How was your day? (Random off topic chat)

Enlighten us please.
What are they and what do they do?
Is it a banana shaped toilet duck?

Thanks. I think I can live without one.
Interesting though.

And in London we had the elephants and Bristol had Gromits.

What begins? 

Aw how lovely! I was born a few minutes walk from the Sheffield Children’s Hospital in a flat above Great Uncle John’s sweet shop. Mum didn’t have time to go to hospital, there were steps to clean!
I’ll be sending a couple of quid to the cause ❤️

We are in the office every other week at the moment and I just found a chocolate bar I left here last time. Really cheered me up!

I blame the acronym BOGO used for "buy one get one free"... except it leaves off the crucial bit.

Some face mask wearing observations from yesterday.
I went to a preview of In The Heights yesterday afternoon (review in the musical section). It was held at Vue Cinema which is inside Westfield shopping centre in Stratford.
Now I have been going to Westfield since lockdown but always just go to M&S to do my food shopping once a week and fairly early in the morning. I have not really wandered around the centre at other times. When I go in the mornings its usually an older crowd and pretty much everyone is adhering to the rules.
How different it was yesterday afternoon. Much busier and a much younger crowd who, I guess, go there after school or work. At the entrance security guards are stopping anyone without a face covering and handing them a mask. As I was walking it I saw them give out a few and, without exception, these people just kept them in their hand or put them in their pocket. Walking around I would say that only about 50% of the people there were wearing face coverings. The rest didn't have one on at all. It wasn't a case of them under their chin or hanging from their ear, they literally didn't have one. And I am sorry to say it was almost totally young people from teenagers to those in their 20s. In addition I would say about 90% of those were black or asian.
At the cinema I think it was even worse. I got there early so was able to sit and observe. The staff were not stopping anyone without a face covering and from the people walking in and out I would think that no more than 20% were wearing them. Once again same age and ethnic group.
The In the Heights audience, I have to say, were better behaved and I only noticed 2 young lads come in without one and a young girl I was talking to but she was wearing an exempt badge.
Maybe this is the norm but I was quite shocked as I have not been out in busy areas and shopping centres for quite a while.
I am not sure what these people are thinking about, probably that they are young and wont catch it or, if they do, then they wont get very ill but they can still pass it on to everyone else.
I know this argument has been done to death but just wanted to share my observations.

I just returned to London after a couple of months in the US and was shocked at how different COVID compliance is now from earlier this year. In the second big lockdown it seemed like people finally 'got it' and were wearing masks pretty consistently (even outdoors). Now, nobody is wearing one outside (even on Oxford Street which was heaving with people) and in shops and restaurants I've even seen staff not wearing them (or wearing them under the chin).

I think a lot of people are just 'over it'. I'm planning a trip to York later in the summer, and asked the woman at the hotel (who sounded young-ish) what the COVID rates were like there (having read about surges in pockets of the northeast). Her reply? "I've stopped paying attention."

I suspect both the UK and the US will see rising infections, but hopefully hospitalizations and deaths will remain low. And hopefully the new infections don't result in additional Long COVID cases.

A really fascinating visit to the Crossness Pumping Station at Abbey Wood this morning. It’s one of those places I’ve had on my bucket list of places to visit but their open days never seem to tie in with a London visit. A stunning place to visit and the volunteers are doing a wonderful job in restoring this historic building to its former glory.

I’m currently trying to stay cool in this blistering heat and to stay away from the football before a trip to the Palace theatre tonight for the West End Musical Celebration.

TallPaul , well, there where plenty of toilets on display. Honestly, it was more interesting than it sounds here!

A fantastic building to visit. The Victorians knew how to build stuff with character compared to some of the monstrous building designs of today (national theatre, I’m looking at you here).

TallPaul, thanks for the recommendation about Papplewick. I’ve never heard of it so just did a quick Google. Definitely sounds right up my street of stuff to visit. 

Chatting with the volunteers this morning, about what the engineers back in the day managed to achieve without all our modern tech is just astounding. You really have to admire the skill and imagination that they had.