Hey Everyone,

Sorry its been so long since I've posted on here. I have been checking in and if I have anything to add, I do.

Just wondered how everyone is feeling with new restrictions being added, and the prospect of being locked down again becoming ever more likely.....Do you feel you've done it once, so it'll be ok?
Does it bring about fresh feelings of dread?
Are you one of the lucky ones, who've done really well out of lockdown?

If you want to share, please know this is a safe space.

Big Love xx

Not significantly now I know what's happening. The alarming bit is the build-up, when they are leaking things and there are rumours of restrictions coming but the government is delaying announcing something. The six-month timescale seems realistic too, even though it may well slip it's helpful to know we're not thinking in weeks but months.

That said, this period remains quite stressful.

TBH another lockdown would be beneficial for me. I have nothing to do at paid work due to relying on other people (those that make my reagents and those I use them on) and they are trying to increase my hours (in a hospital...wtf!?)

My non-paying job has just turned around and told me I need hours or lose qualifications so i'm trying to get counselling hours in over zoom, and I need time and energy to do that.

Also I am a wargammer, I have never painted or made so many models and terrain in my life and never will again.

On a non-personal note; ARRGGHHHH!!! Why didn't they listen to the experts, grow a pair and make the hard decision straight away? We would be in a better position now and fewer DEAD!

All I'll say is this. The way Boris "no brain" Johnson is shaping the UK might be back locked down in a fortnight (date spoke 23/9/20). We've just hit a new spike with over 6000 new infections in a day, a more realistic figure would be 10,000 a day. The man gets on TV and gaslights people like no one has ever seen. He might as well have "self-interest" tattooed on his forehead! I'll call over 9,000 a day within a week. The height in the first lockdown was 8,200. Pubs open, lol! Go on holiday lol! Go to work, don't go to work. Return to Uni, the list goes on and on!

All that said, it gives me time to write my second novel in a year. So I'd best crack-on.

Regards,

Andy and the lockdown not been together in six months team!

P.S. Nicola Kiss waves to everyone and says she's suffering messy humiliation withdrawal! There's a first. . .

My thoughts about this lockdown is that here, in my country everything is coming to worse, People does not respect quarantine or the use of face mask, government says that we are ready for the "new normality" but... I see everyday the number of deaths increasing, we are now in 70K, I think that we are not ready and this is getting worse, however I still having hope, I even made myself a messy promise, I buy a chocolate bottle every week or a shaving cream bottle every week and, in the day that I get the vaccine and I get vaccinated, that day I will celebrate having a messy bath with all that substances that i bought since, I really hope this ends soon

Hey there...

Been in a hard lockdown for 3 months due to a government stuff up so haven't left the house other than for an hour of exercise a day in that period. So no face to face contact with family or friends in too long...

From a messy perspective, the brilliant producer that normally delivers 1 or 2 a month for me had to stop customs 6 months ago & were just talking about restarting when UK lockdown 2.0 loomed. Just hope their(your) business survives.

So many people impacted. Hoping we get over 2020 quickly & everyone can rebuild their lives.

Stay well all!

I had a bit of a paranoia attack earlier because I had to go to Wilkos having run out of bin liners. Half the peope in there were maskless, nearly no one was obeying social distancing and the woman behind me in the queue wasn't just maskless but had no idea of personal space.

The government have been sending such mixed messages. People need clear, concise advice. And the government needs to listen to medical advice BEFORE saying anything, rather than saying the first thing that comes into their heads (which, let's face it, is BoJo's stock trade and even his closest allies would admit that) and then having to backtrack on that 2 hours later.

The government have screwed things up on many levels, but I think everyone one knows to wear masks and stay 2 meters from each other. This is just plain stupidity and selfish behaviour. Lots of things the government has done badly has been exacerbated by Joe Public's attitude. To quote: "The spread of the virus depends on two things; One, the density of the population and Two, the density of the population".

I hate to upset Silver_Sea, but people are doing differently. London, 10p m, 24/9/2020.

https://twitter.com/kirstylewis6/status/1309244883023126530

No masks insight, pissed up people yes, masks no.

Popworld is openly asking students to into their bars to get hammered during the day. One business in Brighton is now saying, "The pavement is the new pub!" They plan to serve outside their venue in an attempt to get around the new law.

While this carries on, infections will rise, and many businesses will fold. Boris will do nothing, as he's always walked away at this point. But, this time he can't. Watch everything fall apart around him. It'll end up with him throwing members of the cabinet under the bus. Then he'll vanish back to Chequers for some Country Genting.

Regards,

Andy and the team.

You didn't upset me (not that differing opinions or experiences could), you basically agreed with what I said; people do stupid things and the virus will continue to spread due to selfish behaviour. Plus the government is crap.

