dunroaming

5 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

The papers are quoting Grant Schapps today and need for increased cycling or walking to work as there will be limited capacity on buses/trains. The increase in exercise will be healthy for the nation he said, well, he is right about that, fatties everyway!

 

I bought a 2nd hand bicycle a month ago and cycled to a ruined castle yesterday, drank 2 cans of lager and cycled back, must have been about 50 other people there, social distancing not 555.

I dug my bike out of the garage a couple of weeks ago and I am waiting for new tyres (ordered online) to arrive.  Most of the cyclists I see at the moment are families out with their kids.  The lycra boys are still whizzing around and as arrogant as ever.

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I stayed in a flat right next to Hyde Park.

But my pal that owned it died of AIDs last year, so that's gone now.

He'd paid 600kGBP for an attic room where you could touch all four walls at the same time.

Sounds about right. Property prices around there are ludicrous.  The Knightsbridge side and Kensington Gore are the most expensive areas bordering the park now whereas the north side is a little less.  Park Lane still lives up to it's Monopoly Board reputation as it always has.

19 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

More to the point, what kind of school has 21 year old guys and 14 year old girls in the same school?

 

The first is college/university/vocational training age. The second is high school age barely.

 

 

Yes that is right, a 21 year old would be at University unless they are on placement for teacher training.

This story doesn't sound plausible but maybe that is partly to do with translation problems and bad reporting.

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

What if you're homeless and a Brit (like many of us)?

Well you must be staying somewhere when you visit or would you be planning on spending your time in a doorway near Hyde Park?

I think that the idea is way too late and needlessly expensive to police.  People are getting frustrated with the lack of clarity over the easing of the lockdown and Boris seems unable to form a plan of action.  I imagine that Sundays announcement will be mainly window dressing to placate the grumbling masses.  I expect a push towards people cycling more and using public transport and cars less.  There certainly has been a massive increase of bikes on the road where we are.  But we are less than an hour or so ride from central London.

6 hours ago, steven100 said:

so who is telling the truth ...did the girl make it up ?  did the grandmother make it up ?

did it really happen and the others are lying .. ? cannot judge as insufficient information and character evaluation 

Unfortunately the truth has little value in Thailand which makes it harder to establish what is fact from fiction.  Checking whether the girl has been having sex confirms very little as most 14 year olds do it one way or another.  Add to that, police investigations that are pathetic at best, leaves you with the inevitable "he said....she said" scenario.

I wouldn't expect too much from Boris's announcement on Sunday.  Probably a few intentions for the future and then a bit more freedom going out to exercise and the opening of a limited amount of shops like garden centres.  Everything else will be fluff.

1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Agree with you, but would add that London and the South East are different to the other parts of England and Wales. Dense populations, many from sectors of the community that have been statistically identified as more at risk and the entry point for many arrivals into the UK. UK doesn't test arrivals and hasn't closed its borders.

Yes and I don't mean to suggest that London and the southeast are typical.  There are hot spots like the West Midlands and other areas where the population is denser.  Likewise there are areas like the lake district and Northumberland where the population is much thinner.  But my point was that for somewhere like New Zealand you could probably compare to those less populated areas  but not to the densely populated ones.

And it is true that the UK hasn't closed it's borders or checked arrivals and that will no doubt raise questions at the appropriate time.  The British government have made mistakes and been slow to respond and so have other countries.  I used to live in Hong Kong and they have dealt with this pandemic impressively.  However they have some history with SARs (I was there then) and so this time the people knew just what to do and quickly.  In the west all this came out of the blue and we weren't geared up to respond at all, generally running around like headless chickens.

5 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

True, but Scotland is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world, a bit like New Zealand. London alone has almost double the population of Scotland. That I think is a kicker.

Scotland's population density 67 people per km sq
England's population density 671 people per km sq

Valid point. The reason that London and the south east has the most cases is down to the fact it is not only densely populated but also very transient.  You simply cannot compare England with Scotland or indeed New Zealand.

Of course it is important to get the economy going again but there has to be a balance between safe practices and businesses surviving.  For me, I don't think they should lift lockdown until the NHS have enough PPE to protect them and right now they don't!

23 hours ago, smedly said:

gloves are a total waste of time, what is the difference between wearing gloves and not - zero 

 

All they have to do is wash hands often (including customers) and make sure beer coolers (Condoms) are used by only one customer and then cleaned thoroughly before reuse and tables/chairs are cleaned after every use 

It's simple enough.  If there is going to be no physical contact and the bargirls are made to wear masks then nobody is going to go into the bars in the first place.  Cleaning beer coolers or washing hands would be irrelevant, there wouldn't be any punters anyway. 

1 hour ago, mrfill said:

I also thought that home working would increase dramatically and then I remembered the 35 years I spent in IT and how most of the 'managers' were always very possessive of their 'team'. They need to see their empire and the foot soldiers and home working destroys their raison d'etre. No point in a slave driver not being able to see his slaves eh?

Completely valid point and before many companies were not prepared to "test the water" when it came to home working.  Now many have been forced to do just that and with the advanced technology are more likely to look at it more favourably.  My neighbour who has been working at home through the lockdown still attends daily briefings and weekly meetings with the team.  Except now it is done with Zoom.  He says that there is far more acceptance now than in the past.

Of course this has it's downside as well and I completely understand the arguments for maintaining a personal contact with other team members.  If nothing else then the after work drink in the pub!.  But there is nothing to stop the weekly meetings in a rented boardroom.  Hundreds available in London, I have used them several times.

