Big J

As has been alluded to, I think the single axle nature of what is a very large caravan didn't help. The driver was also clearly going far too fast. I imagine that he would have experienced some wind sheer as he passed the lorry at speed.

It's my opinion that the UK governments response to covid-19 has been a series of ill considered overreactions. By applying 'idiot proof' blanket policies to the entirety of the UK population all they've served to do is make most people feel like they are being treated like idiots. Most goodwill towards compliance with government guidelines is gone, in part courtesy of Cummings' Durham excursion and Barnard Castle Eye test. I really feel that lockdown needed to be better targetted to protect the vulnerable, and to allow those for whom covid-19 presents little risk the freedom to continue on as normal. If it were me, I would have done it like this (prefacing what's written below with the obvious point that I'm not a virologist and honestly, I don't know what I'm talking about! ? ): Four categories: low, medium, high and very high risk. Low risk: Anyone under the age of 50 with no underlying health conditions. No smokers, no obese people etc. Medium risk: People 50-70 with no underlying health conditions. People under 50 with minor comorbidities or who are obese or smoke. High risk: People over 70 regardless of health. People under 70 with severe comorbidities. Anyone working with people in the high and very high risk groups (care providers etc) Very high risk: People over 70 with severe health conditions. With these classifications, very high risk would shield. They would have been better protected than they were (care home settings for one). High risk would have acted as most of us have through lockdown. Medium risk would have had more freedom to continue on as normal and low risk would have been largely unrestricted (unless in direct contact with higher risk groups) so as to keep the country running. The economic rammifications of the lockdown will last longer and will be more far reaching than covid 19. I look to Sweden as an example of how I feel it ought to have been done. They are not seeing a second wave. That being said, I feel that their population is inherently more sensible than the British public and are better suited to following nuanced guidelines.

Selling firewood is selling the unprofitable to the ungrateful. Tom D told me that about 10 years ago, and I've stuck to that mantra. Also, 95% of firewood customers in the UK are short sighted idiots. They'd rather spend twice as much on dry timber, delivered in unfeasibly small quantities at a time of year where delivering dry firewood is challenging and a guarantee of supply is impossible. The rest of Europe buys firewood in bulk cheaply, with unspecified moisture content and then they store it themselves until such time as it's dry. Couple that with the boom and bust nature of the UK forestry and you've got issues. The cause of this instability is (I feel) the overall lack of supply, the grant funded nature of aspects of the timber industry (RHI, for instance) and our very unpredictable climate (we may get a winter, we may not). The final thing to consider is ash dieback. Every man and his lad will had a profusion of cheap or free ash and the commercial outfits are going to struggle for a couple of years. If I were you, I'd forget about investing in a firewood business and buy a wheeled excavator with a felling head to do roadside ash. You'll make decent money for a few years, ride out the ash dieback wave, and then if you still want to run a firewood business at the end of it, I say go for it.

The rain seems to be incredibly patchy across the country this week. One place will see a deluge whereas 5 miles away, they won't get a drop. We've had a little bit at home, but we've had next to nothing on a large planting site we're doing (where we want the rain) and loads on a forestry site (where we don't want the rain). Localised thunder storms doing their work I guess.

Agreed, especially about the cavity wall insulation. That is just a timebomb there. The houses were built with a cavity for a reason, and now they are unable to breath properly, with all the associated issues with indoor air quality and dampness. My brother is out in Verona at the moment staying with his inlaws in their newly constructed (self built, albeit, self administered - they didn't build it themselves) house. He's waxing lyrical about how amazing it is with a 40 square metre living room amongst other things. I'm trying to impress on him that it's not anything out of the ordinary in other countries. The average new build in England is just 71.0 square metres (last time I checked, it was 87 square metres). It's 137 square metres in Denmark. I do wonder if our utterly inadequate housing has contributed to our very high covid 19 infection and death rate? It's very hard to stay sane isolating in such small confines, contributing to a higher rate of lockdown breaching? Speculation really, but it's interesting maybe.

