Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

One for Neil - The Independent on the TT cancellation

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/isle-of-man-tt-2020-cancelled-coronavirus-cost-a9441166.html

[Tony_S]

Afternoon all.

Postman has left parcels for me. They have entered the quarantine zone at the moment. Decon procedure later. Aditi is very strict. She doesn’t want me to catch anything. 
My nephew and his girlfriend who are having to stay in because of her cough can’t go back to their NHS work yet as although Josh suspects it isn’t Coronavirus that  despite official statements there is no sign of a test appearing for medical staff to have to enable them to return to work. Royal Mail have already prepared a list of priority post boxes to return tests should they ever appear. 
Tony

[45156]

Morning Afternoon All

 

Well, at last all posts read and rated, and the usual generic greetings are on offer to all the ailing and the celebrating.  Won't be back later today for various reasons.

 

It appears that 30747 will be paid by bank transfer this afternoon, so a visit to the bank tomorrow instead of today.  For all that it's meant to be safe and secure, I just can't bring myself to trust online banking - well not the process itself, but the possibility of some scrote hacking my details - I have an access code, but I've never used it.

 

30747 has an infection - NOT COVID I hasten to add, and was pleasantly suprised to have a call to the surgery at 8.10 this morning first ring, without any repeated engaged tone, then anwered after only a few minutes, offered a call from a lady GP within the hour.  It happened to be my GP who is a most pleasant lady, who not only prescribed an appropriate antibiotic, but also asked to be remembered to me - all in all a very pleasant experience, and a trip to the local Boots half an hour later resulted in at least enough antibiotics to be getting on with, and the rest coming this afternoon.   So for us, at least, the NHS in the form of our most excellent GP practice did the very best in these trying circumstances.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[polybear]

Sadly the Comedian Eddie Large (of Little & Large fame) is the latest victim

[Gwiwer]

On 01/04/2020 at 05:40, Gwiwer said:

Good morning all. In case of confusion it is Tuesday. 

 

Good afternoon one and all.  Today is definitely Thursday.  Fake Tuesday made 22 people laugh.  That's not a bad response as things stand.  

 

SWMBO tried hard to enjoy her birthday yesterday.  She was visited by her senior director (and personal friend) and his wife who handed gifts through the door and spoke through the lounge window for a few minutes before leaving.  During the evening she had a group chat via Messenger with numerous family and friends around the world; this was scheduled for Zoom but that site let her down and refused to play ball.  It was good to see the faces, to chat and to introduce family and friends to each other who had not previously met.  Glasses were raised in as much unison as a very busy internet allowed and a chorus of Happy Birthday was sung.  

 

This morning she has learned that a work colleague has lost a friend very suddenly to the Dreaded Lurgy; there were no symptoms until the onset of fever and coughing but within hours he had left us.  Aged 70 and with underlying medical issues.  

 

Today's shift at the House of Not-so-much Fun was probably the quietest yet.  After 8.30 there was barely a passenger to be seen anywhere; before then there was the now-usual flurry of activity as those who need to get themselves to work for the appointed times.  Southern, who are still running some 12-car trains to space people out in the early morning, is still being beaten into second place by London Overground for passenger loadings with SWR a distant third and carrying very few indeed.  

 

I am required to perform Domestic Engineering Duties during this afternoon.  I must first consult the Official Advice as to whether I am permitted to stand any closer than 2m to the vacuum cleaner and whether or not it is currently considered safe to hold the duster

 

The booked meat delivery arrived and all looks good.  That was from a supplier to the hospitality industry offloading to the general public.  There was no queue at Sainsbury's despite Easter eggs being half-price and only a short queue at Lidl's where they were full price but other prices are reputed to be cheaper.

 

It's not that cold though it is grey so the Terrace is likely to be the scene of Afternoon Tea later.  We also say goodbye to the first of our tenants to leave the block permanently today; the students will be back at some time but these folk are off far away from the London area having (we think) secured passage home under the Australian government's citizen's repatriation arrangements.  That's a pretty drastic step to take in search of a decent coffee if you ask me!!!  We wish them well.  

 

Best wishes to one and all.  Special thoughts to those unwell or caring for others.  

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. The 'electronic' plane spotters are getting excited. You'd think that with the limited number of commercial flights they would be disappointed. Its that very lack of commercial flights that has resulted in some unusual flights. The C-17 touch and go at Southend the other day was only one of them. There has been several survey/mapping flights over London including one flying back and forth between Chiswick and Ockendon.

37 minutes ago, polybear said:

Sadly the Comedian Eddie Large (of Little & Large fame) is the latest victim

As someone pointed out he had a serious heart condition and at 74 he was vunerable. RIP.

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

And virus free Ambridge has not long departed the airwaves.  Meanwhile in Idaho the aftershocks continue and my quick count makes it 37 of them above magnitude 2 in the past 24 hours, so clearly an area of earthquake activity now if not previously.