And the upside?  Well no commuting so lots of saved time and money.  Child care costs can be cut or dispensed with completely.  And if the office costs are gone then the company can probably afford better bonuses.

55 minutes ago, Kaopad999 said:

There really needs to be better screening for people entering Thailand. literally anyone with a shady past, whether it be a peado, rapist, or a murderer can so easily just enter this country without any proper background checks. 

All very well saying that but pretty much most democratic countries don't look closely at tourists coming in and that is how most ex-pats start out.  I have lived in several countries in Asia and Europe and even in the US for a while and was never asked particularly probing questions.  First time I went to the states I was a bit worried as I had been arrested in the anti Vietnam demonstration outside the American Embassy in London a couple of years earlier.  But no problem, rubber stamped straight through.

6 hours ago, ezzra said:

It is expected and even tolerated in some countries's holiday resorts that among the millions of tourists and the flotsam and jetsam of society that the odd screwball will commit a heinous crimes and Pattaya is no different... 

Although Pattaya does seem to have far more than most.  Wonder why that would be?

1 hour ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Surely all the emotions will be released when suddenly being dried up on alcohol after all the years. Quite dangerous on a nation wide scale.

No doubt some will switch to drugs if they are desperate enough.

As we know Thailand is a country that attracts many different people for different reasons.  For those who are there to enjoy the culture, the food and the weather, a booze ban will be a piece of cake.  For those who like Thailand for the booze, bars and boom boom, then these are lean times indeed.

12 minutes ago, 3NUMBAS said:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/coronavirus-germanys-rate-covid-19-infections-grows-lockdown-200700262.html

 

germany goes back into lockdown as rates are up again

That is the risk with an early easing of a lockdown.  Could be really costly for businesses who re-employ and then have to lay off again.  Also businesses who restock only to have to swallow the costs of that.  Can't blame the British government for being cautious. 

1 minute ago, puipuitom said:

First: the British voted overwhelmingly for him ( according to the British voting system)

2) When I elect somebody for a public function, I am not so much interested in her/his private life, unless it could be a proof for not being honoust enough for that public job. The British accepted this.

It is rare to see the term "honesty" and "Boris Johnson" in the same sentence.  That is certainly fair to say.  As someone who didn't vote for him and has in fact been one of his biggest critics, I still think that the birth of a child worth noting.

7 minutes ago, puipuitom said:

Maybe the British PM can ensure the first place by continuing to shake hands, ignore all special distance precautions, cancel orders for medical personal equipment and bring in some very wise conclusions from his US counterpart in the WH ? 

I think Boris will be a bit busy for a while.  His bird has just given birth to a boy!  So that will be child number 6? or 7?  As Boris will never confirm how many kids he actually has it is hard to say.

6 minutes ago, puipuitom said:

And YOU thought, only the Chinese gov. was not completely open to its citizens ? 

Just like the Germans, French, Dutch, British ONLY sum up those who 100% surely died in hospitals after a corona test. As far as I know, the Belgians are the only ones who mention: 75  in hospital, 170 in care homes, 2 elsewhere TODAY. The Dutch statistic bureau discovered the mortality is a 2000 /week higher as last year... 

But ... see it from another way: it clears up a lot of medical care costing old ones, make space available in elderly care homes, bring inheritages closer, makes pensions and retirements costs a lot cheaper, less obligations to visit the senile old ones for the busy, busy, busy youngsters, and geriatric care helpers available for other medical duties.

More cynical we cannot make it.

Actually I had those thoughts as well.  A bit of culling never hurts the economy.  However as I am not in the first flush of youth myself I don't really want to be part of the cull!

The British government have been slow to include all the facts over the deaths due to the virus but they are now trying to catch-up and be more informative about it.

50 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

I think it is partly scaremongering but for good reason.  People are tired of the lockdown and every day more and more people are breaking it in one way or another.  The government and Johnson in particular are panicking about the isolation not being adhered to and then the virus taking hold again.  Our death toll is going to be high and the governments initial response was, to a great extent, to blame for that.

 

The government can take a stronger approach and put soldiers on the streets and come down hard on lockdown offenders with higher fines and threats of imprisonment but they really don't want to do that.  At this time when they are trying to find a way to ease the lockdown and let some businesses re-open, they need people to work with them and not against them. 

Further more, in Germany where they have started to ease the lockdown, the cases of Covid-19 are rising again.

21 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

More fear factor... They think it's linked but not sure !! So why say 

 

 

Pure scaremongering by the government. People will be asking to be locked up longer now...

 

I think it is partly scaremongering but for good reason.  People are tired of the lockdown and every day more and more people are breaking it in one way or another.  The government and Johnson in particular are panicking about the isolation not being adhered to and then the virus taking hold again.  Our death toll is going to be high and the governments initial response was, to a great extent, to blame for that.

The government can take a stronger approach and put soldiers on the streets and come down hard on lockdown offenders with higher fines and threats of imprisonment but they really don't want to do that.  At this time when they are trying to find a way to ease the lockdown and let some businesses re-open, they need people to work with them and not against them. 

18 hours ago, baansgr said:

not to mention all the lefty students haveing booze parties with cuddles galore plastered all over Facebook.

Lefty students?  Priceless ????  It'll be the fault of the lefties that we have the virus in the first place no doubt.  And having cuddles galore as well ????????

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

No. English weather may be boring, but it's almost never violent.

Well I suppose extensive flooding isn't actually violent but it is devastating and the consequences are far reaching and disrupts thousands of lives.  And although strong winds are not as violent as the famous British storm of 1987, they are getting stronger and more frequent and do do considerable damage.