Hello,
Well... it's goodbye to 2020 and hello 2021...
Where did that year go so quickly!...
Nothing much else to say here... CTRL + F5 to update the website so the title
shows 2021, that's about it...
Enjoy 2021...
xXx
OLD 2020 Sidebar page...
Well, it's bye bye to 2019 and hello to 2020... A new
decade!... So what do you think will happen in 2020?...
NB: Since this is now a very long document, and difficult to read in the
sidebar, it can be viewed as a full webpage by clicking
Sidebar Full Page.
*UPDATE Nov09/2020
Well, we went in to another lockdown, a four week lockdown that started Thursday
5th Nov 2020 (what a stupid day to start it), apparently this was because of a
leaked memo so everyone heard about it from the press and it was brought forward
as people were going out partying and bulk buying. However, you wouldn't think
there was a lockdown as schools, colleges, and Universities are still open and
students are in their rooms etc, so personally I don't think this lockdown is
going to be effective in reducing the number of cases, but there is no doubt
that we can't continue to live like this forever, so it's all about little
steps. Silly stories I've heard so far are a woman was arrested for checking on
her horse (like animal organisations complain more horses are being abandoned
then ever), so when you do get a caring owner they arrest and fine her. Yes she
had to travel, but not many of us keep horses in the city these days eh? Another
one was a husband and wife were sharing a meal, the restaurant called the cops
because they were sharing food. It's not like they don't live together, breathe
the same air indoors etc (and maybe kiss and/or sleep together, make love to
each other etc), but you can't share a meal... So this one couple was picked on
whilst the protestors in their hundreds of thousands, no masks, no social
distancing etc all give the cops the run around and go home or back to school or
offices or whatever they do... This is what many of the stories are like, the
law punishes those they can handle, but lets of the ones that outnumber them.
Another one is insurance companies are threatening to invalidate insurance
claims if you are in a accident and can't prove you are out in/on your vehicle
for a permitted reason. How dumb is that!? As I said, you wouldn't think there
was a lockdown, kids and teens are still playing on the streets or hanging
around the shops after school, often in groups of way more than six, and this
isn't just at home time or start of school, this is still happening till at
least 8pm in the evening as I'm returning from a legitimate cause, be it
shopping or caring. Shops aren't so bad atm, depends where you go. Delivery
slots or like gold dust in the Arctic. The USA has a new President-Elect, not in
office yet, but he basically wants nothing to do with the UK or so it's
reported, time will tell. It was quite a close race however. Not much else to
write that isn't opinionated, so I'll end this here.
*UPDATE Sep21/2020
Well, well... What a year this has been... We are no longer in a full lockdown,
having exited that in mid May, but it is very much a matter of remaining
sensible and practicing safe social distancing. Shops are back up to capacity,
pubs are open, schools have reopened, and apart from large fixtures such as
sports and things like air-shows etc not being allowed, some sort of normality
was returning. I say 'was' because this past week the number of cases have
spiked and continue to increase. It is likely we are heading for another
lockdown, or at least a partial lockdown. Some schools have already closed as
cases have spread, those who don't isolate or break the Cov-ID laws have fines
which are increasing. One individual visited our city this week and at the Guild
Hall encouraged everyone there to hug! He's already received a £10,000 fine for
breaching Cov-ID Laws. Is he loopy? Is he ill informed about the virus and its
effects, I don't know, not for me to judge, maybe he's just made of money and
doesn't give a shit. This virus will not kill everyone, but it is a virus that
will kill those of a certain DNA makeup and make others very poorly, and that's
why we need to reduce it's spread. I applaud freedom of speech and a personal
choice. The BLM rally at the same location a few weeks earlier saw individuals
stood observing social distancing, a very good display of making a point and
keeping safe. But what some people don't seem to have yet grasped yet, in what
feels like 7mths is that you can be a carrier and not suffer anything, you're a
silent carrier, 'Asymptomatic', but you go see someone, and just talk to them
and you can spread the virus, and if they are susceptible and contract the
virus, they will suffer a drowning sensation as their lungs fill with fluid over
the course of a few days to weeks, and eventually they could die, if they don't
die the virus can still have devastating effects on their organs, and that
angers me about society. It doesn't seem to be just one age range that's being
irresponsible, you simply can't blame the children or teens in school, that's
where the Govt has told them they must go, some parents are still keeping their
children off school, and I totally understand that, but you can blame those
teens and adults who are being irresponsible, I've seen one group of teen males
who were sharing one mask between five of them and going into the same shop one
after the other! Maybe they think they're invincible, or see themselves as
having more rights (or smarter) than everyone else, but what they don't get is
that others have the same rights and decided that they want to be responsible
and protect themselves and others. I've seen shops displaying signs saying
"Don't wear a mask as you will be asked to leave the store". If you're worried
about things being pinched improve your security or shop layout, employ a store
detective or only let one individual in at a time. Many stores have been
actively enforcing the wearing of masks with the exception of young children and
those with genuine medical reasons not to wear masks, but now everyone has got
smart to that and simply tell the store person that they don't have to wear one,
as it's only guidance, and so they risk infecting the whole store as they walk
round it and touch things and they don't use the antibacterial station.
