Non-motoring > Coronavirus - Volume 13   [Read only]
Thread Author: R.P. Replies: 140

 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - R.P.

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Viral discussions.

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Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 16 Apr 20 at 02:54
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - No FM2R
retractionwatch.com/2020/04/06/hydroxychlorine-covid-19-study-did-not-meet-publishing-societys-expected-standard/
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - Haywain
"retractionwatch.com/2020/04/06/hydroxychlorine-covid-19-study-did-not
-meet-publishing-societys-expected-standard/"


I think we were all keeping an open-mind on this, weren't we? It's surprising how many drugs can have a 'side-effect' against against a different target though,
e.g. www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-05/viagra-discovery-could-treat-coronavirus-patients

       
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - tyrednemotional
I think we need to see some hard data on that one....
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - zippy
Just been speaking with one of Miss Z's flatmates.

Miss Z is in bed. Breathing is laboured but not unwell enough for hospital.

Apparently CV19 tests at the hospital are not considered to be very accurate with lots of false negatives, even from patients whom have all the symptoms and are very ill. Sometimes several tests have been required for some patients.

Of course it is possible that the patients were just ill. Catching CV19 from other patients in hospital.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - Haywain
"Miss Z is in bed. Breathing is laboured but not unwell enough for hospital."

My best wishes to her too.
      5  
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - Robin O'Reliant
And from me too. We have a lot to thank people like her for.
      5  
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - legacylad
We sure do. Let’s hope we give them the recognition they deserve in the fullness of time.
      5  
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - CGNorwich
Yes best wishes and a swift recovery
      5  
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - zippy
Thanks everyone!

Haven't slept properly in 36 hours now. A couple of 1 hour kips.

Ridiculous when there is nothing I can do!
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - Dog
>>Ridiculous when there is nothing I can do!

You could always try prayer.

God.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 12 - henry k
>>Haven't slept properly in 36 hours now. A couple of 1 hour kips.
Thankfully I have avoided that.
Best wishes to you all.

My daughter informed me that she has been self isolating again, this time for two weeks and is back to the hospital today.
She did not inform me at the start of this event but it was almost certain that she would get it so no real surprise. Fortunately she was not badly affected and did not have all the symptoms but the test this time was positive. Many who she works with have been infected but she can advise from home if required but of course that is if they are really pushed.


       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 The Bushman's Friend ..... - Haywain
Several weeks ago, I met a friend in town for a coffee; he had just returned from a trip to New Zealand to visit his son and his new family. Our meeting was shortly before the restrictions on social mixing had started, but the race for toilet rolls was gathering momentum. He related that there was a plant in NZ with strong, but soft furry leaves known locally as 'The Bushman's Friend' - with an obvious use.

I didn't doubt my friend's story for one moment - he is, after all, a Cambridge educated botanist and he takes his plants very seriously. Then I saw this letter in yesterday's Telegraph -

"SIR – On Sunday’s Gardener’s Question Time, there was a discussion as to whether plants could be used as loo paper. Dock leaves were suggested.

At the Sir Joseph Banks Centre, we have a Brachyglottis repanda. This comes from New Zealand, where the local name is rangiora or pukapuka. Due to its large, soft leaves, it was also known as “Bushman’s toilet paper”.

The whole plant is poisonous, though it is said that a gum obtained from it can be chewed to sweeten the breath."

So, alternatives are available - but just don't use it as a salad ingredient!
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 The Bushman's Friend ..... - CGNorwich
In days of ol old when knights were bold,
Bog paper weren’t invented.
They use to wipe their a*** on grass,
And walk away contented.
       
 Criminal stupidity - Robin O'Reliant
Public floggings were quite rightly abolished a long while ago. But if ever there was a case for their re-introduction -

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-52227363
       
 Criminal stupidity - Haywain
ISTR there was a set of stocks on the green at Docking, Norfolk, last time we were there.
       
 Criminal stupidity - Manatee
>> Public floggings were quite rightly abolished a long while ago. But if ever there was
>> a case for their re-introduction -
>>
>> www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-52227363

Justice would be to give them a good dose of virus and then use them as test subjects.
       
 Criminal stupidity - sooty123
www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-52221688

Seems there's plenty more none too fussed.
       
 Criminal stupidity - Ambo
For the Morecombe Two, a swingeing fine, payment of recompense to Sainsburys and the victim surcharge. Public recognition of their crime via court proceedings should help discourage others but as I have said before, we need a penal colony on some very remote spot in these islands, say the far north west, where scum like them can be deposited.
       
 Post - smokie
Our post just arrived and with it our letter from Boris.

That one's gone straight into quarantine for a few days!!

(Actually all our post is lifted carefully by one corner between finger and thumb and goes straight into the garage for 3 days. Once it's been moved have a good hand wash. In fact - top tip, you heard it here first - we make a reasonably weak bleach solution in an old plastic biscuit tin every morning to use as a quick disinfecting dip. Apparently it does degrade over time so new each day)
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 9 Apr 20 at 14:46
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
Going out without a face mask here will now get you a £2,700 fine.

Mind you, tying a scarf around your face is an acceptable 'face mask'.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - John Boy
>> Mind you, tying a scarf around your face is an acceptable 'face mask'.
>>
Speaking personally, I'd prefer that option. It strikes me as more stylish.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Rudedog
Both of which are useless against what people 'think' they should do and certainly not the panacea that some have put across as providing!

