Lockdown !!!

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, Oddjob said:

I remember the truck coming round doing door to door with this 3d deposit on the bottle.

 

I remember that too, late 50's early 60's. They sold dandelion & Burdock, my favourite at the time.

[Richard10002]

7 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

No, there seems to be considerable debate as to whether people NEED hot water and heating from a central heating boiler, as opposed to find it very convenient.

I don't think that would go down well with any of our tenants if they called the agent to report a failed combi boiler......

 

"Sorry - given that you can still boil a kettle, the boiler isn't essential for hot water, and you dont need any heating now the weather is improving" ......

 

I can just imagine the headlines in the local, (maybe national), press, if that got out. Landlords are a regular target for the media, and this would be a gift from heaven.

 

[mrsmelly]

2 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

It's an interesting interpretation of essential. At the start of the week off licences were closed unless they also sold food. By Wednesday the government had a change of heart and said all off licences and breweries could sell for take away. 

 

I like a drink as much as the next person but I wouldn't have said alcohol was an essential by any stretch of the imagination.

I think it was a sensible move by the government. Enforcing people either not to buy or making buying booze difficult always ends in tears, the USA found that to their cost between 1920 and 1933. People will still booze but illegal sales would come to the forefrunt and aggro could ensue. South Africa is going in to lockdown from midnight tonight and they are prohibiting alcohol sales for 3 months. It will end in tears.

Edited March 27, 2020 by mrsmelly

[Richard10002]

17 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Its an awkward and difficult boiler to fix, one which most plumbers refuse to work on, and one I specialise in i.e. have a van filled with every spare part for it. Parts are mail order only (no merchants stock the parts) and I rather doubt the manu is answering the phone, although I've not checked. 

Sounds essential on that front.... plenty of delivery drivers, amongst others, will be doing much longer round trips every day. Whether the police would buy it, (if you were stopped and asked), is another matter. One would hope that they would.

 

17 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

And I'm 'high risk' as in over 65 and have two co-morbidities so about a 1 in 10 chance of dying if I catch it. 

That makes it a big decision, and only one that you can take. She would understand if you were to decline on those grounds. If you were to go, given your concerns, you could almost certainly create a way to minimise the risk to close to nil, and you would be highly motivated to do so.

8 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

I remember that too, late 50's early 60's. They sold dandelion & Burdock, my favourite at the time.

We are getting doorstep deliveries from The Modern Milkman. got a bottle of Dandelion and Burdock delivered on Wednesday - not Corona.

[Jennifer McM]

8 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

I think it was a sensible move by the government. Enforcing people either not to buy or making buying booze difficult always ends in tears, the USA found that to their cost between 1920 and 1933. People will still booze but illegal sales would come to the forefrunt and aggro could ensue. South Africa is going in to lockdown from midnight tonight and they are prohibiting alcohol sales for 3 months. It will end in tears.

Booze and fags are an essential requirement for some people, despite it not being good for us. A couple of years ago a friend suffered an aneurysm, the hospital promptly induced her into a coma for several months, while she was in a coma they put nicotine patches on her.  She was a couple of packets a day smoker.

Edited March 27, 2020 by Jennifer McM

[Chris Lowe]

Amazing I just managed to place a Tesco click and collect order and almost everything I wanted was in stock.

[Lily Rose]

2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

As we are getting into the realms of second guessing what the fuzz would consider an 'essential' journey, what does the team think of a trip I'm considering making?

 

A customer from way back just called and left me a message saying they have no hot water or heating. Is a 100 mile round trip to fix this "essential"?

 

She is a single woman.

 

A NHS doctor. 

 

An oncologist. 

 

Hmmm....

 

This is an extract from an email British Gas have sent me at least 3 times including one in the last 24 hours.

 

"So for now, we can only help with prepay meter issues or emergencies (e.g. no heating or hot water). "

 

 So as far as they are concerned lack of heating or  hot water is an emergency. 

 

I think the round trip distance can be justified by the need for a hard-to-find specialist to do the job.

