Worrying times

[NickFaulks]

You see clueless politcians in this crisis

Actually, I have not quite said that. I have criticised the policies which have left us unable to produce enough food to feed ourselves, but that has been going on for decades. The "just in time" supply chains favoured by multinationals also have a lot to answer for - they maximise profits until it goes wrong and then the general population suffers.

How is it possible that the single best defence against this thing is to wash your hands but there is no soap available? It seems that there are more vital national interests than we realised.

[Jonathan Rogers]

well, at least the insurance companies might now have to pay up to closed publicans, etc

[NickFaulks]

We might have been wrong about that, and I admit that I joined the mob. It would not have been ideal to introduce a scheme to pay non-working employees on Friday if they had all become ex-employees on Thursday.

[David Sedgwick]

I guess if we've learned anything from this crisis, it's how selfish most people are.

Every time I go into town I see a steady line of cars going to the supermarket, when normally it's fairly quiet.

Who knew my town was full of hoarders and selfish shelf clearers.

A substantial minority certainly, but not most I suspect.

A couple of days ago I spotted a then empty delivery lorry outside Tescos in the late afternoon. I went in on the offchance and … there were toilet rolls on the shelves,

The store was quiet but by no means empty. As far as I could tell almost everyone took one pack of four toilet rolls, but very few took two.

[Daniel Gormally]

Tesco have introduced rules where people can't take more than they need though. and they have security officers outside some stores, and long waits to even get in

in stores where they haven't introduced such rules, chaos often reigns.

[NickFaulks]

Just read this.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/0 ... =DM1222013

It's presented as a disaster story, but if half the population were already infected, surely that would be brilliant news. I think the whole thing is just rubbish.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Tesco have introduced rules where people can't take more than they need though. and they have security officers outside some stores, and long waits to even get in

in stores where they haven't introduced such rules, chaos often reigns.

I think they have such rules everywhere, but their effectiveness varies.

[Nick Grey]

Having seen pages 4/5 photo in The Sun the most selfish people are those ransacking Tesco New Malden near the A3. That is too close to me.

Going back to what we can do. I think it is time to make those phone calls to vulnerable people. Something we could not do when playing chess.

[JustinHorton]

Anyway, how to occupy oneself during the long weeks of lockdown?

Well, as it happens, I used to copy all my OTB games into scorebooks, all the way through since I first started playing tournament chess in the mid-Seventies until a few years ago, when I got out of the habit.

I still have all my scoresheets, though, and I've always meant to get around to it, but obviously, even though I play fewer than twenty games a year now, the pile has got bigger and bigger and it has got easier and easier to put off for another year. I could and should have done it over one summer or another, but I've never managed to persuade myself to do it.

And then, suddenly,a long period of unexpected inactivity, and a chance to get the job done. So that's what I've been doing, hampered only slightly by the discovery that I'm almost out of Tippex.

And so it was that I discovered that my 100 Game Scorebook, bought at what was then the London Chess Centre more than ten years ago, only has space for 98...

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Anyway, how to occupy oneself during the long weeks of lockdown?"

I have managed to keep up to date with serious games, but I put them on Chessbase first, and then copy the score from there into the scorebook, so I can correct the errors in notation.

However, I recently discovered a box file full of score sheets from various RP events from years gone by...

With your 98-game book, is it possible, you got it so wrong, you just ripped a page out, (which I doubt) or played a couple of really long games?

[Geoff Chandler]

Went to Tesco early this morning to get a lottery ticket and a mobile top up.

Got stopped because it was OAP and NHS only hour! (I never knew this was in place in this store.)
I showed my bus pass and was allowed in. I was chuffed to tea breaks I passed for a non OAP.

Had whole store practically to myself whilst bemused shoppers were queuing up outside.
Shelves looked quite healthy, only toilet roll section looked empty, everywhere else just as normal.

[JustinHorton]

With your 98-game book, is it possible, you got it so wrong, you just ripped a page out, (which I doubt) or played a couple of really long games?

No, not in this instance.

I wonder if it's my record for the length of time I've taken to discover I've bought defective* goods.

[* not very importantly so]

[Tim Spanton]

[Geoff Chandler]

Spending my lock in going through the 1,000's of pre-mobile photographs I have.

Have been told a few times I looked like Jon Speelman, never really saw it till now.


Actually not a full lock in as I still have to go to work, our taxi's are under an NHS contract.
Plans are afoot to set me up at home but this will take time. I've been nominated as the
house 'out-person' because I have to go out anyway.

Scotland expecting to get hit very hard very soon. People have not been listening to the rules.
At least the taxi's take me back and forth so I do not have to use public transport.

Also I think I had this thing early january, had all the symptoms and pretty ill,
was off work for the first time in 10 years, but that may not make any difference.

[NickFaulks]

Also I think I had this thing early january,

If so then you were, as in so many ways, far ahead of your time.