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Ongoing chat.
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Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 4 May 20 at 18:57
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So our next door neighbours' 17yo son is displaying Covid symptoms and they're all (four of them) self isolating as per guidelines. On Saturday his condition was such that after a call to either 'out of hours' or 111 the paramedics were sent round to assess him. No need to go to hospital but family directed to attend at premises in Milton Keynes by appointment yesterday for tests.
Tested parents and elder son (19ish) but not the 17yo with actual symptoms. Something to do with him being under 18.
What could be rationale for this?
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There are only a couple of testing facilities in the UK for under 18s Milton Keynes is not one of them
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What's special about a facility for testing under-eighteens?
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No idea but they only seem to exist in London and Belfast. In the case in question it rather makes the testing of the adults , who I assume include a key worker, seem to be a waste of time
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Mon 27 Apr 20 at 12:32
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Only thing I can think of is its some sort of safe guarding issue for minors?
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>> Only thing I can think of is its some sort of safe guarding issue for
>> minors?
That would make (sort of) sense given the emphasis on safeguarding these days.
I can understand it needing to be different for young children because of the physical nature of taking swabs but for a 17yo?
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I don't know I'm just guessing, but maybe rules are rules.
Did your next door neighbour ask?
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Retarded rules are retarded rules.
Absolutely no point testing the rest of the family.
If they're negative today, they could be positive tomorrow.
Not testing the symptomatic person is a whole world of stupid.
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Having watched the lunchtime news and an item on test centres I think I understand. The tests are self administered and therefore presumably deemed unsuitable for children. Yes I know he’s 17 but like most rules it’s all black and white.
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Apparently they can test him in Oxford so he's been driven over there today.
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As long as there's 100,000 tests a day, who gives a toss if they're actually helpful.
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"As long as there's 100,000 tests a day, who gives a toss if they're actually helpful.'
Quite. I've been ranting ever since the DG of WHO was crying out "Test, test, test". But then, I'm never very good with bureaucratic behemoths - WHO, FIFA, EU etc.
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>> Apparently they can test him in Oxford so he's been driven over there today.
Test was negative for Covid, must have been some other virus. His Mum and Dad can now emerge from isolation.
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>>Test was negative for Covid, must have been some other virus. His Mum and Dad can now emerge from isolation.
Good. Also shows the uselessness of testing the asymptomatic parents - if he'd been positive, their negative tests were pointless.
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www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hr3y
Tonight's Panorama - what happened to all the PPE?
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And the bad news goes on - Newsnight tonight.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hr3f
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"And the bad news goes on - Newsnight tonight.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hr3f"
Somewhere along the road, the National Health Service became the 'National keep 'em alive at all costs regardless of their quality of life Service'. I recall some 10 years ago, my GP grumbling "I have wasted the last two days giving 'flu jabs to demented people in care homes". During the last years of my father's life, I witnessed the strain on the home care service, care homes, and the hospital geriatric services.
Sadly, Covid has been a heavy straw, and it has broken the camel's back.
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>> "And the bad news goes on - Newsnight tonight.
>> www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hr3f"
>>
>> Somewhere along the road, the National Health Service became the 'National keep 'em alive at
>> all costs regardless of their quality of life Service'.
Don't blame the NHS for that, they only do as they are told.
Maybe Covid lifted the load on the camel just a bit?
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"Don't blame the NHS for that, they only do as they are told."
I'm not blaming the NHS, it's all just a sad reflection of our unreasonable expectations as a society.
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>> "Don't blame the NHS for that, they only do as they are told."
>>
>> I'm not blaming the NHS, it's all just a sad reflection of our unreasonable expectations
>> as a society.
One of the statistics now of a leading first world country is how long you can hold on to your decrepit wrinklies. The state that is because the families don't want the responsibility.
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>> order-order.com/
Ah that explains a lot.
Meanwhile back in the real world, As the BBC is regularly attacked by the Labour party, with Corbyn citing it as one of the reasons he lost, I am perfectly happy with the BBCs balance.
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They all seem to have fairly rational views to me ;)
From an unbiased "right wing political blogger".
As I usually remark at this juncture, if you aren't going to trust the BBC, and you should of course always be sceptical, which news source will you trust?
The BBC probably gets more stick for being the mouthpiece of the government than anything else.
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I don't think the BBC is biased towards or away from any political party.
However, that doesn't mean that their reports are accurate or objective. In any given story the BBC look for the way to report it which suits them and their perceived audience the best - as do all media outlets.
>>which news source will you trust?
One alone? None. It is necessary to read several/many different reports and work out what you believe from that, bearing in mind that one should always ask why a particular outlet reports it in a particular way. And the answer is almost always because of their chosen audience group.