Careful now, I'm in real danger of getting onto my soapbox..... Built to an absolute minimum standard. Almost never exceed regs, which are kept artificially low by lobbyists influencing government policy. Crammed into developments at a density that does not allow proper air flow, exacerbating the urban heat island effect. No solar shading. Houses are not designed to be resilient to hot weather. No thought given to design and how it relates to aspect. So house design B will be plonked onto a site, even if it means a whole raft of unshaded windows are facing south or west. Houses built for huge profit rather than as homes. Developers such as Persimmon grossing an almost 50% profit margin on all houses constructed. End price dictated by our ludicrously skewed housing market which serves it's principle purpose in the UK economy as a conduit and vessel of wealth. Which is very silly given that a house ought to be a home, first and foremost. Almost no triple glazing. No inbuilt A/C, despite the fact that in Southern England we are far more likely to experience an uncomfortable heat wave than an uncomfortable cold snap. Most of those points relate to modern housing. We live in a rented farmhouse, which is best described as 'farmer built'. Four walls and a roof and f*ck all thought for design and insulation. My brother lives in a new Persimmon home in Exeter and their house is consistently 3c warmer inside than ours in summer, and it's ruddy freezing in winter. I've been perusing houses in Sweden lately, and it's interesting to note that even in the budget price range (£50k or so), many houses have geothermal heating, A/C and triple glazing. It's long been established that we live in the worst houses in Europe.

I really struggled to sleep at all last night. Bedroom was 26c even with a fan in the window blowing the then cooler air in. Even with no cover and starkers, far too warm. So dozed in the chair downstairs (few degrees cooler) from 01:00 to 06:00 and now feel hungover/ill. The heat itself isn't the issue, it's our shittily constructed house. It's not even that bad in the scheme of things compared to others in the UK, but it's cold in winter and roasting in summer. No house should get to 29c inside (my daughters bedroom, blinds shut all day) and if it does, it should have A/C. Even so, there shouldn't be a need for A/C in the UK if the house is properly built.

Far, far too hot. 33c in the shade here in Cullompton, over 50c registered on a thermometer that I put in the sun for less than 5 minutes. My brother is presently in Northern Italy, and it's only a couple of degrees warmer there.

The dry stuff. I find this burns the best. The wet wood is definitely the worst. ? ?

I've got a fairly hefty stack of nice processor grade oak that isn't moving as quickly as I'd like. I'm looking into getting it processed and dried in an effort to more easily market it. First question, would anyone be interested in bulker loads of kiln dried logs? Second question, what price would it need to be to make sense? I'm not looking to make much money from the drying and processing, instead I'm looking at it as a means of shifting roadside stock. I have done this in the past with (predominantly ash) sawlogs, getting them planked and then sold on.

All studies have shown that hydroxychloroquin (when used as a phophylactic) is useless, and when used as a treatment for covid-19, it actually increased the mortality rate. The reason it's being ignored isn't just because Trump likes it (he is a f*cking moron, but in this case, it's besides the point), it's because it's worse that ineffective. It's harmful.

I've a fairly large amount of 90% processor grade oak near Winkleigh in West Devon. Several hundred tonnes. £51/t at roadside and I can organise local delivery, or load onto a flat to go further afield. PM for more details.

It was the contrast between the centre of St Andrews, which was very busy, and the relatively quiet nature of a forest walk that got my goat. Anyway, we found a better carpark, hardly saw a soul and the kids climbed trees. It was a nice afternoon

It's been a couple of years since I was last there (on account of being in Devon), so I was unaware of the changes. It's a public forest. The Commission has a duty to provide access and if the public is enthusiastic (in their numbers) to visit, accommodation ought to be made. It's 50 square miles (32k acres) and it's a great place to enjoy being outside, get some exercise and socially distance

