So sorry for you in Australia! I think so many Americans viewed it as an alternative place to live if things got intolerable here. For those paying attention, that idea has evaporated.
So sorry for you in Australia! I think so many Americans viewed it as an alternative place to live if things got intolerable here. For those paying attention, that idea has evaporated.
Hilariously, the USA doesn't seem too bad to me these days! I like your food labelling, ha ha! I'd need to pick which State I moved to, of course, but really - is there ANY good place to live right now?
It's not been easy for people all over the world, but Australia really IS the stupid country. We allow ourselves to not just be the dogs of war but we allow our politicians to run rampant and we barely ever hold them to account!
All things considered, I've been a very lucky (or sensible) one the last 20 months: I am one of the few professions where there has not been a state public health order mandating the covid injection for me (not that I'd take it anyway), I have been able to get by not owning or wearing a mask this whole time (although post offices have been the worst places for people getting cranky at me for this! So I now send all my packages to my workplace or pick them up at the side gate before opening time or get a friend to pick them up for me - and I get a friend to send any packages, too, or we organise it all online. I check my PO Box after hours, too). So just a few changes there. I don't sign in anywhere anymore (or when I did, it was always a fake name & number). I've also been able to do online shopping & have things delivered to my workplace. I've done online (boot collect) food shopping from the grocery store because I didn't want to deal with confrontation every time I bought food (but I'm back shopping in-store now with no mask & not signing in and no-one cares!).
Our kids get to go to the park, but other amusements centres are closed - or you can only be accompanied by a fully jabbed & masked adult! We have a large enough property and lots of stuff for them to do at home, and they have friends over, and they're now home schooled, so it's not so bad, but it's not ideal.
Some high schools now require kids to be jabbed for them to attend the place, and state high school require mask wearing for all students, and it's 'strongly encouraged' for state primary students to mask up! RMIT University in Melbourne has just required ALL students to be double jabbed or have an exemption (sure, sure, where can you get those anymore? The Drs that give them are being systematically pulled off the Register and having their clinics raided).
If you're unvaccinated and want to eat out? Unless it's take away where you wait on the street, forget it. Maybe in my state, NSW, you can do sit-down meals from December some time, once 95% of people over 16 are double dosed!! 95%!! Wow.
Some of our state borders are STILL closed and they'll require double covid doses as well as testing before you're allowed over the border. And ANY plane flight requires covid testing in Australia, and if you want to travel overseas, you've gotta be double jabbed. Oh, and if you're an AU citizen trying to return to Oz but you're not jabbed? The AU Federal govt is only taking a small handful (like less than 25 per flight).
And then we have BOOSTERS being rolled out. So far it's for the 'immunocompromised'...but Dictator Dan in Victoria has said that it'll be boosters all the way if you want to remain 'vaccinated' and have access to pretty well anything more than the grocery store!
So yeah, it sucks big time. But there ARE ways around it if you're flexible on a lot of fronts, willing to stand up for your rights (but still risking [illegally] issued fines) and don't want much of a social life.
So sorry for you in Australia! I think so many Americans viewed it as an alternative place to live if things got intolerable here. For those paying attention, that idea has evaporated.
Hilariously, the USA doesn't seem too bad to me these days! I like your food labelling, ha ha! I'd need to pick which State I moved to, of course, but really - is there ANY good place to live right now?
It's not been easy for people all over the world, but Australia really IS the stupid country. We allow ourselves to not just be the dogs of war but we allow our politicians to run rampant and we barely ever hold them to account!
All things considered, I've been a very lucky (or sensible) one the last 20 months: I am one of the few professions where there has not been a state public health order mandating the covid injection for me (not that I'd take it anyway), I have been able to get by not owning or wearing a mask this whole time (although post offices have been the worst places for people getting cranky at me for this! So I now send all my packages to my workplace or pick them up at the side gate before opening time or get a friend to pick them up for me - and I get a friend to send any packages, too, or we organise it all online. I check my PO Box after hours, too). So just a few changes there. I don't sign in anywhere anymore (or when I did, it was always a fake name & number). I've also been able to do online shopping & have things delivered to my workplace. I've done online (boot collect) food shopping from the grocery store because I didn't want to deal with confrontation every time I bought food (but I'm back shopping in-store now with no mask & not signing in and no-one cares!).
Our kids get to go to the park, but other amusements centres are closed - or you can only be accompanied by a fully jabbed & masked adult! We have a large enough property and lots of stuff for them to do at home, and they have friends over, and they're now home schooled, so it's not so bad, but it's not ideal.
Some high schools now require kids to be jabbed for them to attend the place, and state high school require mask wearing for all students, and it's 'strongly encouraged' for state primary students to mask up! RMIT University in Melbourne has just required ALL students to be double jabbed or have an exemption (sure, sure, where can you get those anymore? The Drs that give them are being systematically pulled off the Register and having their clinics raided).
If you're unvaccinated and want to eat out? Unless it's take away where you wait on the street, forget it. Maybe in my state, NSW, you can do sit-down meals from December some time, once 95% of people over 16 are double dosed!! 95%!! Wow.
Some of our state borders are STILL closed and they'll require double covid doses as well as testing before you're allowed over the border. And ANY plane flight requires covid testing in Australia, and if you want to travel overseas, you've gotta be double jabbed. Oh, and if you're an AU citizen trying to return to Oz but you're not jabbed? The AU Federal govt is only taking a small handful (like less than 25 per flight).
And then we have BOOSTERS being rolled out. So far it's for the 'immunocompromised'...but Dictator Dan in Victoria has said that it'll be boosters all the way if you want to remain 'vaccinated' and have access to pretty well anything more than the grocery store!
So yeah, it sucks big time. But there ARE ways around it if you're flexible on a lot of fronts, willing to stand up for your rights (but still risking [illegally] issued fines) and don't want much of a social life.
So much for the free state of Australia...
Antarctica never sounded so good!