ADs and their very long lists!

[LivinLaVidaLoki]

We were up to 999 posts so thought we needed a new thread!

Ugh been up for ages to take DS to work. For those who’ve not been out yet it’s bastard cold.

In my current tired and uncharitable state, part of me really hopes we have a very short but strict lockdown which means absolutely everyone staying home. Then I hope all those baying for lockdown have massive boiler/blocked toilet issues and they can’t get anyone in for 4 weeks to fix it. That’ll learn ‘em.

Uni released our timetables late as hell for next term - now they’ve pulled them again. Good job none of us need to plan things huh?

Just checking in and we are on page 12 already.
I am feeling fed up.. The vaccination roll out appears to be a chaotic shambles... And the mince pies have run out...

@BogRollBOGOF

Crap as the UK has been this year, there's not many places I'd teleport to instead. Probably only Sweden. At least we haven't had stupid caps on exercise or silly pointless forms to hand in.

It's a tough enough time anyway without having to adjust to major life changes.

Tier 5 rumours are now on the localLIVE rag...

@BogRollBOGOF I wish I'd not come back from Greece. Things are pretty dire there at the moment and at the start but overall its been much more pleasant and at least I'd have got more time sat at the rough wooden table under the tree in my aunts garden eating delicious food and enjoying life. Not constantly surrounded by people screaming at how shit things are and we should never leave our homes again.

DH said yesterday (after I bought my new lippy set)that its been an age since I bought new clothes or makeup (I'm generally quite vain lol) I said what's the point, aside from work, which is mostly at home, where do we go?
He just said he was worried as its not like me. So today we are going from our tier 3 area to a tier 2 not far from here to indulge in some retail therapy and have a nice lunch out.
I mean I'm still not going anywhere for a bit, but feel perked up that when I do come out of this.....I'm gonna be fabulous. That's cheered me right up. Its kind of pathetic in a shallow way and the travelling needlessly between tiers would be frowned on here bit fuck it. As long as we are sensible and manage the risk appropriately....I can't wait!

@LivinLaVidaLoki we are booked to go to Kefalonia in May. It’s keeping us sane.

We also have a LIVE MUSIC GIG booked for the week we return. We have to travel to Lisbon but it will be our first gig in over a year as long as the lead singer doesn’t die between now and then. (Alphaville- the lead singer was a babe in the 1980s but now resembles Pavarotti)

We have agreed if schools shut we are moving to Dorset. I can’t do home schooling of a dyslexic without sea walks to make sure we don’t go crazy. Will still have to travel to the Midlands for work though 😞

Morning all. Snowed here. Still going actually. Am working today so dp will have to take ds out in it if he wants to go.

Tier 5 can get fucked. Rates are still somehow dropping here. I'm assuming they won't open schools anyway so that'll be fun.

I'm def not as cultured as you lot. I've never read a Pratchett! I like a "shit book" if you know what I mean. Easy to read, happily ever after. The only signed book I've got is by Noel Fielding. It was worth it and I still fancy him 10 years later!

Changing the subject somewhat - I asked the question about how many older people die each year (in an average year). The answer is from Gov.UK and the latest figures it has are for 2017. So, in 2017 an average of 1000 over 75's died each day. Each day!
As often stated, many of these are elderly people who are in hospital, having reached the end of the long road of life, and are waiting for gentle release, when they also happen to breathe in a few particles of coronavirus. Bingo! Another covid death! It shocks me to think that if my recently departed fil had tested positive for it, he, too would have been called a covid death, which couldn't have been further from the truth. I bet that the current deaths from pneumonia type disorders among the old are probably running at a perfectly normal level.
I really can't understand the Nightingale hospitals. They knew when they constructed them they would not have enough nurses to staff them, so why did they build them? What another total waste of money. I've scratched my head over the logic of spending millions on them and then dismantling them, unused, but no, can't come up with anything. Anyone else have any thoughts?

@Reedwarbler
Showboating. Pure and simple.

I made dh turn bbc news off last night as they were going on about hospital crises.....

It makes me furious. They knew, they bloody knew the NHS would collapse in the winter and they did NOTHING.

They had their summer recesses and bogged off on holiday, all this time knowing they would be fucked. But they would say "we built the nightingales, its not our fault we can't staff them" yes it bloody well is. Years of cuts and mismanagement of funds are exactly why you can't fund them.

As an aside (almost), in a lot of other countries they have commandeered private healthcare. Whether that be hospital beds or staff. Have we done that here?

PR. A mix between "look at us, aren't we amazing, building these new hospitals, look at us doing something!" and a useful way to scare the public shitless.

Even if the Nightingales had been fully functional, our numbers of hospital beds per 1,000 population would have been one of the lowest in Europe. And, as clearly shown by inability to staff them, it did nothing to mitigate the fact that our number of nurses and doctors per 1,000 are also the lowest. This crisis is decades in the making.

