9th December 2020. 179th day of isolation/lockdown.

I rang the Austrian Embassy in Manchester regarding our forthcoming trip. It turns out it was a Consulate and I should ring the London Embassy between 2pm and 4pm. There was no reply so I sent an Email. The way things are moving in the world at the moment means, to me, that the odds are against us going later this month unless we drastically amend our plans and possibly change the accommodation to Germany only and leave Austria for another year. The Embassy replied by Email (the Ambassador himself) and said that as of this moment we can cross the border both ways and we should not need to self isolate in the UK on our Return. But we should remain vigilant as this could all change in an instant. If Easyjet cancel the flight to Munich, then the holiday will all be cancelled anyway and then we will have to fight for a refund. I have confirmed that the conditions of car hire mean a free cancellation up to 48 hours before booking due.

I went to my Mum’s yesterday. She was very alert and any random visitor would have found her quite switched on and normal. It’s such a shame that we cannot all go to visit although she gets enough daily human contact to keep her alert.

Finished Series 2 of “The Bridge” and would have loved to see series three but, as is common nowadays, can only be seen on Satellite TV which I refuse to subscribe to. Maybe in the future it will find it’s way back to BBC 4. So I have started rediscovering all series of “Luther”. After episode 1, I cannot wait for the rest.

Trump’s position looks more and more precarious. He is down on Biden in many marginals by a fair bit, by USA standards. Of course you cannot believe ALL the negatives in the news. Trumps opposition is just as capable of fake news but the polls do show a fairly consistent pattern with Biden ahead in most and in one or two states, way ahead. However, with the USA system, nothing can be clear until the day, unless Trump’s vote totally collapses. We can but dream.

We collected David from Castle Hill hospital after a minor operation and two nights in Ward 10, for observation. He’ll probably need to rest for a week or so. It’s good that we are able to help with transport etc. but he is being looked after on a day to day basis.

Oh Boris! What are you up to now? You have put through a Bill which is apparently illegal and which will, apparently, be tantamount to creating a “rogue” state. Also, why do all four nations have different rules for gatherings? Is it not beyond those that make these decisions to have a quick conference call and come to an agreement to all be the same? As for the rules for pubs and/or a potential curfew, just shut all the pubs. Simple. I do not care about the louts who don’t socially distance when they are drunk. Let them buy some cans at Tesco and get drunk in their garden shed. There is now some evidence that this group’s infections are on the increase. Good!

Boris took the Downing Street briefing this afternoon and I learned very little except a new phrase that kept being repeated. It was all to do with the six people maximum that can gather together. His speech consisted of “waffle, waffle, waffle, rule of six, waffle waffle waffle”. And no amount of public praise can hide the fact that we are not doing very well.