Justin Smith

Can someone tell me what justification there is for shutting the car parks at all these reservoirs etc ?
All that will happen is people will park on the roads, which is worse in every possible way.
You could answer "to try and stop people going to these places", but all that will do is concentrate more people in parks and so forth, thus squashing them together, which I thought was the opposite of what they wanted. In fact some people can't get to reservoirs or wherever and so have to use the parks, so is it fair on them to crowd out the  only place they go for their exercise ?

Lastly, if the government want to encourage people to stick with this lockdown they should try to avoid annoying them too much with it, particularly things which are of dubious benefit for it.

Thanks Gawd for things like the Sheff Falcons, they remind us in these surreal days, that life goes on in nature as if nothing had happened. Maybe we're not quite as important as we think we are......

Nobody knows for certain whether God exists, nobody has proved he doesn't for sure. But, as I said to an agnostic friend of mine, surely it's wise not to annoy him too much just to be on the safe side ! 

On ‎22‎/‎04‎/‎2020 at 08:52, beefface said:

May fancy a spring stroll around the reservoir over the weekend. Anyone aware if this is permissible, or will I risk ‘drawing the heat’?

Just so long as you don't have to drive a long way then there is no reason why you shouldn't walk round Damflask, or anywhere else, quite apart from anything else, it's a much more effective way to social distance than everyone crowding into the parks. TBH the only reason why you should avoid a long drive is because it increases your chance of an accident *  with the consequent increase in the load on the emergency services and NHS. That said the NHS are not under pressure at the moment anyway, and don't take my word for it (or anyone else's), ask anyone who works in a hospital. On the subject of avoiding pressure on emergency services via car accidents, I'd have thought a much more effective strategy would be to target the appalling drivers we're seeing even more than usual......

* though if you're a careful driver we really are clutching at straws here.

Don't you wish we lived in Sweden....

20 hours ago, leginemro said:

Why dont idiotic people of Sheffield JUST STOP GIVING to these scumbags ,they then would move on when they realise the people have got wise to there scams 

They aren't all scumbags. I had genuinely lost my money and couldn't get home, a 7 mile plus journey at about 14. What I would say is don't give "beggars" money, if they say they need the bus fare, give it straight to the driver or if they say they're hungry, buy them a sandwich, etc etc.

1 hour ago, andyofborg said:

just because he's poor and homeless doesn't mean he cant have a phone

It was a smart phone. Sorry, but someone who has the money and organisation to get a smart phone, and knowledge of how to use one, is not someone who needs to be begging.

Actually, whilst I'm on, we were in Gloucester just over a month ago. A beggar was asking us for money etc saying he hadn't eaten etc. As mentioned before I remembered when someone had helped me when I'd lost my bus fare years ago, so I offered to buy him a sandwich from Subway. He then changed his story to "no, I need the money for my leccy bill".

No, he was a scammer, and people like him should be ashamed of themselves because they put people off from helping those who really do need it. Like I did when I lost my bus fare all those years ago.....

A couple of points either way.....

There's a beggar in Hillsborough who always looks helpless and poor, I saw him on his mobile phone the other day......

People asking you for a bus fare aren't always scamming. I can remember when I was about 14 and I'd lost my money. I had nothing for the bus fare home and it was about 7 miles to walk.... Some kind bloke gave me the fare *, I've never forgotten that act of kindness.

* or he might have given it straight to the driver, which is what you should do to avoid scammers

From long years of experience I can recommend a few. Ghia garage on Penistone Rd for repairs, servicing and MOTs.  

National Tyres on Leppings lane for servicing, tyres, exhausts etc. They're honest and don't advise you to spend more than you need, they also sell exhausts with a reasonable warranty !

For car body work I've used Xavier (Hoyland Rd, Neepsend) the last time and they seemed OK.

5 hours ago, West 77 said:

You're just recycling old news that has been argued to death about. The nation had a chance to stop Brexit on 12th December last year but decided to give the party that pledged to get Brexit done a big majority.  I don't need reminding of anything but you seem to need reminding that we have now officially left the EU.  As I previously stated the economic crisis brought about because of the coronavirus pales all the Brexit arguments into insignificance . I'm looking forward to better days next year when the transitional period will be over with new trading arrangements agreed and more importantly when our nation will be back to near normal as it can ever be again after the coronavirus is under control.

Errr, no. I'm reminding everyone how Leave (narrowly) won the referendum. It is not "old news", it is promises and predictions that voters will expect to come to pass.

And as for a big majority for "get Brexit done", pro Leave parties got a smaller percentage of the vote than pro Remain parties (or at least those committed to giving the country a chance to change its mind), and that was with the main opposition party being essentially unelectable anyway. So no, I don't accept your simplistic and biased interpretation of the GE result.

11 hours ago, West 77 said:

Brexiteers have never needed to be let off the hook for staying firm and ensuring Britain left the EU. The negative global economic impact of the coronavirus does pale into insignificance any temporary economic downfall which might or might not  happen to the British economy because of Brexit. If I was  a remain voter who had complained about the referendum result I would be feeling really embarrassed now and not taking cheap shots at Brexiteers.  The global economic crisis has been caused by the coronavirus which was created in China. I pray that after the coronavirus is under control that China is not let off the hook by the rest of the World for creating the coronavirus and that is not just for economic reasons.

