Isolate, Press, Jab.

 

I have been isolating for several days.  By 'isolating' I mean, 'too lazy to go out.'  There is no need to venture downstairs, the neighbour has left the mail at my door, well, two grubby adverts for takeaways that is, there is milk in the fridge, bread in the bin, and meat in the freezer, so no need to spend money.

Weather dreich again, the icy sunshine replaced by rain which removed the last vestiges of snow and saturated those dogwalkers in the park.  The dogs did not notice either the rain or the saturated walkers.  I watched from the window, giggling.

I have, like so many others, ceased watching or reading the news.  On Twitter, when not banned for no good reason, I find headlines worth reading, from several media, few are worth following up.  The main press online appears to fill the page with half naked ageing celebrities, women showing their scars for no good reason, occasional murder, robbery, shock-horror or sentimental slush stories, no real in depth news or comment.  Why do people buy them as their is nothing inside?  'Bread & Circus's for the people I suspect.

The vaccine of course fills the spaces, either millions have been given, or not enough, depending on who you read.  My first 'jab' is scheduled for Saturday, if I can walk that far to the hospital and then stand for hours in the queue!  We wait to see how it goes.  Already talk is of ending lockdown and back to normal.  No chance for a long time in my view.  Sudden ending and soon another lockdown.

Back bench Tories with their eyes on the cash box will disagree.

 

 

Indoor Musings

 

I am thinking of renaming this blog 'The View From My Window.'  It appears that for the next six months that may be all I see.  Now I am happy enough hiding from virus's, 'Lock Down' in my view is better than pubs and street raves, football grounds and cafes filled with folks sharing Coronovirus freely, but it is a drag.

The view is quite good here, however, the rust is beginning to show on the leaves, Autumn arrived today, and with no leaves I get a better view, but mostly of rain.  Very misty last night, cleared by the time I rose, a sign of Autumn if nothing else is.

 

Feeling great yesterday after some exercise I got up early to visit Tesco.  This was a mistake.  Feeling good yesterday has left my knees aching today.  How does that work?  This limited my shopping as I am beginning to stock up for Brexit Day, January 1st 2021.  The Brexiteers claim all will be well, however, I noted yesterday that those Englanders living in the EU will find their cash blocked by the banks because of some 'administrative' problems in London.  I tried not to laugh.  Those who wanted Brexit while living in France and Spain do not encourage sympathy.  

I will however continue to stockpile against the wishes of the government who claim all will be well, it will be for them, lining their pockets on Russian Rubles, and I only hope the Butcher can continue to provide sheep for lunch in January.

 

This indoor life has encouraged tea drinking.  It appears to me the cup is never empty.  As it has occasionally been quite warm the tea drinking has escalated, surely this cannot be good for me.  This reminds me of my mother and her friends who could drink pots of tea, with a pot of hot water standing by to refill teapot, all day.  I use no teapot, I do have one, bought in an attempt to save cash by reusing teabags.  This was OK for a while but six old bags can either be too strong, or too weak, depending on bags.  I may have to look at this again to save money.

 

Of course being trapped indoors means there is plenty of time to do all those wee jobs ignored for the past 'wee while.'  This is of course true and I assure you I have every intention of doing them, tomorrow.

In fact some jobs have been done, others have been noted, and materials obtained for the work in some cases.  Several weeks of laptop problems have interfered somewhat with this and now the problems ease I must begin to fix things broken since Adam was a boy.  Almost everything I possess is either second hand, broken, or aged, just like me.  I was asked a while ago regarding the age of a jacket I was wearing, "About 20 years or so, just like the shirt," I replied.  The poor woman had a fit.  Wearing something that old was beyond her ability to comprehend.  Good job she does not see what is in the cupboards.  I suspect nothing she owned was more than a year old.  'If it works use it, if it wears well, use it' I say.  Modern stuff may be fun but do we actually require the latest technology?  Do we not just require the technology we use?  New clothes are good, if we need them and they are available in the charity shop.  Charity shops are struggling also these days, too little gifted during 'Lock Down' and now too much handed in at the first opportunity.  It is also difficult to get into one with the limitations on numbers allowed inside.

