109 days in isolation/lockdown

Has the second spike started? Is Leicester the first town to be put in total lock down again with others to follow? It must be frightening for the people who live there. It will be almost certain that panic buying will start all over again. Even as far as Hull? A second wave has been predicted by many including me and the behaviour of the public in general cannot be excluded from the equation of blame.

Furlough payments have, in the main worked well but a business woman was on TV last night saying she could get no money as a self employed person. Her employees were fine under the furlough rules but she did not take a wage. Instead she took dividends from the company and NOT a salary so did not qualify for any payments. Why did she do that? To avoid National insurance payments of both the employers and employees contributions, that’s why, I think she did it. Dividends are Investment Income upon which National Insurance Contributions are not payable therefore saving loads of money. This was the case 20 years ago and unless things have changed, it is simply tax avoidance. She (and others) have now reaped what they sewed. If she had paid herself a normal wage, she would probably have been able to furlough.

Almost all who were coming to our golden wedding party have now been informed. Some of them indicated they may not have taken the risk anyway. Only a handful to get hold of now. Everyone was very understanding.

Went to Mum’s for a visit this morning. As usual she was in fine form. I took a load of black and white photos for her to look through. She really enjoyed that. They were all black and white so ranged from Germany to England. From pre-war to the 60s.

UK deaths Tuesday 30th June 155

108 days in isolation/lockdown

News has just reached me of the death of Margarita Pracatan, the Cuban “novelty” singer who became very famous in the UK with her unusual singing style. She appeared on the Clive James TV show on Saturday nights. Her weird style of singing and playing a bontempi organ without any sense of rythm or memory for lyrics, endeared everyone to her and after one performance she was asked back on a weekly basis and we all loved her. She was described as a cross beween Carmen Miranda and Speedy Gonzales. James said that she took the worlds most famous songs and made them sound unfamiliar, new and strange and never let words or melody get in her way and had no fear of failure. She died at 89. There will never be anyone like her again. RIP.

Went for a drive to a furniture store (2nd visit) to buy a new suite for our lounge. We settled for a grade 1, leather, 6′ sofa (for me) and a single seat electric recliner for Jenny. The colour is dark grey which they, for some reason, call Grigiot. It is very comfortable and delivery will be about 8 weeks delivery. It will look great.

Had a “discussion” in the One Stop Shop today with another pair of ignorant numpties. They were blocking my way whilst they got cash out of the ATM. Fair enough. The aisle was too narrow to pass, even with a mask. So I waited. Their cash was delivered and they came back down the aisle the wrong way and barged past me without a word of apology or thanks. We had words, or at least I did. From them there was no response. Twits!!

Took delivery of a new dash cam. I have yet to set it up but experience has shown they can be very useful. I need a mini SD card to get it going. Why don’t they ever include one with the purchase?

UK deaths Monday 29th June 25

107 days in isolation/lockdown

Is a second spike of new Corona cases silently and sneakily building up in the background? No amount of headlines in the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday about preparing for a “boom” in the UK, will allay my fears. Unemployment could be as high as 3 to 8 million so who is going to benefit by this alleged “boom”. It used to be that wars were an opportunity for the rich to get richer and other shady deals to make some people a lot of money. Now it seems that pandemics have taken over as the world tragedy in which some people can make or enhance their fortunes, especially if they have the ear of those in power.ie Boris and his mates. Corruption is apparently rife but more subtle than a brown envelope under the table.

Scotland is doing much better than England in terms of numbers of deaths, having none reported in he last couple of days. They are much more cautious than us in England which in itself varies from region to region. Apparently the virus does not fare too well in the summer and so a second spike is more l, likely in October or November. The virus has not changed. It is still infectious and can still kill and needs to be dealt with, with caution and not taken for granted. In our house, nothing has really changed and we await definate instructions that we have beaten this thing, maybe with a vaccine being found that works and is available to the whole world.

We had a bit of a day out yesterday looking for a new suite. All the outlets were fairly empty and were observing the 2 metre rule rigorously. There was a huge queue outside Currys. A result no doubt of people having bought goods online that don’t work or they don’t understand. I empathise as I am in the same boat with my new Dell laptop. I have owned it for three months and still do not understand “the cloud”. Nor have I been able to transfer all our photos into “the cloud ” so I will need some advice from their experts but I will not be joining that queue.

There was mild police activity here last night when the police drove around our crescent (no flashing lights) and a bobby walked to the next close having a good look around. He then went. That’s what counts as excitement around here. We have no idea what he was doing.

We have had massive thunderstorms here in the last 2 days. Massive amounts of heavy rain but only in short bursts. Our garage which used to let alot of water in stayed dry so I had got the mastic in the right place. It is alot cooler now so haven’t had a chance to try out the base weights on our new parasol.

David called round today for a socially distanced cuppa in the garden.. He stayed for ages and only went because it started to rain. So I did some more Jigsaw. Now only 17 pieces of blue sky to fit.

UK deaths Saturday 27th June 100

UK deaths Sunday 28th June 36

105 days in isolation/lockdown.

