AD's off to Confession

[TheGreatWave]

Started a new one.

Need to adhere to guidelines this time though.

Good morning all.

Thank you everybody for your kind words and flowers yesterday, you really are a lovely bunch.
It turned out to be a lovely day all things considered. Not only did I hug my dad, but my sister organised a get together in her huge garden. I spent the afternoon with my dad, sister, her 4 adult children and their young children. There were 14 of us all together, with the younger ones playing and being together for the first time since March was such a fitting tribute to Mum as she adored family parties. The only one missing (apart from Mum of course), was my DD but there are plans afoot for her to come visit sometime in the next 2 weeks. When she does you'll all be able to hear the squeal of delight (from me) because it'll be so loud.

I have no doubt we killed half the village with our murderous ways.

@Dowser sadly in exile down south at the moment, but I do visit regularly.

Please god let this be true
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53199089

[quote LivinLaVidaLoki]@SpnBaby1967 it is dementor fuel that the number is slightly up but it is coming down in general.

Total deaths this last 7 days 796. Last 7 days 980.

Total infections last week 8953 (average 1279) this week total 7124 (average 1018)[/quote]
Theres a thread discussing this where many sensible people are posting graphs showing a continued downward trend, saying how daily figures arent useful, it's the average and so on.

Dementor ignoring all this to say that TODAYS numbers are HIGHER than the same day last week so deaths are starting to climb and we're all DOOOOOOOOOMED

Morning all. It's positively pissing down here in Cambridgeshire. There's a soggy blackbird still singing away though.
DH, who has been the household dementor in chief, has come over to the dark side. Not only has he booked a haircut, he has also booked for lunch at the pub up the road in two weeks time. Go him!!!!
Stats round here are no related deaths in local hospital since 18th June, no related deaths in our area since April.
On a sadder note my DMs neighbour has got the dreaded disease and is self isolating. DM is high up the dementor spectrum so is no doubt trying to work out if the virus can penetrate the party wall.

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/coronavirus-secondary-schools-might-not-be-able-to-fully-reopen-in-september-hrfmxlg5j

In the Times, saying they might need to shut pubs to allow the schools to open or something. Hmm. Oh fingers crossed it is OK and they can open.

@maggienolia This is a completely novel disease that we know nothing about. There is no evidence at the moment to say that it can't pass through the party wall. Stay safe.

Went to sleep on the living room floor for 3 hours, am now stiff as a board and the CATS HAVE BEGUN. (Girlie is reading over my shoulder, and that's only cos I threw her off the keyboard.)

I must admit I like to follow the daily deaths but it's as an interest in spin more than anything else. I actually had a look at the nudge unit website (I have a mate in Toledo who didn;t know what it was - he's a proper dementor, but I give him and his wife props for dementing as they are both vulnerable, poor, and terrified) and it's interesting stuff. It makes you very curious, put it that way.

Livin yes this is in the Times too, more info here.

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/holiday-season-back-on-with-travel-traffic-light-plan-92sqpzrdr

Quarantine-free travel will be permitted between the UK and countries deemed as “green” and “amber”, with self-isolation mandated for arrivals from “red” countries.

Green countries will include Croatia, Germany, Austria and — eventually — Australia and New Zealand. Amber countries, where more caution is advised, will include France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Denmark.

A government spokesman said: “This system will enable us to take swift action to re-introduce self-isolation measures if new outbreaks occur overseas.”

I would love a cat, but we have a bird. Which could get eaten. and will live for years and years

I read a really sensible blog about this - basically that we've got a limited number of credits for reopening and you have to choose how to spend the credits eg. Open schools but ban large gatherings etc. Essentially that you have to make tradeoffs because you can't just open everything all at once. Assuming you subscribe to the 'can't do everything at once' theory, why the hell are they opening pubs and openly saying it's a risk the kids won't go back to school??? Argh

What an awful night, Cattermole. Poor you!

pinkfondant I spent most of my 6th form in the pub and it didn’t do me any harm. Oh.

Yep Pinkfondant, say that on a school thread though and you'll get a lot of people denying the two are connected. Usually the same people claiming that if you reduce/stop social distancing in schools then you have to stop it everywhere (people back into offices, on to the tube etc), presumably folks who have no concept of risk benefit analysis.

Ideally I'd like pubs to open in some capacity (as I worry for the sector) and schools to open fully but if it comes to a choice then I'd go for the latter. Plus I don't see how the economy can open fully without schools being open as many working parents rely on them for childcare although this being mumsnet I'd get told that schools aren't childcare, very few families rely on it for childcare and maybe either DH or I should quit our jobs to look after our spawn.

Pinkfondantfancy I have very mixed feelings about the pubs opening and - just found out last night - theme parks.

