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  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,000
    The other day someone was asking how they could watch The Sopranos? It's currently on Sky Atlantic, Series 3, but if you click on More Episodes you can watch it all from the pilot episode onwards.

    You would need to have Sky of course..
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,153

    kle4 said:

    tyson said:

    tyson said:

    Anyone want to guess.....

    What will be the date when the uk Govt officially announces an end to Covid 19?

    And how big will the UK economy be compared to the 1st February 2020?

    I think 1st September 2021.....and our economy will be 83% the size....

    Depends on a vaccine but it could be in your timeline and the size of the economy is maybe optimistic
    My instinct was to go for 64%...but I depressed myself...and so went higher....


    Economically we will be a mjuch poorer country possibly....hopefully emotionally and spiritually we will not....
    I think the end result of this will be a sea change away from greed and globalisation and a much more socially aware society, and hopefully kinder
    You're a far more optimistic person than I am. I think we'll have a mixture of increased kindness and increased bitterness for a few months or years, then the grinding pressures of society will see us return to our previous state, for better and worse. Our stubborness and resilience can work both ways.
    It is upto each and everyone to learn from the suffering of so many and soften their attitudes towards a kinder gentler society. I know many will not see it this way but hopefully a good majority will
    In fairness I've just read a bunch of Joe Abercrombie books so I'm full of a depressing view of human nature right now.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163

    tyson said:

    I tried to open a bottle of red wine tonight, and remembered I left my only corkscrew opener at a friends house. Gutted does not even begin to describe it.

    It won’t go off that quickly. Get another corkscrew.

    Better still, buy screwcap bottles of wine.

    push it in with a bit of brute force and the back end of a knife...I've been reduced to that a few times
    At the risk of getting the more bibulous pbers telling me to foxtrot oscar, I’m radically cutting down my alcohol intake while isolating. The main thing I’m noticing is that I’m sleeping much better.
    Do not drink after 8pm and preferably not after 7pm. In any case, drink at least 2 or 3 cups of tea or water between the last drink and bedtime. Most hangovers are caused by dehydration, but I find booze after 8pm disturbs my sleep
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 8,604

    kyf_100 said:

    I tried to open a bottle of red wine tonight, and remembered I left my only corkscrew opener at a friends house. Gutted does not even begin to describe it.

    Do they still use corks? I thought it was 99 per cent screw tops these days. Just search for "how to open wine without a corkscrew" or some such. Or cheat and push the cork in.
    Screw a 50mm self tapper in and then pull the cork with pliers

    ... or borrow your neighbour's corkscrew ;)
    I once watched a man open a wine bottle with using only a shoe.

    Believe it or not it does work, and quite surprisingly quickly.

    https://www.grubstreet.com/2013/06/how-to-open-wine-with-a-shoe.html
    Wow. By far the best answer. Can’t believe that works?!?
    I must try it. But first I need a tree.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767

    tyson said:

    I tried to open a bottle of red wine tonight, and remembered I left my only corkscrew opener at a friends house. Gutted does not even begin to describe it.

    It won’t go off that quickly. Get another corkscrew.

    Better still, buy screwcap bottles of wine.

    push it in with a bit of brute force and the back end of a knife...I've been reduced to that a few times
    At the risk of getting the more bibulous pbers telling me to foxtrot oscar, I’m radically cutting down my alcohol intake while isolating. The main thing I’m noticing is that I’m sleeping much better.
    Yeh, but how are the days?
  • ParistondaParistonda Posts: 1,843
    So the French figures looked good today. obviously excluding the 884 deaths which was a lump sum since the start of the outbreak (they weren't measuring the care home deaths at the time). New infections at about +2000 and deaths under 500. just a blip or a sign of the growth rate slowing in France, which would indicate the country managing to avoid being than Italy and Spain?
  • Jonathan said:

    Jonathan said:

    tyson said:

    tyson said:

    Anyone want to guess.....

    What will be the date when the uk Govt officially announces an end to Covid 19?

    And how big will the UK economy be compared to the 1st February 2020?

    I think 1st September 2021.....and our economy will be 83% the size....

    Depends on a vaccine but it could be in your timeline and the size of the economy is maybe optimistic
    My instinct was to go for 64%...but I depressed myself...and so went higher....


    Economically we will be a mjuch poorer country possibly....hopefully emotionally and spiritually we will not....
    I think the end result of this will be a sea change away from greed and globalisation and a much more socially aware society, and hopefully kinder
    I hope you’re right. I am much more pessimistic. I fear things will kick off at some point.
    I know it has highlighted how fortunate my wife and I in our old age and hope that we can come together to reflect on the suffering and vow to care for everyone and reject greed from any source
    Well said. I hope you prevail.
    Meanwhile others are looking to allocate blame. Some in the west blaming China, some in Russia blaming the west. A lot of people will not be happy with financial ruin.
    Strange that my memory of the immediate post war years was of ration books, everywhere seemed in a permanent sepia colour, having very little, but we were happy and very close to family life.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    The other day someone was asking how they could watch The Sopranos? It's currently on Sky Atlantic, Series 3, but if you click on More Episodes you can watch it all from the pilot episode onwards.

    You would need to have Sky of course..

    Thanks! It wasn't me but that's one I've been meaning to watch.

    Currently watching Game of Thrones back from the beginning. Work meant I never had time to watch the final season when it was aired and been a couple of year since I saw the penultimate series so now I'm house bound due to the virus rewatching it from the start to the end. Please no spoilers!
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 26,622

    The other day someone was asking how they could watch The Sopranos? It's currently on Sky Atlantic, Series 3, but if you click on More Episodes you can watch it all from the pilot episode onwards.

    You would need to have Sky of course..

    You could watch it all on NOW TV.
  • eggegg Posts: 1,749
    rcs1000 said:

    egg said:

    A thong?

    People used to wear mask because they thought they were protecting themselves. Until that was revealed as fallacy.

    Now something you already had in the house is just as good to show you are careful not to infect others? Truth is in this situation, with a cough and a sneeze you shouldn’t be out there anyway.

    And whoever tried to fool everyone 2m is okay, when droplets from cough or sneeze go 7m needs hauling before us and grilled.

    It also lives in faeces, pulling the flush with lid up can give it to you, added with the healthy hand dryers makes public or workplace loos the most riskiest of places.
    OK.

    You do know that droplets from coughs or sneezes are subject to gravity, right?

    And, not only, that but they disperse over time, and that their intensity drops at a cube rate.

    So, sure, if you're lying on the ground seven meters away, you might still get some flying fleghm... but it will be one hundredth of the amount someone gets if they're one meters from the sneezer.

    This is not about reducing chance of infection to zero. It's about reducing it by an order of magnitude. Two meters does that.
    I’m certainly not going to argue with the calming and reassuring voice on this site, but I understand WHO are revisiting the guidelines based on some latest findings.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52126735
  • I'd like to engage the collective wisdom of PB please 🙂

    I have elderly relatives who insist on going to the shops to get shopping/newspaper, etc. They say they feel happy and comfortable going to the "elderly hour" at the supermarket. I tell them this enemy is invisible and they could feel totally comfortable, but they are still putting themselves in harm's way. I'm more than happy to do all this stuff for them - order their shopping online with click and collect and leave it at their front door (I have slots booked already for myself). They say it's too much hassle for me, I shouldn't go out of my way.

    How do you get through to them? This is driving me nuts!
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    Barnesian said:

    kyf_100 said:

    I tried to open a bottle of red wine tonight, and remembered I left my only corkscrew opener at a friends house. Gutted does not even begin to describe it.

    Do they still use corks? I thought it was 99 per cent screw tops these days. Just search for "how to open wine without a corkscrew" or some such. Or cheat and push the cork in.
    Screw a 50mm self tapper in and then pull the cork with pliers

    ... or borrow your neighbour's corkscrew ;)
    I once watched a man open a wine bottle with using only a shoe.

