How is the Virus affecting you?

[tomsredstratos]

Hi,

Has the virus affected you yet? Workwise or home life?
The wife of the owner of a bodyshop we use confirmed positive a few weeks ago. They had just returned from Switzerland.

My work is very quiet. I am sitting at home on a Monday morning and have had quiet a few days off recently.
There has been a huge downturn in the classic car market last 12 months. Cars are not being restored because of the price drop/market adjustment.

So great news in early February when DK Engineering called me to be involved in two restorations. A lot of work for me. Many of their customers are above the lower end of the classic market shall we say.

Car No 1.
Car was stripped last year and sent to the Ferrari factory for the bodywork and paint as part of the Classiche certification.
Paint is finished on Fri 21 Feb and would be inspected by us on Tues 25 and probably transported that day. Ferrari calls work on the Monday and informs us the factory is closed to visitors. As we have all seen Italy in lock down now.
So that car im kind of stuffed on.

Car No 2.
We stripped and restored all the mechanicals/loom etc in January. Paint shop stripped the body and chassis ready for Classiche inspection. We cant send the car to Italy and they cannot come here.
Project is now stuck. DK are looking at the possibility of setting up a video link to the factory and do the inspection that way.

Last year I booked my Stratos in to the Laon historic rally in France,airb&b house,ferry all sorted. Doesn't look like that event will happen.

Watching the news almost seems like a Hollywood movie. Now I have a few days off my wife told me to go and do the weekly shop today,find out later whats left in the shops. If anything!

Myself and my sister look after my mother whos in her 90's. As one of us visits daily we are a bit worried about taking the bug round there. We do the food/bins/cleaning etc but if we dont go somebody else would have to so always a risk.

Im not making light of this virus by posting this im just wondering how we are all being affected,if at all.

I have just decided to forget the shopping as its a lovely sunny cold day and im getting my mountain bike out to do a 15 miler.

So has it affected you?
Stay healthy and I hope all the events this year wont be cancelled. Hope to see you all this year.

[john]

Hi Tom,
interesting news and good sentiments in there.
Can tell you are in a reflective mood!
Your situation shows how easily this thing is going to affect us all.
We have seen no effects at all so far, managed to do whatever food shopping we needed this morning. Shops were busy but no sign of any panic.
Amusing scene in Aldi where everything was limited to four of each, including banana's it seems where one lady had to remove one from her bunch of five!
We are in the joyous position where we dont have to go out to work any more but we understand thats not possible for everyone.
Shame about the Laon. Frederic has had a few events cancelled on him too, but I guess its a price we all have to pay to help the most vulnerable in our society.
I don't think the world has yet got to the point where nobody cares for one another.
Enjoy your ride. Lovely and sunny here too.

[Normb666]

Personally, it's not affected me much at all - being a miserable, anti-social git I hardly ever go out anyway :)

OK, I'm kidding a bit there, but I'm not one for going to many "mass gatherings" apart from the odd show. Work-wise I already work from home every Monday, so any extension of that won't be a problem. No parents to worry about, so the only real problem is finding something left at the supermarket...went yesterday and there were no onions or carrots (???) and bread (no surprise at that one). But what's with the stockpiling of loo rolls? I can only assume it's cos people are sh*tting themselves...

As far as the club's concerned, I'm just waiting for the ban on large gatherings which will stop Stoneleigh and the AGM in its tracks, but we're ready for that. But it could be a bit of a quiet year for get-togethers if the ban happens, so the major events will be garage days and the two scheduled drive-outs, as the numbers at these will be below the limit (I hope). But we'll still have the forum so we can still insult each other online! :)

[jasonlycett]

Pretty badly. Likely to have my job contract prematurely ended in the next 2 months. My company provides engineering services to Rolls-Royce the Jet Engine manufacturer. They are looking to push out my current project and reduce cost by keeping some previously outsourced services in house. Rolls-Royce shares have nearly halved in the last week :(

[Longtimefan]

Carol & I, on our children's instruction, are self isolating!!, which started last Monday, getting bored already. Grand children are looking at us through the window like gold fish.:(

