Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[throbber]

Loved going to a shop today and not wearing a mask. It really did feel like I was wearing nothing at all.

[Dons_1988]

I’d be content with never discussing face masks ever again. 

I suspect I’ll be wrong when October/November rolls around but I’ll enjoy it for now. 

[Marshmallo]

There were two worse posts along similar lines to red23's yesterday on exactly the same theme (one now deleted) and there wasn't a peep. 

[die hard doonhamer]

15 minutes ago, throbber said:

Loved going to a shop today and not wearing a mask. It really did feel like I was wearing nothing at all.

You were meant to wear them on your face. 

[gav-ffc]

12 hours ago, scottsdad said:

The wife is getting her ear pierced today. The place has contacted her to say that in their shop, they are keeping masks for staff and customers. No mask, no needle. 

Noticed a few tattoo/piercing shops saying the same in Falkirk, one owner is massive snp simp so no surprise but they just had an outbreak at said shop while masks were legal requirement.

 

[gav-ffc]

10 minutes ago, gav-ffc said:

Noticed a few tattoo/piercing shops saying the same in Falkirk, one owner is massive snp simp so no surprise but they just had an outbreak at said shop while masks were legal requirement.

 

Even if your exempt you still need to wear a mask then a few posts later shows one of the artists at a convention not wearing a mask. 

[Clown Job]

Well that sounds like it was a waste of money 

[Ekhibee88]

On 18/04/2022 at 20:33, bennett said:

Will shops be getting rid of those clear plastic screens now?

Even in England lots of places still have them up.

[Elixir]

1 hour ago, Dons_1988 said:

I’d be content with never discussing face masks ever again. 

I suspect I’ll be wrong when October/November rolls around but I’ll enjoy it for now. 

I'm fully expecting it to be brought back up, but hopefully there is a lot of pushback and the genie simply can't be put back in the bottle. The UK Government won't do it this time so it will be an easy 'care more' optic for the Scottish Government to try and employ.

 

38 minutes ago, Clown Job said:

Well that sounds like it was a waste of money 

This bald, speccy tube was telling us they were a tool to manage Covid in the long-term just a matter of months ago. An absolute charlatan.

[peasy23]

On the office culture point, I don’t think working from home 5 days a week every week is a long term solution for that many industries because I do think getting together and collaborating face to face is important but at the same time, I also think working in offices 5 days a week is already a thing of the past.
 
2/3 days hybrid working is great for the following reasons:
 
- That office culture you talk about can still exist. A couple of days a week is easily enough to form those meaningful friendships especially since you’re more likely to make an effort to eat lunch with colleagues or grab a beer with them after work if it’s the only time you’re seeing them all week.
 
- Having days where everyone is in the office can largely negate the need for zoom calls, which we can all agree are fucking horrific.
 
- WFH days are great for no commute, school run etc, but are also more productive than being in the office a lot of the time. If you don’t have any meetings and you’ve got a solo piece of work that requires you to just get your head down and get on with it, that’s what WFH days should be for.
 
I expect that most office workers will be working from home 2-4 times a week going forward and in the office 1-3 days a week. 

My missus started a new job last year along with another girl in their team, and there only is 5 folk in total. As well as only getting to know their new colleagues over zoom, they've also missed out on a lot of the normal training and integration as every time they have a query then they have to fire off an email or make a phone call, instead of just being able to ask somebody in the same room. They were on the verge of going in at least 2 days a week when Omicron hit and the panic button was pressed and 100% home working stayed in place.

Similar tale for my sis in law, she is a civil servant, and although it's not a problem to do her job from home, she is absolutely bored rigid with the lack of interaction with her colleagues.

[Andy Dufresne]

Grand daughter has now tested positive.

[Jan Vojáček]

I can see both sides of the WFH thing. Especially for folk who have changed jobs. I picked up so much at work from just watching the people around me, and any business switching to 100% WFH has got to consider how they'll train new starts. Because Zoom calls just won't cut it.

Having said that, we're now home working permanently and I'm absolutely delighted about that. The aspect of my job I hated the most was the commute, and WFH gives me back 10 hours a week. It saves me a fortune on fuel/train tickets and it saves me on food because I'm not tempted to go to the office canteen. 

