ADs teach twisted lyrics to their pet tortoise

[BogRollBOGOF]

Crawling back to normality slightly slower than a tortoise taking the scenic route...

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4173705-ADs-picnic-in-the-park-with-Twinkle-the-Tortoise

And to top it all my crown has come out so I have a huge gap in my front teeth, managed to get an appointment at 11.30 but dreading him not being able to it it back in.

Morning all. DD back in school for her second day of the second attempt (bubble burst in the first week back). She's so happy to be back and I am feeling a lot happier to have some routine back. Also means I get to spend a bit of time with dd2 one to one.

I can report more findings of wild ADs. Dropped my car off for its MOT today, and as it was cold and I had dd2 the garage blokes insisted on giving me a lift home. Not even a mention of wearing masks in the car, and we chatted all the way home without the topic of Covid passing our lips. It was bloody lovely!

[quote Worldgonecrazy]@Curlygirl06. Guessing from your user name you’re another curly cursed or blessed (?) AD. I did the unicorn cut and think the curls hide all the errors. Never have I lived my unmanageable hair more. It must be hellish for anyone with straight hair that shows any bits where the scissors did their own thing.[/quote]
Yep very wavy hair, scale 2 on the curly girl scale apparently. First lockdown I cut it 3 times, first time took an inch and a half off, asked dh if it looked ok/any different and he couldn't tell the difference! It's brilliant, I wash my hair, comb it and clip the fringe down to stop it going everywhere then let it get on with it. Don't even own a hairdryer, my kids think I'm living like the Flintstones.

I gave up on that holiday thread. Especially after one poster claimed that the UK are selfish with their "we've had arrr vaccine, lemme on the beach" (paraphrasing but that'd damn close to what she said then when she was accused of sneering she denied it and said that the accuser was just being precious.

I will put my hands up and say I hate holidaying in the UK. Its ok for a weekend away here and there but I live sitting in taverna on a mountainside, in the evening enjoying a relaxing meze, taking my time over my food and wine, feeling the ambient heat and small breeze on my face. Hopping on a small boat to go to a different island with a bbq on board, snorkelling and swimming, shopping in the evening followed by a cocktail or a crepe in the Square watching street performers and seeing the place come alive as the sun sets. You just don't get that here.
Not to mention....I WANT TO SEE MY FAMILY!!!

Mitsotakis has been very open that he is working closely with the British government to allow travel to Greece. And despite what they would have you believe "over there" in the rona zone, they are not in the middle of a 3rd wave. Their wave peaked at about 3.5k cases a little over 2 weeks ago. It is now at about 1700.

Also when those judgmental arseholes bang on about the infection rate in Greece they seem to forget its not one fucking place....its a mainland (where most of their infections are) and an archipelago of 227 occupied islands. Not one land mass.

Due to periods of brutal austerity and now covid there are people on some islands who are literally starving. Yet they've seen little if no covid. I'd sooner go spend my money there and help a local population survive, than spend it in any seaside resort here that's spent the last 12 months telling us we are not welcome, get the fuck off our beaches and treated us like fucking lepers.

Want my money now? Tough shit.

Wonder how much I'd get flamed for that opinion on that thread....

I’ve just had a thought about the European vaccine program and can offer this slightly different (and I think quite interesting alternative idea, in particular from a French perspective).

In general, France have not fed their people the fear stories about covid so that everyone above the age of 18 thinks they will end up on a ventilator and die if they contract it. They have stuck more to the facts and statistics in that you are much more likely to have a problem or to die from covid if your are over 75 or have a known co-morbidity.

For this reason they have concentrated their vaccine efforts thus far on getting two doses of vaccines to all over 75’s and to those with certain co-morbidities. They have now just opened up to all over 70’s and have plans for mass vaccination centres in stadiums and similar.

Now, on the face of it, this all looks incredibly behind the uk when they have only just started on the over 70’s. However, they have rapidly administered the vaccine to the most vulnerable as identified by actual data and seem more pliable to the idea that covid can then circulate amongst the rest of the population without much problem as those most likely to have a problem will be protected.

In my opinion, this is a much more sensible approach because covid isn’t ever going anywhere and we can’t all live like this forever and return to lockdowns and business closures every winter or holiday season.

@LivinLaVidaLoki I hear you!