 

I do not regard insisting Brexiteers stick to their promises as a "cheap shot". They said, if you remember, "we buy more from the EU than they buy from us so they'll give us more or less everything we want", in fact we'll be able to give the NHS another £350 million a week. Or, to put it a different way, we will get a "a cake and eat it Brexit".

*  and, BTW, Turkey are jinging the EU

Let me remind you :

I can't help thinking that one of the many negatives of this exceptionally unfortunate coronavirus, is that it lets the Brexiteers off the hook. Most people knew that leaving the EU would affect the economy but Brexiteers always denied it. Now, due to the effects of this virus (which will definitely put the world into recession) any poor performance of the UK economy can just be blamed on the virus. I accept most of it will be, but not all of it.

They're off the hook, again.....

48 minutes ago, PRESLEY said:

I dont think buying one extra packet of Pasta will cause  a Global food shortage. 

I suspect much of the shortage wasn't actually caused by "bulk buyers", it was caused by most people buying just a bit more than they would normally, and it's difficult to blame them really. But with finely balanced supply chains it was enough to cause empty shelves. You do have to feel sorry for these manufacturers though, in a few months when this is all over they'll be laying off staff because Joe Public won't need any loo roll (or whatever).... 

1 minute ago, PRESLEY said:

Drop everything and rush to the store for a packet of pasta, now that gives a new meaning to panic buying.  

"Panic buying", shouldn't that be "pasta buying"....

22 hours ago, Ruddy76 said:

The pasta isle is ALWAYS hammered, completely empty.

It wasn't empty when I was there, though I accept there was only the more expensive products left.

I have been putting off visiting Morrisons (Hillsborough), the sight of queues and empty shelves would be too depressing, that's why I been shopping (quite successfully it must be said) at smaller shops. However, this morning, I needed some stuff only Morrisons sells, I can report there were no queues, and minimal empty shelves. Is panic buying over now ? Thank Gawd.....

On ‎18‎/‎09‎/‎2013 at 19:51, Flanker7 said:

Your comments all make sense.

But, if someone is obviously much slower than everyone else, or is swimming breaststroke in the 'fast' lane, its the life-guard job to ask them to move.

The life-guards rarely do anything.

My suggestion is for a time per 25metres to be displayed on the fast/medium/slow boards. This time can change to suit swimming numbers in the pool.

nb - I've nothing against breststrokers - if they can do the time.

I agree with you, they should be more pro active, but I've been swimming for over 30 years and I cannot remember the last time a lifeguard told a swimmer to get out of the fast lane. Actually I can come to think, of it. Me and my lad accidentally got into the fast lane at Hillsborough once (they'd moved all the lanes around) and the lifeguard came down off her high chair like greased lightning to tell us to get out, yet my lad, who was only just past his 6th birthday at the time, was actually a better swimmer than a fair proportion of the adults in that pool *. I'd have had every right to feel annoyed about it but in actual fact I didn't because they should be doing that, though more consistently, obviously.

* this is him diving to 8ft one week before his 4th birthday !

14 hours ago, Brooker11 said:

I've tended to use local shops for the last two weeks and been able to get 90% of my usual purchases.

Went down Hillsborough High St today again, the butchers had plenty of meat, B&M had plenty of food (even bread ! ), the green grocer had loads in, and Heron foods had both bread and milk ( ! ). I didn't actually buy any of those things because we don't need them at they moment, but the point is made.

11 hours ago, fools said:

It really doesn't take much for a supply of anything to clear out. One extra tin of beans, one extra pack of bog roll x 5000 people, and the shelves are empty. Their advanced ordering systems aren't up to it. That's not quite as sensational as a viral video of someone tugging at a pack of toilet rolls though, so it doesn't make the headlines.

 

This is not caused by these imaginary greedy people in transit vans full of food, it's caused by people preparing for a longer stay at home, with 2 kids to feed, no school meals, no mcdonalds, no work lunch.

I possibly agree with you. I think some are being greedy, but I suspect the main cause of these shortages is most people are buying "just a bit more than usual". So long as they are doing just that and they do actually eat the food they buy, TBH, I can't say I blame them. The latter does not apply to genuine bulk buyers (or more probably "repeat buyers") stacking their larders at home.

2 hours ago, jane2008 said:

I've been to the one on Flora street.  The only thing they didn't have was anti-bacterial wipes.

The butcher's in Hillsborough seemed well stocked when I walked past, the green grocer too, plus Heron's seemed to have most stuff. The other day we needed some milk and the local shop on Oughtibridge had some. I suspect it's the large supermarkets which are the worst affected. Lesson, use smaller shops......

1 hour ago, Agent Orange said:

The government have said time and again that there are no shortages and that the public should shop as normal.  So, how have they caused this panic?

As I said earlier, the government could reduce this panic buying significantly if they announced that shopping for food (and the supply chain to the food shops) will not, under any circumstances, be disrupted. And they'd just be stating the obvious there because it cannot be disrupted almost no matter what the reason. We all have to eat, if we don't eat it won't be  a 1% death rate it'll be 100%.....

