Early Risers.

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

Running even later today although I haven't got a clue why apart frm some erudite (hopefully) research into a question about Target Numbers on freight trips from Acton which has arisen on one of the GWR threads.

 

But importantly something for Ian (RH) you can forma 'support bubble' with your mum (provided neither household is already in another support bubble) in Tier 3 which means the Tier 3 restrictions about meeting in the garden or indoors would not apply.  Nothing to do with the Christmas debacle it applies all the time in Tier 3 because your mum qualifies by virtue of living alone.  Whether or not you then mix indoors with her is down to a personal assessment of any risk you or she might think arises.

 

Christmas for us will no doubt be more or less as it has been for over a decade with our only contact at this time of year being a pre-Christmas visit to my aunt - which we cancelled anyway because of her overall health situation.   One of my cousins, her surviving son, lives in teh same house as her and we only see him if he is in or on one of our very occasional visits to the garden centre where he works.   We haven't spoken to my two female cousins for many years - not for any malicious reason but simply because we haven't been in contact and I  couldn't even recognise one of them was at her father's funeral last year.   Herself's sister remains in Plymouth and we've had very little contact with her for years and aren't looking for any; I would find it immensely difficult not to tell her a few home truths about the way she treated her mother.  So that's it - all the rest are far more remote cousins most of whom we haven't come across for years - it's over half a century since I last saw some of them and I've never even met some.  So Christmas does not come with problems due to spending time falling out with relatives - all a lot simpler in consequence it would seem than the tales we hear from some folk.

 

Until we had the offspring I didn't mind working at Christmas although it was usually no more than being On Call and having to handle occasional 'phone calls.  The worst, and definitely the most unusual, was a Boxing Night back in the 1970s when we had a lot of signal lamps go out so part of that evening was spent 30 feet up on a signal gantry changing the duff lamps for ones that a Signalman, Station Chargeman, and I had cleaned and trimmed so make usable.  30 feet up in rain and with quite a wind blowing was hardly comparable with life on a windjammer but it was not the ideal way to spend Boxing Night.  It was however somewhat more comfortable than spending New Year's Night a few years later trying to clear snow and ice out of frozen points using a steam lance and crowbar plus a lot of salt - all part of the job (so I was told ).

 

Anyway none of that sort of stuff to amuse me nowadays so i'll just have to enjoy the day instead - which I probably will.  But I believe the GD is working on Boxing Day which hopefully won't be too busy for her because I presume the surgeons might decide to not do too big a surgery programme over the two days of Christmas although they are still working hard to get through the backlog of elective operations.

 

Enjoy the rest of the day folks and stay safe.

[roundhouse]

3 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

A

But importantly something for Ian (RH) you can forma 'support bubble' with your mum (provided neither household is already in another support bubble) in Tier 3 which means the Tier 3 restrictions about meeting in the garden or indoors would not apply.  Nothing to do with the Christmas debacle it applies all the time in Tier 3 because your mum qualifies by virtue of living alone.  Whether or not you then mix indoors with her is down to a personal assessment of any risk you or she might think arises

Mike

Yes Mum is in our support bubble and she is fine with us visiting as we have been doing since Summer as she no longer wants to drive so I am doing all her shopping and running her to hospital etc. We may well visit her boxing day aswell. Might even set up a layout in her conservatory.

 

Currently in our final bar this year. Pilgrim Brewery. Glad we got here before opening as already a big queue. Luckily we were the few that are from the same house hold so plenty of seats inside. A great place to celebrate both Xmas and New year a week before we would normally do so. They have had to turn away a lot of people. Still waiting for our dessert but no rush. We are enjoying our last beers of the year in a bar.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by roundhouse

[brianusa]

19 hours ago, BSW01 said:

Good evening everyone 

 

I was up later than planned this morning, so after a quick look in to ER I went straight to the butchers for the weekly meat rations and a pastie for dinner. After I’d put away the rations I again went out, but this time to the Trafford Centre, before The Mongol Hordes, Covidiots other shoppers got there. Principally I went to pick up a click and collect order, but whilst I was there I did the shopping that I normally do on Friday, thus leaving tomorrow free!

 

 

 

, we’ve been in tier since August! The bushy haired imbecile incumbent in No 10 must really be p!ssed of with Mr Burnham. Many businesses around here are on their knees, if there’s another lockdown next year, which, (after the up and coming 5 day free for all), I suspect there will be, I think a lot of business will simply give up, shut up shop and cut their losses! The towns and cities around Britain are I think in the not so distant future, going to be like ghost towns. 

