Neon’s A Doll A Day… Again (2020)

[Elfy]

Cheerful in the face of anything.

[Alliecat]

Carly is always so cheerful and cute.

Of course, if the entire island population ends up infected, they'll know where it came from! 

Actually no, because half the island goes to Florida or other southern states for March break, and they’re all coming back now. Also staying away from people is probably a good idea right now anyway here, because apparently there is some horrible stomach bug going around and I don’t want that! I’m hoping that all the people who were throwing up in the washrooms on the ferry tonight were just seasick (it was still windy, so a bit rolly) & didn’t all have that bug

[Lejays17]

Cheerful Carly!

And I love both the Friday 13h pics, the Circus girls are always great too see.

I was a bit sad that my game got cancelled - it was the last one of the season for one of my teams. And I doubt we will get to play finals this year as they start next week.

[neon_jellyfish]

Thank you very much, guys!!!

Davidd, Carly seems to be really happy about discovering giant glowing skull! (And what a lovely mishap, posting her here, but be careful, if Her Insane Majesty takes interest in her, it will be hard to get her back )


Day 74

ETA: TL;DR - it's a mess, the hysteria is getting worse, but nobody died so far. Our government sucks. Almost everything is closed as of today. You can skip the rant and look at the photos now.


Re: the coronavirus spreading crime - that's pretty much how government works here. Fear tactics are the first solution to everything. When they put first people in quarantine, they said that anyone who breaks it and goes out will be fined 3 million Crowns, roughly 126 000 USD. That's insane! You usually don't pay that much even when you injure someone, and people here just don't have that kind of money. It's just meant to scare people into complying and make it look like government is doing something about the epidemy, but there are no ways for these people to, say, get food or other basic stuff, government won't help with that, they'll just watch and collect money if someone decides not to starve to death.

As for the crime of spreading the virus, it started with people calling ambulance but not admitting they have symptoms, instead they complained about injuries or pains, then medics came without protective gear (because we have a serious shortage of it, so it's being saved for dealing with COVID-19 patients), then those idiots are all like whoopsie, turns out I wasn't injured, I have fever, sore throat and runny nose, also I just returned from Italy, hehe. So to prevent that, they made a law that makes spreading the coronavirus a crime, so when you have symptoms and go somewhere or lie about it, you can go to prison for 6 months, or pay a fine, not sure how much is that one. No idea what are they going to do with people who go to work in the morning then get symptoms midday. It's not thought through, it's just another hot fix scare tactic, mostly to stop people who lie when they call ambulance (no idea why they do it and what do they ex-pect to happen).

* * *

Starting today, all shops except for pharmacies, grocery stores, drug stores, pet shops (those that supply pet food), gas stations and stores that sell electronics and appliances are closed. Banks and such too. You can't even get your car repaired. Restaurants are also closed, those that have take-out windows can sell through those, but nobody is allowed inside. Some restaurants were quite creative with this, making makeshift take-out windows, I didn't manage to snap a picture today, but will try again next week. Basically, they open doors, barricade the lower half with furniture or cardboard, delcare the remaining aperture a take-out window and hand the food through it.

This sudden shutdown made things bad, because the government doesn't give any warnings, so hotels and restaurants that can't switch to take-outs got into serious problems, as well as all the shops that weren't permitted to stay open.

People are starting to panic again, because the government makes new rules and changes the already established ones two or three times a day, so nobody can count on anything.

They also keep changing the nobody in or out policy, so it's confusing. Right now, nobody from countries with coronavirus can come in (unless they're a citizen or have a long-term visa or permission to work here), and Czechs aren't allowed to go to these countries, but safe countries are OK. That will change at midnight, nobody will be allowed to enter, even if they're from coronavirus-free country, and Czechs won't be allowed to go abroad, not even to safe countries. Citizens and people from foreign countries who live here can come back any time, but they have to go to quarantine, tourists can leave, but won't be allowed to return. For some reason, the govt felt the need to specifically state that leaving tourists aren't allowed to come back, eventhough we already have the no tourists in rule. Czech people who are stranded abroad will be picked up by special buses or airplanes, and Czech Republic and other EU countries made an agreement that family members will be allowed to cross the boarders to pick up their families stuck at airports and such. Truck drivers also have a permission to come and go, so the supply of goods should continue without issues.

Czech Republic has 10.65 million inhabitants, as of this writing, there are 189 confirmed cases of COVID-19, one person has serious issues, the same one as yesterday, and they're actually starting to do better now, still no deaths (thank gods). I don't think that the situation is dire enough to warrant all this mess. Plus, when we declare a state of emergency, government is supposed to listen to ex-perts and follow certain procedures, but instead, they're doing what they want, pretending they're solving the issue and getting that sweet sweet screen time, and everyone is eating it up. I'm sick of us.

Whew. Anyhoo, I decided to go on a walk and check what the city looks like when almost everything is closed. There are much less people in the streets, but Prague is usually bursting at the seams, so even with just a fraction of that amount, it's still quite a few people. Here's Liselotte in the Old Town Square with cca 1/10 of the usual March crowd.





I'll go back there when the weather is nice and the hysteria is over, take more photos and tell you about all those buildings.