Blue surgical masks have a maximum effective use time of 10 minutes, 20 at the most, as soon as they become saturated with water vapour they are useless at trapping viruses... the most they do is form a minimal barrier for particles but then that leads to a false sense depending on how the user takes them off and disposes of them.

Even the FFP3 masks we wear for infected cases only last for 10 hours max!, so imagine how often the people you see on the street have changed theirs (or not!)


      1  
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Manatee
>>Blue surgical masks have a maximum effective use time of 10 minutes, 20 at the most, as soon as they become saturated with water vapour they are useless at trapping viruses

They might not give the wearer much protection but they must prevent them spraying it about to some extent.

I saw an article today which confirmed what I have been assuming since distancing came in. If you are walking in somebody's slipstream, particularly if they are upwind, you need to be a long way back. Obvious really.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - martin aston
Down here on the edge of the West Country local Facebook says lots of caravans are already moving through westwards.....

Unbelievable.

       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sooty123
>> Down here on the edge of the West Country local Facebook says lots of caravans
>> are already moving through westwards.....
>>
>> Unbelievable.
>>

I guess the police will be busy!
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - tyrednemotional
..given that all caravan sites are closed, and have been for some time, they'll be lucky...

Mind you, it is Facebook. The only people likely to be caravanning in any great numbers at the moment are our travelling friends.

I just looked at all the webcams on the M5 South, and there's hardly a vehicle in sight, and not one caravan or motorhome.

Similar on other motorways.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sooty123
Some will have set off without thinking, more in hope that somewhere is open.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - CGNorwich
Hmmm un verified Facebook info.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
>> Down here on the edge of the West Country local Facebook says lots of caravans
>> are already moving through westwards.....


Down here Facebook says that COVID-19 is all lies has been invented by the Government to stop them rioting in the streets.

You can always rely on Facebook for the truth.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - tyrednemotional

>>
>> You can always rely on Facebook for the truth.
>>

........It's almost as reliable as David Icke.......
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
"UK PM moved out of intensive care

We have a new update on Boris Johnson's health.

A spokesman for the UK prime minister said: "The prime minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery."

"He is in extremely good spirits.""
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - smokie
I find it a little ironic that Boris was tended for in intensive care by one nurse from Portugal and another from NZ.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - tyrednemotional
...I'd just put it down to deliberate assignment....
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
Crank it up....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VH0l5fuKUc&t=186s
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - zippy
Not seen a work colleague since 13th March now or an actual team member since mid December due to diary issues.

So this afternoon we had a pub quiz (mixed teams) run by our admin office on Microsoft Teams followed by a virtual team get together and we all had a pint or three together.

Quite pleasant ahead of the long weekend.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
Excellent.

I had a beer and a video call with some friends the other evening; very pleasant.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Zero
>> Excellent.
>>
>> I had a beer and a video call with some friends the other evening; very
>> pleasant.

Had some tipple from your way tonight. Fantastic hot day, so I cranked up the barbie and we cracked open a bottle of Las Mulas cab sov rose
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
Miguel Torres has beautiful vineyards, and quite a lot of them.

I like their Sauvignon Blanc.

www.migueltorres.cl/en/#vinedos
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 9 Apr 20 at 22:57
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Kevin
Mrs K likes their Sauvignon Blanc but it's not easy to get hold of here. First tried it at a hotel we go to in Cuba but I think it was $20-odd a bottle even with our Royal Service discount.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
$6,700 pesos here. About 8 bucks, so not cheap even here.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
Kevin -

www.wine-searcher.com/merchant/2112?wine_id_F=5288678
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Kevin
£10 a bottle inc VAT isn't bad - I'll order a case for her as a "Staying In" present.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sooty123
>> Not seen a work colleague since 13th March now or an actual team member since
>> mid December due to diary issues.

Can you do all your work from home, how are you finding it? If you don't mind me asking.


So this afternoon we had a pub quiz (mixed teams) run by our admin office
>> on Microsoft Teams followed by a virtual team get together and we all had a
>> pint or three together.
>>
Is something like that normal at your work? Only reason I ask as wfh is still quite new at our place, for example we've got enough laptops for about 10% of people to have one.

Be interesting to see how those still in work on here are coping?
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - zippy
>> Can you do all your work from home, how are you finding it? If you
>> don't mind me asking.

In theory, yes, our contracts are WFH based but we usually visit clients and get info then write reports at home. Clients have been really struggling to provide info - a piece of work that should have taken 2 days took almost 2 weeks as info comes in in small batches.

It has been difficult to focus on tasks when the info flow is so piecemeal.

>> Is something like that normal at your work? Only reason I ask as wfh is
>> still quite new at our place, for example we've got enough laptops for about 10%
>> of people to have one.
>>
>> Be interesting to see how those still in work on here are coping?
>>

We have a bank's budget for these things. For example a couple of years ago the IT security department realised that nearly all the IT contractors were using their own laptops and they were all sent home!

Over a weekend over 2000 laptops were sourced new, hard drives reformatted and encrypted and bank software loaded ready for Monday morning. (I understand that they even went to local stores to buy up stocks.)

We have a VPN in to the banks systems, with many thousands of licences and the number was increased by many multiples in March - but as more and more of the group work from home the system has struggled to the extent that it took an hour to upload a 15k text file.

So IT worked some magic a couple of weeks ago and all non-core systems are now cloud based including email and file storage. The speed is as fast as your internet connection can handle.

Core banking applications remain on the VPN and people that don't need them have been asked to avoid using them in core banking hours.

