Early Risers.

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

The full title of the painting is  'From Pentonville Road looking west evening, 1884'  by John O'Connor.  Oddly the  various reproductions of it have very contrasting colour casts and some have quite grey light while others are like the one posted - I wonder which most accurately reflects the original painting, which is in the Museum of London?  I suppose if it had been painted 100 years later we'd have been able to pick out Bernie Victor's emporium

 

The building with the junk on the roof, presumably where the artist is standing, is on the site of Keen House, if I recall @CF MRC's comment correctly. The Midland Grand Hotel rises, Valhalla-like, above the quotidian London scene, while the clock tower of Kings Cross is bound to the mundane world. 

[Compound2632]

3 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Donk is obviously thinking.........

 

"A great and glorious A. Not just something that anybody can come and breathe on."

[Happy Hippo]

5 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Not necessarily, it depends on the affected population. CoVID-19 is cross generational, influenza less so. I  think the high mortality in that pandemic was in the elderly. Plus, I don’t think that obesity or diabetes is as much of a risk factor for influenza.

The point I wanted to make is that as terrible as CoVID-19 is, influenza can be equally lethal, yet we didn’t react to the severe influenza pandemics as we have to the Coronavirus. And I pondered if there was a reason for this beyond the purely medical/scientific.

'Flu is 'flu.

 

Covid 19 is exotic.  so is SARS and Ebola.

 

Anything out of the ordinary is picked up by the media, and they run with it.

 

Three killed  in a RTC, so what!   Three dead by knife attack: National outpouring of grief.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

1 minute ago, iL Dottore said:

... yet we didn’t react to the severe influenza pandemics as we have to the Coronavirus.

Because we have vaccines for H1N1. As soon as there is a vaccine for SARS-Cov-2 it will be treated much the same as H1N1. There was a lot of concern about the SARS outbreak of 2003 but it did not propagate as much as people feared it would.

 

The emergency that CoViD-19 presented (as was demonstrated in New York) was the danger of overflowing medical facilities. The existing medical facilities could easily handle the incidence of seasonal influenza, spread out over it's active season (largely northern hemisphere, autumn and winter). Without isolation, there was no way to provide medical care for the anticipated number of CoViD-19 patients. Sadly, this was amply demonstrated in the PRC, Italy, Spain and New York.

 

As economies reopen there is movement toward a "voluntary" self-imposed quarantine for at risk people while the rest of society goes back to 'normal'. No fun for people of a certain age or with pulmonary, cardiac or diabetic conditions.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Sadly, this was amply demonstrated in the PRC, Italy, Spain and New York

I recently watched a documentary on the CoViD-19 pandemic. One of the observations it made was a prospective link between the February 19 European Champions League match between Atalanta (hometown Bergamo) and Valencia; and the concentration of CoVid-19 infections in Bergamo.

 

Perhaps this was widely reported in Europe, but it wasn't emphasized in US reporting.

[Happy Hippo]

16 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 

 

 No fun for people of a certain age or with pulmonary, cardiac or diabetic conditions.

As I have stated before, my son in law (a GP) advised me to socially distance because I have a slight tendency towards the first,  I am being sensible.  I will integrate myself with society when I feel comfortable with the ongoing situation.

 

 I am fortunate in that I am happy with my own company.  The Obergrumpenfuhrer's presence is a welcome (but not essential) bonus.

 

I put this acceptance down to long periods of time sitting/lying, sometimes alone, in covert observation posts, where the ultimate accolade was to get a bird to perch upon oneself.

 

These days, if I try such in the back field, the only bird that comes along is the Robin, who looks at me quizzically as if asking:

 

'Where's the spade and my lunch?'

 

Edited June 22, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Coombe Barton]

.

... and a caravan.

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/06/22/exam-board/

[Happy Hippo]

10 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

.

... and a caravan.

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/06/22/exam-board/

Thank you John,

 

I find your inner strength  really uplifting.

[brianusa]

16 hours ago, BR60103 said:

Small event here: something went bang in the dishwasher. The door is now much heavier to lift up.  Tonight I found the end of a spring on the floor.  Must get out the directions.

 

I'd have called the repairman!

     Brian.

[iL Dottore]

44 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Because we have vaccines for H1N1. As soon as there is a vaccine for SARS-Cov-2 it will be treated much the same as H1N1.

That’s a very good point, but I’m not convinced that, given the huge change SARS-Cov-2 has caused in society, it will be back to as it was before the Coronavirus pandemic even with an effective vaccine.
The aftermath of this pandemic will be felt for a very long time.

Edited June 22, 2020 by iL Dottore
Typo

[J. S. Bach]

Deleted post.

Edited June 22, 2020 by J. S. Bach

[J. S. Bach]

5 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 ...snip... The aftermath of this pandemic will be felt for a very long time.

Especially in the economic sector and the loss of tax revenue.

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 I recently saw some statistics put out by a Swiss Government Department that indicated that for the same assessment period more people died of influenza In Switzerland in 2015 than died of COVID-19 in 2020 .

 

ThE same figures were  released  for here a while ago - we've had 102 COVID deaths in Aust and no flu deaths so far , compared to 705 flu deaths in 2019...

