One NHS to Rule them All, or There's been Another Mordor.

[Cateran]

Tolkien fans reading this post will recognise the pun here. What I am getting at in a roundabout way is that the current adulation of the NHS by the media could leave us lung buddies breathless in more ways than we might expect. Like the eye of Sauron on Mount Doom, we are all being weighed and found wanting. The Dark Lord and his minions are on the march, advocating testing, matching , and apping us all to our mobiles under the mantra of surveillance. Should we not be cautious about where this onslaught will take us on this rush to Helms Deep, with the plunge into covidvirus technology? I for one want to get back safely to the Shire.

[Ern007]

Well I read your post but I certainly am not a Tolkien fan, I have no time for the adoration of his fantasy works.

So no surprise your pun escaped me but, a point for debate. Mobiles in general can't download the app, that is for the Smart phone users, I have one but i don't think this app will work so I doubt I will download it.

I see you idea but would talking about this app - Your post may have had a better analogy with George Orwell who it could well be said was just 35 years short of his prophecy coming to fruition ?

Mind you we live in mad time not unlike the thoughts that must run through Tolkien's head.

Oh getting back to the Shires seems an excellent idea - I live in the North West shires and would have it no other way.

Keep safe Cateran.

[Cateran in reply to Ern007]

I take your allusion to Orwell, ErnOO7 and 1984. I know North East Yorkshire and Cleveland and have visited these places a number of times and went to college in Billingham for two years. I envy your habitation of Yorkshire and also agree with you about the whole app device and its fallacies. This particular technology has a lot to answer for but I wouldn't be without it, in some limited respects. Thank you for your good wishes for my safety.

[Ern007 in reply to Cateran]

Cateran As much as I like the White Rose County - I am from a village in Lancashire which I enjoy.

On privacy I am very wary of technology as I got a nasty shock. I ordered plants on-line and was shocked when I got an e mail confirmation with my previous Doctors name and address from a town I lived in 4 years ago. I did not pay proper attention and I missed google filling it in with auto-fill, So how did they get that? Went into Chrome settings, I found and deleted it, what saved me from humiliation was the billing address was not the same as the delivery address,,

When I filled the on-line "Orwell," may have got it slightly wrong I think , his prediction was I think aimed at governments and not global giants like Google and other companies with access to our financial details.

Anyway enough gloom - I have had Bamboo, Agapanthus and I wait for Hardy Fuchias - Th garden makes this lock down tolerable.

Well this post is turning into an essay - I will bid you goodnight and hope we get some limited reprieve from Boris tomorrow.

[Cateran in reply to Ern007]

My apologies to you Em007. I misunderstood your actual location. In certain respects Google, Amazon and their ilk are para-governments when they wield such enormous clout and intrusive mechanisms over our digital lives. Orwell, I am sure, were he still living, would have railed against them as well as corporatism today. The final clause of your last sentence is somewhat ambiguous about what exactly we need a reprieve from (both the message and the messenger?), but I liked the sentiment either way.

[Ern007 in reply to Cateran]

Really no apology needed, Lancashire and Yorkshire folks are used to being mistaken for one another, we have a long shared history. We speak ever so different though. Yorkshire accent in particular apart from Durham is the most distinctive in England

I suppose looking at my post i finished rather ambiguous because I am uncertain what I want the Prime Minister to say in his speech this evening on easing of lock-down.

I used the word "limited" because I would rather put up with regulation than take risks - I think opening of Garden Centers and maybe parks is as far as he can go at this stage, even so some garden centers are small and social distancing would be a huge problem. I worked as a grower for years and know that these places get packed and a problem could arise at check out with single files at tills their would be a a back-up of people with their trolly's.

On the other hand if we do nothing in particular in the year we are a fully independent nation again, I am very wary of what the government is having to spend to keep food on working peoples table's . That is why my (in a nutshell post end ) I seemed "ambiguous.

[teenieleek in reply to Ern007]

Off topic Ern007 but where did you find bamboo? I’m looking for the non-invasive but fast growing kind to block out some very-invasive neighbours!

[Ern007 in reply to teenieleek]

Hi teenieleek - No matter off topic in these times, it's all related to our well being anyway.

Bamboo - I got two from Amazon which went out of stock, I note they are back in stock so I will tell you about them.

