Guilt Free Railing 15

[WouldBeGood]

The railing never ends.

No resilience wankery, all railing welcome, along with good things or humorous asides.

@runningpink I know it's rubbish isn't it, when we've done everything we've been told to and this is still going on.

To be fair to SG they didn't ask for Omicron and at the minute it feels to me that boosters are the only thing standing between us and yet another bloody lockdown.

Not looking forward to getting my booster and likely being laid out for a few days, but hey ho. I think you should get it, just to protect yourself should you catch it. I don't know where it ends either, feels at the minute that it might be quarterly vaccines which is simply unsustainable.

Oh and I guess the Scottish response will be dictated by how feasible it will be to get all 18+ boosted prior to EOY. Not very I would have thought without some blue sky thinking which isn't SG forte. Therefore that would be the justification for harsher restrictions.

Railing against mn on xmas day. Will need to stay well off it. Usually its women moaning about their xmas presents. This year I'll be "can i make dinner whilst isolating/ should my children open their presents together whilst one is isolating etc etc. No one seems to be able to just make up their own minds these days. And if they can't its the government's fault, any government. I didn't realise people are still waiting for government's to tell them what to do.

@LizzieMacQueen

The thing with daily testing though, have you seen the threads in here of 'can you see a positive?' I can never see a line when countless others can. That, plus are they any more reliable now? ( though I'm so glad they are nasal testing 15 minute tests )

If my line's not fairly apparent I'm certainly not standing searching for it. Quick glance and it's going in the bin. Both my pregnancy tests were unmistakable too, luckily, otherwise it'd have been quite a shock.

I think that's a bit unfair @ssd . What I see is people desperately trying to do the right thing, but no longer certain what that right thing may be, when the rules don't make sense and there's such a huge discrepancy between Scotland and England.

I'll be delighted if we can get to a relatively normal Christmas at this point.

@LizzieMacQueen

The thing with daily testing though, have you seen the threads in here of 'can you see a positive?' I can never see a line when countless others can. That, plus are they any more reliable now? ( though I'm so glad they are nasal testing 15 minute tests )

Ah, I'm so glad that's not just me!

If you're doing it daily, though (with the odd PCR thrown in, as required if you're a close contact) I'd have thought at least one of them would come up positive. And if I can't get enough of this incredibly transmissible virus from up my nose to react with whatever it reacts with in the test, when actually poking around up there trying to catch it, I'm thinking that I'm not going to be too infections. Even if theoretically I could be for the day or 2 when the tests are showing negative.

I'm still twitchy at the masses of single use plastic in these tests, though...

It's definitely true about the daily changes. So now, you have to isolate for 10 days if you're a contact of an omicron case, but not if it's not omicron (is it only delta now otherwise?), where you can release yourself with a negative test (just pcr?) Any positive household cases whether omicron or not, result in a 10 day isolation, whether you've had a negative test or not.
If you go to an outdoor event with 10,000? 5,000? people you need a vaccine passport. If you go to a seated indoor event over 500? people you need a vaccine passport? If you go to an unseated indoor event you need a vaccine passport if it's over ?? people or if it's after midnight and there's a dance floor you need a vaccine passport. Although now you can use a negative test instead of a passport, but not if you've been a contact of an omicron case (and the lab that gave the positive result has the technology to test for different variants).

Crystal clear.

🤯

@rookiemere

Oh and I guess the Scottish response will be dictated by how feasible it will be to get all 18+ boosted prior to EOY. Not very I would have thought without some blue sky thinking which isn't SG forte. Therefore that would be the justification for harsher restrictions.

Agree, the end of year deadline seems unbelievable. Especially when there's a fairly major public holiday in there, involving people travelling all over the place and not really up for standing in chaotic queues for hours in the pissing rain...

I'm in my mid 40s, and I managed to book last week for an appointment just down the road from my house, in early january. They only did weekends, which was fine with me, and I was happy with that timescale for the convenience, frankly. I checked again yesterday, and I could get something a 45min bus ride away at 8am on Christmas eve (um, no thanks...) or trekking out to ingliston cattle shed between Christmas and New year (where I'd be hours in a queue by all reports). It didn't seem worth it to me, to be honest, to get done a fortnight earlier.

If they massively boost up the programme - bringing back walk in places and so on in convenient locations I suppose I may find a time I didn't have anything else to do to go, but can't say I'd bust a gut. Especially over the Christmas holidays with childcare and so on. And given this really transmissible new strain, I'm not too keen on going anywhere with loads of other people, inside, where I could be waiting for an indeterminate period of time. I'm happy with my timed appointment in a small GP surgery past all the chaos, when DS is back at school or otherwise engaged, thanks...

I think so many people have had drummed into them by messaging over the last 21 months that they personally are responsible for how a highly infectious quick mutating virus behaves that they now don't know and are completely unsure.

Last year the messaging was basically have your Christmas if you want to but it might kill Granny and your going to force NHS workers to then decide between dying Granny and dying uncle.

It's no surprise that people now don't know up from down with it all now.

