What Do You Think Today?

Post by **peter** » Tue May 19, 2020 6:27 am

Well done Kizza! Always afraid situations like that are going to end up with killing! Excellent work!

Glad the cat is home Av! (Just asked about her in another post so will nip back and erase that - think it's a her at least.) Keeping dressings on cat's legs can be a bugger as well!

To add to the post I made a few above, I now see that Sean O'Grady of the Independent has written an article saying he reckons Johnson will be out by Christmas. I think this could be of the same order of optimism as saying that "the war" etc, but it certainly adds to the feeling that our dissembling PM is starting to come apart at the seams. It was of course Gove who, in the heady days of the emergence of Boris mania back in the 2016 tory leadership campaign, first shat in the punchbowl of public belief in St. Johnson. Driving the knife deep into Boris' back, (whose leadership campaign he had been fronting) he suddenly came out and said that he, reluctantly, had come to the belief that Johnson was not fit to be PM and was in fact a complete c....... no, I can't say that, but neither could Gove, but he clearly thought it. Johnson had spectacularly blown his own campaign by his persistent failure to put in the graft when it was necessary, and it would appear that he is doing (or failing to do) exactly the same thing now. With a serious and revitalised opposition standing opposite him, fronted by the astute and well-prepared Kier Stamer, the PM's failings are being thrown into stark relief and the public can see it.

Add to this a rising death toll from Covid, a lockdown exit strategy that is looking increasingly chaotic and ramshackle by the day and a prospect of an economic meltdown in the offing it's safe to say that the next few months will be a period that would put even the best of national leaders to the test. Johnson frankly, does not stand a hope - and with a popular young Chancellor breathing down his neck who is clearly just coming into his (very serious) own, the prediction of his demise may not be so farfetched after all.

Post by **Avatar** » Tue May 19, 2020 7:32 am

Haha, she's not home anymore. Had to go back to the vet 'cause she's not eating.

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1113670#1113670

I see they're planning a bill that will limit foreign workers coming to work in the NHS now...

--A

Post by **peter** » Tue May 19, 2020 7:41 am

Yes - with the size of the Tory majority any manner of shit can be pushed through the House!

Re the cat's not eating; antibiotics can have a depressing effect on appetite, so this will likely be a factor. Key thing is to make sure that it isn't infection. Your vets will be watching this and giving NSAID's or steroids as necessary on top of the antibiotic therapy.

Post by **Avatar** » Tue May 19, 2020 10:01 am

Yeah, they said they would try a stimulant, anti-nausea stuff, and treatment for presumed sore throat (from intubation in surgery?) so have to wait and see now.

Again.

--A

Post by **Sorus** » Tue May 19, 2020 10:17 pm

Kizza wrote:BLOODY CATS.
One of the siamese - Hades - is deaf. I am sure of it anyway.
My wife thinks I am wrong and I could be but too many signs show he is not hearing anything well enough.
One bad trait is that he goes into the tiled bathroom and sits in the bathtub and howlmeows his head off (I reckon he is trying to hear himself) ..
The sound is a vibrating scream. I dunno if I should laugh or shout.

Foxes dont like chilli garlic spray. It worked!
They have up and "Runnoft"!!

Maybe he's testing the acoustics? Hades the Siamese sounds like he should be fronting a metal band.

Good news about the foxes. I realize they're an invasive species, but that isn't their fault.

Post by **Skyweir** » Wed May 20, 2020 11:09 am

True Sorus but they are a terrible menace to native wildlife and domestic animals

Post by **Avatar** » Thu May 21, 2020 5:09 am

Shouldn't have introduced them then...

Anyway, no real change. She's on a feeding tube now, but they have ruled out any tumors etc. ::sigh::

--A

Post by **Kizza** » Thu May 21, 2020 5:15 am

Yes, the foxes leaving is a good outcome. The where they went and what they are getting up to is another matter.
They are known for killing rabbits which are also a species foreign to Oz.
However they also kill native small marsupials, and birds and more.. not to mention our introduced egg chooks!

Hades likes Tool. Or at least he is the only animal in the house that doesn't leave the vicinity.... deaf I reckon.

Its nearly friday! I look forward to a friday jam session every week now. Being holed up so much, it is a nice break and good excuse to get away for fun without the restrictions. The risk is in drinking too fast!

Post by **Avatar** » Thu May 21, 2020 5:23 am

Ha, no alcohol for sale here during lock-down. No fecking tobacco either, so of course there is a flourishing black market. Idiots.

--A

Post by **peter** » Thu May 21, 2020 5:31 am

On which subject, I begin to understand the serious background to Wilde's quip that "Work is the curse of the drinking class". Whether he had any intention of this I can't say, but from 4pm until 10 every day at work, I spend my time in a general store selling ninety percent booze to people who, due to the lockdown, are spending their days at home drinking instead of being at work. It is no wonder that the Government is now worried that it won't be able to get people out of their homes back into the workplace. But it won't be for the stated reason that they're too afraid of the virus (in half the cases); it will be because they've morphed into raging bloody alcoholics while stuck at home! The social damage caused by this lockdown will be much more far reaching and long lasting than the bug itself!

Post by **Sorus** » Thu May 21, 2020 8:40 pm

Yeah, alcohol sales are up some absurd percent here too. Liquor stores were deemed essential from day one, the reason being that hospitals didn't want to deal with detoxing people on top of everything else right now. Which I get. And there would totally be a black market if they closed down.