I must admit that I nearly lost it on Sunday whilst up in Fife. Had a nice day out at the Aquarium in St Andrews, fish and chips and a play on the beach. Quite a lot of people around, being generally sensible. And then we went to Tentsmuir Forest for a walk. Plenty of cars heading in that direction, but the forest is 32000 acres, so no issue? Well apparently not. There was an attendant at the entrance to the road to the carpark (which is gigantic - would hold at least 500 cars) saying they couldn't admit anyone else due to overcrowding. In a forest. Which backs onto 1000s of acres of beach and sand dunes. Wouldn't even let us in when another car came out. Still too overcrowded apparently. We drove on, and as it happens found a much nicer and much quieter carpark, had a lovely walk and I saw a wonderful Audi RS2 and geeked about it with the obviously very proud owner My point is, common sense seems to be applied selectively, and this was just ridiculous.

I don't especially like wearing masks, principally because it obscures the view of my most excellent beard. I feel that others are missing out.... But It is easy for us lot (who are generally not in high risk categories) to dismiss the value of them. For us they are an inconvenience, an infringement on our personal liberties even. For a previously very active and sociable octogenarian, they are the reassurance that allow them to start to interact with society again. Masks do have a tangible effect on transmission rates, and they have a pyschological benefit for those who are genuinely terribly afraid to go out in their communities. We may disparage or dismiss those with such fears, but even if the fear is misplaced, it's still a fear. So the very minor ballache of having to shroud my world class viking beard is a price worth paying if it helps older people with comorbidities get out and about and avoid the associated health issues of enforced lockdown. It's only a bit of cloth with a couple of bits of elastic, it's not a conspiracy theory.

With your BBC accent, you should have got it - I got the joke from Jack Dee on Sorry I Haven't a Clue ?

Just keep repeating "For Cunard" until it clicks. ?

No replacement for displacement, as they say. The small amount of towing I do now I do with a V10 TDI Touareg. I generally get 19mpg if towing the trailer empty, or 17mpg if it's loaded to 3.5t gross. Never have to use full throttle on any hill either. Go for the 3 litre. 7000kg MAM with 150ps sounds painful.

Well I'm back to training again. I stopped about two years ago with tendon issues in my elbows. I'd be lifting for about 8 months at that point, after a 10 year hiatus. In June 2018, I was about 118kg (at 6ft 8") with squat at 150, bench at about 115kg and deadlift 200kg. Overhead was just under 100 I think. Anyway, since doing more machine work, I've really been struggling with my back. I had a lot of time over winter where I was genuinely struggling to walk at times. Couldn't lift anything off the ground and my lower spine with a really funny shape. Through the first month of lockdown, I flirted with the weights a bit (have a full gym at home) but nothing consistent. About 6-7 weeks ago I started to take it seriously, training most days and working around my lower back issues to get lifting more consistently. It's hard working around a serious back issue, but in that time it's hugely improved and I'm 80% of the way back to full lower back health. My routine now is mainly based on 20 rep squats. Just starting light (up to 57.5kg for 2 sets of 20 now), adding 5kg every 8 days and squatting every other day. It's lots and lots of repetition and my back is happy enough with it. Legs are adjusting to the volume. Supplementing with normal bench, football bar bench, overhead press and loads of upper and middle back work. No deadlifts at the moment. It's actually not the back holding me back there but my knees, which don't appreciate it, even on a trap bar. Bodyweight has shot up. 105kg 7 weeks ago. 114kg now. Minimal fat gain. I find gaining weight really easy. Probably bulk to 125kg then cut back to a lean 115kg and try to hold that. Either way, it's good to be lifting again. Trying to be disciplined and stay away from 1 rep maxes so I don't injure myself.

Who is this Shirly person of whom you speak?

I was chatting with a colleague this afternoon about the economic fallout of the covid crisis, and with the UK heading towards suffering the worst in the developed world, he quite astutely pointed out that it might be because the UK is more dependent on the service sector than just about any other developed nation. Perhaps it'll come full circle and we'll develop our manufacturing base again. I certainly hope so.