love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

if garages can stay open, why not bike shops? it's a lot of people's mode of transport to work and -to a lesser extent- the shops and it's better for physical distancing than shared cars, taxis, buses and trains. and that inclusion also supports the option to ride your bike in a socially distant way once a day

No no I'm delighted, for all those reasons! I was worried yesterday that if anything happens to my bike, I'd have to fix it myself. It's just on the list twice, is all.

lol

that was a bit stereotypically cyclisty of a response tbf nick

oh right okay, i didn't spot that!

xp yes i'm sorry deems, my head is bowed in shame (but luckily i'm wearing my helmet to protect it from future kneejerk responses)

Andrew Farrell: i worked at disclosure Scotland.in normal times it can take 2 weeks for a disclosure to be completed. This was with hot-desking at banks of desks without much room between people and having people completing checks 24/7 (early, back,and nightshifts). Highly unlikely that there wont be huge delays. Wfh wouldnt be an option as the job requires checking both the scottish CHS and england/wales PNC

friend of mine (who has an auto-immune disorder) just got one of these today

🖼

The military need to be on our streets, in our supermarkets, in our hospitals NOW and it is a disgrace that this is not the case. This should have been done tonight. There's no way the police can deal with the number of selfish c*nts the UK has. What are we paying £40+s billions a year for, if not this?

Italian police: Fines people for gathering outside

Russia police: throws people in jail for 5 years

UK Police: pic.twitter.com/NlFdUvoCX3

— Timeline Terrorist (@Timeline2019) March 23, 2020

You can say "come on lads, you know you're not supposed to be doing this, you're gonna have to disperse now"

I realise it's a risk, moving forward and probably not a very popular opinion here but there's no way a "come on lads" approach is ever going to work in this fkng country. In most countries, Spain and Italy included, the line between the police and the military is a bit more blurred.

Jim - I'm not disagreeing with it, I'm more impressed I suppose that someone has thought "if we do this then that will happen, we should get some indemnity"

Hate these rules already tbh, yes they needed to be made in a hurry, but broadbrush curbs like this are draconian and dumb, and are just going to stir up resentment in the long term. Going to be a field day for all the little Hitlers out there spying their neighbours, but really - what for instance is the difference in effect between going for one hour long walk, and popping out for one short stroll in the morning and another one at end of the day? And what does it really achieve to apply these rules that may make sense in the context of central London, to a person living in a cottage up a mountain in the middle of nowhere? We're going to have months of fretting over interpretation and people coming up with dodges of one sort or another. If it was strict controls on people's physical proximity to each other, something like you're not allowed within more than 3 metres of anyone else in a open space, that would be easily understandable and would achieve the actual goal of social distancing. That's what they're basically going to be monitoring anyway, or rather, all that they can monitor at the moment, unless of course they start introducing the phone tracking that has been mooted in other countries. Maybe over the next couple of weeks they could devolve arrangements to councils / local police forces so that the rules can be set to suit local circumstances without inflicting widescale misery quite needlessly.

This is my tube this morning. I live in zone 4 and work in a zone 1 hospital. I love my job, but now I'm risking my health just on the journey in?!@SadiqKhan put the tube service back to normal so we can all spread out, or @BorisJohnson start policing who's getting on. Help me! pic.twitter.com/x5moYM8wWN

— Nicola Smith (@nsmith694) March 24, 2020

yes, that's exactly the stuff that needs a addressing urgently! and supermarket shopping - if we can't get home deliveries, just give everyone a fucking timeslot already. surname starts with a b? monday afternoons every other week. i don't want to have to guess when the shop is going to be empty

nickB, what's your take on going for a ride and the government's guidance that "exercise outside by bike once per day" is allowed? will you still be riding outside?