 

I think the BMA need to recognise two things - firstly the hippocratic oath (or has it become their hypocritical oath?) and secondly the simple matter of he (and she) who pays the piper calling the tune - and getting what they have paid for/are paying for.  All well and good calling it a 'national' health service when at times it gives a good appearance of not being so by treating non-contributors to its club.  Equally of course what they should also do (and what one official comment said they should do) is consider the circumstances of the various patients.  For example ours is simple - my pension income (which is taxed of course) pays the household running expenses and without that the others in the family would have no option but to sell the house and move somewhere where at least one resident would be further from their job.  So I, and no doubt many others of 'older' years on here, are not only paying our subs for the NHS but are in some measure or other supporting our households financially.  If someone who has never actually paid in or contributed anything else to society gets 'my ventilator time' instead of me exactly how is that fair?  And if I go my regular payments to the tax pool, which among other things helps support the NHS, goes with me - hardly economic sense when we look at things from a hard economic perspective.  And I'm b*ggered if I'm going to sign a DNR note which it is claimed is what some medics are pushing older people to do - euthanasia is alive and well and about to flourish in Britain courtesy the NHS.  Angry - you bet I am, not even Andrew C could come up with a halfway accurate description for so called 'Doctors' coming out with this sort of nonsense.

 

In the meanwhile the buriers of pink cable are at our gate.  Notwithstanding the language difference it was easy to convey to them that their daub of blue paint was in a silly place and they were ecstatic with my own daub of blue paint - good job I had a bit left in an old blue aerosol.  So our very own disconnection box is located where there's no need to go through a foot of concrete but only the shallow footings of the old garden wall and then it would be easy to trench from there missing flower beds  and most of the front path.  But overall the job really is being done on the cheap - not only 100% Eastern European/Balkans labour (nice enough bunch of blokes as it happens) but there is a separate fibre optic cable to each disconnection box.  So presumably 'somewhere' further down (and up) the road they will install a cabinet to feed the local cables otherwise there would be an awful lot going back to their central whatever it is.

 

And unlike cowboys R us who did a similar sort of job back when we were living in Tilehurst I can't (yet) see any reasons to report this lot to nearest the H&S Enforcement Officer and get them out to site to look at a string of broken regulations etc.  So noisy and a bit of a nuisance but better than past experience with cable companies.

 

Enjoy the rest of your day one and all and stay safe (if 'the others' will let you).

 

 

[81C]

Afternoon All

Cold and dank PAH

Up-till Ten minutes ago my now very defintly ex wife would not tell me how the divorce case went on the 26th March yes childish isn't it she finally relented and told my daughters who were straight on to me,

Yaba daba doo I'm free man. 

Other news my thermostat on the central heating is b#ll#xed another £100 to fix that's £600 I've spent on it in 3months.

better get back to my shopping list one of my daughters is off work and insists on doing it for me.

Stay Safe see you all at 8 pm outside clapping. Ova D'Moon . 

 

 

 

[southern42]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Have you ever considered writing the lyrics for country music or the blues?

 

Rename as Polly Darton or Smokin' Red Dragon

 

On the Conwy Valley Train.pdf

[Andrew P]

41 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Afternoon all,

 

I think the BMA need to recognise two things - firstly the hippocratic oath (or has it become their hypocritical oath?) and secondly the simple matter of he (and she) who pays the piper calling the tune - and getting what they have paid for/are paying for.  All well and good calling it a 'national' health service when at times it gives a good appearance of not being so by treating non-contributors to its club.  Equally of course what they should also do (and what one official comment said they should do) is consider the circumstances of the various patients.  For example ours is simple - my pension income (which is taxed of course) pays the household running expenses and without that the others in the family would have no option but to sell the house and move somewhere where at least one resident would be further from their job.  So I, and no doubt many others of 'older' years on here, are not only paying our subs for the NHS but are in some measure or other supporting our households financially.  If someone who has never actually paid in or contributed anything else to society gets 'my ventilator time' instead of me exactly how is that fair?  And if I go my regular payments to the tax pool, which among other things helps support the NHS, goes with me - hardly economic sense when we look at things from a hard economic perspective.  And I'm b*ggered if I'm going to sign a DNR note which it is claimed is what some medics are pushing older people to do - euthanasia is alive and well and about to flourish in Britain courtesy the NHS.  Angry - you bet I am, not even Andrew C could come up with a halfway accurate description for so called 'Doctors' coming out with this sort of nonsense.

 

Enjoy the rest of your day one and all and stay safe (if 'the others' will let you).

 

 

And I bet they still resuscitate the, never paid a penny in, drunks and druggies on a Saturday night, and any other night / day come to that.

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where the the clouds are vying with the sun for celestial supremacy.

