Social isolating - Not!

[pjm-84]

Well, That's me in Hospital

This has not been a good morning. After spending the last two weeks quarantined inside the house, I decided to go horse riding, something I haven't done in many years. It turned out to be a horribly big mistake!
I got on the horse and started out slowly but then we went a little faster, before I knew it we were going as fast as the horse could go. I couldn't take the pace and fell off and caught my foot in the stirrups and got dragged along....The horse just would not stop.
Thankfully the manager at Tesco's came out and unplugged the machine. He actually had the nerve to take the rest of my coins off me so I wouldn't try to ride the Elephant...

 

[ArunAlec]

Do you think that we should have a two class society:
A - recovered from Coronavirus - no travel restrictions
B - people who have followed advice and rules, for example by not shaking hands - house arrest

No, I’m saying IF a person has had the virus and IF it is true that they cannot catch it again, then the fact that they are convalescing in a different location to the one where they came from should not be a cause for public outcry.
Now, if they can still be a carrier and if they will be travelling with an entourage that’s a different matter, as is public image point of view.

 

[Vagophile]

Do you think that we should have a two class society:
A - recovered from Coronavirus - no travel restrictions
B - people who have followed advice and rules, for example by not shaking hands - house arrest

We should have a society of equals. Only some are more equal than others.

 

[GrannyJen]

I'm going to have to disagree with the middle bit GJ. I know little or nothing of the PM's private milieu or of the setup at Chequers but I do assume that (a) Boris and Ms Symonds have a private house somewhere that they could go and stay at while he recuperates; and (b) that Chequers, being a large 'residence of state' requires significant staffing to operate while the PM is in residence whereas if not it could be mothballed for the duration, reducing the number of staff who need to be at work.

I rather suspect the decision for the PM to be at Chequers is to preserve the ridiculous notion that the PM must at all times remain at the helm, even when convalescing from a serious illness, and that government cannot possibly function without him.

Without understanding the current staffing levels at chequers I can neither agree or disagree but the hustle and bustle around Downing Street compared to the quietude of Chequers. Either way, not something that I will argue over.

I would have thought that if someone wanted to propagate the notion of the PM being at the helm then a return to Downing Street would have been more appropriate.

 

[Borris]

I'm going to have to disagree with the middle bit GJ. I know little or nothing of the PM's private milieu or of the setup at Chequers but I do assume that (a) Boris and Ms Symonds have a private house somewhere that they could go and stay at while he recuperates; and (b) that Chequers, being a large 'residence of state' requires significant staffing to operate while the PM is in residence whereas if not it could be mothballed for the duration, reducing the number of staff who need to be at work.

I rather suspect the decision for the PM to be at Chequers is to preserve the ridiculous notion that the PM must at all times remain at the helm, even when convalescing from a serious illness, and that government cannot possibly function without him.

I think I remember reading some time ago that they had put their private residence up for sale. So they may not have one now.

 

[ArunAlec]

I think I remember reading some time ago that they had put their private residence up for sale. So they may not have one now.

Opportunity to flog em a Cali?

 

[Rich20]

This is going to be a problem soon I think. At the moment, the lockdown is the lockdown and it applies to everyone. It is sustained through broad public consent, and by collective example - when you do go out you see the roads are deserted.

If/when we reach the stage when people say "I've had the virus, I don't need to lockdown now" the movement restrictions will presumably start to fray unless there is some kind of antibody certification and it seems we're still some way off that.

It may not matter too much by then if restrictions are being gradually lifted anyway, but it will be hard to control.

Testing is the only way to be sure and as yet they are not proving to be totally accurate ( BBC news this morning). China has announced 108 new cases so this indicates it ain’t going away yet.

 

[Jodalo]

From today's Sun

Mr Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds is seen leaving 10 Downing Street
Credit: Reuters

I hope she was either off to shop for essentials, going somewhere to exercise, off to seek urgent medical attention or going to work.

I suspect she was flouting the rules and heading off to a second home.

