The very minor pluses of Covid19

[Jon]

My son is finally washing his hands for the required length of time. Previous to this it was cursory at best and at times non-existent.

superleague are holding a meeting tomorrow and no doubt they'll suspend rugby league. But it has been nice seeing their moment in the spotlight this weekend.

[DCI Harry Batt]

What everyone said. Car-sul. Cass.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Not really a "plus" or a "minus", but a trivial neutral consequence that occurred to me the other day: in future episodes of Pointless, when contestants are tied and the tie-breaker commences, Xander and Richard are probably not going to start that jokey "whoa-oa-oa-oa, Lockdown!" chant. I wonder if there are some current editorial headaches about episodes already recorded and not yet broacast which feature such moments.

[Wouter D]

My university requested all employees to work from home as much as possible, and cancel all unimportant* meetings. So I'm working from home now, having cancelled all my meetings, and without the constant interruptions by students I am crazy productive.

In daily life under normal circumstances, I preferred to keep my work and private locations separate (so no work temptations in the evening at home). But this home office situation is growing on me. It's also a nice pilot project for if we ever have kids; we're both in the same career. If my wife would take a four-day workweek with the Monday off, and work from home on Tuesdays, and I would work from home on Thursdays in a four-day workweek with the Friday off, we'd only have to arrange daycare for Wednesday. Covid-19 shows that the work life does not implode with this kind of physical absence at university, which is good to know.

*this is formulated in a delightfully vague way, meaning that I can make it work to my benefit

[Gangster Octopus]

Who is Cas and what did she win?

Bugger off rugger boy...

[DCI Harry Batt]

Eh?

[Gangster Octopus]

Ah, I see it's been dealt with. That's what happens when I don't catch up with the whole thread...

[Gangster Octopus]

Sorry.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Oh and Castleford as said by residents of Castleford comes out as something like 'casul-fud'. Castle in this case being just one syllable.

Most people in the North, as it goes, because that's the way it's supposed to be said.

[Janik]

Yes, by northerners.

[DCI Harry Batt]

That's cool GO, just didn't follow.

[San Bernardhinault]

We're going to have to police Northerners into pronouncing the names of places in the South correctly, aren't we?

[Gangster Octopus]

Tha wot?

[Big Boobs and FIRE!]

The first four stops on my train to work are Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden.

I've never heard any two train conductors pronounce them the same way, let alone correctly.

The only one that is obvious is Hebden Bridge, but as half the BBC live there, it gets mentioned a lot on TV and radio anyway, so is possibly quite familiar.

[Benjm]

Ha, when the northerners and the southerners fight, the crafty Midlander plays them off against each other, like Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo. Or Yowjimbo, as we call it.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Ha, when the northerners and the southerners fight, the crafty Midlander plays them off against each other, like Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo. Or Yowjimbo, as we call it.

Don't think I didn't notice your bias in regional capitalisation.

[Janik]

There is little more pointlessly spirit crushing about arguments on who has the right accent. The answer, of course, is everyone has the right accent for themselves.

[Benjm]

Don't think I didn't notice your bias in regional capitalisation.

Don't get your Alans in a scotch, geezer.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Ouch.

[Toby Gymshorts]

There is little more pointlessly spirit crushing about arguments on who has the right accent. The answer, of course, is everyone has the right accent for themselves.

Oh aye, marra?

[San Bernardhinault]

I obviously have the right accent. Except when I hear myself recorded, and then my voice and accent sound horrible.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Oh, yeah, That.

[Various Artist]

I like how this thread has pleasantly deviated way off course in the matter of a page or so. It's like proper OTF again, back in the old pre-pandemic days.

At least, I think it's still deviated. MsD's response seems to say something about getting back on topic, I think, but it's so very northern I can't be sure. I wouldn't stake my bog roll on it, anyway.

[Various Artist]

On topic, anyway, I've been pondering for some time if this will turn out a surprisingly good year for wildlife.

Talk of the residents of places like Bergamo being able to glimpse the signs of spring coming from their windows, but unable to get out there amongst it, makes me think of how – if things go on for a while in this frame – the collective impact of all the public grassy areas not being mown, weeds not being sprayed, wild areas left unmolested etc. etc. should at least give a whole load of insects and other invertebrate life a real headstart this spring, and hence so too the birds, amphibians, reptiles and small mammals that feed on them, and so forth.

Multiply that up across the continent, or around the world, and a lot of species could find themselves with some rare and precious breathing space.

[Incandenza]

I saw a lot of people out biking today. I think the being cooped up inside might mean that people want to get exercise when they go out, so they are biking and not necessarily driving when they might have otherwise done so.