Chickens Against Dementors!

[psychomath]

New thread!

Chicken ads for anyone who missed them.

Anyway have fun everyone, I'm off to sit in the park now that it's allowed.

I don't get why some universities are already telling students the first term of next year will solely be online, they are going to struggle next year I think financially as people decide to defer or not be arsed. One around here has turned one of the halls into a Nightingale hospital FFS, plenty of other buildings in the area of the correct size. Wait and see seems to be we will worry about it later and not actually do anything to just keep going.

Sandy “ plenty of other buildings in the area of the correct size.”

But what’s in them?

The unis are stuck doing as they’re told. I can’t understand why there isn’t more vocal opposition to lockdown. So many lines of work will be ruined.

Charlie Brooker was a lovely bit of light relief. The description of Matt Hancock made both DH and I snort

Oh yes, sorry. Namechanged. Chris Whitty is still my patronus.

Is Charlie Brooker not peddling “save lives”? That’s why I didn’t watch it, I thought he would be.

There were a few 'offered' up that were suitable, bit I guess maybe the university recieved a donation or wanted the good press? Either way, it's such a shame for them, I know they are only acting on advice from elsewhere; with substantially less income from international students as well I dread to think how some will cope financially. What a crap time to be a fresher though if everything is closed, there needs to be some common sense at some point, surely.

I made the same mistake on exactly the same threads. Shoot me now. The doom was overwhelming.

@MinesaPinot It really was wasn't it.

I have to say, I started noticing the first signs of positivity a week or so ago, on the red banner at the top of my home screen. I even remarked on it to a couple of people as it was such a change.

Now there seems to be more vocal opposition, more questioning of the lockdown rules- hopefully the rolling ball will gather pace and the next few weeks will see a return to a more level-headed thinking.

And with level-headed thinking will come a return to a more normal state of being.

We had one very (passive) aggressive pan-clatterer tonight - she’s the only one now except the bellend over the way who lets off a solitary firework. Can this please go away now?

I've not seen Charlie Brooker yet. Currently watching Millionnaire.

I've deactivated facebook. I just can't be doing with the doom and gloom. I'm going to have no-one left to follow at this rate. The latest was a school friend who shared an article about children catching that illness that's connected to coronavirus. She stated something along the lines of how anyone can even think about sending their kids back yet. It was the final straw. Cant be doing with the its too early for schools or the stay at home message any more. There is more to life than COVID.

On a different point, is anyone else really disappointed in the Guardian? For years they’ve been my newspaper of choice but I can no longer bear the hysterical reporting, the handwringing over risks/concerns/possibilities (which are only ever a risk/concern/possibility rather than a given) and the endless reporting on Union apocalyptic predictions.

I get that they’re a left wing paper (that’s why I like them) and are therefore naturally opposed to the Tories but they are hopelessly skewing anything and everything to be as bad as possible, including quoting sources that they’ve taken wildly out of context. And they’re they’ve permanently got a handout for donations on the back of their supposedly quality reporting.

@BrightYellowDaffodil did you see the pull out in the Observer: How did it get this bad???!!!!

Hello - can I join you? I want my life back and am not sure quite how much more of this I can take ... the hysterical fear and over reaction is doing my head in.

And yes, I’m very disappointed in the Guardian’s reporting - one columnist actually wrote that employees were being forced to travel to work ‘in the Covid miasma’ WTF??

Children are not super spreaders, the science for anyone who needs it to combat dementing (or argue with the school 😉)

Hello @Pleasedontdothat it does all get too much, doesn't it?

@Mascotte I must have filtered that out (I’ve hidden many sections - essentially I now skim the headlines before heading straight for the Food section). Was it terribly bad?

@BrightYellowDaffodil I didn't read it - too doomy

@BrightYellowDaffodil yes, yes, yes to the Guardian being disappointing. I have read it for years and years, and it is normally my natural political home. It's so awful at the moment though and just doom everywhere. I even contemplated the Telegraph momentarily.

I shouldn’t have looked
There’s a thread about a girl not going back to school and now I’m almost in tears

I’ve got a friend on Spain whose three year old is scared to go outside because of “germs”. This is horrendous.

Is anyone else who joined a few weeks ago feeling quite pleased we kept it up?

I'm really sorry to recent joiners if it sounds snotty because its not meant to be;, there's been much brokenness, illnesses not being treated properly bereavement etc as we went, but this thread has been a real solace to me as I've had a close family member die quicker because of the lockdown than they would have, and people in my social media feed (which is now, sadly, my main comms to the outside world) have been so quick to scream that if you dont stay inside people will die.

Some of the risk aversion in threads sends my eyebrows right up across the top of my head.

Risk from incomers. I'm not far from a very popular touristy area in West London. A lot of people have been out and about enjoying it since the beginning of lockdown. Many local cafes have been doing takeaways and food and snacks have been available from the local supermarkets. The benches aren't taped off and are generally occupied, and there are lots of grassy places where people sit. From the parking permits in cars it seems that people have been coming from far and wide to enjoy the open spaces, riverside walks and small towns. But our pavements are narrow, specially where there are queues for the shops, there are narrow alleyways and footpaths and there are a lot of narrow places by the river. There are gates with catches to undo. It's been very busy, specially in the good weather and, although people are good about turning their heads away, many times we pass more like 2 foot apart than 2 metres. Occasionally we brush past each other, specially if we have to avoid children, bicycles, dogs, benches, view-admirers, phone-checkers etc, and sometimes a jogger nips through a small space between walkers. There's a lot of pollen and clouds of midges so people cough and sneeze from time to time. Face coverings are virtually unknown. We have a very high proportion of over 80s. Yet I've heard no hostility to the people who flock here from all over.

You would think after about 6 weeks of such dangerous existence the rates of Covid-19 infection in the area would be very high. They have been among the lowest in London since the end of March.

Schools being entirely safe. There is a local primary that is under the flight path to Heathrow. One day a huge lump of ice fell off a plane and crashed through the roof of the school's hall, demolishing it. Fortunately it wasn't a school day. I think the HT of schools here have a good idea of just how much they can guarantee safety. There are reports in the local paper from time to time of lumps of ice and even frozen bodies falling from planes. It's a real risk, yet thousands of people live here.

Will “ I've had a close family member die quicker because of the lockdown than they would have, and people in my social media feed (which is now, sadly, my main comms to the outside world) have been so quick to scream that if you dont stay inside people will die.”

I’m sorry.

I wasn’t here at the start but it’s been so helpful.

Only one person among my friends has said “just see your mum” because they are all thinking I’ll kill her. I understand but I guess I feel like the most unlikely people have swallowed propaganda.

In the end, it’s up to mum but if we wait till the government give permission, she probably will be dead! And not from covid 19.

RE the Clap-Round my way a lone firework means a drug dealer is holding and open for business 😂

Oh...that’s funny because we had a solitary firework one week but now there’s more

How does it work, do people sidle up to the person with the firework after?

Article about Sweden's response to covid19.

Up with dd2 who has a bad toothache and has been waking crying in the night. Some great counter dementing on the Boris social experiment thread in AIBU, quite cheering for my bleary eyes this morning.