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the lockdown log 21
Time rolls by and there seems no end to this plague as yet. Here in swindon we are making a bid for the nation’s top spot and, having been in the top ten for a couple of weeks or so, are closing in on the top five. Not that this is anything to be proud of.
Our problems seem to be in two areas where ethnic minorities have set up home. I can remember working with some of the immigrant community from this part of town and being shocked to hear them talk of their overcrowded conditions, not that they saw it as a problem. Different cultures and expectations; fitting twenty people into the sort of two bedroomed house that my mother had lived in seemed ridiculous to me, but my background was very different to theirs.
The irony that the EMEA peoples are more likely to suffer from Covid-19, and for it to have a more severe impact, when they live in multi generational and, by my standards, overcrowded homes where it will spread more quickly is not lost on me. It is sad that people who have come to the UK to escape troubles that I cannot imagine in their homelands are now under such threat from a new enemy.
In my corer of the town life goes on as the weeks roll past. The weather is thwarting some of my efforts, but it looks as though I will have a dry day today to treat the deck with stain ready for the new shed’s arrival in a couple of weeks or so. That will also need painting inside and out before assembly so I am hoping for about three days of dry weather then.
I am back on my head in the sand attitude and am not looking at the news (I only know about the Covid situation here because the Berkshire Belle delights in telling me these snippets) and am largely avoiding social media where the political ranting of my Leftie friends I find moronic rather than amusing me as it usually does. I take each day as it comes and try not to think too far ahead beyond my personal projects. It works for me and fends off the worst of the depression that is luring too close at hand for comfort.
I am off to do some work. Stay safe out there wherever you are.
on the joys of shopping
I’m going to look at this from the customer perspective. All management should do this anyway, but many seem to ignore it beyond what they see from market research and I will come on to that too in a moment.
Why do we shop? To buy stuff is the obvious, and correct answer, but how many of us go shopping and come back with more than we went for? The Berkshire Belle and I once worked with a chap who was, fortunately, married to a like minded lady. They went shopping with a list and bough only what was win the list. Things around the house had to fail completely before they were replaced; we remember that their cooker was down to one working ring on the hob before they bought a new one.
Our friends were not common though and most folks are like the double B and I in that shopping is about browsing, about buying things on impulse regardless of whether you need them or have an immediate use for them. You see, you like, you buy is how it works and that process involves not just the eyes, but touch. I will walk along a rack of golf shirts, for example, running my fingers across the fabric. I buy more by what feels nice than the colour or brand. Cutlery, glassware and crockery have all been bought by how they feel in the hand rather than anything else (except maybe how they look).
These pleasures are, if sort of allowed, not practical or desirable at the moment so, like many, we are not doing it. There is no fun anyway in visiting a shopping centre or high street and having to queue at almost every shop that you want to visit. Touching products, other than to put them into your basket or cart, is not something that is a good idea and just wandering around looking at things is not encouraged, or acceptable, when others are queuing to get in. Shopping is becoming more about necessity than a source of pleasure.
This is the dilemma for those in the retail trade and many are fighting for survival. The writing has perhaps been on the wall for a while with the impact of internet shopping and the evolving habits of each new generation, but this current plague has brought matters to a head. How they will get through it I don’t know. It seems unlikely that we will return to a world where we can shop without masks, social distancing or fear any time soon so which businesses will survive that long?
Whilst this is a problem for government in that it impacts on the economy in so many ways it is not a problem that is in their gift to solve. Market research is too often flawed and there is a lot of nonsense out there in terms of customers surveys; just sigh up to do a few of these on-line and you will see what I mean. The questions are often nonsensical and there is no way that meaningful answers can be gleaned from it, certainly not in terms of allowing management to make realistic decisions.
What we get over the next twelve months or so is going to come from innovative thinking, from people who have a vision that they can translate into actions that work and that will generate income for their businesses. As always the ones that can take advantage of the changing environment will be the survivors.
I don’t think that we will see the world that we had sic months ago again. What we emerge into will look and feel different. I don’t know that I will like it, but I will have to lump it if that is all I have.
the lockdown log 20
Weather extremes are messing with my efforts to keep my various projects on track, the extreme heat not being conducive to labouring outside nor for some of the indoor jobs and now heavy rain has further complicated things; traipsing mud around is not popular and I have to wait for things that I could not paint because it was too hot to dry out before I can paint them.
These are the sort of buggerment factors that all project manage to face up to and I will manage somehow. The year is slipping by and it is now barely light when I get up at five in the morning and darkness is falling by around nine in the evening. There is still much to do if I am to meet my self-imposed plans, but if I look back there is a huge amount completed. I have written in my Monday Musings blogs about the need to occasionally stop and look back to see how far you have come and it is an important psychological boost when you start to feel that you are losing momentum.