@Haudyourwheesht

It's definitely true about the daily changes. So now, you have to isolate for 10 days if you're a contact of an omicron case, but not if it's not omicron (is it only delta now otherwise?), where you can release yourself with a negative test (just pcr?) Any positive household cases whether omicron or not, result in a 10 day isolation, whether you've had a negative test or not. If you go to an outdoor event with 10,000? 5,000? people you need a vaccine passport. If you go to a seated indoor event over 500? people you need a vaccine passport? If you go to an unseated indoor event you need a vaccine passport if it's over ?? people or if it's after midnight and there's a dance floor you need a vaccine passport. Although now you can use a negative test instead of a passport, but not if you've been a contact of an omicron case (and the lab that gave the positive result has the technology to test for different variants).

Crystal clear.

🤯

Haha! Yes, exactly. I thought I had been fairly on top of the "rules" throughout this whole shit show, and now I'm totally bemused!

I'm not even sure if omicron and everything else are being treated differently any more. I thought the distinction was still there, but nothing has been mentioned about that in the various media stuff over the weekend, so now I'm not sure! The difference between the Scottish 10 day isolation and English 7 day testing approach is enraging, though. Why can't we choose, given the aim of keeping infected people away from non infected people is the same?! Not sure either approach is actually going to have high compliance though, frankly...

Just crack on with the boosters and hope for the best seems to be the only thing that will work, really!

Good point @ResilienceWanker about all the mingling whilst waiting for the booster!
Thankfully mine is also booked at a reasonably small local practice on Sunday rather than Ingliston just because of the timings.

I have to say even for England the thinking is a bit blinkered. You don't need a doctor to deliver a vaccine, pretty much anyone could do it with a wee bit of training.

@rookiemere from having friends become vaccine volunteers in England and Wales it's not quick unfortunately to get them through the process. Usually a minimum of 4 weeks.

I am again hoping that England stance on testing forces Scortish hand due to the outcry from private sector on workers! NS probably raging again as it will definitely not get her furlough money and no furlough money = no lockdowns hopefully! (Which I for one am still very grateful for!)

Find it ironic they keep bleeding on that they can't support businesses because WM treasury says no...... except they generate above and beyond with the tax differences which they keep and its hardly small change at several billion.....

Guess it's a funny conundrum for independent supporters.....get independence have a lockdown.....suppose it depends if you believe lockdowns work and are right all the data shows temporary measure and it just bounces back up again though

I think the ten day isolation will really be de facto lockdown. Hope she steps away from it.

I’m lost on rules too now. It’s all a bit shit.

@ssd I’ll be ok on Christmas Day! Just me and DCs, DS is learning a song on the guitar fir me for Christmas and I’ve got an amazing bit of beef as a Christmas treat. I’ve booked a couple of grocery deliveries in case of incarceration and bought emergency pigs in blankets yesterday 😃

Oh, and @runningpink and @rookiemere I was absolutely fine after booster (flu too as I’m
Old) if that’s any comfort

I will be upset if DHs family can't/ won't come.
I'm an only DC and it's so nice having a big throng of people here. Our 2 year old great niece is one of the party and I've already sent a colouring book about Santa coming to Edinburgh.

Trying to keep a sense of proportion, but all the parallels to Christmas 2020 are there.

Guess it's a funny conundrum for independent supporters.....get independence have a lockdown.....suppose it depends if you believe lockdowns work and are right all the data shows temporary measure and it just bounces back up again though

Exactly! I'm surprised there has been so much pressure put on WM for furlough/ lockdown. OK, I can see it plays to voters who see the division as "cautious Scotland vs reckless England" or whatever, but what message is it giving to businesses who, let's face it, will need a lot of persuading to invest in a potential independent Scotland? So at the first sign of trouble, you'll be stopped trading - given some money as compensation possibly (out of the taxes you've been paying, to be paid back through higher taxes afterwards) but not able to work for an undetermined time period. With restrictions placed on how you do business even outside full lockdowns, and threats of more restrictions at no notice. Whereas your competitors in rUK will be able to trade pretty much as normal. I know Scotland is nice and all, but is that going to be appealing for a business deciding between establishing in Scotland or England?!

I’m feeling really worried about the prospect of schools not returning after Christmas. I don’t even care about Christmas but the thought of lockdown homeschooling is breaking me

That sounds nice @WouldBeGood

I know I'm crabbit. But sometimes you want to scream on here.

@ssd

That sounds nice *@WouldBeGood*

I know I'm crabbit. But sometimes you want to scream on here.

Oh definitely and I'm amazed that still people say others are selfish or the usual favourite it's because of people like you we are in this mess not to be topped with your killing people 🙄

I think they forget its a virus doing what a virus does very effectively!
If it was eradicated by behaving alone then it wouldn't still be found globally in countries with very strict measures, amazing track and trace systems and closed borders yet it still is!

I’m trying hard not to sink @ssd! It’s all pants really.

Humza this morning about restrictions but says that securing finance from WM will be critical........ never before have I wanted so much to WM to stick with saying no!!!!!!

Thi k what you like but if it stops them having another lockdown here for the bloody sake of it then I'm all for WM digging their heels in!!!!

I'm probably out of step with the general mood on this thread, but looking at the predicted numbers it would seem sensible to cancel large scale events and indoor large gatherings as soon as possible, otherwise I don't see how we can avoid a January lockdown.

@rookiemere they don't seem to do that though and football seems to get a free pass whilst people are expected to limit family visits!

The way out of this is vaccination.
Put the money and effort into that.

And up scaling the nhs.
If we put more resources into that we wouldn't need to pay businesses to shut