April 2020 Chat Thread!

[bazookagoof]

Apr 18, 2020 6:30:47 GMT Bean said:

Hope your snow is soon gone, Baz. Yesterday was a little overcast here, so I managed to finish off the garden job I'd started the day before, but abandoned to sunbathe!

Oh, it's almost all gone this morning. There's some leftover sitting on garage roofs, but everything on the ground has melted. According to the weather reports, the temps will reach high 50's for the next 3 days, drop into the 40's for a day, and then hit the low 60's by mid-next week.

Snow that isn't on the road doesn't concern me in the least. Being stuck in the house, it can snow a few more times like this until May for all I care. 

[3piggles]

I just hope he's okay. I hope he'll respond to your message.

Baz, you would have gotten such a kick out of our version of your snow. A few big fat flakes on the mulched areas, and the rest just turned to water when it hit the ground. Wasn't worth the weather report to tell us about it

[amber89]

I CAN GO HOME!!! 
 
Last Sunday, for Easter, I had a nice family skype call (my mom, hubby and my parents-in-law) and my FIL was insisting that i am able to go back to Vienna. The just crossed the border between Austria and Germany, without showing any papers. The border police cannot know that the address registration that i show them is outdated and that actually i am not registered at that address anymore. I should pack myself with my wedding certificate, my address registration (old one) and hubby's address registration. 

So, i have a flight booked for Friday!   
Fingers crossed that i don't get any problems when crossing the borders (neither in Germany, not in Austria). 
I looked initially for trains, but the connections are absolutely horrid (either having to switch 5 times every 2h before i can get the night-train from Munchen, or switching only 3 times but spending the night in some god-forsaken train station). 
The flight is not direct, i will have a 90 min layover in Frankfurt, and it's double as expensive as normal, but i am not complaining. I just want to go home. 
Once i am in Austria, i will have to sign a paper stating that i will stay in self-quarantine at home for two weeks, which is fine by me, since i will be home. I don't want anything else, just to be at home. 

[3piggles]

All digits crossed for you to get home without any hassle 🤞 I'm sure it will be wonderful to be home, for both you and hubby! Oy, the train trip sounds like a nightmare!

When do you have to be back in Denmark and will you have any problems with the return trip?

Hooray for you and your trip home 💝

[Bean]

That's great you will be able to go home and see hub and the pigs. Now that your classes are all online, are you planning to stay there for a longer period of time?

Barely any flights are running here. I think it would be very hard to get anywhere overseas, and certainly to get back. We're on a flight path and used to see several planes an hour. Now we quite often don't notice one all day.

[amber89]

I should not have any problems with my return. Only a few days ago another dorm inhabitant returned from the UK without any issues.
For DK i really have a residence permit + a full-time uni, so there should not be any issues.
There were rumors at the beginning (one of the reasons why i decided to stay), that once the students leave they would not be allowed entry anymore...but those were later proven to be just rumors.

I don't have an exact time-span how long i will be in Vienna. It was just announced that the 3-weeks lectures & exams in June will also be online. This means that, with a 95% probability i can't start my Tissue Engineering project in June, as initially planned. My stay in Vienna will depend on wehter i can find a job in Copenhagen or my project starting time, whichever happens first.

I am truly hoping that by September university starts properly... As much as i am pro-technology, i still prefer a face to face lecture where i can actually see the blackboard and can ask questions.

It is true Bean, there are barely any flights and trains available.

[3piggles]

We noticed a vapor trail in the sky, this afternoon, and were surprised, it's been so long since we've seen one. Some planes are obviously flying, but I'm not sure which ones are how many. Airports are, at best, everyone having to stand 6' apart, and airplanes can only seat people 6' apart, so not many people are flying. The US airlines have commented on how much they're losing having so few planes in the air, and having to run them about 1/4 full to meet the social distancing requirements. I've also heard flight costs have skyrocketed, which probably contributes to the number of people not flying.

