[RSB]

I have a fair few recorded old classics. Not sure what to pick next, maybe moby dick.

Americans: Over Sexed, Over Payed and Over here, Wat Wat!

[PlaneMan]

There’s a load on YouTube, the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes are a good starting point.

Buster Crabbe, Flash Gordon is also epic.

 

[RSB]

I often visit youtube for oldies. There some good classics on there.

Americans: Over Sexed, Over Payed and Over here, Wat Wat!

[RSB]

I think I’ll watch some of them sherlocks tonight when I get settled in. Anyway, best leave it at that for now on this thread and start on an other.

Americans: Over Sexed, Over Payed and Over here, Wat Wat!

[Les.]

Stop Press. STOP PRESS!

Lee, Planeman, when I tried to download the film earlier, it deposited a file on desktop, which I checked a few times but it never changed its size (under properties), so I assumed it was just the single first page.

I was about to delete it, but checked properties first. 1.2GB. It had downloaded entirely. I opened it, full sized it, saw the start, went to middle, then end. ALL THERE!

Not sure which did it, p[ossibly PM’s MP4 link, but there it is. Maybe watch tomorrow.

Thanks everybody.

Les.

[Ed P]

Many Institutions are removing paywalls etc during the Coronavirus outbreak. Cambridge University Press have joined in and have opened free access to their text books from now through May. If you have A-Level or Uni children who are starting to panic this may be a useful resource.

Cambridge University Press Link

[Ed P]

One would have thought that a face mask is as low-tech as you can get. Unfortunately that isn’t so for medical grade N95-N100 masks, it isn’t the mask it is the filter element which is a surprisingly hi-tech. The filter element is an extremely fine mesh of synthetic polymer fibers  made from a material called melt-blown fabric, and there is a world-wide shortage of this material.

While I accept that staff who are continually exposed to viruses need the bast one can get, I wonder if a lower grade filter (call it ‘N80’) would not be sufficient for the less frequent occasions when Jill or Joe Public get exposed to the virus. During the SARS outbreak it was found that everyone wearing a mask (better fitting  than a surgical mask) considerably reduced infection rates. Of course this is totally counter to the advice from our Government – one wonders if they were originally aiming to infect everyone as quickly as possible!

background link

[Ed P]

My wife is a retired mathematics teacher (O & A levels), plus some remedial junior high school basics. Today my #1 son rang up to book her in as a distance teacher for his primary school age children. He now has to try and sort out the school curriculum, what books to use etc. while all the teachers are in self isolation. That however is his problem.

As he is a bit of an entrepreneur it would not surprise me if my wife suddenly complains that she has two  classes of a dozen filled out by his friend’s kids for the next six months. (no point in any school holidays if you cannot go anywhere).

[Bob Williams]

Ed thank you for the Cambridge link. My daughter teaches at a Primary as a one-to-one for children with special needs. Her daughter our youngest grandchild is 15 this July and an A* student at another (grammar) school. It begins to look as if the grammar will close soon, so I have passed your link to our daughter. Our only concern is that granddaughter will start chasing extraneous knowledge ( she is hungry for knowledge, always has been) across the Uni website.

If the school closes, I thought it may put our son out of work: he is senior caretaker at the Academy of which the grammar is a part, with several schools involved. However, he has been told that there is enough work to keep him employed for at least 4 months, as the school can go ahead with work planned for the holidays later in the year.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[PlaneMan]

Cardiff Council shut pretty much all of it’s public facilities today. Schools follow on Friday.

Gym is closed as it is the last one run by the council.

My home gym stuff should arrive tomorrow.

So many people I know are small business owners, mostly less than 3 employees. They are collectively shitting themselves.

All I have to say for now is, satay safe, keep sane and I’ll ‘see’ on the other side.

Good luck to all of you and yours. ❤

 

[RSB]

I earn my bread from home online so in one sense I should not be put out. On the flip side at the moment I can not see anybody bothering with there websites, hosting etc… So just have to wait and see. I think I have everything I need now for a month or two and I’ll just have to stretch the gas and electricity best I can. Could do with a little more cat food but worst case scenario they will have to do with asda cat biscuits I have stashed for emergency instead of the good stuff.

