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Jockdown II: No Way Out West

Started by canadagoose, November 17, 2020, 05:11:10 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

mobias

New rules today don't address the problem in Scotland. The problem is the work from home if you can message. So many businesses are saying to employees you can't work from home so get into work. Yet we're being told by the governments chief medical advisor to behave as if you have the virus. Ok, so I've got the virus but I'm still being made to go into work. It makes no sense.

Sebastian Cobb

Not that it matters at this time of year, but does that include gardens?

dissolute ocelot

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 13, 2021, 01:50:09 PM
Not that it matters at this time of year, but does that include gardens?

QuoteIt is against the law to consume alcohol in an outdoors public place in any Level 4 area.
So I guess your own private garden is ok. A maximum of 2 people are allowed to meet outdoors for a "valid purpose", so maybe you could have 1 person round for a drink in the garden: "social interaction" is listed as a valid reason to meet although I can't see it listed as a valid reason to leave your house.

Blue Jam

Good thing it's not barbecue weather here in Embra.

Taps most definitely OAN.

dissolute ocelot

If you're a 16 year old meeting your mates in the woods for a few cans of Dragon Soop (I HAVE A LIST OF NAMES), is making it slightly more illegal going to have an effect?

But I guess the point is to stop the pavements being clogged up by people conspicuously failing to socially distance with their takeaway pints, rather than to stop you taking a wee flask of something on your hillwalking.

Blinder Data

I had no idea takeaway pints were still allowed?! Pubs near me have had their doors shut for what seems like forever.

I can't imagine these changes will have much of an effect, but I guess it reinforces the message that we are in lockdown especially to wankers who are carrying on as normal.

Blue Jam

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 04, 2021, 02:30:49 PM
I don't know if it's still the case, but at one point it wasn't approved for sale here, but it isn't illegal to import. I get mine from https://www.biovea.com/uk/ which I think is based in the US.

Cheers, but Biovea's reviews on Trustpilot over the past few months have all been shocking. Looks like they might have gone bust or something but are still taking orders. The other online pharmacies I've checked out have all been the same.

My Amazon.com melatonin never arrived so I will be requesting a refund, and in the meantime I have ordered some more. I have a feeling UK customs may have intercepted my order though.

Also check out this spoilsport:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jan/03/illegal-sale-melatonin-ebay

I bet you're not losing as much sleep as I am, you busybody cunt.

Blue Jam

I cycled to werk yesterday. Going down The Innocent Railway wasn't too bad but in the other national park I cycle through the cycle path was one big long ribbon of black ice- you can't drive a gritter through a national park and disturb all the buzzards and wake the hibernating voles I guess. Pushing my bike along I nearly slipped a few times, despite my trainers having a deeper tread than my bike's road tyres. Made it home in one piece but I'm really nervous about having to go in on Friday. I might try walking there and back- it's three miles each way along the most direct route but I've got some decent moonboots and cold weather gear and I really don't want to get on a bus right now.

I do respect voles though. Really, I wouldn't want to wake them up. They have a hard enough life even when the weather is nice thanks to the buzzards keeping an eye on all their voley movements.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: Blue Jam on January 13, 2021, 06:18:03 PM
Cheers, but Biovea's reviews on Trustpilot over the past few months have all been shocking. Looks like they might have gone bust or something but are still taking orders. The other online pharmacies I've checked out have all been the same.

My Amazon.com melatonin never arrived so I will be requesting a refund, and in the meantime I have ordered some more. I have a feeling UK customs may have intercepted my order though.

Also check out this spoilsport:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jan/03/illegal-sale-melatonin-ebay

I bet you're not losing as much sleep as I am, you busybody cunt.

Oh bugger, I should've probably done that before I used them, but didn't think to having used them in the past.

Brigadier Pompous

Quote from: Blue Jam on January 13, 2021, 06:27:26 PM
I cycled to werk yesterday. Going down The Innocent Railway wasn't too bad but in the other national park I cycle through the cycle path was one big long ribbon of black ice- you can't drive a gritter through a national park and disturb all the buzzards and wake the hibernating voles I guess. Pushing my bike along I nearly slipped a few times, despite my trainers having a deeper tread than my bike's road tyres.

If you want to keep using your bike all winter I'd recommend getting some studded tyres, eg schwalbe winter marathons.  They grip sheet ice, and grip normally off ice, if a bit heavy.  Will last years as well so not too expensive overall.