Having written my last Monday Musing on crisis management I had to put my abilities into practice last week when one of the local foxes wandered into the house and then went berserk trying to get back out. Fortunately keeping calm and being patient Reynard was persuaded to leave, but in its blind panic it took a while for it to realise that it was rushing past an open door in its attempts to get out of a window. No damage was done in the house and the fox seems to have recovered as it has been several times since.
Such diversions are not always welcome, especially when, as happened here, I had just got everything ready to start a job when I was called shift our furry visitor. By the time that I had got rid of it, helped to restore order in the house and discussed with the Berkshire Belle (who had taken it all very calmly) how we could prevent further incursions I had largely gone off the idea of what I had gone out to do. Certainly it took me so long to get my head back into the game that I didn’t get the job finished.
With the Law of Sod in full swing it appears that my deck stain sill be delivered today or tomorrow. I will re-check the directions, but given that the weather has broken (after the thunder storm of last night it has already rained three times this morning in the two and a half hours that I have been up. Looking at the forecast my chances of getting the new decking fry enough to stain look bleak for the next ten days or so. Ho hum; Plan M I think I am up to now.
I cut my hair again this week, the fourth self-haircut of this Summer. My usual barber has apparently reopened, but I am a little twitchy about going there as we have a significant upsurge on the Covid-19 front here. So another sit in the back garden with the clippers and using my ‘phone camera as a substitute mirror has, at least, tidied me up again. In the process of using the ‘phone to check my work I inadvertently took a selfie; who is this old git I see before me? Small wonder that they want me to wear a mask when out; it must make me look less frightening. Age creeps up…
One of the biggest problems we face at the moment is that hope is being drained. I can only speak from a personal perspective, but the little things that we enjoy as a couple; going out to shop, to eat or to visit places is lost for the foreseeable future. An end to the pandemic is not in sight and we are trying to adapt, but many of the things that brought us joy are out of reach. Yes I know that there are millions worse off than we are and that we have many privileges that others crave, but that is where we have to try and get our mindset changed. We have become used to being free to do what we can afford to do and now we can’t much of that and, because we think that is is sensible, are choosing not to do other things.
This week we have learned that one of my nieces and her partner have bought Covid-19. Fortunately they seem to have been only mildly affected, but they are the first people that we know that have caught it and even though they live an hour’s drive away it somehow brings it closer.
At the end of the day we have each other and that matters enough to keep us fairly sane in these weird times. We hope that you are all staying safe too.
the lockdown log 19
Not a great week for us here in Swindon as we have rocketed into the Nation’s top ten, possibly even the top five if some reports are to be believed and are therefore under the threat of a lockdown. People locally are frightened a little more than they were.
Talk of a lockdown for the over fifties would impact on me. I am classified as a key worker, but that might not count if things change and my employer is a caring one and has already furloughed a pregnant colleague so even if I am exempt in a regulatory sense I might get bounced anyway. Wait and see. I shall not worry about it as it is out of my control, but I will have to think about how I deal with not being the hunter gatherer as I am now.
This worldwide plague is not going away and we obviously need a vaccine to counter it. We don’t have one yet, but seemingly we could be close. The problem with these things is that you only know in hindsight if you have got it right and that makes life very difficult. All we as individuals can do is to be responsible and try not to catch it or spread it.
WAs that a pig I just saw fly past the window? Probably not and the chances of everyone behaving responsibly are the same as me seeing a flying porker. Whilst I do not look to social media for intelligent debate I do read things there and the level of stupidity and ignorance is breathtaking even if you take out the politically motivated stuff. It is a shame that Covid-19 is not selective enough to take out these people.
Anyway, enough ranting for now. We are coping here well enough and remain healthy so I have little to complain about beyond the thoughts above. The world still turns and I get to see the sun and moon in turn. Our lives are different, but we still have them and I am grateful for that.
The weather is very erratic this year, again, and there can be no doubt that we are having to live with the effects of climate change. What the balance is between the natural world doing what it has done since the beginning and the efforts of certain portions of humankind I don’t know, but we try to do what we can to help. I understand that my efforts are puny in the wider scale, but every little helps and so my revamping of the garden includes plans to go from four water butts to five and space is being made for a second compost bin (although I am not sure we have enough waste to justify another one).
All of these little projects help to occupy my mind. I like solving puzzles anyway and the intellectual challenges of my assorted projects, no matter how small they are, does help to keep me amused, if at times frustrated. Anything is better that sitting around wasting my days; I know that I don’t have too many left now so I try to make them all good ones.