If I’m not mistaken, I believe she too has had the virus and therefore is non infectious. Boris is now resting at Chequers which as we know is the PM’s official country residence as well as an official place of work whilst away from Downing Street. One could argue that he has travelled to his place of work. Whilst we understand he is in recovery, I would imagine he is engaged in the business of running the country etc. Looking at it in a reasonable way, is it not better for Boris, his pregnant wife, the country as a whole, his personal protection and security to be where he is at present?

 

[T6 CFO]

Speak for yourself. I for one saw a validity in your earlier argument about the need to convalesce, and saw how it might be interpreted in the existing law.

OK Finished my book.

Your judging me Tom. My turn.

You are obsessed with the letter of the law to the extent you are blinkered.

99% of it for most us is common sense and 95+ % get it. You Tom are in the other 5% with the lawyers, looking for holes, following it religiously, wanting to be told.

This springs to mind:-

If you had a nut allergy you would be looking to sue the company if it didn’t contain the warning.


Mike

 

[Duxdeluxe]

Anyone remember this film, I don’t know why, but it springs to mind when I read this thread

 

[Broch Hunter]

So they can re-buy it now at a fraction of the sale price?

I think you need to get out more, it might do you some good

 

[Amarillo]

OK Finished my book.

Your judging me Tom. My turn.

Not at all - it was you who claimed entrenched positions “lines have been drawn”. I simply demonstrated a flexibility in my position on the matter.

You are obsessed with the letter of the law to the extent you are blinkered.

99% of it for most us is common sense and 95+ % get it. You Tom are in the other 5% with the lawyers, looking for holes, following it religiously, wanting to be told.

You seem to have some sort of beef with me. Quite why I’m unsure. Last week I felt pity for you at the way you became emotional about my joke, ‘your beach, my Beach’. I now think that pity may have been misplaced. However, I’d like to reassure you that whatever beef you may have with me, I have no beef with you.

 

[T6 CFO]

Not at all - it was you who claimed entrenched positions “lines have been drawn”. I simply demonstrated a flexibility in my position on the matter.



You seem to have some sort of beef with me. Quite why I’m unsure. Last week I felt pity for you at the way you became emotional about my joke, ‘your beach, my Beach’. I now think that pity may have been misplaced. However, I’d like to reassure you that whatever beef you may have with me, I have no beef with you.

It’s an observation on the way you look at things. To the letter of the law. Take it as a compliment you are in the 5% unique.

And yes Tom I was fed up with you and a couple of others, depressed by the situation and the repetitive trivia. I let it show. Can’t do much about that.


Mike

 

[Amarillo]

If I’m not mistaken, I believe she too has had the virus and therefore is non infectious. Boris is now resting at Chequers which as we know is the PM’s official country residence as well as an official place of work whilst away from Downing Street. One could argue that he has travelled to his place of work. Whilst we understand he is in recovery, I would imagine he is engaged in the business of running the country etc. Looking at it in a reasonable way, is it not better for Boris, his pregnant wife, the country as a whole, his personal protection and security to be where he is at present?

Throughout this, I’ve never really seen a problem with people isolating themselves in second homes, especially if those second homes are in more remote parts of the country. I even contemplated leaving London and parking ourselves in Emsworth for the lockdown at my parents second home.

What I object to is being told that we cannot now travel to a second home while the people telling us that go to their second homes.

As has been pointed out, there may be a very good reason for the PM breaking the rules he expects everyone else to adhere to. Perhaps he was told to by a doctor giving him a “reasonable excuse”, or maybe it was security reasons (unlikely).

What I don’t accept is the ‘he’s had it and can’t pass it on’ argument.

Firstly there is insufficient evidence that recovered patients cannot pass it on asymptotically.

And secondly it is rewarding reckless behaviour such as shaking hands, while keeping those who stuck to the rules under effective house arrest.

Perhaps I should have attended a Corona Party in the same way as some parents take their children to a Chicken Pox Party to reap the rewards of coming out of lockdown on recovery!?

 

[Vagophile]

Throughout this, I’ve never really seen a problem with people isolating themselves in second homes, especially if those second homes are in more remote parts of the country. I even contemplated leaving London and parking ourselves in Emsworth for the lockdown at my parents second home.

