Is there a positive side to life during this pandemic?

[Deleted User]

I used the one on the lavendarandlovage website and it's easy.  No special pan but if you want them to look right you need crumpet rings.  Frying pan is what you use and the flat ones I make taste like crumpets and look like pikelets.

VJsmum

Ooh thanks, have bookmarked and ordered some crumpet rings

ivyleaf

I remember my mother having a go at making crumpets but we didn't like them - I suppose that just shows how used people get to factory-made foodstuffs!  (Or, of course she might just have needed a bit more practice  )

Paperback_Writer

Hi all
I've been working from home now for 111 days and from what I understand this will be the way ahead for me. Financially it's been great because I've had no travel costs and I've found making lunches at home is easier and of course much cheaper. I think the main thing for me is I've lost the need to spend. One weekly shop is more than enough and the thought of having to queue just to get into anything other than a supermarket, fills me with dread. I won't go back to the way I was.

The Brucie Bonus is I've managed to pay off one of my loans and I am now working on my last and final debt so more home working will suit fine. 

Overall for me it's been more positive or negative.

balabooberlies

Hi Paperback

My brother in law feels the same way.  He was spending 3 hundred pounds a month on travel but worse...........3 hours plus a day commuting.  He now wants to work from home.

Brambling

There are some offsets to saving on petrol and running the car, my commute is a 25 miles round trip with free parking so there's no expensive train tickets however during the early days of lock down I had my heating on and realised that my dining room table is in a cold spot.  My electricity costs have gone up not only because of running my laptop but I can no longer charge my tablet and phone at work, i'm using the kettle for my numerous mugs of tea and sometimes I'm using a appliance to cook lunch.  i'm having to buy additional milk and a lot more tea bags than previous.  If this was permanent I would need to consider a desk in my spare bedroom with a proper chair and a separate monitor (my office monitor is fixed to my desk and the laptop one is too small for permanent use).   I know the regional director has said the plan is for us to go back to the office, he feels that there are benefits from people 'sparking ideas off of each other' and picking up what is happening across teams.  

Yes there are a benefits from WFH but I've realised that as a person who lives alone it can be very lonely, I know it's difference because I have been stuck in doors with no meeting up with friends, going to the theatre etc.  I'm saving money from not popping to the shops on a lunchtime but I miss the yellow stickers and reductions picked up from working next to a large supermarket. 

What would suit me is WFH a couple of days a week, saving time and travel money and handy for arranging deliveries, workman etc and I do enjoy being able to get some jobs done in the house and garden over lunch, there is something calming and relaxing pottering in the garden even for just a half hour lunchtime. 

joedenise

For someone in your position @Brambling I can see that being in the office at least some of the time must be a good thing.  In the future working from home a couple of days would probably be a good compromise.  I think it may be a very long time, if ever, before people will be working in an office full time.

baggins11

I am with you on that clive for me I appreciate having a bit of time to catch up with jobs that never get done.  Also a big thing for me is not being 'mum the taxi' as my kids do sports nearly every day which is an hour round trip drive plus waiting around time.  I am going to really struggle to get back into this routine again.  Also not having the additional cost of their sport and social lives is wonderful.  It has made me realise how much we usually spend on all this stuff.

3secondmemory

6 months of rest, isolation , no stress and the massively reduced pollution levels have allowed my lungs to recover better than was thought possible! The specialist who saw me in hospital in Nov thought my years were numbered until he saw me yesterday! 

I’m sure I’m not the only person with chronic illness, whose health has improved overall. This is the longest period I’ve gone without antibiotics for minor infections - that’s good for the whole planet  🌍 

My friend no longer needs powerful drugs for her RA now she has been ‘let go’ from work 

 (59) - it’s like a new lease of life for her! All these years, using drugs for relief when the answer was so simple! 😃

[Deleted User]

I haven't been moved to tears throughout this whole time of covid but reading your post this morning has made my eyes fill.  To see such words for you and your friend 3 second memory is emotionally so good that tears of happiness for you are an inevitability.