"Managing" audience profile is a long standing BBC approach.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 29 Apr 20 at 14:14
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Interestingly enough, or perhaps not, one of the most balanced and erudite people I know is my lifelong friend who grew up living in the small hotel his parents owned at the time.
They provided a selection of daily newspapers for their guests to read in the residents lounge. A cross section of the broadsheets and the tabloids purchased to appeal to a variety of preferences.
My friend and his siblings got into the habit, from a relatively early age, of reading those newspapers once the guests had finished with them.
Resultantly, again from an early age, he was aware and interested in the news and opinions of the day, while also fairly quickly recognising that many articles were not necessarily to be taken as gospel, but instead as either as the opinion of the journalist/editor, or more cynically, deliberately tailored to affirm the prejudices of the target audience of the given publication.
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As I say, as long as its attacked by both sides for being "biased" I am happy about the line it treads, tho it is sometimes as guilty as others of sensationalising stuff for audience share.
For unbiased news I use Reuters, tho its a little brief on detail.
If you want fun check out CNN and Fox news. makes chalk and cheese look like twins.
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International flights are starting here from 01st May. There's no logic, they're clowns, but it's happening.
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Wizz Air are starting some flights from Luton on Wed. Not sure where to, will anyone have them?
My mate has a "once in a lifetime" cruise booked for Sept/Oct, around NZ and Oz etc. We were saying yesterday that although you may be able to go would you really WANT to? I'm not sure I would.
Having said that I am hoping to get back to Portugal in Sept/Oct to finish my last holiday and have an autumn break - but at least we can manage ourselves with as much (or little) social distancing as we want.
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"My mate has a "once in a lifetime" cruise booked for Sept/Oct, around NZ and Oz etc. We were saying yesterday that although you may be able to go would you really WANT to? I'm not sure I would."
We had a cruise booked departing on June 23rd; we have now deferred the deposit to a similar cruise in September 2021. You have to keep an eye on the FCO website - which currently advises those over 70 not to go on a cruise. Not sure, but I think the advice now is not to travel overseas at all.
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>> My mate has a "once in a lifetime" cruise booked for Sept/Oct, around NZ and
>> Oz etc. We were saying yesterday that although you may be able to go would
>> you really WANT to? I'm not sure I would.
NZ and Oz? yeah why not, its the place affected least, and the last cruise from there docked last week with not a single case of CV on board.
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>> but at least we can manage
>> ourselves with as much (or little) social distancing as we want.
If you avoid the trip to the airport, the airport, the plane, arrivals hall, trip to villa.
And that's just getting there.
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I have set my hopes and expectations a little lower. If by September I am allowed to drive to the coast and walk along the beach or visit my local nature reserve with a packed lunch I think I shall be happy.
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Feeling fortunate to live where I do....set off from my backdoor late yesterday morning and walked 11 slow miles across the Craven Fault into millstone grit country on the edge of the Trough of Bowland. Superb views of the eastern Lakeland fells, 3 Peaks, bouncing lambs, curlew, buzzard.
A combination of minor roads, tracks and rarely walked field paths. Some amazing remote barn conversions and farmsteads. Chatted over the fence with several farmers & home owners. After 20 years living here I thought I knew the area well, but I’ve discovered a lot of new stuff within 8 miles of home.
Home in time for beer in my pals pop up bar in his ‘man shed’ ( barrel of beer donated by local pub and we have a hand pump with sprinkler fitted) then social distancing in the garden.
The Wales Coast Path will still be there at some indeterminate point in future. The nearest I can get to the coast is a view of Morecambe Bay from the top of Smearsett Scar a short walk from chez LL.
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LL you are not really helping my isolation on the back of a Shielded family member :)
Should have been visiting Settle at the end of May for the Jane Tomlinson walking and running festival.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Tue 28 Apr 20 at 12:48
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>> I have set my hopes and expectations a little lower. If by September I am
>> allowed to drive to the coast and walk along the beach or visit my local
>> nature reserve with a packed lunch I think I shall be happy.
With dog shows abandoned for more or less the whole year, the Basecamp has suddenly become our escape pod as soon as the sites are reopened. Over the last month or so Amazon has been equipping the van, and as soon as the duvalys arrive, (about 10 days) we are ready to hook up and get the flock out of town within 24 hours of the starting pistol.
Yeah, striking distance of the sea is called for. Southwold will probably fit the bill. Or lime regis way.
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"Yeah, striking distance of the sea is called for. Southwold will probably fit the bill."
Do you think you're posh enough to come to Southwold, Zeddo?
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>> "Yeah, striking distance of the sea is called for. Southwold will probably fit the bill."
