Social Distancing support, advice and tips & a little humour.

[@Lee]

Quote

Priti Patel announces “task force” to examine escalating levels of school truancy in UK

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON : Home Secretary and cheerleader of foreign militaries, Priti Patel, has announced she has set up a “task force” to look into the “baffling and escalating” levels of truancy in British schools.

https://www.lcdviews.com/2020/04/26/priti-patel-announces-task-force-to-examine-escalating-levels-of-school-truancy-in-uk/

[Ootohere]

Poor journalism there.

I would put money on any Task Force looking at the numbers of truants in Britain or British Truants, but she has nothing to do with Education in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales.

As Gavin Williams MP when introduced at daily briefings is introduced as the Education Minister, yet to be correct is the Education Minister for England Only, 

and not the RoUK.

 

They must have had her chipped so they can keep track of her whereabouts.

See if see is Social Distancing or working on the side for herself.

Edited 27 April, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot

[Ootohere]

The boss of Tesco is not slow, he never got where he is without giving matters deep thinking.

 

He gets my award for stating the blooming obvious about people visiting the shops less often.  Just a coincidence obviously with the Government advice.

'Back in fashion'. lol.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-52441772

 

 

[@Lee]

Talk about lazy journalism..........

 

[@Lee]

[MikeTheThinker]

Not directly "on topic" but nonetheless a worthwhile reminder IMO:

 

[OldTrilobite]

I am sure none of us remember the days when polite men would  raise their hats on meeting a lady. The courtesy of 'doffing' or 'tipping' one's hat to someone lingered on for a while while hats were commonly worn - one just held the brim between finger and thumb for a moment without actually raising it. Well, the old habit lingers on in some odd corners of Britain.

 

I (an elderly man) was walking from home to village pharmacy when another elderly gent was coming towards me. To obey the rules of social distancing, I stepped off the pavement to give him the two metres of room, whereupon he tipped his cap to me with a smile. I chuckled over that all the way to the chemist's shop!

 

[MikeTheThinker]

On 30/04/2020 at 18:24, OldTrilobite said:

I am sure none of us remember the days when polite men would  raise their hats on meeting a lady. The courtesy of 'doffing' or 'tipping' one's hat to someone lingered on for a while while hats were commonly worn - one just held the brim between finger and thumb for a moment without actually raising it. Well, the old habit lingers on in some odd corners of Britain.

 

I (an elderly man) was walking from home to village pharmacy when another elderly gent was coming towards me. To obey the rules of social distancing, I stepped off the pavement to give him the two metres of room, whereupon he tipped his cap to me with a smile. I chuckled over that all the way to the chemist's shop!

 

 

This reminded me of taking walks with my grandfather (my mother's father) through the leafy lanes when I was about 6-7 IIRC.  He always wore a Trilby hat and would always tip it or doff it when we met someone in our wanderings, and as I remember those we met did the same.

 

Grandad Eglin was a retired railway porter (Liverpool based) and I remember two things very clearly about him; first, he taught me to stand when greeting someone - male or female - and secondly he had become an avid gardener living with us (his Liverpool home had been a terraced town house with a yard) and used to collect as many of the plentiful "horse apples" we came across as he could carry home in his handkerchief. 

 

For some reason my mother was unamused by this practice 💩

 

[Ootohere]

Swear alert.    Be very alert.

 

 

 

Edited 10 May, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot

[@Lee]

Coco the Clown updates the nation............
 