Stay safe out there, one and all.
the lockdown log 18
Last week the garden project took a big step forward and I needed to stop faffing about and get a new shed. My problem is that when I started all of this off about four months ago I could have had a shed delivered within two or three weeks, but now three to four months seemed to be the norm. Where am I top to now; plan K perhaps?
A local tip off suggested that there was someone across town who might be able to do better and so it proved, but it meant a drive pout to a garden centre where the company had a sales office. After all this time of masking up and going to supermarkets you might think that this would be no problem, and I have been to a garden centre once already this lockdown, but this trip made me feel uncomfortable for some reason.
I could have just ‘phoned, but I wanted to see the product before buying as I want to be sure about the quality of the product, so a personal visit was essential. All was fine and a new shed is on order for delivery in early September, not ideal, but six weeks is better that twelve. On my way home I stopped off at one of the out of town M&S food stores we have here and ended up doing what will be the main shop for this week, so a double win.
We have seen a surge in Covid-19 cases here in Swindon over the last week and people are getting a bit twitchy again. There is the usual claptrap on social media; one comment about several cases at a local distribution warehouse blamed it on casual workers there claiming that “they come to work and then go home”. Don’t we all do that? I have been trying to look at Facebook and Twitter less lately as even the hypocrisy of my Lefty friends has become boring rather than a source of daly amusement.
The Berkshire Belle had begun to make encouraging noises about possibly venturing out, but with a new surge of cases she has retreated into her shell and I know better than to try and prod her out of it. We are coming upon on the twin anniversaries of 29 years married and 31 years together so I might, just, be getting her worked out.
The problem with this mental health thing is that it is all in the mind. As long as I can keep a bit of mine behaving itself I can usually overcome the negativity in the rest of it, but what works for me doesn’t;t necessarily work for everyone. It helps that I am a natural optimist, even in the face of seemingly overwhelming forces I am always looking for the solution. The BB’ glass is always half empty though and maybe that is what we are still together after all this time; we balance each other.
In other news my lockdown diet has seen me drop 5 kg in four weeks so I am happy with progress there, especially as many others have gone in the opposite direction during lockdown. I am also drinking less alcohol and am down to a couple of glasses of wine a week, although that is not much of a reduction; I have just cut our the odd bottle of beer here and there.
Another week done. I hope that you are all staying safe and well too.
the lockdown log 17
This week I escaped from my regime of work and weekly shop. My eldest daughter had sent me a voucher for a driving experience day and so off I went to a public event.
Social distancing was in place, although you can’t stay 2 metres apart from someone sharing your car. The organisers did try hard though and as soon as a car came back to the staging area after a run once the driver was out one of the crew was straight in with anti-viral spray and wipes to clean the controls, door handles and everything else that might have been touched. Masks were compulsory and any silliness like not keeping your nose covered was challenged: Behave, comply or you don’t drive.
I have also had a husband and wife local team in for a few hours each day doing some of the heavy work in the garden that, for various reasons, I was not going to do. We have kept our distance, refrained from shaking hands on the deal and, in some ways, it has seemed like a return to more normal ways.
Whilst my small crew have moved the garden project forward massively it seems that so many others have been at similar projects during lockdown and that, combined with factories having been shut down, has seen a shortage of some materials. I had planned to buy a new shed once I knew how much space I had available, but, now I know what I can do, I can’t have one for 3-4 months. Plan F looms perhaps.
It has been a big frustration to go onto a website, select a product with all of its options and then get to the payment page before being told that the item is not in stock, That is not just the shed, I have had the same problem with a range of DIY products and it has been a blot on an otherwise easy period of internet buying during lockdown.
Today we went over to the requirement to wear face coverings in shops. Some, mostly the smaller shops, are refusing admission to those who refuse to comply, but the larger chains are taking the view that their employees are at risk if they challenge non-compliance. Why people have to be stupid about this is beyond me (I have been waring a mask whilst shopping from the start of the plague), but there is the usual bleating about infringement of ‘uman rights. Personally I feel that it is a shame that Daleks are not real; a few of those around to deal with miscreants would soon sort the problem.
The position in some other countries seems dire. America has lost the plot entirely and those who have bemoaned the UK, at one time, leading the world in deaths per capita have gone strangely quiet now that we have both lost that position and begun to understand that our own stats are flawed.
Here in Swindon we have had a little surge in reported cases, but that was to be expected as we try to get people back to work. In one case it seems that a company allowed an employee from Leicester, which is in lockdown because of the number of cases there, to come to their office here. If it is true it is mindbogglingly stupid.
