Coronavirus - The Thread :(

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Coronavirus - The Thread :(

So folks, don't skip the inoculation! Ours are being administered via a drive through at the docks on Saturdays and Sundays (unlike last year when our doctor did it) No actual appointments, you just turn up in your car on one of the three or four weekends designated for your surname and join the crawling queue - by all accounts it's all a bit of a shambles with the team just not turning up on some days, so people go only to find no personnel in attendance!

[FONT=&quot]We got the letter from NHS Scotland advising re flu jab, with instruction to check website for details. When I put in our post code it said “wait for letter from your GP”. A few days later the letter arrived with details of date and location etc and a form to tick and sign and bring with you on the day.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Last year when we got our flu jab it was at the doctors surgery on a set day - open house, no booking, just turn up and get done. It was chaotic because everyone turned up, surgery was packed - shoulder to shoulder and queing out the door and it took nearly an hour to get taken.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]This year, because of the need to keep distance, no flu jabs at the surgery. They were using a large government office in the town . Again it was open house - no set time of appointment - just turn up and get the jab[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]But this year it was a model of efficiency. The car park was signposted from the main road. There were arrows from the car park to the building, with a meet and greet at the door. Then follow the corridor, reception desk to take the details, and directed to one of 5 stations within a big hall. It was fairly quiet and we were in and out in under 3 minutes, but even if it had been busy there was plenty of space to keep a 2 metre distance.[/FONT]
 
we as humans do not learn from history and are therefore doomed to repeat it. The spanish flu lasted for 2 years. The second wave killed far more people than the first, and in total there were 4 waves.
It killed somewhere between 20 million to 50 million people. Citizens were ordered to wear masks, and everywhere shut down and boarded up schools, movie theaters, and business. Mail distribution stopped, as did garbage collection.
Many people had to dig graves for their own family members.
Here we are 100 years later, and what have we learned? Half the people do not want to wear masks because they think it is a hoax/it is not that bad/the government is lying/insert insane right-wing conspiracy theory rhetoric here.
People want to prioritize their own narcissistic desires and privileges over other human beings’ lives.
What did they have in 1918? No tv. No internet, not a lot of food supply.
What do we have? Tv, internet, movies that can be watched from home, ubereats...you name it. And yet we are a world full of entitled and selfish people who lack human empathy and act oppressed when given any minute sense of responsibility.
Travel is not a necessity. Movie theaters are not a necessity. Throwing parties is not a necessity.
Being a decent human being should not be a revolutionary act....it should be common sense.
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In the dark recesses of my mind, I remember as a child in primary school in the early 60s all us kids, girls and boys lining up to get our treble injections,

I went through that in the '60s too - but don't recall it being very traumatic, but your post reminds me more, of the almost factory-like processing that I went through as a raw recruit at RAF Swinderby in Lincs between November and December of 1977.
We'd already had to queue and pay £1 for a haircut whether we needed it or not (one lad had a very sharp crew-cut and still had to be processed!)

We also had to queue for kitting out at the so-called 'tailors' where a brief measuring of anatomy for hat; shoes; trousers; shirts; jumpers sizes etc was done. We had to balance all the clobber in our arms and walk en-masse back to the barrack accomodation, dropping much of it on the way,

Although we'd all had a formal medical exam before joining up, we all had to have a series of jabs, and I recall a long queue of us, sleeves rolled up at the ready, being herded along in the factory-like process.
We arrived at four medics, and a doctor; a jab in each forearm, a jab in each shoulder and a small cut in one ear-lobe for a blood sample. (We were told to massage our right ear-lobes as we queued as it would hurt less!)

