I’ll say it again – Karol Sikora is a medical oncologist, he irradiates tumours as his day job. His company charges the NHS for the privilege. He has had dodgy business with the Republican Party and Libyan Government under Gadaffi (he wasn’t too optimistic in his prognosis for the Lockerbie bomber). He has no more expertise on this subject than your GP.
If you want the voice of optimism, you’d be as well following a local yoga teacher.

Ah yes, Prof Karol Sikora, long time critic of the NHS, founder of a private for profit University and a CEO private health company, not an epidemelogist. Professional contrarian, liar, and not at all an interested party…
wikipedia

Interesting comment in the Guardian saying this isn’t a war, there’s no enemy to fight. Instead, we have to look after each other and care for the sick – this is love, not war.
I like that thought.

my 2p.
I have recently switched from my winter Cannondale CADD4 with open pros and race guards (old school geometry) to my summer TCR advanced. The TCR is noticably lighter and twitchier. The wheels are a lot more sensitive to side winds and speed makes this more evident (and scary). I have found a combination of staying relaxed physically, only making gentle steering corrections and mental alertness works well with this bike. It’s not one for a gentle pootle…

Rishi Sunak was a Fulbright Scholar for his MBA at Stanford and one of the ‘Masters of the Universe’ at Goldman Sachs. (They have a track record of ‘seconding’ staff to various governments.) No doubt he’s a bright lad. I hope he does a good job for all our sakes.
Goldman Sachs

Newcastle University (and others) – lending qPCR machines to Public Health England for virus testing. Staff have been invited to volunteer to go and run them.

It’s sunny and the sun is at the best angle for max power. We are in a country town, I guess smoggy cities might notice a difference.
Ours are doing a good job of powering 2 laptops and 2 PCs for work and home schooling…

First dog has it summed up first dog

Another thing to throw into the mix is that riding “high-risk” or remote trails could result in an injury that requires diverting resources from essential cases to you. Or maybe they’ll just leave you to rot on a hillside somewhere.
Gentle solo or pairs road rides or mtb on forest paths only for me for the duration.

Rule 1 still applies – don’t be a dick.
The nobber on our local news who drove from Manchester to the lakes intending to stay in the car, then stopped for an icecream because ‘you have to, really’ is a case in point.

Imperial College Model
Everyone who understands a bit of maths should read the report that changed the government’s mind and realise just how serious this is…

Russell Group Uni here. Vice Chancellor is a medic. We have gone from keep calm and carry on, but vulnerable folks work from home (Friday), to no face-to-face teaching (Monday), to work from home if you can (Tuesday). So, staff will still be coming in and spreading the virus across the city.

full size, not too cheap so you can sell it if he loses interest, something that can do everything, so…Squire telecaster. No frills, and built to survive the zombie apocalypse. Let him choose the colour…

We had mum and 2 hoglets in our small garden for a couple of weeks in the summer. They will eat dog food ( I used dried soaked in water) and meal worms. It is an offence under the wildlife act to move or disturb them unless underweight/ill. I cut a hole in the garden fence mesh to allow them in and out. However, if it got in there must be a way out. They are a great excuse for keeping a messy garden with lots of leaves and slugs for them to eat.

we have 2L of long life skimmed milk just in case. We can’t survive without tea…

ASD is a recognised condition, as such a diagnosis can give you legal protections. This may be important if your employer needs to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for you e.g. a quiet environment to work in, chill out times. It can aslo be important and give you protection if a perceived lack of social skills leads to ‘misunderstandings’.
If these are not issues for you, I would question why you are seeking a label. Autistic people are individuals and the spectrum is wide – the saying goes “if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person”.
Accepting the way you are may be more important to your health and wellbeing than a diagnosis/label.