Unfortunately the virus has evolved to go with the irresponsible ones and spread
through their population, and if responsible individuals happen to be in it's
path, it's not fussed, it'll take them as collateral damage! Society and the
Govt need to wake up. I don't blame Boris, honestly, he was in the job a few
weeks and this landed at his feet and in his body, he's not really had time to
do anything else, but he needs advisors who actually know the facts and aren't
'guessing' the way they are now, I mean allowing travel abroad was always a
stupid idea and allowing schools to return, both were always really bad ideas,
but he listened to his advisors, now he wants office workers who are able to
work from home to return to the confines of a office with bits of plastic
between them when you still all have to walk the same routes in to and out of
work, Brill, yeah, like that won't be the cause of the third spike! The only
fortunate think is that we have better technology in mapping viruses and DNA
etc, but even that isn't being put to use as well as it could be, and OMG, using
mobile phones as 'Track & Trace"... Great in theory, !... Well, rant over...
*UPDATE Apr03/2020
Well, it's day 42 of the UK lock down, or 60,480 minutes, our current death and
infections levels have stabilised, and indeed, have been going down slightly and
our PM is considering relaxing some restrictions, but it's pretty obvious that
once they are relaxed the UK will again suffer a rise in both cases and deaths,
likely resulting from the fact that those who isolated fully (including the
elderly and those with underlying conditions) will be exposed to the general
public. We're watching Italy closely as they ended lock down a few days ago. In
the UK it's reported that those over 50yrs old are to be told to locked down for
much longer. The Govt want to get the economy back up and running, but given our
PM was hospitalised and in intensive care for three days and nights, and then
remained off work to recover further (although you can see he still hasn't
recovered fully), it is a risk he may have to take for the sake of the country.
But given he was only elected a few weeks before CovID-19 happened, he hadn't
even gotten his feet wet before he was thrown in at the deep end as you might
say. Personally (putting aside how I've felt throughout this), I've followed
lock down rules as best as I could. Up to today I've spent 98.3% of the lock
down at home, with the remaining 1.7% spent shopping or caring for family.
That's 59,460 minutes on lock down. I've been surprised at how much travelling
I've had to do for shopping and caring. 259.5miles. The longest was a urgent
hospital appointment arranged by my mums GP for her. I did question the validity
of the reasons and risks with the GP, but it was clear from that conversation
that the risks of her contracting CovID-19 outweighed the risks of her attending
this hospital appointment. So whilst that put myself at a higher risk (than say
food shopping), as both her son, driver and carer, it wasn't something I had any
second thoughts about not doing. The concerns of the GP were justified and we
attended the appointment. But that aside, it's a 15ml round trip to my parents,
then the side track to the food stores (often more than one to find a short
queue) adds more travel time/distance as home delivery slots are just non
existent, the supermarkets are just not geared up to the current climate, even
the ones that say they are simply are not. So, much of the 1.7% I was out was
inside my own vehicle rather than in a shop, and none of it was walking around
in a public place for exercise or just to get out. So, that's this update done.
*UPDATE Mar23/2020
COVID-19 had made a serious impact in the UK, with Hampshire being hit hard. The
Govt do not have a handle on it at all, delaying way too long and not managing
essential supplied, some of the major supermarkets are allowing one hour early
opening for all NHS staff, and three days a week allowing one hour early opening
for OAP's, vulnerable and carers. We are likely one day away from total
lockdown. Schools have already closed. Exams cancelled. We are about 2wks behind
Italy in severity of death tolls. Many shops, restaurants, takeaways etc have
closed. Even MacieD's are closing all branches from 7pm today, including the
drive through, so even the police won't be able to have a shift break there. In
the UK, MacieD's is to our police as doughnut shops are to American police
(satire humour).
