Party boat confiscated

[doratheexplorer]

27 minutes ago, Athy said:

Why would they? 

Various reasons.  Most typically, an inability to work at home due to screaming kids.  In some cases, just because they're kind of institutionalised at work, and they compulsively want to go in.  In know of similar workplaces to mine where the offices have been properly closed and you need to get through security to enter.  Not so where I work.  I could choose to wander in right now if I wanted, no questions would be asked.

[Arthur Marshall]

19 minutes ago, Athy said:

Why would they? 

Couple of friends of mine got told they had to attend the office, where the owner/manager had been hospitalised with Covid. Both tested positive shortly after and were told by the boss they'd be sacked if they took time off. Neither were badly ill, so carried on going to work in an office with about twenty other people. No attempt at work to allow distancing.

These days, you really can't afford to lose your job, so you can't report the situation either, because, in addition to the sack, it's you who will get fined for not isolating.

I'm not blaming the police, they're stopping what they can with limited resources and no support. But it's not primarily partygoers spreading the virus.

[doratheexplorer]

1 minute ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Couple of friends of mine got told they had to attend the office, where the owner/manager had been hospitalised with Covid. Both tested positive shortly after and were told by the boss they'd be sacked if they took time off. Neither were badly ill, so carried on going to work in an office with about twenty other people. No attempt at work to allow distancing.

These days, you really can't afford to lose your job, so you can't report the situation either, because, in addition to the sack, it's you who will get fined for not isolating.

I'm not blaming the police, they're stopping what they can with limited resources and no support. But it's not primarily partygoers spreading the virus.

It's easy enough to anonymously report a workplace.  The issue, is that not enough people are prepared to do it, and the sanctions for breaching rules are insufficient.

 

We are all brought up not to 'grass'.  That feeling runs deep, even when it risks killing your relatives.  Personally, I'd show no loyalty to an employer would showed that level of disregard for my health.

[Athy]

8 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Couple of friends of mine got told they had to attend the office, where the owner/manager had been hospitalised with Covid. Both tested positive shortly after and were told by the boss they'd be sacked if they took time off. Neither were badly ill, so carried on going to work in an office with about twenty other people. No attempt at work to allow distancing.

These days, you really can't afford to lose your job, so you can't report the situation either, because, in addition to the sack, it's you who will get fined for not isolating.

I'm not blaming the police, they're stopping what they can with limited resources and no support. But it's not primarily partygoers spreading the virus.

That's a startling story. I am amazed that such a situation happens - was the boss not aware of the requirements to observe the strict regulations? Thankfully, if not, he must be the exception that proves the rule.,

[Victor Vectis]

11 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Couple of friends of mine got told they had to attend the office, where the owner/manager had been hospitalised with Covid. Both tested positive shortly after and were told by the boss they'd be sacked if they took time off. Neither were badly ill, so carried on going to work in an office with about twenty other people. No attempt at work to allow distancing.

These days, you really can't afford to lose your job, so you can't report the situation either, because, in addition to the sack, it's you who will get fined for not isolating.

I'm not blaming the police, they're stopping what they can with limited resources and no support. But it's not primarily partygoers spreading the virus.

 

And yet some people still say trade unions are no longer needed in this day and age.

[doratheexplorer]

20 minutes ago, Athy said:

That's a startling story. I am amazed that such a situation happens - was the boss not aware of the requirements to observe the strict regulations? Thankfully, if not, he must be the exception that proves the rule.,

Sadly, I'm not sure the extent to which he's the exception.  I'm aware of many, many people who have been forced to work in this way.  A good proportion of the people I know who have become infected, had done so because they were made to go into a workplace when they could have been working from home.  How many people have died directly as a result of this sort of thing is anyone's guess.

 

Luckily, I'm a trade union member, as are a fair few of my colleagues.  My bosses are therefore rightly nervous about pushing people into the office right now.

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, Athy said:

Different people react to it in different ways.

Mrs. Athy works full-time. She has also been working from home since March last year. During that time her only visit to the office was to close it down, as she was the member of staff in charge there.

