The Covid19 Thread

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santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
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Florida
I remember a good deal of housing in the Cotswolds with on street parking when I was there. Most of it was council housing though and probably built at least a decade or two earlier.

I must confess a little confusion reading some of the posts above regarding class: it seems y’all differentiate between “”working” class, and “middle” class. I was always taught they were the same class (although since about the 1980s the middle class has been subdivided into the “upper” and “lower” middle class)
 
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Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
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Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
It would appear that the new definition of middle class is if you have a drive and/or a garage. Yet I know a great many people that work on the shop floor, builders, plumbers, electricians, farm workers - the list can go on - that have drives and garages. It all seems a bit muddy to me (coming from a family of miners and farm labourers).
 
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crosslandkelly

A somewhat settled
Jun 9, 2009
26,265
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North West London
I remember a good deal of housing in the Cotswolds with on street parking when I was there. Most of it was council housing though and probably built at least a decade or two earlier.

I must confess a little confusion reading some of the posts above regarding class: it seems y’all differentiate between “”working” class, and “middle” class. I was always taught they were the same class (although since about the 1980s the middle class has been subdivided into the “upper” and “lower” middle class)
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,981
7,757
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,154
1,546
Cumbria
It would appear that the new definition of middle class is if you have a drive and/or a garage. Yet I know a great many people that work on the shop floor, builders, plumbers, electricians, farm workers - the list can go on - that have drives and garages. It all seems a bit muddy to me (coming from a family of miners and farm labourers).
Aren't plumbers and many trades now the new middle class? There's a road between Lancaster and Morecambe with decent sized, semi detached houses with gardens and garages. There's similar on the A6 through Bolton le sands. Once they had just normal family cars like Sierra/Mondeo size often better brands. Now they have them plus their trade van or two.

A work colleague had a son who was a plumber. His son did a few years working a few weeks at a time in London with only the odd weekend off. He worked hard and came back with a nice wedge that he used buy an old farmhouse with a bit of land, not to work? All without be big mortgage. He could have worked longer down there but he'd git enough for his needs so he went for the standard of living up this way.

I only mention that because I know a guy who did the university degree, technical job that evolved into management. A lot of responsibility for multi million pound IT infrastructure development. He worked out that he could get more money by becoming a plumber. If class is about value then traditional professional roles and traditional trades could have switched classes.

Btw I come from chartered engineer and office manager stock. Uni educated and expected to head to chartered engineer status too. I'm now a highly educated dogs body. Well not quite I'm a QE but there's a certain truth in my having gone the wrong way in class system, a middle class bred but working class living. It's certainly very muddy now.
 
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Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,981
7,757
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
Yep, and there are solicitors and accountants living in terraced town houses with minimal parking and no drives - I don't think it's sensible to apply 'class' structure to how people choose to live. Admittedly, many people have little choice but a whole load do.

Anyway, we're straying (again) :)
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Yep, and there are solicitors and accountants living in terraced town houses with minimal parking and no drives - I don't think it's sensible to apply 'class' structure to how people choose to live. Admittedly, many people have little choice but a whole load do.

Anyway, we're straying (again) :)
Bringing back to the subject of covid (and tying it with transport) how are y’all coping with social distancing on public transport? I can think of ways to make it work but it’s hard imagining people cooperating.
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,981
7,757
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
Ah, just realized - it's only England.
Bringing back to the subject of covid (and tying it with transport) how are y’all coping with social distancing on public transport? I can think of ways to make it work but it’s hard imagining people cooperating.

Public transport? I live in rural Wales, there is no public transport! :)
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
So, theoretically, if one wanted to paint the kitchen, knock down a bit of the back fence and when you're in B&Q or Wickes or ?? to pick up stuff to repair it, you could legitimately pick up the paint to do up the kitchen.

I confess, today was my first day out past my garden gate in 35 days. I bought groceries and I felt guilty as I picked up seeds as I passed the rack on the way to the till.
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Bringing back to the subject of covid (and tying it with transport) how are y’all coping with social distancing on public transport? I can think of ways to make it work but it’s hard imagining people cooperating.

Son2 normally takes the train to work, but he's been working from home for the past month. Public transport, what there is of it, seems to be running virtually empty round here.
 
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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,154
1,546
Cumbria
I bought turpentine substitute to clean brushes I'd used for painting. If I didn't use that they'd be useless for painting the next thing on my list. I'd then have to go out to buy brushes. My painting is external to protect woodwork, front door, wall, shed doors and gates. As far as I care that's legitimate. If anyone reported me for that or police stopped me I'd probably argue the point. Be even pay the fine but carry on doing jobs like that.

IMHO I'm distancing myself from others, my household is doing that. I'm not stopping doing jobs and stopping to talk to neighbours at distance as I'm going out to do food shopping or going to local hardware store or on my exercise. IMHO I'm not putting myself at risk as I'm not touching stuff other than what I'm buying to bring home. I'm not getting close to people. So I'm effectively complying with the spirit but arguably not the strict letter of the rules. At the end of the day if my actions aren't contributing to making the peak higher or narrower then where is the problem?
 
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Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
Aren't plumbers and many trades now the new middle class? There's a road between Lancaster and Morecambe with decent sized, semi detached houses with gardens and garages. There's similar on the A6 through Bolton le sands. Once they had just normal family cars like Sierra/Mondeo size often better brands. Now they have them plus their trade van or two.

A work colleague had a son who was a plumber. His son did a few years working a few weeks at a time in London with only the odd weekend off. He worked hard and came back with a nice wedge that he used buy an old farmhouse with a bit of land, not to work? All without be big mortgage. He could have worked longer down there but he'd git enough for his needs so he went for the standard of living up this way.
Not really, plumbing, building brickying, sparkys, whilst payed well these days its hard hard graft plus qualifications and registrations as well as legal responsibility. Pulling in armoured cables or freezing wind at 20 ft up isnt akin to a warm office where you twiddle a computer with little culpability. Its no country for old men. Some of the best paying jobs are discomfort danger money, long range lorry drivers oil rig workers, pressure divers. Then there are the "genius bankers " of course who have bestowed our glorious present on us, they obviously have the best of both because like loreal, theyre worth it.
 

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