Winnersaint

Feel for anyone in that situation. Know from first hand it’s not a great place to be.

Thanks for that. I won’t patronise you as you may well have first hand experience of a loved one with a serious cancer diagnosis and the prognosis that accompanies it. My wife doesn’t want to put her life on hold. The average life expectancy for a person with metastasised bowel cancer is two years. We’re seven months into that already. Getting out (albeit infrequently) is part of her management strategy for her illness as much as shielding herself away from risks. It is a balancing act. Ride safe btw.

Wearing them. Back in schools so no choice. Doesn't bother me tbh, biggest priority of last three/four months has been keeping my wife free from potential Covid infection whilst on chemo. Easy to be snide and politicise mask wearing but for some of us it borders on necessity.

Like Hoyle as Speaker.

Thank you. We both hope so. Having been caught up in this at the start of Covid I'm not sure that things could have been different A cancelled colonoscopy 5 weeks earlier may have led to earlier diagnosis which may have avoided a perforation and spread. That said without that particular complication there may have been no emergency surgery and she would be looking at managing things through chemo. As it is she's had the surgery and the chemo and now we are awaiting a PET scan on Friday to see if the METs in the two areas of spread have reduced. The oncologist used word like 'very favourable' which is hugely encouraging, If nothing else it highlights the variability of cancer treatment across the country. Her treatment has been swift, well planned and consistent from the start. It's being coordinated across the Royal Berks, John Radcliffe and Southampton General. Regrettably this isn't the case even for cancer treatment in normal times in every part of the country let alone in the abnormal situation we find ourself in now and is dependent where you live. Oh, and if you're over 60 do your poo test!

Thanks, it's been an eye opening half a year or so. Definitely made me less judgemental and more reflective. Hasn't necessarily made me agree with the opinions of some on here but it has taught me that there is more to life than sparring on social media and that social media can be a positive force. The most support and information my wife gets is not from Macmillan, although she has a wonderful "telephone buddy" or from the Oncology team, at the Royal Berks although they have been excellent and have a clear treatment plan for her. Most of it is mutual support from bowel cancer social media sites where she gets to exchange experiences with others in similar circumstances. The only downside is that sadly some with whom she was in touch with at the start of her treatment are no longer with us. Quite a few of them as a result of having vital treatment delayed or postponed due to Covid. My only wish is that whatever happens, the treatment of cancer patients and all others with life threatening illnesses are not put on the back burner again due to Covid prioritisation.

Fascinating looking back to page 1 of this thread. By no means being in any way judgemental about this. As with everything, there will be polarised opinions and many in between as have been revealed here over the last seven months. Just a bit of a personal reflection more than anything, looking back to a time when my mum (in a care home) was still alive and our family life wasn't overshadowed by my wife's cancer. How things change!

Surprised no muppets have been on here yet to moan about the long hard struggle ahead yet!

Couldn't agree more. Create division to rule and then spend as much time reinforcing those divisions to utterly polarise societal opinion . Nothing new in it. Whereas once a lot of the views of idiots were simply confined to idiots own brains social media has allowed those idiots views on all sides to gain mainstream traction so that people are so entrenched they are unable to see an alternative view without resorting to emotional insults or threats of violence. Take your pick from. "Woke, Remoaner, Fascist, Lefty, Brexshitter etc; and could someone please tell me how someone who does not agree with Brexit is a 'traitor' or 'enemy of the people' is that just social media hyperbole? You know the sort of thing you can safely say on a keyboard but wouldnt say to someone face to face.

There are more than a few on here that subscribe to that. You'd be amazed how many times in the last 40 years I've been told what an how easy job us teacher's have, then to be told in the next sentence that they couldn't keep their hands off the 'rude little shits!' Dead easy isn't it? Then to be lambasted for having all that paid holiday. I think I'll have a go for those who are hard of thinking or ignorant of how teachers pay is calculated. Teachers are contracted to work 190 days a year plus 5 INSET days. The maximum directed time you can be expected to work with those 195 days is 1265 hours.Teachers generally will work in excess of this 'directed time' so pay is based on that maximum hourly calculation. That total salary based on national pay scales (with minor modifications for London and the adjacent counties) is then divided in to twelve roughly equal payments rather than just term time payments. In real terms teachers are not paid for the six weeks of the summer but are paid during that six weeks for work they've already done.

They certainly do if nothing else to compensate for the gaslighting and general anti-teacher rhetoric that pervades this country. Can't think of too many places in the world where teachers are held in such low esteem.

Jim Davidson mainly because he's a fascist twat!

Retired teacher here waiting for the call. Not holding my breath. In truth I’m offering my services to a local school I have a long term association with.

Was planning on 50K ride yesterday but never materialised. Went in garage and did part of 2014 TdF stage 1 on Rouvy up and over Kidstones but baled after 23. The fan wasn't strong enough. Riding atm is a bit hit and miss. The weeks like last week when my wife has her chemo are a bit awkward to get out and the heat this week hasn't helped either.

Promised many attributes possessed by MS but actually demonstrated very few. In short a ‘poor man’s Morgan Schneiderlin. Look how he’s got on since leaving us?

Resident in Burghfield/Sulhamstead from press reports. Short drive down to A4 from there.

American recipes. Been doing a lot of cooking since wife’s illness. Limited culinary skills if I’m honest. Often sends me stuff on Pinterest. Everything measured in cups and tablespoons. What about grams? Don’t get me started on ‘heavy cream’ which seems to be regularly included in healthy eating recipes. Too much flour in sauces and why tf call coriander cilantro? Give me BBC Good Food any day. Oh and Jamie Oliver your recipes are shyte too.

Great stuff VFTT. Welcome back to the road.

Only a problem if you get the 'old chap' caught in them!

That’s pretty impressive. Thought my garage was crowded with three road bikes one on a smart trainer which takes up a fair bit of room and the girly share bike my wife and daughter don’t use even though it was fettled last weekend.

My first game too.

RIP as others have said a football legend.So few of the boys of 66 left.

I'm done with having a laugh and a joke on this thread. Some of you will be aware from another thread which didn't make it across to the new site that I have more important things to deal with. To those of you who offered the very best of wishes to my wife, even those I have sparred with on here. A big thank you. Looking forward only to good news so wasting positivity on here isn't useful.

These days it seems the three word strapline is all people can cope with.

Indeed. It seems that only the 'righties' are allowed to make political capital out of anything, with us 'lefties' having no rights to an opinion on this without being shouted down. Suck it up! You lost! That's all we get from GM. WT et al.