>>
>> Do you think you're posh enough to come to Southwold, Zeddo?
I have a Beemer and a Golden Retriever, and I like Adnams Gin. Of course I am posh enough
(I remember Southwold from the 60's wasn't posh then)
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>> I have a Beemer and a Golden Retriever, and I like Adnams Gin. Of course I am posh enough
Yeah, thing is, it sort of works like this...
Audi - If you want people to think you might be somebody.
BMW - If you think you're somebody.
Mercedes - If you really are somebody.
;-)
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>>
>> Mercedes - If you really are somebody.
>>
>> ;-)
tinyurl.com/Idriveamercedes
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Good engines those 4 cylinder diesels !
;-)
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I like to think of it as doing my little bit for the environment.
;-)
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>> Mercedes - If you really are somebody.
>>
>> ;-)
But if you only have two thirds of a proper Mercedes? Its a wannabe init
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No, it's more of a modernist approach, low fat, low sugar, same taste sort of thing.
;-)
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More Low Fat, Low Sugar, No taste?
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>> ....low fat....
>>
...not words that commonly appear in a sentence about Mercedes ownership.....
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It's ok, really it is, I'm aware of the difficulty in adapting to change and technological progress in those of more advancing years. Those set in their old last century values and so on. It's normal apparently.
;-)
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And you make disparaging comments about Larios.
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>> And you make disparaging comments about Larios.
On a scale of Gin, Larios is what you would clean your engine with. Adnams Copper House gin was voted worlds best gin 2013
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"I have set my hopes and expectations a little lower. If by September I am allowed to drive to the coast and walk along the beach or visit my local nature reserve with a packed lunch I think I shall be happy."
Yep - come September, we'll be heading up to our friends' place in Docking with the leccy bikes.
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Docking, well handy for Brancaster. Run the dogs on the beach, look at the shipwreck, then lunch in either the Jolly Sailors or The White Horse if crab is called for.
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Yeah I did discuss yesterday maybe we consider abandoning the booked flights and drive down on the Eurotunnel credit note from the other cancelled trip. I know that's still not perfect but we could extend the trip by a few days if necessary.
Ages ago I read that aircraft are safer than other air conditioned areas (shops and offices) as the air is properly refreshed more frequently. Don't remember the detail. And EasyJet have said they aren't going to seat anyone in the middle seat which helps. Shops etc seem to be be "managing" people better in large areas like departure and arrival halls. I hire a car there so once that's had the once-over with a rag that should be OK. Once we are there if it's risky we just won't mix with people. Quite happy going off for walks in the country and by the sea - but if those still aren't allowed we wouldn't go. I like sitting in bars and restaurants but if it's difficult I could live without it - we do less of it since taking longer holidays anyway.
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>> etc seem to be be "managing" people better in large areas like departure and arrival
>> halls.
you only need two or three delayed or cancelled flights and distancing rules in the airport lounges disappear in the blink of an eye. Boarding times are going to be much longer if distancing rules are to be enforced.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 28 Apr 20 at 11:26
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We have an isolated holiday cottage booked in Cornwall.
We were supposed to be going next weekend, but a couple of weeks ago the holiday company graciously allowed us to rebook it ("Can't refund you, we're just the agent, your booking is with the owner, blah blah".).
We had to pay a bit more cash of course - about £60 more for the only doable slot that's free later this year. It's the middle of September, so we plumped for that.
No idea whether Cornwall will be open again by then.
If not, maybe they will graciously, etc etc.
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"Can't refund you, we're just the agent, your booking is with the owner, blah blah"
Well as the agent I would tell him to go back to his principle and tell him in no uncertain terms that as the contract has been frustrted by the legal inability of you to travel to the property he must give a full and immediate refund.
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Yes indeed. But I'm saving that in case September doesn't work. After all, we do still want the holiday if/when possible.
I just think it doesn't reflect well on them to take that stance initially. Actually, I've looked at a couple of companies we have used before/might use, and it's interesting that some do start from the position of "push off", making you fight, and others are proactively saying "don't worry, we will credit/refund".
Makes you think which you'll be using again next time. One of our favourite small companies, family run etc, have put me right off with their current notices on their website. If I HAD booked with them for this year (which I very nearly did a couple of months ago, happened to procrastinate for various reasons and then this all happened) I'd have been pretty unhappy with them.
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Air France have initially refused a refund for our flights to Japan, offering us vouchers "if unused within 12 months will be fully refundable".
The flight has been cancelled so I have mailed them back advising that the legal position for a cancelled flight is a full refund within 7 days and I would like the £ tyvm.
If they still drag their feet it'll be a section 75 job.
