Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[alta-pete]

Clap for Nic at 6pm tonight chaps:

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18467324.coronavirus-call-clap-nic-tribute-nicola-sturgeon/

[welshbairn]

2 minutes ago, alta-pete said:

Clap for Nic at 6pm tonight chaps:

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18467324.coronavirus-call-clap-nic-tribute-nicola-sturgeon/

Says one man in East Lothian, with one person saying they'll join in. Top bit of journalism.

[Granny Danger]

3 minutes ago, alta-pete said:

Clap for Nic at 6pm tonight chaps:

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18467324.coronavirus-call-clap-nic-tribute-nicola-sturgeon/

I think Sturgeon will cringe when she sees that.  On the other hand cuntface Johnson would love such a tribute.

[WhiteRoseKillie]

41 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

You think that looking after the bottom line and doing things that are socially responsible are always mutually exclusive?

Absolutely not, but any social benefit from a (voluntary) change in operations will always be a side-effect of an (expected) increase in profit either directly by cutting costs or increasing efficiency, or indirectly through reputation enhancement.

Capitalism is, at bottom, a cúnt's game.

[Granny Danger]

1 minute ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

Absolutely not, but any social benefit from a (voluntary) change in operations will always be a side-effect of an (expected) increase in profit either directly by cutting costs or increasing efficiency, or indirectly through reputation enhancement.

Capitalism is, at bottom, a cúnt's game.

But you agree sometimes actions can be worthwhile regardless of their motivation?

[welshbairn]

9 minutes ago, Thereisalight.. said:

 

My mum doesn’t have a smart phone, or any phone other than a landline. She also doesn’t drive. Asda is the supermarket she goes to. I always wondered what would happen if these measures were still in place come Autumn/winter when the weather can be atrocious. I know quite a few elderly people around my neighbourhood who get the bus to Asda and then back home. I doubt all (or even any) of them have a smart phone.

You should sort her out with a home delivery if the weather gets bad, queues or not.

[Wee Willie]

19 minutes ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

^^^Buys 5 kilos of "carrots" every week type post. Ye don't fool me, ya auld scamp that ye are.

I dinnae like carrots and it's been donkeys years (if ever) that I've been called a scamp.

It was always shortarse or 'Hi you' that I answered tae.

My big regret (and shame)  is when some English guy shouted at me, "Oi! 'Aggis" and I responded.

[bendan]

30 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

40% did last year though and that will be going up rapidly with nearly every phone sold now having internet access.

I know some who have internet access but don't know how to use it or think it's expensive. My dad had PAYG and switched off mobile data when he found it was costing him about 50p to look up a bus time.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Asda can do as they please as they're a private company, there's no doubt it will work for some but not for others, similar to the other ideas like "scan you're own shop", "self service checkouts" etc. some love them and some despise them (I'm in the latter category).
Very rarely are these new "tech advances"  brought in for customer satisfaction or benefit, they're generally as a cost saving and benefit to the company and that shouldn't be forgotten.
McDonalds and their ordering machines another prime example, what a shambles these things are as a 2 minute visit for a cheeseburger has now turned into a 10 minute visit with far more hassle (hence the reason I've now stopped my occasional lunchtime visits), however it's cut down on their costs (apparently) so it's being marketed as a benefit to the customer when nothing could be further from the truth.

I prefer them to ordering at the counter because they actually get the order right regards special requests unlike the spotty-faced teenage plebs on the till.

[Thereisalight..]

2 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

You should sort her out with a home delivery if the weather gets bad, queues or not.

She’s always maintained as long as she’s fit and able to walk around a supermarket, she’d rather go in person to “check the quality” of what she’s buying, or what new products they have. I guess she’s as “entitled” as me 

[WhiteRoseKillie]

44 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

Absolutely.

But quite often their aim for profit ties in with making life easier for their customers.

Unintended consequences exist - but they manage to get what folk want more ofter not.

The futuristic scenes in the 'wall e' film is a good example. You can see folk becoming lazier, fatter, more concerned with trivial pish - but how the f**k do you stop it when so many folk want that.

I love the tesco self scan machines, and yet i know they reduce basic human interaction - and that's not healthy for society. Same with online shopping.

Nothing beats having a nice, leisurely wander round a few good shops and grabbing some food or beverage. But half the time you came be arsed and just go with amazon (even though they're utter c***s - tax evasion and treatment of workers being).

