Nothing exciting about my day today.
Had a good sleep, ran Daily Morning Qi Gong session, chatted to some of my neighbours / boating folk, did some paid work and then took Honey for a walk round Bruntsfield and The Meadows.
This evening I went to a Zoom magic lecture, which was excellent – I am slowly getting more interested in magic again 🙂
A few days ago the key for my bicycle lock would not turn, I borrowed some WD40 from a neighbour and still it wouldn’t work. So I asked around and Davy who works for Scottish Canals said he had an electric hacksaw to cut the lock, we arranged to cut the lock this morning. In the meantime I went and bought a new bicycle lock.
This morning, I went to try the key one more time and the lock opened! So now I have two locks for my bike 🙂
There is one other time that my lock broke on my bicycle. It was in the winter many year ago and the bike was outside The Melting Pot, which was city centre in Rose Street. The combination lock was just not working, I don’t know why. After 45 minutes of trying, I got the bus home and returned in my car, with a bright light to see what I was doing as there was little street lighting, but still no success.
Someone suggested going to a police station as they may have something to cut it, so I did, but as I couldn’t verify it was my bicycle they couldn’t help. Eventually I found a friend with a hacksaw, so I returned about 9.30pm at night.
It took nearly 2 hours to saw the lock off, with a large crowd forming watching, attracted from the noise. They kept asking what I was doing and I would tell the story. They would then comment that the police would be along soon to investigate, there was CCTV cameras about, but I wanted to get my bicycle.
Just before 11pm, the lock finally broke and the police had never arrived, I was so relieved, as I hadn’t worked out how I was going to convince the police that this was my bicycle and I was stealing it! I still don’t know why the police never came to investigate…
I spotted a few Coffee Hatches today in cafes. The first, the guy jumped up to serve me, but after taking photos I walked on and he seemed a bit disappointed, he looked bored. The other was Starbucks which had a queue!
On our afternoon walk Honey the Dog explored the nearly melted igloo which appeared on Day 308.
Lockdown Restrictions Corner
The Isle of Man is the first place in the British Isles that has come out of lockdown and has no social distancing measures in place! Restrictions were lifted today at 00:01 after being in lockdown for 25 days.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-55886263
The island has recorded 20 days without an unexplained Covid community case, so life for Isle of Man residents have returned to normal. All schools have reopened, all shops and pubs are open and are allowed to welcome customers back.
Despite restrictions being lifted, the border still remains closed to non-residents except for key workers and those with a compassionate exemption.
After 6 months without the need for social distancing, a cluster of Covid cases were identified and the Isle of Man went into it’s second lockdown on 7th January 2021.
Guernsey was holding out also being free of restrictions, but alas went into lockdown on 23rd January 2021.
Things We No Longer Use
Today I’ve had a flurry of new comments from readers to include in this section, so it seems there are more and more things we are discovering that Covid and lockdown restrictions are changing the world we live in!
So far we have looked at – Kilts (Day 300), Irons (Day 301), Suit and Tie (Day 302), Passports (Day 303), Massive Travel Delays (Day 304), Clothes (Day 305) High Heels (Day 311), Taxis (Day 312), A Random Snog in a Nightclub (Day 313) and Karaoke Clubs (Day 314).
Today I am looking at Cash.
Has Covid killed off us using cash?
It was quite early on in the lockdown, when we were encouraged to use contactless payments, as Covid could be on notes and coins. To help this more, contactless payment limit was increased and then increased again – I think it is now at £45. Without contactless we use Chip & Pin.
I must admit, I hardly carry any cash on me at all.
A few days ago, when I was looking on the Facebook page ‘Meadows Share’ (this is where you can give things away) I saw this post. A mother was looking for a pound coin, for her son, who was hoping to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy – she didn’t have any cash on her and it was late at night!
I’ve blacked out her name, etc…to protect her identity.
She had over 50 responses and someone helped her out.
Also today, I spotted outside Starbucks a sign on the window saying they were not accepting cash payments.
Even when I bought the sofa yesterday (Day 314), I paid for it using PayPal rather than cash, I could have given cash, but the lady was happy with PayPal. For me, I would say the same – I don’t want to have a load of notes on me.
I personally can’t see us returning to using cash post-Covid.
I don’t even know where the nearest cash machine is to where I now live!
What about you? Do you still use cash? Would you return to using cash post-Covid?
Readers Corner
A flurry of posts in Readers Corner today 🙂
Henry
Henry posted a Facebook comment on Day 313 blog, saying
“Stunning picture Jim!”.
Thanks Henry! I take a photo from that spot twice a day, morning and evening, so I can’t say I waited for ages to get the perfect shot. Was just passing by and then sun was setting!! I love the reflections on the water too 🙂
Hunter
Hunter left a blog comment on Day 313 blog, saying:
“Nice photos Jim.
Passed by your boat yesterday to see if you were around, but you were off chasing rabbits!”.
Thanks Hunter! Keep trying and you will get me in 🙂
Maverick
Maverick left a blog comment on yesterday’s blog (Day 314), saying:
“Well done Jim!
looks amazing!
What an achievement hey! Something less to worry about 
Hope you have a nice warm sleep in your sona boat 
“.
Thanks Maverick! Hopefully one day you will get to see it In Real Life 🙂
Theo
Theo posted a comment on yesterday’s blog (Day 314), saying:
“Sofa,. so good….”
Thanks Theo it is! Hopefully one day you will get to sit on it 🙂
As I come to the end of today’s blog, I seem to have got a new energy to write this blog, after last week I was wondering whether it would ever return. I guess that is the same with life, one week you can have little energy/motivation to do anything, then the next week you have loads!!
I have had a good day, a nice balance of walks, work, chatting to folk and the magic lecture this evening. I am sure having my new sofa has helped 🙂
Today the weather has been dry, it was icy this morning but seemed to warm up through the day. Tomorrow it is forecast to snow all day, with a Yellow Weather Warning in place, although it doesn’t feel cold enough to be snowing!
Hope you’ve had a Magic Monday 😉
Jim x
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