Phyllostachys Bissetti is the variety I chose - i got mine last year and I put in a container which I had to re-pot, my wife bought the same this year and she put hers in the garden. Eventual size I believe up to 10 yards, but bamboo is a grass and all grasses can be clipped. It is also a clump forming bamboo which sends no pesky runners, Cost about £20 per plant..

You can buy specific hedging bamboo cheaper, but not as nice, Link to Amazon -

amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01...

For a variety this is a link to You Garden who supply Amazon, some different varieties..

yougarden.com/cat-bam/bambo...

I was a plant grower for many years and there is a Fuchsia I can recommend - HARDY FUCHSIA 'FUCHSIA RICCARTONII - They grow to 10 foot or more but again, can be pruned,, Thing is you get a season full of red and purple flowers which along with bamboo if you wished, would be an exotic wall of privacy within two to three years,

google.com/search?q=Magella...

I have both plants, not for privacy, I just enjoy them.. BYW with Amazon you have 30 days where you can get a money refund and I think same with You Garden.

Good luck and keep safe, To the mods sorry off topic, but in these times.....

[teenieleek in reply to Ern007]

Than you for that. I will investigate all of those. I needed some suggestions.

[Ern007 in reply to teenieleek]

Welcome anytime.

[skischool]

Terry we never left the shires,us lung hobbits have been hiding in our burrows for what seems like an eternity but what in fact is a mere 7 weeks.people do more in solitary confinement on a regulat basis.

I wonder if there is even 5 g coverage in Mordor lest we foolishly stray into Saurons lair and become infected and an app that follows me from the living room where i also sleep to the kitchen will be of no use to me nor reveal much to Gandalph in GCHQ.

Frodo and Bilbo turned back at mill hill broadway and are back at home in the burrow next door munching on government boxes,which although nourishing have somewhat bunged upi their ring peices so additional movicol spells are helping them vacate at the moment.

Have fun,if only within the confines of your own mind dear friend. x

[Cateran in reply to skischool]

What a lovely reply skis and quite in the spoof spirit of Hobbit world. I grew up near Mill Hill and reflect on the beauty of the countryside around there. You obviously are a Tolkien fan and what's wrong with that? As you know Tolkien was really writing about the Nazi state and its awful rule. I would despair if that sort of oppression were to be the fate of a post-Covid 19 world, which is unlikely when we all have the Shire in our hearts. As you do, dear friend.

Terry.

[HungryHufflepuff]

There and back again (if only!)

[Jaybird19 in reply to HungryHufflepuff]

Are you homesick for your scottish island? . Is there no way back at all. Bribe a fisherman ! Its no fun when you only want to be home.

[hypercat54]

Gandalf will save us. x

[Corin1950]

Enough said already about allusions to Tolkien but as for the app I’m not worried as Amazon already know more about me than I know myself.

As for the adulation of the NHS, no one was a stronger supporter than me but I’m beginning to agree with my daughter that although we should continue to clap we should also pay an appropriate salary to all NHS and care workers. Let’s not forget Bojo voted against the nurses pay rise. Maybe after his Covid experience he will have changed his mind - but don’t count on it.

Enjoy the weekend all

X

[Cateran in reply to Corin1950]

I couldn't agree more with your daughter and paying NHS care workers a fair pay package, and yes, we shouldn't bank on Bojo learning anything from his own experience, especially when an unbelievably ferocious reaction of austerity measures will come from the Treasury as a response to the post- pandemic costs.

[Corin1950]

Yes it will provide a good excuse to return to austerity measures.

Take care

X

[teenieleek]

Mark Warner, Dominic Cumming’s pal, the man behind the NHS app, who got a £250 million NHS contract as soon as Dominic’s foot was in the door of No. 10 will definitely not be getting my postcode for his app. I’d rather give it to Apple/google and that’s saying something!

[Cateran in reply to teenieleek]

Oh teenieleek, now you have me really worried. Another dodgy demonic Cummings profiteering from the Covid pandemic. A plague on both your houses, say I and Romeo's cousin (though I would not wish Covid-19 on my worst enemy).

Keep safe.

[Cateran in reply to teenieleek]

Sorry teenieleek, I called Mercutio as Romeo's cousin. he was of course a friend unrelated to the Capulet clan. I must brush up my Shakespeare.

[teenieleek]

I missed the Taggart allusion in your Tolkien. Very neat.