 

Obviously a lot of factors in this - hygene and distancing as a result of Coronvirus has prevented other viruses from spreading, and our rigorous quarantining  of those arrivals still allowed to come here (returning residents only) - escorted from airport/dock by police/armed forces for 2 weeks lock up in a hotel has also stopped flu strains from getting  hold here.

Edited June 22, 2020 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Two snippets about coronavirus. In one northern Italian city, Turin or Milan they have found traces of the virus in the sewerage as far back as last September. Being of blood group O also has been found to increase resistance to the disease.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

It was Donk, not me, honest.

 

 

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

It was Donk, not me, honest.

 

The Donk is back!

Where has he been? What has he been doing? Will he once again cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war? (or is that “Donks of War”?)

Exciting times ahead for ER! 

[tigerburnie]

Early night tonight as I'm up at 05.00 to go fishing

G'night all

[Mike Bellamy]

7 hours ago, TheQ said:

 

Our news is always filled with the latest incident, because it's unusual.  I didn't mention to them, Their papers are full of routine because they don't wish to fall foul of their authorities. 

 

 

An example of believing what you see on TV news - at the height of the foot and mouth outbreak, I was on the phone to our Israel office and I was asked how we were coping with the smoke. I didn't understand the question and they explained that they thought Derby was in the centre of the Peak District and so we were surrounded by fields full of burning cattle. I had to tell them that we were in the city centre, several miles from the nearest fields, there were no cases of foot and mouth in the area and dead animals were being taken away to be disposed of. I seem to recall that our TV news also showed piles of burning cattle but if I remember correctly, this was on a disused airfield in Cumbria ?

[CF MRC]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

The building with the junk on the roof, presumably where the artist is standing, is on the site of Keen House, if I recall @CF MRC's comment correctly. The Midland Grand Hotel rises, Valhalla-like, above the quotidian London scene, while the clock tower of Kings Cross is bound to the mundane world. 

Keen House is further down the hill, below the chapel on the right.  It is also set back from the Pentonville Rd. 
 

Tim

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Donk is obviously thinking.........

 

Nice Brass

 

 

How hard will I need to push it to get rid of it....

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I recently watched a documentary on the CoViD-19 pandemic. One of the observations it made was a prospective link between the February 19 European Champions League match between Atalanta (hometown Bergamo) and Valencia; and the concentration of CoVid-19 infections in Bergamo.

 

Perhaps this was widely reported in Europe, but it wasn't emphasized in US reporting.

Yes this was reported over here. There ewere similar fears about the Cheltenham festival race meeting and  Liverpool v Real Madrid match at Anfield though I think that the latter is now being played down.

 

The smoke from burning cattle was quite bad in places. Beth and Inwent to Carlisle by train at thevheight of the outbreak and there were several pyres by the line and many more visible in the Eden Valley.  The old airfield was used for the slaughter and burial of thousands of sheep.

 

Jamie

Edited June 22, 2020 by jamie92208

[Florence Locomotive Works]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

The building with the junk on the roof, presumably where the artist is standing, is on the site of Keen House, if I recall @CF MRC's comment correctly. The Midland Grand Hotel rises, Valhalla-like, above the quotidian London scene, while the clock tower of Kings Cross is bound to the mundane world. 

Paddington will always be immortal though, maybe not for the greatest reasons but still, fame forever.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

At this point in the solar cycle my bedroom windows directly face the ~northeasterly rising sun. I have blackout blinds, but the light shines in the gaps between the blind and the window frame. When I have the windows open, the blinds move, variably admitting more light as they swing.

 

I'm about to close up the house for the remainder of the day with inside/outside temperatures close to equilibrium at 23°C. We're headed to 30°C later in the day and I will resort to the AC.   

I have the same problem with my windows, direct sunlight from 5:00 am to about 4:00 pm. Not so bad in the winter, but in the heat of the Oklahoma summer the temperature can get up to 87 degrees in the afternoon.

 

Moan finished.

Edited June 22, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[bbishop]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Certainly there have been in recent memory, (and since the 1950s) influenza pandemics that have had a far higher total mortality than COVID-19 has had (so far) and yet I found little evidence that countries went into “zombie apocalypse panic mode“ during those pandemics. And like COVID-19, influenza is particularly lethal in the elderly and vulnerable. I wonder how much of how and where we find ourselves today is down to social media, the 24 hour rolling news cycle (that has always to be fed) and the politicians of all stripes who “need to be seen doing something“ 

iD

 

Flavio, I agree with you but the Spanish Flu was a strain that had been dormant for many years.  So the middle aged and elderly had some resistance to it and it wiped out a younger generation.  Bill

[Erichill16]

Evening everyone,
Pottered around the house and garden today. Mowed lawn and helped SWMBO grout the patio she’s been laying.

Nothing else to report. 

Hope Chrisf is feeling a bit better and hope we have a double dose of his thoughts in the morning. If there are any more ERs suffering out there I wish them well too.

So until tomorrow,

Good night

Robert

 

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I find your inner strength  really uplifting.

I hope I'm not kidding myself.