1 minute ago, andyofborg said:

A lot of people, including me, have breakfast at work.  

A lot is not all, or even most.....

40 minutes ago, tinfoilhat said:

One thing on panic buying I hadn't considered - apparently 50% of food is consumed at work. Couple that up with meals out in general that aren't happening anymore, no wonder the shops can't cope.

That sounds most unlikely. Most people might work 5 days a week and have a mid day meal there, using basic maths (and counting breakfast as a meal), that'd be 5 meals at work and 16 at home...….

7 hours ago, despritdan said:

There's no perfect answer to this problem but there are steps that could be taken. The most draconian would be to bring in the army and give them powers to enter the homes of people suspected of stockpiling and confiscate any excess food with no compensation, using  guidelines on how much households are allowed to have based on family size, then use the empty pubs and clubs as temporary shops and sell it to the over 65s, health workers and social care workers. Supermarkets should lock away the big trolleys and only allow shoppers to use a small trolley or a basket and only let 20 people in at a time with strict limits of how many items they can buy.  When one leaves, another is let in so people stop forming huge queues at 5.00 in the morning.

Things would be easier if we didn't have such a large, unsustainable population and we're really starting to feel the impact of decades of lax immigration rules. If we can't import food, we won't be able to feed everyone. About half the food bought in this country gets thrown away and this problem will get worse if people are buying so much food, they can't eat it by the use by date and we'll end up with more dying of starvation than getting the virus.

I can tell you one thing which would stop most of this panic buying. The Govt should announce that food shops will never be shut in any "lock down" and neither would food production / distribution ever be suspended or significantly reduced.

I'm pretty sire that'd stop it, so why don't they just announce it ?

10 hours ago, L00b said:

Paracetamol may get rationed before long, if people are currently panic-buying it.

 

By now it is rationed most elsewhere on the Continent (France, Spain and Italy for sure, today I've heard Belgium may be too).

 

There's plenty of manufacturing capacity, but the problem is leadtime and reduced distribution capacity (and extended delivery times, lots of ad hoc checkpoints on roads, m'ways and borders), once the stocks already in the retail/distribution channels begin to run dry.

 

If people stayed sensible, really there'd be no need for rationing anything, officially or through public shaming.

One thing we could all do, and that's use a bit less of everything. I put a bit less milk on my cereal, a bit less orange in my glass, use a bit less toothpaste, etc, and, with relevance to paracetamol, if I've got a mild headache I don't bother taking anything for it. Interestingly, the headache seems to clear up anyway, so I wonder how many people take stuff for a headache, or whatever,  and it actually makes no difference !

6 minutes ago, West 77 said:

Because the corona virus is not the fault of Virgin Holidays.  At a time when people are worried about losing their jobs I think it's petty complaining about the excess on an insurance policy.  Most of us are going to lose out because of the corona virus and we shouldn't be unfairly criticising companies that are struggling to survive and keep people in jobs.

Travel insurance is taken out to cover incidents of this nature.  

The fact is Virgin Holidays cannot deliver the contracted service, they cannot shuffle off their responsibility, and walk off with the money, just by saying claim it on your travel insurance. The latter is for if a supplier goes bust or similar.

Virgin are out of order here, definitely.

20 minutes ago, bendix said:

In fairness, I've seen a lot of old people doing exactly the same.  My neighbour boasted to me yesterday that he had bought the last three 18-pack toilet rolls from the shop down the road and he now has enough to last him a year.

Your neighbour is a tosser.

18 minutes ago, nightrider said:

People are also buying freezers. Electrical retailers are apparently selling a lot of large freezers at the moment.

Buying a freezer to put bulky items like bread in it doesn't make sense. And anyway, there are only so many freezers in the supply chain, I'd have thought all this bread that's being panic bought would fill them up comfortably.....

No, it still doesn't solve the mystery, where is all this bread going !

5 minutes ago, nightrider said:

they need to introduce strict rationing - I understand many shops have tried and people bully the staff into letting them take what they want. So that means we need to get stricter? Use the army who could take a much firmer hand with these people? I've no idea what else can work at this point. Clearly people are not going to stop until we make examples of some people to deter the rest!

The only slight problem with that is people buying for others. My sister down in Reading  is buying food for a few older people near her, if she's stopped from buying more than one of each item how is she going to do that ?

20 hours ago, West 77 said:

If you took out travel insurance before the Government advised people not to travel to USA then the insurance company is responsible for the refund. Martin Lewis advised people to take out travel insurance on booked holidays several weeks ago rather than wait to nearer the time of their holiday for the very reason what has now happened.

I don't see why the insurance company should pay for this, quite apart from anything it'll just make the cost of insurance unbelievably expensive. In fact it could put a load of insurance companies out of business, plus claiming would be a PITA.

As a general principle a lot of companies try to get out of their responsibilities by saying "claim it on your travel insurance" and it's not on. The fact is Virgin cannot deliver what they were contracted to do, why should the insurance company pay for that ? There is an argument the Govt should compensate the airlines, but that's  a separate issue altogether.