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Post by lugg on May 28, 2020 12:33:16 GMT
Well I don't know all the places in the pics so they may well be as crowded as they appear . But I can tell you for sure that the Bournemouth photos are extremely misleading - just look at the groins to show how the pics are compressed. My son and his partner send me photos of the beach most days and it looks nothing like that - yes people are now swimming and sitting on the sand but mostly social distancing by more than 2 metres. Same for steps down to Durdle Door. Dorset police of some of the toughest re lockdown. probably why Dorset and Bournemouth have some of the lowest Covid infection rates in the country .
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Post by bixaorellana on May 28, 2020 17:27:25 GMT
Good to know, Lugg!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2020 20:01:12 GMT
Whatagain was a terrier in his last life.
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Post by onlyMark on Jun 1, 2020 20:49:52 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 1, 2020 21:15:12 GMT
Mark is right whatagain.
This anti dutch rhetoric isn’t what we do on Anyport.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2020 21:18:44 GMT
Let's not all pile into this. It's really between two people.
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Post by whatagain on Jun 1, 2020 21:22:01 GMT
Mick. That is called provocation. But Mark missed the part about French being already lower on the scale.
Bixa. Yes just between 2 people. I am like i am and i dont need to be lectured by strangers.
Mark. You have nothing better to do than telling me what i should do think or write ?
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Post by Kimby on Jun 1, 2020 21:34:07 GMT
(COVID lockdown has the natives getting restless, I see.)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2020 21:38:39 GMT
Speaking of which, I went to my market today. They've been closing off one of the entrances on the street side that has two entrances. That's so it will slow people entering long enough to have their temperature taken & for them to wash their hands or accept hand gel. Well today both entrances on one side were open, but when I went through I was only offered gel. I asked the guy if he wasn't going to take my temperature & he said, "No -- the thermometer is broken. But you can go over to the other side. That one works." Seriously?! But today is the day they leave both sides open!
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Post by casimira on Jun 1, 2020 21:58:44 GMT
Mark is right whatagain. This anti dutch rhetoric isn’t what we do on Anyport. I agree
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2020 22:04:13 GMT
Again I say -- let's not all chime in and take sides. Both of the people involved in this discord are valued members of this forum. The fact that they are in disagreement is unfortunate, but the rest of us getting involved is unnecessary and wrong.
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Post by casimira on Jun 1, 2020 22:11:51 GMT
Valued or not, I don't care for the baiting I see going on.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 1, 2020 22:14:00 GMT
We’re all getting restless. Stirring sh*t is an unfortunate side-effect of boredom. And we can’t even kiss and make up, what with social distancing and all...
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 1, 2020 22:19:35 GMT
It might just be a new covid symptom that hasn't been identified yet.
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Post by casimira on Jun 1, 2020 22:24:30 GMT
Well, we just got the go ahead here that we are moving into Phase II but, no one knows what that means.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 1, 2020 22:32:16 GMT
I think it probably means we’ll be seeing a spike in cases in about two weeks, and a spike in deaths two weeks after that....
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2020 22:58:24 GMT
I fear you are right, Kimby. It's an unhappy insight into human nature to see all these adults who duly stayed in, washed hands, etc. now running outside like kindergarteners just because they've been given permission by the elected adults. Forty days and forty nights of hanging around the house and they throw it all away because they will simply dieeee without going out to eat or having a drink in a bar.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 4, 2020 6:31:16 GMT
Businesses are feeling extremely lucky in France that Mother's Day (next Sunday) is later than in a lot of countries -- the florists are open, the chocolate shops are open, the restaurants are open, etc. Mother's Day in confinement was probably pretty shitty for a lot of mothers in other countries.
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Post by whatagain on Jun 4, 2020 6:49:10 GMT
I managed to get flowers. I called and got delivered. But could not really choose the flowers... The kids made drawings and such. I cooked. She seemed satisfied !
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Post by onlyMark on Jun 4, 2020 10:45:14 GMT
This new Madeleine McCann information is a bit of a revelation and causes me to ask why was this not thought of before and surprise that the original vehicles are still in circulation, or maybe it's just one of them - www.bbc.com/news/uk-52916137
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Post by tod2 on Jun 4, 2020 16:23:56 GMT
onlyMark - I can see why this is of interest to you being a retired policeman. Your natural instincts kick in from years of training I would hope.. As for me, just an old grandmother of two beautiful boys, I have never given up hope that little angel Madelaine will be found, dead or alive. It must be hell on Earth for her parents.
