Very wise and thank you Graeme.
I’ll raise a glass too.
You'd have thought an Eton and Oxford educated man might have heard of King Canute (however apocryphal).
Shared that on faceboak too, we can but try.
Keep it coming Drac, a voice of sanity in this madhoose! 😊
Health sec like a rabbit in the headlights on Question Time.
We’ve decided to have a virtual drink via Facetime/Zoom instead.
Yip, my team is having virtual Friday drinks tomorrow at 4pm using some Microsoft video conferencing thing
We’ve decided to have a virtual drink
🍻
Good call.
We'll be in lockdown by Monday, get yer cycling in now.
We’ll be in lockdown by Monday, get yer cycling in now.
Hancock really is an odious little turd, isn't he?
Lol, no panic here Drac, I think it's our best course of action.
First time I’ve bothered to watch the press conference, Boris doesnt inspire confidence does he!
I've already given up watching or listening to it.
A few bullet points is way preferable to listening to that chuntering, waffling prat and having to see his ridiculous, stupid, bloated face.
We’ll be in lockdown by Monday
I already am.
By the sounds of it the Army are getting ready to deploy, trucks are being spotted all over the place.
We had a virtual webex coffee break with 20 of the team. Was good. We’ve set them up on a regular drop in basis. Points scored for home decor, bookshelf in the background and hand sanitizers in view. Seriously, it will help just chatting virtual face to face. And it means it’s worth getting out of the PJs
And then the kids fire up Netflix and it all goes a bit slow!
Up until now I was feeling quietly confident that all this would sort itself out eventually. Now I've read the last few pages I'm wondering whether it wouldn't just be quicker to go dig four graves in the back garden. My wife comes back from the hospital every night close to tears, and I'm doing my best to convince her it'll all blow over in a few weeks and that one or both of her elderly (and distant) parents definitely won't die. I like to believe that our leaders are genuinely doing the best they can in a completely unprecedented set of circumstances and that they will steer us through this mess. I try to spread positivity wherever I can. Truth be told it's not the virus that worries me, it's the aftermath, for the economy, my ability to pay the mortgage long term, and my kids education and future.
People need to believe that it will be OK if we all do as we're told.
Negativity serves no purpose other than pushing people further into despair in what is already a truly awful time for an awful lot of people.
It will be OK.
Probably.
Government have just nicked all our institutes QPCR machines for covid screening.
Good to know that they're finally moving forward on this, but surely they must have known weeks ago they didn't have enough testing facilities?
Meanwhile at a large london hospital, to which several colleagues have been recalled from research &.....
Boris at the press conferences looks increasingly like a child looking for his "grown ups" for help when he's asked a question.
We’ll be in lockdown by Monday, get yer cycling in now.
I panic bought a smart trainer this afternoon AND mrs anagallis managed to get 6 bog rolls, happy days, i can relax for a few days......
Boris at the press conferences looks increasingly like a child looking for his “grown ups” for help when he’s asked a question.
He did refer to it as an interrogation in his closing ramblings around the point.
It would be kinder for the questions to flash up on a tablet hidden behind the lectern rather than him having start writing things down mid flow.
I am wondering if invoking war spirit might be misinterpreted. A person interviewed on C4 news had an approach of carry as normal on as anything else was giving in.
Is there any info out there about how long the virus survives on card or paper? I've read its up to 3 days on hard/ metal surfaces.
An infected Postie could take out a whole postal round. Hope someone other than me has thought about this.
Any posties in the house getting a steer from their employer?
I might start quarantining the post for a day (high risk household).
Good to see that couriers are now signing their pad themselves.
A few bullet points is way preferable to listening to that chuntering, waffling prat and having to see his ridiculous, stupid, bloated face.
Yeh, I walked out half way through the first answer blustering waffle
But the government said there was zero chance of a lock down in London?
Hopefully people are starting to realize bj is incompetent.
Anyone managed to buy eggs? All three local supermarkets were out and there was nothing left in either of the local farms I ride past.
get with the war time spirit....
Is there any info out there about how long the virus survives on card or paper?
12 hours. But remember, the virus gets destroyed by soap so just wash your hands or quarantine your mail.
Anyone managed to buy eggs?
Got a dozen here. Blame the usual arse nuggets for your shortage.
Hopefully people are starting to realize bj is incompetent.
You would hope so, but.....
There is a woman at work who is exceptionally good at her job, extremely personable and very effective in her role as she just knows her stuff. I have never considered her daft in any way.
I was chatting with her the other day and she was relating a tale from the weekend when her and her fiance were in London (eek!).
She said how the tourists were all wearing masks whilst 'The Brits' were not bothering.
Assuming, naturally, that an intelligent person would be telling this in a "god, we are a thick lot aren't we?" way, I said "Yes, well lots of other countries experienced SARS and MERS and so are a lot more sensible and experienced in this sort of thing....."
She looked a bit put out and then I realised she was telling the story from a kind of "Us Brits don't worry about shit like this because we're well-hard" angle.
Don't underestimate how many outwardly sensible-seeming people really do think 'we' are somehow different from and better than the rest of the world.
You’d have thought an Eton and Oxford educated man might have heard of King Canute (however apocryphal).
Not apocryphal, AFAIK, it was ****’s way of showing that a man, no matter how powerful, was as nothing compared to the power of God; sitting on a throne, commanding the tide to go back being as clear an example as any.