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Fret not Lygonos.
I’m sure you’d prefer your fish battered and served with mushy peas than presented raw
But seriously....visiting Japan has been on my bucket list for several years now. I just can’t make up my mind which operator to travel with on a small group tour. Or which tour to take. Or when to go. And then going all that way I’d like to spend a few weeks somewhere en route.
I invariably end up coastal backpacking somewhere in the UK or walking in Spain. I just need a good kick up the arras.
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I thought that I had read recently that Japan health service was in meltdown.
L - Might be scope for some lucrative locum work if you ever get there!
Found it - only 'warn of'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-52336388
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>> But seriously....visiting Japan has been on my bucket list for several years now. I just
>> can’t make up my mind which operator to travel with on a small group tour.
>> Or which tour to take. Or when to go. And then going all that way
>> I’d like to spend a few weeks somewhere en route.
>>
FWIW, Japan is pretty easy to travel round without going on a tour, though I understand why you might prefer to. In terms of when to go however, I’d recommend either spring/early summer, or mid to late autumn. It’s hot and humid in the summer, and early autumn can be very wet!
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I mentioned in the previous edition of this thread that our daughter gave birth at the weekend and that post birth Coronavirus advice was sketchy. There's been an odd development.
Part of her concern was that she had received a letter saying she was in a vulnerable group requiring isolation and she assumed that was sent to all pregnant women. However we could find out nothing more online. Today she got a follow-up call and was advised that her baby was in a vulnerable group due to a congenital heart condition, hence the need for isolation. She us having a shaky day (as many new mothers do) but she is not a panicker and sought clarification. It turns out they had somehow got her records confused with someone else's and, once she quoted her NHS number, they said it was an error. They will contact the correct person
I don't understand the detail of how NHS records work but the initial letter was correctly addressed to her by name. That name is not common and her partner's (and baby) is very rare so it's hard to fathom. She will need to resolve it with the surgery when things settled down. Just a human error no doubt, and no need to kick off, but concerning nevertheless.
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" It turns out they had somehow got her records confused with someone else's "
A problem is that once something goes wrong with a patient record, it can be very difficult to trace the original source of misinformation, and to correct it. A friend suffering a uti that was getting progressively more difficult to sort out was informed, eventually, that the hospital couldn't administer penicillin because he was allergic to it. He told them that, in fact, he wasn't allergic - so they then administered the appropriate antibiotic which put paid to the infection. But, after that, any time he went into hospital, he was told that he was allergic to penicillin - they still hadn't got to the source of the misinformation.
You always have to be alert; I was especially gratified that at every step of the way when I went in for a nephrectomy they would ask me "what do you think you are here for?" followed by "which one?".
When the registrar marked me up, he realised that his black marker pen on my abdomen might show through and spoil my polo shirt if the ink hadn't fully dried; so he put a big arrow on my left arm. When I went back into the waiting room, my fellow patients assumed that I was having my arm amputated :-(
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Many years go in Rio two guys went to hospital for surgery; a vasectomy and an ear operation.
The Brazilian hospital messed it up and switched them around.
Tragic, of course, especially as the guy who wanted an ear-op but got a vasectomy was only a young chap.
But I always wondered why the ear-op guy didn't react when they started shaving his groin? You'd kind of think he'd be at least a little curious.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 28 Apr 20 at 19:02
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Why would the shave his groin?
He was already Brazilian.
Soz.
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I have no idea which bits Brazilian men do or do not habitually shave, always happy to take the word of a man with experience.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 28 Apr 20 at 20:14
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>> I have no idea which bits Brazilian men do or do not habitually shave, always
>> happy to take the word of a man with experience.
Back, Crack & Sack apparently
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>> Back, Crack & Sack apparently
>>
..whilst Lygo's opinion might well be described as "professional", I'm not at all sure about yours (unless it is in an entirely different context)..........
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Out of interest SCL - MIA is currently $880,000 (£840) versus the more normal $350,000 (£330).
So, assuming that the world follows suit, then I'd probably think twice about cancelling and rebooking if the option is presented.
I wonder if that means you'll have to pay the difference if you accept a voucher for a flight?
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Job changed for me a couple of weeks back as my work at the bank has all but dried up.
I am now writing CBILS and CLBILS loans. These are the loans that HM Gov are underwriting.
It’s a right pain. Companies are asking for loans without any real idea as to why they want them and how they are going to repay them. It’s shocking that most businesses can’t prepare a cash flow forecast!
BTW HM Gov are being very helpful and demanding we pay a percentage fee to them for every loan we write designed to be an insurance premium for the potential bad debts and insisting we use the same criteria that we use for normal business or they won’t cover the losses, then berating us for not lending quickly enough!
