Chat about Novel Coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - COVID-19

It was actually thanks to my local hairdresser that I met @scherrit when Bike Whisperer used to be based in Ealing. So, sometimes the hair-care banter is definitely worth it. :)

Awwww, you guys <3

got a hand massage while getting my hair cut. That was odd but quite soothing.

I can imagine. Did the other punters notice? Or did the cloak hide it?

I've just got back from a week in France, helping work on my girlfriend's elderly parents house.

I was really impressed with the Eurostar social distancing and mask wearing policies.
Once in France I was amazed at the different attitude to social responsibility.
Mask wearing is second nature. They've had the policy in place as they eased lockdown over a month ago.
It really makes England look like a complete joke.

I was worried I may have caught some flak for being English, but I got sympathy for how our government is handling the pandemic (and everything else).
Rather than a clown Boris Johnson is seen as a malevolent force and a gateway to the worst side of America.

Getting a test was easy - we were referred through the Parent's GP as we would be visiting a care home. I got my results in under 24 hours.

I don't think I've been to a single barbers more than twice in the 12 years I've lived in London. They're either bad at cutting hair or screw up one of the other aspects.

I got a decent hair cut from a place on New Cavendish St but the guy spent the whole time staring out the window and commenting on the women walking past.
I got a below average hair cut from a place on Essex Road where the guy spent the whole time complaining about a PC game he bought second hand that didn't work on multiplayer because it had already been activated.
I got a decent hair cut from a place by Old St Roundabout once, no chat, perfect. Went back a second time and can only assume the barber I got was in training.
It's a long list of experiences like this, now I've moved flat and moved job I need to start all over again.

Barber chat:

Jeff's on Great Suffolk Street. Proper Turkish barber. Nice guys. Great shave.

In Belfast, barber=men only, trimmers and chatting about "the game"
Hairdresser=everyone, even get a cuppa tea/coffee at mine which is in a rough part of Belfast
Stylist=everyone, but add 50% on top of hairdresser

My efforts to encourage mask wearing by donning one in the local Spar so far...fall on empty ears.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/15/covid-19-nurses-not-wearing-masks-led-to-ae-closure-inquiry-finds

No distancing at lunch, no masks, no distancing in the training event. Just gets to show how easy it spreads if you have one "super spreader" and don't set up the environment (move chairs 2 meters away, have masks at door, change lunch) to be covid-safe for everyone.

I got a decent hair cut from a place by Old St Roundabout once, no chat, perfect. Went back a second time and can only assume the barber I got was in training.

Was that the place between the roundabout and the fire station? There was a great place there that usually just had one relatively old guy working in it who I think was the owner. He was very good. Quick & quiet.

Nah opposite, on the corner next to a takeaway that's called Munchies or something

Hah! Fairly sure I was the only one there at the time and they had bugger all else to do.

I’m pretty sure we used to have the same barber, did he open a burrito shop just before lockdown? I have similar stories as you haha.

Yeah, that'll be the guy, lives round the corner from me.

+1000

Probably the last barbers I will ever have gone to. Used to work around the corner and now it's a grade zero all over (no Covidal Sasson moments for me). Even though I wasn't getting a shave, they still did the hot towel and massage (which confused the shit out of me when I first went there).

Update on the friend who visited Hungary for dental work.

2 week Quarantine in Hungary - three phone calls. One unannounced doorstep visit.
2 week Quarantine in England - n o t h i n g ..... not even a txt.

At the other end of the spectrum, I've gone to only one place and had my hair cut by one person every 6 weeks-ish for the last 14 years.

Can't change now in case the new person does it wrong.

Yep, totally agree,, same stylist for over 25 years now

I hate getting my hair cut, only do it like twice a year anyway but am annoyed my guy has knackered himself. Think I'll stick to doing it myself but maybe stop letting it get so long.

Haven't you moved 60 miles away?

Haven't you moved 60 miles away?

One of my old bosses had his haircut at the barbers on Goswell Road for 10+ years. One day he sold his company for over £200m. His lifestyle has changed quite a bit since then to say the least. He lives in England on a notional level but spends most of his time all over the world in various locations. Apparently he still only gets his hair cut on Goswell Road and occasionally travels to the UK just for a haircut.

Sort of. The salon is in central London. It was right next to where I worked in 2006-2009.
Since then, I've booked in haircuts during the working week and just travelled there from the office. Furthest that has ever been was Kings Cross to Fitzrovia.

Obviously in the current situation means I haven't been since early March when I had my last haircut.

Wife is currently clipping the side of my head and the top is a beautiful mane of hair in a delightfully stylish ponytail sort of effort.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/15/boris-johnson-indicates-at-pmqs-he-has-not-read-winter-coronavirus-report

Boris Johnson has indicated he has not read a government-commissioned report setting out urgent measures needed to prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus, telling the Commons only that he was “aware” of it.

must be on here

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-53310584

More deprived areas in Northern Ireland have a higher death rate, possible as people are already unhealthier to begin with. Population density is also higher.

NI is pretty white atm, so some other correlations seen in England aren't present here.

Soon we have to wear masks in shops?! What have we been doing for the last three months? Why did they bring this in now, after pubs were allowed to open and such?

You still expect any logic? :)

Bar "but the economy" then awkward u-turns?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6928e2-H.pdf