Anti-dementors riding the roller coasters

[Waleshasgonecompletelycrazy]

And going to pubs, restaurants and zoos!

Great news, @TrustTheGeneGenie!

Wales - tourism, we need to liaise with the local knuckle draggers as to whether we get permission to open up to tourists. I give up.

I’ve just been for a walk with my mum. She’s a volunteer at day centre for the elderly which has been closed since March, but the good news is they’re set to reopen next month. For a lot of the people who attend it’s their main form of social contact, it must be awful for them having that taken away.

@justasking - that's beyond frustrating. Two purely outside attractions have opened up locally now, but not really enough to drive us out of recession! Plus you have to book, which one place has made tricky! I hope it changes in the next review.

I've written to Rishi! Btw, got an automatic reply asking me to use this email address if I'm not a constituent: [email protected]

Dear Mr Sunak
I am writing to you as a frustrated member of British society who read with horror the figures announced this morning re the GDP falling by 20.4% in the month of April. I realise it is a figure for one month and is not annualised but the point is that the longer this continues, the less of a blip that figure becomes. I read an article in The Times on the 24th March where economist Philip Thomas at Bristol University predicted the tipping point between lives lost due to long term economic consequences versus lives lost due to Covid-19 was a reduction in GDP of 6.4%.

There was a subsequent article in the Telegraph on the 7th June by Sarah Knapton analysing further Professor Thomas' predictions. It is a truly worrying article. Obviously these are predictions, but currently this government are making decisions based on the flawed model of a man who grossly and incompetently miscalculated death rates for foot and mouth, BSE, bird flu and swine flu so forgive me for thinking we should perhaps view his predictions with a healthy degree of scepticism. The model we are currently using from Imperial was written for a flu pandemic not a coronavirus pandemic and yet still we are pursuing this strategy.

The ONS has today estimated that the community infection rate is 0.06% and yet we are still locked up? I sense that you are not fully behind the policies of all your fellow ministers and I urge you as our Chancellor to keep pushing for a reduction to social distancing of 1m and every and all efforts to get our economy restarted.

I don't expect a reply but I am hoping that your inbox is full of people like me, people who do care about the deaths in this country from Covid-19, but who also realise that the long term price has to be calculated too.

day centre for the elderly which has been closed since March, but the good news is they’re set to reopen next month. For a lot of the people who attend it’s their main form of social contact

Yes my dad goes to one of these, for lunch, but he is in Scotland and has said nothing about it starting again. Wonder if his might start too fingers crossed.

@waleshasgonecrazy can I ask what the attractions are that have opened?

Wales - Drakeford actually said to a journalist they needed UK money to help folk out. He expected westminster money tree to cough up. Yet they want independence.

I’m going to London next week for a good old shop! Wooooooo!

@BarkandCheese, they’re not mine, they’re my daughter’s. The one at bottom right is the bitch, left is the dog and back centre right is their son. Puppy was the middle one of the litter when he was born and his sisters have gone on to be normal 3.5-4kg Poms but he’s 7.5kg and still growing, a real throwback.

I’m going to see them next week. Puppy was less than 4kg last time I saw him. I know this doesn't compare to children's problems but he's really frightened of other people right now because he hasn't been able to be socialised - he was just old enough to be taken to the park and stroked by strangers when the lockdown started and he's missed a vital window for socialisation.

You’re right about the noise, and Puppy’s picking fights with the adults because that’s what teenagers do, but they’re very well-trained dogs generally.

Your little one is so cute! I’m sure her huge personality makes up for her teeny tiny size.

I noticed on schools, on reading more on opening Holland and Switzerland both said there was not evidence young children pass on the virus and just opened without distancing, might be interesting to see what happens there with that, seems to be going ok...maybe this is the plan here so can see what happens elsewhere.

it would be great if they were able to just open normally as would be more natural for the children, and much easier to accommodate. Children need outdoor space which doesn't seem to be taken into consideration when some 'experts' suggest using e.g. halls or libraries.

I once had to teach reception in the school hall for a term and that wasn't very easy.

Wales - Drakeford did mention relatives will finally be allowed in to visit their relatives in care homes. I wonder how we will find them when we do get there. My neighbour a few doors down has not opened the door or a window for 14 weeks, she uses a walker and has been a bit confused for the last year or so. Her children have not visited once, Tesco is her only contact apart from her neighbour who is involved in the alert system.

they needed UK money to help folk out. He expected westminster money tree to cough up. Yet they want independence

Isn't that similar to Scotland. Sometimes wonder how they would get on if they did get it. Would they be wanting back perhaps

@glotterbug - one is a 2 hour trek round Mountain View Ranch mountainviewranch.co.uk and one is called Playworks www.facebook.com/playworks/?tn=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARDgKw2cI1oFeTeGktKA9cjM53MCJDUkGktou06NAISMlZfuOGGjkFfVygzFvDxUXQO_xKCvlMn_FtoD - it's a new small farm that advertises on Facebook, but its website doesn't help much.