The quiz and virtual team meetings are new, as we work remotely we try to get to meet physically within our team and the wider division as regularly as possible to engender team spirit and working together / share best practice and have a laugh, few beers, some grub.

IT systems have been locked down even tighter though - there are absolutely no upgrades to existing software at the moment and even when not connected to the VPN the banks DNS is used, blocking many innocent sites such as newspaper crossword pages and forums!
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - smokie
Crumbs are you in a medieval bank? :-)

The one I left 5 years ago didn't issue contactors with machine and BYOD *Bring Your Own Device) was being discussed with the bank's staff but of course the unions wanted the staff to get an allowance.

Anyway this was possible because everything (bar a few very minor things) were run across the bank's VPN network. So as most of my work time was at home I either used my desktop or laptop (or even my phone) to log in. You couldn't get other than through the VPN, and once you were on the VPN you couldn't access your locally connected devices like printers or NAS drives or other computers, so they totally prevented you from moving any data from the VPN.

I don't recall any persistent performance issues with most of what I used, and we were supporting front line users in e.g. Africa over the system

The project team was over 100 strong but we only had about 30 desks so you weren't even expected to be in, certainly not regularly.

As far as working form home goes, I was one of the first officially designated ones on my previous company (where I was a permie), in probably about 2000. At first it was more difficult as I camped out in the dining room and the breakfast bar but was always prone to interruptions. I then gave the dining room to one daughter as a bedroom and took over her small bedroom as an office, which I properly equipped with desk, office chair etc. That gave me a desk I could leave in a mess and a certain amount of privacy and quiet. I would say that I got more done in a day than office based colleagues, since I had no water machine chats and little in the way of meal breaks, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

I also tended to work extra time 1) because it was easy and I'd saved over 2 hours commuting (and cost of clothes, fares, petrol etc) 2) because I allowed myself to be dumped on too much and 3) because I wanted to demonstrate that I wasn't skiving. Gradually more people started working from home and a social side developed as described above.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sooty123
In theory, yes, our contracts are WFH based but we usually visit clients and get
>> info then write reports at home. Clients have been really struggling to provide info -
>> a piece of work that should have taken 2 days took almost 2 weeks as
>> info comes in in small batches.

Yes I can imagine that's pretty difficult.

>> Over a weekend over 2000 laptops were sourced new, hard drives reformatted and encrypted and
>> bank software loaded ready for Monday morning. (I understand that they even went to local
>> stores to buy up stocks.)

I think we were supposed to be getting laptops and all the PCs were getting binned off, however with cv19 I don't know where this has left that particular idea.

Quite a few of the office bods might find it useful, I think plenty could work almost totally from home.

I don't think any laptop i was given would leave work as it's not really possible to wfh. Occasionally the odd day or so in a year but I can't see me using it anymore than that.
Most of our work is pretty much the same as before cv19, the 2m thing is impossible to do all the time. But on the plus side I'm on a 5 day weekend for the next few weeks, so not all bad :-)
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 10 Apr 20 at 18:28
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Bromptonaut
>> Be interesting to see how those still in work on here are coping?

We were sorted into those with/without personal or household vulnerabilities the week before lockdown began. I was only one of five who was still OK to come into office (one with wife on chemo, two with mother or husband over 70 and one more with some issue of her own). By Monday of PM's announcement the direction of travel was clear and a request to visit the office to pick up stuff for homeworking was denied but I got a CPAG Benefits Handbook and latest walkthrough for UC claim process posted to me.

Now done three weeks (nine days) at home.

Pretty much everything I use in the office is web based - client record, webchat from public site etc. Using my own PC as not enough laptops to go around. Set up a mobile that the virtual call centre can route incoming calls to, cheap headset plugged into it and I'm sorted. We've got a Google hangouts group for team consultation and bouncing questions off each other which works well and we can chat to colleagues individually by same route.

As our focus is Universal Credit it's been manic. First couple of weeks was all can I get it/how do I get it. Last week a lot of calls were about issues with claim and progressing to first payment. I have to say the DWP response has been magnificent. Obviously they can chuck resources at in a way they never could normally; thousands re-deployed but apart from issues with ID and phonelines - which they've addressed promptly and pragmatically - they seem to be doing good. Acid test will the be next 2/3 weeks when the surge of claimants from mid March on get to first payment.

I'm fine with being at home but I'm fairly self sufficient anyway and have the advantage that as Mrs B and I rattle round in a four bed house I've got a study to myself a big desk and a big screen (we have two screens each at work). Wouldn't be so easy in a smaller house and with school age kids. We've lost one team member, ironically the youngest by far, to sickness. Not Covid; I suspect anxiety issues/motivation.

We have a virtual team audio/video meeting on Tuesday. Will be interesting to how that goes.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 16:57
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sooty123
> I'm fine with being at home but I'm fairly self sufficient anyway and have the
>> advantage that as Mrs B and I rattle round in a four bed house I've
>> got a study to myself a big desk and a big screen (we have two
>> screens each at work). Wouldn't be so easy in a smaller house and with school
>> age kids.

Yes I think that's an important part of wfh; that you've got the equipment to do it, a work culture and management that supports wfh and, importantly a home environment that makes its work.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Robin O'Reliant
>>
>>
>> Be interesting to see how those still in work on here are coping?
>>

Very well thank you. I'm one of the lucky ones who can still go out six mornings a week, so I still see the outside world other than my daily bike ride for exercise. The roads are deserted and it is very peaceful without traffic noise whether cycling or walking the dog.

