Commando AD awareness for donut bum dogs

[InsaneInTheViralMembrane]

Phew!

I've just finished reading Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. It wasn't the cheeriest of books but it's definitely stuck in my head. It's based on a true story, set in WW2.

I can report that the East Neuk of Fife felt relatively normal today. And sunny!
Had a long walk and tablet ice cream. Quite busy, few people wearing masks outdoors, only the odd person diving into bushes.
We did pass a family in a car, mum dad and two kids, all masked up which gave us a giggle.

@ReturnofSaturn

Do we think this is going to spell the end for good for soft play centres and toddler groups?

We are missing toddler groups and classes so much and will miss them even more all winter.

There will always be a demand for them.

Our community centre is open now and some of their groups are viable. My guiding and scouting groups can't return until cleared by HQ though. We might possibly have face to face meetings in September, possibly outside only to begin?

I'm guessing when schools are settled back, youth groups including things for younger children will be the next phase. Goodness knows they need it (plus their parents! Been there, still recovering!)

Schools and nurseries have hardly been major hubs of transmission at this point.

[quote Dowser]This is getting ridiculous now

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/26/unions-urge-ministers-consider-making-face-masks-compulsory/[/quote]
You can bet your bottom dollar that if the govt had said all secondary schools, including staff, had to wear masks they would have complained that it was an infringement of their rights and no one could make them wear them. or even expect them to teach face to face at all That's the unions and by no means all teachers.

@SomewhereEast
Whitby is my favourite place (apart from home) in the UK. I love it there and must go again soon.

I do love whitby but not the crowds.

I have my home made certainly not 3 layer with room for a filter masks and dh has a cowl. We also have some cheap disposable masks. DH wore one to give blood, today and one a few wekksago for a haircut.

Entertaining myself with an old Locationx3 where a couple is looking for a home in a trendy area of York for under 300k!

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-considers-online-sales-tax-in-bid-to-save-high-street-mwncs6dwx

Well he can just do one. This will not make me go to the shops and will penalise online companies. One of the comments However, there are fears that the online tax proposals could lead to consumers having to pay more Well who'd a thunk that increased costs will get passed onto the consumers?

@SomewhereEast thanks. DC are grown up but I'm liking the sound of that courtyard lunch.

With the childcare cuddling thing- we had the new parents session for the juniors and were told that the teachers would be attempting to stay at the front of the class but, if a child was distressed, “we are all mums and we will do what a mum would want us to do and do so unapologetically”

I liked that line. Dd2 seems to have built up a nice little relationship with her new teacher since she’s been dismissing kids from the junior school bubbles each day so has got to know her in the more informal setting - I know this lady and she’s normally one that gives off the aura of being very strict but is actually a right softie with a sense of fun - so that’s been good for her to get to know the warm inside over the initial disciplinarian.

School before the summer holidays was odd - started off with regimented going in at distance but then by home time it was back to the tactile teachers being hands on heads and shoulders of kids like normal at least! Dd1 ended up in a bubble with her new teacher and since she’s a kid who struggles with transitions and gets very attached to her teachers - that worked out well for her! That’s only because they struggled so much with the last few months we got them back into school though- I fear for a few of their friends with more anxious parents or kids who resist going into school anyway- September is going to be rough as hell for those ones, and for the ones who’ve had reshuffled classes with bubbles so they can’t even play with their friends in the same year but other class.

@BellaintheWychElm

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-considers-online-sales-tax-in-bid-to-save-high-street-mwncs6dwx

Well he can just do one. This will not make me go to the shops and will penalise online companies. One of the comments However, there are fears that the online tax proposals could lead to consumers having to pay more Well who'd a thunk that increased costs will get passed onto the consumers?

Won't stop me using online per say because when you factor in petrol (public transport is non existent where I live), parking, queues, masks etc a small charge is actually not that much which is why I will pay a small delivery cost if I really want the item although I do look for free delivery and returns first.

All that an increase will do is make me shop even less. I have just bought some clothes because my jeans tend to eat holes in certain tops. But tbh I am WFH so actually I could get away with never replacing the tops because no one sees me. It's that kind of buying that I would cut out if a big charge was put on online shopping.