Nobody spoke, and several actually passed-out as they got to the jabs.
I was a little anxious, but I just fought it, telling myself there are far worse things and that this was 'nothing'. I just tried not to think about something else and went through unscathed.
However later on that day we had PE which involved running over high level benches on a swing-out wall-mounted climbing-frame - how nobody fell off was surprising - many of us felt very ill weak and our arms quite swollen red and sore, and a feeling of feverishness including myself. :yuck:

I've no idea what jabs we actually had but it was rumoured one was for yellow fever, so could have been that making me feel like utter crap
 
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I went through that in the '60s too - but don't recall it being very traumatic, but your post reminds me more, of the almost factory-like processing that I went through as a raw recruit at RAF Swinderby in Lincs between November and December of 1977.
We'd already had to queue and pay £1 for a haircut whether we needed it or not (one lad had a very sharp crew-cut and still had to be processed!)

We also had to queue for kitting out at the so-called 'tailors' where a brief measuring of anatomy for hat; shoes; trousers; shirts; jumpers sizes etc was done. We had to balance all the clobber in our arms and walk en-masse back to the barrack accomodation, dropping much of it on the way,

Although we'd all had a formal medical exam before joining up, we all had to have a series of jabs, and I recall a long queue of us, sleeves rolled up at the ready, being herded along in the factory-like process.
We arrived at four medics, and a doctor; a jab in each forearm, a jab in each shoulder and a small cut in one ear-lobe for a blood sample. (We were told to massage our right ear-lobes as we queued as it would hurt less!)

Nobody spoke, and several actually passed-out as they got to the jabs.
I was a little anxious, but I just fought it, telling myself there are far worse things and that this was 'nothing'. I just tried not to think about something else and went through unscathed.
However later on that day we had PE which involved running over high level benches on a swing-out wall-mounted climbing-frame - how nobody fell off was surprising - many of us felt very ill weak and our arms quite swollen red and sore, and a feeling of feverishness including myself. :yuck:

I've no idea what jabs we actually had but it was rumoured one was for yellow fever, so could have been that making me feel like utter crap

Aye Max, those were the days. My recollection of the treble jab, we were all in our underwear, double figures, quite a few looking back, I was very young, that alone was not the best situation. We were all outside the nurses office. It just seemed that any dignity you had left even at this age was very little.
 
Aye Max, those were the days. My recollection of the treble jab, we were all in our underwear, double figures, quite a few looking back, I was very young, that alone was not the best situation. We were all outside the nurses office. It just seemed that any dignity you had left even at this age was very little.

Jim, which service did you go into? or was that your school recollections?
 
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Another Spanish Flu, which attacked otherwise fit and healthy adults (but spared children and elderly), would cause horrendous death and destruction. But this virus is not the one to do that. Case numbers (found by testing) are rising again but deaths and serious illness are staying near zero.


The "experts" proclaimed we would soon get infections doubling every few days. The infection rate has never doubled even at the outset. Right now (despite the questionable counting), it's not even close to those rates.
 
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Thought I'd just chip in with my, perhaps hazy, recollections here. Our family was very services orientated with my Mum's side being mostly in the military - Royal Artillery - and my Dad (a conscript who rose to the rank of Captain) staying on in the forces for some time after the end of the war in the East - Royal Engineers. I've mentioned in other posts how I was packed off to militarily orientated boarding schools in the last years of the '50's and 60's and the one where I spent most of my younger life had a very active Army Cadet Force (not the CCF, who we, for no reason I can tell you, thought of as "not the real thing") Our school corps was allied to the Gunners which, given the family connection, was very well received at home. I have quite strong memories of, more than once, lining up outside the school sick bay where we received injections delivered with the old metal and glass type syringes. Can't say I ever saw the needles being changed between "customers" but I probably just didn't notice? I do remember how sore these injections were compared to a modern needle!

