Happy Hump Day

Day 210...

Here we are at the middle of the week, or as some affectionally call it 'hump day', and my other day off each week.

The conversation this morning has been focused around the current alert levels and whether a small 'circuit breaker' lockdown is now inevitable and that it will probably coincide with the schools upcoming Autumn break which will see it extend from a one week break to a two week break. I think this is now turning into a very political decision and whether science is truly at the heart of it all is really hard for the general public to discern. 

There are arguments out there that lockdowns are only there to help the healthcare systems cope with higher than normal levels of admittance. That implementing a lockdown at the wrong time will not have the desired effect. That coming out of a short lockdown will just result in another rise in cases after. I don't know...I am not a scientist nor a politician...I do not have access to all the figures and data...but I guess what a lot of us are asking is whether or not the previous lockdown of 12 weeks (or whatever it was) had any effect? What did it achieve if cases are now rising again? Was it handled correctly? Was it implemented at the right time, for the right reason and for the right duration of time? Will this virus simply take whatever course it is going to take (like other virus do) regardless of whatever lockdowns may or may not be put into place?

Like I said I am no scientist I am just another worried member of the public who wants to do the right thing, who wants to do their bit to help society but who is gradually becoming more and more disillusioned with the information and the policies that we are being fed. Do the government know what they are doing? We have scientists with differing views...some more vocal than others and some with more power than others. Are we listening to everyone or just those that are shouting the loudest? Or just those that have the most sway or have the greatest vested interest in a particular outcome? 

Back in the 1950's the 'low fat' heart health mantra was being developed based on the work of a Dr Ancel Keys; he had close connections to the US government and was very good at communicating his beliefs. In the UK Dr John Yudkin disagreed with the 'low fat' message and instead highlighted the dangers of sugar (he wrote the book 'Pure, White & Deadly' in the early 1970's). But which version do we all know about? Which version has the whole world adopted and has now been proved to be wrong? The version pushed by Keys because he had the biggest voice, the best connections and the vested interest. Are we in danger of heading this way again because we are unwilling to take all view points into consideration?

Again...I am no scientist...I do not know what the answer is but surely we need to listen to everybody and then make as best an informed decision as we can. We probably won't get it right first time and we all have to recognise that and accept that there will be highs and lows along the way. But if those that have the power would only be honest and explain to us all what was happening and why decisions are being made the way they are then they may stand a better chance of getting us all on board.

And breathe....let's get back to what my day actually turned out like!

I had another piece of furniture collected this morning and was able to sell another piece to the person collecting at the same time, another satisfied customer. I was then able to pop out to the post office to get my latest Ebay sales on their way.

As lunchtime came around Simon and I took a walk out to get some fresh air and although the sunshine from earlier in the morning had disappeared it remained dry if a little chilly! We were only out for 48 minutes and completed just under 2 miles but it was lovely to get out and blow away the cobwebs!

My afternoon was then fun filled...note the heavy sarcasm here...as I completed Simon's tax return - whoop! Not an overly complicated thing to do just a bit lengthy and laborious and one I'd been putting off for a while, but at least that's one more job crossed off my list.

I tried my best to avoid anything work related but still ended up dealing with a couple of queries sent from prospective new parents.

And as the end of the day came around it was time for the gym, first time for me in a fair while but something is better than nothing. Then I remembered to send Simon up in our loft to fetch down our Halloween decorations, I hadn't realised just how much we had got...

Five boxes of who knows what?!

In years gone by we have hosted numerous Halloween parties but we haven't used these in a couple of years so I'm really not sure what we have got. I do remember using some of my decorations for a pre-school Halloween party last year and that is kind of the reason for getting them out this year. I do have a few pieces that I will probably get out to decorate the house but the majority of what is in those boxes will be loaned to pre-school as next week we are having a Halloween Fun Week. It is the last week of term and a good excuse to have some fun and try and raise a few pennies at the same time. So my job tomorrow will be to go through that lot and decide what goes where!

We have had more VR madness here this evening with Simon playing a Star Wars game and a dancing game; we have now sussed out how to cast the headset to other devices so that we can all see what the person in VR is getting up to. It's all very techy and I am yet to have a go...but I'm sure I will have no choice about getting involved at some point.

So that's today...and who knows where we will be tomorrow...so take care, wash your hands, keep your distance and wear a mask.

xx