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No cash flow forecasts is the main reasons that companies go bust. The owners are so keen in increasing turnover that they forget that they need the liquid capital to fund the growth.
Managing a company in growth can be hard work - managing a company that is shrinking, as many companies will be from when they return to work is even harder.
Customers cut back, slower to pay (if indeed they pay at all), you have to be wary of trade with new companies coming to you when they shunned you in the past..........................
You can trade profitably but if you do not pay your bills you go bust - opportunity for spreadsheet gurus to shine.
I can remember young lads making a fortune setting up the forerunners to Excel - Visicalc, Supercalc, Lotus 123, - £200 to £400 per day mid 1980s - long before Windows & Excel.
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Mrs Z has done 4 shifts now, mainly in wards with no covid patients. She reports they are slightly overstaffed for the norm, with no pressure for bed space. She is working with other specialised nurses working out of their norm, ie oncology nurses who have been reassigned because they have no patients*
A&E is ticking over on half load because no-one wants to come in and the kids are not bowling one another over at school.
Son has been up to Nightingale in Docklands, to resolve a technical issue, and reports the place to be mostly empty.
since Covid lock down I have been in for one CT scan, which revealed another issue, was contacted by a doctor some 7 days later who said I need a bladder investigation ( a camera up the ole JT) which will now be tomorrow, so thats a 14 days wait, at the commandeered private hospital.
So some parts of the NHS are now heavily underutilised and working better than normal, *and some parts have deferred patients and procedures some of who may well suffer.
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Z. Hope all goes well tomorrow
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"Z. Hope all goes well tomorrow"
Good luck, you'll be alright in the private hospital, you'll get wine with your evening meal.
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>>
>> Good luck, you'll be alright in the private hospital, you'll get wine with your evening
>> meal.
>>
If he needs an evening meal in hospital, then he probably won't be OK.
I'd expect a day case for a cystoscopy (which is what it sounds like).
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Good luck, hope everything is ok.
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Its no worry, it should be ok. Its just all follow ups from my Colon cancer surveillance scans. as soon as they start scanning you closely, they find stuff, its like kicking over a pile of dead leaves and investigating all the insects you find.
So far its been
a mass on the pancreas, decreasing in size, believed to be a cyst, action - just monitor
small spot in left lung, stable in size, action - just monitor,
The last pancreas scan revealed a shadow in my bladder, so its camera up the JT for a look see.
All my blood & wee tests are fine. All this monitoring means three different scans every 6 months
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If they're looking for things that are wrong with you that need investigation, I have a list of concerns about you; your sanity and many other things. Should I forward it to them?
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>> If they're looking for things that are wrong with you that need investigation, I have
>> a list of concerns about you; your sanity and many other things. Should I forward
>> it to them?
>>
...they're under pressure at the moment, and they've got the long-winded hunt for his d*ck to undertake.
I'd leave it until later.
;-)
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>> I'd leave it until later.
According to mark its on my head, so should be easily found.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 30 Apr 20 at 02:41
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>> If they're looking for things that are wrong with you that need investigation, I have
>> a list of concerns about you; your sanity and many other things. Should I forward
>> it to them?
The mental health trust is completely different, and not attached to the hospital, and so far scans have not gone above the thorax, so you are wasting your time.
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>> Its no worry, it should be ok. Its just all follow ups from my Colon
>> cancer surveillance scans. as soon as they start scanning you closely, they find stuff, its
>> like kicking over a pile of dead leaves and investigating all the insects you find.
Well that didn't end up as planned, I have numerous tumours on the inside of the bladder, that will need to be snipped, zapped and lasered, via a Transurethral bladder tumor resection and sent off for biopsy and staging. They are however believed to be non muscle invasive, so hopefully that with some follow up intravesical chemotherapy will fix the bill, it has none of the side effects of normal chemo.
Sigh
I blame the Gin.
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"Well that didn't end up as planned,"
Sorry to hear about this setback, Zeddo; did they knock you out for the procedure, or did you have to grimace your way through it? They knocked me out.
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Its a knock out job next time round, overnight stay or two.
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Good luck with it all Z.
Look, about that car, if you're not going to be using it again for a while...
;-)
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That line didn't work last time.
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>> Sorry to hear about this setback, Zeddo; did they knock you out for the procedure,
>> or did you have to grimace your way through it? They knocked me out.
When I had the camera down the penis, it was a local, possibly just some anaesthetic ointment. However it was the most excruciatingly ticklish thing I have ever had done. The two nurses constantly telling me to keep still.
Nothing nasty was discovered.
I hope things work out for you Zero.