  She much prefers her ten-second commute from her sofa to the study, and is pleased with the fuel economies which she's made by not having to drive to Peterborough and back. This economy has now been enhanced by her insurance company's reducing her annual premium because she's driven less than 2,000 miles in the last year. So she's more relaxed and better off.

   She hopes that, after the Bug has passed over, her firm will not reopen the office, as she doesn't miss commuting at all.

 

I hope she is also claiming her tax allowance https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, alias said:

There's no accounting for people I suppose. The oddest dumping I found was a large quantity in a ditch on the boundary between some woods and grazing land where I walked the dog. It must have been a mile from the nearest road or track, and would have needed a decent off road vehicle to get it there. 

How about a washing machine in the ditch halfway between Yarmouth and Acle on the A47 known as the Acle straight or Acle New Road.

[doratheexplorer]

2 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

How about a washing machine in the ditch halfway between Yarmouth and Acle on the A47 known as the Acle straight or Acle New Road.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/piano-found-on-top-of-ben-nevis-625520

Edited February 16, 2021 by doratheexplorer

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, Jess-- said:

 

The other one we have seen a few times is neat piles of shredded green leaves, plant stems and roots, all nicely compostable but with the smell it's a bit of a giveaway so I can understand why it was dumped well away from the source.

We have had that in the village, it took weeks to be removed as its hazardous waste  due to spoors in the roots I understand. The Council had to get a specialist in to remove it.

 

[Arthur Marshall]

39 minutes ago, Athy said:

That's a startling story. I am amazed that such a situation happens - was the boss not aware of the requirements to observe the strict regulations? Thankfully, if not, he must be the exception that proves the rule.,

Of course he was - he'd just come out of hospital with Covid. Just didn't want to close his business and lose trade. This is the norm in small businesses - they don't want to go bust either, and that's what would happen if he shut down and he can't afford/ it's impractical to set up home working. Laws/requirements are meaningless if they can neither be enforced or if the penalties for following them are worse than breaking them. Most people of working age don't die of Covid, but they don't want to lose a business they've worked years to set up and end up on universal credit, perhaps losing their homes in the process, and nor do their employees.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Athy said:

That's a startling story. I am amazed that such a situation happens - was the boss not aware of the requirements to observe the strict regulations? Thankfully, if not, he must be the exception that proves the rule.,

 

He or she is of the same type of low life that claim their staff are on 'furlough' but insists they come in work at the same time.

[Arthur Marshall]

54 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

He or she is of the same type of low life that claim their staff are on 'furlough' but insists they come in work at the same time.

And apparently there are plenty of those, too. It's partly because all these rules, which are pretty sensible,  were brought in quickly (quite rightly) and there just isn't the staff to police them. I think there was an assumption that policing wouldn't really be necessary because people would behave properly, which, in view of the fact that it was politicians doing the presuming, was a little naive. There was enough evidence from all political shades that if people could game the system, they would.

[doratheexplorer]

5 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

And apparently there are plenty of those, too. It's partly because all these rules, which are pretty sensible,  were brought in quickly (quite rightly) and there just isn't the staff to police them. I think there was an assumption that policing wouldn't really be necessary because people would behave properly, which, in view of the fact that it was politicians doing the presuming, was a little naive. There was enough evidence from all political shades that if people could game the system, they would.

And politicians being some of the worst rule breakers hasnt helped much

[Athy]

13 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I think there was an assumption that policing wouldn't really be necessary because people would behave properly, 

...which, bearing in mind that failure to do so could result in severe illness or even premature death, was a quite reasonable assumption.

 

I've just had a look at the latest figures and it looks as if most people are taking the government's advice: since the advent of the lock-down, new coronavirus cases have plummeted by over 80% and the number of deaths is also in steep decline. Though still serious, the statistics are gratifying.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Athy

[Tracy D'arth]

5 hours ago, Athy said:

...which, bearing in mind that failure to do so could result in severe illness or even premature death, was a quite reasonable assumption.

 

I've just had a look at the latest figures and it looks as if most people are taking the government's advice: since the advent of the lock-down, new coronavirus cases have plummeted by over 80% and the number of deaths is also in steep decline. Though still serious, the statistics are gratifying.