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Post by onlyMark on Jun 4, 2020 17:11:15 GMT
Telling someone a loved one has died is something even the most hardened of police do not wish to do - because there are no words to adequately express it. As such, for two or three years at the beginning of my time, being the new lad, I was always sent. Mainly until there was another in the job who was newer than me and it was felt wouldn't make too much of a cock up of it. Then there was a lull for a few years until I dealt mainly with fatal road accidents which was one of the specialties I trained for to alleviate the general day to day run of the mill things. Then again, it was down to me and I have lost count (in fact I never anyway wanted to count) of the amount of times I've had to do it.
There were things that were exaggerations but illustrated the way not to break the news, one was not to knock on the door and when it opened, ask if she was the Widow Smith. Nor volunteer to eat the dinner she'd prepared some time ago but he didn't return for. That then was about all the training you had. There were just though a couple of times when there was an extended period of days or weeks until a body was found and I had to visit the relative. Normally in cases of 'foul play' this would have been the CID (detectives) and nowadays there would have been an officer designated as a liaison as well, but not so then. Often the local bobby would be radioed up to do it.
But - then often there had to be questions asked "for the Coroner" you would say. Details for the file/reports. Never easy to ask at a time like that. But there were two things I learnt, one was saying the opposite of platitudes like 'in time... blah blah blah' or variations of time healing etc etc. I always said that the person will never forget, the pain may diminish with time but it'll always be there. Sometimes a day or two may pass but then a smell or a thought will bring it all back. I never said someone had had a good innings or had gone to a better place, nor did I use euphemisms like he's passed and so on. Nor saying it was quick and the person didn't suffer - I said nothing like that. People are not stupid and don't like having platitudes spouted to them. Nor did I say I was sorry as I knew of those that had and were turned on to be asked, what are you sorry for, you didn't know him or anything about him, you didn't kill him, why are you sorry?
The other thing, relative to this situation is something I did expect and had it confirmed. I think we all know it. Not knowing trumps being dead or alive. The modern term is getting 'closure'. Didn't know that word then. It was just the relief, and I mean relief, even if the person was dead, of knowing what had happened. Imagine with this young girl, and with many others, who have disappeared, the parents. It may seem a stereotype, but I suspect she will always be trying to spot her daughter in a crowd. A glimpse from a car, 'was that....?' whilst he has an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. The parents may have a glimmer of hope that she is still alive, but they know she is dead. Like we all do. It has happened I admit that someone re-appears after years, but is it likely - as we know, far from it. If it was me, I would have accepted years ago my daughter would never be seen again, apart from maybe in a shallow grave.
By the way, one time I had to tell an old woman her husband had collapsed and died. She asked where it happened. I told her it was just inside a bookmakers, one he was known to be a regular at. The conversation went something like - "And did the bastard win?" she asked. I said I didn't know, but I can find out if she wants. She said, "I bet that's what killed him. The surprise. He's not won a bloody thing for years. Spends all our money on the horses and never has anything to show for it. The old bastard."
The general initial reaction when it is unexpected is to focus on details, like but I only saw him half an hour ago or I was just doing his ironing, or he's got to pick up someone tomorrow etc. You have to stay with them until reality sinks in and maybe a relative, or neighbour, who is also then shocked, can appear. Another woman who I'd just told went to make a 'cup of tea' as is usual. A minute or two later when I'd heard nothing, I went into the kitchen and found her frozen with his favourite mug in her hand. The poor lass didn't know what to do with it.
And that is all never mind the few suicides I had to attend or the sudden deaths where a relative has called at a house and can't get an answer - and the both circumstances together where a lad went to bed, bared the wires on an electronic timer, put one wire round his wrist and the other round his ankle, then must have waited for the current to kick in. Unfortunately when I kicked the door in his dad followed me into the bedroom when I told him to wait outside. I had to wait eventually for an undertakers to come, the dad was taken away, and I and the two undertakers had to lift him off the bed with the blanket he was on to put him in a bag on a stretcher. Of course with there only being three of us the lift went a bit skewed and all I can say is, you know how easy it is to get the leg of a chicken off when it's been cooked for a long time? I had to push the father away to stop him grabbing him when I found the lad because he was still live, not 'alive'.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 4, 2020 18:16:20 GMT
My beloved took the call when we lost my Mum. Ever the sensitive soul he turned to me and said 'Your Mum's dead'. Bless. It wasnt unexpected tho. My sisters have informed me of other family deaths and have always been very gentle. I was with my mother in law on ICU when she passed away...all the rest of the family were in the relatives' room so I told the nurses that I would let them know. I didnt have to say anything because they took one look at my face and rushed onto the ward.
