Gran Alacant Forum
Gran Alacant Forum => General Discussions => Topic started by: Peter D on July 25, 2020, 19:10.
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Just announced that from midnight tonight 14 day isolation for all Brits returning from Spain.Bang goes our hols.
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Would you believe I, booked today for 3 weeks in August - September and 1 week in October, let’s wait and see it might change by then !!!!
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I'm still flying out on Wednesday. I'll see what the rules are when I fly back mid- August. I may stay a bit longer to avoid quarantine if necessary.
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Does your European Health Card cover you for sickness if your travel insurance doesn't now?
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I went out to GA on 30th June, as I had had a leak in the basement Which thankfully I realised a problem by my water bill, luckily the key holder managed to get it repaired. Thinking that Scotland would lift the quarantine I had booked a flight home on the 10th July, as this never happened I decided to stay on until 22nd as an announcement was to be made on the 20th, according to the Scotgov and bbc Scotland this had been lifted, so I flew home with easyjet arriving at 13:00 hrs, walked through customs , no one asked for my form that I had to fill in to return, no mention on the plane, so I gratefully arrived home and set about normal life. On Saturday I got a phone call from Track and Trace informing me I had to isolate for 14 days, as the freedom did not come into effect till the 23rd.I explained the web page did not mention This or I would have waited in Spain for one more day. But was told Tough it is what it is. The irony of this is I normally fly with Ryanair and their flight gets in at midnight so if I had sat on plane for extra 5 minutes I would have been ok. Shambles, now stuck in house looking at rain 😤😢
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@David and Linda - These are the kind of posts that exasperate me. You do realise what you've described here is flying around, with pretty tenuous reasons, during a pandemic and then basically trying to game the rules in your favour? The reason for quarantines are so that you don't inadvertently spread the virus you could pick up while travelling. Staying somewhere "one more day" doesn't render you non-contagious and protect the rest of us.
Did it not occur to you that you should have self quarantined for a reasonable length of time anyway regardless of what the government says?
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Yours also is the kind of post that exasperates . Would you rather I stayed away from my water damaged basement which would then be full of mould and spores, wood rotting , walls damaged, furniture a breeding ground for all sorts of germs ?? Then bring my family over when “it is safe in your eyes to do so” and possibly infect them with god knows what. I flew over because of a leak in my basement which resulted in an indoor pool, not my description but the people who found the leak. I do not know if you are aware of the damage water can do but would suggest you google it , then criticise me. I obeyed the rules when in GA and I obey the rules here, but the point I made was if flown 11 hours later I would not have isolate, but maybe the virus already knew that.
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I'm sorry, I'll reword my question:
After your vital trip to Spain, did it not occur to you that you should have self quarantined for a reasonable length of time anyway regardless of what the government says?
...and as a supplementary query:
Do you think it's ethical to stay somewhere "one more day", so you can deliberately avoid quarantine rules that are designed to protect the people you meet when you return home?
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I'm sorry, I'll reword my question:
After your vital trip to Spain, did it not occur to you that you should have self quarantined for a reasonable length of time anyway regardless of what the government says?
...and as a supplementary query:
Do you think it's ethical to stay somewhere "one more day", so you can deliberately avoid quarantine rules that are designed to protect the people you meet when you return home?
Personally I don't know anyone who would choose to quarantine themselves when there are no requirements to do so , it's just ridiculous to suggest otherwise
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To answer you, I obey what the government says, (Scottish) and they are using scientific evidence, so if they were saying no need to self isolate, I would not have. Is it ethical, yes as I would still be obeying the scientific evidence and I know they are better qualified than myself but maybe you are better informed. At present obeying the rules and self isolating , however I may need to test my eyesight for future driving so it may be I will have go for a short drive to Glasgow or Edinburgh with my family. 😄😄
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@chris and jackie - I really think you are all missing my point. Imagine a world where people didn't even need to be ordered by the government to wear a mask? Wouldn't it make more sense?
We were told to wear a mask here (everywhere) from "Friday" last week. I'd been doing that anyway, why wouldn't I? If I had to fly somewhere I'd self quarantine both ends.... why wouldn't I? How would I feel if I infected people at one end or the other? I also know people who self-isolated after flying at times when it was _mandated_ to do so.
To stay "one more day" to avoid something that's only there for the good of everyone, is just very odd to me, and very selfish.
In another thread someone else remarked:
"(luckily landed at BHX at 18:00 this evening and not tomorrow) 8) 8) 8)"
You don't see anything wrong with that kind of thinking? I certainly do, but clearly others here don't so I'll rest my case.
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Are we not led by science as we keep being told and following guidelines and advice?
