Latest Moan From You and Me 2023

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by Victoria, Jan 4, 2023.

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  1. Selleri

    Selleri Koala

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    • Clueless 1 v2

      Clueless 1 v2 Total Gardener

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      We're all full of lurgy in our house. Nothing serious, just a bit of a bug. But the wife needed antibiotics, and figuring we've all got the same lurgy, and I'm coughing my guts up, if she needed antibiotics I should at least get some advice.

      So I phoned 111, and answered all their questions. I should stress that I have no beef with the call centre girl, she will have been following a script and the computer would be telling her what to do based on my answers.

      I stressed to her, I am definitely not having a heart attack. I'm not very ill, I just want a bit of advice in case I have a chest infection.

      Some of her questions worried me. Not because it indicated a serious medical problem, but because I knew how simple yes/no answers would lead her software to completely the wrong conclusion, and despite me explaining the context, I knew she would just click yes or no on her screen. Being a middle aged man answering yes to the question 'is the pain also in your back' after answering yes to chest pain, I knew what her screen would tell her to do, but no amount of explaining context or severity would change that. So, she said she was sending an ambulance to take me in.

      I told her no, don't do that. I'm not going to the hospital, I am not that sick, I just want some advice, to know if it should be treated as a mild chest infection, or if I should just ride it out like a common cold. It was futile. She really, really wanted to send an ambulance, but I told her I'm not going, don't send an email, I don't need an ambulance, someone else might.

      Eventually after convincing her I'm not getting in an ambulance, and I'm not going to waste the hospital team's time, she eventually referred my case to a nurse. The nurse called me back, got me an out of hours GP appointment, where the GP concluded it's not a significant infection, and I should be able to just ride it out. I was satisfied with this.

      So basically, my moan is that while we keep hearing of tragic stories in the media about ambulances being too busy to get to really critical cases in time, the governments amazing 111 service is sending emergency ambulances out to people with mild lurgies.

      To be clear, no ambulance was sent to me. I made it abundantly clear I didn't need one. But I wonder how many people put their trust entirely in the 111 service and when told they need an ambulance, just assume their case must be more serious than they thought. Meanwhile some elderly person has taken a nasty fall or is having a heart attack and waiting for hours while 111 is sending ambulances out for minor bugs.
       
    • Drahcir

      Drahcir Gardener

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      • shiney

        shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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        Kids are spoilt these days! Our neighbours seem to take their young kids out somewhere each Sunday and they spend quite a bit on them.

        In my day we were told to go out in the street and play with the traffic. :whistle:
         
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        • Clueless 1 v2

          Clueless 1 v2 Total Gardener

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          Two things have changed since then.

          1. There's a lot more traffic these days
          2. Most of said traffic is driven by self obsessed morons who believe it's their god given right to drive however they want, wherever they want, irrespective of who else might be around.

          When I was a kid, we used to play tennis and other games in the road. Every now and then someone would yell 'car', and we'd suspend our game, and while the driver patiently waited, we'd move all our stuff off the road, go to the pavement (which was entirely free of parked cars), wait til the car had gone past, then reset our game and carry on.

          Smaller kids would be playing on the pavement. Chalking or riding scooters or just playing with toys.

          Nowadays there's pretty much no let up in the traffic, so the road is no longer a makeshift tennis court, and if you do happen to be in the road when a car is coming you'd better move fast because you absolutely can't count on the driver to be paying attention or care if you even exist. Kids aren't playing on the pavements anymore because 1, they're now car parks and 2, even if you do find a clear stretch of pavement that doesn't mean you won't get splattered because sooner or later someone's going swing their car right onto it.
           
        • pete

          pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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          After a certain age I spent most days of the summer holidays in the local park about a mile and a half away.

          We used to just go into the wooded areas or the wilder parts, there was some old rag stone workings there, just exploring really.
          Climb a big tree and just sit up there and watch things.
          No organised games etc.

          Everything has to be organized these days, last thing I would have wanted.
           
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          • noisette47

            noisette47 Total Gardener

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            I won't forget my 6th birthday party as long as I live. My Dad furnished me and the invitees with cut-down overalls, paintbrushes and a big tin of black paint. Then he let us loose on his garden shed :biggrin: We had a whale of a time although I suspect that there might have been a few complaints afterwards from fastidious parents :roflol:
             
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            • shiney

              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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              We didn't need to go to the park as we had our own playground in the 1940's :whistle:

              [​IMG]

              [​IMG]
               
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              • pete

                pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                So which one is you?:biggrin:
                 
              • shiney

                shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                The one with the skirt in the air! :whistle:
                 
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                • shiney

                  shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                  I see, or don't see, that the other picture didn't come out :dunno:
                   
                • shiney

                  shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                  Try again

                  upload_2023-8-20_16-33-6.png
                   
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                  • pete

                    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                    That's you with the big stick, I recognise the mean looking face.:roflol:
                     
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                    • Selleri

                      Selleri Koala

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                      We just nearly killed ourselves in various ways in the 70s. Climbing the trees was a regular sport, I only remember being a tad concerned when my friend and I climbed all the way to the top of a pine, swaying in the wing holding on to the stem that was narrower that my wrist.

                      Learnings from a library book explaining the ways of American Indians probably saved our lives when we agreed that Indians never climbed on branches smaller than their arms and decided to climb down. :biggrin: (On a related note, crayons are good for face painting)

                      Practising our balance by walking on the 2m tall fence around the laundry airing area, with a lovely drop on concrete was great too.

                      Not to mention sailing on styrofoam sheets in the melting stream in early spring, or having swimming contests to a rock at the ripe age of under 10- no parental supervision.

                      I'm sure our parents loved us very much and had a complete trust in our judgement :scratch: :heehee:
                       
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                      • JWK

                        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                        You were lucky having crayons, we used dandelion sap to make ourselves look like native Americans. Think I've still got the scars.
                         
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