@MoltenLasagne

Even if the Nightingales had been fully functional, our numbers of hospital beds per 1,000 population would have been one of the lowest in Europe. And, as clearly shown by inability to staff them, it did nothing to mitigate the fact that our number of nurses and doctors per 1,000 are also the lowest. This crisis is decades in the making.

It’s not just hospital beds and lack of nurses. The beds we do have are full of many people with preventable illnesses.

Sadly the pandemic hasn’t led to much of an increase in people taking responsibility for their own health. Obesity, lack of exercise and alcohol are big killers. It’s not easy, but I believe we need to take responsibility for ourselves as the government blatantly doesn’t give a shit about us and even encourage us - off licences open as essential shops sends a very poor message. Maybe the dry January and fitness increases we see at the start of each year will help a few more people on the path to health and fitness. That way, long term we would see a decrease in pressures on the NHS and more beds and funding for those who are ill through no fault of their own.

Fellow ADs - please love yourself enough to cut back on the bad stuff and do more of the good stuff in 2021.

@Worldgonecrazy I love Kefalonia, so very jealous!

WRT mental health, I could talk for a long time about this, but I think it boils down to two things.

1. It's essentially seen as the individual's responsibility to avoid it in the first place, so there's a stigmatised rhetoric of self inflicted victimhood. So people don't spend time thinking about what could be done to prevent it, it's too grey an area and too hard (if you're someone who likes rigid thinking/black and white etc). Much easier to say that it's someone else's problem (it's always "well SOMEONE should do/should have done something"... not "what can WE do differently?" B) it's not contagious, so there's no personal threat until you're affected directly. EDs aren't my speciality but @Jourdain11 I did notice articles about rates in young people rising. Do you think it's linked to how young people perceive how much control they have over their lives at the moment? Restrictions in your general life = needing to exert more control in another area?

Obesity, lack of exercise and alcohol are big killers.

From Jan to March I lost nearly two stone. Then Covid hit and I've put more than that back on, have drank more this year than any in the last six, and the only exercise I enjoy (as swimming) has mostly been closed. And I'm back on antidepressants. This year has been a cluster fuck for my health. In fact, the (probable, pre testing) Covid I had at the start of April is so far the list of health issues this year I almost forgot about it!

Right, tapping into your geographic information ADs! I fancy going snow hunting. Am currently in between Leeds and York, there's a light dusting at best. Anyone within say an hour's drive who has sledge worthy snow?

@SirSamuelVimes Oldham and Rochdale are covered in the stuff, if you can manage the M62. Have a look at the Manchester Evening News for pics.

Also I suspect Wensleydale and Swaledale will have a fair bit, but I wouldn’t fancy that drive in snowy conditions.

Although the majority of the country has closed or compromised fitness sectors 🤦‍♀️
Even in tier 3, with the classes being off, that's going to hit the New Years Resolution surge that puts a huge boost into the industry and is part of their financial models.

I keep fit in other ways, but the whole protocols around booking swimming mean that I haven't swum since 16 March. The DCs have their lessons thank goodness, but haven't swum for fun since then either.

Just being school holidays have regressed me to my lockdown lie-ins, especially with it barely getting light and nowhere being stimulating/ pleasurable to walk in.

On a cheerier note, we have snow!

Greece... I still can't quite believe that we made it to Crete in August. It seems like an unattainable dream to be able to go anywhere at the moment, so I'm just clinging on to the fact that it DID happen and it can happen again!

We're booked to go to Andalusia next August. Still trying to be hopeful that the vaccine will have had enough of an effect to make overseas travel stress free by then.

It’s why it’s so fucking hypocritical of Saint Boris to close the gyms and ban amateur sport, while at the same time telling us we need to keep fit. Arrogant fucker.

He is. The lot of them can eff off.

The hospitals really annoys me, our local one is always full this time of year till February, has an alert at least once a week for the last few years . Now the government just blames us for spreading covid and ramps up the fear.

So are we all going into tier 4 on the 30th?
Currently in tier 2 with pubs and restaurants open, so they can't shut schools with other things open, I assume they will lock us down for new year.
I checked my local infection rates last night they have gone down since 10th dec.

worldgonecrazy

Wow! Now I'll have Big in Japan as my earworm all day! I didnt know they still played but being honest, I can't name another song.

Lovely ADs, any thoughts? Ive had contact from someone who I think was a D and I'm not sure I can be bothered to reply.

@AcornAutumn give their other stuff a listen. Forever Young is their other big U.K. hit, but I can also recommend Victory of Love and a lot of their other stuff. Definitely worth a listen.

Schools are going to shut again arent they?

probably should start organising for that.

@AcornAutumn

worldgonecrazy

Wow! Now I'll have Big in Japan as my earworm all day! I didnt know they still played but being honest, I can't name another song.

Lovely ADs, any thoughts? Ive had contact from someone who I think was a D and I'm not sure I can be bothered to reply.

Your D friend may have changed their minds. Give them an opening. If they turn our to still be a full on D just mute them for a while!