Musical Fidelity A1 amp and Marantz CD65II currently, the more modern system is a Linn Classik. Plus a Linn Axis turntable and Marantz ST4000 tuner. Ruark Prelude speakers. Nothing is younger than 20 years.
One day I will upgrade…

train blackberry plants along the trellis and around the shed – nature’s barbed wire, tasty, and good for local wildlife.
Oh…and a large barking dog/killer rabbit

link
How about some experimental music from John Tavener ‘In Alium’. its not something I listen to much.

can I be the first to say ‘go and talk to your GP’. You may have just red-lined normally, or there may be something requiring some attention.

Then Power of Attorney won’t help you – it’s not the right tool for this. It only comes into play once someone is deemed incapacitous.

another +1 for not true. When someone still has capacity they are supposed to still be involved in the decisions though.
It is incredibly difficult to deal with simple things like paying an overdue gas bill without POA as they just won’t let you have any information (GDPR etc). My wife had to play a “guess how much the overdue bill is?” game with a helpful (truly) member of staff as they couldn’t tell her. She had to guess the amount pay to stop my Dad’s gas from being cut off while he was in hospital. With POA they have to deal with you.
Unfortunately, the gutter press are full of scare stories about people evicted and left penniless after signing POA, so some folks are very wary of it.

Tuners

this will tell you more than you ever thought could be known about tuners and tuning…
I have a boss stomp box and a polytune clip on, both worth every penny spent

Yes, mother-in-law. The car needed major work so we persuaded her that it would be better to give it up and use the money she saved on insurance and petrol for taxis. Of course, she won’t spend money on taxis as the are ‘too expensive’ and waits in the cold for buses instead.

it’s not just cyclists. I’m sick of motorists accelerating at me or trying to cut around me when I’m crossing the road on foot. Apparently I’m supposed to dodge them even though i have right of way.

““Salt water make some more sense” Well if you want to make, and then die from inhaling, Chlorine gas i’d agree”

My son (revising for chemistry GCSE) asked about this and it’s not that simple. Electrolysis of relatively dilute NaCl solutions gives both Cl2 and O2 as they have similar reduction potentials. Concentrated solutions give more Cl2.
I had to look it up.

professionally reliced? If they were guitars we’d be paying extra for that level of abuse…

I used Garmin connect the first time a few weeks ago. My wife was able to track my progress and have a cup of tea ready for me as I walked through the door 🙂

Sorry to hear that you are going through such a tough time.
If you haven’t already, check out local hospice provision and contact Macmillan Nurses. Good palliative care makes the world of difference at the end. No one should be in pain (physical or mental) at this time of their lives. Hospices and Macmillan will also offer you support.

There are very few Libdem/Labour marginals so LibDem attacks on Corbyn/Labour are tactically astute way to reassure soft Tory voters that its safe to vote for them. But…in a system for a two party election, the presence of smaller parties really muddies the outcome. Your vote for the wrong progressive party might allow the non-progressive party in (or the other way round).
I hope they let 16+17 yearolds vote though.

For damage to property, check with your own insurer for cover before claiming from the driver. They will reclaim fro the driver’s insurance.
If you aren’t covered on your own policy, claim from the driver. The driver’s insurance will cover the current market value of the bike – so don’t expect new for old. You’ve got the necessary details from the police. (Also press for prosecution of the driver)
Claiming for personal injury, use one of the specialist firms (Slater Gordon or Leigh Day).

Sorry for your loss. I did my Dad’s which was mostly simple as he only had two accounts at the same bank. Selling a small number of shares however has been complicated. Got grant of probate, told bank which accounts to send the money to, job done. My brother has done my Mum’s, it has been more complicated and time consuming. My bro is a retired accountant so he’s familiar with that stuff and has had the time to spend. One year on and it’s still not complete.
As others have said, if it isn’t simple (e.g. property is involved), think about how you want to spend your time and effort.

I had mine fixed, why would you ditch the whole thing for one failed part (that is probably repairable). I learnt not to lift the bike by the saddle when it was down. No more problems.

