The first month of 2022 is almost behind us, and February beckons. It is not a leap year, so just the 28 days to come.
We bought a new vacuum cleaner this week. I think all the cleaning after decluttering finished off the cordless one, even though it wasn’t that old. The replacement has a bigger dust collection bin, so won’t need as many trips to empty it during cleaning.
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Ollie has a few more days of tablets to complete his course. His fur is visibly growing back now, and has less patches. But it has some way to go yet before he looks ‘normal’.
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With daytime temperatures varying between 1C and 15C in the same week, the strange winter weather continues. Some parts of Britain have experienced 80 mph winds, but they haven’t got as far south as Beetley just yet.
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It took until Thursday the 27th for everyday life to return after Christmas and new year. By everyday life I of course mean bin collections, which are now back to their normal days. I no longer have to look at an online waste collection calendar to work out which day the dustmen are coming.
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That same day, Thursday, all Covid-19 restrictions finished officially in England. No more compulsory masks, except for medical premises and on London Transport. It is too early to say yet if millions are abandoning mask-wearing, and flocking to crowded events. And quiet Beetley is no benchmark for that research of course. As for us, we will be continuing to wear masks in closed public spaces like shops, and on any public transport. After all, people are still dying every day from the virus.
Just on Friday alone, 277 people in England died from it.
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Have a wonderful Sunday everyone, and stay safe.
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Thanks God, the restrictions on your site are away. Here they are discussing a vaccine obligation, and about Russia. 🙂 Great to hear about the recovery of Ollie’s fur. He has not to hurry, because the fur will completely be back for strolling on Beetley beach. xx Michael
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We are still being careful in crowds, and wearing masks in shops. Around 50% of people are wearing masks, even though they no longer have to.
Best wishes, Pete.
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There’s no harm in being careful. Here in Germany they are discussing the next variants maybe to come. For me a little bit crazy. There always will be viruses in our environment. xx Michael
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Masks are still mandatory here but it doesn’t bother us we are comfortable wearing them in public places…x
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Me too, Carol.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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So much for the notion of public health. It is back to each person for themself I guess. We can see here where that gets a population as our death toll exceeds every other part of the world.
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I keep hearing ‘herd immunity’ mentioned again. As if that has worked!
Best wishes, Pet.
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One sick herd I guess.
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Stay safe Pete. We still wear face masks here when going outside.
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So do we, Arlene. In shops and crowded places.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hi Pete, I wonder if lifting all the C-19 restrictions will make a difference to the infection rate in the UK. It seemed very high anyway. I don’t understand the issue with wearing a mask, I am very happy to wear one and feel anxious without it now.
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Me too Robbie. I am sure the infection rate will soar.
Best wishes, Pete.
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(1) 28 days? That reminds me of a film: “Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.’ #28DaysLater
(2) The new vacuum cleaner has a bigger dust collection bin. That’s a solution in search of a problem. To solve it, you need to create a lot more dust!
(3) An injured person needs to get patched up. Ollie is healthier without patches.
(4) “Some parts of Britain have experienced 80 mph winds, but they haven’t got as far south as Beetley just yet.” Calculate the distance between you and the northern part of Britain being hammered by the winds. If it’s 80 miles away, then the winds will arrive in one hour. If it’s 120 miles away, 90 minutes. If it’s 160 miles away, two hours. #SimpleMath
(5) Here in the States, we just wait for the much revered horseman to gallop through town crying, “The dustmen are coming! The dustmen are coming!”
(6) Millions of people may be abandoning their masks, but I read a news report claiming that raccoons plan to keep on wearing theirs.
(7) Today is a big deal for fans of American football. The AFC and NFC championship games will be played this afternoon. The winners will advance to the Super Bowl in Los Angeles. If they advance any farther, they’ll end up in the Pacific Ocean.
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1) I have that film on DVD, and the sequel!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Shall continue to wear a mask. What is the big deal after all. There was a big storm up the east coast here but all we had was a bit of wind and a few flurries. Just very very cold -17 C. Our temps go up and down too. ‘ Hugs to Ollie.