On the other hand, they will be if covid gets enough of the inhabitants.  Its really one or the other; not a good choice either way!

     Brian.

Edited December 18, 2020 by brianusa

[PhilJ W]

Basildon was in the news today but not for a good reason. It now has the highest Covid infection rate in the country. Not surprising really what with the number of people filmed waking about unmasked. I intend to visit the town centre on Sunday but if too many are walking about unmasked I won't be staying. I could of course put a sign around my neck saying 'I am Covid-19 positive' to keep the cockwombles away but will that be effective.

[Coombe Barton]

... and sopranos without a safety net ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/12/18/sounds-of-the-season-20/

[Tony_S]

I had a look at the vaccination date predictor circulating online.  I appear to be (using the assumptions in the calculator) likely to get a Covid vaccine in February. Aditi’s prediction was March. MiL (age 92) is supposed to be getting hers this Sunday. Nephew has been jabbing older people all week. No surplus almost out of date ones for NHS staff where he is.

[jamie92208]

Good evening. In some ways we are very lucky being in anisolated rural commu ity where the infection rate is 0 for at least a 10 mile radius however we still have decisions to make about who we do or don't mix with.  This afternoon events in the UK impacted us. Beth's step mum is selling the family home and this afternoon some furniture and other items that are coming to us were collected. However for various reasons I spent about an hour on the phone liasing with a rather stressed 78 yr old widow and the removal company. After much conversation the reason for the stress became clear.  She had arranged to spend Christmas with her elder daughter in Bedford, where she is due to move to in the new year. However the 3 adult granddaughters have now descended on their parents and Betty is very wary about joining them. As a cancer survivor and with her age she was looking forward to the visit as she has spent nearly all year shielding alone. Now she is scared of Covid. Beth and I are livid at the actions of the family. I just wish that people were not so selfish.  

 

A glass of malt and some stollen seems to be the prescription here.

 

Jamie

Edited December 18, 2020 by jamie92208

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[monkeysarefun]

10 hours ago, TheQ said:

It's nothing to do with that , it's everything to do with traffic, New Zealands population is less than 5 million, Heathrow on it's own has nearly 7 million travel through it each month (pre covid) then add all the other international airports in the UK  and there is a massive through put of people travelling in aluminum recycled air virus spreading tubes. 

 It was well into the population long before anyone knew what was happening.

 

NZ and AUS plus Fraggle rock for that matter are Destinations, no throughput of people just visitors (and not that many), stop the visitors.. easy no covid or very little...

 

Are people still travelling through Heathrow and other UK airports at the moment? If so where are they ongoing to and  why? Business? Holidays?  Returning residents? Surely apart from the returnees the rest can be shut down while this is going on?

 

The Australian land mass is big enough and the major population centres far enough apart to make them the equivalent of different countries. The air route between Sydney and Melbourne is the third busiest in the world, it dwarfs anything in Europe (who dont even make the top 50) yet it got shut down overnight when the outbreak in Melbourne occurred over winter . Thats the only  way to stop this thing.

 

Annoyingly it turns out that  incoming international aircrew here have rules to follow during their turn around time which some airlines have taken to be less rules and more suggestions you don't need to worry about and a US strain (genome tested to find origin) has broken out in the northern beaches.

 

Currently its about 30 cases which sounds small in a city of 5 million but they go hard early here rather than dither around and there is talk of locking down at least that bit of the city Melbourne hard style, if not the rest of us.  Other states are busy putting up the draw bridges again.

Edited December 18, 2020 by monkeysarefun

[Barry O]

@roundhouse... what is a pub? We have been locked in so long up here in the north pibs are a thing of the past.

 

@Coombe Barton  ..understand your sentiments but cancelling christmas now would be enough to push people over the edge and into mass rebellion..

 

@monkeysarefun.. our airports are open to most.. transit passengers still transit.. "isolation" on arrival for those staying has just been reduced with no policing of it.. we are an island.. but didn't close our borders at all.. so we have much larger problems than some other islands like New Zealand, Australia, pacific islands...

 

Baz

Edited December 18, 2020 by Barry O

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[Coombe Barton]

15 minutes ago, Barry O said:

@Coombe Barton  ..understand your sentiments but cancelling christmas now would be enough to push people over the edge and into mass rebellion..