[gadgetman]

I think I’ve worked it out... 
* 4 year olds can go to school but university students who have paid for their tuition and the accommodation that they aren’t living in, can’t go back to university. 
* I can go to school with many 4 year olds that I’m not related to but can’t see one 4 year old that I am related to. 
* I can sit in a park, but not tomorrow or Tuesday but by Wednesday that’ll be fine. 
* I can meet one person from another household for a chat or to sunbathe but not two people so if I know two people  from another household I have to pick my favourite. Hopefully, I’m also their favourite person from my household or this could be awkward. But possibly I’m not. In fact, thinking about it, I definitely wouldn’t be. But as I can’t go closer than 2m to the one I choose anyway so you wouldn’t think having the other one sat next to them would matter - unless two people would restrict my eyeline too much and prevent me from being alert. 
* I can work all day with my colleagues but I can’t sit in their garden for a chat after work. 
* I can now do unlimited exercise when quite frankly just doing an hour a day felt like I was some kind of fitness guru. I can think of lots of things that I would like to be unlimited but exercise definitely isn’t one of them. 
* I can drive to other destinations although which destinations is unclear. I was supposed to be in Brighton this weekend. Can I drive there? It’s hundreds of miles away but no one has said that’s wrong. 
* The buses are still running past my house but I shouldn’t get on one. We should just let empty buses drive around so bus drivers aren’t doing nothing. 
* It will soon be time to quarantine people coming into the country by air... but not yet. It’s too soon. And not ever if you’re coming from France because... well, I don’t do know why, actually. Because the French version of coronavirus wouldn’t come to the UK maybe. 
* Our youngest children go back to school first because... they are notoriously good at not touching things they shouldn’t, maintain personal space at all times and never randomly lick you. 
* We are somewhere in between 3.5 and 4.5 on a five point scale where 5 is all of the virus and 1 is none of the virus but 2,3 and 4 can be anything you’d like it to be really. Some of the virus? A bit of the virus? Just enough virus to see off those over 70s who were told to self isolate but now we’ve realised that they’ve done that a bit too well  despite us offloading coronavirus patients into care homes and now we are claiming that was never said in the first place, even though it’s in writing in the stay at home guidance. 
* The slogan isn’t stay at home any more.So we don’t have to say at home. Except we do. Unless we can’t. In which case we should go out. But there will be fines if we break the rules. So don’t do that. Don’t forget... Stay alert... which Robert Jenrick has explained actually means Stay home as much as possible. Obviously. Control the virus. Well, I can’t even control my kids home learning and I can actually see them. Plus I know a bit about kids and very little about controlling viruses. Save lives. Always preferable to not saving lives, I’d say, so I’ll try my best with that one, although hopefully I don’t need telling to do that. I know I’m bragging now but not NOT saving lives is something I do every day. So there you are.  If you’re the weirdo wanting unlimited exercise then enjoy. But not until Wednesday. Obviously.

[VWD]

I thought I'd worked what the advice was too. No gatherings of more than two persons unless from the same household. Then I head off to  Asda/Sainsbury/ Tesco/Morrisons and there's a massive group( supermarkets call it a queue)  lining up to get in. Or in the case of Aldi /Lidl waiting to get in and another queue waiting to pay at the one or two checkouts open , with shoppers trying to  shop and keep away from the internal queues.  it must be a very British version we have as it doesn't' seem to bother crowds in parks or in gatherings out/inside stores, but jumps rapidly in any of the other frowned on types of gathering . And as for the French variety- perhaps it dies off in the presence of queues as Queues is a British thing.  (no sarcastic comedy intended, just an observation from daily life). 

And ,I'd agree with !stay alert". Especially in the park as the "tour de park" "cyclists"who see the park paths as a velodrome have an eyesight problem with pedestrians of all sizes.

[@Lee]

[MikeTheThinker]

[Ootohere]

Public toilets.  

or rather,

Lack of Public Toilets in lockdown lifting England and not yet lifted other UK countries.

 

It must be an issue as people are allowed to travel further, go to the seaside towns etc.

 

It is mentioned on the telly but seems to be something the UK Government is not addressing.

[MikeTheThinker]

2 hours ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

go to the seaside towns

 

"Tourist office urges 'Do Not Visit Blackpool'"

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-52634899

[Ootohere]

Gavin Williamson MP and Secretary of State for Education is going to take charge of School Meals and Social Distancing personally after he has sorted out his shopping for his own household.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 15 May, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot

[shyVRS245]

Netherlands introducing eating in a greenhouse outside (maximum 4 people) with your food served on a long plank. BBC News today.