Although i’m jogging at the moment (as i have done for a while), i hate it, so will be going out on my bike once a week at the weekend as well. seems like it’s totally within current guidelines.

xp been lecturing my cycling-addicted son constantly about that. fine to ride your bike, just don't do anything where there's more risk of getting injured - no caning it down descents, take it steady if you're going offroad, no more night-riding, don't start hitting the local bmx track, etc. go out by yourself and as ever check over your shoulder first before clearing your nasal passages. road riding is better because if you're going mountain biking round here, there's gate every half a mile and i think there's a real risk of infection there. car drivers have already felt the need to start yelling at cyclists to stay home though, so watch out for those entitled pricks. my son's mates went out in a group of three at the weekend and they kept getting beeped at. have rigged up a system at home where there's a plastic bag outside the door with some wipes in it so bill can take off his gloves and stick them in the bag when he gets back, then wipe his hands and grips before he comes in, so we're taking stuff like that super seriously. i'm going to be running mostly though myself - can fit in more effort in a given time, and can stay fairly local

agreed with that, all seems sensible. am swithering about continuing riding outside on the road myself - with all the shop, cafe etc closures this weekend there were definitely more cars on quieter roads out accessing trails, walks etc. hadn't factored that into my risk assessment when I went out - was nearly hit twice by two close-passing beepers (on roads which are normally dead, and idyllic for cycling.) certainly won't be riding anything over 30 miles though. bit a shiter all in really

What this volatile mix of self-righteous, aggressive paranoia needs now is tooled-up squaddies on every street corner.

always found them a very decent sort ourselves

In the industrial-ish bit of Sheffield I work in it's business as usual. Everything is open and it's like any normal day of the week. If shops are shut why are industrial units putting together sofas and double glazed windows still open?

Omg it's t-shirt weather today, the lock-down is ruined. I can tell some of the local bed manufacturers here are still operating, at least I can hear that distant forklift reverse beep and beds is the only manufacturing industry here. Have a word with your dad Baroness Warsi!

People who have messaged me who’re being told by their bosses to go into work tomorrow include:
Construction workers
WHSmith & JD Sports staff
Debt collectors
Airplane manufacturers

(I kid you not)

This is madness. And the government is allowing it.

— CarolineJMolloy (@carolinejmolloy) March 23, 2020

debt collectors wtf, hope they collect a dose tbf

some fucking strange definitions of Key Workers still being used last night.

On that, spot the difference:

They literally changed the advice on @10DowningStreet pic.twitter.com/gBnVLG8mJR

— Louise (@McAttackL) March 24, 2020

Some of that hypertargeted social media Dominic Cummings sorcery might actually work for some constructive and useful purpose right now but apparently this supposed master of the art of communication has completely lost the ability to communicate effectively. It's almost as if weirdos from William Gibson novels aren't actually much use in a global health emergency.

yeah but the russians aren't assisting this time round - no need, everything's collapsing without their input

they've even got millions in free ad credits on FB that they can't be arsed using, he'd have grabbed them with both hands during the Leave/GE19 campaigns, so it shows where his priorities lie.

I guess there's no point, people aren't spending much time on the internet right now.

There's also an argument that unambiguous mass communication is more important right now but if they could manage to go Get Brexit Done every ten seconds you'd think they'd be able to go Stay At Home a bit more, and maybe a week or so earlier?

exactly, and whatever happened to 'no more dither and delay'? they've been masters of it these past couple of weeks

When you load up twitter/fb/insta in the Netherlands, at the very top is a "to stay informed w/ trusted info visit X" which redirects to the Dutch research institute for public health. I'm guessing that's what those free ad credits get you?

I can tell some of the local bed manufacturers here are still operating

well, "home shops" are still open, and I need a new bed. I was thinking after last night's news that I wouldn't be able to get one now and then I saw the words "home shops" on the list. but this also seems a poor time to go and lie on a succession of publicly-available beds to try them out, so I will probably still not buy a bed

I've been working from home but most of my job (the familiar and comfortable bits) is to support frontline staff who can't work from home, so not quite sure what will happen now they're officially being sent home too.

from my boss's communications I think there's a good chance I'll still be paid for something, and I realise many people aren't in such a good position, but it still feels weird, having a job which is 2% Online! Digital! Now High Priority! (btw I have no idea how to deal with most of the stuff that might now arise through this formerly tiny part of my job) and 98% no longer relevant, and wondering how that's going to work.