We are however much better off than many, we do not suffer war, or even Civil War like the USA will soon endure.  We are fed while others use Food Banks, we can walk while others cannot.  I give thanks I can see blue sky and sunshine, open spaces and birds singing in the trees.  Some people cannot see these things, I am well off.

 

Saturday Lock Down

There ought to have been a COBRA meeting today.  

Nicola wanted one, the Mayor of London wanted one, several others wanted one, none came.  

There has been no Cobra meeting since MAY!  

The PM has not spoken to the Mayor of London since May 10th, he tries not to speak to Nicola who ensures she speaks to him or one of his lackeys.

We are in the middle of a Pandemic, the second wave, expected some say since 1919, is under way, though the woman supposedly fighting the virus did not expect this.  Some parts of the nations are under 'curfew' or 'Lock Down,' and gangs of youths gather together without a care in the world, at the moment.

On top of this the dafties are once again blocking London while claiming the virus is a hoax, that the vaccine will inject Bill Gates computer chips into you so he can follow you everywhere (though phones do this already), and fighting with police is commonplace.  

Interesting that all the pictures I saw were of white people, not a dark skin to be seen.  The middle classes joining the working class Tories to disbelieve medics?

 

In this part of the world people are gathering in small groups, careful not to go over 6 in number, and attempting to avoid disaster.  Elsewhere pubs are crowded, buses full of schoolkids crushed together go by and in school corridors many kids crush together also.

Boris has now made it clear a second wave is upon us, while he is more worried about trying to work out how to pay for four children, two wives and a new child all on a measly £150,000 a year, and ensuring Dominic is keeping the cabinet in its place.  

I've just had a thought, imagine if they removed Boris and replaced him with Hancock?

Ha Ha Ha, I'm going mad!!!

Gardening and Shopping

Wearily to Tesco late at night for the odd things like milk and bread that we cannot live without.  Weary as I had foolishly considered myself 25 again and sauntered downstairs and weeded the front. While this was good, it requires doing and only I bother these days, it meant a lot of effort, effort being something I have not used in a while.  So by evening the walk to Tesco found new undisturbed muscular activity.  I feel it yet!  This was not helped by Tesco being busy.  It is usually quiet at that time but lots were around wandering hither and thither instead of following the one way system.  There was a queue and while the staff were excellent it took time to get through.  A lovely evening but some questioned what the steam engine noises were, it was me puffing up the road.  

   
I got a note from the neighbour, we all have them, in the house next door, worried re her Ivy plant that was reaching up to the first floor window.  This is round the back of the house and not a problem.  However having contacted the disinterested landlady I told her to cut the base and it will soon die, easy to remove then.  I offered to help her cut this, clever move it turns out, as she,a lady of many years reacted as my mother would do,she cut it herself, saw and all, because she, in her pride, does not need a man to things for her, she is not old!  Tee Hee!  She is fitter than me and I am glad.  A bit paint no loss on this house of course however today I looked again round the back and it is a bigger job than I thought.  I may have more weeding to do there.  Good exercise...maybe she will help?

Today I had to visit the ironmongers shop and came back via the park.  Several groups of two and threes were dotted around in the sun.  An occasional dad being bullied by a three year old, a couple canoodling in the shade, near naked fat girls reflected an awful lot of sunshine, and a dog walker or two could be seen.  In one part of town people sit together, in the town itself people were making great efforts to avoid going near one another.  Some are really scared of this virus and the ironmonger was wearing a large face mask, the lass at the till the usual type.  Good for them, meeting so many people today they need it.  It was very quiet in town, not helped by road works to pavements that is noisily ongoing, and most appeared to remain indoors.  The sun tempts people into the park, shops may have run out of Vitamin 'D' tablets so they undress in public and very white knees seek the sun.  Mine came home...

