Self isolation support group

[Re6/6]

I went to my Coop mini-mart down the road for my weekly shop this morning at 0800 hrs and the place was almost empty with shelves reasonably well stocked (maybe 70% of usual items). It wasn't necessary to wear the mask but I do always wear the latex disposable gloves which arrived this week (ironically from China!).

 

The checkout lady commented that some sort of normalcy seems to be the case for the last few days now. Praise be!

[Neil]

13 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

Bit of a mixed day, awake at 03:30 worrying about stuff, after an hour of lying there in the dark came down to do some modelling and absolutely everything I touched turned to cr4p....

 

I get days like this too. The strategy I deploy requires early recognition so I can down tools before I do too much damage. Phase two is to have a jolly good tidy up of my bench, toolbox, bookcase, layout, cupboards and anywhere else my projects might have spread to. Tomorrow is another day and you'll be starting out from a position of strength having cleared the decks.

[Mallard60022]

Take this or leave this my friends and I know it won't be 'available' for some due to personal circumstances.

I have underlaying Anxiety issues due to a health condition and this has gone ballistic since this 'situation' began. As I am in lockdown and  struggling somewhat, I followed the advice of a good friend on here and looked this up.

https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/be-mindful/

I started yesterday evening with the Introduction and did day one this morning. I think this will help me a lot. If it helps anyone else during this time then don't keep it a secret. It is something of a skill to develop for use ,not only now, but in the future.

Apart from this I do other stuff as well but that's my routine.

All the best for today 

Phil

[Mallard60022]

2 hours ago, Killybegs said:

 

Did I not mention that I now ride an e-bike! The beauty of an e mountain bike is that I can work as hard or as little as I wish depending on gear and motor support mode selection. It really comes into it's own on hills and into head winds. On the flat I will often be travelling above the speed at which the motor cuts out (15mph) anyway.

yes you did John but that fact had slipped past my remaining Brain Cell. I might look into that as I am sure my local but very small Bike Shop is going to be having a very hard time. Thanks buddy.

Phil

[Baby Deltic]

Still working in between days sitting at home on standby. I have to go to food factories where social distancing cannot be enforced so there is a bit of risk there but by the same token the company cannot afford to pay all its engineers to stay at home indefinitely. The other problem is if they do furlough us they cannot then use us in an emergency.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Baby Deltic

[Nick C]

16 hours ago, TT-Pete said:

Beginning to wonder where I am going to get builders sand, ballast and cement, topsoil, compost and various garden products now that builder's merchants and garden centres seem to have closed - is nowhere still open?

 

Some of the DIY stores are still open for online orders; whether any would deliver heavy stuff like that I don't know...

[TT-Pete]

5 hours ago, Nick C said:

 

Some of the DIY stores are still open for online orders; whether any would deliver heavy stuff like that I don't know...

 

Thanks, have done a bit of research and turns out I can get some lighter items "Click & Collect" from Salisbury B&Q, 1 tonne dump bags aren't going to fit in the boot though...

[The Johnster]

If people are taking 1 tonne dumps in bags then no wonder we've had trouble with toilet paper!

[Colin_McLeod]

[boxbrownie]

10 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

Yes, it’s called an extra penny on income tax for the NHS......might not stop it but would make it less daunting.

[tetsudofan]

On 31/03/2020 at 13:59, Neil said:

 

Have you thought about opening up another model railway front on the change as a good as a rest principle? I've got a main project (British OO) and a smaller, portable one  (Belgian HO) on the go at the moment. I'm also hatching plans for something to give my small collection of Lisbon trams somewhere to run. This time of year I enjoy time spent in the garden too.

 

 

Be careful about enjoying time spent in the garden, it might take over the garden.....

 

 

Keith

[DIW]

3 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

Yes, it’s called an extra penny on income tax for the NHS......might not stop it but would make it less daunting.

We already did this. In 2002, the employees' NI was increased by 1% for the NHS, with a freeze of the NI levels for 5 years (reference here), rising from 10% to 11% with an additional 1% layer brought in (reference here). The has since been consolidation to make the ordinary rate 12%. The NI rate hasn't gone down; so we are still paying the employees' 'extra penny' nineteen tears later. The employers' NI also went up by 1% at the same time from 11.8% to 12.8% (see the second reference above), and it is still at 12.8%,  so the employers' 'extra penny' is also still being paid.

[boxbrownie]

49 minutes ago, DIW said:

We already did this. In 2002, the employees' NI was increased by 1% for the NHS, with a freeze of the NI levels for 5 years (reference here), rising from 10% to 11% with an additional 1% layer brought in (reference here). The has since been consolidation to make the ordinary rate 12%. The NI rate hasn't gone down; so we are still paying the employees' 'extra penny' nineteen tears later. The employers' NI also went up by 1% at the same time from 11.8% to 12.8% (see the second reference above), and it is still at 12.8%,  so the employers' 'extra penny' is also still being paid.

And now we need an extra penny.....