Anyway, another week has gone by and me and mine still seem to be thriving and surviving so I can’t complain. Stay safe out there one and all.
the lockdown log 16
A bit of a rant to start this one off and the topic is face masks. I have worn one to shop from the early days of the plague back in March. Yes it is a pain at times, especially when it fogs up my glasses (and yes, I have tried all of the remedies with little success so far) and it makes it hard for shop assistants to understand me when I ask for help finding something, but it seemed like a sensible precaution so I have worn one, mostly to protect others in case I have the lurgi and don’t know it yet.
Now the Mask Stasi have emerged, with brigades both for and against. The pro lobby are virtue signalling with gusto, posting photos of their disguised selves on-line and, often, being very patronising to those not wearing masks. The anti lot are just being obnoxious and both camps sicken me.
I wear a mask whilst shopping because, as I said above, it seemed sensible to do so. I don’t need the government to tell me to do it, but now they have. I am a big bloke with a big pair of lungs and can easily soak a mask in the course of a 20-30 minute shop. That makes it more risky for me, but if everyone is wearing a mask it brings that risk back down somewhat.
As someone who wears hearing aids both sides I have sympathy with those who need to lip read. Even with my assisted hearing I can rarely understand anything that someone wearing a mask says to me. OK, that is, in part, because so few people make any effort to enunciate well these days, but there is a bigger problem here that we are trying to fix.
So, bottom line, wear a mask in public, wear it properly and try to contribute to society. Rant over.
Back in lockdown mode I am back from the weekly shopping trip this morning and looking forward to spending some time on garden projects. One of the problems of ordering on-line has shown up this morning when the postman brought me the garden gate hinges that I ordered. For from the robust look that they had in the photo the pair that have slid out from the Jiffy bag look far from strong enough for my needs. I could have made a trip around two or three stores, but I don’t want to expose myself to more people than I have to. Perhaps the gate improvement project will have to wait.
I am emerging from the slough that I slipped into a couple of weeks back. I have tried to be positive throughout (my glass is always half full), but sometimes it takes a bit more than just telling yourself to buck up before it works. In my case I have had one job that I cannot do solo, at least not fast enough, and have been let down by contractors. Now I have that sorted and work starts next week so I have some hope of being able to make significant progress over the back end of the Summer.
It is nice to be planning things again. Whilst I have been a bit down I have been working one day at a time and trying to end each day with a summary of having achieved something. It works for me.
Stay safe all.
the lockdown log 15
Here we are again, one week older and, in my case, a couple of kilos lighter. Yes the paid up member of the carnivore and pudding clubs is on a diet.
It is nothing to do with the current plague, just a change to lifestyle brought on by being diagnosed as having slipped into type 2 diabetes. It all started with a prescription review back around the start of lockdown. These reviews are now done by a pharmacist rather than the doctor and, due to lockdown, was going to be over the ‘phone.
When the call came the lady on the other end was quite agitated and wanted me to come in for a blood test, but would not say what for (my last one was in early 2019). I declined on the basis that I did not want to go to the surgery at that stage of the Covid-19 outbreak and asked to defer the test for 3 or 4 months.
The surgery rang me last month and in I went. The results came back and I was asked to come in for a second test and was told that my blood sugar was too high. I had actually passed the threshold in the 2019 test, but no-one had made any contact to tell me and now I had gone up again. I provided the second blood test and have to assume that it confirmed the first one as I have not had a call to discuss what they found.
It was a wake up call. I am annoyed that the surgery knew that I had a problem eighteen months ago because, had they told me, I could have addressed it then, but I can do nothing about that. What I can do is to change my diet and exercise regime and that is what I have been top to for the last 10 days or so. Carb intake has been more than halved, sugar intake likewise and I have started banging in at least a 1k walk every afternoon after lunch (except for Sundays).
When I was weighed at the surgery I was a bit down on what I had expected, but have paired off over 2 kilos since then which is pleasing, but, as we consultants would say, that is the low hanging fruit and an easy win. I have not set any targets here besides the one about power walking for at least the 1 kilometre on 6 days out of seven (I already walk 8-10k per day on average anyway, but that is not exercise, it is to do with work). I have to go back for more tests in 3 months and just aim to be in as better shape as I can manage by then.
In other news I am trying to get back on course with some of the projects around Bowen Towers. The recent bad weather, along with the news from the NHS, has knocked me off course a bit on the outside jobs and I need to get my focus back. I am slightly hampered by a couple of things that I cannot influence too much and my afternoon walks, whilst not that long at the moment, do interrupt my day. What I have done to overcome the weather issues is to switch focus to indoor projects and am making good progress on things like my internet based business activities.