    Believe it or not it does work, and quite surprisingly quickly.

    https://www.grubstreet.com/2013/06/how-to-open-wine-with-a-shoe.html
    Wow. By far the best answer. Can’t believe that works?!?
    I must try it. But first I need a tree.
    Assume you have a tree.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767

    JonathanD said:
    Perhaps its the SPADs and Sir Humphreys who are both crap.
    Can't imagine who the senior SPAD who has been saved by the civil service could possibly be.
  • It's getting serious. The Orange Emperor has released his secret weapon. The 'Kush' is on.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,000

    The other day someone was asking how they could watch The Sopranos? It's currently on Sky Atlantic, Series 3, but if you click on More Episodes you can watch it all from the pilot episode onwards.

    You would need to have Sky of course..

    Thanks! It wasn't me but that's one I've been meaning to watch.

    Currently watching Game of Thrones back from the beginning. Work meant I never had time to watch the final season when it was aired and been a couple of year since I saw the penultimate series so now I'm house bound due to the virus rewatching it from the start to the end. Please no spoilers!
    Well, a few tough guys get rubbed out, and several cannoli are eaten.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468
    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163
    kle4 said:

    kle4 said:

    tyson said:

    tyson said:

    Anyone want to guess.....

    What will be the date when the uk Govt officially announces an end to Covid 19?

    And how big will the UK economy be compared to the 1st February 2020?

    I think 1st September 2021.....and our economy will be 83% the size....

    Depends on a vaccine but it could be in your timeline and the size of the economy is maybe optimistic
    My instinct was to go for 64%...but I depressed myself...and so went higher....


    Economically we will be a mjuch poorer country possibly....hopefully emotionally and spiritually we will not....
    I think the end result of this will be a sea change away from greed and globalisation and a much more socially aware society, and hopefully kinder
    You're a far more optimistic person than I am. I think we'll have a mixture of increased kindness and increased bitterness for a few months or years, then the grinding pressures of society will see us return to our previous state, for better and worse. Our stubborness and resilience can work both ways.
    It is upto each and everyone to learn from the suffering of so many and soften their attitudes towards a kinder gentler society. I know many will not see it this way but hopefully a good majority will
    In fairness I've just read a bunch of Joe Abercrombie books so I'm full of a depressing view of human nature right now.
    I read a trilogy of his and it was ok(ish) - a sort of Game of Thrones lite. I thought that torturer Glokta was the only character of note.

    I have just finished reading the Millennium Trilogy (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and it was bl**dy brilliant. Each novel better than its predecessor :+1:
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992

    I'd like to engage the collective wisdom of PB please 🙂

    I have elderly relatives who insist on going to the shops to get shopping/newspaper, etc. They say they feel happy and comfortable going to the "elderly hour" at the supermarket. I tell them this enemy is invisible and they could feel totally comfortable, but they are still putting themselves in harm's way. I'm more than happy to do all this stuff for them - order their shopping online with click and collect and leave it at their front door (I have slots booked already for myself). They say it's too much hassle for me, I shouldn't go out of my way.

    How do you get through to them? This is driving me nuts!

    Find a relative of theirs whom they trust, or better yet is a favourite of theirs, and get that person to make it clear how serious the situation is.

    (Yes it worked and no I wasn't the favourite.)
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 26,622

    JonathanD said:
    Perhaps its the SPADs and Sir Humphreys who are both crap.
    Can't imagine who the senior SPAD who has been saved by the civil service could possibly be.
    You're assuming he has been.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767
    edited April 2020

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,148
    tyson said:

    HYUFD said:
    And his record on holding Boris to account is stellar !!!

    I cannot say how relieved I will be to see him gone, preferably to his allotment

    The one person who damaged the labour party more than anyone in history

    And I really hope Starmer is not daft enough to give him any position in the shadow cabinet
    Starmer is not going to let Corbyn near....

    It is the damage to the country that a weak opposition does,,,,,

    Just think...if labour had not had such a mental collapse...you'd have Osborne now as PM, no Brexit....and a decent cabinet front bench of big hitters like Grieve, Hammond, May, Hunt, Rudd, etc.....
    You would also still have deep austerity and spending as a percentage of gdp heading to just 35%, one of the lowest in the western world, which was Osborne's target, rather than staying over 40% and rising under Boris.

    Given Osborne's links to China Leader of the Opposition Andy Burnham might be running him close in the GE postponed to the autumn this year due to Covid 19
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767
    Bing search engine is showing Blackpool tower with NHS logo as its background tonight
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163

    Bing search engine is showing Blackpool tower with NHS logo as its background tonight

    The CoE is finished. The NHS is the new religion.....
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218
    isam said:

    Doesn’t the graph show the peak at March 9th?

    https://twitter.com/alistairhaimes/status/1245787483645845515?s=21

    We know from Wuhan/Hubei that real infection rates fall very quickly after a lockdown is implemented. (Heck, I've been saying this for about three weeks.)

    It seems naive to think that infection rates would not have continued on an upward path if there had been no measures to stop infection in Italy,
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,951

    kyf_100 said:

    I tried to open a bottle of red wine tonight, and remembered I left my only corkscrew opener at a friends house. Gutted does not even begin to describe it.

    Do they still use corks? I thought it was 99 per cent screw tops these days. Just search for "how to open wine without a corkscrew" or some such. Or cheat and push the cork in.
    Screw a 50mm self tapper in and then pull the cork with pliers

    ... or borrow your neighbour's corkscrew ;)
    I once watched a man open a wine bottle with using only a shoe.

    Believe it or not it does work, and quite surprisingly quickly.

    https://www.grubstreet.com/2013/06/how-to-open-wine-with-a-shoe.html
    Wow. By far the best answer. Can’t believe that works?!?
    The guy I saw who used this method was a grizzled old ad man, a terminal alcoholic. I reckon if he'd broken the bottle, he'd have strained the broken bits through his sock and drank the wine out of his shoe. So perhaps that is the level of desperation required.

    But yes, it worked. And with very few taps. For what it's worth, he hit it very, very hard, maybe four or five times. So I think some force is required to make this method work.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,675
    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Wine box, Bosh. Job done. Keep your shoes and shirt on. And there’s usually more wine.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218
    egg said:

    rcs1000 said:

    egg said:

    A thong?

    People used to wear mask because they thought they were protecting themselves. Until that was revealed as fallacy.

    Now something you already had in the house is just as good to show you are careful not to infect others? Truth is in this situation, with a cough and a sneeze you shouldn’t be out there anyway.

    And whoever tried to fool everyone 2m is okay, when droplets from cough or sneeze go 7m needs hauling before us and grilled.

    It also lives in faeces, pulling the flush with lid up can give it to you, added with the healthy hand dryers makes public or workplace loos the most riskiest of places.
    OK.

    You do know that droplets from coughs or sneezes are subject to gravity, right?

    And, not only, that but they disperse over time, and that their intensity drops at a cube rate.

    So, sure, if you're lying on the ground seven meters away, you might still get some flying fleghm... but it will be one hundredth of the amount someone gets if they're one meters from the sneezer.

    This is not about reducing chance of infection to zero. It's about reducing it by an order of magnitude. Two meters does that.
    I’m certainly not going to argue with the calming and reassuring voice on this site, but I understand WHO are revisiting the guidelines based on some latest findings.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52126735
    @egg

    You seem to think very much in ones and zeros. Either something works, or it doesn't.