I'm very careful where I go in general but why would I self isolate if I didn't have to?
I'm probably in more danger going to my local supermarket than going to Spain but I wouldn't isolate for 14 days after every shop???Does that make me selfish? If we all self isolated after every trip out, I think the economy would collapse.
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Always worried me water leaks, I'd be gone like a rocket if I had one in my house in GA, I always make a point of turning both valves off so if there's a leak on the meter input side it won't register on the meter, if you have a leak in your basement you have the basis of a very expensive indoor swimming pool . Something else I've thought off is evaporation of water from the w.c. bowl if you can't get out for a year, going to pour some cooking oil down the pan in future when we go home, should sit on surface of the water and stop it evaporating.
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Yes it was a bit of a nightmare. The water in house was switched off but the mains pipe where it enters the house has 2 holes in it. I have heard the cause of it could have been Water company who were working in the street when switching back on they didn’t vent the line. Others have also been effected. The tide mark was 2 feet up the walls and all electrics had been under water. Anyway about 1000 euros worth of damage, insurance did not cover as house been empty for more than 3 months. All furniture and soft furnishings were mouldy as were the walls.
The only way we suspected something was wrong when we got a huge water bill. Thanks to all of those who helped.
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Hi Kevin, part of our "shutdown" routine was to flush each toilet three times, wash any "solids" away and stop them setting like concrete in the pipework and then seal the toilet pan with cling film, it stopped evaporation entirely and the obvious smells that could result from evaporation.
A friend who turned his stop tap off after each and every visit was horrified to find a leak when he arrived....the water ran above the ceiling of his lounge and kitchen to get to the stop tap below the kitchen sink!!
Only in Spain😉.
Lesson learned, isolate the water at the meter cupboard.
When we left our property, even if only for a few weeks we treated our "lock down" as if we weren't returning for months....you never know what might happen.
Regards all
John
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Great idea re cling film John, I should have thought of that, same as you I flush plenty of water down the soil pipe even fill the sinks and pull the plug at the same time as flushing to give a good sweep through the pipe. I've seen these water computers attached to outside taps to water gardens in owners a scene, don't trust these things as they are made of plastic and won't withstand high mains pressure, I use one at home and came back to find it leaking. Best option in Spain is both meter valves off.
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At the risk of getting moderated again for having an opinion that isnt shared by the great and the good of the forum, im with Gavetran dont hide behind scientific or goverment advice because it suits your situation or manipulate the rules to your advantage just do the right thing for the rest of us and stop being selfish.
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Quite agree. As supply pipes (invariably plastic) are increasingly likely to fail, always switch off at the meter.
Bert
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Fearful, and I am sorry to hear about the serious damage David and Linda - and also the disgusting clauses of the insurance companies. Not the place to mention it on a public forum, but hwo would the insurance companies_know_ you were not here.... are they canny enough to ask for plane tickets?!
I have investigated moisture sensors and auto-shut off valves. I am here full time, but still feel very vulnerable with the basement. There are sensors you can buy that trigger solenoids to shut valves, and send text messages etc. There are even (more expensive) ones that measure "oddly high" flow and stop the water right in the street... but I have never quite found the right one.
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When I had a leak Hidragua e-mailed me about unusual consumption and also sent out an engineer to check their connection.
Bert
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I have posted this information before but here is a reminder. A couple of years ago i got a water bill showing usage although the house had not been used for a year or more. I had closed the valves on each side of the meter so i went to santa pola water company to tell them the meter must be faulty. They sent out a plumber only to find the valve on each side was passing water when turned off. The valves used by Masa are cheap ones with a rubber plunger/seal. Contrary to the UK valves that are brass and can be turned off tight the more you tighten these it damages the rubber. The plumber changed the one on their side of the meter and on my side it was up to me. I would guess that most people who use the house as a holiday home and turn the valves off regular have damaged valves.
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If you have a huge leak and go to the office in Santa Pola they will reduce your bill by the amount included for the waste element of the bill as they haven't had to recycle it. Unfortunately it's only a small part of the bill.
I have had two leaks both cost about 300 euros extra consumption. A friend had a bill for over 2000 euros.
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Thank you for all the advice, unfortunately we have a pool so mains needs to stay on. Plumber did say pipe work that comes into the house isn’t of good quality, surprise, surprise. Unfortunately it goes below the newly tiled floor so may have problems in future. Will need to look at it when we can spend more time in our holiday home. Hope the info given in other posts tho is useful to others. Take care.
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An owner on our phase a few years ago turned up, opened both the meter valves and one valve unfortunately the input side came out of the valve body and soaked him and produced a powerful fountain of water, they managed to find a supply vavle to turn the water off and refit the valve.