A lot of facets of my life summed up there. I used to love a wander round the city shops in York years ago, but a combination of high rates and out-of-town developments have hollowed out the soul of the city, leaving it to an admittedly not-quite-Kilmarnock equivalent of high streets up and down the country. York still hasn't got a lot of gaps, but they're appearing. Also, being a tourist trap, there's a lot of shit being punted. For the locals? Coffee from any chain you fancy plus a few independents. A couple of proper bookshops, admittedly, but also two of The Works. Only a couple of bookies, tbf, but a real shadow of its former self if you want to take a tour of the pubs that were there pre-Wetherfuckingspoons.

So, online shopping. Amazon are becoming unavoidable, especially as even being out in the sticks I get 'most anything to my door within a day.

Self-scan machines , and automated banking paraphernalia, do indeed reduce human interaction - the first humans being the ones whose jobs have gone, leaving one wee employeerunning around dealing with the eternal errors of a dozen or more of the fucking things.

No, Tesco, I will not use the self-scan machine. Because I don't fucking work here.

As time goes on, I'm afraid we're losing that pulling together that we all felt at first. The human race is reverting to type, and in a lot of cases it ain't pretty. People are fixating on aspects of the current restrictions which affect them personally (however trivial) and ignoring the interconnectedness of modern society. If the return to whatever is going to be the future routine is not handled carefully, there could still be a fair bit of unrest. To be honest, I reckon Im getting off lightly in all this - I wouldn't be bothered if alcohol was banned, never mind when are the pubs re-opening. Our kids are mostly grown now, and we haven't suffered financially other than the wait for Mrs WRK's Government SEISS cheque. Both of us have been working, so no cabin fever - although the two younger Rosettes are getting bored now.

Some poor fuckers are really struggling, and it behoves the rest of us to make things a bit better for them if we can. A wee bit shopping for the old lad round the corner, some fence-fixing and garden tidying for another neighbour - minutes out of my day, but hopefully a difference to theirs. Gives me more of a warm feeling than banging a fucking pan on a night 'cos SM likes, I know that.

[WhiteRoseKillie]

27 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

But you agree sometimes actions can be worthwhile regardless of their motivation?

If there's an unforeseen benefit, I'm all for it, of course. But that is my point - it will be unforeseen.

 

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, Thereisalight.. said:

 

My mum doesn’t have a smart phone, or any phone other than a landline. She also doesn’t drive. Asda is the supermarket she goes to. I always wondered what would happen if these measures were still in place come Autumn/winter when the weather can be atrocious. I know quite a few elderly people around my neighbourhood who get the bus to Asda and then back home. I doubt all (or even any) of them have a smart phone.

it must be an Ayrshire thing as my Mum is the same.

I'd also note that although the stat provided confirmed that "40% of over 65's have a smart phone", this in effect mean that 60% do not, which more or less says it all.

The weather is also a good point, I often see large queues outside local supermarkets and people seem to accept this, however wait until the high winds and torrential rain appear and see if it's the same story (today being a good starting point).

There's no doubt that this virus is a killer for the elderly and those with underlying conditions, however over the coming weeks when death rates and serious cases are reduced to single figure digits, does anyone seriously believe that the population in general will be happy to live with all the restrictions ?, I certainly don't.

Even as we stand right now, if we stripped out care home deaths and infections (who are effectively in a complete lockdown / quarantine situation), then would our current community based infections justify some of the extremes and effects on our daily life ?? again, I don't think so.

I've no doubt that people's patience is becoming stretched as the days pass by and I seriously don't believe that the vast majority will easily accept the continued restrictions and impact on their lives very much longer.

 

[WhiteRoseKillie]

23 minutes ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

2 hours ago, WATTOO said:

Asda can do as they please as they're a private company, there's no doubt it will work for some but not for others, similar to the other ideas like "scan you're own shop", "self service checkouts" etc. some love them and some despise them (I'm in the latter category).
Very rarely are these new "tech advances"  brought in for customer satisfaction or benefit, they're generally as a cost saving and benefit to the company and that shouldn't be forgotten.
McDonalds and their ordering machines another prime example, what a shambles these things are as a 2 minute visit for a cheeseburger has now turned into a 10 minute visit with far more hassle (hence the reason I've now stopped my occasional lunchtime visits), however it's cut down on their costs (apparently) so it's being marketed as a benefit to the customer when nothing could be further from the truth.

I prefer them to ordering at the counter because they actually get the order right regards special requests unlike the spotty-faced teenage plebs on the till.

Apart from anything else - in the current situation, do those not just look to you like massive hard surfaces which have been pawed at by, well, yer average Micky D's

punters dozens of times since the last time some junior employee took a swipe at them with a damp cloth?

[HooseLee]

Is it looking like people won't be able to move house until the 3rd phase which isn't until August?  

