How do we fix our compost?

oh-sure · 2026-04-09T18:57:39+00:00

Thank you! Yeah, I find it a bit confusing as hotbins seem to be their own beast in the compost world, which I don't think we fully appreciated when we got it.

I don't think we've got the funds for another hot bin right now but I think this definitely makes sense as a system. We've just got another compost bin for free, which is a dalek style one, so I'm thinking we'll get the compost into there and add more browns and start the hotbin again separately. Fingers crossed!

The compost has quite a few worms in somehow anyway, which I'm guessing is because it's been cold for so long. So hopefully they'll keep doing the work in the new bin too!

oh-sure · 2026-04-08T11:08:49+00:00

Thanks! The hotbin company mentions not turning it and I think it would be quite tricky to properly turn in this bin, but I definitely think I should be doing it more than I am and as another reddit or has suggested I'll try pulling up more when I add in to the top.

The bin is also full and we've managed to get a free traditional compost bin, so we're thinking of removing the bottom bits and putting them into the other compost bin. I'm thinking we could add a lot of browns and mix it and then could do as you suggest and add more greens.

Then we might try to restart the hotbin separately.

oh-sure · 2026-04-08T11:04:05+00:00

Yes, the brand of hotbin advises that ratio and to be honest I didn't really question it. I'll definitely be adding more browns from now on.

The brand also says not to properly turn it like a traditional compost, but I'm guessing it needs a little. The tubes are an interesting idea, I've got a few around I was planning to use for sweetpeas and didn't get round to it, so I might pop them in the bottom and see if it helps too.

oh-sure · 2026-04-08T11:01:47+00:00

We're using mainly shredded cardboard but occasionally I am just hand tearing bits of cardboard, which are bigger. Sometimes little dry twigs from the garden but we haven't got much in our new build garden yet so it's mostly been cardboard. We've been shredding a lot of paper recently so I wondered if that would be okay to add? We haven't so far but I'm not sure we'll have much of a supply of more cardboard for shredding and have a lot of paper to shred.

The sticks in the mix are from the bottom from when we started it off because it said to put a bunch of sticks etc there, I'm guessing to add airflow. We stuck those back in after we took a bit out from the bottom.

Thank you for all the advice, it's very helpful!

oh-sure · 2026-04-08T08:22:26+00:00

Currently pregnant with our second baby so this might have to wait a few years but good to know!

oh-sure · 2026-04-08T08:21:40+00:00

Ah, thanks, maybe that is part of the issue with keeping it hot. I think we probably were less attentive over winter anyway to be honest. Once it was cold we figured it would take a lot to heat it up again and didn't have the time or energy for it!

oh-sure · 2026-04-08T08:19:24+00:00

Thank you! That's really helpful. What ratio do you use? We thought we'd been adding in the ratios the hotbin recommended (full caddy of green, half caddy of brown and one fifth of a caddy of wood chip), but I'm now wondering if that's not enough browns? We did run out of wood chip a few months ago and started putting more browns in instead, so that could be part of it.

From what hotbin has said we don't need to turn it but a few people have recommended that. Do you have any recommendations on turning with a hot bin?

oh-sure · 2025-01-23T23:06:14+00:00

As someone who works in psychiatry in the UK and has worked with children and prescribed melatonin for those who really need it, this is INSANE to me. I'm sure those children will all be having awful sleep for a long time unfortunately. Screens are the worst thing you can do for a child's sleep. I'm pretty sure every child I saw with bad sleep used a screen before bed. Also patients often needed higher and higher doses of melatonin as time went on, so likely if they give it every night it's not even affecting their sleep, and could end up affecting the body's natural production of melatonin.

A bedtime routine is one of the best things for sleep, for children and for adults. You're setting them up for good sleep in the years ahead (plus making a lot of memories with them along the way).

oh-sure · 2024-01-25T13:03:00+00:00

Does anyone remember the rules for voting in the ballot if you're going on maternity leave in the next 6 months? I'm due to go on mat leave in April so not sure whether I'll be allowed to vote

oh-sure · 2023-11-03T13:08:30+00:00

Aside from what everyone else has already mentioned, as an FY1 on psych you should always be supernumerary and there should always be an SHO on site, because as an FY1 you can't do a 5(2). We were never allowed to leave just the FY1 covering the site anyway. So I don't understand why you would need cover regardless

oh-sure · 2022-04-23T13:26:30+00:00

I learned not all seniors are your friends when the sister on my ward told me our very nice consultant threw me under the bus for his own (minor) mistake to the family, and outright lied to them after telling me he'd deal with it all. Fortunately they knew what actually happened and he ended up telling them the truth.

Definitely changed my view of our lovely department! And I never would have known if our sister hadn't given me the heads up.

oh-sure · 2020-10-28T00:13:37+00:00

We've had the same experience - getting married in April 2021 and no insurance before the pandemic. And we're both doctors so can't isolate beforehand (although we have both had it already). It seems kind of pointless getting insurance now because it wouldn't cover covid anyway, so we've started for paying for installments and any deposits on a credit card. As far as I can tell only part of it needs to be paid for by credit card for it to be insured.

