Huddersfield

Worth a repost:

I’m sure it will turn out just fine, but all the best. As if bringing a baby into the world wasn’t stressful enough!

That’s an awful situation mate - my heart goes out to you & your family. Nothing much to say that can make it better but I hope everyone finds some peace.

Information, I think...in older times, people knew nothing. In Churchill's times, people 'knew' largely what they were told. Nowadays, you can find any fact, theory, myth or bollocks you want.

I think in the modern world the Churchill approach is the LAST thing we need, which unfortunately is the style he's 100% reliant on. People want facts, predictions, reassurance, someone to show they understand, etc., etc...not just standing in the rubble waving two fingers around & saying it'll all be OK because we're British.

It's easy to do online...the time control makes it easy to muck up. In real-world games, I'm a pretty slow player really, so not best suited to 5-minute games.

Yes I’ve used that at times. Online, I mainly play through Playchess.com as when I’m weary of getting hammered there’s usually a grandmaster or two knocking around to watch. Having said that, I prefer over the board. I play district league & occasional regional league games. At least you know whoever you are playing isn’t using a computer to pick out tricky moves. Do you play much yourself?

He’d never have survived the ’me too’ movement these days given his love of groping women which he liked to describe in some detail!

Well I’ve (apparently) got a minimum of 3 months of this. Luckily I have my beer supply sorted although I’m banned from takeaways. My main positivity targets are: I play chess a fair bit & have bought a training book so that I’m actually going to try & practice for the first time ever. Ive been learning Spanish for about 10 years. I’m averaging about a word a year at the moment so going to see if I can pick that up. I intend to impress my wife when she comes back that in fact the house has not become infected with rats not me with lice. Any two of those & I’ll feel like it was worth the effort.

Why were we never told that was one of the symptoms. I thought it was just bad piles.

In an era of changing times and lives being turned upside down, it’s good to know that the football message board remains as it ever was. If someone starts a ‘get to fuck the lot of you’ thread, it’ll be well populated I’d guess.

I think this aspect to things is interesting...history shows us from time immemorial that major social crises often become, over short & long-term, drivers for major social change. I think that you are going to end up here with a lot of people whose lives will have been turned upside down irrevocably, be it through lost jobs, lost relatives, lost pensions & simply the pressure of living like this for the duration. I think unless they up the ante a bit & actually start to look & sound like people with a plan that people can relate to, then it's hard to predict how different strata of society might start to behave.

This is it - 100%. The research centre I have dealings with were sending out messages to people to go into complete social isolation when Boris was still doing his 'keep calm & carry on' routine. I find myself watching this bunch with horror really. I have no doubt there are thinkers of some sort behind the scenes, but I don't think I've ever seen such a clueless, simpering, sycophantic set of 'leaders' in my life. Matt Hancock is one of the worst - every time I see him he looks like some sort of bullied kid, scared of his own shadow & worrying that he's going to get a kicking on his way past Downing Street.

Until I watched that video, I never even realised it was in a film! Not normally my type of music but for some reason I loved that song the minute I first heard it.

And a couple to squeeze God in....

And worth a repost:

I cancelled an EasyJet flight & only got a refund of tax. Luckily I have a specialist medical policy & a helpful consultant who has signed a form to say he would strongly advise me not to travel (this was 2 or 3 weeks ago). The downer is going to be in some ways if they cancel the flight anyway then I bet I won’t get the money back. Maybe not an issue if the insurers pay out but all the same I bet that’s what they do.

Cheers Donny & it’s good to see you back. The positive here for me is that barring some spectacular bad luck, I won’t be copping for the virus. The downer is not seeing the family for however long but as my wife so eloquently put it, I’d be f**k all use to them if I was dead so just hoping it passes over soon enough.

Mrs H managed to get me a pack of 9 bog rolls at the local shop last night. I've been happy to live in my own crap for years, so offers via PM please (bitcoin preferred).

If you'll accept the intrusion of an Englishman on this matter, firstly I agree with Grim Jim that it's fundamentally down to you. One thing I'd add is that if you do distillery tours, many of them will give you tasting techniques (I think there's probably some YouTube videos but there's no substitute for being in the place it's made with the glass in your hand). How you taste it can affect your liking of it just as much as whether or not to put some drops of water in. You kind of need to get past the alcohol hit to get to the flavour (which is why some people dilute it a little). Personally, I think water completely ruins whisky but I'm a long way from being any sort of connoisseur. Also, of course, there are loads of different types & your tastes may even change over time. Quite possibly the greatest contribution the TAMB ever made to my life was someone describing Ardbeg as a 'bonkers' (I think it was) whisky 'like chewing raw peat'. I'd always hated peaty/smoky whiskies but finding myself holed up one night on my lonesome in the Stein Inn on Skye, I spotted a bottle & thought 'go for it'...I've loved the stuff ever since. To that long-forgotten poster...you changed my life & I thank you 🥃

No amount of booze justifies that - I'd take more water with it next time.

That’s a bugger. I’ll be waiting ages to post this then...

I was listening to the radio yesterday & there was a phone-in for people to suggest songs about songs. You had to come up with song titles that were about music or anything to do with songs. Abba-Thank You For The Music was an obvious one but it’s crap so I won’t post it. Think Aerosmith & Let The Music Do The Talking (?) but that was the first time I’d ever heard that one. And it was crap. Anyway, there’s a starter for ten.