Blue Jam

Quote from: Brigadier Pompous on January 14, 2021, 10:21:48 AM
If you want to keep using your bike all winter I'd recommend getting some studded tyres, eg schwalbe winter marathons.  They grip sheet ice, and grip normally off ice, if a bit heavy.  Will last years as well so not too expensive overall.

Cheers, those look good and they're a bit cheaper than the road bike tyres I'm using now (Specialized Armadillo "All-Condition") as they're on offer in a few places. Don't think they do them in 700x28c though and I'm not buying new wheels, just paid £95 for a new rear wheel. Thanks all the same, it looks like the icy weather will continue for a bit so I will probably get some winter tyres soon.

dissolute ocelot

Quote from: Blue Jam on January 13, 2021, 06:27:26 PM
I cycled to werk yesterday. Going down The Innocent Railway wasn't too bad but in the other national park I cycle through the cycle path was one big long ribbon of black ice- you can't drive a gritter through a national park and disturb all the buzzards and wake the hibernating voles I guess. Pushing my bike along I nearly slipped a few times, despite my trainers having a deeper tread than my bike's road tyres. Made it home in one piece but I'm really nervous about having to go in on Friday. I might try walking there and back- it's three miles each way along the most direct route but I've got some decent moonboots and cold weather gear and I really don't want to get on a bus right now.

I do respect voles though. Really, I wouldn't want to wake them up. They have a hard enough life even when the weather is nice thanks to the buzzards keeping an eye on all their voley movements.
Edinburgh's been a nightmare for ice with the cold weather over the last couple of weeks. I foolishly went for a walk up Calton Hill on the weekend and went all Torvill and Dean several times: the steps up were salted but it was very entertaining beyond there, some nice black ice. I've seen locals out doing guerrilla salting on footpaths and cycle paths, but only on selected routes. And everywhere seems sold out of winter gear, even Amazon. I was looking for crampon-type things, but no luck.

Blue Jam

Lots of black ice round Dunsapie Loch when I last went to visit the otter. Fun times.

Just ordered me some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres after reading some positive reviews. They're not as grippy as the studded ones but they will fit a dainty 28mm rim (oo-er). Also got myself a helmet liner (oo-er) to keep my little ears warm. Thanks again, Bgd. Pompous. This is Edinburgh so the ice may hang about for a bit, and Covid will probably hang about for a bit longer than that, so I think this was a necessary purchase.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: Blue Jam on January 13, 2021, 06:27:26 PM
I cycled to werk yesterday. Going down The Innocent Railway wasn't too bad but in the other national park I cycle through the cycle path was one big long ribbon of black ice- you can't drive a gritter through a national park and disturb all the buzzards and wake the hibernating voles I guess. Pushing my bike along I nearly slipped a few times, despite my trainers having a deeper tread than my bike's road tyres. Made it home in one piece but I'm really nervous about having to go in on Friday. I might try walking there and back- it's three miles each way along the most direct route but I've got some decent moonboots and cold weather gear and I really don't want to get on a bus right now.

I do respect voles though. Really, I wouldn't want to wake them up. They have a hard enough life even when the weather is nice thanks to the buzzards keeping an eye on all their voley movements.

I had a similar problem as the cycle bit by the Tall Ship near the clyde never used to get gritted and just turned in to sheet ice. It was safer to just battle it out with the cars on the road. Although the first few times I tried, I once landed on my arse and knocked a big chunk of polystyrene out the back of my helmet.

Brigadier Pompous

They do the studded ones in 700x35, which would be fine on your rims, just a question of whether you have clearance in the frame/mudguards.

Knobblier tyres wont help much with ice, the studs make a massive difference.

Blue Jam

Bugger. The article that recommended the Marathon Plus says studs are essential for ice too. Just tried to cancel the order, would these work better?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Schwalbe-Winter-700Cx30C-Kevlar-Tyres/dp/B074DVMC8Y/

Think I could do 30c but big chunky 35c tyres would be a bit of a stretch.

Been having a bit of a nightmare with this, a Google search for "winter bike tyres" throws up loads of articles about cycling in the rain for some reason, as if only MTB peeps ever cycle over ice or snow.

Brigadier Pompous

Yep they would be fine, as long as you can fit them in the frame!

