Anti dementors visit the zombie beach

[BarkandCheese]

New thread! Hope the title is acceptable.

Whispers... I’m secretly glad dd’s school provision is just links to BBC Bitesize as it’s hard enough to get her to do that! I can’t motivate her to do much at all. She thrives with friends and needs peer pressure because she hates admitting she doesn’t know stuff!

Dh works in a university (and I used to).
If I was starting university now I would want to defer, but it may not be an automatic option. If too many students defer the lower ranking universities may go to the wall and not be there in the same form the following year, while the more competitive ones won’t have the space for everyone the year after.

I’ve no idea how they plan to make students stick to their bubbles! I’d never have met Dh if we’d been bubbled plus I had a lot of fun. I was a year late starting and definitely benefited from being a bit older.

I can’t see how you can expect a bunch of freshers giddy with the excitement of their first tase of freedom to ever stick to the rules.

@Waleshasgonecompletelycrazy

I bet a winter lockdown will be less popular! Can you imagine Christmas dinner outside with 2m distancing?

Imagine the Eastenders Christmas Day episode - no one able to punch each other or melodramatically issue divorce papers!

It's only 9am but I've been musing.

Isn't it odd that in the normal course of things, absolutely incontrovertible proof is required for ANY change and improvement at a government level. I'm thinking of environmental issues mainly, but some health issues too. It's been known for years that traffic congestion affects health outcomes, yet witness the years of evidence and proof and discussion and foot dragging which is going on regarding getting anything to change. Or at a planetary level, 98% of climate scientists say that AGW is A Thing, yet still carbon emissions rocket. Scandinavian countries have shown that their models produce better educational outcomes for children, yet still our government presses on with a test driven agenda.

Yet here, in the face of highly questionable science and proof, their decisions are forcing children to miss education and profitable businesses to the wall, unemployment to rocket and entire industries into oblivion . Because, you know, Covid.

In the words of a Dementor, am I missing something?

Imagine the Eastenders Christmas Day episode - no one able to punch each other or melodramatically issue divorce papers!

They’ll have to hit each other with 2m long brooms instead.

Morning

Just checking into new thread so I can find you later

Have a good day all!

Eastenders: interpreted through whack-a-mole!

I’ve had enough of this gaslighting bullshit from the government now.

I've got a focus group later this week discussing with the student union the student body's concerns and views about online learning - I hate our SU, they're fecking virtue signalling idiots, but I felt it was important they got the voice of mature students and those with caring commitments on there as well.

The accommodation bubbles sounds bloody terrifying - there are about 8 on our course signed up for a house share next year and we're all fucking dreading it when they fall out over who left the washing up in the sink!

@HesterShaw1 - I know. I keep wondering what I’m missing that everyone else sees. I could get the rationale of wanting to create capacity in the NHS, but now we seem to want to guarantee safety and no coronavirus in society. The ever changing goals seem designed to keep us in lockdown, but where’s the evidence base?

You’re completely right HesterShaw1. All this has been done without any evidence that any of it was necessary. At least none that we are being shown. And I doubt we’ll ever find out exactly what was or wasn’t necessary.
I can’t really get my head around the fact that it is illegal for my mum to enter my home.

Morning dangerous zombie buffoons.

From my window I can see my neighbour in his garden reading to a DGC and I assure you they aren't staying 2m apart. It gives me a little smile to see people start to sensibly resume their lives and their human contact. We're also arranging increasing amounts of outdoor socialising and enjoying the cooler day today. The salt and pepper tofu was the shit also.

But I too am just fed up and worn down. My mental health is robust, I'm not depressed or anxious, but I notice I'm more volatile - happier at small things but much quicker to flash into anger and irritation. And sometimes, yes, it all feels so bloody endless and amorphous and empty. I am pissed off to fuck about the extension of the review requirement.

There are times already when a busy, fun, stimulating life seeing people in person and riding busy trains and eating in restaurants and shopping at Westfield and going to playgroups feels like a dream. When will it be back?

I reckon the novelty queuing for hours to vote is going to wear pretty thin pretty fast. I reckon they’ll regret nodding that one through!

Sorry I meant in parliament!

I'm not sure the university bubble with be practical. For DH's practicals they looked at social distancing with rooms and equiqpment and course numbers one would have to be run 8 times - they don't have resocurces, mainly staff time, to run it twice more than usual. His university is still trying to plan all they've done so far is delay term start date by few weeks.

Thank you for the links to welsh school stuff -I'll keep an eye out for announcements today.