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Thanks, Carolyn. I will be wearing a mask in enclosed spaces, you can bet on that.
Best wishes, Pete.
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So much of this reminded me of getting back to “normal”…as you finish with, “normal” is still deadly, so we also are staying socially distanced, masked, and on guard…our huge wave of new cases has started to subside but why take risks now?
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Boris is making a populist move to deflect from the pressure he is under over ‘Partygate’. He is hoping to court the ‘favour of the masses’ by opening up everything. People are stil dying, so we will be staying as safe as we possibly can.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Smart Pete…our neighbors, who were vaccinated and boosted early, both came down with it due to attending a birthday party…being around groups of people makes everything a superspreader event!
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I think mask are wise.
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We will be wearing them for a long time yet, Pejj.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Good news for Ollie….temps here are steady with 30s at night and 50s in day…..winds are higher than normal…..Be well chuq
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It seems strong winds are all over the world at the moment, chuq.
Best wishes, Pete.
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How can that be explained? (sorry a little sarcasm) chuq
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Yes, keep on masking up regardless of what the idiots (AKA politicians) say, Warmest regards, Theo
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I do, Theo, you can bet on that.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s always nice when things get back to normal. Best to you, Pete.
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I would call it ‘semi-normal’ in reality, Jennie. I doubt pre-pandemic normal will ever return completely.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I still have hope. It’s my word for the new year. Best to you, Pete.
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What people (and the government) Don’t get is that vaccines do NOT Prevent The transmission of the virus but they do greatly decrease hospital admissions by preventing the most serious disease
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Yes, they have been saying that since the start of the vaccine programme, but not enough people bothered to listen, Sue.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Exactly… and I shall still be wearing a mask
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Give Ollie a treat for me and happy to hear life has returned to normal for you.
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Will do. Thanks, GP.
Best wishes, Pete.
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The daily death toll is, I think, confusing. Are these people dying because OF covid, or WITH covid? It’s not the same thing.
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I know. I can only state what the NHS site says.
‘Died within 28 days of testing positive for Coronavirus’.
I know of two people locally who have had relatives die of C-19 symptoms in the last month. Both were admitted to Intensive Care after displaying severe symptoms, and testing positive.They had also been fully vaccinated, but were elderly.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Have a wonderful sunday
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Thanks very much.
Best wishes, Pete.
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My pleasure and thank you.
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Good to hear that Ollie is on the mend and that the bins are back to normal! We have a weekly collection and I cant remember if they stopped at all, but then I don’t put rubbish out every week, only once the bags are full.
Still masking up here in Poland, I fear there is going to be quite a surge over here as vaccination hasn’t gone down too well with a distrustful populace. 😦
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Infection rates here are at an all-time high, but as hospital admissions are fewer, Boris wanted to make himself look good by scrapping the restrictions.
Cheers, Pete.
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Still doing the mask thing here and at work, I wonder if my patients will refuse to wear one now, but I’m pretty persuasive 😊. The wind was even worse than storm Arwen, lots of damage and the like though we got off lightly here, my trees are still standing!
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The wind dropped here last night, back to bright sunshine this morning.
Masks are still supposed to be worn for medical appointments and procedures, so I think you should be able to insist in your job. Julie’s aunt is in hospital with a broken hip, and she is not allowed any visitors.
Best wishes
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Batten down the hatches, storm Corrie is on the way.
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I still wear a mask at the supermarket. As for the bin collections, we gave up and took our rubbish to the recycling centre ourselves. I think they’re back to normal now though.
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We will carry on with masks for the foreseeable future.
Our Council does have a good website, and they publish a waste calendar for bank holidays. But I have to keep remembering to check it.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yes, it’s the sensible older generation like us who still wear masks.
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In Loughborough most people seem to be still wearing masks
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I went to a supermarket yesterday afternoon, and it was 50-50. The staff and most older people were wearing them, but almost everyone under 40 was maskless.
Best wishes, Pete.
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