Got me thinking, how about the first Sunday of every month from April to September as a traffic free day, essential use only? Maybe we need to chill out occasionally and stop chasing our tails from birth to death.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Fullchat
Stopping Sunday trading would achieve that.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - smokie
We don't need all the shoppers squeezed into a smaller window do we??
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
I really dislike the impact that Sunday Trading has had, much as I enjoy the convenience of it.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Zero
Sunday Trading had an impact, but that was long ago, Step into any high street or retail park 18 months prior to CV crisis, and you would have seen a large fall in shoppers.


(unless it was the opening of a new Ikea)
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
>>Step into any high street or retail park 18 months prior to CV crisis, and you would have seen a large fall in shoppers

Really? I am surprised.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Fullchat
'Shopping' has become one of the main leisure activities which is really sad. That's why some people just don't get this isolation thing. Don't get me wrong I really need some DIY stuff right now to keep me occupied but as we have a family member in the shielded group we are in lock down.

I've been to areas of Germany(I don't know if its countrywide) where everything is closed on a Sunday other than places such as coffee shops. Makes for more family orientated time.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Manatee
>> 'Shopping' has become one of the main leisure activities which is really sad. That's why
>> some people just don't get this isolation thing. Don't get me wrong I really need
>> some DIY stuff right now to keep me occupied but as we have a family
>> member in the shielded group we are in lock down.
>>
>> I've been to areas of Germany(I don't know if its countrywide) where everything is closed
>> on a Sunday other than places such as coffee shops. Makes for more family orientated
>> time.

It was all about economic growth. Did nothing for people's lives IMO. Retail used to be quite a civilised job. In the town I grew up in there was early closing on Tuesday and Saturday, and of course Sunday was a day off. First came Sunday working, then eventually it all dissolved into contracted hours, part time or zero or near zero hours contracts, unsocial hours, de-skilling and lower wages.

There were always jobs that were unsocial of course but the pay often compensated and for people who really didn't want such jobs there were others.

I didn't think Sunday opening would improve people's lives and I still think the same.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
>>I didn't think Sunday opening would improve people's lives and I still think the same.

I had no such foresight. All I could see at the time was the convenience.

I remember the rush to rip the car apart before Saturday lunch to find the problem and to discover what parts you needed; because after lunch you were screwed for significant unique parts.

I think MDC was the first useful place selling actually parts that opened after lunch on a Saturday and a reasonable day on the Sunday. I think it was QH that then followed. Or at least it was around me.

So Sunday trading all looked good to me at the time.

It is only with hindsight I look at it and see the other side..

       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Manatee
>> I remember the rush to rip the car apart before Saturday lunch to find the
>> problem and to discover what parts you needed; because after lunch you were screwed for
>> significant unique parts.

I remember that too, in the 70s/early 80s although a lot of my stuff came from a big scrappie that never seemed to close.

I'm not usually prescient and I wasn't then I don't think - I worked for a retailer at the time and can remember some of the discussion around it. I just thought it would be bad for the people in the shops. I liked my weekends and couldn't see why most people wouldn't prefer time off then to time off in the week when friends would be working, children at school and so on.

Of course when it came in there was extra pay and it wasn't compulsory but that clearly wasn't going to last. Soon new hires were on the basis of working a minimum proportion of Sundays and the pay differential eroded. Now big multiples might have 50 staff in a shop with barely half a dozen of them full time.

JLP didn't start opening on Sundays until much later, but did eventually when other retailers found that Sunday had the highest sales per hour of the week. I can't see it changing.

Yet another example of inequality really. It's the oompa loompas who generally do the unsocial hours, not the management.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Duncan
>>
>> Yet another example of inequality really. It's the oompa loompas who generally do the unsocial
>> hours, not the management.
>>

Another good reason - if one were needed - for your children to work hard at school.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - CGNorwich
Not only did JLP resist Sunday opening up until the 1980s they used to shut on Mondays. Their founder strongly believed in family life and he believed that workers should have two days break.

       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sooty123
. Now big multiples might have
>> 50 staff in a shop with barely half a dozen of them full time.

I think that's now standard in retail and in hospitality type jobs. I think halfords employ nearly all part time staff even managers i think. I believe it's cheaper to have lots of part time, something to do with employers NI contributions?

The Sunday opening thing doesn't really bother me, I don't consider shopping to be a 'leisure activity ' I can't remember when I went shopping on a Sunday. Maybe the odd very occasional trip to the corner shop.

I do remember half day closing on a Wednesday though and thought it was quite odd to close during the week for a half a day. I guess it was to even out working on Saturday mornings.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Zero
>> It was all about economic growth. Did nothing for people's lives IMO. Retail used to
>> be quite a civilised job. In the town I grew up in there was early
>> closing on Tuesday and Saturday, and of course Sunday was a day off.

And damned inconvenient it was, in fact positively restrictive and antisocial. And expensive.

Seems to me people here have short memories and rose tinted glasses.

Nothing bad has come from Sunday trading, even if you are all trying to blame everything on it.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 12 Apr 20 at 08:05
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - legacylad
Sunday drinking....didn’t pubs in N Wales used to be closed on a Sunday? I remember walking with friends every Sunday in my youth when pubs were only open 12-2. We’d start walking in the Lakes or Dales at 8AM, get to pub at midday, drink several pints, then walk another 10 miles before driving home. We had a nominated driver who only had a few pints!
Thank goodness we can now go for a decent walk and meet friends in the pub late Sunday afternoon. It certainly stopped our binge drinking at lunchtime.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - tyrednemotional
>> Sunday drinking....didn’t pubs in N Wales used to be closed on a Sunday?
>>

Wales chose to be dry or not by County.

