Marty

Yes. Here as well. Apparently the face-to-face (non-Covid-related) consultations between patients and their family doctors have dropped considerably since the start of the pandemic, particularly within certain patient cohorts - with a drop of 92.0% for children under 6 years old and 79.5% for patients over 70 years. Frightening to think what problems this is building up for the future.

This is one of the concerns in Ireland (and many other countries, I am sure) at present with the pandemic. Many, many regular and scheduled "non-urgent" procedures and appointments have been either cancelled or postponed. Cancer screening is a typical example. I read a report recently that over a hundred women in Ireland have been told that they will have to have cervical smears, that were taken a number of months ago, taken again, because the laboratory they were sent to had not analysed them quickly enough due to a lack of staff (their excuse was to blame Covid-19). Mental health services are also under strain because of the pandemic.

And you, Gary!

Greetings, young Albert!

Thanks for the memory, Albert! I spent a week trekking in the Havasu portion of the Grand Canyon back in September 2014. There are a number of falls in the area. Havasu Falls are a single drop of about 30 metres (100 feet). Whilst Havasu Falls is spectacular, I think the (much more difficult to get down to) Mooney Falls, at twice the height, were my favourite. Here's one of my photos of the Havasu Falls...

Not here, it doesn't. Happy Tuesday to you as well, bro. What's that slime on the back of his hand? Hair gel? (It seems to have left a heart shape...)

That's not the same as two-faced, right?

Yes, it is. Met Éireann have issued Status Yellow and Status Orange high temperature warnings across different parts of Ireland from today until at least 9am on Friday. I live on the border between Status Yellow and Orange. Maximum daytime temperatures are expected to exceed 30°C/86°F with overnight temperatures dropping no lower than around 20°C/68°F. The Department of Agriculture has issued an Orange Forest Fire Warning due to the hot and dry conditions. This will remain in place until 12pm on Friday. Met Éireann says current indications suggest the heatwave will last for much of this week as high pressure remains across Ireland. However, it says there are signs the high pressure could break down over the weekend, bringing an end to the very high temperatures. It will still likely be quite warm with highest daytime temperatures currently looking to remain in the low 20s, with an increased chance of some showery weather. https://www.thejournal.ie/met-eireann-forecast-sun-heatwave-5500142-Jul2021/

Greetings, young Albert!

Thanks for the clarification, dugh. The Guardian are also carrying a news story today on this fire (and others in the Pacific west of the US) which, although somewhat less sensational, does include the following: Climate change has made the US west much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. Firefighters said these conditions in July are more typical of late summer or fall. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/19/oregon-bootleg-fire-latest-news-largest-us

Oregon wildfire: Biggest inferno in US is now larger than the city of Los Angeles The blaze has prompted over 2,100 evacuations and destroyed 67 homes. https://www.thejournal.ie/oregon-wildfire-burns-300000-acres-5500095-Jul2021/

Happy Tuesday, all! Been fasting for the past 14 hours or so. Heading to the health centre shortly to have blood samples taken.

Continuing from my collection of photographs showing signs, here's one I saw on a wall in the centre of Lancaster, England on Christmas Eve 2015...

Here's a YouTube clip of the same scene...

His hair's standing on end... Have you been frightening the poor wee lamb, Gary?

Hey, Gary! Too warm to be working in the garden today. So I'm going to do a bit of shopping. One item on the list is 6 foot (1.8 metre) garden canes to support the hollyhocks that are in full flower at the moment. Got a Zoom meeting at 7pm (currently 4:30pm). So it may be a number of hours before I pop back in here.

So do I. Just not all that often these days, though.

I hope you got a slice for me, bro...

Greetings, young Albert!

The weather's staying hot and sunny here in Ireland, and expected to stay the same until the weekend at least. Met Éireann (our national weather forecaster) have actually issued a "High Temperature Advisory" warning, with temperatures expected to reach close to 30°C/86°F. For some of you that may not seem overly warm but, believe me, it is incredibly warm for Ireland! There is some uncertainty in the forecast for the weekend but current indications suggest that it will turn more showery and be less warm than this week, though temperatures will still reach the low to mid-twenties in many areas.

Seeing Albert's selection of weird signs earlier made me think of the following photo I took about five years ago in Lancaster, England.... I've a few others somewhere. I might see if I can dig them out and maybe share them as well.