Just had the thought on day 4 of lockdown that I ought to share my experiences and annoyances with everyone during these strange times:
Fri 27/3 So Bojo has contracted the virus, but how did he get a test when the rest of us just have to sit it out in isolation for a couple of weeks, only to get a test when we are nearly on our last legs. That brings me onto Prince Charles, he managed to get an immediate test, he also took himself off to Scotland to isolate, wasn't this against the advice for the rest of us who were told not to go to holidayhomes and be a burden on the NHS in rural areas? I would argue that a test for an NHS worker would be more vital than testing these two!! Whilst I do not wish a bad case of the virus on either of them, if it does get to the time that they need to be hospitalised perhaps they can be found beds next to each other in the Excel Arena!
What don't the elderly understand by the rules for the over 70's and the vulnerable? Despite us constantly reminding and offering assistance, my 89 year old father in law has been shopping for the last 2 days! Mother in law was saying how they were out clapping the NHS last night, its great to show support but it would be of far more use if they followed the rules, the whole point of which is for the elderly and vulnerable to not place more of a burden on the overwhelmed health service.
My 91 year old mother is staying in but has the habit of breaking her coffee machine. She switches off and unplugs everything every night, then when she puts the machine back on she confuses the hell out of it by pressing every button several times! She then tells my wife by phone on a daily basis that it is broken, only to be amazed when my wife repeats yet again the reset process to get it working.
Thankfully we have the support of our local brewery, Stealth Brew Co, to help us through this crisis with home deliveries, I am looking forward to the usual Friday few pints albeit in the 'Shed' home bar.
I did have a few pints, we were then going to cook a curry, my job was to cube the chicken breasts, unfortunately the alcohol took over and we ended up with a trail of raw chicken juice across the floor and down the dog's back, when I took the empty chicken bag to the bin! The dog then proceeded to wipe off the offending juice onto the wall in the hallway. Needless to say I then sat down and left it to everyone else.
Sat 28/3 nothing really planned for today, got up about 10.30 and now about to devour a sausage sandwich for breakfast.
The wife decided to go shopping and asked her parents if they needed anything (not that that was very likely given her Dad going shopping when he wasn't supposed to) her mother replied that they were ok but would let her know when they needed milk and bread. Then another text saying she could do with some plants for her hanging basket if they had any in Aldi. This is obviously essential shopping in her mind! An afternoon of watching Gavin and Stacey repeats followed.
Only a couple of Stealth Doublecrosser pints and about 3 glasses of wine all day, pretty much a record low for a Saturday. Just to compound a boring Saturday, why is Saturday night TV so bad? No wonder we are usually out! Luckily I had recorded Friday Night Dinner and Gogglebox to keep us entertained.
Sun 29/3 again nothing planned for today. Took son's dogs out for a walk, we are looking after 2 at present. Did my good deed for the day, a young lad had got his football stuck on top of a high hedge and was throwing sticks up to dislodge it. I offered to get it down, little did I know that the hedge was extremely prickly but I persevered and got it down, then proceeded to remove the thorns from my hands. But did I moan? Yes of course I did! Settled down later to a lovely beef dinner. One advantage of this lockdown is the meals that we have been eating. Lucklily Josh, my son, likes to cook and to pass the time will concoct great meals out of limited ingedients.
Mon 30/3 a day to keep my head down. This date is not a lucky day in the family, both my dad and grandad died on this date, don't really fancy keeping this family tradition going for a 3rd generation as yet. My wife started us (me and Josh) on the right track this morning by saying that her workmates' husband was working for a local butcher, this resulted in our response that we 'bet he stinks of mince'. For those of you who were fans of the Royle Family you will recall that Dave's mate worked in the butchers and 'stank of mince' and always had blood under his fingernails according to Denise and Cheryl. We couldn't remember his name which resulted in us starting to watch the Royle Family episodes on Netflix, much to our delight that we found out in the first episode that his name was Gary. The morning flew by after watching a further 4 episodes.what a fantastic series, I can never get fed up with it however many times I watch it.
Also had good news from the owner of the 60th birthday holiday villa in Antigua that we booked for May will let us rebook at any time over the next 2 years once all of this has settled down. Looks like my 60th will now be spent at home,at least that will give me something else to moan about!
Tues 31/3 you will all be relieved that I survived yesterday! We finally found out last night that The father in law had received the 'vulnerable person' letter a week ago telling that's he must stay in for 12 weeks. During this time, to our knowledge, he has been shopping at least 3 times and visited the old woman across the road who herself was displaying symptoms. The mother in law's excuse was that they 'didn't think it was this bad' ! They sent us a copy of the letter which makes it very clear but they chose to ignore it! They have now been warned by the family but it remains to be seen whether they will take any notice.
On a lighter note my mothers' coffee machine has been working for the past few days, but she had now broken her 'emergency' mobile phone, when charging it said that there was no Sim. We had to contact my nephew, who is doing her shopping, to get it sorted for her!
Disaster! Overnight the Royal Family episodes have been removed from Netflix! Never fear, somewhere we have all episodes on DVD, think that a search through the cupboards will be necessary later on.
In an effort to use up everything hanging around in the freezer we had chicken liver spaghetti bolognese for dinner, I must say it was good, it tastes better than it sounds!
Wed 1/4 just came up on Timehop that I fully retired from Nationwide 5 years ago today, where has that time gone? It only seems like a couple of years ago. Not a lot going on today, highlight was the latest Stealth Brew Co delivery, thanks to Josh's fiancée Grunters, just ready for the weekend. Not that the weekend seems any different to the rest of the week at the moment but trying to limit consumption during the week to maintain some semblance of normality. Result, I found the Royle Family series of episodes in the sideboard. They were under a pile of old birthday cards which, for some obscure reason, my wife had decided to store there. I put the cards back, who am I to question female logic? On phoning mother it transpires that she has mended her mobile after yet again dropping it on the kitchen floor, resulting in the back coming off and the Sim falling out. It actually worked when she put it back together.
Thurs 2/4 why is it that every time I switch on Facebook, yet another bugger has decided to post a video of themselves singing a song or dancing in their front room. It may have been slightly humorous to sing a song, with words amended to reflect the virus in the first few days, but it's now going over the top with everyone jumping on board. This coupled with every amateur personal trainer thinking they can make the public fit by doing a few star jumps and stretches on You Tube. Sorry guys but it's total overkill, try to do something original or don't bother at all. Also you can tell that's everyone has too much time on their hands as they are forwarding copious amounts of 'humorous' video clips, but just a pity that every other person on your contacts has already sent it to you.
Happy birthday to my sister, she had a lovely family meeting with her sitting by the patio doors and her visiting son and daughter chatting to her from the other side of the patio.
Well I have survived more than 1 week on lockdown and one week of my 'diary', I will try to keep up with it and broadcast it weekly, it's good to share misery!
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