This is where they really need to consider the knock on effect of any 'small' change that they do.

Thank you for all the book recommendations! I'll have a look at them all later. My manager told me back in May to book off at least one day a week during the summer holidays to help prep for holiday and also because she knew I realistically wouldn't get a day off if I'd not already got them booked, so I'm off today. I think I need it.
Weathers crap so ds and I are making coconut macaroons, having a carpet picnic lunch and having a movie marathon.

@thenightsky Stephen King is my favourite. I re read Desperation for the first time in about 20 years the other week and forgotten how terrifying it is!

@TrustTheGeneGenie I've had similar on mask threads. They completely miss the point that I do wear one, because I have to. Doesn't mean I have to like it. A friend has gone onto one of these etsy type sites and ordered matching ones for her and her DD. Who is 5. She thinks they look so cute, I think they look sad :(
A few times this weekend I've heard references to 'the new normal' which I haven't heard in ages. I just kept saying "I prefer to think of this as a temporary normal"

So @BellaintheWychElm why don't they just consider not making shopping a soul destroying experience? Those who were too afraid to go shopping are mostly still afraid and will remain that way until they get CLEAR information about the "virus being out there" and managing risk and the rest of us are thoroughly fed up of having to constantly queue, navigate one way systems and not be able to browse.

We are adults ffs, just trust us to do the right thing.

Everytime I hear that I correct them to "new abnormal". People look at me like but it's really important. I worry that people are happy to accept this way of life! It's a sorry shadow of the old normal.

@BellaintheWychElm

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-considers-online-sales-tax-in-bid-to-save-high-street-mwncs6dwx

Well he can just do one. This will not make me go to the shops and will penalise online companies. One of the comments However, there are fears that the online tax proposals could lead to consumers having to pay more Well who'd a thunk that increased costs will get passed onto the consumers?

Agreed. I overcame my anxiety and went out for milk yesterday clutching my sunflower lanyard ready to wave it if I needed to but I didn't stop to browse or anything like, tbh, I might otherwise do. I grabbed only the milk.

In all discussions of the high street, I mostly hear moralising about how we are all terrible people not to shop there but not much of how to actually make it pleasant to do so. You are all a thoughtful bunch; what would make you shop in the high street voluntarily?

@MaxNormal
Tablet ice cream? Is that ice cream with chunks of tablet in it? A Scottish colleague brought me some once- I could feel the sugar breeding on my teeth afterwards!

Masks in schools : DS's headteacher has said no masks but if a parent wants their child to wear one in September it must be discussed by the parent & head of year prior to the child attending school.

I've worked out why the sight of them unsettles me : no mouth, no lips, no smile. It's occurred to me that when I've had surgery or observed it as a student, the staff in the anaesthetic room have been lovely & reassurring & haven't had their faces obscured until after the anaesthetic has taken effect.

@ISaySteadyOn
For me, it would be to just let people shop. Let people try things on but quarantine clothes afterwards like they do for returns (after all, multiple trips is a pain in the arse), no queueing outside or steering people around just let us trust our own judgment at keeping our distance.
Understand make up stores cant have testers out but why not have smaller single use samples you can buy for say 50p and try them before you buy.

Oh and clean down the change rooms between uses.

@BellaintheWychElm

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-considers-online-sales-tax-in-bid-to-save-high-street-mwncs6dwx

Well he can just do one. This will not make me go to the shops and will penalise online companies. One of the comments However, there are fears that the online tax proposals could lead to consumers having to pay more Well who'd a thunk that increased costs will get passed onto the consumers?

All this would do is make me not buy non essentials at all. Higher prices online wouldn’t entice me back into shops with masks and ridiculous one way systems, it would just make me make do with what I’ve got. I’d suck up the higher online costs for essentials (although I’ve bought next years school uniform so can’t think what else any of us would need really).