    The reality is that lots of things work to a greater or lesser extent. You will not get the same viral load from a CV-19 cougher/sneezer at seven yards you do at one yard. Because physics.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767

    Bing search engine is showing Blackpool tower with NHS logo as its background tonight

    The CoE is finished. The NHS is the new religion.....
    Seems that way tonight.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767
    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Swiss army knife, at all times.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609

    Bing search engine is showing Blackpool tower with NHS logo as its background tonight

    The CoE is finished. The NHS is the new religion.....
    It's just...you don't want be taking communion in their chapels....
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,117
    Terrible new deaths figure coming in from France today...close to 1400...they have obviously changed their counting rules....
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    How'd the interview go btw. If it went well, that would justify cracking it open tonight, regardless of the WHO advice. :p
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935
    tyson said:

    Terrible new deaths figure coming in from France today...close to 1400...they have obviously changed their counting rules....

    I think they added in a bunch extra today from care homes etc. Whether that's a one off, I'm not sure.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767

    Bing search engine is showing Blackpool tower with NHS logo as its background tonight

    The CoE is finished. The NHS is the new religion.....
    It's just...you don't want be taking communion in their chapels....
    Ouch! Especially the new ones.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992
    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
  • ukpaulukpaul Posts: 649
    RobD said:
    He’s increasingly looking like a blonde Tommy Cooper.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992
    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    Any time. PM me.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609

    I'd like to engage the collective wisdom of PB please 🙂

    I have elderly relatives who insist on going to the shops to get shopping/newspaper, etc. They say they feel happy and comfortable going to the "elderly hour" at the supermarket. I tell them this enemy is invisible and they could feel totally comfortable, but they are still putting themselves in harm's way. I'm more than happy to do all this stuff for them - order their shopping online with click and collect and leave it at their front door (I have slots booked already for myself). They say it's too much hassle for me, I shouldn't go out of my way.

    How do you get through to them? This is driving me nuts!

    They still have many years of going to the shops, buying the papers.

    AS LONG AS they let you do it for them for the next few weeks.

    Otherwise, there's a very real risk it will be just the one of them, doing the shopping for one... Now, is that fair on the other, the one who doesn't make it?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,148

    Bing search engine is showing Blackpool tower with NHS logo as its background tonight

    The CoE is finished. The NHS is the new religion.....
    There are 85 million Anglicans in the world, more than the entire population of the UK.

    Plenty of Anglicans like myself and my partner were also clapping NHS workers at 8pm tonight anyway
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935
    edited April 2020
    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    Given those plots are two weeks out of date, I'm not sure how much value they bring. We're in week 14.

    For context, there were a few tens of deaths per day two weeks ago. We're now up to almost 600.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468
    RobD said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    How'd the interview go btw. If it went well, that would justify cracking it open tonight, regardless of the WHO advice. :p
    It went well! It’s a long process, but at this point they’ve agreed to give me a placement after things return to normal, so it was a success overall, thank you.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935

    RobD said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    How'd the interview go btw. If it went well, that would justify cracking it open tonight, regardless of the WHO advice. :p
    It went well! It’s a long process, but at this point they’ve agreed to give me a placement after things return to normal, so it was a success overall, thank you.
    Congratulations! Crack open that bottle now, sir. :D
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609
    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    That plan for killing off the oldie Tory vote - it may need some tweaking, Momentumites...

    Been phoning some oldies in lock-down tonight. Remarkably sanguine. Chipper even. One lot were off to go and bang pots and pans on their balcony at 8.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    eadric said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Swiss army knife, at all times.
    Yep. I always travel with 3 corkscrews, one Swiss Army knife, three major EDC knives. The Ontario rat is my favourite

    https://www.amazon.com/Ontario-Knife-ON8848-BRK-Rat-1/dp/B07BSDCCY5

    The best knife in the world in terms of value for money

    Plus tobasco, soy sauce, three spare credit cards (ready to go) and an emergency bottle of single malt
    It's illegal to carry that in the UK as it locks open and has blade > 3" long.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992
    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    Any time. PM me.
    You went to cheltenham festival you fucking moron. This makes you either selfish and stupid or outrageously selfish and stupid. And then you came on here and drunkenly boasted about it.

    You have probably killed people. Well done, old boy, well done.

    https://twitter.com/dailymailuk/status/1245668082284183552?s=21
    As I thought.
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,288
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    Doesn’t the graph show the peak at March 9th?

    https://twitter.com/alistairhaimes/status/1245787483645845515?s=21

    We know from Wuhan/Hubei that real infection rates fall very quickly after a lockdown is implemented. (Heck, I've been saying this for about three weeks.)

    It seems naive to think that infection rates would not have continued on an upward path if there had been no measures to stop infection in Italy,
    It was approaching peak in the Lombard, Veneto and Emilian epicentre provinces, but was just on the point of taking off in the major cities, Milan, although close to centre had many fewer cases than provinces 1/4 of the size, Turin, Rome and Naples were on the cusp of the exponent steepening sharply. The full lockdown was damping down to stop the fire spreading outwards. Milan now has the greatest number of cases of any province, but the best measure of the effect of lockdown would probably be Piedmont.

    Even allowing for the London, Sheffield, South Wales, W Mids hotspots our outbreak is much more evenly national across the whole UK than Italy's ever was or, indeed, America's is.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609

    RobD said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    How'd the interview go btw. If it went well, that would justify cracking it open tonight, regardless of the WHO advice. :p
    It went well! It’s a long process, but at this point they’ve agreed to give me a placement after things return to normal, so it was a success overall, thank you.
    Yay! Just those exams to get through.

    If only you had a bunch of lawyers with lots of time on their hands, to give you a few pointers to the answers....
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,117
    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    If you look at the data coming into the Bevan hospital in Gwent-just over 2 weeks ago, the Stereophonics played 2 capacity gigs at the Cardiff 02- apparently pics of the sold out in this indoor gig were the most shared inside China....

    It's the Lombardy equivalent.... Atlanta vs Valencia (played on the 19th Feb).... ..lots of aysmptomtic spreaders who travelled in on joint cars etc.....and more importantly left in joint cars.

    The Stereophonics gig was nearly a month later....and Gwent is our hotspot.....


  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163
    edited April 2020
    rcs1000 said:


    You seem to think very much in ones and zeros. Either something works, or it doesn't.

    I have been thinking in ones and zeroes for 30 years. Except for Python which is mostly just zero

    :D:D:D


  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767
    IshmaelZ said:

    eadric said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Swiss army knife, at all times.
    Yep. I always travel with 3 corkscrews, one Swiss Army knife, three major EDC knives. The Ontario rat is my favourite

    https://www.amazon.com/Ontario-Knife-ON8848-BRK-Rat-1/dp/B07BSDCCY5

    The best knife in the world in terms of value for money

    Plus tobasco, soy sauce, three spare credit cards (ready to go) and an emergency bottle of single malt
    It's illegal to carry that in the UK as it locks open and has blade > 3" long.
    So why are Amazon UK selling it then?
  • eggegg Posts: 1,749
    rcs1000 said:

    egg said:

    rcs1000 said:

    egg said:

    A thong?

    People used to wear mask because they thought they were protecting themselves. Until that was revealed as fallacy.

    Now something you already had in the house is just as good to show you are careful not to infect others? Truth is in this situation, with a cough and a sneeze you shouldn’t be out there anyway.

    And whoever tried to fool everyone 2m is okay, when droplets from cough or sneeze go 7m needs hauling before us and grilled.

    It also lives in faeces, pulling the flush with lid up can give it to you, added with the healthy hand dryers makes public or workplace loos the most riskiest of places.
    OK.

    You do know that droplets from coughs or sneezes are subject to gravity, right?

    And, not only, that but they disperse over time, and that their intensity drops at a cube rate.

    So, sure, if you're lying on the ground seven meters away, you might still get some flying fleghm... but it will be one hundredth of the amount someone gets if they're one meters from the sneezer.

    This is not about reducing chance of infection to zero. It's about reducing it by an order of magnitude. Two meters does that.
    I’m certainly not going to argue with the calming and reassuring voice on this site, but I understand WHO are revisiting the guidelines based on some latest findings.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52126735
    @egg

    You seem to think very much in ones and zeros. Either something works, or it doesn't.

