@acsimpson
My mind just spins when I start thinking about what my life would need to look like if the Keeling curve is to be turned downward.
And we're about to have to go to war to get wider pavements for a few months.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Do we need a coronavirus thread?
(5710 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
-
“slightly depressing”
Yes but
It’s the opportunity for more people to think about things.
“
“I think people should bike instead of driving, and they should take the train instead of flying,” said Schmidt. “But those are small, compared to the really big structural things that haven’t changed.”
“
I’m sure no one here thinks that just getting people to walk/cycle is all that’s needed to ‘save the world’, but at least that idea has been given a boost.
WFH might make more people concerned about domestic energy efficiency.
People may buy less stuff because there will be fewer shops to see things in.
There MIGHT be more concern about food security/supply and (in a UK context) growing more crops for human consumption - so less meat/dairy. But unless there is a massive change/disruption in supply chains I don’t see it happening.
People ‘understanding’ more might help.
I was surprised to find that (apparently) most ginger came from China so became unavailable (or at least too expensive for local greengrocer to want to get from wholesalers).
No doubt some other countries are planning to grow some to keep western consumers happy, but I don’t imagine it will change world carbon emissions.
Posted 5 years ago # -
“
The boss of Sainsbury’s has said disruption from the coronavirus outbreak will last until at least mid-September, and that physically distanced queues are likely to remain “for the foreseeable future”.
“
I bet he’s got ginger supply sorted.
Posted 5 years ago # -
French government subsidising the refurbishment of bicycles up to 50 Euro to promote transport cycling post-lockdown.
Meanwhile we're arguing about a few traffic cones.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Mrs nobrakes was in Tesco this morning after a night shift at St John's Hospital and said lots of people were ignoring all the distancing rules - people scuffling around, jostling each other, old vulnerable people mixing with young etc.
I was just reading about the 1918 flu pandemic and the fact it came in 3 waves. Social distancing worked then too. I wish people would be a bit more sensible.
Posted 5 years ago # -
M25 rammed.
We have the second biggest death toll in Europe because we have not gone into strict enough lockdown and we have not contact tested.
Posted 5 years ago # -
What's the "Keeling curve"?
We were joking a couple of weeks ago that our middle class woe was that we couldn't get root ginger... I didn't know it came from China...Posted 5 years ago # -
"second biggest death toll in Europe"
We've been ahead for quite a while when you look at excess deaths.
Even on just 'deaths' we are apparantly 3 weeks behind Italy in terms of outbreak. We'll overtake them in a few days.
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-englands-excess-deaths-among-the-highest-in-europe-11977394
Posted 5 years ago # -
@gembo: A lot of these top academics seem to get round the European working time agreement
When about to start both my last two jobs I chose to strike out a clause in the contract of employment I was offered which would effectively meant that I was waiving any rights that the EU Working Time Directive conferred. In both cases I was assured that this (i.e. me striking the clause out) was perfectly OK, so I couldn't help wondering why they put it in in the first place. It seemed like a classic case of trying bury something in the small print.
OTOH and AFAIK if an employee volunteers to work extra hours then I don't think there's anything in the WTD to stop them doing so. Obviously the rules are tighter in jobs covered by specific regulations - like driving buses and HGVs, flying commercial aircraft, driving and signalling trains and so forth - where there would be a clear safety risk to others if an employee was over-tired.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@fimm
The Keeling curve is the record of carbon dioxide concentrations in the well-stirred tropospheric air over Mauna Loa observatory. Continuous daily records since 1956;
https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
Probably the most important data set in the history of humanity.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@Baldcyclist: one of the advantages of not living in the city in a flat ... is the investment in private space to be able to work without being disturbed, at a proper desk with a comfortable chair, 2 monitors, etc. No need to be wearing headphones all day whilst in teams meetings, or worrying about TV or kitchen noises etc.
IMO it's not really a house vs flat thing, it's down to the layout of the property and how the spaces within are used. I had a very nice, private (i.e with a door that I could close), adequately spacious office in my three-bedroomed flat in Dean Village. In fact, since all the rooms in the flat had a door, any one of them could have been used for WFH. In our three-bedroomed house in the 'burbs the ground floor is semi-open plan and there is very little physical privacy available. I could repurpose an upstairs bedroom as an office but I actually prefer the space I have downstairs with its view straight out on to the garden.
When I worked in the company office I participated in the vast majority of my online meetings at my desk anyway, so using headphones when WFH was no different. We did have two meeting rooms but unsurprisingly they were prioritised for people meeting face to face i.e. physically and in person. If you booked a meeting room so that two or three of you from the same building could videoconference from the same space then you stood a very high chance of being bumped back your desks in favour of people holding a physical meeting. And quite rightly so: nothing was more distracting than people choosing to have a meeting at someone's desk in the middle of the open-plan area. Apart from one or two colleagues who seemed never to have fully grasped the concept of telephony, most folks on online meetings spoke quietly enough most of the time for it not to be a serious distraction (and I am easily distracted).
