Royal Fail

Latest figures: about 15 million people in the UK have Covid at the moment, and nearly 130,000 new cases were reported today.

So excellent news Derek has an answer to this problem, but what is it?

Let's put Derek in charge. But as I don't believe there's any such thing as 'common sense', what exactly does he want done? I'm happy to obey all legal orders.

I think it's difficult. The devil is in the details. For example, what are the pros and cons of refusing sick-pay to any unvaccinated employees who catch Covid? Assuming political and ethical considerations can be ignored, which they can't, would manipulating sick-pay increase or decrease the rate at which Covid spreads? Tricky!

Dave

It was a prezzie from family so I did not order it. However, I have asked them & it appears that it is a woman working part time with no credit card facility. The cost is no cheaper( actually slightly more)  & the set up seemed a bit " mickey mouse". As a result they ordered direct from the manufacturer. It would probably have come from them anyway

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 12/01/2022 20:10:15

Interesting photo! Yesterday, a subscriber waiting for a few issues emailed me "I can confidently say there is no issue with Australia Post"...

Neil

It's a lucky dip at the momement. Some deliveries are quick and some take forever. (I have been waiting for almost 3 weeks now for a delivery by Aust Post which is normally a day or 2)

A caller on the radio said that he worked in a warehouse that loaded supermarket trucks with 100 plus employers and today they had less than 60 and could'nt load them quick enough. We will just have to be patient.

Sam I have purchased lots from Tania she very helpful and you pay by paypal so your cash is safe

H

I'm going to be a tennis player 'cos you can travel anywhere you like without bothering about stuff

Ordered a photographic filter from Watford yesterday lunchtime. Arrived (SW UK, west of Plymouth) first thing this morning, via Royal Mail.

I won't buy anything on-line if it will be posted by the other fly-by-night companies. They are cheap for a reason !! And very hard to get a response or compensation.

This Covid nonsense is becoming a menace - anyone can presumably say they have tested positive and get 10 days off work, or whatever it is? A lazy person's charter.

We have surely all been jabbed three times by now. Time to remove the masks and the restrictions. Any one who is vulnerable or worried or refuses to get vaccinated; they are the ones who should be taking precautions. The rest of us need to get on with rebuilding our economy.

The figures tell us that your assumption is possibly incorrect.

I would not be happy walking round the supermarket, or in our local shop etc alongside you if you were not wearing a mask. It is not a big imposition & research by Bristol university, when complete, & published, might well debug the You tubers theory that they do not help. Quite the opposite in fact.

One might tend to agree about the charter for some to use Covid testing as an excuse for a few days off work. It is up to management to be firm on these matters. But my experience of employing over 1500 people in my business over 50 years would suggest that most just want to do a days work, go home at the end of the day & avoid the hassle.

As for " fly by night couriers". I would suggest that some are actually very good. DHL - In our area at least- use the same 2 or 3 drivers & they are polite, friendly, efficient & excellent at picking up errors in deliveries. IE a parcel addressed to the next village from a marine company was bought to my address by a courier as he recognised the name & guessed there was a possible mistake.

But there are, of course the well known failures & i agree that one might ask suppliers NOT to use them or find another supplier if possible.

But i am still waiting for my Diamond tool holders

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 18/01/2022 16:04:26

Folks may be amused by a recent incident here.
DPD new chap asked at the door if it was the right house. I looked at the packet and directed him to the next bungalow along and pointed East. Later that day the owner rang to see if we'd had a misdelivery 'cos he was expecting expensive jewellery. It ended up with his purchase being replaced and DPD paying the vendor.
Three weeks later I spotted some 'rubbish' by my 'burnables' bin in the hobby shed on the floor. Picking it up and it was the lost packet. Why does a delivery man with a sign-for parcel just throw it onto the floor of an obvious shed full of machine tools when directed to a bungalow?
Both myself and purchaser are honest and the extra item returned to the seller and reported to DPD - local manager admits their driver is an idiot.

pgk

I guess John hasn't taken a Lateral Flow Test yet! Unpleasant, and some people have to do it every day. Not a 'lazy person's charter' either. When it strikes, Covid is a complete pain in the butt whoever you are.

Being jabbed three times doesn't mean it's time to remove masks and restrictions. If only managing a global pandemic were that simple!

1. Although the current batch of vaccines are effective, they gradually wear off. And they don't entirely stop people catching Covid and spreading it.
2. The Virus is mutating with no guarantee we won't see a highly infectious killer variant against which the current vaccines are ineffective. Fortunately, although Omicron turned out to be highly infectious, it's effects are massively reduced by the vaccines. It hasn't made large numbers of people seriously ill, just uncomfortably ill. With luck, Omicron is Covid's last fling, but the war isn't over yet.
3. The risk being managed by governments is of the health services overloading and causing the death rate to spike due to large numbers of people becoming seriously ill. The level of risk is revealed by statistics, not wishful thinking. Evaluating risk isn't about opinion or belief. It's time to remove masks and restrictions when our intelligently briefed leaders decide the balance of risk is in favour of it. Fingers crossed, we're getting close. But it could still go horribly wrong. Covid doesn't care about people getting fed up with restrictions and wanting to back to normal: we're just dinner. It's our job to defeat the virus, not to give it an easy ride.

Personal experience is to be distrusted. Being retired, if I didn't have working family, I might believe Covid was a non-event. But in the world of work, it's causing serious trouble. Judging by my relatives, between 10 and 20% of the UK workforce have been ill this month. Surely return to normality has to be managed in light of how much damage the virus is doing?

Dave

Just to set the record straight - (admittedly I could have been clearer).

I meant to refer to some delivery companies as 'fly by night', not all of them. I won't name it, but Mrs Doe has had trouble with deliveries from one, as have others. Having had a delivery go missing; trying to contact the company and actually talk to a human being - particularly one who will sort out the problem - is nigh-on impossible.

DHL though, are fine in my experience. (I am probably biased: I once flew freight contracts for DHL and they are an extremely impressive organisation. Lots and lots of money has been poured into the company - the second runway at Leipzig airport was apparently paid for by DHL for their freight operations).

Re Covid, yes I always use a mask when required to and when entering shops and pubs etc, even though many people have stopped doing so. On the London tube system last time I was there, most young people were not bothering with masks - even though it is a condition of carriage. (5 people in my own family, old and young have had Covid and survived, without any hospital intervention).

If employers require a verified, positive lateral flow test under controlled conditions, then fair enough - I am just worried that the Covid situation could be abused by self reporting. Sickness from work seems to mysteriously increase whenever there is a significant Cup Final on!

Edited By John Doe 2 on 02/02/2022 14:47:47

Edited By John Doe 2 on 02/02/2022 14:49:18

Really? It's that easy? The spread of Covid can be prevented?