    The reality is that lots of things work to a greater or lesser extent. You will not get the same viral load from a CV-19 cougher/sneezer at seven yards you do at one yard. Because physics.
    I understand. Similar to where they say it can live on a surface 2 days, but not to same potency throughout, it a question of degrees. Thank you.

    Let’s see what review team back with. Maybe move towards public face covering, mask or scarf, perhaps some routine for dealing with outside bling clean watches, phones rings as soon as come back to house with hand washes either side.
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,117
    RobD said:

    tyson said:

    Terrible new deaths figure coming in from France today...close to 1400...they have obviously changed their counting rules....

    I think they added in a bunch extra today from care homes etc. Whether that's a one off, I'm not sure.
    Did we do the same to get our hike this week?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,218

    rcs1000 said:


    You seem to think very much in ones and zeros. Either something works, or it doesn't.

    I have been thinking in ones and zeroes for 30 years. Except for Python which is mostly just zero

    :D:D:D


    Careful... I'm in a bad mood...
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:


    You seem to think very much in ones and zeros. Either something works, or it doesn't.

    I have been thinking in ones and zeroes for 30 years. Except for Python which is mostly just zero

    :D:D:D


    Careful... I'm in a bad mood...
    That is OK, I am in a peculiar mood.....
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935
    tyson said:

    RobD said:

    tyson said:

    Terrible new deaths figure coming in from France today...close to 1400...they have obviously changed their counting rules....

    I think they added in a bunch extra today from care homes etc. Whether that's a one off, I'm not sure.
    Did we do the same to get our hike this week?
    I don't think so. It's unclear if those extra 800 people died just in one day, or it's a backlog they've just added in a one off.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,442
    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    Which is what you'd expect when it's been so mild. I guess the whole purpose of the lockdown is to avoid creating a huge spike on those graphs that is visible a mile away. If we wait until the spike in deaths is visible on those graphs it would be too late.
  • not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,449

    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    That plan for killing off the oldie Tory vote - it may need some tweaking, Momentumites...

    Been phoning some oldies in lock-down tonight. Remarkably sanguine. Chipper even. One lot were off to go and bang pots and pans on their balcony at 8.
    I’m not at all surprised death rates of OAPs are down. The lockdown and social distancing measures will have reduced the chance of passing on lots of other diseases, as well as reducing deaths by car crashes etc.
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,117
    IshmaelZ said:

    eadric said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Swiss army knife, at all times.
    Yep. I always travel with 3 corkscrews, one Swiss Army knife, three major EDC knives. The Ontario rat is my favourite

    https://www.amazon.com/Ontario-Knife-ON8848-BRK-Rat-1/dp/B07BSDCCY5

    The best knife in the world in terms of value for money

    Plus tobasco, soy sauce, three spare credit cards (ready to go) and an emergency bottle of single malt
    It's illegal to carry that in the UK as it locks open and has blade > 3" long.
    I don't think Eadric could relate to tools greater than 3 inches....
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    ...
  • eggegg Posts: 1,749
    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    Any time. PM me.
    You went to cheltenham festival you fucking moron. This makes you either selfish and stupid or outrageously selfish and stupid. And then you came on here and drunkenly boasted about it.

    You have probably killed people. Well done, old boy, well done.

    https://twitter.com/dailymailuk/status/1245668082284183552?s=21
    At last it’s kicking off. A proper tear up.

    It’s been all too polite and quiet in nighthawks tonight.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935

    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    That plan for killing off the oldie Tory vote - it may need some tweaking, Momentumites...

    Been phoning some oldies in lock-down tonight. Remarkably sanguine. Chipper even. One lot were off to go and bang pots and pans on their balcony at 8.
    I’m not at all surprised death rates of OAPs are down. The lockdown and social distancing measures will have reduced the chance of passing on lots of other diseases, as well as reducing deaths by car crashes etc.
    Check the date range, the stats are from before the lockdown even started.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,153
    edited April 2020

    kle4 said:

    kle4 said:

    tyson said:

    tyson said:

    Anyone want to guess.....

    What will be the date when the uk Govt officially announces an end to Covid 19?

    And how big will the UK economy be compared to the 1st February 2020?

    I think 1st September 2021.....and our economy will be 83% the size....

    Depends on a vaccine but it could be in your timeline and the size of the economy is maybe optimistic
    My instinct was to go for 64%...but I depressed myself...and so went higher....


    Economically we will be a mjuch poorer country possibly....hopefully emotionally and spiritually we will not....
    I think the end result of this will be a sea change away from greed and globalisation and a much more socially aware society, and hopefully kinder
    You're a far more optimistic person than I am. I think we'll have a mixture of increased kindness and increased bitterness for a few months or years, then the grinding pressures of society will see us return to our previous state, for better and worse. Our stubborness and resilience can work both ways.
    It is upto each and everyone to learn from the suffering of so many and soften their attitudes towards a kinder gentler society. I know many will not see it this way but hopefully a good majority will
    In fairness I've just read a bunch of Joe Abercrombie books so I'm full of a depressing view of human nature right now.
    I read a trilogy of his and it was ok(ish) - a sort of Game of Thrones lite. I thought that torturer Glokta was the only character of note.
    I had passed on his work previously off a similar assessment. Honestly I think the trio of 'standalone' books bridging The First Law Trilogy and its sequels are better than the original trilogy. The Heroes and Red County at least (Best Served Cold a bit less so). I think he found a better balancing of the pathetic, contemptible characters of his setting with some moments of hope or genuine humanity (since humanity is not all hopeless). Heck, a couple of characters in Red County even get something like a happy ending!

    Edit: Darkness induced apathy can be a real issue with some of these works. Though I read one this evening called Blackwing billed as from the 'publishers who brought you Joe Abercrombie'. Weird, and a bit too heavy on the made up lore at the start to make it easy to get in to, but turned out pretty decent.
  • ABZABZ Posts: 441
    Pro_Rata said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    Doesn’t the graph show the peak at March 9th?

    https://twitter.com/alistairhaimes/status/1245787483645845515?s=21

    We know from Wuhan/Hubei that real infection rates fall very quickly after a lockdown is implemented. (Heck, I've been saying this for about three weeks.)

    It seems naive to think that infection rates would not have continued on an upward path if there had been no measures to stop infection in Italy,
    It was approaching peak in the Lombard, Veneto and Emilian epicentre provinces, but was just on the point of taking off in the major cities, Milan, although close to centre had many fewer cases than provinces 1/4 of the size, Turin, Rome and Naples were on the cusp of the exponent steepening sharply. The full lockdown was damping down to stop the fire spreading outwards. Milan now has the greatest number of cases of any province, but the best measure of the effect of lockdown would probably be Piedmont.

    Even allowing for the London, Sheffield, South Wales, W Mids hotspots our outbreak is much more evenly national across the whole UK than Italy's ever was or, indeed, America's is.
    Which is arguably not a bad thing in terms of NHS capacity, as long as we have stopped it at the right time... we might just be lucky here...
  • valleyboyvalleyboy Posts: 606
    tyson said:

    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    If you look at the data coming into the Bevan hospital in Gwent-just over 2 weeks ago, the Stereophonics played 2 capacity gigs at the Cardiff 02- apparently pics of the sold out in this indoor gig were the most shared inside China....

    It's the Lombardy equivalent.... Atlanta vs Valencia (played on the 19th Feb).... ..lots of aysmptomtic spreaders who travelled in on joint cars etc.....and more importantly left in joint cars.

    The Stereophonics gig was nearly a month later....and Gwent is our hotspot.....


    With due respect, however misjudged the Stereos gig was, I dont think it has a lot to do with the Gwent hotspot.
    Apparently someone from the local Health board came back from Italy, unknowingly with the virus and he is believed to be the start of the epidemic in that area. Add to that the close proximity of the terraced valley houses and a close knit community is probably the real cause of the hot spot there.
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163
    tyson said:

    IshmaelZ said:


    It's illegal to carry that in the UK as it locks open and has blade > 3" long.