[Neil]

Update from mid-Wales: Bog roll supplies approaching criticality. However thanks to a large supply of packing tissue and reputable newspaper several alternative product lines have been developed. A full testing programme will be implemented shortly.

 

 

 

[jcredfer]

1 hour ago, DIW said:

We already did this. In 2002, the employees' NI was increased by 1% for the NHS, with a freeze of the NI levels for 5 years (reference here), rising from 10% to 11% with an additional 1% layer brought in (reference here). The has since been consolidation to make the ordinary rate 12%. The NI rate hasn't gone down; so we are still paying the employees' 'extra penny' nineteen tears later. The employers' NI also went up by 1% at the same time from 11.8% to 12.8% (see the second reference above), and it is still at 12.8%,  so the employers' 'extra penny' is also still being paid.

 

I'm not sure that was "Ring-fenced" for the NHS, which is what was {for a while} proposed to help the NHS a few months ago.  Most people, who were asked, were very much in favour of, peny in the pound amount and the Ring-fencing.  There it was, pretty much ready for the taking and it never got to the floor of either House.  I have been called cynical, in my old age, but that would have been a real assistance to the NHS, regardless, Ring-fence and all.

 

Julian

[Nearholmer]

On 31/03/2020 at 17:22, Killybegs said:

have devised a 17 km bike route with 350m of climbing that keeps me within a 2km radius of the house (

 

It’s alright for those that live at the bottom of a bucket.

 

I can see the hills I normally cycle round, but they’re ‘out of range’. Even though we don’t have a 2km limit in the UK, it would definitely be pushing the ‘unnecessary travel’ restriction.

 

 

[DIW]

1 hour ago, jcredfer said:

 

I'm not sure that was "Ring-fenced" for the NHS, which is what was {for a while} proposed to help the NHS a few months ago.  Most people, who were asked, were very much in favour of, peny in the pound amount and the Ring-fencing.  There it was, pretty much ready for the taking and it never got to the floor of either House.  I have been called cynical, in my old age, but that would have been a real assistance to the NHS, regardless, Ring-fence and all.

 

Julian

I'm quite sure it was ring fenced at the time, there was a big surge of enthusiasm to do it. To state who took the credit for doing it may be in  breach of the no-politics rule on the forum, so I'll just link to this piece (perhaps Lantavian wrote it?).

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

 

It’s alright for those that live at the bottom of a bucket.

 

I can see the hills I normally cycle round, but they’re ‘out of range’. Even though we don’t have a 2km limit in the UK, it would definitely be pushing the ‘unnecessary travel’ restriction.

 

 

There was a guy on BBC Midlands Today pedalling an awful long way for his daily exercise and posting it on line for others to follow at home.

He was from Leamington but cycled close to Warwick Castle, around some parks and a lot of canal tow path.(Grand Union)

(I know Leamington is only about 3 miles from Warwick)

[jcredfer]

45 minutes ago, DIW said:

I'm quite sure it was ring fenced at the time, there was a big surge of enthusiasm to do it. To state who took the credit for doing it may be in  breach of the no-politics rule on the forum, so I'll just link to this piece (perhaps Lantavian wrote it?).

 

Thank you, interesting figures in that link, with so many additional hospitals, doctors, nurses etc.  I don't remember any articles acclaiming the successful achievement of any of those targets.....   in fact.....

 

Clearly, as a member of the general public, I haven't got the foggiest idea of what Ring-fencing really means, for those for whom it is intended.   Perhaps it means putting a fence round what already exists and not replacing anything that retires or gets closed.   

 

Julian

PS.  I don't think he was old enough to have been there.

 

[Baby Deltic]

[TheQ]

3 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

 

It’s alright for those that live at the bottom of a bucket.

 

I can see the hills I normally cycle round, but they’re ‘out of range’. Even though we don’t have a 2km limit in the UK, it would definitely be pushing the ‘unnecessary travel’ restriction.

 

 

Hill..  Norfolk.... 

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, jcredfer said:

 

Perhaps it means putting a fence round what already exists and not replacing anything that retires or gets closed.   

 

Julian

 

 

Congratulations, you nailed it.....now don’t tell anyone else 

[Nearholmer]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Hill..  Norfolk.... 

 

There are some modest ones, as i discovered when I pedalled to CA.

[Theakerr]

Finished all my wagon chassis today, now to painting.  Most important I friend stopped by this morning with a weeks supply of beer.

[Mallard60022]

I see one bit of seemingly very good news that I saw in error really, as I am trying not to look at or hear anything at the moment; sounds daft but it triggers my Anxiety. NHS Debt wiped off! I shall not comment further about this here. and do not want to invite discussion. I found it helpful to see this that's all I am saying.

Otherwise, I do hope you are all OK and trundling along quietly.

Couple of benefits around here in 36E. At the local Nature Reserve at Idle Valley there is a mass migration of Toads and Frogs, mainly across the approach road and the Centre Car Park at this time of year. This year there should be few casualties as the place is shut!

The other is that there should be fewer Hedgehog Road Kills this year with luck.

Phil