I've walked over County boundaries on Sundays for a drink, and have distinct memories of being frozen out of a small back-street pub in Machynlleth by the crowd of Welsh sheep shafarmers therein, every one of the immersed in their "News of the World". The hotel in the centre was rather more welcoming (though even there, one farmer walked in, plonked two new-born lambs down in front of the open fire, and then went to order a pint!)
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Bromptonaut
>> Wales chose to be dry or not by County.

By Parish I think. Last one was Dwyfor in Gwynedd.

www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/last-orders-rang-ancient-drinks-2941211

IIRC one way the ban could be evaded was via the buffet car on a train. The Festiniog railway was very popular on Sunday.......


       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - smokie
"one farmer walked in, plonked two new-born lambs down in front of the open fire, and then went to order a pint!"

Welsh grooming... :-)
Last edited by: smokie on Sun 12 Apr 20 at 09:14
      1  
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Zero
wow! I have waited ages for someone to be more crass than me. Spectacular Job there smokies.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - tyrednemotional
>>
>> Welsh grooming... :-)
>>

...aye; that's what the lot in the other pub were reading about in their "News of the World"......
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - R.P.
.aye; that's what the lot in the other pub were reading about in their "News of the World"...

Ewes of the World....get it right.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sooty123
>> Very well thank you. I'm one of the lucky ones who can still go out
>> six mornings a week, so I still see the outside world other than my daily
>> bike ride for exercise. The roads are deserted and it is very peaceful without traffic
>> noise whether cycling or walking the dog.

Same here, on my way to work on Tuesday I saw one car and two vans nothing else, very strange still not used to the drop off in traffic.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Crankcase
Don't know why, but here the traffic is just as it always is, pretty much. Usual incredibly noisy motorbike revving up to about a million at 6:30 am this morning, as he always is and has been for a couple of years now.

Lorries, cars by the dozen, hooting, and so on. It's a BIT quieter but really not much different. The walk we do that involves the first half mile up the roadside is just as noisy, can't hear yourself speak, usual stuff.

It's not as if it's a motorway out there, just a rural B road. Who knows where they're going or why. The shops are closed today, made no odds.

Counted fourteen cars while typing this. There's never less than about twenty seconds max between them.

       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Bromptonaut
>> The shops are closed today, made no odds.

The big supermarkets are closed. The village stores are open as is the 7-11 up the road, Tesco Local at Weedon and a couple of Co-op stores too.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sooty123
>> Don't know why, but here the traffic is just as it always is, pretty much.

Where abouts do you live, does the road lead to a big town?
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sooty123
Usual incredibly noisy motorbike revving up to about a million at 6:30 am this morning,
>> as he always is and has been for a couple of years now.
>>

Does he go anywhere or just sit there revving it?
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Crankcase
We're in a small village a few miles outside Cambridge. Road one way goes to another much smaller village, then to the A14, about five miles away. The other direction leads to another very tiny village, then on through two more little settlements, then on to a tiny town, about eight miles away.


As to the motorbike, the game is to stop at the T junction, then pull out into the 30 limit that runs for about a mile and by the sound, attempt to hit at least 150 in five yards. Engine then screams until fading into the far far distance.

Over and over and over again. Yes, the "locals" have expressed concern, and yes, "nothing can be done, no resouces ". Small beer I know but pretty wearing.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - smokie
Maybe your village has a good portion of key workers.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Crankcase
>> Maybe your village has a good portion of key workers.


Possible, though I've never seen that many people in the local Timpsons.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - R.P.
I get a feeling I may have ridden through last year on the way to Duxford when the A14 was closed...:-)
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - tyrednemotional
>>
>> Over and over and over again. Yes, the "locals" have expressed concern, and yes, "nothing
>> can be done, no resouces ". Small beer I know but pretty wearing.
>>

...could your car not "develop" an oil leak or diesel spillage a few yards up the road....?

;-)
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - Duncan
>> Don't know why, but here the traffic is just as it always is, pretty much.
>> Usual incredibly noisy motorbike revving up to about a million at 6:30 am this morning,
>> as he always is and has been for a couple of years now.

I think I might put a very, very polite - obsequious even - unsigned note on his bike, asking him to stop doing that. See what response you get and act accordingly.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - R.P.
Here's the science.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00m3z7w/the-horizon-guide-to-pandemic

Well worth an hour of your time.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - No FM2R
iPlayer is the only one I can't get past.

nor can I find a source elsewhere, it's 10 years old.

Any chance of a precis?
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - smokie
Have you tried get_iplayer, over a VPN? github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer

Also Unlocator worked but wasn't great. unlocator.com/

Must admit I struggled with Beeb TV in Portugal.
Last edited by: smokie on Fri 10 Apr 20 at 08:29
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - sherlock47
Express VPN has done well for me over the past 6 years. When the same IP access address is recognised too may times by the content provider ( and then blocked), a swift help email to Express VPN gets a reply the best working node and they then reconfigure their network to provide working access via the major nodes.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - smokie
I use NordVPN who have a number of servers in multiple countries, and also have stuff like "obfuscated servers" and P2P dedicated ones. Also they are supported on a wide range of platforms incl. Android (even incl my Firestick now, which they couldn't do a bit back) and they allow multiple devices concurrently. They are cheap too, I think 2 years was about $70, but they I sometimes find it necessary to disconnect/reconnect as their DNS lookups seem to go slow sometimes.
       