    I don't think Eadric could relate to tools greater than 3 inches....
    It is not the size, it is what you do with it......
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821
    On topic: Thank goodness for the internet. Think how much worse it would have been even five years ago, when download speeds and availability were so much worse, or ten years ago when much of this wouldn't have been possible at all.

    Chez Nabavi we've been spoilt for choice. We watched the two guvnors tonight, which was great fun. Last night we watched the free streaming of the magnificent 2007 Barber of Seville from the Met, with a first class cast led by Joyce DiDonato in prime voice. On Tuesday we had a dose of mitteleuropäische angst with Jenufa from Brno. Before that: Die Walkúre and parts of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung again from the Met, and a superb Lucia di Lammermoor also from the Met. Treats to come include Le Nozze di Figaro from Garsngton, and more goodies from the Met.

    Meanwhile there are books to read, a bit of light work to do during the day, the garden, fine wines .... I think we can hack this lockdown business...

    But at the same time my heart goes out to those stuck in flats, perhaps with young children, and money worries, not to mention those families directly hit by the awful virus, in some cases not even able to mourn their dead properly. It's a surreal time at best, and horrific for many. Kudos to the NHS and care workers, and all others in the front line.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    Any time. PM me.
    You went to cheltenham festival you fucking moron. This makes you either selfish and stupid or outrageously selfish and stupid. And then you came on here and drunkenly boasted about it.

    You have probably killed people. Well done, old boy, well done.

    https://twitter.com/dailymailuk/status/1245668082284183552?s=21
    As I thought.
    You went to Cheltenham Topping?

    I didn't realise that . . . I hope you had a good time!

    That is all.
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821

    RobD said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    How'd the interview go btw. If it went well, that would justify cracking it open tonight, regardless of the WHO advice. :p
    It went well! It’s a long process, but at this point they’ve agreed to give me a placement after things return to normal, so it was a success overall, thank you.
    Well done!
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,153

    Bing search engine is showing Blackpool tower with NHS logo as its background tonight

    The CoE is finished. The NHS is the new religion.....
    New? I think it's just undergoing a more evangelical reformation.
    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    Blimey it's getting spicy tonight. We'll see who's still standing tomorrow I guess.
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,117
    edited April 2020
    valleyboy said:

    tyson said:

    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    If you look at the data coming into the Bevan hospital in Gwent-just over 2 weeks ago, the Stereophonics played 2 capacity gigs at the Cardiff 02- apparently pics of the sold out in this indoor gig were the most shared inside China....

    It's the Lombardy equivalent.... Atlanta vs Valencia (played on the 19th Feb).... ..lots of aysmptomtic spreaders who travelled in on joint cars etc.....and more importantly left in joint cars.

    The Stereophonics gig was nearly a month later....and Gwent is our hotspot.....


    With due respect, however misjudged the Stereos gig was, I dont think it has a lot to do with the Gwent hotspot.
    Apparently someone from the local Health board came back from Italy, unknowingly with the virus and he is believed to be the start of the epidemic in that area. Add to that the close proximity of the terraced valley houses and a close knit community is probably the real cause of the hot spot there.
    So one person travelling from Italy was the problem....not the 2 x 5000 capacity, indoor gigs in Cardiff..just over 2 weeks ago....where lots of young people would have travelled in and out sharing cars (and minibus) from the local areas.....which feed into Bevan hospital...

    Bergamo was almost undoubtedly fuelled by the match against Valencia on the 19th February where convoys of fans came in on buses....which led to Lomabardy being the epicentre after the 15th March.....

    The two Stereophonics gigs were nearly a month later than the Atlanta match.....which means the eye of the storm is coming the end of next week.....I hope not....I really do,
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609
    CV-19 doesn't need to be remotely smart. It can do quite nicely, thank you, by relying on its victims to be dumb....
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    IshmaelZ said:

    eadric said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Swiss army knife, at all times.
    Yep. I always travel with 3 corkscrews, one Swiss Army knife, three major EDC knives. The Ontario rat is my favourite

    https://www.amazon.com/Ontario-Knife-ON8848-BRK-Rat-1/dp/B07BSDCCY5

    The best knife in the world in terms of value for money

    Plus tobasco, soy sauce, three spare credit cards (ready to go) and an emergency bottle of single malt
    It's illegal to carry that in the UK as it locks open and has blade > 3" long.
    So why are Amazon UK selling it then?
    Carry *in public.*
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    RobD said:

    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    That plan for killing off the oldie Tory vote - it may need some tweaking, Momentumites...

    Been phoning some oldies in lock-down tonight. Remarkably sanguine. Chipper even. One lot were off to go and bang pots and pans on their balcony at 8.
    I’m not at all surprised death rates of OAPs are down. The lockdown and social distancing measures will have reduced the chance of passing on lots of other diseases, as well as reducing deaths by car crashes etc.
    Check the date range, the stats are from before the lockdown even started.
    It seems to me, maybe I am misjudging it, that the mild winter and lack of deaths from flu in Europe left a lot of vulnerable people alive that might have been expected to die in a normal year, and generally they are the ones falling victim to covid-19, meaning the total deaths this year may not be anything alarming
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,318
    According to my daughter, the cost of green veg has gone up. Wholesalers are saying that less is getting picked because of the 2-metre rule and because of much stricter border controls leading to delays. The wholesale cost of a head of cauliflower has gone up to £1.80 from 50p normally - the highest it’s been in decades.

    Still her pizza takeaway business is taking lots of orders: it’s the only pizza takeaway place between Workington and Ulverston.

    And please no jokes about pineapples. She needs all the business she can get.

  • valleyboyvalleyboy Posts: 606
    eadric said:

    valleyboy said:

    tyson said:

    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    If you look at the data coming into the Bevan hospital in Gwent-just over 2 weeks ago, the Stereophonics played 2 capacity gigs at the Cardiff 02- apparently pics of the sold out in this indoor gig were the most shared inside China....

    It's the Lombardy equivalent.... Atlanta vs Valencia (played on the 19th Feb).... ..lots of aysmptomtic spreaders who travelled in on joint cars etc.....and more importantly left in joint cars.

    The Stereophonics gig was nearly a month later....and Gwent is our hotspot.....


    With due respect, however misjudged the Stereos gig was, I dont think it has a lot to do with the Gwent hotspot.
    Apparently someone from the local Health board came back from Italy, unknowingly with the virus and he is believed to be the start of the epidemic in that area. Add to that the close proximity of the terraced valley houses and a close knit community is probably the real cause of the hot spot there.
    Every hot spot has patient zero. It doesn’t mean that patient zero HAS to then spread it to thousands.

    What you need for that is big crowds of people, rammed together, at, say, a concert or a race festival; that’ll do it. They will take the bug, and make sure it is widely dispersed

    Cf the spring breakers in America.
    That was the official line from Gwent.
    I agree though that gigs like Cheltenham are guaranteed to cause massive virus spread.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935
    isam said:

    RobD said:

    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    That plan for killing off the oldie Tory vote - it may need some tweaking, Momentumites...

    Been phoning some oldies in lock-down tonight. Remarkably sanguine. Chipper even. One lot were off to go and bang pots and pans on their balcony at 8.
    I’m not at all surprised death rates of OAPs are down. The lockdown and social distancing measures will have reduced the chance of passing on lots of other diseases, as well as reducing deaths by car crashes etc.
    Check the date range, the stats are from before the lockdown even started.
    It seems to me, maybe I am misjudging it, that the mild winter and lack of deaths from flu in Europe left a lot of vulnerable people alive that might have been expected to die in a normal year, and generally they are the ones falling victim to covid-19, meaning the total deaths this year may not be anything alarming
    I don't think that is right. 2019/20 looked like a pretty average year according to those charts.
  • MyBurningEarsMyBurningEars Posts: 3,651

    So the French figures looked good today. obviously excluding the 884 deaths which was a lump sum since the start of the outbreak (they weren't measuring the care home deaths at the time). New infections at about +2000 and deaths under 500. just a blip or a sign of the growth rate slowing in France, which would indicate the country managing to avoid being than Italy and Spain?