By the end of my time there, now in my late teens, I had risen to the rank of Lance Bombardier! - such exalted heights! and was in charge of the school M/T section - where I think my love of vehicles and "fixing" then comes from (it was a place I could go and "hide" if things were not going well in my school life.) We had a garage with a truck which looked like the one in the film "Ice Cold in Alex", an old side valve BSA motor cycle, an Austin Champ and a Daimler Ferret scout car - the two latter vehicles having light green painted Rolls Royce engines which impressed me greatly! There were also "ancilliaries" to "play" with like a generator and fire pump. The Ferret didn't have it's turret or the machine gun. It was the first vehicle I drove with a pre-select gear box and the only vehicle, apart from the earlier DAFs, I've driven that could go as fast backwards as it could forwards - there were always a lot of jokes about why you might need to use this ability! We seldom got to drive it because it used up our fuel allowance so quickly! The BSA saw a lot of use though and I learned a lot about bike control charging around the extensive school grounds on it pretending to be a dispatch rider! Once a month an M/T section person would spend the day with us and instruct us (the school M/T section - all 5, sometimes 6, of us) in the mysteries of vehicle maintenance. Being attached to the RA we were commanded by a permanent Army officer and got to go to camp with them once a year. I remember being quite shocked how loud and "violent" a big gun is when it fires and how much damage the blast from the shell does. I'd always thought it was the flying fragments that did all the damage, and of course they do, but blast damage? I just hadn't realized. Although I didn't choose a life in the forces I'm eternally grateful for the values and self control it taught me and I think that most youngsters would benefit from a period of highly structured existence like this.

Regarding needles. I'm now quite blase about it all. I've been in and out of hospital quite a bit with 3 major ops and a number of minor ones - I've had more than my money's worth out of the National Health! whilst not pleasant, I now don't fear "the needle" really at all but I dislike the way an intravenous needle (for a drip) makes my veins harden up for some time after it's removed. On the other hand I'm still here and still very generally healthy and active. I'm so very grateful to all the wonderful people who's skills have allowed me to continue living a normal healthy and active life. You see so many criticisms of the NHS don't you but we'd be in a very sorry state if we didn't have it and, more importantly, the incredibly dedicated and hard working people on the front line who make it all work for us - often at considerable personal sacrifice!

PS Just remembered too that the Ferret had it's steering wheel tucked up under the front body panel at a most strange angle meaning you had to steer by feeding the wheel through your hands, you physically couldn't "twiddle it" like a car steering wheel.
 
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You are in a dream world, people left with post covid breathing difficulty have not even been seen by a specialist yet 8 months after having it. so no telling how serious it is.

I'm talking about new infections. The numbers are fraction of what we had at the outset.

It's nasty I agree but so is flu especially when it triggers an immune hyper response or pneumonia. I have had the latter with flu so I don't under-estimate it. I simply question why a disease that's doing little more than flu is being allowed to crash the economy while other serious disease are going untreated.
 
I’m a bit surprised to say the least, about some who contract Covid and are not affected too bad and are not bothered, especially the young, and some are not that bothered if children are infected but show little effects. Who knows what\how this will effect or show itself in years to come. Not being an expert in any way or form, I’m reading/hearing the so called experts who really don’t know either.

Hopefully I’m a million miles off target.
 
Thought I'd just chip in with my, perhaps hazy, recollections here...


Blimey Jock - another fabulously intriguing account!

Not being familiar with the Austin Champ I had to look that one up. It's not a 'looker' and as such I've no doubt Ive given them a damned good ignoring at shows where they've turned up. I'll pay attention now!

As for pre-select gearboxes -what fantastic bit of kit; but a dark art to undertand how they work let alone set them up!

The only car I have driven with a pre-select is the MG K3 of which there were only 33 built and many replicas (even a replica can fetch over £150k)
It was essentially a formula 1 car of the 1930s (1100cc supercharged) and as such, went like stink.

Completely agree with you that we as a country really could do with a form of Nationial Service again - it'd certainly give school leavers a great grounding for their future however much they might hate it at the time. I couldnt wait to get into the ATC when I was 13 - more for the opportunities of free flying than anything else.
 
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Blimey Jock - another fabulously intriguing account!

Not being familiar with the Austin Champ I had to look that one up. It's not a 'looker' and as such I've no doubt Ive given them a damned good ignoring at shows where they've turned up. I'll pay attention now!