 

All seems well here - Mrs Lurker's whatever it was seems to have gone entirely  I am not sure I have heard her cough once today*. None of the rest of us seem to be showing any signs of anything.

 

We are due an Ocado order tomorrow - we have noticed all deals have been dispensed with so it seems much more expensive than usual; I don't think that there are many extra items on there. However, that is it as far as getting an order; we can't see,m to book one beyond that. Presumably we need to be up at silly o'clock looking for slots 3 weeks ahead. On the plus side, the Waitrose round the corner, although small, does seem to be getting regular deliveries.,so I imagine it is reasonably well stocked. By the time we have eaen the Ocado delivery we will be able to visit!

 

I have just realised tomorrow is Friday. Does that mean I can abandon my computer early?

 

Enjoy the rest of the day and stay well

 

 

 

* true to form, she coughed not long after I typed that!

[iL Dottore]

Mike, I certainly sympathise with you (and I thank the gods I am here in Switzerland with access to Swiss medical care). One thing is certain, this crisis has ensured that the cracks in the NHS can no longer be papered over. But whether or not our craven politicians will truly address the problems of the NHS remains to be seen (and, no, that doesn’t mean just throwing more money at it).

Whilst noble in intent, “free at the point of use” is a recipe for abuse (and indeed the NHS is very much abused...). At present much of NHS management, PHE etc., have hardly been covering themselves with glory (unlike the NHS front line)

You express anger at non-contributors to the system who just turn up to be treated (“health tourists”) and whilst apologists say the cost of health tourism is minimal, it’s not just the money. Every non-contributor that gets seen means that some of the finite resources of the NHS are diverted away from those who DO contribute. And what’s wrong with expecting non-nationals/residents to have health insurance before they arrive in the UK? 

Actually, come to think of it, having some of the world class NHS hospitals open adjacent clinics for treating paying patients from abroad could be a way for such hospitals to acquire funds not forthcoming from the government (with the added bonus of that money also being without government strings attached - if everything is set up properly).  The Swiss manage to do so (orthopaedic surgery being a particular specialty [loads of experience due to the winter sports enthusiasts]). In fact, all my recent surgeries (paid for by my health insurance) took place in such clinics. Anyone used to how the NHS sets up its hospitals, had they visited me post-op, would have been forgiven for thinking that they had come to a luxurious hotel by mistake. And, if I may digress, the place where I had my December surgery was set up by my wife’s cousin and a group of physicians, which means that the clinic is set up for the benefit of the clinical staff not the administrators!

As for a blanket DNR order for elderly patients, apart from being - at the very least - ethically questionable, it also makes no medical sense, as it appears - from what has been said - such rigid guidelines would result in the preferential treatment of a 24 year old junkie with end stage renal disease over an 80 year old with hypertension.

No wonder you’re angry...

iD

[Tony_S]

Aditi’s sister pointed out to me this morning that a statement by the BMA doesn’t really mean anything. The  BMA is a trade union. The GMC regulates and registers doctors in the UK. 
 

There has always been a version of who gets priority. Not everyone who needs an organ transplant or dialysis gets it. People die waiting. Also doctors are not responsible for the shortage of intensive care beds or ventilators. If they aren’t making difficult decisions in a time of shortage, I wonder who is going to volunteer to help? 
I am quite aware that with a heart condition, a damaged lung, chronic kidney disease (not too bad though) and significant immunosuppression I would be more likely to be rather unwell with Covid 19. At the moment my analysis of my health gives me a CFS score  of 3 .  This would probably suggest if I needed ventilation it would be suitable. However what if while I was having my breathing assisted one of the other conditions deteriorated so that my quality of life after was affected. Some poor doctor is going to have to make a decision. Has anyone received the letter about ventilation and age. MiL did and has elected not to have invasive ventilation if she gets Covid 19.  So if you haven’t had a letter I would stop worrying about what the BMA said. I am trying my best to avoid getting infected at present . Watching people via the news being stupid or politicians being economical with the truth is testing my normally tolerant attitudes. 
Tony
 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

56 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

So presumably 'somewhere' further down (and up) the road they will install a cabinet to feed the local cables otherwise there would be an awful lot going back to their central whatever it is.

Forty houses in our road. There is a green cabinet at the end of the road for the broadband cable. The phone cabinet is in the next road. 

[81C]

12 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

And I bet they still resuscitate the, never paid a penny in, drunks and druggies on a Saturday night, and any other night / day come to that.

Andy my daughter is a police officer in her beat days in Woking she somehow ended up with this druggy in hospital 3 or 4 weeks running, one of the night staff said to her

on week 5 when she took a woman in who had been assaulted you don't have to worry about your mate the druggy anymore 4 of us spent 3 hours last night on him trying to keep him alive.

You can guess the rest.

 

 

[Ian Abel]

BIN day, suitable handled. Along with all the other essential workers, these folks need our praise.