[werepuppy]

The panic this is spreading is just too much for anyone to deal with, honestly. While taking safety measures is a good idea, it feels like they're aiming to create a lot of mass panic. (Side note: anyone else's anxiety/panic issuee been playing up a lot lately? Mine have.)

In a happier topic - the pictures look gorgeous and it would be amazing to hear about those buildings.

[Lejays17]

I was trying to spot Liselotte at furst, she blended in so well to the general scene.

The buildings look lovely, look forward to hearing more about them later on.

What’s happening in your country sounds awful - the way the government is (not) dealing with things.
Here isn’t as bad by comparison. Everything is still open shops wise, but large events (more than 500 people) have been cancelled.
Local sports games are hit & miss. My softball games were cancelled, but the cricket teams that play in the local oval are still going (I can hear them from our house).
I haven’t had any notification from work about things - I’ve been on leave this week - so will go in tomorrow & see what they’ve decided. I can mostly do my work from home, as long as I have the internet, so I will be generally okay in that regard.

[davidd]

Davidd, Carly seems to be really happy about discovering giant glowing skull! 

Okay, that was the absolute dumbest thing I have ever done on this forum, posting my ADAD pic in the wrong photo-stream!

Gonna go hide under the bed in embarrassment now.

Thank you for the in-depth reporting on Coronavirus measures in the Czech Republic! Our media, despite the 'news' channels having 24 hours to fill each day, does not cover what any other place in the world is doing, so we have little for comparison. Schools and universities are all closing here, even in states (like where I live) with almost no cases.

[Elfy]

The Czech Republic do seem the have overreacted, but if they’d done less you can bet people would have said they didn’t do enough. That’s what is bent said here. The media needs to bear some of the responsibility here, the way they’ve reported in this has whipped up the hysteria.

[Alliecat]

How nice to see some of the buildings around the square. I am glad you were able to go out for a bit and have a look around. It’s interesting to hear what’s going on in other countries, and I’m glad we can share updates here through the common interest of dolls.

[neon_jellyfish]

The panic this is spreading is just too much for anyone to deal with, honestly. While taking safety measures is a good idea, it feels like they're aiming to create a lot of mass panic. (Side note: anyone else's anxiety/panic issuee been playing up a lot lately? Mine have.)

In a happier topic - the pictures look gorgeous and it would be amazing to hear about those buildings.

Oh, dear, I hope you feel better soon, sorry you have to go through this!

I was trying to spot Liselotte at furst, she blended in so well to the general scene.

The buildings look lovely, look forward to hearing more about them later on.

What’s happening in your country sounds awful - the way the government is (not) dealing with things.
Here isn’t as bad by comparison.  Everything is still open shops wise, but large events (more than 500 people) have been cancelled.
Local sports games are hit & miss.  My softball games were cancelled, but the cricket teams that play in the local oval are still going (I can hear them from our house).
I haven’t had any notification from work about things - I’ve been on leave this week - so will go in tomorrow & see what they’ve decided.  I can mostly do my work from home, as long as I have the internet, so I will be generally okay in that regard.

Haha, the Kinský Palace (on the left, with red roof) looks like it was built for Liselotte, doesn't it?

I hope that The Land of Oz will get through it without unnecessary panic.

Davidd, Carly seems to be really happy about discovering giant glowing skull! 

Okay, that was the absolute dumbest thing I have ever done on this forum, posting my ADAD pic in the wrong photo-stream!

Gonna go hide under the bed in embarrassment now.

Thank you for the in-depth reporting on Coronavirus measures in the Czech Republic! Our media, despite the 'news' channels having 24 hours to fill each day, does not cover what any other place in the world is doing, so we have little for comparison. Schools and universities are all closing here, even in states (like where I live) with almost no cases.

Don't sweat it!

Our media tell us about other European countries in detail, a bit about US (and a smaller bit about Canada and South America) and we also have news from Middle East and Asia. I'm mostly just venting, because I'm tired of this hysteria and uncertainty, and I need to get it off my chest, and there's something mollifying (what a beautiful word) about sharing this mess with you guys.

The Czech Republic do seem the have overreacted, but if they’d done less you can bet people would have said they didn’t do enough. That’s what is bent said here. The media needs to bear some of the responsibility here, the way they’ve reported in this has whipped up the hysteria.

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. Causing panic just so people don't say the government didn't do enough is harmful, especially considering they don't really solve important problems we have. I do see where you're coming from, and if the government made systematic steps and took strict, but meaningful measures, I would agree with you, sadly, that's not what is happening here. What they do is causing chaos and panic, and economical problems which will most likely have worse consequences than the epidemy itself.

They're not clear about the measures they take, they don't state clear rules for citizens to follow, they create new rules randomly, then have to change them, because they didn't think it through and the new rules cause problems, they don't concentrate on real problems - hospitals and and other healthcare institutions don't have enough equipment, they've been saying for at least two weeks they don't, yet the government only now started trying to import some of it, because they were too busy making spreading a virus by having it a crime. WHAT CIVILIZED COUNTRY MAKES HAVING A CONTAGIOUS ILLNESS A CRIME?!?! Oof, sorry, it still irks me to no end. They don't listen to ex-perts, and do what they think is right, because they're oh so clever, but as a result, they don't do enough for healthcare, and they actively harm businesses. Although, that might not be stupidity, our prime minister hates small businesses and self-employed people, so that might just be him using the COVID-19 as a cover for getting rid of some of them.

