Day 359 – Reflections on Lockdown

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I was expecting a colder day today, with cloud and no sunshine, but in fact it was another glorious sunny day 🙂

Unlike yesterday (Day 358) when I was stuck indoors all day working, today I was out and about for some of it on my bicycle!

I was late getting out of bed this morning, with only a short walk with Honey, before Qi Gong.  I’ve been going to bed too late this week, so was feeling really tired this morning.

After Qi Gong, I jumped on my bicycle and cycled down to Meadowbank, where I was hiring a City Car Club van for a couple of hours.

I only booked it yesterday and was fortunate as there was only one available in the whole of Edinburgh!

I put my bicycle inside – why not, saves chaining it up on the street and headed to B&Q.

I was buying another kickboard for my kitchen.  Being 2.6m long, I had concluded the quickest way to get one was to hire a van, delivery was set to take up to 7 days, there was no ‘Click & Collect’ available and no ‘Check Stock in Advance’, so I went on long hoping they had some in stock.  They did, but really cheap quality with lots of poor reviews, but I bought it anyway.

As I left B&Q there was a massive queue of people waiting to get in – probably about a 45 minute queue!  I had just walked in with no queue – I felt lucky, as my time was tight as I only had the van for a short while.

I joined the queue to take a photo – I didn’t go for consent, unlike yesterday in ‘Things We No Longer Use / Do’ (Day 358).

Then onto the flat to drop off the kickboard, did a bit of cleaning in the flat, then returned the van and collected my bicycle from the back 🙂

As I cycled through The Meadows on the way home the place was packed with people (looked like mostly students) sitting on the grass, eating, drinking and Bar-BQs!  Unlike Day 343, where there were police going round breaking up the big groups, there was none!  So it was so much busier!!

Has Nicola’s announcements yesterday (Day 358) resulted in everyone just doing what they want?  It is still the law to “Stay at Home” !!!  With no police around, perhaps everyone is just easing their own restrictions anyway?  Or perhaps students just do what they want?!  I guess, when I was a student I would have not followed the lockdown restriction rules 😉

Back at the canal, Honey was sitting outside in the sunshine.  Fiona had agreed to take her for a walk whilst I was away and then let her sit outside as Discovery was quite warm.

We went for a small walk along the canal to Harrison Park later in the day, before chilling out this evening.

 

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Lockdown Restrictions Corner

All the Scottish newspaper headlines today were pointing to Nicola’s announcement yesterday (Day 358) laying out a timetable to ease lockdown restrictions in Scotland.  Saying only ’40 days’ until freedom!

It made me wonder how Nicola feels about this – she has said all along that she didn’t want to set dates, instead go on data.  It feels like she has been pressurised into setting dates!

This morning Brian sent me a message with some updates.

He says:

“Hello there! Just read your blog – I totally forgot to tell you that Nicola Sturgeon specifically mentioned nightclubs in her speech and said she was “optimistic” people would be able to go to them and also hug people “in the summer”!”

Nicola Sturgeon said:

“It is our fervent hope – and also our tentatively increasing expectation – that vaccination, continued use of the test and protect system, and probably a continued compliance with precautions like good hand hygiene, will allow us to keep Covid under much greater control.

And that this will allow us to enjoy many of the things that we took for granted before the pandemic – for example, normal family gatherings where we can hug our loved ones, sporting events, gigs and nightclubs.

For me to set a precise date for all of that right now would involve plucking it out of thin air – and I’d be doing it to make my life easier, not yours

I am not going to do that. But I do believe that over the coming weeks – as more and more adults are vaccinated – it will be possible to set a firmer date by which many of these normal things will be possible.

And I am optimistic that this date will be over the summer.”

 

Brian continues with the following –

“She has been careful not to set any specific dates in June – unlike Boris Johnson!

Maybe she IS a reader of the blog and she wants you to keep it going, knowing that if she announces a Great Scottish Day of Freedom you will begin winding up the blog!!”.

 

Thanks for all the Brian!  I think she must be a reader of the blog – she always announces things the day after I write them in the blog 😉

 

Message to Nicola Sturgeon – If you are a reading this blog, PM me and we can sort out a deal to keep the blog going, so that you can set a date for ‘The Great Scottish Day of Freedom’.

 

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Things We No Longer Use / Do

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), Karaoke Clubs (Day 314), Cash (Day 315), Handshake (Day 316), Head Lice (nit comb and medicated shampoo) (Day 317), Pinworm Infections (Day 318), Offering to take someone’s photo (Day 319), Overnight Suitcase (Day 342), Perfume (Day 343), Shaving Products, for men (Day 344), Birthday Candles (Day 347), nipping into a shop without queuing (Day 349) and rucksacks (Day 357).

 

Today Anna messaged me saying –

“With the schools being closed and no white shirts being worn I haven’t used my pre treatment washing products to get marks out of them. I realised this at the weekend as I reached for them.”.

So today I am looking at Pre-Treatment Washing Products.

I’ve done an internet search and can’t find anything particular on this – instead lots of articles about the increase in sales in sanitising products to keep our hands and surfaces clean.

I haven’t washed my four white shirts that I have to do magic gigs for a year.  I’ve never used Pre-Treatment Washing Products on them, but may check this out – as it will help get them cleaner!

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As I come to the end of this blog, I am super hot, I lit the fire this evening, when really I probably didn’t need to!  I’m used to the boat being super warm in the evening and it is part of my evening routine to light the fire.  It’s going to be really weird when I stop doing that.

It’s been a fun day – so glad I managed to get outside and enjoy the sunshine 🙂

I was down to one jumper whilst cycling, rather than four that I have been wearing up until yesterday!  It reminds me of Day 7 (30th March 2020), when I wrote “I remember the magical feel of previous years, when you finally make the decision to go out for the day without a jacket, knowing you will be warm enough”.  It’s not quite warm enough yet for that, but not far away 🙂

For regular readers you will remember that tomorrow is my Birthday!  After Qi Gong I am going to Rachel’s Zoom Coffee Morning, then I don’t have many plans, I will see how the day pans out and maybe do some work.  I was thinking if it’s not raining tomorrow afternoon I could go for a walk up Blackford Hill, as Helen (and Honey) rave about it!

Today it started off with some cloud, which cleared by late morning, with sunshine and clear blue skies for the rest of the day.  Tomorrow, seems to be similar, then cloud and rain on the way.

Hope you’ve had a Wonderful Wednesday 🙂

Jim x

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