Unfortunately once there is any easing the infection and death rates will zoom up again. The virus will also mutate in the native population, its what viruses do.

[Athy]

12 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Unfortunately once there is any easing the infection and death rates will zoom up again. 

I doubt that, because more and more people are being vaccinated against the bug, therefore fewer and fewer are likely to catch it.

I'm not a scientist, but I hope I'm right.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Athy

[tree monkey]

19 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

We have had that in the village, it took weeks to be removed as its hazardous waste  due to spoors in the roots I understand. The Council had to get a specialist in to remove it.

 

That sounds like an excuse to me and I can't find any reports of it being hazardous.

There may be an issue if the production equipment is dumped as well I suppose, it then becomes mixed waste rather than just organic.

Maybe some pesticides contamination but that would need testing to confirm.

Curious 

[Dr Bob]

13 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Unfortunately once there is any easing the infection and death rates will zoom up again. The virus will also mutate in the native population, its what viruses do.

 

8 hours ago, Athy said:

I doubt that, because more and more people are being vaccinated against the bug, therefore fewer and fewer are likely to catch it.

I'm not a scientist, but I hope I'm right.

I guess that death rates will be suppressed with all the jabs that have been delivered but the infection rates could still be high. Even by end April there will still be 50% of peeps not inoculated so plenty of bandwidth for virus spread and hence mutation. Far less likelihood of us oldies going to hospital or dying though.......if the virus works......which it might not if it mutates too much!

I would like to see a plan of eradicating it like NZ rather than leaving it in the background.

[Arthur Marshall]

We can't eradicate flu, ebola or the common cold, I can't see how we can get rid of this one, especially as the vaccines, at least so far, don't stop you catching or spreading it. I'll be happy with just not dying, though I suppose I will, sooner or later, of something or other.

[Athy]

25 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

 

 

I would like to see a plan of eradicating it like NZ rather than leaving it in the background.

A large-scale, high-profile programme for vaccinating every adult in the country as soon as possible is hardly "leaving it in the background". The tremendous progress which the country has made is nothing short of admirable.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Athy

[Dr Bob]

30 minutes ago, Athy said:

A large-scale, high-profile programme for vaccinating every adult in the country as soon as possible is hardly "leaving it in the background". The tremendous progress which the country has made is nothing short of admirable.

Oh, I agree it is worldbeating but it will still be there in the background. I admire what the government has done with the vaccine but they were not on the ball in the early days. Even now the border controls seem a bit lax. Reading all the bumph on the Aussie quarantine hotels, it is likely cases will slip through. Unfortunately there seems no happy medium to eradicate the virus (requiring endless lockdown) or open up the economy. It seems you can't do both. A really strict international quarantine would be great at stopping variants coming in but at what cost to the economy?

Even with the great vaccine role out, there is a risk of serious spread in the unvaccinated. I hope the government do aim to get all cases below 1,000 per day before opening the economy up as that will minimise mutations.

[Arthur Marshall]

45 minutes ago, Athy said:

A large-scale, high-profile programme for vaccinating every adult in the country as soon as possible is hardly "leaving it in the background". The tremendous progress which the country has made is nothing short of admirable.

Vaccines neither stop infection nor transmission. If a third of cases are asymptomatic, but still spread it, it's unstoppable anyway. Add in mild cases that never get reported and it's just one of them things what we have to live with, or not, as the case may be. Unless it mutates itself back into whatever animal it came from, and finds a better host than humanity, it'll be in the background for a while yet. I'm just pleased it probably won't kill me, though something else will fairly soon, I expect.

[Murflynn]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

We can't eradicate flu, ebola or the common cold, I can't see how we can get rid of this one, especially as the vaccines, at least so far, don't stop you catching or spreading it. I'll be happy with just not dying, though I suppose I will, sooner or later, of something or other.

 

WTF ???

[ditchcrawler]

11 hours ago, Athy said:

I doubt that, because more and more people are being vaccinated against the bug, therefore fewer and fewer are likely to catch it.

I'm not a scientist, but I hope I'm right.

There is no evidence yet that the jab stops you catching or spreading the bug, only you are less likely to die from it