 Coronavirus - Volume 13 - tyrednemotional
...for anyone who wants to drown themselves in worldwide statistics, the following fairly comprehensive set compiled by a Professor at UCL comes to me recommended by a Professor of Maths and Stats at Sheffield University.

nrg.cs.ucl.ac.uk/mjh/covid19/
       
 Council services in your area - Rudedog
Where I am two weeks ago the council announced that all recycling collections would stop, just leaving black bags and food scraps every two weeks. They also want us to keep the recycling and not just put it in the black bags ready for when this is over..not sure how practicable that's going to be depending how many weeks/months we have to go.

Loads of white-line painting seems to have happened overnight (maybe coincides with end of year?).

       
 Council services in your area - Zero
>> Where I am two weeks ago the council announced that all recycling collections would stop,
>> just leaving black bags and food scraps every two weeks. They also want us to
>> keep the recycling and not just put it in the black bags ready for when
>> this is over..not sure how practicable that's going to be depending how many weeks/months we
>> have to go.

Its going to go in the black bags, you know it, they know it.
       
 Council services in your area - Lygonos
It'll be going in the fire.
       
 Council services in your area - Zero
>> It'll be going in the fire.

Yeah why not, all the people with respiratory issues are either on a ventilator or locked up in house. Go for it.
       
 Council services in your area - Rudedog
Always nice when someone decides to have a bonfire on warm sunny evening ;)

One other thing... what is it with the next four days being described as 'the Easter Break'? Ok for us who are working but surely the majority of people are already off so what's 'special' about the next four days?

       
 Council services in your area - Zero
(bank holiday) weekend mentality. There is loads of room around the country to go and not bump into people, if we all staggered the when.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 10 Apr 20 at 15:44
       
 Council services in your area - smokie
Even in retirement the weekends and bank holidays are a place-marker for me. Often I do not go shopping at weekends and we used to walk less, or go more remote, then on Monday go back to retirement having had a nice relaxing weekend :-)
       
 Council services in your area - sooty123
>> Where I am two weeks ago the council announced that all recycling collections would stop,
>> just leaving black bags and food scraps every two weeks. They also want us to
>> keep the recycling and not just put it in the black bags ready for when
>> this is over..not sure how practicable that's going to be depending how many weeks/months we
>> have to go.

Our garden waste collections have been stopped due to the amount of bin men self isolating. But the other three types of waste are still being collected.
We've got somewhere to dump the garden waste less than a mile away, so not too bad really.
       
 Council services in your area - Duncan
>> We've got somewhere to dump the garden waste less than a mile away, so not
>> too bad really.


tinyurl.com/sj2sl5n
       
 Council services in your area - sooty123
>> tinyurl.com/sj2sl5n

CBA
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 10 Apr 20 at 18:31
       
 Council services in your area - CGNorwich
Most councils will sell and deliver a compost bin at a reduced price. Check their website. Ideally buy two. When full turn the contents occasionally. Just turn it out an refill. Add some material such as straw, egg boxes or even shredded newspaper to the green material. You will be rewarded with the best soil improver you can get and a great feeling of getting something for nothing!
       
 Council services in your area - Zero
CBA
      2  
 Council services in your area - smokie
...and a lure for rats....
       
 Council services in your area - John Boy
>> ...and a lure for rats....
>>
... only if you put the wrong things in it.
       
 Council services in your area - CGNorwich
Rats are not really interested in rotting vegetation. Since you presumably have to to put your garden waste somewhere putting it into a compost bin doesn't seem the most labour intensive job in the world. I find it quite satisfying to take waste and turn it into something useful but I suppose it is a matter of outlook.
       
 Council services in your area - John Boy
I find it quite satisfying to take waste and turn
>> it into something useful but I suppose it is a matter of outlook.
>>
In that respect, then, CG we have the same outlook.
       
 Council services in your area - henry k
>> ...and a lure for rats....
>>
Not in my plastic bins.
Having found they had tunneled up to access the fresh veg, at the next emptying cycle i stood the bin on a square of thick mesh. Sorted.
       
 Council services in your area - sherlock47
My plastic bins provide no protection for bulk bought bird seed and fat balls.. (It seemed a good buy at the time!) The plastic seems to provide the staple diet, much is chewed off, but no evidence remains.
       
 Council services in your area - Zero
I had a plastic dog food bin, the rats chewed a hole in the lid faster than rats chewing holes in lids
       
 Council services in your area - smokie
Having just emptied my composter I also found a tunnel going along the ground behind and up into it, and I too have now put it on a piece of mesh and a couple of boards. I guess my rats are less choosy than those of John Boy and CGN.

Btw SWMBO only puts a small amount of grass clippings in cos of something she read. Also pineapple waste and corn on the cob centres go into the food waste (which we've only had less than a year) as they take too long to decompose.
Last edited by: smokie on Fri 10 Apr 20 at 17:54
       
 Council services in your area - CGNorwich
Lawn mowing are fine , just don't put them all in at once as they are high in nitrogen. Mix them up with some carbon material. I use shredded newspaper. Yes some things take too long to rot so leave them out. Orange peel actually inhibits decomposition so that too goes in the food waste
       
 Council services in your area - martin aston
I have had a pair of compost bins for years. Like others, the only foods I put in are peelings. I had a (suspected) rat chewing some swede peel this winter but after leaving some poison alongside the swede, it didn’t come back. I have never had any other issue with vermin.

