the Monday Musings column from that consultant bloke

There have been a few lockdowns in my business life as I have mentioned earlier in this series. Some have been a condition of my contract and one, for Libya, included a very formal risk assessment spreadsheet. I was not arguing about that one though as I left the country a day ahead of my colleagues to get to another contract. They only just made it out and in another 24 hours the country was shut down.

In Tripoli my colleagues and I were confined to our hotel when we were not working and had a two man escort to drive us to and from our place of work. Whilst I would have loved to have explored the city a little, prudence, plus having given my word, kept me locked down. On another contract in Bangkok I was also told very firmly that I was not to go wandering off into the city and expressly told not to take a tuk-tuk. I was issued with a card that had the office address on one side and the hotel’s on the other. The general factotum at the hotel entrance would summon me a taxi in the morning and my host would see me safely into another one to go back in the evening.

Whilst I was supposed to stay in the hotel one of my female local co-workers explained to me that if I left the hotel through the car park I could go to the food market next door. The ladies on the team would give me notes written in Thai to take too the food stalls there and so I did get to experience the sights, smells and tastes without straying too far from my room.

Here in Swindon in 2020 my lockdown work around the house and garden continues. Ours is a fairly wild garden on purpose as we like to provide homes for any of the local wildlife. This year I am keeping the vegetation in a little more check than usual whilst trying to keep elements of jungle available. Some things take their time, others don’t; the hop is returning and can grow tendrils by about a foot a day. This year I will battle with it daily rather than weekly to try and stop it choking everything in its path.

Next door’s cats will come and watch my efforts and, when they are not around My & Mrs Robin will compete with Mr & Mrs Blackbird for any worms and grubs that I might disturb. I will plod along and so far I am enjoying most days. The post lady has just dropped off a box for me, this being more of a toy than a tool, but there is usually one or more white vans pulling up daily with something or other that we have ordered. Thankfully we have an easy enough time locked down and we are grateful for that.

Stay safe. I hope that you and yours are also safe and well. Monday Musings carry on as usual and I will be back with another lockdown log around the middle of next week.