They are still going to the beach etc. And it is not just down South who think they own the world anyway but those up North too. It is just as hot here at the moment and there has been a mass exodus to the coast by car and public transport. Social distancing without masks is impossible on buses and trains which are packed and once they get to the sleepy coastal towns like Withernsea, Hornsea and the smaller villages, there is no safe place on the beach. Smaller habitats like Skipsea, Aldborough ans Easington are rammed with cars and even though there is no space left, they keep on coming. Cars are parked on grass verges and are blocking residents driveways so some of them cannot get out. Who are these people? In about two weeks, the incubation period, we will see if their irresponsible behaviour has cause a new spike in the Corona Virus infections.

We called to see cousin Pamela after we had been to a garden centre to buy weights for our new parasol. We had a nice coffee and complemented her on her garden which, apart from the lovely flowers, was full of vegetables, cougettes, potatoes, green beens, peas and various salads. We took an old louvre door, cut in half, which she was going to paint (Greek) blue and put either side of her garage window like shutters. She sent us a photo later with the finished article in a beautiful blue. We asked for them back but she refused.

I love Fridays. It means fish and chips from “Fab Fish”. They must be the best for miles around. It also used to mean football or cricket but they are in lockdown and we miss seeing the grandchildren swimming and our grandson playing football and cricket.

UK deaths Friday June 26th 186

104 days in isolation/lockdown.

I didn’t watch every briefing in the end, although they have now finished but I still aquaint myself with the rules and especially social distancing. The rules have changed slightly and they are not difficult to understand if you have half a brain. First, it changes on the 4th July, not before and is only applicable as long as other measures are put into place which, for the public at large means wearing a face mask. In other words, nothing has changed unless you protect yourself and others. If you don’t it is still a social distance of 2 meters! Today I was sat at the end of a bench outside the chemist waiting for Jenny when a couple stood at the other end about 2 meters away. They were not wearing masks and the husband, who was obviously ignorant of the rules, said “It’s only 1 meter now love”. Not only does the new rule not come in until the 4th July, the bloody woman moved closer to me to be 1 meter away, as if it were compulsory. Fortunately Jenny came out of the chemist right on cue and I got up and walked away otherwise I may have been less than polite to the pair of numpties.

We both went to the Hessle public waste depot yesterday and got rid of all the old skirting board and other rubbish originating from the laminate flooring of the lounge. Joe, the joiner, did a fabulous job and we are very pleased with his work and the look of it is great. The window cleaner also turned up as did the Security Alarm engineer to repair the door alarm. We also had a delivery of a large garden parasol. It was a very busy day. Inbetween, I managed to do more of the jigsaw and am now left with about 200 pieces that all appear to be the same colour. Help! Oh, and I put the parasol together as well. It is so top side heavy it needs either bolting into concrete or stableising with very long pegs or more simply get a couple of heavy sandbags to hold the legs down. Not a good look but effective. It must not be too windy for the latter two methods.

I am bingeing music on Spotify. I selected Ry Cooder and it seems to be randomly going through all 30+ albums (all of which I have both in cd and vinyl) without repeating a single track. That’s heaven to me! At this very second it is playing his version of the Stones classic “It’s All Over Now”. Magic. The jigsaw can wait.

The lat three days do not show any consistant decrease in deaths. Let’s hope it’s just a blip!!!! Is all this easing too soon? Let ask Germany who are going slightly backwards at the moment. Our holiday to Austria may now be scuppered as we land in Munich.

UK deaths Tuesday 23rd June 280 (including catchup)

UK deaths Wednesday 24th June 154

UK deaths Thursday 25th June 149

101 days in isolation/lockdown.

We were looking forward to a trip to the public waste facility at Weel, Beverley. There was a massive queue so we turned around to go to Hessle via the Bicycle shop for a new tyre for Jenny’s bike. When we got to Hessle, the queue for our second choice of tip was so long, the dual carriageway was guiding us into the correct lane way before we got anywhere near it. We turned around and went home having decided that going the day after the weekend was a bad idea. We made up for it by making ouselves a lovely chilli with pilau rice. Enough left for lunch tomorrow, with a baked potato.

Nice low death figure today but will it last. Even Germany is having a “blip” and some sources are blaming Romanian meat packers. I don’t know the ins and outs as I have stopped watching the daily briefings. Even the questioners have no bite and if they get too close to criticising (Boris) they are mercilessly cut off. This would not of course happen in a live studio. The polititians must really love Zoom.

We went to Aldi this afternoon. Nothing special but they have reintroduced putting a pound in the trollies. Nobody (except us) seemed to be prepared for it. The different reactions were hilarious verging from the downright angry (why) to the ones who just stood there totally bemused.

UK deaths Monday 22nd June 15

100 days in isolation/lockdown. Who would have thought it would last this long.

Unless you were a fan, the weekend football on the tv was boring. A non-event. It was surreal with dubbed crowd effect noise. It was not too badly done but in the stadiums themselves, it was eerily silent. Hull City lost and are destined for League One. It’s been coming since they sold their best assets. Actually it was well before that. The fans refused to accept a name change to Hull Tigers, which I loved but a vocal minority hated it and they let it be known to the owners who, it has to be said, had brought great success to the club by investing 70 million pounds into it. They  were alienated by the fans and so  lost interest and put the club up for sale. Guess what? Nobody wants a club with such stupid fans and it has not yet been sold. “Where’s that tiger?”