We it seems we are faced with a choice between 1984 or Animal Farm.
(Guess which is on the GCSE English Lit syllabus)

I’m a Reader in Chemistry at a Russell Group University. Well done to your lad, Brum is an excellent chemistry department and a great university. He can look forward to a diverse range of topics from the mathsy physical chemistry to the pictorial world of organic chemistry. He’ll have his time taken up with labs and lectures and will get value for money i terms of facilities and teaching time. With a masters he’ll get to choose a research project and get a taste of that world. At the end he’ll get a degree that shows he’s literate, numerate, analytical and able to assemble information from different sources and solve problems.
Not all chemistry graduates go on to chemistry careers, but the range of graduate level jobs for a chemist is broad: intellectual property and patents, computers, accountancy, sales, teaching…(in no particular order) 96% of our BSc students have a job within 6 months of finishing 85% in graduate jobs. These figures aren’t as good as other universities as many students want to stay in the NE.
The only reason for studying chemistry should be that you love it as a subject and you want to go deeper and broader than A-level. Of course you do get also to save the world as well with medicines, clean water, renewable energy systems, recycling etc…

I have ultegra Di2 on my best bike and Campag Daytona on my old best bike. Shifting wise Di2 is easy (once I stop pressing the wrong buttons) and flawless. The 20 year old Campag is a touch ‘agricultural’ in feel, but is also flawless and hasn’t needed any adjustment ever. There’s a world of difference between rim and disk brakes (but we already know that).
Personally, I don’t think Di2 is something I’d seek out again, but I’d definitely go with hydraulic disk brakes.

There is a world of difference between descending a closed road…and a typical road with possible cars

This 100%. Especially when dozy drivers can turn across your path when you’re doing ~40 mph. Trust me it hurts. Downhill Strava KOMs on the road are for nutters in my book.

We have chromecast and it doesn’t work with prime. We use a Wii U to watch prime (other similar devices may also use the app).

Yes agreed, big ticket bits of kit that students have limited access to and research labs are not as important as teaching labs.
Personal tutors and student well-being services are also vital.

Living the dream here…
My advise is to ignore league tables. The current Guardian table for chemistry puts Lincoln second and Imperial College 42nd – this is of course bollocks.
chewkw’s table is reasonable. I would add that there are ~4 top universities for each subject (excluding Oxford and Cambridge). There’s no point putting more than one of these down.
Location is important, so is course demographics. A large percentage of overseas students on the course can dramatically change the dynamic. My niece dropped out after one year doing engineering at Imperial for this reason. There wasn’t a cohesive group she could socialise with outside lectures. I always say that you have to be happy to get a good degree. She switched to Sheffield and was much happier.
I disagree about labs – access to facilities and instruments is crucial for STEM subjects. Lab capacity vs student numbers is a big thing also. Student will spend a lot of time in labs or on PC clusters.
Avoid trendy clickbait degree names – the hot subject this year might be redundant in ten years time. The core subject will usually offer options in the hot topics anyway.
Finally, at open days ask if the course is a ‘recruiter’ or a ‘selector’. Recruiter courses may set high offers to attract good students, but would most likely still accept students if they drop grades on results day. Selectors won’t.

I had 8 weeks off work with broken collar bone and bits of my neck, plus missing a chunk of ear. 3 months off the bike.
I played all the way through my son’s Zelda BOTW, watched bargain hunt and most of the TdF live.

P.S.If you want to know why the country is in a mess – bargain hunt is the first place to look. Can you make money by buying stuff from expensive shops and selling it cheaper at auction? No, but it doesn’t stop them trying…

Half the things we do that are any good make you die sooner.

maybe, but we are very bad at quantifying those risks. Its worth researching the numbers, each day of being 5kg overweight is equivalent to 7 units of alcohol or smoking 2 cigarettes i.e. 30 minutes off your life expectancy (1 microlife). microlives
Some activities e.g. exercise add microlives.