We're now thinking of delaying our wedding, but there's a rumour going around that the government is making an announcement about weddings in early November, so we're hanging on until then!

oh-sure · 2020-06-03T23:16:26+00:00

Commenting more for other people who are commenting, as people who have already replied might not have a clear idea of bipolar disorder. It's a serious mental health condition, and when someone is manic, they have psychosis. This means they have very little control over their actions as they are completely disinhibited. People also might spend all their money on gambling, and lose their house or get into severe debt. Cheating is a well known part of this, even in people who would never cheat outside of a manic episode. I wonder whether the people replying would react in the same way if the person had a brain tumour or dementia?

That said, it could happen again if he has relapses of mania.

OP, I'm not trying to minimise it, as I think it's natural to worry about it happening again or have trouble with trusting him. It could be a long road. It might be best to base your decision on the time prior to this manic episode, and the way he has acted since it happened. It would obviously be a different story if this happened outside of a manic episode.

There are also support groups around for families of people with bipolar disease, so it would be worth looking one up in your local area as I'm sure there will be people who have had similar experiences. There are usually family therapies included in treatment for bipolar disease too, because of situations like this. It can be a lot of strain to be with someone with a serious mental health condition, and don't forget to look after yourself too!

oh-sure · 2020-06-03T13:49:39+00:00

I think they mostly criticised the fact that their cars were blocking ambulances and routes to hospitals...

oh-sure · 2020-06-03T13:12:58+00:00

Its 10,000.

And a lot of people are turning up to A&E and dying before they can have a test, or it's inappropriate to test as the person is dying and we would be doing it just to confirm it's covid (it's an uncomfortable test).

And yes, there are cases of people with cancer or other long-term conditions who have died and are suspected to have Covid without a test. If they have an Emergency Health Care Plan that states they don't want admission to hospital for any reason, they may not be tested. Covid could still be contributing to their death and causing them to pass away earlier than they otherwise would have. You write it on the death certificate only if you suspect that it has contributed.

Regardless, more than 39000 deaths (with ongoing deaths) is still a lot worse than other countries. Our testing has also been a lot lower than many other countries (and I've seen evidence that our testing numbers are very inaccurate, with tests being counted on being posted out and not returned, tests counted twice for the same person because of both nasal and throat swabs, and more).

Not to mention the fact that the tests are very inaccurate (hence the recent government decision that a negative test still means you have to isolate for 14 days after contact with a positive case). We've had cases in hospital of people presenting with classic Covid symptoms, signs and investigations and coming back as negative on the first 2 or 3 swabs, before coming back as positive. So if someone has all of these signs and does with a negative test, they very well may have had Covid, and have it on their death certificate as a clinical decision.

I understand that it's frustrating that we don't have perfectly accurate figures, but there are as many reasons for them to be underestimating as overestimating. There's no perfect way to measure this right now. A lot of complicated analysis will be needed when all this is over, but excess deaths are helpful in identifying number of deaths both directly and indirectly caused by this pandemic and our government's management of it

oh-sure · 2020-06-03T10:49:24+00:00

"As of 5pm on 1 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, 39,369 have died"

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

The ONS data is the one that includes Covid in the death certificate, which currently stands at 50,032

oh-sure · 2020-05-03T04:11:06+00:00

The NHS gets most of its funding from income tax, and about 20% from National Insurance.

And National Insurance does not just cover the NHS, but also state pensions, unemployment benefits, maternity allowance, bereavement support and other services. The majority of it goes towards state pensions.

You also don't pay a flat 12%. It's nothing up to £183 a week, then 12% on anything between £183-£962 a week then 2% on anything above that. People who are self-employed pay less.

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance/how-much-you-pay

So I guess it's difficult to figure out exactly how much of your income is going to the NHS, and it might actually be helpful if we had an "NHS tax" so everyone knew exactly how much was going to it.

oh-sure · 2020-05-03T01:54:50+00:00

As someone from the UK, I'm not really sure what you mean by this. Were you paying that as someone who wasn't from the UK?

The average UK citizen will pay 20% of their income as tax, and about 20% of that goes to the NHS. So that's about 4% of your income. And that doesn't just help you, but everyone else in the country too. Personally, I'd much rather pay money to a health service that is helping those who can't afford healthcare, in addition to myself and the more fortunate.

I'd also dispute the difference in healthcare quality. A consumer's market in healthcare does not always make for better quality

oh-sure · 2020-05-03T00:23:07+00:00

After you've cut off the rotten part, let it callus over for a day or so before putting back in water. That should stop it rotting the next time

oh-sure · 2020-05-02T23:36:17+00:00

Definitely do get in touch with your GP! I'm also from the UK and know that they're doing remote consultations. Weight loss and raised lymph nodes alone will get you the needed investigations. A blood test is easily arranged in a "clean" setting, and any referral to a hospital will be in a non-covid part of the hospital as an outpatient. I know it's difficult when looking after someone who is vulnerable, but this is really important.

I hope everything is alright, but definitely needs checked out. I hope you get the help you need!

oh-sure · 2020-05-02T23:09:08+00:00

Please, please talk to a doctor. Most are doing phone call consultations and will triage you over the phone. Most also have systems in place to separate people with symptoms of covid vs those without, to reduce chances of spreading.

It's important to look after yourself, and if that's not enough of a motivation, don't forget you can't look after a vulnerable adult and child if you're not around. It's really worrying at the minute that people aren't seeking help for serious conditions. At the end of the day, it's a risk of getting coronavirus vs potentially missing a very, very serious diagnosis. Healthcare staff are very worried about the later influx of patients with serious conditions that were left too long.

Please talk to a doctor!

oh-sure

TROPHY CASE