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Post by bjd on Jun 4, 2020 18:31:02 GMT
Thanks Mark for telling people outright instead of using euphemisms. It may sound harsher but is easier in the end.
One day a friend called me to say, "My husband is gone." I said, "Where did he go?". She only then said he was dead.
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Post by mossie on Jun 4, 2020 18:47:00 GMT
However much a death is anticipated I always find it comes as a shock.
Wen my mother died my father rang me just as I was about to go to work, during that day one of my men had a very bad accident. His chest was crushed in, breaking several ribs, he was extremely lucky because it was on an American airfield right outside the officers club. One of the flight medics was there and they opened him up on the spot and saved his life, even an ambulance trip would have been too much. All in all, a day I won't forget in a hurry.
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Post by onlyMark on Jun 4, 2020 19:56:55 GMT
I dislike euphemisms but often, if someone 'hadn't come home' for some time and of course it was before the technology we have today for contacting people, it is true that one look at a policeman in uniform at their door did half the job. As one sweet old man said to me on opening the door, "Fuck. Fuck. She's dead?" By the way and it may sound strange but there seemed to be less shock impact in saying 'he/she died' as in your husband/wife collapsed and died or had an accident and died rather than using a sentence that included he's dead or she's dead.
Telling parents though their young kid has been killed is a whole different matter to saying of an old person's death. I'm just glad I don't and didn't have to work in a hospital with frequent deaths where the relatives have to be informed, though I suppose it is a little different in the relatives knowing it might be a possibility otherwise they wouldn't be in hospital. Coming out of the blue is somewhat different.
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Post by onlyMark on Jun 4, 2020 20:08:11 GMT
Mossie, I've heard that when you die all the mourners will have a map and they have to find their own way to the graveyard at ten thousand feet and four hundred miles an hour.
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Post by whatagain on Jun 5, 2020 15:56:22 GMT
Some people cant bear to say or hear the words, same as some cant bear to have pics of the deceased in their home and some cant go to the cemetery. I think there is no one size fits all speech.
As real blablah i now get german blablah on my phone when i am on YouTube. It all started when i discovered RAMMSTEIN. I guess listening to hard rock in German means you are germanspeaking. So i get 50 pc of the ads in german now, and the rest is 80pc flemish. I guess i should stop listening to 'WITHIN TEMPTATION' and switch to JJ Goldman...
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 5, 2020 17:50:28 GMT
I like Rammstein ....some tracks are a bit heavy for my gentle sensibilities but they are excellent to listen to when tackling the decorating. Frightens my beloved to hear me 'singing' along in grunts.
Gerry McCann is a cardiology consultant at one of the hospitals I worked at. Always polite, quiet and with a sadness about him. For years we had pictures of his daughter, ribbons and candles around the main entrance of the hospital, it must have been awfully difficult to walk past that every morning. I think that the staff just wanted him to know that we hadn't forgotten Madeleine. I think that to this day there is a candle burning for Madeleine in the hospital chapel.
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Post by htmb on Jun 16, 2020 19:17:40 GMT
For about the sixth time in 31/2 months, I went into shops today to run some errands. Other than people wearing masks inside (the law in our county), plexi-glass barriers in strategic spots to protect cashiers, and social distancing, everything seemed fairly normal. However, Covid-19 cases in our state still continue to rise, as our Republican governor tries to get us back to regular daily life. In the crowded grocery store, I saw a lot of people who appeared too frail and/or elderly to be out, possibly exposing themselves to the virus.
I also went to the FedEx office to ship two packets, and I’m feeling quite pleased with myself. The first was a letter and accounting of the expenses spent on the renovation of my condo, with the hope that one day I’ll be reimbursed. The second packet was a collection of documents - letters, forms, records - including apostilles from three different states and Italian translations of each document, all sent to the Italian Consulate to finish up what should be the last information-gathering I’ll need to do. If all goes well, I’m hoping to have recognition of Italian citizenship by sometime in 2021.
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