We are in the throes of decluttering of at least 45 years accumulation of stuff, never seen the place so tidy, (parts of it) and I managed to fit a towel rail radiator in the second bathroom yesterday, that I should have done 40 years ago!!!!! :):)

[Stratos Fear]

We've not been affected much so far but my wife's parents are both in their 90's and rather fragile so we are having to be very careful with our visits. My daughter works at Rolls Royce Motors and is texting to say how bored she is at work - but at the same time worried about being laid off. They have a scheduled 2-week shutdown at Easter but this seems likely to be extended. A significant part of the RR business is in China and the US and both are now in lock-down so there is an increasing quantity of expensive custom-spec motors building up in the RR car park - but additionally an increasing shortage of parts coming in from China. Sooner or later things will grind to a halt.

So let's all go to our windows, and join with our neighbours in singing "Always look on the bright side of life"

[renmure]

It hasn't impacted us directly yet. Wendy has worked from home 2 or 3 days / week for years so that side of things is seamless. I only work 6-8 hrs/week so can be pretty flexible about where and when I do it so that helps. We also live in a rural location with only a handful of neighbours within a few miles so are pretty isolated at the best of times. It also helps that I'm an antisocial git. The nearest village shop is 4 miles away and I think the regulars would be too embarrassed to be seen taking all the toilet roll. The only thing I've stocked up on is paint and DIY stuff from B&Q incase I need to go on an enforced DIY blitz.

Without coming across all "Daily Mail".. we completed the sale on a couple of properties last month, one in the UK and one in the US, and feel jolly lucky that everything went through when they did. I expect buyers might be a bit more nervous and jittery now only a few weeks later. We've certainly stopped any active house hunting or shelved plans for major spending for the moment.

[LPH_UK]

After today's announcement I'm sure it will be about the seriously affect a lot of people.

I'm self employed and busy at the moment (hence not working on the car) I rent a desk and share a small office with 4 people but may start working from home. Can pretty much do everything remotely anyway. All files on the cloud etc.

Son (13) still at school but have a feeling they will close schools on Friday. They've already been checking we all have good home internet. Other half works for the NHS and it's business as usual for her. Strange they aren't testing staff t make sure they aren't passing it on to all the elderly ill people she sees.

My pension pot and a stocks and shares ISA had lost shit loads......but I guess I'll have to ride it out now and wait for the recovery, whenever that comes.

Worried for my parents though. Mum is 74, dad 86 and various health problems including cancer recently. They live 2 hours away so I'm not around to help.
Other half's dad is 74 too and has a pacemaker, her mum is a similar age and a diabetic. And on top of that (after today's advice) her sister will have to go into 12 weeks of self-isolation as she's a transplant patient and is on immuno-surpressents. Difficult with a 7 year old.

So overall a bit shit to be honest. Just hope everyone is OK and we can ride it out. Strange times.

Bet this scuppers me getting the car on the road this summer too :(

Take care and stay well all!

[Normb666]

Leigh, look on the bright side - if you do get the car on the road, you can bung some juice in (pay at the pumps, natch) and go for a drive, knowing you'll have the roads pretty much to yourself... :)

[Lancialulu]

Lots of garage time ahead.... I have been self isolating since returning from France 2 weeks ago with a bad cold which I can't seem to shake off. Doesn't stop me putting in 6 hour shifts in my man cave. Luckily I have a lot of projects to keep me occupied (none Stratos but all Lancia). It may mean by the end of it I need a new hobby having got cars out of my system!! So at the minute I am stripping,re-conditioning and rebuilding a 1300cc narrow V Fulvia engine. I have a close ratio gearbox to swap in another car, and I will be refreshing another Fulvia engine for a friend which will involve an engine out/in.

Oh I might get roped in to to some urgent DIY that has not been able to creep up the priority list for the last 5 years.

Luckily I am retired......