If any of you are with primary aged children in Cardiff the ranch is normally fab by the way. I haven't done just the trail yet!

@Orangeblossom78

I noticed on schools, on reading more on opening Holland and Switzerland both said there was not evidence young children pass on the virus and just opened without distancing, might be interesting to see what happens there with that, seems to be going ok...maybe this is the plan here so can see what happens elsewhere.

it would be great if they were able to just open normally as would be more natural for the children, and much easier to accommodate. Children need outdoor space which doesn't seem to be taken into consideration when some 'experts' suggest using e.g. halls or libraries.

I once had to teach reception in the school hall for a term and that wasn't very easy.

We have a community centre and leisure centre across the road from our school, but the acoustics are terrible in both. Our youth group leaders frequently have banging headaches from the way the noise amplifies. Plus the staffing is fully stretched anyway.

Not that most schools have convenient community facilities nearby and it certainly doesn't solve secondary school issues.

Just been to friend's mam's funeral. Hugged her and held her hand throughout. Fuck roolz.

@Cattermole

Dear God *@trappedsincesundaymorn* don't be giving her the Clap as well!!!!!

I haven't given it for anything else during the whole lockdown...my clap isn't given to any just any ole Tom, Dick or Harry.

@TrusttheGeneGenie that's great news!!

I've read the articles linked here, so frustrating and depressing, I am at the point where I have kind of detached from it I think, although more in a 'that's a truck coming at me' way, than an apathetic way. Should the infection rates continue to fall, which I desperately hope, and believe, they will, then even the most dementorory dementor will have difficulty justifying PEOPLE ARE DYING and THE SECOND WAVE IS COMING. Yeah,well, so's Christmas but at least I know that's really going to happen.

@spudlet your rewrite of Pte S Baldrick's poem made me laugh out loud!!

@Ibake your letter is excellent!

one to many "any"s in that post I was laughing so much.

Met another friend today, she thinks lockdown should be over as well.

Unfortunately made the mistake of commenting on a distant friends FB post - she was saying that she was worried about the impact of lack of schooling on her DCs education and socialisation. I posted that children were badly treated and that garden centres and golf were more important than playgrounds and education seemed to be a nice
to have.Unfortunately I was in the minority- " Whats most important is that your DCs are safe hun" - I think it has been established that DCs more likely to be hit by lightening than die of coronavirus. " The lockdown has given us a chance to slow down our busy lives and breathe and reflect. The extra time spent with your children will bring you closer"
Or my personal favourite "Neighbours DS 12 plays on his Xbox all day, I think his parents should be reported to Social Services for child cruelty" - yes because there's just so many other things that he can do at this point in time and his teachers may not have set much school work, and his parents may be trying to work from home, but yes let's make our priority judging other DPs .

I've responded again that we should look at countries who do make schooling work to see what they do, but I really should just walk away.

@Ibake your letter really is excellent. Well done!!!!

@ThatLibraryMiss 7.5kg, wow, that is a throwback pom! I’ve seen a lot of puppies out and about recently and have wondered about their socialisation. It’s so important to get them used to the world during that short window before they grow up. My pom never had any problem getting used to people, it was more a case of fending people off because everyone wanted to stroke and cuddle her, especially children.

My favourite encounter ever with a child and her still makes me laugh, and is totally irrelevant to this thread but might give someone else a giggle. I was having a cup of tea at the country park, the dog at my feet. There was a a boy of about 4 at the next table eating an ice cream who broke off from doing so, stared intently at the dog for a while, and then addressed me in that Very Serious Voice only small children can manage. He said “‘scuse me lady, your doggie is funny looking, it’s got an ickle face.” Then with that Important Pronouncement done he went back to his ice cream . We still periodically tell the dog she’s funny looking because she’s got an ickle face.

Chris Whitty is funny looking and has got an ickle face.

See, brought it back on topic

Love the story.

@Nihiloxica

Chris Whitty is funny looking and has got an ickle face.

See, brought it back on topic

Love the story.

😂

@waleshasgonecrazy thanks very much for the info, a bit far for us at the moment but may fancy breaking the rules soon!