Posted 5 years ago # -
The key fact we need to know is whether or not the British decided to let the virus spread at the outset. It sounds likely that they did and that we are now just slamming an ill-fitting lid on the resulting exponential growth.
Posted 5 years ago # -
To return briefly to the subject of driving to exercise: based on what I've seen when I have been out, I think this is actually happening a fair bit. Examples include:
* A perfectly healthy-looking bloke unloading four small, yappy-type dogs from the back of his car in order to exercise them in Braidburn Valley Park. Now, I quite understand that dogs need exercise but in the case of those four I doubt they'd have needed a space a tenth the size or that park. (If all he wanted was somewhere for them to be able to relieve themselves then so much the worse.)
* A couple loading their kids' bikes in to the back of their car, outside their house which was within five minutes' walk of the same aforementioned Braidburn Valley Park - where kids can pedal themselves to a standstill far from any threat from motor vehicles.
* A number of cars parked up along Braid Hills Drive, including in the layby near the top of the Lang Linn path. No occupants, and there's really nothing else to do there other than take a bit of exercise.
If driving to exercise is really forbidden rather than just discouraged - as, for example, by coning off car parks - then it doesn't seem to be being enforced very effectively (which isn't so different from it not really being forbidden).
Posted 5 years ago # -
On soon
“
Shari Vahl speaks to Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman about the boom in bike sales since lockdown.
“
Posted 5 years ago # -
@ejstubbs
It is being enforced but I suspect there is a resource issue so they are concentrating on particular areas.
Completely anecdotally: we encountered two polis in the Pentlands last weekend, on their shiny quad bikes. They were asking people how they got to the Pentlands. Some very obvious drivists got quite the talking-to.
They were completely cool with us cycling out there though. Double thumbs up, and off they went! Nice job!
Like you I've also seen plenty of cars parked up in forest roads and field entrances out in the sticks. If the vehicle is unattended, short of looking up the numberplate and going round later for a chat I guess there isn't much the police can do.
Posted 5 years ago # -
What a palaver.
Spent the morning on phone demanding a chest xray for my partner, finally got seen by a gp, and after a sats score of 91 and a pulse of 144, and a big argument between gp and hospital over red zones and green zones, she's now on oxygen in the Covid ward.
I wasn't allowed in obviously. The hospital doors might as well be welded shut. And they wouldn't give us masks. What time does the bloody pub open.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Best wishes to your partner, bax, and a large virtual pint or other beverage of your choice to you.
Mr fimm has cycled round Arthur's Seat on a couple of occasions recently and has not had any issues with the police or others.
I noticed a number of cars parked in the layby which I refer to as the "Carnethy Five Start" layby on the A702 near Penicuik at the weekend. It was certainly not coned off. On the other hand Mr fimm points out that you can't fit that many cars into that layby and once it is full people are unlikely to park along the verges - unlike at Harlaw etc.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@bax - really sorry to hear this. I hope your partner recovers well soon.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@bax
We are with you both. All the best.
Posted 5 years ago # -
no worries guys, thanks
just dispatches from the trenches
its a long way to tipperary
Posted 5 years ago # -
“
BA may not reopen at Gatwick once pandemic passes
“
Posted 5 years ago # -
http://eastsidebikes.com/blog/coronavirus-update-210420
"Our secondhand bike stock remains low and as of this morning the website is not up to date, I'll hopefully get that sorted by the end of the day.Our distributors are doing a stirling job keeping us supplied, but lead times for orders are a bit longer than normal."
I don't think I've ever seen less than 5 second hand bikes listed on their website before. Currently 2 on there, both sold.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Sorry to hear that @bax. Hope she recovers quickly.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@bax that has been a long haul ending in rubbish. Sorry for you both
Posted 5 years ago # -
@bax - best wishes to Ms Bax, hoping for a speedy recovery.
Posted 5 years ago # -
thanks everyone.. maybe i should have intervened sooner.. they offered nothing for weeks.. we just hoped to get timing of ward admission as close as possible to the best possible outcome.. fife curve on the tabby tracker etc.
what time is everyone going up the beltane
Posted 5 years ago # -
“maybe i should have intervened sooner”
Sounds like that wasn’t the problem -
“Spent the morning on phone demanding a chest xray for my partner, finally got seen by a gp”
For someone who has lived with this a long time (too long!) you probably know the score better than most, shame you got let down when it mattered.
Hope you both get back to whatever you consider ‘normal’ ASAP.
Posted 5 years ago #
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