    I have done some negative binomial time series modelling on the UK deaths figures (ie Poisson regression with overdispersion and possibly serial dependencies) and the thing that struck me is how big the "plus or minus" is on any given day just due to random variation, let alone the uncertainty in the estimation itself.

    For example a very basic constant-growth model for the UK data suggests deaths are growing at about 25% per day but that comes with a degree of uncertainty (21% to 28% daily growth is the 95% confidence interval). But the model's predictions for the next 3 days are:

    730 deaths (95% prediction interval 400 to 1100)
    910 deaths (95% prediction interval 520 to 1400)
    1100 deaths (95% prediction interval 620 to 1800)

    So even if tomorrow the number of UK deaths falls to 450 or jumps over 1000 for the first time, it doesn't necessarily indicate a substantial departure from trend.

    The minimum kind of variation you'd expect for a count data series would be if it were Poisson distributed, so comes with a standard deviation approximating the square root of the current count (eg a figure of exactly 400 should be taken with a pinch of salt because it could quite easily by chance have gone one or two standard deviations either way, and since one standard deviation would be 20ish it's probably best read as "320ish to 480ish, but probably in the region 360 to 440").

    But every model I tried showed quite substantial overdispersion (hence a negative binomial rather than Poisson distribution) and for that constant growth model it's so bad that the standard deviation should be about one quarter of the count, for reasonably large count sizes - so you would need to read a count of 400 as likely coming with plus or minus 100 of random variation, or even plus or minus 200 if you go out to two standard deviations either way.

    Basically it isn't worth getting super excited about a day or even a couple of days of data!
  • eggegg Posts: 1,749

    On topic: Thank goodness for the internet. Think how much worse it would have been even five years ago, when download speeds and availability were so much worse, or ten years ago when much of this wouldn't have been possible at all.

    Chez Nabavi we've been spoilt for choice. We watched the two guvnors tonight, which was great fun. Last night we watched the free streaming of the magnificent 2007 Barber of Seville from the Met, with a first class cast led by Joyce DiDonato in prime voice. On Tuesday we had a dose of mitteleuropäische angst with Jenufa from Brno. Before that: Die Walkúre and parts of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung again from the Met, and a superb Lucia di Lammermoor also from the Met. Treats to come include Le Nozze di Figaro from Garsngton, and more goodies from the Met.

    Meanwhile there are books to read, a bit of light work to do during the day, the garden, fine wines .... I think we can hack this lockdown business...

    But at the same time my heart goes out to those stuck in flats, perhaps with young children, and money worries, not to mention those families directly hit by the awful virus, in some cases not even able to mourn their dead properly. It's a surreal time at best, and horrific for many. Kudos to the NHS and care workers, and all others in the front line.

    Today I saw videos of South African shanty towns in sky news and I felt for the people there. Even if they do their best, we at least have a chance to self isolate

    https://news.sky.com/video/south-africas-first-day-of-lockdown-ends-in-chaos-11965055
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    RobD said:

    isam said:

    RobD said:

    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    That plan for killing off the oldie Tory vote - it may need some tweaking, Momentumites...

    Been phoning some oldies in lock-down tonight. Remarkably sanguine. Chipper even. One lot were off to go and bang pots and pans on their balcony at 8.
    I’m not at all surprised death rates of OAPs are down. The lockdown and social distancing measures will have reduced the chance of passing on lots of other diseases, as well as reducing deaths by car crashes etc.
    Check the date range, the stats are from before the lockdown even started.
    It seems to me, maybe I am misjudging it, that the mild winter and lack of deaths from flu in Europe left a lot of vulnerable people alive that might have been expected to die in a normal year, and generally they are the ones falling victim to covid-19, meaning the total deaths this year may not be anything alarming
    I don't think that is right. 2019/20 looked like a pretty average year according to those charts.
    ?
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935
    isam said:


    RobD said:

    isam said:

    RobD said:

    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    That plan for killing off the oldie Tory vote - it may need some tweaking, Momentumites...

    Been phoning some oldies in lock-down tonight. Remarkably sanguine. Chipper even. One lot were off to go and bang pots and pans on their balcony at 8.
    I’m not at all surprised death rates of OAPs are down. The lockdown and social distancing measures will have reduced the chance of passing on lots of other diseases, as well as reducing deaths by car crashes etc.
    Check the date range, the stats are from before the lockdown even started.
    It seems to me, maybe I am misjudging it, that the mild winter and lack of deaths from flu in Europe left a lot of vulnerable people alive that might have been expected to die in a normal year, and generally they are the ones falling victim to covid-19, meaning the total deaths this year may not be anything alarming
    I don't think that is right. 2019/20 looked like a pretty average year according to those charts.
    ?
    Is there a better version of that plot, I can't see what the text is. I was referring to the graphs at the top of his blog, where 2019/20 lies smack in the middle of the rest of the years.
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,117
    valleyboy said:

    eadric said:

    valleyboy said:

    tyson said:

    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    If you look at the data coming into the Bevan hospital in Gwent-just over 2 weeks ago, the Stereophonics played 2 capacity gigs at the Cardiff 02- apparently pics of the sold out in this indoor gig were the most shared inside China....

    It's the Lombardy equivalent.... Atlanta vs Valencia (played on the 19th Feb).... ..lots of aysmptomtic spreaders who travelled in on joint cars etc.....and more importantly left in joint cars.

    The Stereophonics gig was nearly a month later....and Gwent is our hotspot.....


    With due respect, however misjudged the Stereos gig was, I dont think it has a lot to do with the Gwent hotspot.
    Apparently someone from the local Health board came back from Italy, unknowingly with the virus and he is believed to be the start of the epidemic in that area. Add to that the close proximity of the terraced valley houses and a close knit community is probably the real cause of the hot spot there.
    Every hot spot has patient zero. It doesn’t mean that patient zero HAS to then spread it to thousands.

    What you need for that is big crowds of people, rammed together, at, say, a concert or a race festival; that’ll do it. They will take the bug, and make sure it is widely dispersed

    Cf the spring breakers in America.
    That was the official line from Gwent.
    I agree though that gigs like Cheltenham are guaranteed to cause massive virus spread.
    I've been posting here since those gigs my worries for South Wales....
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609
    Cyclefree said:

    According to my daughter, the cost of green veg has gone up. Wholesalers are saying that less is getting picked because of the 2-metre rule and because of much stricter border controls leading to delays. The wholesale cost of a head of cauliflower has gone up to £1.80 from 50p normally - the highest it’s been in decades.

    Still her pizza takeaway business is taking lots of orders: it’s the only pizza takeaway place between Workington and Ulverston.

    And please no jokes about pineapples. She needs all the business she can get.

    You mean, she's got....a pineapple?

    Does she deliver to Devon?
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    RobD said:

    isam said:


    RobD said:

    isam said:

    RobD said:

    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    That plan for killing off the oldie Tory vote - it may need some tweaking, Momentumites...