There are some lovely places in the U.K. (though don’t think I’m ever going back to Cornwall after the loudest people there won THAT discussion)

But definitely missing the Aegean Sea, the Greek food and warm welcome. It must be awful for those of you not able to visit your family.

We have just cancelled our weekend in Portugal but fingers crossed for Greece in October.

Hugs to everyone today. We are a year into this mess but at least we have each other for support.

On behalf of those who live at or near tourist destinations, I would like to say that telling people they're not welcome etc is a minority pursuit - it's just that they're am unfortunately loud voiced minority (and generally, guess what, the privileged who don't need the tourism money to survive and never liked other people coming to "their" bit of the world anyway).

@LivinLaVidaLoki I’m loving your opinion and couldn’t agree more.
I also gave up on that thread. There were a few posters battling to try and explain that it wasn’t just about the holiday ban but once again it’s another moved goalpost and the loss of another freedom, now written into law. But sadly the “oh but we’re in a global pandemic and should lock up forever like Australia” crew came along and it’s now a lost cause.

@Lostinacloud. Interesting perspective. I don’t think we can compare with France though. We know that obesity is a risk factor and the U.K. therefore has a much broader spread of ‘vulnerable’ people, simply because our diet is poorer and we are fatter.

Also France seems less stupified by years of lack of education and promotion of vacuousness as aspirational, and therefore better equipped to cope with facts and figures. I realise this is a huge generalisation based on my few visits to France, but there does seem to be a greater level of interest and understanding of current affairs and health.

France and many other European countries are better equipped to cope with coronavirus amongst the general population. Of course, this healthier lifestyle means they also have a larger percentage of older people, so that introduces its own problems.

Lots to think about.

Not that thinking leads to anything but absolute frustration at the way the government and media are behaving.

Did you notice @Lostinacloud that thread talked about the tourism debt in the economy and how it will be that foreign travel will be banned to encourage us to holiday here. I've 3 issues with this

1. People living here holidaying here are not going to plug that debt, for that to happen we would have to open up to international tourism.....
2. Everyone suggesting they will holiday when this is over....with who? How many airlines and operators will still be operational by that time? The aviation industry will either require a fuck tonne of govt support, which we can't afford or suffer millions more globally unemployed. Which no one can afford.
3. Why the hell is Everyone so happy to let the government dictate how they can spend their leisure time?

I've still got my holiday to France booked in late July and I am not cancelling anything until I absolutely have to. As far as I can understand at the moment it will mean a £5k at the moment but they are still going to review things on 12th April with a view to allowing things from 17th May at the earliest. So while I don't have to cancel anything or pay for anything I'm going to sit tight and gamble a bit. I do wonder if they will let them go ahead and them everyone who cancelled holidays will be up in arms that they cancelled only to be told it's all ok (depending on where of course). What's the point in the vaccine if this summer we're all trapped in the UK. Arguably we are in a better position this year than last year surely?

I'm the same @Normandy144 two trips to Greece to visit family and I'm not cancelling til I have to, if I have to. Considering we are in a much better position this year than last (and they can get to fuck with the variants things, there were variants last year) and we got away last year, can't see any justification why we can't this year....

Though I've a friend who had 3 holidays booked and she cancelled them all on Saturday and is now aghast at the cost of a UK break.

We are the same France at the beginning of July. This is our rescheduled holiday from last May. They would not refund but gave us vouchers that had to be used by this September. If the park is open and we are allowed to travel we will go, if we can't we get the vouchers back but only 7 days ish before due to travel if can't because of covid .

We were thinking of cancelling Portugal anyway as we were going for a gig, and as far as we can tell, masks are compulsory in all indoor spaces in Portugal. Can you imagine going to a gig and having to be muzzled the whole time? Definitely not worth it.

@LivinLaVidaLoki the journalism is so sensational and it's making lots of people panic like your friend. Even Matt Hancock has said they're still reviewing stuff. I predict they'll lift the ban and then there will be a whole load of people up in arms that they cancelled stuff and then a stampede for foreign flights. I booked mine in December (yes I'd like a foreign holiday, I must be a despicable human being) as we holidayed in the UK last year. Everything is refundable so I have nothing to lose in waiting and seeing what unfolds in the next couple of months. I'm fully prepared not to have a holiday at all if my gamble doesn't pay off. Instead we'll just do days out etc.