I'm probably more productive than I was in the office, I'm far more relaxed and I would say that I enjoy my job more. It's also meant that we can start looking at moving away from the city and a bit further out - which is something I've always wanted. I'm fortunate though in that I have the space and don't live alone, so I fully understand why it's not the case for everyone.

My dad had worked from home all my life, and so had my Papa when I was growing up. So I always found the idea of it totally normal. Again though I think for some people or households with no experience it can maybe seem quite suffocating and like there's no escape. Especially if you don't enjoy your job.

TL;Dr version: Employers should speak to their employees and work on a way or working that is as close to suiting everyone as possible. Offering people the chance of days in the office or FT WFH.

[The Master]

11 hours ago, Clown Job said:

Well that sounds like it was a waste of money 

I used it a grand total of once, to get into Tynecastle. And even then the steward just glanced at my phone. 

Of course, that’s possibly more of a commentary on my social life than the level of enforcement of the app. 

[scottsdad]

The uni has put out a notice that we are following government guidelines - masking in corridors is not mandatory but advised. 

Pleasant surprise. Genuinely thought they would keep it mandatory. That said, most students have just finished up so there will be very few people on campus. 

[Bairnardo]

The uni has put out a notice that we are following government guidelines - masking in corridors is not mandatory but advised. 
Pleasant surprise. Genuinely thought they would keep it mandatory. That said, most students have just finished up so there will be very few people on campus. 

Personally think it's wrong that certain people aren't being given the freedom to choose. Guess that's been done to death already though so I will just say having worked the last two days, being off today and doing stuff legally maskless is undoubtedly a nice feeling. I know there will be folk on here belittling that, but its been a long time and I think its worth a mention.

Anyway I guess that's probably it for this thread eh. What a ride. What a two years its been. Let's hope enough lessons have been learned that it's never repeated

[superbigal]

Well I finally became one of my own stats. Horrendous cough on Monday. Negative.
Turned into a cold yesterday so convinced that's all it was.
However positive test today. To be fair its a beautiful day to be sitting with covid in the back garden.
My weeping cherry I planted when I moved in back in 2007 is magnificent. Beastly underneath not letting the birds feed.

[Elixir]

It seems closing society down has hidden problems that will take years to reckon with. I wonder why it was never considered in pre-pandemic planning before Italy blindly followed China, and the rest was history!

 

[Dan Steele]

10 hours ago, Bairnardo said:

Anyway I guess that's probably it for this thread eh.

 

3 minutes ago, Elixir said:

It seems closing society down has hidden problems that will take years to reckon with. I wonder why it was never considered in pre-pandemic planning before Italy blindly followed China, and the rest was history!

 

It's now 'The Possible Link to Lowered Immunity to Adenovirus Among Infants During Lockdown' thread.

[Hillonearth]

10 hours ago, Bairnardo said:

Personally think it's wrong that certain people aren't being given the freedom to choose. Guess that's been done to death already though so I will just say having worked the last two days, being off today and doing stuff legally maskless is undoubtedly a nice feeling. I know there will be folk on here belittling that, but its been a long time and I think its worth a mention.

Anyway I guess that's probably it for this thread eh. What a ride. What a two years its been. Let's hope enough lessons have been learned that it's never repeated

It'll only truly signify the end of the pandemic for me when this thread finally slips off Page 1.

It's been a strange couple of years...the strident elements at both ends of the central argument allowing it to dominate their lives to an unhealthy degree while the vast majority got on with it, took precautions when it seemed prudent and didn't bother when it made no sense.

It would be nice to think that sooner or later everybody will get back to living their lives rather than living a point of view.

[Hillonearth]

9 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

You mean "bent over obediently and took it like a champ without questioning anything" right? 

"Advanced sheepery" seems a rather odd thing to portray as a character strength but it takes all sorts I suppose. 

You managed to get that out of the bit you bolded in the quote - especially the second half? I'm literally saying the opposite - the majority of people DIDN'T bother their arses with restrictions that made zero sense.

KInd of proves the point I was making about the more trenchant types at either end of the scale though, so by all means you're welcome to go off like a landmine full of diarrhoea.