  

Boring Friday

A walk in the park to clear the head this afternoon.  The sun shone, the chilly wind remained, less so but noticeable to me.  Around me women gathered with their children, well, not around me, they just happened to be lying around in the grass in groups.  The lessening of lock Down will encourage the virus no end.  While dad was being shown how to play football by his ten year old daughter, his bruises will be seen in the morning, a sister bullied her selfish brother, are they not all the same, while he took forever to return the ball they were kicking around, and a dog or two took the owner for a walk it was clear people were enjoying the freedom on offer.  However, I could not help thinking that while this looks good other parks will be more crowded, less space between folk and the NHS, PPE or not, will be seeing some of these people in the not to distant future.  
I no longer consider watching the news worthwhile.  The numbers on offer are either depressing, deliberate lies, or a result of incompetence, none can be believed.  Twitter informs me 1 in 4  Virus information posted is wrong, sometimes deliberately so, I believe that.  I am not sure I have ever known a more incompetent government when it comes to running the nation.  They have the audacity to whine that Nicola offers info before the London spokesman does, indeed, because she is proving more efficient and if she does not offer such info it may not be seen at all!  Nicola has handled this well so far, no matter how petty the attacks on her have been.  She has many faults, running the country in a pandemic has shown she has some talent, talent not seen in Westminster!
It is interesting also that those involved in the 'Vote Leave' campaign no run the show at No 10.  In spite of 'Vote Leave' being fined those responsible have been given jobs by Dominic behind the scenes.   Interestingly this includes the Chief Police Officer who dropped the charges against 'Vote Leave.'  Dominic's own Civil Service in operation.  
The more we know about how the nation is run the more we question why no-one is asking questions regarding the manner in which the nation is run.  If only the BBC could recruit a journalist, what?  Oh they dumped them all...I see.

There is Less to Say Today...

If yesterday was boring you will find it much, much worse today.
The main delight was to do the 'washing.'  This is interesting in that round here they call it 'laundry,' and do not understand what you mean.  Just as in Edinburgh women, for that is what they were made for, will go for the 'messages,' but in these parts they say 'shopping,' or 'Supermarket,' or 'I have a woman to do that sort of thing.'  When I lived in Edinburgh there were many phrases I took for granted but which cause puzzlement in these parts.  A woman asked the time, 'The back of three o'clock' I said.  She stared at me blankly.  She, it must be said, was indeed reared on a farm.  'Do you mean,' she enquired nervously, 'After three o'clock?'  I stared blankly.  What else could I have meant I thought.  Only then it struck me how everyday expressions we grow up with at fixed to a locale.  Just as many words are found only in certain areas phrases and expressions are similarly found in limited locales.  
Of course round here they all speak with the same accent, acceptable but not one to boast about.  When an individual from Lancashire or Wales or Scotland appears I always enjoy the improvement.  Such accents are delightful, while a 'Scouse' one, named after a type of stew, is not so endearing. 