    Been phoning some oldies in lock-down tonight. Remarkably sanguine. Chipper even. One lot were off to go and bang pots and pans on their balcony at 8.
    I’m not at all surprised death rates of OAPs are down. The lockdown and social distancing measures will have reduced the chance of passing on lots of other diseases, as well as reducing deaths by car crashes etc.
    Check the date range, the stats are from before the lockdown even started.
    It seems to me, maybe I am misjudging it, that the mild winter and lack of deaths from flu in Europe left a lot of vulnerable people alive that might have been expected to die in a normal year, and generally they are the ones falling victim to covid-19, meaning the total deaths this year may not be anything alarming
    I don't think that is right. 2019/20 looked like a pretty average year according to those charts.
    ?
    Is there a better version of that plot, I can't see what the text is. I was referring to the graphs at the top of his blog, where 2019/20 lies smack in the middle of the rest of the years.
    It’s the last one on his blog I think

    Also this one


  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609

    So the French figures looked good today. obviously excluding the 884 deaths which was a lump sum since the start of the outbreak (they weren't measuring the care home deaths at the time). New infections at about +2000 and deaths under 500. just a blip or a sign of the growth rate slowing in France, which would indicate the country managing to avoid being than Italy and Spain?

    I have done some negative binomial time series modelling on the UK deaths figures (ie Poisson regression with overdispersion and possibly serial dependencies) and the thing that struck me is how big the "plus or minus" is on any given day just due to random variation, let alone the uncertainty in the estimation itself.

    For example a very basic constant-growth model for the UK data suggests deaths are growing at about 25% per day but that comes with a degree of uncertainty (21% to 28% daily growth is the 95% confidence interval). But the model's predictions for the next 3 days are:

    730 deaths (95% prediction interval 400 to 1100)
    910 deaths (95% prediction interval 520 to 1400)
    1100 deaths (95% prediction interval 620 to 1800)

    So even if tomorrow the number of UK deaths falls to 450 or jumps over 1000 for the first time, it doesn't necessarily indicate a substantial departure from trend.

    The minimum kind of variation you'd expect for a count data series would be if it were Poisson distributed, so comes with a standard deviation approximating the square root of the current count (eg a figure of exactly 400 should be taken with a pinch of salt because it could quite easily by chance have gone one or two standard deviations either way, and since one standard deviation would be 20ish it's probably best read as "320ish to 480ish, but probably in the region 360 to 440").

    But every model I tried showed quite substantial overdispersion (hence a negative binomial rather than Poisson distribution) and for that constant growth model it's so bad that the standard deviation should be about one quarter of the count, for reasonably large count sizes - so you would need to read a count of 400 as likely coming with plus or minus 100 of random variation, or even plus or minus 200 if you go out to two standard deviations either way.

    Basically it isn't worth getting super excited about a day or even a couple of days of data!
    "'Ere, there's a bloke at the door distributing Poissons. What shall I do?"

    "Tell him to bugger off....."

    "Yeah...bugger off! Standard deviant...."
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935
    edited April 2020
    isam said:

    RobD said:

    isam said:


    RobD said:

    isam said:

    RobD said:

    isam said:

    Lots of graphs saying respiratory deaths, deaths of OAPs etc etc are all way down in 2020

    https://hectordrummond.com/

    That plan for killing off the oldie Tory vote - it may need some tweaking, Momentumites...

    Been phoning some oldies in lock-down tonight. Remarkably sanguine. Chipper even. One lot were off to go and bang pots and pans on their balcony at 8.
    I’m not at all surprised death rates of OAPs are down. The lockdown and social distancing measures will have reduced the chance of passing on lots of other diseases, as well as reducing deaths by car crashes etc.
    Check the date range, the stats are from before the lockdown even started.
    It seems to me, maybe I am misjudging it, that the mild winter and lack of deaths from flu in Europe left a lot of vulnerable people alive that might have been expected to die in a normal year, and generally they are the ones falling victim to covid-19, meaning the total deaths this year may not be anything alarming
    I don't think that is right. 2019/20 looked like a pretty average year according to those charts.
    ?
    Is there a better version of that plot, I can't see what the text is. I was referring to the graphs at the top of his blog, where 2019/20 lies smack in the middle of the rest of the years.
    It’s the last one on his blog I think

    Also this one


    Ah, I scrolled down and could see it. That does look low, but that seems inconsistent with the earlier graph showing total deaths as being pretty similar to the previous years. The difference for those two curves on the UK plot is 3,300. I'm sorry to say that a lot more than that are going to die because of this disease.
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,951
    Cyclefree said:

    According to my daughter, the cost of green veg has gone up. Wholesalers are saying that less is getting picked because of the 2-metre rule and because of much stricter border controls leading to delays. The wholesale cost of a head of cauliflower has gone up to £1.80 from 50p normally - the highest it’s been in decades.

    Still her pizza takeaway business is taking lots of orders: it’s the only pizza takeaway place between Workington and Ulverston.

    And please no jokes about pineapples. She needs all the business she can get.

    Wait til you see what's happening to the price of rice.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-31/food-security-fears-starting-to-threaten-rice-exports-in-asia

    We joke about the proles hoarding TP, but whole countries are starting to hoard food...

    On a tangent, I lost my first acquaintance to the virus today, someone I worked with, now in his seventies. The first of many I suspect, unfortunately. He'll be missed. I also know several people who lost their jobs in the last 48 hours. Grim.
  • eggegg Posts: 1,749
    tyson said:

    valleyboy said:

    eadric said:

    valleyboy said:

    tyson said:

    eadric said:

    TOPPING said:

    eadric said:

    kle4 said:

    Workshopping ideas on how to open a stubborn wine bottle. A job PB was made for.

    I knew I could count on you guys.
    I will try it tomorrow in advance of a facetime date. :D
    It's a shame @SeanT is not online. I'm sure we will be hearing tales of opening a wine bottle using only a narwhal's tusk somewhere in northern Canada.
    A few years ago my then girlfriend showed me how to heat tongs to a zillion degrees and rip off the bottle top by melting the glass. The trouble is you need a brazier, etc

    In extremis I have simply smashed a bottle open and drunk the liquid through a reasonably clean cloth - a shirt or tee shirt - to sieve out the broken glass.

    I have also heard the shoe/wall method works, but have never tried it.

    I generally don’t get into this situation these days as I travel with about four corkscrews variously placed. Ditto big alarming knives.

    I carry a big nasty knife with me always, since this plague kicked in
    Carrying a big nasty knife says to anyone you meet: you have the right to kill me.

    You also have to be big and nasty. Which you manifestly are not.
    You went to cheltenham festival. If I meet you I’d be able to batter you to a pulp on the basis your IQ is clearly sub 70
    If you look at the data coming into the Bevan hospital in Gwent-just over 2 weeks ago, the Stereophonics played 2 capacity gigs at the Cardiff 02- apparently pics of the sold out in this indoor gig were the most shared inside China....

    It's the Lombardy equivalent.... Atlanta vs Valencia (played on the 19th Feb).... ..lots of aysmptomtic spreaders who travelled in on joint cars etc.....and more importantly left in joint cars.

    The Stereophonics gig was nearly a month later....and Gwent is our hotspot.....


    With due respect, however misjudged the Stereos gig was, I dont think it has a lot to do with the Gwent hotspot.
    Apparently someone from the local Health board came back from Italy, unknowingly with the virus and he is believed to be the start of the epidemic in that area. Add to that the close proximity of the terraced valley houses and a close knit community is probably the real cause of the hot spot there.
    Every hot spot has patient zero. It doesn’t mean that patient zero HAS to then spread it to thousands.

    What you need for that is big crowds of people, rammed together, at, say, a concert or a race festival; that’ll do it. They will take the bug, and make sure it is widely dispersed

    Cf the spring breakers in America.
    That was the official line from Gwent.
    I agree though that gigs like Cheltenham are guaranteed to cause massive virus spread.
    I've been posting here since those gigs my worries for South Wales....
    At what point will those who attended that gig or any Cheltenham day be off the hook if they’ve not got symptoms?
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677
    I've got to say I would love to see an IRL pb.com punch up or knife fight in a pub car park. I reckon Topping would batter eadric.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    edited April 2020

    On topic: Thank goodness for the internet. Think how much worse it would have been even five years ago, when download speeds and availability were so much worse, or ten years ago when much of this wouldn't have been possible at all.