Other than that I stick in mowings, non seed bearing weeds, brown cardboard, egg boxes and all my shredded paperwork. I try to avoid too much of one material in one layer but am not too obsessive. Every few months I empty the oldest bin and shovel the contents of the newer bin into it. That is the only turning I do. It’s amazing how quickly stuff breaks down and into a small amount.

I believe you can overdo the mowings but my lawn is quite small and input seems to balance out pretty well.

You can add urine as an accelerator but the Mrs prefers I use the indoor facilities.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - smokie
Do brown cardboard and shredded paper break down fully and do they have any useful effect?
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - Duncan
Yes and yes.

It's like a lasagne.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - martin aston
Anything organic will breakdown into compost eventually but fine, mixed content is best.

Last year as an experiment I stuck in a worn out cotton shirt and only a small bit piece of double layered collar survived

Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - henry k
>>Other than that I stick in mowings, non seed bearing weeds, brown cardboard, egg boxes
>> and all my shredded paperwork.
I avoid envelopes( glue and plastic windows ) and newspaper as it seems to clog my small cross cut shredder so I feed it mostly non glassy paper.

>> I try to avoid too much of one material in one layer but am not too obsessive.
My shreddings and grass clippings mix works well.
My first cut of the " lawn" is with the strimmer as my mower tends to flatten rather than cut the grass. This cut does not easily mix so to avoid the dreaded green mess it gets ( used to get) a trip to the tip.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - CGNorwich
You need two element in a compost heat. Nitrogen and Carbon. The first is obtained from green material like leaves and lawn mowings The second is from cellulose - things like straw, sawdust, paper. A proportion of around three to one is about right. You also need Oxygen, that’s where the turning comes in. If you don’t turn a you will get a smelly slimy heap as it rots anaerobically.

You don’t need to be over worried about it though. Everything will rot down eventually
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - Bromptonaut
>> You need two element in a compost heat. Nitrogen and Carbon.

Ours, in a bin provided by the council well over 10 years ago, seems to rely mainly on insects and worms. Doesn't need turning and never smells. Waste material goes in at the top and fine compost is removed from the bottom in spring. Different method, different sort of compost I guess.

A few purely vegetable things don't compost well - Avocado skins for one.

Other items you'd expect to break down because they're 'paper' turn out not to compost at all. Some brands of tea bag for example. Emptied ours last weekend and picked out 20+ pyramid shaped tea bags with tags. Think they were fruity ones from France. Some types of kitchen roll leave a 'mesh' residue as well but that breaks down when the compost is forked into the soil.

Cardboard with a laminated outer layer used to be an oddity too. The cardboard itself would go but the outer film, still identifiable as a brand of OTC painkiller, would emerge in the compost.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - CGNorwich
Sounds more like a wormery than a traditional compost heap.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - smokie
I never turn our bin either. It gets pretty much emptied once a year, and it looks pretty good quality stuff to me. It tends to have lots and lots and LOTS of skinny red worms.

Years ago some gardener type at a stately home told us Quality Street wrappers and the like will compost. They don't!!

This year the local council gave us food waste bins but ours has next to nothing in it as there isn't a lot of waste on our plates and all the uncooked vegetable waste goes on the compost.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - CGNorwich
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=444
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - John Boy
For a long time I've been using homemade wooden bins. Eventually they rot from the base, so I replaced one with a plastic version last year and did the same this year. I like to be able to put a fork in from the top to turn the compost so I looked for ones with a large square top. This was last year's:
tinyurl.com/twejblx
I wouldn't recommend it. It was hard to put together and for some strange reason the lid is in two halves. You'd expect them to hinge, but not so - they click together and rainwater leaks through the join. That's made worse by the fact that the lid has a downward curve in the centre.
This is one I bought this year:
tinyurl.com/rtbjpvg
I'd really recommend this one - it's a better design and easy to put together. LIDL had them a few weeks ago for £23 when Amazon were asking £33.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Council services in your area - Bromptonaut
>> Sounds more like a wormery than a traditional compost heap.

It may well be although there's a whole set of things in there including woodlice, mites of one sort or another, millipedes and centipedes and several varieties of worm. It works and we get loads of compost and next to nothing goes in the council's food waste - just plate scrapings, bones etc and the odd thing that goes off/past its date.

We first had a proper garden after we moved up here thirty years ago and encouraged by Mrs B's mother, who was a keen gardener, we investigated compost making. Apart from settling babies at night (and perhaps which foot to brake with in an auto) I've never seen so much contradictory advice.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 11 Apr 20 at 17:30
       
 Nudists and Coronavirus - Zero
edition.cnn.com/travel/article/czech-nudists-virus-police/index.html
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 10 Apr 20 at 17:44
       
 NO!!! CV disaster - NOW ITS TIME TO PANIC - Zero
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52226488
       
 NO!!! CV disaster - NOW ITS TIME TO PANIC - smokie
SWMBO was low on Prosecco so she put in an order with Majestic yesterday (online ,but there is a branch here). It wasn't expensive (except she bought a dozen!!!). It said up to 6 weeks delivery.

It arrived today!!

When we were in Portugal and getting ready to come back I rejoined the Tesco delivery service and bagged two slots, before you lot were quite so aware of the problems as we were. You could only order 3 of most items but I managed to get 3 bottles of Speckled Hen. 3 Crafty Hen, 3 King Goblin, Abbot etc - I got 18 bottles in total, plus two 10 packs of speckled hen!