Oh, glad you got the return sorted. You had mentioned that people leaving wouldn't be able to return. I wish you'd known that for Easter Either way, you get to go home, and come back, and that's what you wanted to be able to do

[amber89]

I am really hoping that I can enter Austria.
I am so afraid and having panic attacks. It's 3 AM here and I can't fall asleep, I am shaking and feeling frozen to the bone.

[Bean]

I hope you managed to get a bit of sleep in the end. Good luck Amber, I really hope your journey goes smoothly, and you're tucked up at home with hub tonight. I'll keep everything crossed for you today, please keep us posted.

[3piggles]

I'm not surprised you're nervous. It means do much to you. All digits crossed for you to get home with no problems 💝

[amber89]

I didn't sleep a wink the whole night. I managed to doze off during the flights for 5-10 min. The whole traveling today was a nightmare, with me imaging all the worst case scenarios, having more pure panic moments, the whole package.

But, I WAS ALLOWED TO ENTER AUSTRIA!!! Both me & hubby will have to enter a 2 week's quarantine.
I am so relieved. Can't wait to get home and relax. I am extremely tense and because of the lack and food and sleep I am feeling quite unwell.

[3piggles]

Yippee! You're home! I hope you get a really good sleep, and feel a whole lot better tomorrow! Excellent!!!!

[Bean]

Oh that's great news, Amber! Really pleased you managed to travel back to your husband and I hope you are feeling much more rested and relaxed today. I'm sure the two weeks staying at home together will be a real treat to you both after the last few months!

[3piggles]

Just in case it happens again, I'm having lots of Internet problems. The Internet has been spotty at best, and down most of the day.

[Bean]

That's frustrating, I hope you can get it sorted out and we don't lose you too much!

[3piggles]

It got sorted. No idea what the problem was, but when we went out to hoof the hood, the tech was here, doing something with their main junction boxes. Once it came back up, it was fine, but until then it was either totally out, or back for a few minutes, then gone again. Nice to have my link to the world back.

I found it interesting how much I relied on it. I asked hubby to buy some clarified butter, or Ghee, when he went food shopping. He couldn't find it. He said he looked in the butter section, and somewhere else that made sense. I told him it was shelf stable, so might be in the baking aisle with the Crisco. I just walked in here and tried to look it up at the local supermarket, and of course, got nothing with no Internet. I can't imagine what I'd have done if this quarantine had come before we had Internet!

[Bean]

Glad your internet is safe! Hoof the hoof, I like it!

At the supermarkets here, clarified butter is on a regular aisle with all the cooking oils. If he didn't get any but you have regular butter in, it's pretty easy to make yourself.

[amber89]

what is clarified butter? Never heard of it...

[3piggles]

Clarified butter is regular butter that has the milk fat removed from it. It's clearer than regular butter, has a nuttier taste, and is missing all that saturated milk fats. Ghee, which is used a lot in middle eastern cooking, is a super clarified butter. Without the milk fat, it will keep almost indefinitely at room temperature. That makes it great to have by the stove to add when I want a butter taste instead of an oil taste I usually make my own, but the last time it didn't work very well. I will try again, but for now, I'm just going to buy some.

I have my Fitbit set up to record 10 hours of steps per day. I'm not trying to get 10K steps per day, so am trying to get 1K steps per hour. I'd like to find a route around the neighborhood that has 1K steps, at least. I thought I had one, but was about 300 steps short, so I'm off in a few minutes to just walk around the block, and see how many steps that is. I might only have to walk to the far end of the street, so I'll be tracking how far I've walked, as I go. At least I'm getting some steps for ResQwalk and WoofTrax

[Bean]

Amber, clarified butter has a much higher smoke point than regular butter, so it's a great way to get the buttery taste without having to worry about the butter burning if you fry stuff too hot. Like if you were making popcorn!

Good work with the walking 3piggles! Have the bikes had another outing recently?