    Chez Nabavi we've been spoilt for choice. We watched the two guvnors tonight, which was great fun. Last night we watched the free streaming of the magnificent 2007 Barber of Seville from the Met, with a first class cast led by Joyce DiDonato in prime voice. On Tuesday we had a dose of mitteleuropäische angst with Jenufa from Brno. Before that: Die Walkúre and parts of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung again from the Met, and a superb Lucia di Lammermoor also from the Met. Treats to come include Le Nozze di Figaro from Garsngton, and more goodies from the Met.

    Meanwhile there are books to read, a bit of light work to do during the day, the garden, fine wines .... I think we can hack this lockdown business...

    But at the same time my heart goes out to those stuck in flats, perhaps with young children, and money worries, not to mention those families directly hit by the awful virus, in some cases not even able to mourn their dead properly. It's a surreal time at best, and horrific for many. Kudos to the NHS and care workers, and all others in the front line.

    I'm not trying to be a contrarian just for the sake of it, but I think if this had happened 10 or 20 years ago people probably would have been saying to themselves: "Aren't we lucky — we've got all these DVDs, CDs, videos, records, cassette tapes and desktop computer games to play or use over the next 3 months. And national and international phone calls are enormously cheaper than they were a few years ago".
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,951
    Andy_JS said:

    On topic: Thank goodness for the internet. Think how much worse it would have been even five years ago, when download speeds and availability were so much worse, or ten years ago when much of this wouldn't have been possible at all.

    Chez Nabavi we've been spoilt for choice. We watched the two guvnors tonight, which was great fun. Last night we watched the free streaming of the magnificent 2007 Barber of Seville from the Met, with a first class cast led by Joyce DiDonato in prime voice. On Tuesday we had a dose of mitteleuropäische angst with Jenufa from Brno. Before that: Die Walkúre and parts of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung again from the Met, and a superb Lucia di Lammermoor also from the Met. Treats to come include Le Nozze di Figaro from Garsngton, and more goodies from the Met.

    Meanwhile there are books to read, a bit of light work to do during the day, the garden, fine wines .... I think we can hack this lockdown business...

    But at the same time my heart goes out to those stuck in flats, perhaps with young children, and money worries, not to mention those families directly hit by the awful virus, in some cases not even able to mourn their dead properly. It's a surreal time at best, and horrific for many. Kudos to the NHS and care workers, and all others in the front line.

    I'm not trying to be a contrarian just for the sake of it, but I think if this had happened 10 or 20 years ago people would have been thinking to themselves: "Aren't we lucky — we've got all these DVDs, CDs, videos, records, cassette tapes and desktop computer games to play or use over the next 3 months. And national and international phone calls are enormously cheaper than they were a few years ago".
    Business would be buggered though. Collaborative working tools mean my industry is more or less able to carry on as normal, that simply wouldn't have been possible ten years ago.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,250
    edited April 2020

    I'd like to engage the collective wisdom of PB please 🙂

    I have elderly relatives who insist on going to the shops to get shopping/newspaper, etc. They say they feel happy and comfortable going to the "elderly hour" at the supermarket. I tell them this enemy is invisible and they could feel totally comfortable, but they are still putting themselves in harm's way. I'm more than happy to do all this stuff for them - order their shopping online with click and collect and leave it at their front door (I have slots booked already for myself). They say it's too much hassle for me, I shouldn't go out of my way.

    How do you get through to them? This is driving me nuts!

    I honestly don't know if you will, unless they would listen to a friend who is a medic (?)

    Perhaps vigorously point out local casualties, esp. close to home, as they occur.

    Check how well you do with online ordering. AFAICS the only one left with gettable slots except for those who count as extremely vulnerable is ASDA, who release them at around midnight and you have to pounce.

    I had Morrisons send me an "on it's way" email at 6pm last night for 8-9 delivery. No delivery. Email at midnight "we could not fulfil your order so we have cancelled it". That was an order placed 12 days ago.

    I would be back to my local small Tesco or Coop for milk and veg, though I have a few offers from friends to shop for me.

    Even though I am in the vulnerable (not very vulnerable) group I have been relaxed ish so far, but I am now hunkering down for to see how this goes as the stats are going beserk, and we (East Mids) are getting more local reports having been really quiet.

  • MyBurningEarsMyBurningEars Posts: 3,651

    So the French figures looked good today. obviously excluding the 884 deaths which was a lump sum since the start of the outbreak (they weren't measuring the care home deaths at the time). New infections at about +2000 and deaths under 500. just a blip or a sign of the growth rate slowing in France, which would indicate the country managing to avoid being than Italy and Spain?

    I have done some negative binomial time series modelling on the UK deaths figures (ie Poisson regression with overdispersion and possibly serial dependencies) and the thing that struck me is how big the "plus or minus" is on any given day just due to random variation, let alone the uncertainty in the estimation itself.

    For example a very basic constant-growth model for the UK data suggests deaths are growing at about 25% per day but that comes with a degree of uncertainty (21% to 28% daily growth is the 95% confidence interval). But the model's predictions for the next 3 days are:

    730 deaths (95% prediction interval 400 to 1100)
    910 deaths (95% prediction interval 520 to 1400)
    1100 deaths (95% prediction interval 620 to 1800)

    So even if tomorrow the number of UK deaths falls to 450 or jumps over 1000 for the first time, it doesn't necessarily indicate a substantial departure from trend.

    The minimum kind of variation you'd expect for a count data series would be if it were Poisson distributed, so comes with a standard deviation approximating the square root of the current count (eg a figure of exactly 400 should be taken with a pinch of salt because it could quite easily by chance have gone one or two standard deviations either way, and since one standard deviation would be 20ish it's probably best read as "320ish to 480ish, but probably in the region 360 to 440").

    But every model I tried showed quite substantial overdispersion (hence a negative binomial rather than Poisson distribution) and for that constant growth model it's so bad that the standard deviation should be about one quarter of the count, for reasonably large count sizes - so you would need to read a count of 400 as likely coming with plus or minus 100 of random variation, or even plus or minus 200 if you go out to two standard deviations either way.

    Basically it isn't worth getting super excited about a day or even a couple of days of data!
    "'Ere, there's a bloke at the door distributing Poissons. What shall I do?"

    "Tell him to bugger off....."

    "Yeah...bugger off! Standard deviant...."
    Hah!

    Before the resident statisticians complain (think @viewcode still lurks here), provisos apply to the above: eg these uncertainties are actually somewhat asymmetric rather than plus or minus a constant, in principle it should be the current level of the mean ("lambda", as estimated from the trend) rather than the most recent count that the variation should be measured from, the formula for the standard deviation in the case when the overdispersion coefficient is 0.065 as it was in my simple example should really be the square root of (lambda plus 0.065 times the square of lambda) but for large values of lambda that's conveniently surprisingly close to one quarter of lambda... much of this post is statistically simplified in order to get across my central point which is just how much "plus or minus" you need to read into any given day's figures before attributing it to an interesting change in trend.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,250
    edited April 2020
    eadric said:



    Yep. I always travel with 3 corkscrews, one Swiss Army knife, three major EDC knives. The Ontario rat is my favourite

    https://www.amazon.com/Ontario-Knife-ON8848-BRK-Rat-1/dp/B07BSDCCY5

    The best knife in the world in terms of value for money

    Plus tobasco, soy sauce, three spare credit cards (ready to go) and an emergency bottle of single malt

    That's not an EDC knife in the UK. 3.5" blade, locking open, pseudo-flick knife deployment and tactical locking - you would need a damn good lawful excuse for having it in public, never mind in a town centre or pub.

    If you don't I think it is mandatory year of porridge for getting caught twice. If you are lucky they will confiscate and give you a caution for the first offence.

    Get something legal if you are treating it as an EDC.
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