I'm finding my days off especially grim at present. Under normal circumstances I'd have large group events like munches and similar to go to. Most of these have been off for months now and I've found in the absence of these bigger events my friends are more likely to either have couples gatherings or just spend time together with their partner.

Even before our local restrictions increased I found I had a lot more time alone and going out, to sit isolated in a pub or restaurant does not appeal in the slightest. I still get to see people, here and there, but the gaps are a source of some distress and irritation.

It's all leading to thoughts of my not being a priority for anyone, just a secondary, or tertiary interest, and that doesn't feel positive. I very much miss meeting new people and the rules seem rather more likely to support those already in relationships.

The losses this pandemic is incurring, relatively minor though they may be, are made significantly harder by the confused response and likelihood of lies emanating from government, they don't seem concerned with us at all. It's hard to feel safe just now, with those people in charge.

Whelp, you didn't specifically direct your question at people residing in the UK, so...

i went to Nebraska for a month of military reserve training - apparently one of the locations where US citizens (from that cruise ship in Asia) were sent for quarantine?

Do you recall a US Navy ship getting infected with coronavirus in March/April? No? (google: USS Theodore Roosevelt coronavirus for more info on that) a co-worker from years ago was onboard for that. Almost certainly exposed, went through quarantine on Guam. All tests were Negative.

I've got 2 roomates (+ 1 "couch surfer") all covid-19 positive, all with various levels of symptoms. Somehow, i tested negative. (VERY mild symptoms... i felt about 88% normal for a day or 2)

The early lockdowns of March ~ June hurt me financially, but the last 2 weeks at my job were BUSY! (partly because one guy quit to go to another job, and last week, one of the regular operators had a funeral to attend, etc)

Then there's the x-USMC E.R. nurse who's blog mentioned trouble in Wuhan LONG before the mainstream media did. I'll post a link, but he's gone somewhat quiet recently...

http://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/

So on the one hand, covid-19 is definitely real. On the other hand, seems to me poly-ticks (er...politics?) seems to be exploiting the situation for some nefarious gain? (i've got extra tinfoil hats if anyone wants/needs a few???)

I would love to hear how things are viewed and/or experienced in all the other parts of the world?

Pretty accurate, C19 is very real (I work in a hospital) and politicians will exploit anything for gain (The Torys in the UK are awful for giving contracts to business's of friends and screwing over sections of society that they don't like). Also Politicians don't want to appear weak PLUS hate admitting they were wrong, so our lot waited to long and screwed it up...the Torys are now 2nd in polls (I think, certainly lost points) after a landslide win a few years ago.
Due to screwing it up the first time and scared our economy will tank, the Torys opened things up too quickly, with bad rules, forgetting a significant number of the UK populous are idiots/edgelords and that's why I couldn't buy toilet paper this week for the second time this year.

First lock down I did alright after a difficult couple of weeks to start off with - it was clear it was the right thing to do just 2 weeks too late. Now it's clear, at least to me, that another lock down is the only option yet total inaction from the powers that be while the crisis gets significantly worse by the day. It's like watching two trains heading towards each other on the same track - clear there is going to be a huge disaster but nothing that I can do to help.

I'll feel much better about the world when the second lock down comes purely because until it happens each day becomes less safe and the longer it will be before I can see family again. I guess I've become a bit fatalistic about the whole situation, I expect government inaction which will lead to ~50,000 deaths this winter either from Covid or from diseases that would have been treated had the hospitals not been full. On the flip side there is the mental health of the youth to worry about particularly with Universities going back and the inevitable misfit in each flat - have Universities got the support for those? It feels like there is a need for each University to run their own service like chathub to connect people randomly but locally in a safe space to help those with big problems.

Anyway, bring lock down on. More people will live, my bank account loves it and I have a cleaner and tidier house at the end of it!

Speaking of here we go again........

Back in that black pit after having another nervous breakdown yesterday. More shenanigans from the boss at work. Haven't slept for two nights, nausea and retching, can' keep still, no motivation.... you know, the usual stuff. Off to docs to get some meds to help me sleep and see if they improve matters. Mood swings dragging me from pillar to post at the moment and am struggling to see a way out.

Also, the covid situation makes things a lot harder in terms of getting the care I need from both parents and social care but will just have to soldier on. Feeling in a real bad place at the moment and trying to summon the strength to keep going on the long road ahead.

Wamadeus

We've had some great times together along with Easy and the gang. Try to recall those occasions when things are difficult. Mental health is a difficult road to travel. Plus, recall the mint hotels you - always - (grins) managed to wangle! To this day I still can't work out how you - always - ended up the extras, hot tubs, etc. Happy days. Feel free to message me if it would help.

Regards,

Andy and the team.