 

As for the safety aspect, that can only be down to you really. However, I would have thought that if she is currently well (obviously that's not a guarantee), disinfects the area before you arrive, stays in a separate room while you're there and you take all the usual precautions it should be pretty low risk.

 

British Gas seem to be willing to attend even if they know the customer has COVID-19 but they will take precautions.

 

more stuff here. https://www.britishgas.co.uk/covid19

 

 

15 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

Amazing I just managed to place a Tesco click and collect order and almost everything I wanted was in stock.

Incredible luck!

 

If I were you I'd buy a lottery ticket as well.

[Dr Bob]

1 hour ago, Jennifer McM said:

Booze and fags are an essential requirement for some people, despite it not being good for us. A couple of years ago a friend suffered an aneurysm, the hospital promptly induced her into a coma for several months, while she was in a coma they put nicotine patches on her.  She was a couple of packets a day smoker.

I agree. Alcohol is a drug and can (and does) cause addiction. To all of a sudden cut the supply of beer and wine to peeps who drink it everynight would cause big problems. We all seem to be accepting this lockdown well but there are many many peeps out there who suffer anxiety problems etc for whom this lockdown could turn nasty. The suicide rate is bound to surge and whilst the consumption of alcohol is not recommended for peeps in this vunerable group, having a drink each night might be the only things that gets some peeps through it. Closing the pubs was a big step but not allowing peeps to drink at home is a step too far.

[Jennifer McM]

55 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

I agree. Alcohol is a drug and can (and does) cause addiction. To all of a sudden cut the supply of beer and wine to peeps who drink it everynight would cause big problems. We all seem to be accepting this lockdown well but there are many many peeps out there who suffer anxiety problems etc for whom this lockdown could turn nasty. The suicide rate is bound to surge and whilst the consumption of alcohol is not recommended for peeps in this vunerable group, having a drink each night might be the only things that gets some peeps through it. Closing the pubs was a big step but not allowing peeps to drink at home is a step too far.

Don't think people realise how vulnerable they might be. Think many are soldiering on, but it can be just a little 'something' that can trigger a reaction. 

 

This morning at 7:30 while walking the dog on the towpath, and thinking what to do now that only 80 items can ordered the Tesco on-line shopping cart (that's not a lot really for possibly 3 weeks). I've got a slot booked for next Thursday, having booked it 3 weeks ago, it was the first slot available. We've now got to shop savvy, eg 3 carrots count as 3 items, while 3 x 750gm bags of carrots are also 3 items. Plus you can only have 3 of a given item - so that's 3 blocks of butter to last possibly 3 weeks.

 

All of this was going on in my head, then I saw this woman walking towards me with her dog. I nipped up the steps by a bridge to distance us. As she approached, and keeping a safe space she asked if we were OK on the boat. I just said "Yes we're fine thanks, and you? Are you on a boat?" She told she was on a permanently moored boat further on from us, and said that if we needed anything, I've to put a note in the boat's window, and she or her husband (who walk past our boat in the mornings walking their dog) will pick up the message. Obviously I thanked for her kindness..... what a star she was!  On my way back to the boat I was in bits, I was trashed! Such wonderful kindness from a stranger!

 

Many, especially men (I imagine) are putting on a brave face on things, but it really doesn't take much for life to be overwhelmed, and we might not know until someone's kind or harsh word is directed at us and puts a chink in our 'armour'.

 

No one knows what people are going through at this time.... if we can't cut people some slack at this time, perhaps it's time to step back and consider our priorities. 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Jennifer McM

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

 

We are getting doorstep deliveries from The Modern Milkman. got a bottle of Dandelion and Burdock delivered on Wednesday - not Corona.

 

We were discussing Corona soft drink brand in the pub when this all first cropped up, saying C-19 will probably mean the end of Corona as a brand. 

 

 

8 minutes ago, Jennifer McM said:

No one knows what people are going through at this time.... if we can't cut people some slack at this time, perhaps it's time to step back and consider our priorities. 

 

Very wise words. Greenied.

