ADs crave hotel breakfasts garnished with phallic strawberries

[BogRollBOGOF]

Oh for the good old days of a breakfast buffet.

Back when you could make plans and reasonably expect them to happen. When you could turn up spontaneously and browse or linger at your leisure. When you could meet whoever you like and give them a hug

But until those days return, here's some more AD chat about life, the universe and phallic fruits...

@LivinLaVidaLoki near where I keep my horse there were 2 houses that were clearly rainbowing competitively. First the windows were completely filled with drawings. The a giant mdf rainbow appeared in one garden, then the other. Then hearts and "we love you nhs" appeared on each. It got quite fun to see how farther would take it.

Get ready for the rainbow Christmas lights... coming soon to a tasteless zone near you

About these figures. Far be it from me to be thought cynical, but for a couple of days last week the media were saying that it appears numbers were going down again and we were levelling out and then Bam, ooh look, we've suddenly found a raft of figures that weren't added because of an unspecified glitch. And Boris on the telly yesterday still blaming the public.

I could scream

@HeIenaDove

"NPHET have just recommended the whole country go to level 5 lockdown. Wtf. No visitors in your house, no social gatherings outside, gyms and leisure centres closed, no sport, hairdressers closed etc. More or less back to the original lockdown.

I really hope the government don't agree with this but they have agreed with all recommendations"

No hair done, No Christmas spend.

Sorry I should have said I'm in Ireland.

Government meeting today to discuss. Really hoping this doesn't happen. I live alone and am working from home. Not sure I can handle another spell of no human interaction.

My OH has been advising me to get my irish passport, no thanks. NPHET sound even loopier than Whitty Vallence.

They surely do. People are not happy here. Tony H only back in the door and this is what he is suggesting. The other day we were told that we didn't need to go to level 3.

I can't stand the man. People have short memories here and signing his praises while forgetting his involvement in the cervical check scandal.

Suspicious that the government will come out and say we are not taking NPHETs advice on board and are going to level 4. Make a show that they are in charge and not NPHET.

@NeedWineNow

About these figures. Far be it from me to be thought cynical, but for a couple of days last week the media were saying that it appears numbers were going down again and we were levelling out and then Bam, ooh look, we've suddenly found a raft of figures that weren't added because of an unspecified glitch. And Boris on the telly yesterday still blaming the public.

I could scream

It reminds me of earlier on in the pandemic when deaths were levelling out, then suddenly they changed the parameters, then suddenly PHE would add a load on so it looked horrifically high again. So...who is adding all these lost numbers on......

Anyone seen the story about the vaccine only being available to certain groups?

From the Guardian, as I don't have a FT subscription:
"Ms Bingham said vaccination policy would be aimed at those “most at risk” and noted that vaccinating healthy people, who are much less likely to have severe outcomes from Covid-19, “could cause them some freak harm”, potentially tipping the scales in terms of the risk-benefit analysis."

In other words, if you're a healthy under 50 year old, Covid is so unlikely to do you serious harm that the vaccine could actually be more dangerous than catching it. Wish they let me write a headline for that - preferably in a tabloid!

@110APiccadilly

Anyone seen the story about the vaccine only being available to certain groups?

From the Guardian, as I don't have a FT subscription:
"Ms Bingham said vaccination policy would be aimed at those “most at risk” and noted that vaccinating healthy people, who are much less likely to have severe outcomes from Covid-19, “could cause them some freak harm”, potentially tipping the scales in terms of the risk-benefit analysis."

In other words, if you're a healthy under 50 year old, Covid is so unlikely to do you serious harm that the vaccine could actually be more dangerous than catching it. Wish they let me write a headline for that - preferably in a tabloid!

This is good news. I am entirely pro-vaccine. I have a lot of sympathy for the position of compulsory vaccines for children for the childhood diseases like polio, measles, etc, though ultimately I come down on the side of civil liberties. But I am not at all on board with giving my children Covid-19 vaccines when they are at near zero risk from covid. Vaccines do come with risk of side effects, and to give them out to everyone, especially children, just for the sake of it is unconscionable. Not to mention insanely expensive and a logistical nightmare.

so... under 50s wont get it anyway, and it's not going to be 100% effective on over 50s.... so what is the point?

Why are we in lockdown now waiting for something that is not going to make that much difference? Or will we will under restrictions despite having a vaccine?

That has annoyed me actually. We are waiting for something that wont be the massive solution that it has been sold to us as.

