woodenhead

Or Darwinian unless you think this is some sort of 'World Government' takeover manufactured pandemic.

It was strange, a poor decision on the face of it, unless there was something else they knew that wasn't obvious. The learning is on everyone - teams for comms with drivers, drivers to know where flags/markers are positioned and track marshalls to consider where flags/markers are positioned and have them signed off by drivers representatives so everyone is in agreement.

There was plenty of socialisation in Newcastle on Saturday and that was in the daytime when i was about. Mrs Woodenhead reports that down the gym apart from the cleaning regimes between classes (shes an instructor) then as a punter it is pretty much business as usual and no-one distances in the changing rooms. Despite there being a pseudo ban on showering, people still use them cos you don't want to stink of the pool or sweat at work. Just to demonstrate though that I am not just dissing any concerns about risk, because both myself and Mrs W had been well outside our normal bubbles on Saturday up in Darlington & Newcastle, we are now applying extra care for the next couple of weeks with her parents who are both vulnerable with one awaiting an operation imminently.

I tend to avoid news, my wife detests it and I used to be glued to it. Early on in the pandemic I did watch more news but as time has gone on I've retreated more into Netflix, so much good content. Now I tend to scan the BBC news site.

It will be beaten when the media have something else to talk about, Government are making real efforts at present to conjure a new crisis and it looks like it is just weeks away now. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54051933 We've had wall to wall coverage, heck not even Civil Rights in America could keep Covid off the number one spot for the media for long. If all the media does is talk death then what else is the general public going to be thinking about, but it's OK as Boris is here and he is going to transport us right back to June 2016 any day now.

Lets look at what we both agree on then, we both recognise this virus causes death and suffering, where we differ is on how we perceive the risk. I manage risk by looking at numbers and trying to ascertain the level of risk, you look at it from a more humanistic approach and to you my approach looks cold and hard, perhaps that is the case but it's how I deal with it. If I don't use the numbers then my emotions run higher because of the media coverage of Covid, the numbers help me bring down the level of anxiety. All I was trying to do, perhaps again clumsily, was introduce some numbers to see if if helped your concerns.

That's not an apt comparision, as a child of immigrant background and a remainer, he and I share very little in common. But if you've fallen on comparing me with him then I guess I won't be winning you over any time soon.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Our-work/Make-a-report-or-complaint/Report-a-potential-breach-of-aviation-law/ In general, except when necessary for take-off or landing, an aircraft should be 1,000 ft over a built-up area or otherwise 500ft from people, vehicles, vessels and structures. Not an aviator, but there is an airfield just a few hundred metres away from me.

She looks and excercises way younger than her age, I am blessed given my last gym visit was February and last run was April.

The fish and chips was her idea, given her intolerance to lactose and gluten a really bad idea

What I have learnt in lockdown is that I am a good cook, I don't need to eat out all of the time, takeaways don't taste anything like their advertising and coffee from Starbucks, Costa et al is very overpriced and overrated. That said, I did have one Starbucks Latte and two Costa Lattes yesterday, a bacon bap and a cheese toastie, for tea I had fish and chips from the local fryer - old habits are easy to fall back into . My excuse was I was out for the day as offical chauffeur to Mrs Woodenhead whilst she was qualifiying for a new fitness instructor thing.

Not at Stafford - we know Stafford comes with rain

Best way to save money on energy bills - have your kids leave home

My dad was an N gauge modeller, he left UK modelling in the 1990s as he didn't like the unreliability anymore and got into US outline N gauge. I had a dabble in N gauge but found so many of my locos were suffering from split gears that I also lost faith and sold the lot. Only returned when Dapol entered the market and I began collecting N stuff again, even now the dreaded split gear still occurs - my fave class 46, a beautiful runner was all locked up after it had been in it's box a few years during an OO phase, I had to find and remove a gear to get it running again. I've a 40 with a wheel missing because for some odd reason I just removed the whole wheel rather than the gear - must put that back in!! I'm back in N at the moment, got quite a few locos out, only the Peak was an issue and I am glad I had kept everything and not sold up when I was in OO.

The issue I see is that Smart meters use technology - and we see how often technology changes especially anything that transmits or receives information via a frequency. Both 4G and 5G use wavelengths that were previous used for other stuff, other stuff that had to be shifted so that the Government could auction off clear wavelengths. The old meters had lives measured in decades, the new 'Smart' meters are currently measured in months as the technology quickly finds itself left behind and new standards being adopted - all the makings of a gravy train for those that produce the things. Why is everything today reduced to the status of a must have upgrade? They can send spacecraft outside of our solar system and it can still work decades later sending information back - but our Government decreed smart meters lasts only months before being obsolete and 'dumb'. Sticking a microchip and transmitter on something doesn't make it smarter, it just builds in obselescence, that thing which means you never stop spending money on the same item over and over again.