[Dr Bob]

1 hour ago, Jennifer McM said:

Don't think people realise how vulnerable they might be. Think many are soldiering on, but it can be just a little 'something' that can trigger a reaction. 

 

Many, especially men (I imagine) are putting on a brave face on things, but it really doesn't take much for life to be overwhelmed, and we might not know until someone's kind or harsh word is directed at us and puts a chink in our 'armour'.

 

 

Very very true.

Whilst a lot of us can deal with the uncertainty....there will be many many who cant.

[john6767]

2 hours ago, buccaneer66 said:

Amazing I just managed to place a Tesco click and collect order and almost everything I wanted was in stock.

Doesn’t mean you will get it all though.
 

That said we have just been to pick up a prescription from the chemist and went into the medium size op-op next door, and it was fully stocked with everything including toilet rolls.  So perhaps we are through the supply issue as everyone has all the stocks that they need.

[Chris Lowe]

Went to get my prescription and popped into the co-op next door plenty of bread, butter and bog rolls, but no milk.

[tree monkey]

5 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

As we are getting into the realms of second guessing what the fuzz would consider an 'essential' journey, what does the team think of a trip I'm considering making?

 

A customer from way back just called and left me a message saying they have no hot water or heating. Is a 100 mile round trip to fix this "essential"?

 

She is a single woman.

 

A NHS doctor. 

 

An oncologist. 

 

Hmmm....

That's an essential trip, no question 

[tree monkey]

1 hour ago, Jennifer McM said:

 

 

No one knows what people are going through at this time.... if we can't cut people some slack at this time, perhaps it's time to step back and consider our priorities. 

Excellent post and to highlight this, even before this it is not always possible to know what people are going through, especially on the various social media forums, it is easy to jump in with our size 9s and make sometimes unfair and unjust judgements on people.

 

Obviously some people are plonkers and that will never change but generally most people are just trying to do their best

[Chris Lowe]

3 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Obviously some people are plonkers and that will never change but generally most people are just trying to do their best

Yes like the plonker in the co-op in front of me, he was more interested in his phone call than keeping on the distance marks the supermarket had put on the floor, he even barged past people while on his call.

 

Absolute knob head

[doratheexplorer]

3 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

Yes like the plonker in the co-op in front of me, he was more interested in his phone call than keeping on the distance marks the supermarket had put on the floor, he even barged past people while on his call.

 

Absolute knob head

They're everywhere.  Either that or they're just following me.

[MtB]

8 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

Yes like the plonker in the co-op in front of me, he was more interested in his phone call than keeping on the distance marks the supermarket had put on the floor, he even barged past people while on his call.

 

Absolute knob head

 

 

Was he in his boat then?

 

 

[David Mack]

5 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I remember reading that a laboratory had made tests on some of the canned food left in 'Scott of The Antarctic' food dumps and they were perfectly edible.

 

Yeah, but that food was both frozen and canned.

☺️

[Chris Lowe]

They tested on a TV program canned John West fish from the 70's and it was perfectly edible, not bacteria in it at all.

3 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Was he in his boat then?

If he was i'd have pushed him in.

[Athy]

40 minutes ago, john6767 said:

 So perhaps we are through the supply issue.

Surely "tissue"?

[Alan de Enfield]

25 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

They tested on a TV program canned John West fish from the 70's and it was perfectly edible, not bacteria in it at all.

I remember that

 

 

 

 

[bagginz]

3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

We were discussing Corona soft drink brand in the pub when this all first cropped up, saying C-19 will probably mean the end of Corona as a brand. 

 

 

Fortunately Corona the beer company were on the ball and immediately set their marketing department to work on re-branding :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chris Lowe]

Has anyone else noticed and wondered why the commercial TV channels are still showing holiday adverts?

[WotEver]

16 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

Has anyone else noticed and wondered why the commercial TV channels are still showing holiday adverts?

Because the commercials have already been made and the airtime has been booked and paid for. If the lockdown continues for a while then as the pre-booked and paid for slots run out you’ll start seeing fewer commercials and more trailers (the broadcasters still have to fill the space).