How is "Lockdown" going for you?

[Shaun]

Few weeks later, some bloke taking a leak near a tree on the highway 20 odd miles away just happened to look up.
There it was, virtually unharmed. Owner says the engine was still running too.

It must have had a hell of a large fuel tank to keep going that long.

[PaulJ]

End of week six and lockdown seems to have become the new way of life. We have a nesting box in which I have installed a camera in a tree near the house and the big event of the week has been that our bluetits now have a clutch of seven eggs!

The time has actually passed quite quickly but when I look back at what I have achieved in that time, it doesn't seem much! I haven't felt bored as such though I do find the home schooling extremely tedious. I have managed to put off cutting the grass because once I start cutting it, it only seems to grow quicker but I'm going to have to cut it within the next few days. Lots of projects on the go but none of them finished, I get held up for want of this or that and of course you can't just nip to the shops to get what you need so you have to rely on mail order...... The glider is progressing but slowly, at the moment I have been waiting for some spruce for the mainspars and some carbon rod and tube to be delivered. I do bits and pieces of maintenance work on the boat and disrupting everything is the b****y home schooling...... and then some more home schooling! However I'm a bit nervous about the talk in the media about schools being high on the agenda for "unlocking". Kids may not be badly affected by the virus but surely they can still carry it and bring it home on their hands, clothes or possessions......?

Oh well, we can only press on irregardless.....

Paul

[bluejets]

Seems to be a lot of opinion this way and that about kids and the virus with not a lot of knowledge behind the outcome.
From what I can gather, kids would be no different from anyone else in spreading via contact by hand etc. but where I think the difference may come is if the kids do have some infection, they suffer less sneezing and coughing so less spread in that department.
Guess we will find out when the kids in Aus are allowed back in greater numbers. Parents don't believe the hoo haa and probably rightly so to be extremely cautious.

[PaulJ]

End of week seven and at a personal level not much has changed....... Thankfully the weather has been good so we have been able to spend a reasonable amount of time outside but I am getting increasingly fed up with home schooling and frustrated at the other things it is preventing me from doing...... I have a newfound respect for teachers though!

I was not impressed with Boris' little video this evening. I have always liked the saying that "Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools" and in an ideal world, of course we would all like to ease off, get the economy moving again and get back to some semblance of "normal". Unfortunately though, there are plenty of fools out there so I think that in the present situation, we can't afford to ease up on the restrictions just yet. I fear that "Stay Alert" is too woolly and allows too much discression to those who would throw caution to the wind.....

Paul

[Martin]

We'll soon be allowed to drive to the garden centre to buy a few plants, stop off at Greggs on the way back to get a sausage roll, and then on to the park to walk a couple of laps of the lake. But we still won't be allowed to stand in a field to fly our model planes because that would be too risky.

[Pchristy]

Regarding kids and school: Many years ago, when my (now adult!) children were very young, we had travelled down to Devon to visit both sets of grand-parents. Shortly after returning home, I received a message from my mother that she had developed measles!

Apparently the doctor asked her if she'd been anywhere near children, and she explained she'd had the grand-children visiting. "Oh, Good Grief!", was the doctor's response! "Children are lethal! They spread every bug going!"

Strangely, neither of our kids developed measles at that time, so where she got it from remains a mystery, but I'll never forget the doctor's reaction!

On another note, two of our local flying sites are now seriously overgrown. The one I'm partly responsible for maintaining will take a lot of work to get it flyable again. Luckily, we have quite a chunky "sit-on" mower, so I'm hoping to be able to get up there later this week and start mowing again. Only two of us will go (for safety reasons - its a very isolated field!), will travel in separate cars, and maintain "social distancing". Probably much safer than a trip to the supermarket....!

--
Pete

[jackdaw]

Pete, interesting you should mention Measles. I've been doing some investigation and comparisons of various virus infections and the epidemic history of the UK since WWII. If you look up Measles you'll find it has a much worse case mortality rate and Ro than the current 'bogyman' virus. Last year Measles accounted for 140,000 deaths world wide. When it comes to UK epidemics the 'Asian flu' of 1957/58 infected 9 million and killed 10's of thousands. I've also noticed that over time it has been increasingly difficult to get to this information.
As to getting back to the 'patch', got the BMFA email this morning but here in North Wales we are still continuing on the hard lockdown measures with no driving to locations for activities. Plus, being one who is supposed to be 'shielded' I'm under house arrest until early June at least. I can see the beach from where I live but if you take your dog for a walk on it the plods treat you like a genocidal criminal with intent to kill the whole population. Before all this there was never many people on the beach and you could easily maintain many hundreds of yards spacing.

[Stewart]

re the measles and past flu epidemics, one must take into account that many countries do not have high vaccination rates against measles, hence the high mortality rates, re past flu epidemics , imagine the death rate from covid with 1958 medical knowledge and medicines!

[jackdaw]

I guess I'm in a minority of one on here as I am exceptionally sceptical with respect to the 'bogyman' virus. The death rate figures are very questionable. Comparisons of deaths for this time of year in the past compared to deaths now show a significantly lower figure than used by the MSM to scare people. Even these figures will flatter the virus death rate as they will contain other unexpected deaths. Other than the propaganda from government and MSM everything I've read(official papers on the RNA sequence) etc to the many videos of doctors stating they have been pressured to put deaths down to the virus to doctors in the USA stating that hospitals have a considerable financial incentive to put 'the virus' as cause of death. The over zealous policing in this country. I've watched several videos of peaceful civil disobedience demonstrations against the current measures - people just walking around hold small signs with no violence and no damage to property. The police then put some in a head lock wrestle them to the ground, face down with a knee in the back, and handcuff them. That's OTT! Then there is my own in built scepticism when it comes to governments removing freedoms to the extent now seen. Time will tell if these restrictions in some form remain and if forced 'vaccination' is mandated by the government.

[GarydNB]