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If the people of Pompeii can get through a volcano covering their city in burning gas and ash then we can get through this.
At the moment it’s all about making plans to stream stuff from home and to help my community. I am hoping I can persuade some high profile comics to donate significant sums of cash to create a fund that can be used by comedians and promoters who have no work and need to keep paying their rent and feeding their families. I know the government aren’t going to do anything and certainly not in time and if this thing goes on for more than a couple of months then I think a lot of clubs won’t be here when we return to business and a lot of comedians won’t be able to get work. Once we have this up and running I will be asking for donations, but you might want to try and set stuff up for your own communities. I hope this thing might at least bring us all together and make us forget about old enmities. It’s good to see, for example, that even though the older generations were at least partly responsible for votes that the younger generation didn’t like that most people are willingly and correctly stepping back and taking the financial hit that will help save the lives of the vulnerable.
It’d be awful if they didn’t, but I hope it’s a step that is appreciated. Because it’s going to be an awfully hard year for lots of people.
I appreciate my good fortune and I still have some work. I feel that if everyone who is working could donate maybe 10% of their earnings to people who cannot then we can maybe weather the storm. Or at least get through the first bit of it. But tiny donations to the businesses and workers who you want to see returning when the plague is over will help. You may feel the need to look after you and yours, which is fine, but if you have spare (I'm looking at you billionaires, millionaires and thousandaires) I think it will be in all of our interests to spread it around a bit.... Well we’ll see what happens with that.
Also worth noting if you are on an income and unable to go out that it might be a positive step to save up the money you would have spent on nights out over the next three months or so and then when you can go out again- SPEND IT going to restaurants, bars, shows, clubs, tips etc to kickstart everyone back to life.... also worth saving the money in case it's longer than that and you need it too. If money still has any value.
In the morning I made the most of the lock down to make a really nice veggie chilli for lunch. Of course, I could do this any time - I often waste my mornings doing nothing of any use (like writing this stupid blog). Maybe soon there will be no vegetables or we will all just be eating dry pasta, but for now it felt good to be going back to basics and living a simpler life. I think we have enough stuff in our cupboards and freezer to keep us going for a few months - especially if we risk all those old meals that we couldn’t finish but stuck in the freezer years ago. They will probably kill us to be fair, but what can you do?
Luckily my wife and I are used to each other's company and live in the countryside so we're used to staying in anyway. It will be interesting seeing how we cope with having both kids all day for such a long time, but we're still laughing at the moment and the kids are at a fun stage where they break off from breakfast to do dances and play hide and seek endearingly badly and only attack each other about once every seven minutes. It might be all right.
Come back in six months and see if I still think it was all right. My brain keeps projecting worse case scenarios of rioting and looting and falling ill at the wrong time (even with something that isn't the virus) and losing loved ones and thinking about the people who will be isolating alone or with people they hate or who are violent.... But let's think of home cooked chilli and dancing children for now.
I did a little practice stone clear on Twitch. I didn’t give any warning and the notification system seems flawed, but an incredible 170+ people tuned in to see some of the work I had done and get a lesson on clearing stones. I think doing it on my phone might be the most efficient way of making this happen, but will have to practice a bit in terms of filming stuff - someone commented it was like a bad version of Cloverfield. But let’s face it, if you want to watch me clearing stones then that is all you deserve. And I need to take my reading glasses out so I can see your comments.
RHLSTP with Rachel Parris is now up
Ways to help RHLSTP through the coming storm without parting with money 1) LISTEN TO THE PODCAST. We make revenue from every listen through the ads. So listen to old ones that you skipped or that you enjoyed before.
2) We are soon live streaming at twitch.tv/rkherring. Follow for free. If you are an Amazon Prime member you get a free $4.95 to give to the twitcher of your choice every month. Sign up to Twitch, link your Prime and Twitch accounts and then subscribe. It's FREE MONEY for us. (You can also pay for a subscription)
3) Switch your energy provider to renewable and brilliant Bulb. You will get £25 or £50 credit (depending if you do both gas and elec or just one) and so will we, which we will put towards paying for podcasts - use this link bulb.me/richard234
4) TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THE PODCAST. It will remain free always and there's lots of episodes to help them through the next weeks and months and every listen gives us cash.
I can at least interview myself, my wife and maybe my kids (although my son will only say “Hello stinky poo-face” over and over again, which will still put him in the top 50% of guests. So RHLSTP can continue after we’ve used the ones up that we’ve done already. And yes, I am sure we can work something out via Skype or whatever and maybe pick up some of the names who don’t want to do the live one.
We can get through this. Just think of the people of Pompeii.