*UPDATE Feb15/2020
The Coronavirus labelled as COVID-19 that has it's origins in China has, due to
faster methods of travel, arrived on the south coast of the UK.
Interesting historical fact.
During the first major plague outbreak, 1346AD, which we now know as being
spread mostly by fleas who bite humans, it took 8yrs to travel from it's origins
in Asia through the middle east into Europe and England. Contributing factors to
this slow rate of transmission were our much slower method of travel, mostly
walking, horse and cart, and sailing ships. The continent we call America wasn't
yet discovered and is believed to have escaped the plague right up to the
1900's!
Also, the method of infection was much more physical, with most transmission
cases being caused by a flea bite.
The flu epidemic of 1918, considered to be the first time the human body was
exposed to the H1N1 virus (2% death rate of those infected), it travelled from
it's suspected origins of field medical camps in France back to the home
countries with the surviving and injured troops at the end of WW1. It spread
much quicker, both in person to person transmission, being airborne such as a
cough or sneeze (and to a lesser extent surface contact), in less than 1yr due
to huge numbers of troops being brought home by large ships with engines and ran
it's main course in just 2yrs.
We've had other outbreaks of various descriptions, Ebola, Smallpox, HIV etc,
which have damaged the human population, and I encourage you to research these,
it's interesting to realise how vulnerable our huge human body is when compared
to the size of a virus or bacterium, as well as how the human race has fought
back.
The COVID-19 virus, whilst the WHO haven't designated it a Pandemic (yet,
because it's not been seen in 190 countries, even though it is a close cousin to
SARS, if they want to contain it, they should class it as a Pandemic. My opinion
is I think they are being foolish), it is spread the same way as the 1918 flu
epidemic, airborne as well as surface contact, but being a more virile new virus
to its human host, it appears to be more infectious, and since the first case on
1st December 2019, and because we now have air travel it has spread over halfway
around the globe in just 2mths and currently has a death rate of just under 3%
of those infected.
There is much inaccurate information on the web, and much important information
is being tucked away in obscure websites so as not to create panic.
We shouldn't panic. These outbreaks always run their course and the outcome is
somewhat already in your own DNA. You can take some precautions, don't be in
crowded places, wear a mask to remove some risk from airborne droplets, wash
your hands, fist pump or elbow bump rather than shaking hands.
How you can help. An infected neighbour, friend or relative should stay in
isolation. Offer to shop for them. Buy new carrier bags, don't use bags from the
infected person. Ask for payment via online banking, or wait till they are
better. If they need electric or gas and use a 'key/card', ask them to pass the
key through the letterbox and catch it in a small plastic bag, then spray inside
the bag with disinfectant, shake the bag and leave for 1 minute, this will not
harm the key or card. Then insert a tissue and rub dry the key/card, then, if
their meter is outside, ask if you can keep the key/card until they are better,
or repeat this process each time if they have a indoor meter.
Photograph all receipts, knock their door, confirm they know your there, then
leave the shopping outside for them and walk at least 10ft away so they can open
the door and collect the shopping.
What's important is if you feel you have a cold or flu is to initially isolate
yourself. Phone NHS on 111 (in the UK) or phone your GP and inform them you have
symptoms. Take rest and fluids, and if you experience breathlessness or trouble
breathing, then dial 999 (in the UK), inform them of your suspicions and your
breathing distress. Do not attend your GP surgery in person. Do not attend your
local A&E or NHS Treatment Ctr unless you have phoned them in advance to ensure
they have set up a inspection quarantine area to deal with this virus, and
request instructions on how to attend. It is safer to drive your own car if you
are well enough, but do not use public transport. The NHS should by now have in
place transport designed for quarantine conditions for both the protection of
the public and front line medical staff.
Some reading sources, from the references you can follow
other links to further information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%9320_Wuhan_coronavirus_outbreak
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
Many thanks,
Maffysdad
Left bar last updated :- 31 Dec 2020 18:11:49 |