What I object to is being told that we cannot now travel to a second home while the people telling us that go to their second homes.

As has been pointed out, there may be a very good reason for the PM breaking the rules he expects everyone else to adhere to. Perhaps he was told to by a doctor giving him a “reasonable excuse”, or maybe it was security reasons (unlikely).

What I don’t accept is the ‘he’s had it and can’t pass it on’ argument.

Firstly there is insufficient evidence that recovered patients cannot pass it on asymptotically.

And secondly it is rewarding reckless behaviour such as shaking hands, while keeping those who stuck to the rules under effective house arrest.

Perhaps I should have attended a Corona Party in the same way as some parents take their children to a Chicken Pox Party to reap the rewards of coming out of lockdown on recovery!?

Ref the last paragraph: you feel that lucky or just reckless?

 

[LemonDrop]

Sorry if I've missed someone making this point somewhere further back, but Bojo has gone from hospital to his second home not from his first home to his second home. It's not like he went "I'm fed up of my flat at no.11 I'm off". He had to go somewhere when he left St Thomas'.

I'm guessing (but I don't know) that anyone who is hospitalised could choose which of their homes they go to on leaving hospital.

 

[HB19]

From what I understand, Boris was holed up during his quarantine in the flat at no. 11 Downing Street (the same one David Cameron lived in) which is bigger than the accommodation in number 10 .. but not set up as an office (why would you, when the office is next door). That’s why the video message he sent from quarantine was such an amateurish effort, looked like he was in someone’s attic bedroom talking on FaceTime with his iPad!!!!
I suspect the opportunities for him to work while convalescing will be better at Chequers. He is probably keen to avoid the hustle and bustle of being on top of the job at the number 10 office which has a connecting door/passageway into the number 11 apartment, but will need the office and tech that goes with being at Chequers.
Just my thought.

 

[Amarillo]

From what I understand, Boris was holed up during his quarantine in the flat at no. 11 Downing Street (the same one David Cameron lived in) which is bigger than the accommodation in number 10 .. but not set up as an office (why would you, when the office is next door). That’s why the video message he sent from quarantine was such an amateurish effort, looked like he was in someone’s attic bedroom talking on FaceTime with his iPad!!!!
I suspect the opportunities for him to work while convalescing will be better at Chequers. He is probably keen to avoid the hustle and bustle of being on top of the job at the number 10 office which has a connecting door/passageway into the number 11 apartment, but will need the office and tech that goes with being at Chequers.
Just my thought.

I think its the heated swimming pool he is after.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...ation-prime-ministers-100-years-boris-johnson

 

[Nick.C]

I think its the heated swimming pool he is after.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...ation-prime-ministers-100-years-boris-johnson

Who wouldn’t go somewhere with heated pool if they could!

 

[Jay gas]

I think its the heated swimming pool he is after.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...ation-prime-ministers-100-years-boris-johnson

He’s welcome to come to mine I boshed up a quick heated pool last year with a central heating pump some black hosepipe, Perspex and some wood. My little one loved the pool all summer

 

[ArunAlec]

He’s welcome to come to mine I boshed up a quick heated pool last year with a central heating pump some black hosepipe, Perspex and some wood. My little one loved the pool all summer

Sounds like a bit of a feature, probably put a few £ on the house

 

[Jay gas]

Sounds like a bit of a feature, probably put a few £ on the house

The only feature is the dead grass where to pool stood for the whole summer. Probably knocked a few £ off the house. Plastic grass for me this year

 

[HB19]

He’s welcome to come to mine I boshed up a quick heated pool last year with a central heating pump some black hosepipe, Perspex and some wood. My little one loved the pool all summer

Sounds like a great plan. I will look into doing that for the summer. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[Jay gas]

Sounds like a great plan. I will look into doing that for the summer. Thanks for the inspiration.

I was the unrivalled success story of the summer of 2019 in our household. I even found myself popping in for a dip after work with cold beer in hand

 

[HB19]

I was the unrivalled success story of the summer of 2019 in our household. I even found myself popping in for a dip after work with cold beer in hand

Yep .. you’ve definitely sold it to me.