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>Well that didn't end up as planned, <
I hope things work out for the best at the next stage.
I just received in my SPAM folder an email offer that brought a smile to my face, and then reminded me to send you a reply :)
'Special Offer - Covid 19 prick test'
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>> Well that didn't end up as planned, I have numerous tumours on the inside of
>> the bladder, that will need to be snipped, zapped and lasered,
>> I blame the Gin.
>>
Just seen this post and wanted to pass on my thoughts and support. Never been a time I've not seen one of your posts and failed to raise a grin.
All the best,
FF
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>>
>> Never been a time I've not seen one of your posts and failed to raise a grin.
>>
>>
...should that have read, "and failed to raise a gin".........?
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>>
>> All my blood & wee tests are fine.
Have you been urinating much today, Zero?
How are you getting on with it?
No discomfort, I trust?
No sensation of peeing rusty razor blades?
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>> >>
>> >> All my blood & wee tests are fine.
>>
>> Have you been urinating much today, Zero?
Normal amount
>> How are you getting on with it?
apart from now being aware I have bladder cancer , its all normal
>> No discomfort, I trust?
None
>> No sensation of peeing rusty razor blades?
Not at all.
Sorry to disappoint
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 1 May 20 at 19:13
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>>was contacted by a doctor some 7 days later who said I need a
>> bladder investigation ( a camera up the ole JT) which will now be tomorrow,
I had that done, apart from the fact that they lowered it down mine. The nurses kept telling me to keep still. "Keep still while you're doing that to my old chap!!
You will think you are peeing razor blades for a week......
Please let me watch?
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I think these days, they use a smaller camera for this job - it's called a Canon C300.
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"Furloughed" BBC cameramen and their full apparatus at the moment, due to the great majority of medical staff being diverted elsewhere.
;-)
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Went into town to Sainsburys for my weekly shop and afterwards toook a trip into Boots to look for hair clippers and found they had the Babyliss crewcut model recommended by Zero a couple of weeks ago.
Had looked on Amazon and they were £75 and not available, in Boots I paid £49.98 for what appeared to be the last pair of any hair clippers in the shop.
Seven weeks growth now self cut to a No 4 all over and looks good even if I say so myself.
I usually pay a tenner for a No 3 cut (OAP rate) so it will pay for itself in a couple of months.
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Our clippers are en-route from somewhere (probably China) since April 2. It's due on Saturday.....I look like Cousin It...
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I'm awaiting a fleabay delivery of some Wahl clippers, should be here sometime next week. I did look on the boots website yesterday and my local branch had none in stock. A number 4 all over for me too, I'm an old hand with these devices as I went through a period of cropped hair a couple of decades back before I let it grow again.
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Is anyone else quarantining all incoming non-urgent stuff? Mine all goes in the garage for three days and remains untouched.
Do the same with the groceries - fridge stuff gets wiped with a bleachy rag ( - new knowledge on my part makes me think this is pointless) before it foes into the outside fridge for its quarantine. In fact groceries now all stay out there until required. No point bringing them in just to put in the cupboards.
My ladydeez have been busily sewing masks this afternoon, in preparation for when they become obligatory.
I think they're hardly worth wearing but I'm going along with it. I'd sooner buy something and I would be prepared to spend a reasonable amount but only if I could be sure they were what they say they are. I understand they need to be at least N95 standard. Any recommendations?
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>> Is anyone else quarantining all incoming non-urgent stuff? Mine all goes in the garage for
>> three days and remains untouched.
No most of us have yet to reach that level of paranoia
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>> Is anyone else quarantining all incoming non-urgent stuff?
No never thought to, seems a bit OTT tbh.
>> Do the same with the groceries - fridge stuff gets wiped with a bleachy rag
>> ( - new knowledge on my part makes me think this is pointless) before it
>> foes into the outside fridge for its quarantine.
You mean fruit and veg?
Last edited by: sooty123 on Thu 30 Apr 20 at 18:36
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It may seem OTT but it is no skin off my nose so why not? Better safe than sorry! :-)
Fruit and veg won't get the bleachy rag...that's more for plastic packaged stuff!! But mostly fruit and veg will have had a day or so in the garage before use.
I would blame SWMBO for being paranoid but for once we are in agreement. I really really don't want to catch it!!!
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Suspect CV lasts a fair bit longer in a fridge than ambient temperature....
In fact I'm pretty sure it does.
The SARS variety enjoys low humidity and being kept under 5°C.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Thu 30 Apr 20 at 18:56
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>> It may seem OTT but it is no skin off my nose so why not?
I CBA to take it to that level. But if it keeps people busy in lockdown why not. Seems harmless enough.