ISaySteadyOn the only thing the high street had over online for me was to actually touch and try things on. But you can't do that now and even if they relaxed that 'rule' they don't stock all the items and sizes so you will run the risk of all the hassle for nothing.

I used to do online shop and returns instore. I did a bit of browsing when I returned instore but I noticed some shops saying you can't return anything instore that was bought online so they have cut off that route themselves.

All this would do is make me not buy non essentials at all. Higher prices online wouldn’t entice me back into shops with masks and ridiculous one way systems, it would just make me make do with what I’ve got
Exactly - I would buy less if it cost more which whilst may be better for the planet won't make a difference to Rishi's tax intake. Tbh I am already making do - my general casual clothes are all looking a bit worse for wear, holey jeans etc. Where I would have gone and had a bit of a spree replacing, as they are still wearable I am making do as I am not really going anywhere

In fact it’s angered me a bit... I won’t be bloody manipulated into a miserable experience shopping on the High Street. Want people back on the High Street? Then make High Street shopping a nice experience. Raise prices online? Then I’ll do without.
It’s not cutting off my nose to spite my face, it’s just not being willing to put myself through a shitty experience for something I don’t really need anyway.

The online tax doesn't truly make sense because a lot of the companies selling online-only are extremely small businesses, running on wafer thin margins. I assume Rishi is thinking of big high street names turning to online stores to the detriment of bricks and mortar. But they are a very tiny part of the online world. I shop a lot from independent online stores that have small quantities of stock, and basically work out of their homes! Their promotions happen over Instagram, where their happy clients basically model their wares for them. Very small scale, almost a cottage industry.
Rishi's tax will destroy them.

@NannyPhlegm

The online tax doesn't truly make sense because a lot of the companies selling online-only are extremely small businesses, running on wafer thin margins. I assume Rishi is thinking of big high street names turning to online stores to the detriment of bricks and mortar. But they are a very tiny part of the online world. I shop a lot from independent online stores that have small quantities of stock, and basically work out of their homes! Their promotions happen over Instagram, where their happy clients basically model their wares for them. Very small scale, almost a cottage industry. Rishi's tax will destroy them.

I agree - there are an awful lot of small scale etsy and ebay sellers for example - if you were to add an extra tax on top of what they are already paying out on platform selling fees and postal charges I would imagine alot would not be viable any longer

@Drivingdownthe101

In fact it’s angered me a bit... I won’t be bloody manipulated into a miserable experience shopping on the High Street. Want people back on the High Street? Then make High Street shopping a nice experience. Raise prices online? Then I’ll do without. It’s not cutting off my nose to spite my face, it’s just not being willing to put myself through a shitty experience for something I don’t really need anyway.

Exactly. They need to make sure they don't reduce consumer spending generally to try and make up for a miserable high street experience.

I'm still spending on non essentials but with job losses on the news which makes me worried for my own and higher online prices I know I will just end up saving rather than spending.

I am normally a 'new car' person every three years but we are now going to keep the car and run it into the ground (diesel so will go for years). We pay for people to do a lot of jobs around the house but now plan to do all the maintenance jobs ourself this year to save money. We have already tightened our belts in so many areas because of the economy but non essential online shopping is one of the few things we still do but that will stop if it gets too expensive and the only other option is a non touch, queue, mask, miserable high street.

Yes, if Rishi thinks raising online prices is going to help anything when we’ve just been plunged into a recession I wonder what planet he’s on?
I’m a fairly high spender generally. We have decent disposable income, I have three young children who I usually buy more than is necessary for, I (normally) like a meander round the shops myself, we are fairly time poor so usually pay tradesmen etc. But if the High Street is a miserable experience, online prices rise and with the threat of job losses and housing market crashes etc then I’ll keep that money in my own pocket to be honest. It will please DH anyway

I don't shop as a leisure activity normally but if I'm buying something I need I will browse a few additional shops and possibly buy. If I can't try on clothes there is zero point in making the trip out. Bedford is rubbish for shopping, Rushden Lakes doesn't have a John Lewis and I refuse to go to House Of Fraser since Mike Ashley bought it so it's a 26 mile drive to MK. Not happening.