Still, compared to the Leader of the Free World, BoJo really seems to have his finger on the pulse, (ha!)...
https://www.salon.com/2020/03/19/is-donald-trump-delusional-or-a-gaslighter-media-should-say-clearly-its-both/
The Brexit vote and following GEs have certainly shown that attitude.
I hope I am wrong but you might pay a heavy price for it.
Going back to the termination notice for the hotel staff
If you’re thinking of going to the Coylumbridge {or any other Britannia Hotel), take a gander at this…
How does the must vacate staff accommodation as employment has ended sit with no evictions by landlords? Is it a grey area? Is it another game of Boris Says where he just implied it's not cricket to rather than explicitly stating it. Admittedly I'm loosing track of what's said and what's inferred these days.
How does the must vacate staff accommodation as employment has ended sit with no evictions by landlords?
As I understand it, tied accommodation like that doesn't come under the usual landlord/tenant laws.
Further to the letter, three local businesses have already offered the affected staff temporary accommodation and there are a couple of other community-led initiatives kicked off to offer other assistance.
Scotroutes - that's good news for the staff.
Just a thought.. How is it that people are sufficiently concerned about the situation to panic buy & hoard. But not enough to listen to government advice about social distancing?
Just a thought.. How is it that people are sufficiently concerned about the situation to panic buy & hoard. But not enough to listen to government advice about social distancing?
Corrupted and half remembered British stoicism
It's all selfishness. They'll do what's good for them and screw everyone else. If anyone exposed to it dropped dead 8 minutes after you wouldn't see them for dust. But when they perceive it's like a bad cold unless you're an oldie, and they aren't an oldie....well crack on.
Or just good old fashioned stupidity.
Good programming by C5- a documentary currently playing on Josef Fritz just as we’re facing lockdown with the family!
Boris is a self-serving dick. I said this on the Brexit thread, we are bereft of political heavyweights currently. If only we had someone like Heseltine, Ken Clarke or Gordon Brown in charge now. You may laugh but compared to the current shower of "insert plural form of expletive here" they were deep thinking neoliberal politicians who were at least attempting to serve the people... FFS
It’s all selfishness
it’s brexit and climate change mentality all over again. Hubris, entitlement, ignorance and arrogance. No doubt I’ll be accused of spreading panic again, but this time they/we are not going to get away with it.
When the bodies start piling up and are disposed of in anonymous mass cremations and burials, and when we all know someone who has perished (as we will) it will hit home. And by then it will be too f****** late.
There's an article on the Guardian website today about the "lost generation" referring to the pensioners being wiped out and the lack of coffins, funeral services etc. It's an awfully sobering read
☹️
Post and letter boxes: mine is taped up to stop post. My offspring picked up letters from the mail box and I realised it's the one main transmission into the house.
I've got a box on Infront of the door that I empty and quarantine.
I'm having none of this virus .
Something positive on the vaccination development front:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/19/uk-drive-develop-coronavirus-vaccine-science
4 day weekend here. Warm and sunny, everyone stuck at home. At least going to work got me outside for a bit - without that excuse all I can do is go to the shop, which I did. Our barrio on a Thursday night is rammed, 'pintxo pote' ie a drink and a pintxo for a euro in the bars, loads of students out as no classes on Fridays. You could hear a pin drop. Really odd.
While I was paying in the shop a drunk wobbled in, stood right behind me and coughed everywhere. Excellent.
I read an interesting article that came up on Flipboard that gave a suggestion as to why certain sections of society are being affected, it seems connected to the body’s response to infections running amok, something called a cytokine storm:
https://www.vox.com/2020/3/12/21176783/coronavirus-covid-19-deaths-china-treatment-cytokine-storm-syndrome
Regarding the situation in Italy, a thought occurred to me the other day as to why it should be so bad there, and I wondered if it might be to do with Italian society and the family. This might be a bit of a generalisation, but Italians are often remarked on as having particularly close family networks, with large families, from the elderly to the youngest living close together, eating and socialising together, with close links to the greater extended families, especially at weddings, birthdays etc.
Now, if this is the case, then the ease with which C19 could spread would be much greater, especially among the elderly, than it is among other European societies like ours, where families are much more fractured, with the elderly tending to live alone or in homes, and families not sitting down to meals together, which often gets commented on as a failing.
Given these two differences, surely the spread of C19 should slow significantly once people stop gathering in large groups socially?
Here in Pennsylvania, the Governor ordered all "non-life sustaining business" to close. 😲
At this point, Pennsylvania has 185 cases and 1 death. Population 12.8 million.
We’ll be in lockdown by Monday, get yer cycling in now.
Where's that Geordi Laforge "out before the lock" gif gone? 😆
This might be a bit of a generalisation, but Italians are often remarked on as having particularly close family networks, with large families, from the elderly to the youngest living close together, eating and socialising together, with close links to the greater extended families, especially at weddings, birthdays etc.
Had this exact thought
China - lots of communal eating. Shared bowls of food, everyone double dipping with their own chopsticks. "Smashmouth" is a huge thing in China. coldsores are very common because of the food sharing
Italy, France, Spain - very tactile, lots of kissing and hugging when they meet. Big family units socialising
Brits - our rigid, emotionless cold nature may actually be our saviour!