An Eighth View from the Apocalypse.

As the End of the World continues the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned on. Despite the fact that nothing has substantially changed – except the temperature – schools have started to go back, out of town superstores are reopening to HUGE crowds and all non-essential shops (including book stores) are scheduled to start reopening in around 10-14 days’ time. They’ve been told that they’ll have to take precautions to ensure social distancing but, apart from that, have at it. Seeing how people reacted to beaches and IKEA being open I’m guessing that, at least initially, any shop that opens will probably be mobbed. Either that or no one will show up. I’m betting on the mob though – ALWAYS bet on the mob, especially if there’s even a HINT of a bargain in the offing. Pubs, bars, restaurants and cinemas will open at a later – to be defined – date, again with social distancing restrictions in place. Interestingly the recommended 2 metre (6 feet) distance might be reduced to 1.5 metres. The reason for this? Apparently 2 metres restricts shops SO much that it significantly reduces trade. A 1.5 metre distance is much better for that sort of thing. Of course it does make you wonder….. Was the 2 metre rule pulled out of thin air (or somewhere else less savoury) or is increased economic activity more important than increased risk of, you know, death? I’m guessing both – bad science and poor public health.

Meanwhile I’m still here, still healthy and still (largely) sane. I’m reading lots – my review stack now totals 8 books – I’m catching up on my box sets (finished Series 1 of Lucifer today), watching some really good YouTube channels (presently a week by week study of WW1 called ‘The Great War’) and my garden looks SO much better now! I’m sleeping about 8hrs a day which is great and, as I’m mostly inside, my hay fever has hardly made an appearance so far! I’m going for short walks every few days just before it gets dark to get out of the house, get some fresh air and work on my expanding waistline so I’m definitely keeping reasonably busy. May (apparently our driest on record!) went by in a whoosh – much faster than I thought it would considering I’ve hardly been anywhere. I SO need a haircut though. I’ve been self-grooming AKA clipping off the straggly bits for the last week or so but definitely need professional help. Sorting THAT will be interesting.

Family and friends are all OK so that’s good. A friend of mine with underlying health conditions needs an operation at some point but that’s in the ‘we’ll fit you in when we can’ stage presently. It’s definitely more complicated than it would’ve been prior to Covid. I still haven’t returned my work laptop and phone yet. I’m expecting the call any time now – probably to coincide with the shops reopening. It’ll give me a chance to test out my new N95 face masks from China I picked up off Amazon. Speaking of which, I have a steady dribble of books arriving through the post to keep me going – like I NEED more books…. [lol] The last of a small group of VSI (Very Short Introduction) books on the Pandemic, in a roundabout way, arrived today so I’ll be ‘blitzing’ them in a week or so. I seem to have become temporarily obsessed with naval books ATM. I’m blaming Stephen over at Reading Freely for that. No doubt I’ll get him back as he’s FORCED to read several sea based series….. [lol]. Be safe and Stay Safe. See you all on the other side.