Yet Italy and Austria are going into lockdown over Christmas - why and how are we different?

 

[Tony_S]

I recently received a letter from Matt Hancock telling me about the Christmas arrangements but “advising” me not to join in. Even a “don’t go to a pharmacy to collect prescriptions”. Even if we did want to go to visit someone I think all 3 household slots had other family members occupying them. Not a problem as,we didn’t really want to go anywhere anyway. Aditi would have liked to see her Mum but she is bubbled with Aditi’s sister whose adult children are planning to visit over the Christmas holiday. 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

I think I opened my mouth a bit too soon this morning, as not long after I’d posted, it started to rain and the rain continued to fall until mid afternoon. There followed a brief dry spell before the rain once again started to fall, thankfully it’s not raining at the moment. 

 

This morning the washing machine took quite a bit of time to clean, I must make sure I don’t leave as long next time. Still it’s done now and a number of brownie points have been banked. Once I’d finished that, I disappeared downstairs and kept out of the way whilst Sheila mopped the kitchen and hall floors. I finished building the delay supply boards for my servo control boards, all that’s left is to fit leads to them, which I’ll do when I’ve decide what type of connectors I’m going to use.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[simontaylor484]

I disagree that xmas should be cancelled because for a lot of folk its the only thing they have had to look forward to all year.

 

Lockdown lockdown lockdown on the news again i turned it off its so depressing. If we are not careful the country will be in a worse state than the end of the war. Where you could go to the pub theatre cinema or whatever yes the luftwaffe may have dropped high explosives on you but you had the choice. How many folk refused to go to the shelters or evacuate their kids. People were no different then to now. People fought for freedom then that is being chucked away willy nilly for a virus that for the majority of the population is no worse than the flu

 

Rant over apologies for any offence 

Ps i have to self shield 

[BR60103]

Our Christmas dinner was delivered just after 11:00 this morning.  The Village had 440 ordered. I was wrong about one thing: It wasn't my birthday dinner; we had them today. It's the first meal since March that was prepared by somebody else. There's still a lot of salad for tomorrow.   

 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl frrom the Piedmont.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Amy from the posh hotel phoned yesterday to sort out the refund for my Christmas dinner.  She was very apologetic, though we both knew that it was not her fault.  She had spent most of Thursday afternoon trying to salvage something from the wreckage of two wedding receptions that had been thwarted by the actions of those who rule us.  It’s not a bad idea to have things put into perspective once in a while.  When I made a bad joke a couple of months ago about it all ending in tiers I never dreamt that it would turn out like that.

 

Let me share with you another piece of nonsense.  When I left the dentist’s surgery on Thursday, armed with the appointment card for the major civil engineering that needs to be done, I asked if I owed them any money and was told No.  Yesterday morning the dentist’s receptionist rang and asked for £23.80!  My polite response included a suggestion that they get their act together.  I’m not holding my breath.

 

Bah humbug

 

Chris

[AndyB]

I dream of a dentist bill that small. One child had to go private as the NHS would only treat a dental problem if it was 1mm worse. Take Chris' notional bill and move the decimal point to the right twice!

 

Morning all so now "broken up" for Christmas. Was difficult to get anything done yesterday as most folk were rounding things off / too frazzled. 

 

Now for a bit of Christmas shopping.....

 

Edited December 19, 2020 by AndyB
Typo

[Barry O]

8 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Yet Italy and Austria are going into lockdown over Christmas - why and how are we different?

 

People in the North have got fed up with being in "

Lockdown". When case numbers were dropping they were kept in lockdown.. london  didn't.  They are just weary.. and we can see that some of the NHS management are using "protect the NHS" as a way of covering the way they have mistreated patients.

 

Why are we different.. fed up with being regarded as "those people in the North"....

Baz

Edited December 19, 2020 by Barry O

[Barry O]

Ey ip!

Slept well last night. Don't know why but feel very refreshed this morning.

 

No house work scheduled so I may get to do some muddling. 

 

I had two phone conversations with old friends last night. One with a gentleman I worked with at Culham on the fusion machine, the other an old schoolfriend who is leaving academe in July next year. Between us we covered rugby, beer availability, family and generally put the world to rights.

 

Cheered me up no end. His parting words were "perhaps it is time for engineers to run the uk"  Amen to that!

Now, enjoy your day, try and maximise your use of time wisely..

 

Positive thoughts to all ERs!

Baz