Fuck this.

@SirSamuelVimes Agree entirely - vaccines are life savers. But not for diseases that you're not at risk from! For me, the significant thing that's being (very quietly) pointed out here is not that the vaccine is dangerous but that catching Covid is pretty safe for healthy under 50s.

@chocolatesweets I think I agree. This dark threat of more lockdown is really getting me down, just do it if you’re going to is my thinking now

Yet we happily give our children unnecessary polio vaccines? Unless they are travelling to Pakistan and Afghanistan...,

Something is really irritating me. I keep hearing people saying that there may be a fortnight’s “circuit break” to coincide with half term. Do all schools get a fortnight for half term? The school I went to only got one week.

If this is the case then presumably people will need to sort childcare for the other week at short notice but no one seems to mention this.

@CruCru
We moved to 2 weeks at half term here last year, maybe a bit before that, I forget. It seems many schools do it now.

TBH I'd forgotten about it as DS no longer wants childcare & has miserably said he'll be revising for mock A levels anyway.

The thing is, half term isn't exactly the same around the country anyway. So not sure how that will work. (Not to mention further destruction of the economy , but that seems irrelevant to many calling for total lockdown).

I agree that it's very suspicious that suddenly 20k cases were just 'found' as the new plans were leaked.

They are still hanging the 2 week circuit break over us in Scotland yet most schools only have a week off in October. Yet saying they are prioritising schools staying open? You cant do both.

All this BS about further restrictions and lockdown is only prolonging things. As soon as they are lifted there will be more cases then back to scaremongering again. It's a self fulfilling prophecy which suits the govs control agenda.

@CruCru

Something is really irritating me. I keep hearing people saying that there may be a fortnight’s “circuit break” to coincide with half term. Do all schools get a fortnight for half term? The school I went to only got one week.

If this is the case then presumably people will need to sort childcare for the other week at short notice but no one seems to mention this.

That's for the support humans to figure out. The Big 4 don't have to deal with piddling little details like that!

I'm in the south west my children have one week for half term same as always.

Ours has a week and a few days. South west here too.

@crucru
I would love to have a hedgehog come into my garden. Unfortunately we have a bunch of foxes so it might not survive.

They will co exist with foxes, foxes mouths are too soft so they generally leave live ones alone.

A badger will have them though. You'll not get hedgehogs where there are badgers

Yorkshire and it's a week here.

Has anyone else noticed, when this shit show started and for a time NHS staff would comment honestly about what was going on. Whether here, in the media or elsewhere. Now absolutely zilch. They are under assumed monikers in the main so why the silence?

One week here. 2 weeks in the next LA where they take a week from the summer. Looking at their distribution of cases, they are clearly concentrated on the student areas and not the more family orientated suburbs.

I'm going to have a little rant if that's ok with everyone?
I've worked all through this, dealing with shitty customers etc but I've tried to be good and kind to people. I've shopped for the elderly and self isolators, I've kept in touch with people from work who've had to shield, making sure they're ok, keeping up with friends who've had to wfh whilst teaching their children, looked after grandchildren when allowed and generally been as helpful as I can. (Not a stealth boast, but I'm generally the can- do person that gets asked to do things, particularly finance stuff as I've worked in banking and accounts most of my life, plus I write a good letter if anyone needs to complain!)
Anyway, a thoughtless act on behalf of someone close to me made me re- evaluate the things I do, and I've realised that if I don't contact people to check in on them, hardly any of them checks on me first.
I know that there's a pandemic on but surely it only takes a second to message someone to say hi, not heard from you for a while, are you ok? Am I expecting too much?
I am very much a " shut up and get on with it" type of person, which I accept that that's why people don't think to ask if I'm ok, but sometimes I'm not!
Is it because people are generally thoughtless, or has the pandemic just brought it out of people?

We get 2 weeks for half term - but we're a rare LEA I think.

I just fear if they close the schools again - they won't get them reopen if you think how the unions behaved last time.

Online uni learning is SHIT btw. Just had 2 hours and I couldn't focus, the connection kept dying (and I'm on fibre so I think it was their end), none of the embedded videos that our staff use a lot of worked and it was just crap.

@Curlygirl06 my supermarket friend is in a lorra trouble. Asked a customer to put on a mask, now theyre taking legal action. Thing is she was not told about exempt folk and to assume non mask wearers were exempt. Her store is one of those wee satellite stores that we all find handy