It seems to be going much more quickly though as I am being more social - I mostly only drank on Sunday beer night with my local mates, but we now have Friday cocktails with the neighbours at 7, Sunday beer, a few hours of Rummikub and chat with Birmingham daughter (mental health nurse in the community - she needs some sanity occasionally!) and some motor racing pals are having a frequent (more than weekly at the moment) mereting. Still saving money on pub prices though!"! :-)
       
 NO!!! CV disaster - NOW ITS TIME TO PANIC - No FM2R
>> she needs some sanity occasionally!

You realise how bad things have got when your daughter regards time with her Father as a moment of sanity.
      1  
 Wot, No Traffic!? - Zero
A quid vid I took on my daily allowed walk today (only allowed one, so it took 2 hours)

The M25, and the British public doing as they are told for once.

youtu.be/Xqii5dq4hVE
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 13 Apr 20 at 18:27
       
 Wot, No Traffic!? - Bromptonaut
>> The M25, and the British public doing as they are told for once.

And they still don't use lane one!!!!
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 13 Apr 20 at 18:27
       
 Wot, No Traffic!? - Duncan
Is there a live webcam of the M25, or one of the major motorways?

I might just have a spare minute today when I can squeeze in something essential like watching cars not going round the M25.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 13 Apr 20 at 18:27
       
 Wot, No Traffic!? - tyrednemotional
Not live, but refreshed every 30 seconds or so:

www.motorwaycameras.co.uk/

Take your pick.
       
 Wot, No Traffic!? - Duncan
I found that a bit earlier this morning.

Quiet, innit?
       
 Wot, No Traffic!? - helicopter
I hate the 'flubba flubba' tyre noise that stretch of concrete surface makes... .
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 13 Apr 20 at 18:27
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - henry k
The Office for National Statistics data showed the virus was mentioned on 3,475 death certificates in the week ending 3 April.
It helped push the total number of deaths in that week to more than 16,000 - a record high and 6,000 more than expected at this time of year.
Normally the number of deaths falls as winter ends. his is because there is less flu circulating.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52278825
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - Zero
Thats a completely speculative number, because it includes deaths at home with CV mentioned on the death certificate. However they were not tested, pre or post death and CV is a suspected complication not the confirmed cause of death.
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - Zero
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158312807031473&set=a.10150090504431473&type=3&theater
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - Haywain
"Thats a completely speculative number, because it includes deaths at home with CV mentioned on the death certificate. However they were not tested, pre or post death and CV is a suspected complication not the confirmed cause of death."

When my father died last summer, his death certificate listed:
Pneumonia
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Chronic Heart Failure
Frailty

Emphysema was also a contender, but not included on the certificate because it is an industrial disease and would have led to an autopsy - which we didn't want; after all, he was 94. If Covid had been around a year ago, my father would have been, as the press are now shouting, one of the 'lambs to the slaughter'. But 'frailty' is just another word for 'clapped out' and ready to go.

My feelings go out to the nurses and carers at care homes - I have seen 3 trained carers trying to get my dad on to the toilet - I just don't know how they can do it AND practice social distancing. What's more, he wasn't one of those with dementia.
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - CGNorwich
All of that is true but it does give a better idea of the overall effect that the virus is having even if there may be some degree of error either way.
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - Zero
So far its been a wet but exceptionally mild winter, and halfway into spring, its been very dry but mild.

So to get any idea of abnormality, we have to wait till the year is out, then compare it to similar patterns, match it with a flu outbreak maybe, to get any idea of how exceptional the death toll from the virus is.
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - smokie
Why are people seeming to want to play this down, and play into the hands of the conspiracy theory muppets?

It is killing people, in large numbers, either directly or indirectly. Abnormal numbers of people are dying for the time of year.

To most this is undesirable, even though death at some point is inevitable for everyone.

It is easily passed around, which is also undesirable.

It is, I believe, worse than anything else recent in this part of the world, even though it may or may not be being written onto death certificates and recorded as such.

As per above, death certificates are often not particularly reliable for all sorts of reasons.

Surely no-one normal thinks this might be near-normal?



Of course what will happen over the course of a year is that survival rates will improve and the spike of deaths happening now will become a much smaller fraction of the whole, and people will look back and say "that wasn't so bad really, what was all the fuss about" just as people have already done over Year 2K, completely oblivious of or deliberately ignoring the contributory measures, efforts and sacrifices which prevented it possibly eradicating humanity as we know it.
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - Zero
No-one is playing it down, and no-one is playing into the hands of conspiracy theory Muppets.

Large numbers? in the grand scheme of deaths in the UK per year? Eradicating humanity? 80% of those infected are believed to be symptomatic. What are you some kind of david icke Nostradamus? Get a grip.
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - smokie
No, I believe I am a realist. It will be a small blip one years deaths, even smaller on 50 years. IMO by looking at it that way you are implying that it's not going to turn out to be be particularly abnormal, ergo it's a lot of fuss over a pretty normal occurrence.

If that's not what you're saying, I am misunderstanding you and I apologise - but then what is your point?
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - Zero
My original point that you blew completely out of context was that the reporting of deaths due to CV is unreliable and possibly non causal.

At that point we had your over the top denier/conspiracy outburst.
       
 One in five deaths now linked to virus - smokie
Well if you'd said that rather than what you wrote it would help :-)
       
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