point, I thought of a discussion between Eva and another kid from the covenant, in which we saw her relationship with the old witch through her eyes, it was fun, but I couldn't write it down (thinking while walking). And I forgot the geist of it.

And she needs to get rid of valten. She won't rest easy until then.

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How about a slow burn story about Arachne versus Valten?

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Well, we had a plan to lure him at val-negra, and I had a plan to trap him, but I forgot everything :smiley:
So this'd need discussing again, at least.

Truth is, I don't even remember if he acted on his own or not, which sucks. Arachne wouldn't rest easy knowing she took care of the tool, not the hand.

So what do I remember? Valten, a verditius, send everyone into twilight. Yeah me! :sweat_smile:

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I remember though, and I know the answers to questions never asked.

Completely unrelated to the previous discussion:

How's everybody doing?
How was your weekend?

Now, I live en Denmark, a small and quiet country, and things are...quiet. COVID is still a thing, but after localized rises in numbers, we're back down. We need to use masks in public transport, and a lot of events are called off due to size. Otherwise it's just distancing, hand sanitizer, and stay home if you have any symptoms. Schools are open, as are shops and other workplaces. While the economy has suffered, and people lost jobs, it could have been worse. My own line of work has been virtually untouched, and we seem to be busy enough, too busy sometimes it seems.

This weenend I spend two consequetive days in Legoland - the real, original one in Billund - with my family and my mother in law, staying the night in a Ninjago-themed cabin. The weather was mostly good, but with periodic showers. Unfortunately I has to miss playing Ars Magica in my Rhine saga, because I had forgotten about the trip and was double booked. It was originally set in may, but COVID postponed it. The group played anyway, and I ned to get an update. My own maga was stuck in Norway anyway, looking for signs of Order of Odin.

Autumn is starting to set in here, night/morning temperatures may be as low as 6C/42F and usually no more than 18C/64F during the day. It's time to harvest the meager spoils from the kitchen garden, none of the leeks, kophlrabi, and schneibohnen are too imporessive. Got a lot of onions though, as well as courgettes - some of which are about the size of Graf Zeppelin. Now I just need to make up some way of cooking them.

How about you all?

Still out of work. The unemployment stopped a month ago. And my nation is on the verge of a bloody civil war.

Good times! :smiley:

Crap. How are you doing, money-wise?
The news in the US are dreaful, I'm worried about what will happen should trumpolini lose the elections. He's already dropped enough hints that it may go badly.
Even if things go smoothly, I

On my side, I was stupid enough to go to the theater the other day.

I thought there wouldn't be many people, yet it was reasonnably crowed :frowning:

Supposedly, everyone must wear a mask and keep it, as well as distances. By law, masks are required at all time in workplaces and enclosed public spaces.
Well, most people entered the room with their masks on, and that's about it.
It was quite frightening.

Later, going back home, I heard music from an outdoor show. I went to hear some of the music from afar. All these people, most of them crowed before the scene, not a mask in sight. I didn't linger.

Bloody people.

Me and my family are doing well so far. No one got sick, but you can feel that tempers are short.

We had a breakout in Quebec City (Quebec, Canada), where I live, with about 50 cases detected so far, due to some idiots thinking that it's ok to go out and party at multiple bars while waiting for their test results. Including karaoke bars. :roll_eyes:

We look at all the trouble going on in the U.S.A. and worry for our many friends out there. You are our closest neighbours, and we usually feel repercussions for what you do - culturally, politically and of course with the economy as well. Some people here try to apply the same ideas that you do, whatever they are (from far right to far left) and whether they fit or not to our culture and history.

For example, we never had they level of systematic racism (though we've had and still have our own share of discrimination) that there was south of the border, but now people are throwing down monuments based on that. Humanity seems bent on erasing their past instead of trying to learn from it. Sigh.

I have income from investments, so financially things have been fine. On the other hand my son is convinced that my ex wife is trying to get him infected with coronavirus so he will carry it to me and kill me, as she apparently believes she and the kids are immune and I am vulnerable.

The money is at an end. The Fed bonus ran out in July and my state unemployment benefits are almost empty. I did pay down many debts while the Fed benefits were flowing. I did spend a lot of money on gaming books. When greenbacks inflate to worthless, I can sell them on e-bay for blue backs.
:smiley:
But in all seriousness, I have no idea what happens next. I am a low wage worker with no formal education. And I am fifty. I do not want to go back to the ktchens and I think all restaurants should stay closed until there is a vaccine.

I suspect they will have low demand even afterwards. When there is a vaccine people will probably celebrate and there will be a spat of people gong out to eat, but the fact is people have gotten used to eating at home again, and while the economy is in recovery aren't likely to make frequent meals out a priority.
I'd suggest enrolling in some online job training, preferably something where you can get aid or financing that can help you survive while you are in school...

I just want to retire, stay secluded in my home, and play RPGs online the rest of my life.

Believe me, I get that, its more or less what I'm doing at age 48. But you have to have the investments to sustain that lifestyle.

Yeah, my life savings is a grand total of negative $20,000
and about fifty in the bank.
And Jesus.
That's all I got.

In Denmark, when the pandemic really hit and people were sent home, the government issued help packages. Businesses could apply for this, to cover some or all of the employees' wages as well as expenses like rent. The condition was that they did not fire people. The point was, than on return to (some semblance of) normalcy, businesses did noit have to go out and hire new people to train, but could start right away. Most established workers, with union agreements perhaps, have 3 months' notice, so firing them seems unviable unless the shutdown was very long. But sure, many businesses suffered anyway, especially self-employed people, restaurants etc.
The shutdown wasn't that long here, and most people are back. Many lines of work, like mine, could be done effectively from home, with a good internet connection.
As of now, the help packages have expired, and the government is implementing a deal where businesses (production especially) who have inadequate orders in the book for their employees, can alternate workers between working and sending them home with wage compensation.
We pay high taxes for this safety network. I dread to think how many Americans not only lose their jobs but may lack proper medical attention due to finances and lack of insurance.

My wife and I are lucky, as we are both government employees whose job can be done remotely. We've been working from home since mid-March, not missing a single day of work and collecting our full salary. No children at home, so remote work is going fairly well.

There are several programs here to help support those who lost their jobs, including one like Christian describes to help businesses retain their employees, but that one was announced a bit late so it hasn't been popular. There is also also a federal program for people who were laid off. That one has a side effect, though, as it is generous enough that a lot of people stayed home even as businesses were reopening. Thus causing worker shortages in some sectors like agriculture and restaurants. Some restaurants closed down again because they couldn't get enough employees to operate.

Children are back to school now and all businesses are open, with safety measures in place. So the number of cases is creeping up, though mostly amongst young adults, so thankfully hospitalizations and deaths remain very low.

We are in quarantine here. My oldest daughter and I got tested last week and she came back positive. She is stuck in her room and the rest of us are in house. She is just fatigued. :crossed_fingers:

My wife and both can work from home. I expect I will not be back in the office until post Q1 2021. Our area is picking up a little bit but we will see.