8th June, 2021. 86 days of isolation/shielding.

I went to watch Ronnie play football on Saturday morning but the match had been cancelled last Wednesday. Nobody had told me so it was a wasted morning. Still, it was a nice day.

We spoke to Bill and Irene recently and arranged to go and see them in Scotland as soon as we can. It will be nice to have contact with old friends again. We also had a message from Manfred and a photo with him and Petra having a beer with Isa and Clause. The first one for ages. Maybe things are getting better. However, Covid infections are back on the increase.

Multinational companies are to pay at least 15% tax on profits to each country they operate in. This was agreed at a G7 meeting. It seems like a breakthrough but I don’t think it includes China, Russia, Brazil and others. It all seems a bit optimistic if not everyone has joined the club! Facebook, Amazon and the like are saying that they welcome the change, but I wonder. Paying tax to the country profits are made, is not something they are used to doing so I await to see how it will work. The UK should benefit by hundreds of millions of pounds. Right?

I had been asked to score for Cottingham Over 50s Cricket team and buddy Mike Gibson picked me up. I can’t say I enjoyed the afternoon. First we were beaten easily and second, my skills as a scorer have left me. If it was not for the opposition scorer, a lovely lady called Val, I would have made a right dogs breakfast of the whole thing. I politely turned down a £10 fee offered to me. Third, it was a boring afternoon, not helped by not knowing all but a couple of our players. As it happens we are busy for the next three weekends and so aI m unavailable anyway.

On Monday we renewed our burglar alarm insurance. Just as well as it had started setting off for no reason. The engineer identified the fault and repaired it. Free of charge, of course.

I visited Mum today and picked up her washing. I will return it tomorrow and take a new battery to repair the failing smoke alarm. She looked really well and had a good chat. Also with Sue. One of the carers.

Andy and Lindy are coming to stay over on Sunday and to have lunch. We should be able to go for a couple of pints too. We are looking forward to their visit when we can also talk about next year’s visit to Germany.

We are none of us sure about travelling restrictions but Sally has suggested that we meet up in Ireland. Either flying or by car (from Anglesey or Liverpool). We may discuss it tonight when she makes a WhatsApp call. It sounds feasible. Approximate Ferry price, return, £360 from Liverpool to Dublin.

Moving Portugal into the Orange group of countries has caused chaos at airports with people trying to get home before the rule change. It begs the question, “Why did they go?” The whole thing has been a bit risky. So fair enough. Take the risk but then don’t bleat about having to rush back or worse, having to quarantine on return. It is very sad for Portugal but it was almost inevitable. Everyone is guessing what the situation will be in the next few weeks and probably guessing wrong. We are thinking Germany may be a possibility but as we would have to travel through Holland and into Germany and maybe through France, Luxembourg and Belgium, we would not take any chances. There is no rush.

For those who watch “Pointless”, I have just got a pointless answer. Thank you Richard Illingworth.