My son's meters for his home are in the cellar of the shop below his flat - if the shop isn't open he cannot read his meters.

How often are your meters actually read? Most of my bills arrive as estimates unless I've responded to the email and done my own reading. Energy companies are smart, they know typical usage and a once in a blue moon reading is required just to do a random check. It's a bit like the Smartshop app with Sainsburys, I've used it lots of times now and only had one random check which involved someone in the shop scanning a random 6 items in the bag to check they tallied with what I had declared. The onus is on us to give regular readings - too high and we're being overcharged, too low and we can expect a big bill sometime so it pays to declare your energy usage correctly. No need for Smart meters for that, but varied rate tariffs based on time of day, they need Smart meters and this is where the Government are heading so we will use our electricity when they want us to and that is where costs will be saved. If the Government can control when we consume then they can better manage the energy network, less peaks mean less capacity is required and less money has to be spent building and maintaining a network of generators that aren't always needed - especially of the type that have to be turned on and off.

We all become statistics: World Wars Genocide Starvation Disease Old Age One day I will be added to one of those lists, I'm not trying to put down your fears but life is short, it is fragile and it cannot be lived in fear. I've a relative who has had to shield since March, finally gets to go out, but ends up in hospital with a suspected malignancy, operation is due soon and given their age it's a risky op in general, so far all appointments on own as due to Covid no-one else can attend as support. You'd think Covid is the only killer in the world, it isn't and that's all I am attempting to say.

Approximately 100,825,272,791 have died of death in the lifetime of man on the Earth It's a big number that have died from Covid, but how many people have died of other things this year, 156,000 people die daily, so given the current time of day (10am) about 65,000 people have already died today, which is about the same as Covid over 9 months. The Government want us to be worried about Covid, it is a nasty illness and it can cause suffering and death. It also has the capability of swamping the health service and a Government's main task is protecting it's citizens. But If you stand back from the 62,000 figure you realise it is a drop in the ocean. Like you I am worried about Covid, I wear my mask, wash my hands and do as I am asked to reduce risk, but the risk is probably already very low it just seems more risky because of the publicity it receives. Perhaps if we talked about heart disease in the same way we talk about Covid then more people would be on strict diets, jogging and generally treating their bodies with more respect. Of course, it is easy to quote statistics about what has happened so far and how it compares with the bigger picture and if I wanted to be a conspiracy theorist I could argue that the damage to the economy, the loss of liberties is all some grand scheme or simply over zealous reactions to something that is really minor. But, what if the Government hadn't stepped in, could the figures of 250,000 UK deaths have come true, we will probably never know because perhaps the painful preventative measures perhaps did their job and protected us. Because we can never prove how bad something could have been then it will allow people to perpetuate myths but we still need to remember that in the really big scheme of things Covid is a blip, a nasty one, but nonetheless a blip that will not wipe us out. In 2015 it is estimated 57m people died, Covid would represent 0.1% of deaths of those deaths if the same average applies. Also in 2015 about 141 million people were born, so the actual world population increased 84m, there are about 7.7 billion people on the Earth. https://ourworldindata.org/births-and-deaths

I was talking the 70s, it didn't take long for the weeds to take over the route.

I think we need to stop thinking about when a vaccine will be available. The more appropriate route is how do we reintroduce mass participation events safely, a vaccine will be a bonus. Been on a train today, that was strange, had to have a reservation but it all worked out, that was Darlington to Newcastle with LNER. Now after a lovely walk by the river I am sat in a Starbucks mask off enjoying a latte.

It's Government mandated and paid for in our energy bills, nothing about saving the energy companies money, we're paying for them whether installed or not.

As mentioned earlier: IP addresses can be masked, my Virus protection includes a VPN I can turn off an on as I please. ISPs only give out information upon presentation of court orders - they are bound by GDPR. Police will only intervene if there is criminality, this sounds more like nuisance that criminal intent unless this person is attempting to be you and diverting goods/services to their address. Painful as it may be, have you thought about setting up a new email address this person does not know, my ISP allows me multiple email addresses, simply change over and use a new one and ignore this one. You will have to over time update any valid sites that use your old email but eventually you'll be rid of it. Methinks this person will be getting more out of this by seeing you suffer from the bombardment of emails so simply ignoring them and changing your email may be the most suitable action. You can still access the old email but at your leisure and not have to watch each email come in. If you have no alternative to keep the current email then simply push any of these emails to Junk so your email solution will divert them automatically as best it can

I am guessing a risk of asbestos would require something more than a bit of tarp. Here's an idea - Cover the loco in plastic bags - apply heat to shrink wrap then paint the coating blue and yellow - instant Palitoy 45. It will look preserved but at a fraction of the cost of rebuilding it from the fuel tank upwards.

Its not like the trip from either station by Javellin takes that long, clearly Eurostar are cutting costs whereever they can at present.