As for pre-select gearboxes -what fantastic bit of kit; but a dark art to undertand how they work let alone set them up!

The only car I have driven with a pre-select is the MG K3 of which there were only 33 built and many replicas (even a replica can fetch over £150k)
It was essentially a formula 1 car of the 1930s (1100cc supercharged) and as such, went like stink.

Completely agree with you that we as a country really could do with a form of Nationial Service again - it'd certainly give school leavers a great grounding for their future however much they might hate it at the time. I couldnt wait to get into the ATC when I was 13 - more for the opportunities of free flying than anything else.

I got very involved with Land Rovers about 15 years later when I went to work in a small country garage and I must say I'd take a series Landy any time over the Champ.

When I say the Ferret was the first pre-selector I drove it makes me sound as if I was driving them all the time. In fact the only other pre-select box I've ever driven was an Armstrong Siddley which belonged to a very "alternative" character of a teacher at the school. It may have been a Saphire but from dim and distant memory I think it was a Whitley because I seem to remember the headlight position as being slightly unusual. He once, and once only, let me drive it to the foot of the long school drive and back when I helped him sort out a minor problem using the ACF tools in our Corps garage, which I was not supposed to allow! Not soon after he chopped it in for an XK120 Jag with an almost open exhaust. What a wonderful noise that made. He gave me a lift up from the village in it a couple of times and, like your MG, it went like stink!

Here's a video of exactly how it sounded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXPp5xO_0S4 Glorious isn't it?

Ps Notice the "fly off" handbrake? - probably illegal today. Also the non self cancelling indicators (which may well be trafficators I suppose?) I also like the "Prestaging" required to get first gear to engage! Not sure if that box would have synchro on first (or any) gear(s)? Love the push button starter too. I seem to remember my Dad's MK2 3.8 had a push button too? Oh, how about that overrun burble?
 
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My MG J2 has a fly-off handbrake - brilliant for a quick get-away!


My dad recounts stories of the (probably worn) ratchets on them allowing the handbrake to fly off when the car door was slammed shut as the owner walked away, and the car sailing off down the hill on its own, or someone leaving a dog in the car that bumped the handbrake and released it!
I'm a big advocate of turning the wheels towards the kerb when parked on a downward slope or turning the wheels away from the kerb if facing uphill; apparently this is law in San Francisco - even if parked on the flat, I believe.
 
I’m a bit surprised to say the least, about some who contract Covid and are not affected too bad and are not bothered, especially the young, and some are not that bothered if children are infected but show little effects. Who knows what\how this will effect or show itself in years to come. Not being an expert in any way or form, I’m reading/hearing the so called experts who really don’t know either.

Hopefully I’m a million miles off target.

I am still having trouble breathing 8 months on, cant go and see a specialist due to covid restrictions, so i have a phone appointment with DG-ThoracicMedicineVitualClinic.KAP1X ( that's how its written on the letter with no spaces) 2nd one as first one no one called and when i called them they had the wrong number on their system, so waste of resources if they had put the number they will call on the letter people could let them know if it was wrong.
Breathing is bad when i eat, then i noticed my face goes very red after eating too, so I googled that and frightened the crap out of myself.
 
I am still having trouble breathing 8 months on, cant go and see a specialist due to covid restrictions, so i have a phone appointment with DG-ThoracicMedicineVitualClinic.KAP1X ( that's how its written on the letter with no spaces) 2nd one as first one no one called and when i called them they had the wrong number on their system, so waste of resources if they had put the number they will call on the letter people could let them know if it was wrong.
Breathing is bad when i eat, then i noticed my face goes very red after eating too, so I googled that and frightened the crap out of myself.

Aye, that’s not good,quoting the obvious. My son-in-law swore blind he had this last year albeit it wasn’t a bad bout, but even now he struggles with his chest on the odd occasion. I have heard and read as I’ve said before, even the young healthy get it, in years to come it will raise its ugly head again with who knows what.
 
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