David and the kids came today and brought me a nice bottle of Rioja for Father’s Day. We will have it tonight. Lovely to see them!

We’ve been taking the lounge carpet up today. Moving heavy furniture was a challenge. The floorboards look in great condition. All the carpet and underlay has fitted into the back of the car with the seats down so we will take a trip to the public waste cetre at Wel, Beverley, tomorrow.

The pandemic figures over the last couple of days have been very good in terms of reduced deaths. The  weekend figures (Sunday and Monday) are always low but at 28 deaths today is the lowest. Out “R” number is still below #1 but in Germany it has gone back to over #2. They were doing really well compared to us but have relaxed the rules earlier than we have and may now be reaping what they sowed. It certainly makes us doubt any holidays in western Europe at the moment. Ryanair have started to fly to Spain again so we will watch what happens there too.

UK deaths Saturday 20th June      128

UK deaths Sunday 21st June            27

 

98 days in isolation/lockdown.

Boris wants all kids back at school asap. I wonder how safe the kids will be and are they even ready? Are the schools ready? All the children interviewed on the tv are allegedly “dying” to get back but nobody has interviewed all the scum vandalising houses and cars and congregating on playingfields, smoking, drinking and inhaling gas meant for ballooons and then leaving all their waste strewn around. It will be interesting to see the figures for the numbers of returnees.

China is reporting cases increasing and the WHO are saying that the virus has not gone away and that the world is in a dangerous place at the moment. The figures in China are low but I do not trust them anyway. Did the virus originate there? We will probably never know.

Had a video call from Sally today and all is well in Bucharest with her, Jim and the two kittens.

I’m stiil wondering if I should wath the live football on Pick tv. Norwich  v Southampton. Not an inspiring game which, although it is played in an empty stadium, has a crowd soundtrack. Weird.

Daily UK deaths Friday 19th June     173

97 days in isolation/lockdown.

It’s raining. It will last all day so no plant watering required.

The first Premiership football took place last night with no spectators in the ground but apart from that all was, reassuringly, the same. VAR spectacularly failed to register a clear goal by Sheffield United in the first half. It clearly was important but who knows what else would have happened in the second half. Aston Villa could have come back with a couple of goals or Sheffield could have got more. A good example of the “butterfly wings” theory.

Dame Vera Lynn died today aged 103. What a wonderful life and inspiration during WWII.

The death rate is down again on a day where it should be higher so that is good news. Bad news today for us that our friend Peter Clarke’s dad is in hospital in the Midlands and has been diagnosed with the Corona Virus.

Cousin Pamela came for a socially distant visit in the afternoon. It was good to see her and we had a good chat. She is itching to get to the hairdresser. Her hair is flat and she wants her spikes back. She is seeing her mum and dad more often and going out for the occasional drive. Just for a change of scenery. They are an official bubble, whaever that is. Good for them.

UK deaths Thursday 18th June   135

 

 

 

 

 

96 days in isolation/lockdown.

Boris has all of a sudden become a football fan. But whilst we were all aware of Markus Radford’s campaign for free meals in schools throughout the summer and beyond (he hasn’t finished yet) Boris only heard about it yesterday. Where has our resident numpty been in the last week? Doesn’t he have a tv? I think we should be told.

This morning it was announced that Oxford university research team has tested an existing drug, DEXTAMETHASONE which, although not a cure or vaccine, does reduce deaths in hospitalised patients by a significant percentage. At £5 a dose it should be available to the NHS to treat UK patients soon. It is a well known drug and there should be no restrictions to every country in the world making their own. Worth keeping an eye on and well done Oxford University!

Started moving furniture out of the lounge today, ready for the laying of a new wooden/laminate floor next Wednesday. The boxes of laminate arrived today. We now need to start cutting up the carpet and underlay and removing the carpet gripper strips. I feel a few trips to the local council tip in Hessle will be required.

Premiership football is back today. I’m not really interested other than to see how many turn up at the ground anyway. Apparently, Aston Villa have said that once grounds are fully opened to the fans, they will give 1500 free tickets to the NHS for every home game remaining.. An NHS spokesperson has thanked the club but said “Haven’t we suffered enough?”

“Normal Day” deaths are down today so that is good news. If the trend continues, especially with the use of DEXTRAMETHASONE, I will be very relieved but we will stick to Lockdown rules in our house. We are both very well and I have no trouble falling asleep in the evening. I wake up early and I think it is the daylight but fall asleep again almost immediately. It would not be quite the same in Spain as the neighbouring cockerels would be very noisy and the heat would be uncomfortable. 20C to 25C at this time of year. For lots of reasons, we would both rather be here. The tit for tat rules for tourists between European countries is alarming but not surprising given we are no longer in the EU. If we are not allowed easy access to Spain for a holiday, we will stay in the UK. Their loss, financially.

How does a wind section in an orchestra, play their instruments with a face mask on?

UK deaths Wednesday 17th June     184