[AndyGuyton]

I really feel for people who are affected with this, both through health and their work. Thankfully, so far, we are unaffected. I've pretty much been working alone for the last 20 years, and I don't rely on people coming through the door for work, but my wife runs a centre for vulnerable adults with learning difficulties. This may have to close for a while, but because she works on a voluntary basis, we won't be effected financially. Of course, the people she helps will be the ones to suffer. As many others on this forum, we both have parents who are well into their 70-80's, and although it is a worry, they're all pretty pro-active when it comes to health and exercise. So fingers crossed, and I don't want to tempt fate here, but we should be ok.

It's the panic buying that really gets my goat! - Why loo rolls??? We've all got access to running water, bars of soap and flannels haven't we?

I'm not sure what foods are selling out yet, but we try and make everything from scratch using organic and GF ingredients where possible. I can't see this sort of thing flying off the shelves...but you never know.

Hope you're all staying safe and healthy out there.

[tomsredstratos]

I can show you Car No.2 now DK have put it on YouTube and social media. We can only share media about cars once they have.

Bit of progress with the metallurgy testing. Just got to wait for the paint to dry:confused: Should see it end of the year.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-34516519

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZL_vQ1zv0A

[LPH_UK]

:eek: good Lord I love a 250 SWB. My lottery win car I reckon........

[Bernard]

Nice one Tom (fancy swopping jobs?)
Never realised that they were made from so many body panels stitched together !... a proper jigsaw !
When they produce "stage" video's of the restoration ... please post as I would like to see this one through to the end.
Cheers
Phil

[Longtimefan]

Contrary to post 5, place is now in upheaval. Wife is working from home, and decided to commandeer my minuscule office (6 x 8ft) and install her own Computer, screen and Laser printer alongside mine, not much room left. But before that could happen she had to clear my desk off and the draws in one desk pedestal, that was 3 days ago and I'm still sorting that out.

Had to upgrade the WiFi last night, and this morning resolve the issue of why she could receive emails but not send them, which for a pair of technical ignoramuses like ourselves was somewhat fraught with us nearly coming to blows. However, I did earn some brownie points when suddenly it worked, not got a clue how I got there!!!

In addition to the equipment, most of the file content of her office has arrived on the kitchen floor as well! But hey ho, back to the sorting, I've probably got another 10 weeks or so to sort it.

At least the weather is great at the moment, may eventually have to go and sit in the car in the garage to self isolate, in more ways than one.

Stay safe.

Robin.

p.s. Now also have the role of head tea boy during daylight hours.

[ProtoTipo]

p.s. Now also have the role of head tea boy during daylight hours.

You can now claim 80% of what you earn as a tea boy, Robin.
As long as you can prove it's been a role of your's for some time.

[tomsredstratos]

Its good new for the self employed today. Its been a worrying time for many.

I have been making tea most of my career....cos nobody else can do it right:mad:

[ProtoTipo]

As long as you can prove it's been a role of your's for some time.

Actually, I didn't think that through, because the tea making (in your case Robin) hasn't come to a stop for any reason.

Tom,
I'm sure it's fairly good news? You'll need to eek things out 'till June though.

[Lancialulu]

Actually the govt grant to self employed is on annual profits not income so a huge difference for most....

[Longtimefan]

No Chris, the tea making has actually increased!!! And as far as being self employed, as some of you will know, I'm well past retirement age and have been trying to scale the business down, (without a great deal of success at the moment).

Robin

[renmure]

My "it's not really affecting me" from last week is now all changed to "no work and no income" this week and no prospect of things changing till normality returns. ... Yikes, that escalated quickly!! Anyone wanna buy an STR? ;)

I'm not quite sure if I've slipped into unemployment or early retirement. I prefer the sound of the latter.

Having spent the last 2 days scrubbing and power-washing the deck I feel exercised enough, and sore enough, that I might cancel the gym membership and save up for better wellies.

Anyhow, I'm off to walk the dogs. Again.

[ChrisC]

I am self isolating at home at the moment as my daughter who is a doctor has gone down with the coronavirus. Lack of PPE at her surgery was the primary cause!!

I am managing to keep myself busy with another replica I managed to get hold of last year, its a re-bodied 1965 Ferrari 330 that had succumbed to rust many years ago. The 250 SWB body was built in aluminium by the respected Ferrari body builder Chris Lawrence, sadly it was the last body he built before he passed away in 2006 and his widow sold the partially finished car to a friend of the family who completed the build but not to a very high standard (hence me being able to afford it).