Americans: Over Sexed, Over Payed and Over here, Wat Wat!

[Les.]

Today we went for “Walk and Talk”, but had coffee  (from a flask)  and biscuits in the car. Next to the Co-op, with Tamara going in on her own whilst I went for grass seed.

Whilst I was sitting in the car waiting for her, a local character, Wilf came out. He stopped and we chatted. “I am waiting for the Courier” he said. (The Courier is our local free paper, out on a Friday) Why the Courier? “So I can wipe my arse again, there is no paper in there”.

When Tamara came out, she did not have enough apples, Bananas or Yoghurt as Co-op had a Max limit of 2 for any item. We get those three from Co-op to last one week. Whilst she loaded the car, I went in and got the missing items.

It seems that very shortly, our Gov is intending that all pregnant women, those with health issues, and ALL THOSE OVER 70 will have to self isolate. Stay in house, garden, shed or greenhouse, but not out on the road. The road past my cottage usually has NO VEHICLES, apart from UK trail bikes at the weekends, but not now of course. I shall not like that. Will probably still go up the road on the JCB to collect some logs I paid for!

Les.

 

[Ed P]

Les, check out if you have a milk delivery service in your area.

My #1 son tipped us off to use MilkandMore . For a lot of mainland UK it is a life-saver in the way it plugs the supply of short shelf-life daily consumables which would otherwise force us to emerge from our caves and risk our health. (Milk and fruit juice in glass bottles,  fruit, eggs and veg are also on offer in our area).

I think we could well continue to use this convenient service if we emerge on the other side.

 

[Dave Rice]

I’ve been using our milkman to deliver extra veg supplies. Loads of meat arriving from the online butcher today. The freezer will be full for a while.

[Les.]

Edp, yes, we do have such a service and I will likely sign up in due course.

We have three supermarkets over here. Tescos, Douglas, to far. (but maybe their delivery service later), the Co-op, generally best pricing and good fruit and Shoprite, who used to stock Iceland (Ugh!) and Waitrose, but now transferring to Sainsbury as well as loads of local produce (Milk, Flour, Meat etc.); their fruit all comes from local company “Robinsons”, who are increasing their home delivery service. If other methods fail, they will get a big standing order.

Of course, that would mean Tescos paid delivery for other stuff, if things get difficult.

Les.

[Ed P]

Les – I recommend early rather than late. MilkandMore have now stopped taking new customers. (I think their system could not take the influx of orders).

Lee you may want to think about touting for some business with your local small shop keepers. I asked my local butcher if he had a web site, he glumly  said ‘unfortunately no’, but he would let me phone and they had a van. I suspect that if you lived in this area you would have an eager customer looking for both a web server and a simple shopping page. (he, like many butchers is almost techno-illiterate, a fairly carp Face book page is as far as it goes.)

[Ed P]

I’ll miss out the name of the major teaching hospital from which this information came. Some of the advice it contains smacks of Government hope and propaganda aimed at maintaining morale in the nursing staff. For example the advice to drink hot tea does not really fit the fact that the virus is  doing pretty well in South East Asia and the Middle East.  The advice on using masks totally contradicts the Government advice to the public, but is more than likely accurate! I suspect the Government advice was based on their being a mask shortage in the NHS.

=====================

Internal email sent to staff at major Teaching Hospital (name deleted) —-  Covid-19 Virus Detection:

The simplest way to distinguish Coronavirus from a Common Cold is that the COVID-19 infection does not cause a cold nose or cough with cold, but it does create a dry and rough cough.

The virus is typically first installed in the throat causing inflammation and a feeling of dryness. This symptom can last between 3 and 4 days.

The virus typically then travels through the moisture present in the airways, goes down to the trachea and installs in the lungs, causing pneumonia that lasts about 5 or 6 days.

Pneumonia manifests with a high fever and difficulty breathing. The Common Cold is not accompanied, but there may be a choking sensation. In this case, the doctor should be called immediately.

Experts suggest doing this simple verification every morning: Breathe in deeply and hold your breath for 10 seconds.  If this can be done without coughing, without difficulty, this shows that there is no fibrosis in the lungs, indicating the absence of infection.  It is recommended to do this control every morning to help detect infection.