As an AD I should be pleased about reopening of everything but after months of nothing, I assumed they'd naturally avoid mass gatherings or things where people wouldn't social distance.

I was kind of surprised to learn that Alton Towers is opening early July when we are hopefully away - but I've let DS get a ticket anyway.

I do worry - again ironic when I've been saying things should open up for weeks now - that it's a bit too fast and based on getting people to spend money, rather than a risk based approach.

@Orangeblossom78
For the 2nd time in 12 hours or so I cried. Not only are my family in this country coming to visit soon but it looks as though I'll be able to visit my family in Greece and spend some actual quality time with my DH and DS after what feels like months and months of relentless misery.

I think re the pubs v schools it’s important not to overthink it. I’m in a way quite pleased that people are starting to rebel against the new normal as I really don’t think social distancing is in any way a solution. The schools will be open in September I am convinced of that. If not I’ll be out rioting.

It is interesting right now though because the countries that the dementors have drooled over re strict early lockdowns are some of the ones with new outbreaks. Sweden are the only ones with any sense.

Oh Greece sounds lovely.

@Cattermole

Argh, today is not a good day. So I have had CONTINUAL GASBAGGING. Literally all day. DH, mother, Junior Mole. It is a wonder any of they fuckers have any breath left. It is continual. Junior Mole (aged 10) is now refusing to sleep in his own bed any more. Too hot, too cold, too noisy, too much cat, whichever. This has always been a thing but since this shitshow has been conspicuously worse. DH sat up with him tonight getting increasingly hysterical - he COULDN'T sleep - and eventually DH lost his shit and said he was going to have to stay up all bloody night then. Sadly I then lost my shit and got cross with DH for being shouty.

DH is now asleep in Junior Mole's bed. Junior Mole is asleep in our bed.
I'm downstairs writing books and thinking at 1.30am why bother going to bed - the answer being sadly that tomorrow I shall have to spend another day being TALKED AT and taking mother shopping and going to the farmers market and other bollocks.

I haven't pulled an all-nighter in the better part of 30 years and this may be interesting....

I seem to be loosing the ability to focus on much of the conversation with DS1. He goes rather in-depth and I end up doing a lot of smile and nod and don't need a 5 minute in-depth analysis of his Lego model's design features. At least he's now gotb a bit bored of the Smithsonian Channel and is doing less monologuing about nuclear war and general weaponary, not my strong point.

DH can get dry and in-depth too. I'm doing lots of proof reading for his engineering stuff. Yawn.

I fear for DS2's social role modelling. He's beginning to go in depth about Ninjago...

I've got that bored, peopled out sense returning with no sight on having time in my house alone. No one breathing next to me. No TV in another room.

I don't know how to recharge myself in the absence of time alone or any external motivation. Too much time is as dangerous as being overly busy.

I'm going to the zoo on Wednesday.
I'm going to the zoo on Wednesday.

Yes it would be wrong if pubs and theme parks etc got priority over schools due to this there needs to be a balance. Oh I don't know- this R thing itself seems vague and open to interpretation. I don't really see why it should be an either / or thing. If numbers do rise surely they need to look at why and change things to stop it happening. Rather than just look at the money involved. It seems to be getting a but muddled.

Also of course take into account that young people in schools are lower risk as well.

Mine are addicted to Minecraft now - they all have different houses and their friends do too so they visit them in their virtual world. Bit weird but they seem to enjoy it and it means they can interact with their friends I suppose. I listen to their conversations which can be quite odd. A horse died and they had a funeral the other day

The R is nonsense. Midlands R is down this week, presumably because outbreaks in Leicester and Nuneaton have calmed down. Now it it lower when there is another outbreak somewhere (like the meat factory in Smethwick) it will go up again. I cannot understand why anyone is taking ‘science’ that concludes the R is between 0.7 and 0.9 seriously. If you don’t know what it is then surely by definition it’s fucking useless as a measure.

@Orangeblossom78 I’ve banned minecraft, my younger one got really obsessed with it and it was starting to affect her brain 😳

@BogRollBOGOF it's the continual yapping isn't it?
Mum and DH, bless them, spend all day in the real world by themselves. Mum used to have the unnerving ability to carry on a conversation without any input from another party, like something out of a Les Dawson sketch, when I lived with my parents. She could literally follow you from room to room keeping up a constant flow of nowt.
DH can do the same. He will follow me up to the toilet to tell me about a good bit in his book.

I don't mind the continual yapping but it's the invasion of your headspace that's grating on my nerves now.

My kids live in Roblox now.

Their bodies are in my house and have to be fed but their minds are elsewhere and the stuff they talk about makes no sense.