Some of that hypertargeted social media Dominic Cummings sorcery might actually work for some constructive and useful purpose right now but apparently this supposed master of the art of communication has completely lost the ability to communicate effectively. It's almost as if weirdos from William Gibson novels aren't actually much use in a global health emergency.

Isn't about time we had free broadband btw?

I couldn't sleep early a.m. this morn so put 5 live on for the lols. The first caller i heard was a right bleedin' cockernee geezer who was saying anyone breaking the conditions of the lock-down should be "put in a warehouse".

Small local Post Office (actually a W.H. Smiths) closed (unforseen circumstances"?). HSBC branch also closed and cash machines off line. So I guess that balances out the non-useful stuff that is open.

massive dark lol that my recent cunning lifeplan -- quit job*, live off savings for a couple of years while i mainly work on a best-selling book then slide back into the self-employed sub-editing market -- now means that last year's NOT GREAT earnings will be the benchmark if/when govt organises a support plan for freelancers.** bcz the slide back into the self-employed sub-editing market has been a v slow slide and the couple of years is now stretching to four and savings while pleasant to have right now = all too finite :( :(

i mean maybe now is not the worst time to be spamming everyone re my apparent healthy availability and my skill at living on my own and WFH

*tbf this bit of the decision was validated by subsequent events at the magazine in question and my 16-odd years there quietly building up my savings to cushion my (re)turn to writing was also not a terrible plan BUT
**update news on this possibly due at the end of the week or start of next maybe we'll see

was due to move jobs pretty imminently (interviewed, offered etc) but now unsure whether it is sensible to move jobs giving impending depression. would be giving up X years' service (i.e. ant potential redundancy payments) for 6 month's probationary period where you can be let go with a week's notice. hmmm

the homerton mutual aid whatsapp just posted this so i'm passing it on: https://survivorsnetwork.org.uk/online-resources-available-during-social-distancing-and-self-isolation/

the labourer across the road whose got a redder face than the ribena man is always working away and his van hasn't been back for weeks. Building sites have got to be amongst the top ten best workplaces for spreading viruses, they all sit in the same little cabins at dinnertime and the less said about the portable toilet cabins the better.

there is always some raggy copy of The Daily Star that about 50 brickies have pawed (after they've had a shite probs) on the table of the canteen. I feel sick just thinking about it!

i went past three builders yesterday that were all sat in their van side-by-side having a teabreak and that was on a sunny day

they Key Worker Yeomen of the order of the high vis love sitting in those scruffy transit vans, suffocating in their own toxix farts.

I posted this on one of the other threads but there's a building site nearby and mr spacecadet went to the shop at lunchtime y/day and a pack of builders descended and were definitely not respecting social distancing in their scrum to get lunch

(he was more fine about this than I would've been tbh, he's probably forgotten about it already and I'm still worrying about it!)

feel sorry for them still having to go and sit in their tin boxes and climb scaffolding to build a hotel and block of student housing which was always a bit unnecessary in this part of town and will be even more so now nobody will be staying in hotels or student housing for months - though maybe they can requisition it once it's finished for medical/quarantine purposes?

convert it into a prison for breachers imo

I caught H1n1 whilst working on a public housing refurb site, it went through it like wildfire. I was going through a snagging list that involved going into about 11 different properties in one day, each one with often crowded w/ multiple trades in there at the same time. I didn't have a chance!

Connections pic.twitter.com/LBvk99Quc5

— The Justin Horton Show (@ejhchess) March 24, 2020

Keir has hope

It is disgraceful that ministers have broken their promise to renters. No one should be at risk of losing their home because of this crisis.

The Government still has time to reconsider - and I hope they will. https://t.co/jUVE60DD9B

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 24, 2020

Jesus Christ

Sweet Jesus. For the love of god, lock up your boomers. pic.twitter.com/nuxZqXPI8t

— 🏡🦠 StepHOMEanie 🦠🏡 (@YesMissMurphy) March 24, 2020

xp
I wouldn't expect Starmer to be to the right of Ed Davey on renter protection, not yet anyway!

Fuck me we’re all going to die.