For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1819757
Our Tesco shops were always at 9.30 am on Sunday morning: Car park empty, Store deserted.

We were out and away by 10.10, ten minutes after the tills opened. But all the scorn and criticism has led us to abandon this:

We start click and collect on Friday: Tesco again, as cheaper than Waitrose.

Waitrose, it has to be said, in the initial lockdown panic last March, actually identified me and sought me out as part of one of Rob P's hated oldie couples , when there wasn't a Tesco, Sainsbury or Asda delivery slot for love nor money and offered us immediate extra delivery slots which we used till the heat went out of the situation.

Having said that, the biggest problem in Tesco at the moment is not oldie punters whether in pairs or single but the legions of Click and Collect pickers charging about,often with scant regard to social distancing, clearly with targets to meet.

Peter :wink:
Last edited by PeteSpencer on Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1819761
eltonioni wrote:Aldi it is then. I have a lot of sympathy Rob, my dad mumps about exactly the same thing and he's a roughty toughy ex copper in his 70s who's fitter than most kids in their 30s. He hates the supermarket for all the reasons you outlined but basically he's been frightened by all the irresponsible reporting.


Hmm: Although Aldi's 30 day Aberdeen Angus Fillet steak is second to none (our freezer is full of it), our Aldi is so pokey, I'm far more likely to pick up Covid there than our massive Tesco...................

Even though, situated just round the corner from chez S (and even closer than Waitrose) Aldi is perfect for a lung expanding exercise walk. Our neighbours are all at it.

Peter :roll:
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1819770
Waitrose is used for non-perishable basics and some booze, Mrsjohnm goes early and seems content with fewer queues and most folk wearing masks. Everything else is from specialist local shops or the market or the wine merchant.

We are very lucky to have regular markets selling veg, bread and cakes and meat (including some game) and beer as well as specialist shops, butchers, bakers and fishmonger not seen a candlestick maker as yet :D
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By Flyin'Dutch'
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1819778
Rob P wrote:Hopefully this will be the finish for couples shopping together.

Rob P


Much as I love Mrs FD and enjoy doing things together - grocery shopping is not part of that.

I am a man on a mission with a pre-prepared list of which I only minimally deviate; she saunters along for yonks with a trolley too full.

Going out and ensuring she is not burdened with that, is self preservation.

(Don't tell her - she thinks it is love)
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1819809
eltonioni wrote:and he's a roughty toughy ex copper in his 70s who's fitter than most kids in their 30s.


My aunt's next door but one neighbour was like that.

He died of covid about three weeks ago.

eltonioni wrote:but basically he's been frightened by all the irresponsible reporting.


You think it's irresponsible? In what way?

In my small-ish village, it seems that someone dies of covid every other day.

A friend's daughter has covid at the moment, and the only place she's been out to is the supermarket.
#1819818
@Paul_Sengupta - it's amazing the different experiences people are having. Yesterday I heard of one person I know who has had it and recovered and a colleague's wife had it and recovered last year. No-one else I know at all has even been touched by it.

This doesn't mean that I'm not taking the threat of COVID seriously, just that I have, thankfully, had a very different experience of it so far.
#1819829
Even for survivors, it seems, long-term effects are highly variable, from negligible to debilitating; and the younger and fitter are not spared:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55635451
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#1819831
kanga wrote:Even for survivors, it seems, long-term effects are highly variable, from negligible to debilitating; and the younger and fitter are not spared:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55635451

It certainly seems to be the case, the 18 year old daughter of a friend went of to University, contracted Covid and is now on dialysis awaiting a kidney transplant.
#1819846
The relevant words here are "underlying health condition" which can so easily mean "unidentified health condition". The younger and fitter are almost invariably spared.
Last edited by eltonioni on Wed Jan 13, 2021 10:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
#1819849
@Paul_Sengupta Poor old Wales has really had it bad and no amount of measures and lockdowns has worked. For example, I've been to Merthyr in the past (there's a great training kennel there) and while it's definitely not the richest place, it seems pretty normal and the people seem to be the average UK demographic, so I've always guessed that it is different social conditions/behaviour at work.

Even now, I can still count the number of people I know who've had it on one hand but I don't dispute the shocking numbers.

What do you think is happening differently around you?
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1819859
eltonioni wrote:What do you think is happening differently around you?


I'm not entirely sure, but people around here are quite "sociable". I've reported on here before that there were house parties happening, that when the pubs were open, they had people carrying on as if life was normal, rather than the responsible "sit at a table and eat while spaced apart" type pubs. Large groups of youth have continued to gather.

The other thing is it's very much an area where everyone has children, and schools have been the big conduit recently for infection. My cousin is in charge of an area of schools to the east of here and she has seen waves of parents catch it who have no other connection than their children are in school together. She also has to juggle a fair few teachers being off-sick with it.

There's also a lot of manual labour here, a lot of people who can't work from home. My cousin's husband owns a building firm. One day they had a meeting and out of nine people in the meeting, the only person not to go down with Covid was my cousin's husband.

These are then compounded as the grandparents pick up/look after the kids, etc, though that's speculation on my part.

The other thing is that because it's such a tight knit community, everyone knows everyone else, or at least knows of them as many have been stalwarts of the community. Thus deaths are generally announced on the local facebook page to let everyone know. It does mean that there's a general awareness of people dying rather than just reading statistics on a government website.

There's also quite an abundance of older people here.
Last edited by Paul_Sengupta on Wed Jan 13, 2021 11:08 am, edited 4 times in total.
#1819862
Rob P wrote:Well Sainsbury are being specific that people should shop alone. I am looking forward to relatively strict enforcement.

I shall report back tomorrow


Well I arrived about 0820 and the nice lady always on the door has been supplemented by a burly bloke in hi-viz, not that you could miss him anyway.

Inside the only couples were a very aged pair who probably couldn't manage to lift a four-pack of tinned tomatoes solo, and a pair where the male appeared to be differently able, probably best not left at home alone.

So there is hope.

Rob P
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