Right I'm off to round the kids up to start learning - oh the joy.

Morning all, just out shopping, hoping the pouring rain will have put most off, otherwise I will get very wet queuing. What joys our lives are filled with.

-‘ they don't have resocurces, mainly staff time, to run it twice more than usual.‘

In certain institutions the senior management are gaily telling staff to teach everything multiple times and not even taking into account the extra work involved! I guess you can’t make buildings double their capacity by magic the way you apparently can people!

Hester yes I agree, I guess it is that this is seen as an immediate threat perhaps. In the same way we could add that people knew about SARs from eating animals, yet that continued.

Interesting article about recording covid deaths. My friend told me a few weeks ago the hospital were encouraged to put covid 19 as the cause of death regardless because they get extra money from the government for each one. I've no idea if there's any truth to that but if it's true it's bloody terrifying.

I feel quite down today. It's grey and miserable here, totally different from the last week. I'm going to take DS to some different woods today as I think they'll be quiet and we can wear our wellies. Home schooling doesn't happen anymore because it causes arguments. The only thing we do is reading to each other. I've noticed his handwriting (along with his attitude) has seriously declined during this. I feel sad about it but a bit helpless on how to fix it. He won't work for me. It always ends in an argument and creates a bad atmosphere for ages after. I was banking on school returning for a little while and that seems like a non-starter now despite being in england. It all feels very unfair.

Our school is very sweet but I did a bit of a sigh at this on the new back to school arrangements for pick up

"Please wait, socially distancing, just beyond the largest tree nearest to school. Children will be led across the road and released, when their parent / carer makes visual contact, from the area next to the tree"

Said tree is in the park with play equipment such as a climbing frame and swings, which presumably is closed to the public.

@Dianne i am so sorry to hear about your dd xx

@Haunted I am normally referred to as stoic and resilient, smiley, the epitome of just getting on with it, but this situation is the lowest I have felt since late DH was diagnosed with cancer. Obviously that was the worst time, but we had to present a veneer of normality as very few people knew what was happening (because dh didn't want them to). Even ds, who was relatively very young then, didn't know, so we just had to keep going.

This has ripped any semblance of normality from under our feet.

Yesterday particularly was a tough one for me for some reason, starting with a big crying session before even getting to sleep. I know I would have stayed in bed all day if I hadn't had the dcs to look after. I didn't want to eat anything (most unlike me!) and I didn't want to do anything. I felt incredibly low, utterly useless.
We ended up going for a walk (because there is fuck all else we can do), which was pleasant, although I still felt shit.

I ended up venting to a good friend, and they have invited ds to theirs for a little bit today. It will give him some, much needed, time with someone who is not me, and some time to be him without his toddler sibling being his shadow. I am trying my best, but there is one of me trying to cut myself at least 3 ways and it's not working. We have decided that my friend will visit my house too. Any issues and it is care and support for the vulnerable - because I am really starting to feel like that.

@Orangeblossom78

Our school is very sweet but I did a bit of a sigh at this on the new back to school arrangements for pick up

"Please wait, socially distancing, just beyond the largest tree nearest to school. Children will be led across the road and released, when their parent / carer makes visual contact, from the area next to the tree"

Said tree is in the park with play equipment such as a climbing frame and swings, which presumably is closed to the public.

Oh we have two metre boxes spray painted all the way on the approach into the school door and a one way system arrowed as well, plus signs reminding us it is a social distancing area, and the comic sans sign of doom I mentioned on the last thread!

Other school just have a "go through this gate and keep apart a bit while we send your kid out" approach.

Morning all.

Bit heavy-headed this morning- I had my two best friends over for drinks in the garden last night. Here's the funny thing- I had half a glass of Prosecco and one small vodka and coke and I feel like I was on the sauce all evening Can't take my booze anymore clearly.

I lit the log burner too (Letter not Spirit of the 'guidance) and it was fab. We all had a lovely evening.

Downside- waking up with a feeling of gloom because of it being illegal to have DP in my house.

MY DP. In MY house. FFS.

But then I thought- well, I've never deliberately broken the law before. Now I'm going to . And I feel quite devilish about it

So in years to come, when I'm a Grandmama, and my grandchildren ask me, wide-eyed, if I've ever broken the law, I shall say Why yes my darlings, I have. In the Great Overreaction of 2020, your step-grandpapa and I deliberately broke the law so that we could be together.

And they'll be impressed.

(Until they find out it was just having someone in my house and then they'll say "Lame...")