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I can't see what you think might be so much effort. Maybe your garage isn't near your house? I suppose it helps that mine is attached and you can reach it almost directly from my kitchen. Seems a really negligible effort to me.
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Had a delivery a few days back and sprayed the box with disinfectant.
Opened the box today to find several smaller boxes inside.
They have been sprayed and will be left for a couple of days.
This is getting recursive!
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Simply washing your hand after unpacking is sufficient.
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"Is anyone else quarantining all incoming non-urgent stuff? Mine all goes in the garage for three days and remains untouched."
Oh yes!!!! Mrs FC is totally paranoid. To be fair we have a shielded person and stuff is not left outside for 3 days but everything gets spray bleached or wiped.
Notes on the front door and gate. If I step the other side of the gate a siren goes off its like Stalag Luft X.
Spends hours Facetiming friends and discussing all the negatives. Its depressing. Fortunately I am managing to keep myself semi busy.
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Leave the hi spec masks for those that need them
M
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You mean moderators on Car4 Play don't qualify as front line staff CGN? Sheesh... :-)
I thought the fridge may keep it alive longer... glad for the heads-up, and extra precautions may need to be taken!!
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>>My ladydeez have been busily sewing masks this afternoon
Here masks are compulsory. However, there is no standard for masks and the law says that they must be worn, not worn properly.
Also, of course, the mask will not stop the wearer getting the virus. Their use is that the wearer will not pass the virus on. Therefore the standards for each are quite different.
If you want to wear a mask to stop yourself catching the virus, then it needs to be a full N95 respirator mask tightly fitted to the face - they are both uncomfortable and restrictive. Though you should also bear in mind that you can contract the virus through your eyes.
If you want to wear a mask which will reduce the risk of you passing on the virus, then pretty much any old crap which stops the water droplets from your sneeze or cough will do the job.
The standard tie around the face, surgical type mask is to prevent you passing it on. Which is the point behind the WHO advice that only those at risk is symptomatic need wear one.
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I'm barely going out at the moment so the mask is not necessary, but I am anticipating a time later in the year when we are allowed out and a mask may be a requirement, and the demand might outstrip supply. I realise that the masks have a finite life.
I've told them that their masks won't save much but they are reading that anything is better than nothing, which is hard to argue with.
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We must be a marketeer's dream. I too received a set of clippers from Amazon today. Panasonic ERGB 60, about £33. Very impressed with the apparent quality. They took just over a week to get to me via Italy, Germany and UK hubs. Can't help feel all this international transport is neither green nor quarantine friendly but needs must. I discarded the outer packaging and washed my hands well.
Mrs A has just done my first cut. I am pleased with the result and the marriage has survived.
If anyone is looking for clippers for the first time, just a couple of points. A lot of advertised hair clippers are actually beard clippers and don't have guides longer than about a grade 3. And the figures they do quote are in mm not barber grades e.g. 16mm is a grade 5. There are look up tables online so it's best to check the length you want is provided in any clipper you are considering.
Last edited by: martin aston on Thu 30 Apr 20 at 18:34
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The boss has taken a break from running up hospital scrubs to make us some masks. We found a pattern online that can be downloaded in different sizes and she's made some prototypes.
I have a feeling that when the anti-infection measures are reorganised there could be a policy for face covering.
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I have a feeling that when the anti-infection measures are reorganised there could be a
>> policy for face covering.
>>
Perhaps they be a run on these tinyurl.com/yb5ezyc3
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No coincidence that this is near Norwich, then!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-52456180
I think I'll dob you in.
;-)
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Yes, Hellesdon is not that far from here. I say no more .
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What is with Norwich? Apart from Hellesdon Hospital (of which I knew a superintendent who habitually wore a scout cap in the grounds) there was another large public asylum on the Yarmouth road to the east (near the Griffin pub) and, a few miles further still, a public institution at Plumstead. There was also a private asylum, where I worked for a while, near the old Bishop's Palace.
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Hellesdon Hospital is still there. St Andrews on the Yarmouth Road is now flats and houses. Plumstead was sold and burnt down, not sure where you mean in Norwich. Was it in Bishopsgate? Do you remember the name?
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That's the one. I worked there for a few months in 1951 or 1952.
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Do you come from this part of the world then Ambo? It must have been a very different world in 1951. Were you here during the war?
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I was born in Norfolk but we only moved to Norwich at the latter end of the war. After school I did National Service, then various jobs in Norwich, before leaving for good and working abroad. I have only returned for duty calls on family members since.
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>>No coincidence that this is near Norwich, then!
>>www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-52456180
>>I think I'll dob you in.