[gadgetman]

1 hour ago, shyVRS245 said:

Netherlands introducing eating in a greenhouse outside (maximum 4 people) with your food served on a long plank. BBC News today.

Sadly with such restrictions, I'll make most restaurants unsustainable if this is the future and only way 

[Ootohere]

Not really that impractical when you have a row of greenhouses outside a nice restaurants, maybe an oyster bar type place on a harbourside.

 

I know a Country / Loch Side Cafe Day Time & Fine Eating evenings that has individual Outside Pods with heaters.

That has operated for years pre-Covid 19.

 

But if saying most restaurants, then yes, the majority or most can not operate in such a way.  Location location location type thing.

 

The NHS Nightingale Hospitals and NHS Louisa Jordan might as well stay partitioned for a good while longer and replace the beds and ventilators with tables and chairs for family / household groups to meet and eat out.

There must be plenty catering opportunities for people to bring their Street Food / Outside catering businesses to be providing the food to the customers.

Get some revenue coming back in to the venues while they can not hold events and are un-used as hospitals.

Edited 15 May, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot

[Arkaig]

Social distancing - if you can make out the design, you're too close!

 

[FirstAndLastSkoda]

Out walking the dogs today and road traffic levels are as near as dammit back to pre-lockdown levels. 

 

Yesterday the usual suspects were out and about on their ramblers for several hours. No sign of CivPol, no doubt shacked up keeping their thumbs warm. During lockdown there are usually 5 vehicles parked up outside the station.  In over 7 weeks of lockdown I've only seen one footbeat, and zero mobile patrols.

 

Went to our local Lidl today (not the one we normally go to, only went as they had masks and handgel in stock) and no enforcement of Social Distancing whatsoever, families, let alone couples, allowed to walk around, no masks.

 

We went to our usual Lidl for our Weekly shop on Friday night; security guy on the door enforcing SD guidelines; no families or couples, masks to be worn. Hence why we use this one and not our local. However, the staff there are threaders due to incidents involving people contesting their rules.

 

I think we're going to get our arses kicked around December and January....

 

 

Edited 17 May, 2020 by FirstAndLastSkoda
FFS

[gadgetman]

1 hour ago, FirstAndLastSkoda said:

Out walking the dogs today and road traffic levels are as near as dammit back to pre-lockdown levels. 

 

Yesterday the usual suspects were out and about on their ramblers for several hours. No sign of CivPol, no doubt shacked up keeping their thumbs warm. During lockdown there are usually 5 vehicles parked up outside the station.  In over 7 weeks of lockdown I've only seen one footbeat, and zero mobile patrols.

 

Went to our local Lidl today (not the one we normally go to, only went as they had masks and handgel in stock) and no enforcement of Social Distancing whatsoever, families, let alone couples, allowed to walk around, no masks.

 

We went to our usual Lidl for our Weekly shop on Friday night; security guy on the door enforcing SD guidelines; no families or couples, masks to be worn. Hence why we use this one and not our local. However, the staff there are threaders due to incidents involving people contesting their rules.

 

I think we're going to get our arses kicked around December and January....

 

 

Masks are not compulsory. 

 

The police here are busy dealing with drunk and drug drivers, drivers doing 100+ even in 30 zones, and the consequences of when they run out of skill. 

 

So I wouldn't say police are sitting on their thumbs 

[FirstAndLastSkoda]

How is what the police are doing in your area relevant to where I am?

 

The mask issue I will concede I was wrong on. The Scottish government advocated the use of masks, but did not make it compulsory.

[P6bJOHN]

53 minutes ago, FirstAndLastSkoda said:

How is what the police are doing in your area relevant to where I am?

 

I don't know where Gadgetman lives, but the same High speeding problems in North Lancs.