Covid-19

[paulr]

Latest on the BBC news website is that he's finished his 100 laps and has raised £12m. IIRC he intends to carry on, again based upon the BBC.

Brilliant, well done that man

[Steve J]

Latest total is £16m according to the BBC.

[Techno]

 

Absolutely brilliant !!!....And I believe it all came about when his family challenged him to do the 100 'laps', before he reached his century.

Smashing bit of news.

Forgot to mention, yesterday.....Tesco's seemed ridiculously busy for what was 'an almost' normal Thursday. Couldn't believe how many cars were in the car park at that time !....Fair do's, I was only number six in the queue to get into the shop....and it didn't take long for me to get to pole position on the grid.

I couldn't decide whether it was that busy because (I guess) folk are still on an Easter break, or we had had a load of invaders who had sneaked into Pembrokeshire.

Could have been extra folk who should have been on their hols abroad....But are now stuck here.....Hmmm.

A lot of people were being a bit 'off' and ignoring the social distancing  instructions.....simply whizzing down the aisles, and past everyone else without even trying to leave a wide berth.
For the first time for quite a while there was a bit of a 'tense atmosphere' in the store....Nothing along the lines of panic buying..But it was slightly unpleasant.

Because I go in at almost the same time every visit, I usually recognise something around 90% of the shoppers.....Yesterday was nothing like that. Only person I know I've seen before was a young lass who was moaning to me about the people barging past her.....She had a damn good glare at them...But I don't think they noticed.

I'll see what it's like next week.

Cheers - Phil

[Steve J]

Still big queues at ASDA again this morning, but managed to get position number 4 as I arrived 40 minutes early and they were still queueing when I left. Atmosphere normal or weary acceptance and only a few familiar faces. At Lidl a queue again but allowed straight in due to son being on NHS at risk register. Still ASDA had pretty much everything except in the baking aisle, which was somewhat bare. Lidl OK.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Went down early this morning. Short queue for ASDA, but loads of cars on Grange Road, which is pedestrianised. One thing puzzling me - Iceland were not opening til 11.30 hrs. ASDA is on normal hours - and seemed well stocked as well.

[toxicpixie]

ASDA back on normal hours? I think our local megamarts are on 8am-8pm still, but then it's a while since I left the house!

[Steve J]

Ours still 8.00am to 8.00pm.

[Ithoriel]

I went to the local Tesco Extra (which is still 8am-10pm rather than 24hr) at eight this morning. Arrived minutes after eight , grabbed a trolley and was straight in.

Shelves were pretty well stocked, just odd gaps - tinned tomatoes were in limited supply for example.

Huge walls of cut price Easter eggs! I can resist anything ... except temptation

Only a handful of people were wearing masks and not many practising strict social distancing.

At one point I stood back to let an elderly lady decide what she wanted and as I stepped forward a middle-aged woman literally barged me aside to take something from the shelf. I said,"That's rude at the best of times." She said,"Don't be ridiculous, I'm in a hurry!" and flounced off.

That apart, most people seemed pretty relaxed and the store didn't feel crowded.

The guy on the checkout was friendly and chatty and had been asked to quiz shoppers on anything they hadn't been able to get so the store could prioritise filling shortages if necessary.

[Norm]

." She said,"Don't be ridiculous, I'm in a hurry!" and flounced off.

I am always reminded of some wise words from someone who was talking about getting wound up by the behaviour of individuals (it was in a motoring context),  along the lines of .... these sort of people are typically in your life for seconds, but some poor sod has them in their life constantly!

[FierceKitty]

A Buddhist story: Two monks come to a river crossing where a pretty girl is weeping because there's no boatman to ferry her over. One of the monks picks her up and carries her over. She thanks him and they go their ways. Two hours later the other monk exclaims, after a long silence, "Brother, I can't believe you broke the sacred rules of our order against touching even a woman's clothes. And you held that one in your arms for ten minutes while carrying her over the river!" To which the other replies "I left her at the river. You're still carrying her."

[Sunray]

My Royal British Legion  local branch has just bailed out our local foodbank with £1,000 to restock

The Food Foundation reports that up to 1.5 million Brits did not eat for a whole day last week.  Three million of our nation live in households where someone (usually a parent) skipped some meals to feed children.

Meanwhile Jacob Rees- Mogg's investment firim Somerset Capital Management is advising clients of profits of 500% in snapping up hospitality businesses which will "bounce back".

In the hedge fund business millions are being made by short selling.  AQR made £48 million on the Eastjet difficulties alone and with Citadel and Capeview are looking at profits of £2.4 billion by betting on a global shutdown.

[b That would buy a hell of a lot  of PPE. [/b]

In her speech the Queen said we shall meet again.  She did not mention opening her 775 rooms in Buck house for patients or NHS heroes - an action which would facilitate more of us seeing that reunion.

In 1945/48 the British Government revolutionised British society by introducing the Welfare State, by addressing housing, education, health, national insurance and national health.

What better way to mark the end of the pandemic than by re-booting the welfare state, and use the profits of the carpetbaggers and hedge funds?  In the recent past H M Treasury confiscated the bank "profits" of LIBOR (£970 million) and funded veteran charitries   

[toxicpixie]

Too bloody right, James.

I suspect my agreement with that sentiment will come as little surprise to most

[Norm]

I don't want to stop posting in this folder, but if it continues to be politicised, I will stop visiting.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Ahem, gentlemen.
Polite reminder:
Politics to be left (or right) at the door please.

Rude reminder:
Oi you ********* ******** ******** ******* it ********** ******* **** and shove ***** *******!
Thank you.

[Steve J]

Thanks for the reminder Will as I was in the same camp as Norm.

[paulr]

+1

[FierceKitty]

Ahem, gentlemen.
Polite reminder:
Politics to be left (or right) at the door please.

Rude reminder:
Oi you ********* ******** ******** ******* it ********** ******* **** and shove ***** *******!
Thank you.

***** is spelled with five asterisks, unless one is swearing in American. A moderator should get these things right!

[paulr]

 

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

***** is spelled with five asterisks, unless one is swearing in American. A moderator should get these things right!

Thah ******* Webster should have been hung ! 

[FierceKitty]

His girlfriend says he was.