Prevention:

The virus hates heat and dies if it is exposed to temperatures greater than 80°F (27°C). Therefore hot drinks such as infusions, broths or simply hot water should be consumed abundantly during the day.  These hot liquids kill the virus and are easy to ingest.

Avoid drinking ice water or drinks with ice cubes.

Ensure that your mouth and throat are always wet, never DRY. You should drink a sip of water at least every 15 minutes. WHY?  Even when the virus enters water or other liquids through the mouth, it will get flushed through the oesophagus directly into the stomach where gastric acids destroy the virus. If there is not enough water, the virus can pass into the trachea and from there to the lungs, where it is very dangerous.

For those who can, sunbathe. The Sun’s UV rays kill the virus and the vitamin D is good for you.

The Coronavirus has a large size (diameter of 400-500 nanometers) so face masks can stop it, no special face masks are needed in daily life.

If an infected person sneezes near us, stay 10 feet (3.3 meters) away to allow the virus fall to the ground and prevent it from falling on you.

When the virus is on hard surfaces, it survives about 12 hours, therefore when hard surfaces such as doors, appliances, railings, etc. are touched, hands should be washed thoroughly and/or disinfected with alcoholic gel  The virus can live nested in clothes and tissues between 6 and 12 hours. Common detergents can kill it. Things that cannot be washed should be exposed to the Sun and the virus will die.

The transmission of the virus usually occurs by direct infection, touching fabrics, tissues or materials on which the virus is present.

Washing your hands is essential.

The virus survives on our hands for only about 10 minutes. In that time many things can happen, rubbing the eyes, touching the nose or lips. This allows the virus to enter your throat. Therefore, for your good and the good of all, wash your hands very often and disinfect them.

You can gargle with disinfectant solutions (i.e. Listerine or Hydrogen Peroxide) that eliminate or minimize the amount of virus that can enter the throat. Doing so removes the virus before it goes down to the trachea and then to the lungs.

Disinfect things touched often: cellphone, keyboard, mouse, car steering wheel, door handles, etc

[RSB]

@edps My plan is to add to this place a small Amazon Like market place for small shops including butchers has it happens. Just simple basic service where they could direct there customers to. Had I known this crap was coming a year ago I might of got it done by now.

Americans: Over Sexed, Over Payed and Over here, Wat Wat!

[Bob Williams]

It might seem ungracious and totally ungrateful at this time to say that I am absolutely angry at one section of the NHS, but I am. Very, very angry. My life may be at stake because of what I am about to say.

Last December I had yet another CT scan, in line with those appointed as a result of my former cancers and chemotherapy. The appointment to be given the results and be informed of next steps, was cancelled. Twice. I called Grimsby hospital and was told by some Admin woman that I would be given another appointment, ASAP. I asked about the results: could she tell me anything about them? I was told they were “normal”, whatever that meant, I took it as I was not to be worried about the results. I received another appointment and the news that my oncology consultant had left the hospital for Castle Hill, Hull. That one was cancelled. Today I actually attended an appointment, with a doctor I had never seen before. I received the shattering news that there was now a problem with my liver, I have jaundice and I was to be given an Urgent whole body CT scan.

I have for months being attempting to ask why my urine was dark and why my skin occasionally goes yellow, only to be given various ‘explanations’ – it’s my enlarged prostate, the thread veins are tiny and bleed occasionally. It’s an occasional bladder infection, again the result of blood in my bladder. “Take these antibiotics, drink lots of water.” – When I already get through 9 litres of Highland Spring water every week.

I feel completely let down by the system and by a hospital that I had always trusted, which has cared for me so well in times past. I am also angry, as I have said. I have no intention of taking out this anger on anyone within the NHS, I need them too much and it is after all not their fault. If I can get through this latest crisis and get moved into our new home, I will count myself lucky indeed.

So you might excuse me when I say that I am not placing the Coronavirus at the top of my Worry List for now. If I can get to a point where I can survive all this, there will come a time when I can make an official complaint against the system. If I am not around to make it, I know my missus will take up that complaint.

 

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Dave Rice]

Good luck Bob.

I hope this cheers you up a bit. In Germany they’re panic buying sausages and cheese, its the Wurst Kase scenario 😉

[Author]

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