CoronaVirus ==> Empty Shelves

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Originally Posted by GraemeCook

As predicted, Virgin Airlines has started rattling the begging bowl for a staggering $1,400 million. Must admire their chutzpah.

According to their last financial report (2019) they lost about $1,000 million in the previous two years, and had balance day "interest-bearing liabilities - bank loans and bonds - of just over $3,000 million. Because they are not trading profitably they must borrow even more just to pay the interest!

Last week they had a market capitalisation of around $600 million. With debt of $3,000 mill their debt:equity ratio is a staggering 5:1. This is well into junk bond territory. Any D:E ratio above 2:1 is usually viewed as adventurous. And the company owes another $1,700 mill to its clients for airfares paid in advance.

And the company has virtually no collateral - almost all its aircraft are leased. Oh, and the lease payments must still continue even though the fleet is not flying.

And they want a loan of $1,400 milllion, even though they have virtually zero ability to make interest payments in the foreseeable future or to may loan repayments. If approved it will become a grant, not a loan - shall we call it a zero interest non-repayable loan?

Virgin has about 10,000 employees; That $1,400 mill amounts to $140,000 per job.

Pure chutzpah.

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I believe the appropriate term is "a zero interest non-recourse loan" a.k.a. a gift
But $140,000 per job is more than a bit steep.

Standard and Poors have currently rated Virgin Australia at CCC, with a 12 month outlook of CCC- .
I'm not sure how far that places the airline's borrowings into Junk bond territory.


However, I wouldn't be too unhappy if the AUS Government decided to take a controlling equity position in the company.

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Originally Posted by Lappa

So, is it work from home, work from work, online classes, actual classes ???

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At Western Sydney Uni it seems to definitely be wfh - the campus was closed yesterday, but the eLearning crowd have been wfh for a week and a half. Not sure about Macquarie Uni, but I think it's the same. Lola is wfh for both Unis, and for one of them (Mac) that means teaching face to face screen to screen. The other job is online content development anyway, so wfh hardly matters. They have lots of Zoom meetings.

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Originally Posted by Lappa

A message at 11am Sunday was what prompted me to post :lockd: on Sunday. We had to fill in a risk assessment for working from home and fill in a capability inventory. Monday we were told, if possible to work from home. News last night basically confirmed it - even the Police Commissioner Referred to it as a lock down this afternoon.

However an email this afternoon has me wondering. Summarised as follows: schools, TAFE and Unis are considered to be essential services therefore they are to stay open. All the new rules eg. 2 persons max etc don’t apply. Basically the only one mentioned was the 1.5m rule.
So, is it work from home, work from work, online classes, actual classes ???
Hopefully someone will clarify this tomorrow.

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I don't really know, but at my son's school (admittedly the school is in Alberta) -- it's teachers work from their classrooms via video link while the kids have been told to stay at home.


hopefully something sensible will be sorted.

They ”want” us the use Micro$aft Teams :(
The problem is we all have desk top PCs without cameras and microphones. All ordered but long delay on supply due to demand.

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Originally Posted by Lappa

They ”want” us the use Micro$aft Teams :(

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I thought that your classes were >50% hands on learning.

I can't see how MS Teams (which is designed for on-line SOFTWARE collaboration) would be at all suitable.

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Originally Posted by Lappa

They ”want” us the use Micro$aft Teams :(

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Sounds like that's not your preference. What would you favour?

Thats true but how can you do it with a min 1.5m distance? We are looking at covering some Theory heavy units online at this point in time until they decide about small prac. groups

Just now in the news:
A plane from Sydney to Adelaide has been turned back in mid-air after a cluster of coronavirus cases among Qantas baggage handlers prompted health officials to recommend travellers wipe down their bags and suitcases.

Eh? W.T.F. is the matter with the airport authorities? I would have thought that they would have been spray (or some method) disinfecting ALL luggage bloody weeks ago! Relying on customers to wipe them down indeed.

That appears to be a domestic flight but was/is it the same for international flights? :doh:

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Originally Posted by Lappa

Thats true but how can you do it with a min 1.5m distance? We are looking at covering some Theory heavy units online at this point in time until they decide about small prac. groups

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Small prac. groups would sort of work.
Split your classes into two or three so each kid gets their own piece of kit to work on. i.e. no sharing.

Issue will be teacher burn out -- you can't trust the kids to properly disinfect the prac. kit so it would double your work load.


Here in Alberta, there is no face-to-face school till at least September -- but half of June and all of July and August are scheduled holidays anyway.
School was "suspended" 2-1/2 weeks ago, so by mid June, the kids will have been studying at home for approximately 3 months.
Importantly, the uni entrance exams -- called Diplomas -- have been cancelled and will now be based on the school assessment

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Originally Posted by Lappa

Thats true but how can you do it with a min 1.5m distance? We are looking at covering some Theory heavy units online at this point in time until they decide about small prac. groups

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Could you not record classes on video (even if you don't have a 'real' camera phones do a pretty good job these days) and put them up on Youtube? That way you could demonstrate the use of the devices/machines you instruct in. Send the links to your students and then they can start/pause/stop them to their hearts' content. At regular intervals have "Teams" sessions for students to ask questions.

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Originally Posted by Tccp123

Sounds like that's not your preference. What would you favour?

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talking to students shows, for inline video, they are more experienced with FaceTime and Skye. We will be sending out a questionnaire re capability and preferences this week. Some students do not have access the computers at home so we are hoping employers will assist if they are still open. We may end up using a number of different programs depending on response.

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Originally Posted by Lappa

talking to students shows, for inline video, they are more experienced with FaceTime and Skye. We will be sending out a questionnaire re capability and preferences this week. Some students do not have access the computers at home so we are hoping employers will assist if they are still open. We may end up using a number of different programs depending on response.

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Yes I can understand the difficulty in getting the students to accept a new way of doing things but as someone who went back to work after an 18 month 'holiday' and finding that the whole "team collaboration" landscape had changed I can assure you that you adapt quickly. You're doing the same thing, just in a different way. But good luck, it has to be a better solution for you. I can't imagine walking into a classroom full of students every day in the current situation.

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Originally Posted by Tccp123

Could you not record classes on video (even if you don't have a 'real' camera phones do a pretty good job these days) and put them up on Youtube? That way you could demonstrate the use of the devices/machines you instruct in. Send the links to your students and then they can start/pause/stop them to their hearts' content. At regular intervals have "Teams" sessions for students to ask questions.

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Thats the plan. We already teach self paced so it’s not a concept the students are alien with. Phones, emails etc are open all day. It’s just setting up for demos online rather than face to face and the short amount of time we have to set it up but I still have a job and the students will still get taught so that great.

I know nothing about MS Teams or its capabilities, and only a little more about Zoom (used it twice), but FWIW in Zoom the host can share what's on their screen even to the extent that the others can see the mouse cursor moving around on screen. Maybe Teams does that sort of thing too. The host can also give over hosting to someone else so they can share their screen.

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Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

I know nothing about MS Teams or its capabilities, and only a little more about Zoom (used it twice), but FWIW in Zoom the host can share what's on their screen even to the extent that the others can see the mouse cursor moving around on screen. Maybe Teams does that sort of thing too. The host can also give over hosting to someone else so they can share their screen.

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Sounds very similar to Zoom FF. It will be fun learning something new, it’s just the time frame.