Society has definitely changed. I've seen people be unusually patient (especially while queued for non-essential stuff) - I've also seen people totally fly off the handle over nothing. Not even counting the ones who were crazy to begin with (I got assaulted by one of those last week) - but just normal people who have used up whatever reserves of sanity they had. It's scary.

I need a break, but I'm afraid to ask for one. Too many changes in the air; I don't know what I would be coming back to. I had requested Monday off before this all started, and it was approved, then they asked me to work at the secondary location all next week, and it's not safe to say no to work right now. I could really use a 3-day weekend, though.

Post by **Skyweir** » Fri May 22, 2020 5:55 am

Haha

theres none so strange as folk

Though only complete and utter tossers would substitute work for moping about at home.

Post by **peter** » Fri May 22, 2020 5:58 am

Well I can assure you Sky, there's lots of them!

My situation is almost diametrically Sorus. At present I'm only contracted for twelve hours a week, but used to make up the shortfall by filling in blanks in the rota as they appeared. I could normally make up a tolerable weeks work. With the onset of the virus the company decided to hedge it's bets by talking on temps, in order to have a good bank of staff to fall back on if/when people started going sick. This means that the hours available are much reduced and that those that do fall so have to be taken, like it or not in respect of their suitability. The job is safe (or as safe as it can be in these times), but the hours are too sketchy to make it viable.

Post by **Kizza** » Fri May 22, 2020 6:00 am

Sorus wrote: Society has definitely changed. I've seen people be unusually patient (especially while queued for non-essential stuff) - I've also seen people totally fly off the handle over nothing. Not even counting the ones who were crazy to begin with (I got assaulted by one of those last week) - but just normal people who have used up whatever reserves of sanity they had. It's scary.

With you there Sorus. Getting the same vibe right here.

Week one of the lockdown in Australia and Alcohol and Tobacco sales rose by 40%. Toilet paper was also leaving shelves empty for a long time there.

As for taking a break. You should ask. Most stable businesses are happy to reduce weekly outgoings and allocate reserves of entitlements. I remembered tho that everywhere has a different approach to everything. Anyway, is asking a drama?

Hey! Did i mention that I reaaaally enjoy Fridays?!!

All the best to everyone.

Post by **peter** » Fri May 22, 2020 6:10 am

And to you Kizza!

I'm off today, but I got a shift swap for both days over the weekend so am really just drawing my breath for this. Also I'm fighting with a bad back at present - every time I go to work seems to set it back - not to square one, because for a day or two I could barely move, but to the point at which it's simply a grueling ache - which is damn wearing.

Story of life.

Post by **Sorus** » Fri May 22, 2020 9:09 pm

Kizza wrote:[

As for taking a break. You should ask. Most stable businesses are happy to reduce weekly outgoings and allocate reserves of entitlements. I remembered tho that everywhere has a different approach to everything. Anyway, is asking a drama?

The level of drama depends on how much other crap they're dealing with. As it stands, I did get Monday off because the city brought the hammer down on the second location for being more open than they should have been, and now they no longer need me. I would not say business is stable. They just announced they will be laying off about 1/3 of the workforce over the next three years. Which is bad, but considering other places are going 100% under right now, it could be worse.

It's frustrating to me because right now I'm getting between 25-32 hours a week, which is bad, but survivable. If they dropped me below 20 hours, I would qualify for underemployment benefits and be making more, at least short term. It's the long term picture that's scary. I know I'm in a better place than a lot of people right now and I shouldn't complain, but it's still scary.

Post by **Skyweir** » Sat May 23, 2020 6:11 am

Yeah it is scary ... and there are many, many unknowns.

I just read today that COVID attacks the blood vessels .. that wasnt completely understood before.

Ugh Im struggling with a door mechanism .. should fit it came as a kit with the door and it dont

Small beans I know but its a minor impost.

Hows your kitty Av?

Happy Friday Kizza hope it was a cracker.

Well got my furbaby snuggled up by my neck .. its pouring down outside and am warm and cosy inside.

I just heard John Glen died of COVID. He had a phenomenal innings .. RIP.

Post by **Sorus** » Sat May 23, 2020 2:36 pm

I just need a break from dealing with humanity. I'm tired of constantly feeling like I'm going to be jumped when I'm walking down the street. (Which is partially paranoid overreaction because I did get jumped last week by a crazy person who was so keyed up on drugs that it was like being mauled by a bear. I'm still having nightmares.)

I'm tired of the panhandlers on the train threatening to cough on me when I don't give them money. I'm trying to have empathy for the crap other people are going through right now, but it's getting difficult.

I'm tired of crazy people at work, though fortunately I don't have to deal with most of them. The poor guy stationed at the door yesterday turned someone away because she wasn't wearing a mask, and she went around the corner and came back wearing her underpants over her face. Points for trying?

Post by **Savor Dam** » Sat May 23, 2020 8:55 pm

Skyweir wrote:I just heard John Glen died of COVID. He had a phenomenal innings .. RIP.

It was John Glenn's widow, Anne, who recently succumbed to COVID. She had marked her 100th birthday earlier this year.

The former astronaut and Senator passed in December of 2016 at age 95.

Post by **Skyweir** » Sun May 24, 2020 9:14 am

Oh great

...

... well guess theyre together now.

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What Do You Think Today?