The irony is that ive found this site while being in lockdown

I've been out of the flat twice in the las three weeks, just loads of work related... Living alone and getting shopping delivered (once the supermarkets expanded enough to cope with all the newcomers to this rather handy service) has meant that I've been able to practise extreme social distancing - going for a walk in the early hours. One thing I've talked about a couple of times with the supermarket delivery folks is that they are often the only person many of us will speak to in a week. I think I'm more worried about the next few weeks as I'm on holiday from now until at least the start of January, potentially even longer (I have a staggering 5 months in days owed) so I won't have those regular teams meetings and the like.

So there's a new strain and tougher restrictions in London, but its fine cos Christmas isn't cancelled... I had to book something for next year using gift vouchers that expire soon, so actually have something planned for early April, whether the chap who'll be joining me can get over from Paris then is another matter...

The 'new' strain is most likely the one found in Mink (in Denmark) looking at the protein sequence/expression/deletion. There is no evidence (yet) that it is worse or gets round the vaccine.

Christmas should be cancelled as the case numbers are rising again, near lockdown 2 levels already. This means Christmas will cause a massive spike on top of the already growing number. I imagine we will have a LD1 version again in early January as that proved quite effective (and LD2 did only halted the growth and hardly dropped them).

If we don't have other LD1 then I guess this will continue into July/August next year. A LD1 would give time for the vaccine to be distributed while dropping the numbers. Just need a strong government to implement it...yeah.

So the new tiers are out and one story says I stay in tier 2, another say tier 3. Not that it makes much difference for me as I've been avoiding people since March anyway...

We are not very strong in medicine, but we think that only Sweden and Belarus are on the right path.
Because we just have to live with it. Like the flu or HIV / AIDS.

I have concluded: Boris Johnson is a clot! (I could type other words and phrases!) Any man who lets (and knowingly admits it during in a press conference at 4 pm 19/12/20) a new strain of COVID into Britain (because people involved in transport to and from Europe are not tested?!?) and does nothing to stop it. In fact, he doesn't bother to tell the people of Kent; he tells them to go shopping! Needs to go. Simple as. . . Will the Cons party do anything about it? I doubt it. I don't know who was/is worse. Johnson or Trump?

Shakes head.


Andy and the team.

I've basically given up. I just called everyone and said "see you in the new year, yule get your presents then".

Homophone jokes are funny. Shut up.

I imagine Tier 4 areas will increase and today was a tester to see how badly they screwed up, psychologically speaking. Again, too little, too late.

Also my partner is working Christmas day (16 hours in a care home) so going to be a quiet one. Probably just do work that I have been putting off as the peace is rare.

I'm not even annoyed by this, just "yep, 2020".

Boris is lucky that he was only just voted in by idiots and the media only a year ago so still has time to burn.....unlike Trump who was near the end of his tenure and knew that people were coming to get him out!!

We still have just under 3 more years of the idiot Boris (unless he does his usual thing and quit when he knows the going gets too tough for him and he can't lie or wriggle his way out!!!)

Sigh... deep breaths bro. We'll get through.

Here Stateside, Some states have more stringent protocols than others. In my home state of Maryland, we are currently in between Phase 1 reopening which is strict protocols and Phase 2 reopening where there are stlill some strict measures but some measures are relaxed. In my area of Maryland, masks and face coverings are mandatory as well as reminding Marylanders statewide to limit travel during the holiday season because of a slight uptick of positive cases being reported in the state and social distance and when riding on the Washington Metrorail and Metrobus, masks are mandatory. I can't wait for the vaccines to be available to the general public cause the current president's administration, which will be gone after January 20th, has mishandled the response to the virus in an embarrassing fashion by not following the guidelines of the CDC and a group of people nationwide, who supports the outgoing president, thinks Covid-19 is a hoax. I should know about Covid. A couple of my relatives caught the virus and luckily fully recovered from the virus and I have another cousin who works in a hospital and has already been vaccinated. Covid-19 is a real thing and President-Elect Biden has proposed that All Americans continue wearing masks for the first 100 days of his Presidency until both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are ready for the public. I hope 2021 will be a year when the virus is under control and things get back to somewhat normal

Why? Several mutations have been reported over the year. Even the flu doesn't mutate so often. At the same time, the last of the identified mutations is already 56% more infectious than the original one.

This is a bit of a mixed bag. I envisage it being like the flu, always around but a yearly vaccine that combines the most common types of the previous years strains to give adequate protection.

There are many different mutations but most have no recognisable difference, the fact that one is more infectious (at the time of typing it is thought this is due to viral load e.g. more in the host body so more ejected) is jumped on by the fear-mongering media.

Only time will tell.

Well, maybe. We are not virologists after all. It's just that specifically in our country for a very long time - even before our birth - it was precisely that the general mandatory vaccination against influenza was banned, deciding on the basis of research that it would do more harm than good.