Blue Jam

Yes, they should be fine. They're the budget option, fewer studs and the contact area may be smaller, but being less chonky they should fit the frame and they should keep me on the road for a few more weeks. Cancelled my original order and got a pair of these instead, I'm looking forward to finding out how noisy they are and pretending I'm parking a car on a gravelled driveway.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 13, 2021, 07:14:25 PM
Oh bugger, I should've probably done that before I used them, but didn't think to having used them in the past.

This arrived today so I guess Bioeva are still in business after all.

Blue Jam

My melatonin finally arrived from Amazon on Friday. Seems to be exactly the same one we've bought from US airport pharmacies before. Took one last night and had my best night's sleep in ages. Felt nicely, naturally tired and drifted off. All seems legit, ordered some more now.

It does seem mad that it's illegal to sell melatonin in the EU when you consider how much safer it is than the highly addictive sedative sleeping pills available on prescription. Maybe Brexit will change that but I imagine BoJo has a billion other things to sort out first.

Malcy

Lockdown until mid-Feb at least now.

Blinder Data

Our roadmap has been published. Unsurprisingly, it's very similar to the plan for England but two weeks behind. Unlike Johnson, we're keeping a regional approach and not having a big BANG of schools.

Not much to go on just now except businesses could reopen in the last week of April - more details to be published in mid-March.

Are people not going to visit family at Easter then? If it's a sunny weekend then best of luck with enforcing the restrictions.

George Oscar Bluth II

Wonder if Scotland's actual plan is very similar to England's just without the massive potential pitfall of failing to reopen everything on June 21st

scarecrow

Sturgeon said she wants to keep transmission of the virus as low as possible, and I mostly believe her.

mobias

Nicola Sturgeon would go down the zero covid route if she could but realistically she can't if England isn't. Case rates are quite low up here now though at least.

GMTV

Quote from: mobias on February 23, 2021, 06:48:05 PM
Nicola Sturgeon would go down the zero covid route if she could but realistically she can't if England isn't. Case rates are quite low up here now though at least.

It's England's virus

Blinder Data

Quote from: mobias on February 23, 2021, 06:48:05 PM
Nicola Sturgeon would go down the zero covid route if she could but realistically she can't if England isn't. Case rates are quite low up here now though at least.

Westminster's decision-making has a huge bearing on Scotland obvs. However, considering how widespread the virus is, I think it is too late to employ a zero covid route here, unless we want to stay in total lockdown until... the summer? Autumn? Zero covid might have been possible once upon a time but we're far beyond that point.

MojoJojo

Quote from: Blinder Data on February 24, 2021, 12:28:59 PM
Westminster's decision-making has a huge bearing on Scotland obvs. However, considering how widespread the virus is, I think it is too late to employ a zero covid route here, unless we want to stay in total lockdown until... the summer? Autumn? Zero covid might have been possible once upon a time but we're far beyond that point.

It's a bit off topic and and should be in the zero covid thread, but it seems to ignore that there are large numbers of the population who can't socially isolate. So it's not just a case of locking down longer, it's a case of shutting old people homes, prisons and hospitals.

scarecrow

Quote from: Blinder Data on February 24, 2021, 12:28:59 PM
Westminster's decision-making has a huge bearing on Scotland obvs. However, considering how widespread the virus is, I think it is too late to employ a zero covid route here, unless we want to stay in total lockdown until... the summer? Autumn? Zero covid might have been possible once upon a time but we're far beyond that point.
Why would staying locked down until summer and then opening up with cases incredibly low, test and trace functioning and the vaccination roll out in its advanced stages be any worse than experiencing another massive surge in deaths and having to enter lockdown a fourth time?

Blinder Data

Quote from: scarecrow on February 24, 2021, 01:45:37 PM
Why would staying locked down until summer and then opening up with cases incredibly low, test and trace functioning and the vaccination roll out in its advanced stages be any worse than experiencing another massive surge in deaths and having to enter lockdown a fourth time?

I'm not arguing that a new wave of death is preferable. My point is that the virus is too widespread to employ a 'zero covid' approach in Scotland now. It would require a lockdown much stricter than anything we have experienced, which I agree would be undermined by whatever Johnson decides and also people's tolerance of further restrictions - maybe it's just me, but I think people are almost at the end of the tether. Nice weather doesn't help people stay at home.