Couldn’t agree with your 3 points more @LivinLaVidaLoki. I was thinking the same thing about holidays next year instead having to be in the UK again because all the airlines, travel agents and hotels have gone bust!

I’ve just been ranting on the school WhatsApp group. Apparently the school here has just said that because the kids take their masks off at lunchtime, now they aren’t allowed to talk and have actually made fucking signs for them to hold up if they want more water or bread!!! Can you actually believe it?!!! Today is not the day to tell me there’s more crap for my children to put up with so I have gone totally un PC and ranted that actually I’d rather have them at home than at school now as then at least we can enjoy a nice unrushed lunch with conversation and my perfectly healthy children won’t have to sit in a mask all day. Slightly relieved to find that some of the quieter mums have entered the conversation in agreement. So fed up with all this, what are we doing to our kids. “Oh but they’re kids, they’ll adapt” I don’t want them to adapt!! I want them to enjoy normal childhood and school life ffs

We went to Cornwall in July last year and the business owners (beach cafe, holiday rental, pubs) were very glad to see us.

That sounds like a very sensible approach in France 🇫🇷 @Lostinacloud . It's good that there has been less scaremongering too.

That's nuts Lostinacloud!

The Times seems to be reporting people making multiple holiday bookings for the same week taking advantage of cancellation policies, so having a UK back up if they're not able to go abroad. I don't know how true/common that is, but might free up some last minute UK accommodation if foreign travel is allowed. I've written off the prospect of a holiday this year for various reasons, mainly work and finances, but I haven't had a single night away from home since summer 2019.

@TabbyStar I absolutely think people are doing that. I think there are lots of people who have booked UK holidays and then will cut them loose if there looks like an option to go abroad. I'm not into hedging my bets tbh so am going to plan as if France trip will happen and if it doesn't then I'll go somewhere in the UK depending on what's available.

When I lived in the UK a UK holiday seemed bleak, wearing anoraks to go to the beach! But now I live abroad I can't wait for my UK holiday and hope they bloody do open up in time for it. I miss my family and the alternative is 40-50C at that time of year. Give me a rainy beach any day!

Did I dream it or did someone on this thread predict a new varient in time for Easter? Full marks whoever that was. Even over there though the tide has turned and most people managed an eye roll at most with the exception of a notable 1 or 2 people who I'm not sure if they are being satirical, bots, or just very dim.

Im starting to wonder if Boris actually wants us to rebel now. It seems like he's pushing the public to it with banning protests. At least then we can all get back to normal and it's not his fault I suppose.

That's the key point, isn't it Lost

Kids can adapt to all sorts of things, but it doesn't mean that they should.

I can't believe they're making them hold up signs for more water or bread, that's bonkers. It's reminding me of when the residents' association here proposed that everyone hold their breath when using the lifts.

The holiday industry absolutely needs international travel. A huge chunk of our inbound tourism economy something like a quarter to a third comes just from Chinese, American, French and German visitors. A few British people going to St Ives instead of Saint-Malo isn't going to plug that wider gap.

I don't mind a UK holiday but I'm quite picky about where. I like west coast or island Scotland, the Lake District or Eden Valley, Gower Peninsula or Snowdonia, bits of Devon. And that's about it. (I also have a feeling that I will like North Norfolk but I haven't been yet.)

But there is something different about going somewhere On A Plane. I've got a special-celebration trip to the States booked for later this year and I am not cancelling it unless I absolutely have to.

DH very tired today -- he's just gone for a nap. I thought it was weird initially but apparently feeling tired after surgery/general anaesthetic is very common. And it has only been three days. I think he was a wee bit ambitious thinking he'd be back at work today.

If the vaccines turn out to have some pretty bad long term side effects further down the line, I expect there’ll be a lot of name changes on here...all the MNetters calling anybody selfish, stupid or anti vaxxers are going to go very quiet.

It would be interesting to see.

Following my own "mired in glue" comment yesterday...

Today I feel like everything has come to a dead stop.

I had a phone chat with my one anti lockdown friend last night. It sort of makes you feel better but then you have to go back into the real world where people think it's good.

Intellectually, I know I can't recover from this but I have yet to reach acceptance of not recovering. Sorry, that was waffle.

Just about to run off to start the school run, buy need to say FUCK OF WHITTY WITH YOUR FUCKING DOOM MONGERING YOU FUCKING CUNT as loudly as possible.

Arghhh!!!!!