I picked this book up again, I found it under a pile of detritus, and luckily it was open at an interesting bit.  Here MacFarlane walks around in the West Bank with an Arab walker to guide him.  In a another chapter he was walking with a man who picked up odd bits he found as he walked, made a small 'book' enclosing his finds, over a thousand such books in his possession, and his left me wondering about what goes on behind peoples front doors.  The Arab, Raja is his name, had walked many Wadi's in the West Bank and made maps of his walks, not something to carry about with you when soldiers or settlers might be met.  MacFarlane describes in his usual, normal, current, regular, customary, familiar overblown style as he walks.  On occasion this can be interesting, sadly not often enough.  However they walk up and down the slopes, ensuring they cannot be seen by Israeli or settler guards as the area is technically out of bounds.  The word 'technically' means they get shot if seen, US style, no questions asked.
For such hardened walkers this is great fun.  The author walks along investigating the limestone rocks and describing the rivulets where water has over the centuries run down into the Wadi.  Such men enjoy the toil, even with a heavy backpack, possibly considering that this makes them appear 'real men.'  Walking across parts of Israel crossed by many feet over thousands of years in indeed intriguing but while these two considered the stones I would be considering where the nearest Falafel takeaway joint was to be found.  They trudge along wary of figures on the horizon while rain begins to fall.  This, as is the way in such places soon turns the area into clinging yellowish mud as the rivulets allow water to run down.  This is what done for Sisera all those years before.  Arriving with all his trained charioteers he found Barak at the foot of Mount Tabor.  To him this was an easy victory but the rain came and that area was full of streams.  Soon his chariots were stuck in mud and his men, trained to fight on the move, were no match for the 'Infantry' of Barak, especially when they were aroused.  Sisera himself managed to escape the carnage hiding with the Kenites, he saw them as friendly locals, and was lulled to sleep by a milky drink given by the woman Jael.  He may not have known the Kenites were descended from Moses father-in-law and Jael, when she saw he was asleep, did the decent thing and put a tent peg through his scull.  Never trust a woman I say!  Never trust a woman who lulls you to sleep with a milky drink!
My head hurts now.
Those ancient hills in the West Bank must have seen many a confrontation over thousands of years. The chances of peace in that area now is still slim.  
Anyway that is the sort of area MacFarlane is walking over in this chapter, his style has not changed, the people he meets appear regular walkers, I am talking about walking across Spain, or France or some such, just for the adventure.  These are his type of people.  I am left wondering about them myself. What makes people take off into the wild, possibly living alone far from humanity, possibly in rough areas in the hills or by the sea, obsessed with the world around them, oblivious to the rest?  Why do they do this?  I suspect we have all met them, sometimes envious of them, as they head out into adventure.  But these are not all young people, some have done this for decades.  As I said, when you go into someone's house you never know what you may meet.  I found this in the 80s when delivering in London, normal houses may be done up like castles downstairs, just for decoration, other rather run down properties were a wonder inside, this was the dream house for someone.  Another was an ex-sailor, very aged, with dozens of large models of Royal Navy ships, most of these were ships in which he had served during the Great War.  Poor old man was lonely and wished to talk about them but I had to rush on.  I regret not being able to remain for a while, both for him and for me!
Anyway, I might finish this book yet, depending on the nutter individual found in later chapters...

Fearful Friday

Watching Charlie here, sitting all puffed up in the chilly morning, led to me ponder all those books that will be getting rushed out soon.  You now the type, reminiscent of those produced under the threat of nuclear war, barren empty, destroyed landscapes with few people attempting to renew the human population.  Deserted cities, small groups here and there fighting for all the resources they can obtain.  Only the animal world, untouched by the virus, will survive.  
Hmmm...maybe we ought to give that a go?
Considering no-one really knows how to deal with this virus, considering locking us all up is the only treatment, no different from historical plagues in that regard, considering any vaccine may be two years away and then dubious it may be we may be limited in our meetings for a very long time.  How will we cope? 
This will not change my life to much, many over 50s "cough" will be remaining indoors most night, the only comfort dreadful television, BBC 1 or ITV their only choices as turning to anything else is beyond them it appears.  Only their daytime activities will be limited now.  For many this will be hard to take, it will make little difference to me as I have hardly got out for the past couple of years, and that annoys me. 
Two years on 'lock down?'  Really?  Can we cope?  How will the drunks survive if pubs are closed, they need the company to be drunk with?  What will happen to those now unemployed?  Who will pay?  How will the economy survive?  Indeed has the Good Lord taken action to remind us he, not we, is in charge?
The future is bleak, especially with no football to watch!

Spring weather will put much pressure on children to get out and about.  How will parents cope?
Take them into the country?  Dow to the sea?  Along to some attraction?  Many places will be busy with people escaping people.  Attractions closed, and nowhere to go.  This will be a drag for many parents. 
I bet the skatepark opposite will be crowded with kids avoiding one another.  
How will kids cope?  Will they develop better ideas or end up glued to laptops and mobiles like we would?  Give kids a few old boxes, one or two intriguing items and they will be happy for hours. Anything that engages their minds will fill time.  Just as long as they are far from me while doing it...