It' s not a great job at the best of times, and they're now as vulnerable as many others.

 

April 1st handed me a truly "fools day" event. ONCE AGAIN, as seems to happen every six or twelve months, the brilliant IT department at the client (remember I've been on this gig 5 years now!!) shut off my VPN access. It took EIGHT emails via various levels, including folks replying to the email saying "why does he need access?" to get it fixed.

The heads of the finance department took a VERY DIM VIEW, since they've on several occasions - ONE should be all they need, right?!?! - stated "GIVE HIM ACCESS UNTIL WE SAY TO STOP!" Apparently the IT/network/security staff are deaf and blind as well as stupid! <insert an entire raft of AndrewC expletive>

I decided mid-afternoon during the debacle I'd had enough for the day, so reposed with the Mrs after a walk and did the crossword before dinner

 

Nothing else happening - the ignorance of the White House occupant showing no bounds as always. Apparently, it'll be a good outcome/OK if 200,000 citizens die

 

6 first thing and cloudy, 16 the expected high with chance of thunderstorms later

 

Take care everyone.

 

[Andrew P]

It's our Bin day tomorrow.

 

[Barry O]

Her indoors said morrisons shelves were full this morning. Only limiyed supplies of some items but she got all on her list.

 

Despite gaining many brownir points yesterday I am now in the bad books..don't know why but I know her indoors is scared about going to the shops.

 

AndrewP if we put that on our bin the daft souls would  chuck it in the van.  The l8fe of a bonman is luxurious compared to my student days. Remove bin lid (quietly)Collect steel bin and hoist it onto a shoulder, fight off dogs ( made aware of your presence if your mate dropped his bin lid). Walk to the bin lorry. Empty bin, return to exactly where it came from, replace lid, fight off dogs, go and get next bin...of course if the bin bottom was dodgy you could sometimes get a shoulder full of carp for added pleasure.

Now, we move bin to outside bath. Waster collection operative runs and collects bin. Fastens bin onto machine. Machine empties bin. Dump bin on roadside. Run to get on lorry..jump off and run to the next but one bin..

 

They do a fair job but apart from the running no heavy items to lug around.

 

Mind you

A I got paid to do it

B  It meant I did my rugby preseason while getting paid!

Baz

[J. S. Bach]

6 hours ago, southern42 said:

Remedy, anyone?

And, to sing you out...

 

 

Keep fit, Elfie   and stay safe.

_________

Best wishes

Polly

 

Hmmm, I was expecting strains of "Dixie" to come sneaking in at some point! Anyway, I recognized several of the tunes, maybe not by name but the music. Thank you for posting that, it was quite up-lifting.

[roundhouse]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

 

Now, we move bin to outside bath. 

 

That's a long way from Leeds!

Edited April 2, 2020 by roundhouse

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

being - at the very least - ethically questionable, it also makes no medical sense, as it appears - from what has been said - such rigid guidelines would result in the preferential treatment of a 24 year old junkie with end stage renal disease over an 80 year old with hypertension.

What had been said doesn’t appear to be anything like what is reality. Doctors did not want to be using age alone as a triage decider. I think the 24 year old drug dependent with renal disease even on my very limited understanding would score much higher(Clinical Frailty Scale) than the 80 year old with hypertension. 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Tony_S

[bbishop]

Home from London Ambulance Service HQ.  Whacked.  Bed.

 

Bill

[TheQ]

Afternoon awl, 

Our bin men came today,  I've never seen them before,  surprisingly Ben the good Collie,  didn't bark at them..  Which pleased them...  Might have been something to do with Ben having a Gob full of his favourite ball.. 

 

We also met some people on his long walk,  I've never seen them before either.  They backed off into a ungated field to let us pass on the tractor width mud track.  Ben again was good, sitting immediately on command and not running off to see them.. 

 

I spent the two hours  working on the spreadsheet file.  It's generally turned out to be easier than expected.  I've sent a first prototype version to the boss,  with a question,  because text files won't show the omega sign for ohms the customer wants,  he's advised using R. 

 

After that I painted  the inside of the keel with resin,  then inserted the foam carving it to fit.  Easier than polystyrene to cut...  With it being below 15C out there it will take time to set.. 

 

Then on to the layout  I was busy varnishing the lochan when I realised what what had been bothering me about the rock faces on the whole layout they are all dry grey.  As anyone who's lived in the highlands and Islands will tell you they are almost always wet, especially in a cutting. Experiments have started in getting the west highlands wet look.. 

 

Since then I've been researching the Scarinish war memorial it will be interesting to see what detail I can get into 36mm high. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grandadbob]

I thought this was supposed to be a politics free zone.

[AY Mod]

1 minute ago, grandadbob said:

I thought this was supposed to be a politics free zone

 

Yes please!