>>;-)
Norfolk police have form...
www.thesun.co.uk/news/7894866/parents-row-police-officer-cycling-mask-pettiest-argument/
1. Since when is wearing a mask whilst cycling illegal? I used to wear a full balaclava when cycling to school. Passed police all the time, they never raised an eyebrow.
2. The poor copper must be in therapy now considering the number of people that are going to be doing all sorts of things in masks!
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"I have a feeling that when the anti-infection measures are reorganised there could be a policy for face covering."
Burqa?
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I see the AA MIA/LHR route is operating. Can't imagine it is either frequent or full though.
Also LATAM is starting to offer holiday packages; dates from July on.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 30 Apr 20 at 23:15
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Somewhere else on my bucket list....too many places, not sufficient time.
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BA said they may not return to Gatwick today.
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>> BA said they may not return to Gatwick today.
Meh, not quite what they said; BA is overstaffed, over-unionised and stuck with far too many legacy contracts and agreements. BA would also like to beat it's staff up, especially aircrew, into much lesser contracts, lower benefits, lower pay and longer hours.
This is their opportunity to sort all that out in one go. And since they can, and probably will, make 000's redundant without looking like bad people, the Unions are right on their back foot. The in-fighting between the different parts of BA has probably already started.
Negotiating 101. And if BA don't blow it, then they may achieve substantial changes. Pilots and aircrew I feel sort of sorry for. Ground staff not so much.
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And if BA don't blow it, then they may achieve substantial changes. Pilots
>> and aircrew I feel sort of sorry for. Ground staff not so much.
>>
Why one group but not the other? I know very little about BA, just curious.
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Nowt wring with their ground staff, but I'd sack all their IT staff, useless bunch
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Living near Gatwick, the local area is home to loads of aircrew and groundstaff who are currently furloughed and whose future looks bleak. The airport is the hub of the local economy.
BA threatening to leave altogether, Virgin Atlantic looking rocky and all the holiday airlines TUI, Norwegian, Easyjet business looking stuffed for this year. I had a holiday booked for June in Crete but even if it were to happen I would not risk flying. I am sure I will not be alone.
I see also Michael O'Leary also looking to cut 3000 staff from Ryanair.
I was startled a couple of days ago to actually hear a plane going over....how times change.
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>>I was startled a couple of days ago to actually hear a plane going over....how times change.
The same feeling near Heathrow.
Replaced by the the roar of Prime deliveries as nothing in the way between their stops.
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>> I was startled a couple of days ago to actually hear a plane going over....how
>> times change.
>>
In these strange times Flight Radar 24 satisfies my curiosity. There is an app for phones, as well.
www.flightradar24.com/56.66,-2.92/8
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Flight radar now reveals a lot of privae jets zooming in and out of the UK, from the middle east and ex russian states.
happened to be dog walking behind McLaren yesterday morning, when (according to Flight Radar) a largish Embraer legacy 650 cruised over - from Saudi Arabia according to flight radar looking like it was heading for Farnborough.
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"Flight radar now reveals a lot of privae jets zooming in and out of the UK, from the middle east and ex russian states."
Lazing in bed yesterday morning around 8am, I just happened to glance at FR24 to see that a plane labelled 'A400' had passed close to Bury and landed at Mildenhall (USAF base). I thought that pretty unusual as FR24 doesn't normally show military aircraft; the track indicated that it had taken off from Washington USA.
I was outside the house at around 10:45 and heard a strange sounding plane above the clouds and on checking FR24, it looked like it would have been the A400. A friend them emailed to say that he had seen the A400 earlier and that his son reckoned that it was from the Turkish Air Force operating under a NATO callsign and had been delivering PPE. I saw that the flight ended at Ankara.
I also noted a couple of planes labelled 'C130' so I guess they were similarly on PPE duties.
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Normally find ADS-B exchange better for military stuff and exec type traffic that only shows basic details like type of FR24.
Pre Covid A400s were pretty commonplace back and forth over here usually at around 10,000 feet. Almost invariably to or from Brize. The noise is utterly distinctive. Not all are on Covid duties, Leeds Bradford had one doing approach/go arounds this morning with it's movement pre advanced on Brize's twitter/facebook accounts. Necessary training they said.
Quite a few C130 Hercules around too. Some look like they've been round the Welsh hills and other low level routes.
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There's been a significant movement of tankers in and out of Brize over the last couple of weeks. From the radar tracks I'd presume refuelling out over the North Sea (where they have flown numerous tight circles).
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The Russian navy have put their newest sub to sea, and seeing if it can get through the GIUK gap and there is a bit of a game going on. Nato want to see how easy it is to track.
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Coronavirus Volume 15 - Bromptonaut