[Todd_is_God]

15 minutes ago, WATTOO said:

over the coming weeks when death rates and serious cases are reduced to single figure digits, does anyone seriously believe that the population in general will be happy to live with all the restrictions ?, I certainly don't.

Honestly?

Yes. Most people have no idea how relative a few Covid-19 deaths are, and have been fed the "any deaths are too many" for a few months now. There is no context which is important as the numbers fall.

Taking care home deaths out of the equation now we are very close to deaths from covid-19 being fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But most people people in the UK are not used to talking about death rationally. I get that.

As deaths get fewer and fewer we should perhaps move to weekly reporting. I don't see the value in reporting daily on deaths if they are in single figures, particularly if we are looking to ease fear.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Todd_is_God

[HooseLee]

1 minute ago, MixuFixit said:

I've got a colleague who is moving house this week. She bought the house before this all started though so not sure if that makes a difference.

I've got a new house.  Just need to sign the lease when the housing association office opens.  I have to hire a removal firm and I think that's what's going to stop me moving until at least August.  Was supposed to move the first week of lockdown, so a wait of 4 months.  Hate where I am!

[Jacksgranda]

3 hours ago, pozbaird said:

No, that’s not what I meant. I am taking sensible precautions, I believe we all should be sensible. The shitebags I am talking about are guys like the one I mentioned in another post. The one who, while walking towards me on an otherwise deserted pavement, stopped dead in his tracks ten feet away from me, because I had stopped to get a stone out my shoe. He did a military type left turn, and marched straight into the middle of the road. Stopped on the white lines, did another deliberate sharp turn, and proceeded to march straight down the centre of a busy road, wearing in-ear buds, with a Mercedes A Class heading towards him from behind at 30mph.

The woman in the outdoor area of B&Q, wearing a mask and gloves, who angrily shouted at me that there were arrows on the floor, even though we were the only people in a huge outdoor area and I was about 5m away anyway. My first visit since they opened, I simply never noticed the arrows.

Cnuts like these, that’s who I’m talking about. Seem to be far too many of them around. Hopefully they decide to continue observing lockdown by locking themselves in their living rooms for a couple of years.

The guy's a zoomer.

The woman was correct if a bit snappy.

[Jacksgranda]

3 hours ago, WATTOO said:

Asda can do as they please as they're a private company, there's no doubt it will work for some but not for others, similar to the other ideas like "scan you're own shop", "self service checkouts" etc. some love them and some despise them (I'm in the latter category).

Very rarely are these new "tech advances"  brought in for customer satisfaction or benefit, they're generally as a cost saving and benefit to the company and that shouldn't be forgotten.

McDonalds and their ordering machines another prime example, what a shambles these things are as a 2 minute visit for a cheeseburger has now turned into a 10 minute visit with far more hassle (hence the reason I've now stopped my occasional lunchtime visits), however it's cut down on their costs (apparently) so it's being marketed as a benefit to the customer when nothing could be further from the truth.

I'd far rather use them than physically order, tbh.

[Guest]

Just now, Todd_is_God said:

Honestly?

Yes. Most people have no idea how relative a few Covid-19 deaths are, and have been fed the "any deaths are too many" for a few months now.

Taking care home deaths out of the equation now we are very close to deaths from covid-19 being fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But most people people in the UK are not used to talking about death rationally.

As deaths get fewer and fewer we should perhaps move to weekly reporting. I don't see the value in reporting daily on deaths if they are in single figures, particularly if we are looking to ease fear.

I'm only going by people I've spoken to in Tesco and people at my work, however most seem to think that we're getting on top of things now and don't see the requirement for changing / turning their lives upside down indefinitely although they do seem to feel that what we did initially was indeed required.

You're correct though, the media are still sensationalising every death and making it seem that every person you meet is a "carrier" or likely to infect you, when of course both scenarios are in fact extremely unlikely.

We need a sense of perspective and getting the virus rates down as low as we can but then trying to get back to more or less normality should be the aim, as opposed to the stupid irresponsible headlines such as "life may never return to normal", "social distancing here to stay", "no more foreign holidays", etc, etc.

The bottom line is that if any of the above were true then we could forget about haircuts ever again, no more live spectator sports such as Football, no more concerts or theatres / cinemas etc, no more group holidays or even nights out with friends or workmates. Is this sort of "new normal" acceptable for anyone ???

Personally I'm following the Catalan news for updates, future plans and timelines and the whole situation appears much more rational and under control than when paying any attention to Government and media in this country, although perhaps I'm being unfair to the Scottish government here as they are doing their best with one hand tied behind their backs.