Time seems to be flying past and it is hard to accept that we are on the downward slope in terms of daylight hours already. for me the lockdown has not made time drag in the slightest. I am lucky in having so much that I can occupy myself with. Away from work I can just enjoy not having to interact with anyone other than the Berkshire Belle and am very happy in isolation.
We do have to face up to the fact that we will almost certainly not be going back to America this year. Apart from Covid-19 being rampant over there we would also be due to be around for the presidential elections and have a feeling that things might get a little nasty. It already looks as though this will be a year without flying anywhere, only the second time since I first flew back in 1986, but there seems no point in taking any such risk at the moment and we will start to look at what we might be able to do in 2021.
That’s all for this week. Stay safe out there.
the lockdown log 14
Our lockdown regime continues, albeit that the Berkshire Belle will be having her hairdresser call next week for the first time since February and I can stop calling her Rapunzel.
The varied weather is not helping with any of my DIY projects and so I have found myself back at the keyboard more working on blogs and internet business. This afternoon the wind is gusting hard and my plan to be up a ladder has been postponed for example and I have contented myself with breaking down cardboard boxes for recycling. It is surprising how quickly all this stuff mounts up when you shop on-line.
Also eating onto my time is a new exercise regime. Not content with walking six or seven miles at work on five days of the week I have now added in an afternoon exercise walk. This on top of being back on a diet. It isn’t that I have been overeating (or drinking) during lockdown, more that I have been overeating for at least a year and the annual check up at the doctor’s triggered action.
It is a little ironic because we are probably eating better that ever lately with our new fish and fruit and veg box suppliers, but the damage is being done by treats and puddings so they have gone as has about 50% of my normal carb intake. I have set no targets beyond walking at least 1k every afternoon six days a week (I am allowing one day off for weather, but only one and, if weather permits, walking every day). So far this week in five days I have racked up 8.19k just in the exercise walks (my overall average over the last week is 12.3k per day).
Currently I have my head in the right place for losing weight and that is obviously good, but dieting has distracted me from some of the other things that I am trying to get done. This isolation has its benefits, but it also tends to make me less focussed and I find that I am easily distracted from what I had intended to do each day. Time management has fallen by the wayside to some degree (this blog is a day late), but much is getting done regardless. It is just that it is all a bit scattergun.
Still, this is another week done and the BB, our cats and I are still here. We are thankful for that.
Stay safe one and all.
the lockdown log 13
It has been an odd week; torrential rain followed by temperatures in the thirties midweek, but today, Saturday, is grey and wet again. That’s how it goes these days, but the extremes and unpredictability seem at odds to what I remember from even ten years ago let alone thirty or forty. All signs of climate change I suppose.
Despite the relaxation of lockdown we ware still at the Full Monty here. I go to work five days out of seven and do odd shopping on my way home with a big shop on my day off while the Berkshire Belle stays stoically indoors. It suits us.
The behaviour of some of our fellow UK citizens is beyond belief though and we are appalled by their senseless acts. If this is what this country has come to then I am glad that I do not have too many more years to endure it.
Some of my projects have ground to a halt whilst I wait for certain trades to get back into action and that is a frustration as is the weather in the way that it has impacted on outdoor works. Taking stock of what I have managed to do though gives some encouragement and we have been enjoying the first fruits, literally, of some of my gardening.
Our shopping habits have changed in that we buy some food and all non food on-line now. We have found a fishmonger and a suit & veg box greengrocer Along with the butcher that we used to drive to once a month who now does on-line orders and those three provide our core needs. We have also benefitted from one of our favourite restaurants now providing mail order dishes and the first of those has been a great success. With me being able to bring home the odds and ends of basic supermarket shopping we are doing well enough.
The joy of shopping for us was always being able to wander around and look at stuff, often coming home with things that we had no intention of buying when we set out, but that is not going to be something we can return to for a while yet. We need a new TV as the current one is showing distinct signs of problems. Yes we can buy one n-line and may well have to do that, but we would prefer to be able to go and look at what is on offer. It is not that simple as yet. Our lives have changed and we do not yet know by how much.
We are not complaining about these changes; we accept that we are very lucky and regard this year’s radical change more as something that we have to live with. We would not have chosen it, but tough; life is like that. We will almost certainly not get our US holiday this year and are philosophical about whether or not we will ever go back there because the America that we love does not currently exist. Things there are turning into a disaster in terms of Covid-19 and what will emerge from the aftermath there we have no idea about at present.
There are a lot of folks much worse off than us so we will stick to our lockdown and enjoy what we have.
Stay safe one and all.
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