I have spent the last nine months putting right most of the hidden nasties by fabricating some new inner panels and sorting a lot of bodged mechanical jobs. Just need to tidy the external body panels and prepare the body for a fresh coat of paint. I also need to try and finish the Stratos, this should keep me busy for the next few months of our current crisis.

15991

[john]

It's nice to keep busy Chris, and what a project!
Best wishes to your daughter for a speedy recovery.
We need her back!
I got the feeling when Hancock was on the tele more than a week ago saying how ppe supplies were going out, that he was fudging. They've been caught on the hop and will likely pay for it in the long term.
Whatever your politics are this was never going to be easy to prepare for, but analysis will come later and I believe it wont make good reading.

[Normb666]

I agree John, the government have indeed been caught out. But ya know, they're just people, so they can't know or control everything, and they sometimes get it wrong. Even happens to me - I know, you're amazed at such an admission, right? :)

I'm working from home full time now. Classed as an "essential worker" as I support core IT systems in the water industry, even though I'll be redundant in early May...yeah, go figure...!! I was kinda hoping we'd still be able to get out for a drive, but that's had the kibosh put on it now. So not having a Stratos yet isn't so bad, cos I'd not be able to drive it anyway (just how much shopping CAN you get in one? Anyone know? Obviously nothing frozen in the boot :) )
Still got the other motors and bikes that need some TLC, so I can get a fix that way. And I've just ordered another bike...OK, it's a model one, a 1/12th Tamiya kit of a Honda RC166 (the 250cc 6-cylinder jobbie, raced by Mike Hailwood in the 60's). Looks suitably complicated enough that I'll end up gluing the handlebars to the back wheel, as well as several fingers together. What's even more intriguing is that they offer "scale-up" parts for it, so you can get a metal drive chain you have to assemble, including all the links and sprockets, and a front fork set, as well as a wheel kit that comes with a special jig for you to construct the things with actual metal spokes. Hmmm...might give all that lot a miss...! Especially considering that once it's built, one of the cats will knock it off the shelf and then the dog will trample the remains. Oh well, such is the fate of all my dreams... :(

[NoCorseChris]

At the risk of thread drift, this exact scenario was “gamed” 3 years ago and the predicted outcome has indeed come to pass. So, can you imagine any government getting support for the measures said gaming suggested would be required, because I can’t. Maybe now there might be more of an appetite to pay for an NHS that has significantly more capacity than it needs in ‘normal times’ rather than less.

Back on topic, as I've said often enough, I’m misanthropic at best so the “social distancing” is having almost zero impact. I’ve been retired almost 4 years and as I’ve posted elsewhere, am well practiced in filling my days with my own shit, rather than someone else’s! I’m an orphan, as is Vickie, so we have a very small family to worry about.

Despite my almost psychopathic levels of empathy, I do feel for those who are suffering. The scenes from India are horrifying for example.

It would be nice to think that this might all lead to a better world, where globalisation is seen for the evil it is and the gulf between the haves and the have-nots might close up a wee bit.......but I doubt it.

[tomsredstratos]

First week of isolation is nearly over. Did we all stay busy?
Has anybody else cut down the amount of news they watch? Im just looking at an evening bulletin now to catch up.:(

Work wise all the garages I work with have now closed. As I mentioned before we have a car stuck at the Ferrari factory and was very surprised to see the factory are scheduling a full restart on April 14. Really?

Are people following all the warnings in your area? I have a park opposite my house and the first half of this week it was quite busy but now just seems to be dog walkers and people exercising.

Chris,you mention India. I think the scenes from there in about six weeks will be very sad. Just the shear volume of people and the close proximity will accelerate the spread.
India is a place we know very well as myself and my family are dual Indian/UK citizens.

Stay safe and stay busy:) and I await the letter from Boris

[john]

David Milliband did a good piece on radio, saying that if we were frightened considering the health system we do have, then put yourselves in the position of refugees in a camp or in a third world country.