How nice to see some of the buildings around the square. I am glad you were able to go out for a bit and have a look around. It’s interesting to hear what’s going on in other countries, and I’m glad we can share updates here through the common interest of dolls.  

Sharing this with others really helps ease my mind. I'll probably keep complaining about this until it's over...


Day 75

The Great Toilet Paper Panic of 2020 finally arrived to Czech Republic. This morning, media informed about the TP situation in the US, and Czechs, being the idiots with hoarding problems they are, decided it's a marvelous idea and bought every last roll of toilet paper available. I make it a habit to have a month supply at any time, because I'm lazy (though I still wanted to get one package, to keep the month supply, well, a month supply), and I also have enough human and kitty food for another month, so I'm good, but I wish we stopped acting like a confused herd of imbeciles. Fun fact - our 3-ply rolls usually have 200 sheets.



Meanwhile, the few companies able to make surgical masks and respirators are working overtime to make as much as they can, and the Ministry of Finances decided that now is the right time to send tax control committees there.

At least we seem to be successful in retrieving Czech citizens stuck in other countires.

I wanted to go out and snap some pics of the makeshift take-out windows tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to, because it is very likely that Czech Republic will declare some degree of areal quarantine (we should be able to go out, but only under strict rules), but nobody knows any details.

As of this writing, we have 253 confirmed cases of COVID-19, two serious ones (one new and one from before, who's slowly starting to do better), no deaths. For comparison, we have six weeks of common flu epidemy every single year, it kills cca 1500 people during that time, a few dozens die directly because of it, vast majority of victims are people with serious long-term health issues, which got worse because of the flu. This year, around 100 people died of common flu (so far. We're not counting anymore, because of COVID-19). Nobody shut down anything because of it, nobody declared spreading the common flu a crime, everything worked as usual.


The Toilet Horroll!




Blondie, opinionated.



And the original pic.

[Alliecat]

Oh, she's so pretty.  I love the combination of blue and gold.  I'll have to think of what to shoot for a TP-panic photo...
...oh wait.  *idea*


Please do keep us up to date, and complain away...  I love that we have a friendly little community where we can share what's going on.
I'm surprised the TP hysteria is only just reaching you.  I hadn't heard any news while away, & an Australian friend started posting all these things about toilet paper, and I was like "wut...?"  But now I've seen empty shelves here too.  It's always a good idea to have a stockpile of stores for those of us in places that get winter storms.  Or ferries that break down   But buying a year's worth as some people are doing, is kind of silly.

WHAT CIVILIZED COUNTRY MAKES HAVING A CONTAGIOUS ILLNESS A CRIME?!?! Oof, sorry, it still irks me to no end. ...I wanted to go out and snap some pics of the makeshift take-out windows tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to, because it is very likely that Czech Republic will declare some degree of areal quarantine (we should be able to go out, but only under strict rules), but nobody knows any details.

Wow.  I can imagine all this is very frustrating and disturbing.  Going out in the fresh air is good for people... just not congregating in germy crowds.  Making people stay in will just enhance the crazy reactions, because they'll have nothing to do but trawl around social media reading inaccurate news & spreading conspiracy theories (someone here is posting utter nonsense; the virus was concocted to thin the population... ).
I think your restaurants' idea to do take-out windows is very clever, & I hope their business will be helped by doing it.
I just binge-watched "V Wars" season 1 while at the Airbnb in BC; people were going nuts & vigilantes were going after people they "suspected" of being vampires.... it made me think of this virus, that if it continues, people will be suspecting anyone who coughs or blows their nose of having it.  I wasn't anywhere near an outbreak location, but because there were cases within the same province, my boss doesn't want me to come to work & I haven't even heard back about when she & my co-worker plan to give me back my house keys? 

[davidd]

Some moron economist was on cable television last night saying that since people aren't actually using more toilet tissue than usual, now that they've stocked up, they won't be buying more and supplies should stabilize.

I learned in university economics classes that most economists are flat-out stupid and have apparently never lived in the real world. People will NOT stop buying up as much toilet paper as they can find until all media coverage of this pan(ic)demic ceases. There is, as of yet, no end in sight for the panic buying. In fact, it is spreading to other goods, mostly canned foods and staples like flour and sugar.

I wonder where economists get their toilet paper? Apparently they don't have to shop for themselves. I suppose they send their maids out for such things.

At least your Blondie is happy! That should be enough to last her for quite some time!

[Lejays17]

Gonna agree with the second pic of bBlondie - it’s not right with all the panic.

People as a herd are incredibly stupid. And sheep-like in that they follow the general crowd.

[werepuppy]

I can only hope that instructions for you get clearer soon. Not that the UK is doing much better to be honest, but... /shrug

Blondie seems as fed up with it all as you feel.

[Elfy]

A great way to protest the stupidity.