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

In Work Tuesday

Day 209...

So as it always is Tuesday is my first day in work each week. Simon and I have been very fortunate over the last year or so to be able to reduce our working week.

Simon's company all work a four day week now and their productivity has never been so good. In fact all the way through 'lockdown' with the added factor of home working they have gone from strength to strength, their communication has improved and they feel more together as a team than ever.

My work day was the usual admin type stuff, updating a few bits and pieces, dealing with emails, prepping invoices and registers for the upcoming new term. We have this week and next in pre-school before we take a break for a week so my focus has now turned to making sure everything is ready for that return.

Must admit I felt very 'out of it' today, not completely sure why but have definitely got that vibe that either something needs to happen or something needs to change. Not sure where that's going to take me just yet but I really feel the need for something to happen.

Once home I had yet another parcel to package up ready for taking to the post office tomorrow morning. I had one of my committee members drop by to collect some goodies ready for next weeks Halloween themed week at pre-school; we have had a big donation of treats and sweets from our local Asda store and we are using them to make up special 'treat bags' that we will then sell as a little fundraiser for the pre-school.

This evening Simon has been playing with a new toy. In fact as I type this he is stood at the opposite end of the room with a VR headset in place; the new Oculus Quest 2. All I can hear is laughs and the odd astonished comment along with dance moves and looking at dinosaurs. Apparently I need to have a go at it...not really my sort of thing but no doubt over the course of the next few days I will venture into the world of virtual reality. I find it a tricky concept to get my head around and not sure I like the thought of being cut off from this world and dropped into another but I will have a go, at some point, and then report back!

So on the virus front we are approaching new tiers being brought in from tomorrow and while where I live is classed as 'medium' and therefore we carry on as we have been doing, the borough council next door is at the 'high' level. This basically means that you can no longer meet with people you do not live with indoors anywhere, but you can still meet up to 6 people outdoors. 

Our opposition party is now calling for a short circuit breaker type lockdown so who knows what or where we will be in a few days time. As I've said before the situation is ever changing, those in power don't seem to have a plan, or at least an effective one, and even scientists don't seem to agree. This just leaves us 'the general public' in a state of confusion and a feeling of hopelessness.

All we can do is take care of ourselves and do whatever we can to stay safe; wash your hands, wear a mask and keep your distance.
xx

No Work Monday

Day 208...

So as usual today was my first non-working day of the week and first job was to fetch my 'click and collect' grocery shop. This is something that I have been doing for years...and years...and not a reaction to the current circumstances, however I am thankful that I can do my shopping this way. 

This does now mean that any little bits of extra shopping that I may have done during the week...you know those 'Oh I just need...' and then you come out with everything but the thing you wanted...are now a thing of the past. And while I do sometimes miss the opportunity to pick something up on impulse it does mean that I have saved money on those 'extra' bits, saved money on petrol, saved my time and we have survived from one week to the next perfectly fine. Just goes to show that sometimes circumstances can have a unexpected positive impact, and one that I think I will carry on.

After sorting the shopping the rest of the day has been focused around a few more Ebay sales and photographing the remaining few bits that I want to try and sell. I say a few bits but we have three lots of tableware and more pieces of glassware than I care to mention, that all deserve a new home, and so it took me most of the day to figure out what we've got. Now I'll be able to start getting it listed over the next few days.

We were hoping to get out for a walk but the weather was not being kind today and most of the day was wet, so the only exercise I got was ironing!

Simon has been getting more of our home video from tape into a digital format; he has now worked through 2008 and 2009. This does mean that we have to sit and watch it all to make sure that the transition from one format to another has worked but that'll be a job for another day.

We have had new measures announced by our government today...I think...we now have tiers depending on which area you live in and how badly affected that area is. At the moment where I am isn't too bad and we are not affected by these new tiers that are being brought in, but we are close to a city that has seen it's rate rise high very quickly so who knows what the future holds.

The message today has been numbers are rising, rising quicker than we would like and we need to do something about it...again. I think the problem for a lot of people will be that we did something about it back in March and April and now all that feels like it was for nothing. Did we come out of lockdown too soon? Too quickly? I don't know and it would appear that the powers that be don't know either and that in the intervening time they haven't come up with a coherent plan or a proficient test and trace system.

So yet again it falls down to us, the average person in the street, to do our bit! I will carry on as I have been doing; washing my hands, keeping my distance, limiting where I go and who I see and wearing a mask when I need to.

Take care out there.
xx

Lazy Autumn Sunday

Day 207...

Today turned out to be your quintessential lazy Sunday.

A very slow start to the day and so lovely not to have to be woken by an alarm! Once up and about my first job, as usual for a Sunday, was to update my online grocery order ready for collecting tomorrow morning.

While I was doing that Simon has restarted his project to get all our home video off tape and into digital format. He has had this as an on/off project for a while and is something that he can set off running while he does something else. We have taken plenty of video over the years as we have either owned or had access to a video camera going back to the late 1980's or early 1990's.

Simon is able to take old video and transfer it all onto a server so that we can watch it easily whenever we want. I think today's capture was from Christmas of 2008! We have lots to go through but it's great to know that all those memories can be preserved onto a format that won't deteriorate over time and will be there for our kids to look back on in years to come.

We then took advantage of a lovely Autumn afternoon and took a walk over the fields near us...5.5 miles and an hour and 52 minutes later we arrived back at home. This was the first decent walk we have had for a fair while and it was lovely to be out and about in the fresh air, although I suspect I may feel the effects of it tomorrow.

Once home it was time for coffee and one of Simon's signature sweet omelette's, sat outside enjoying the outdoors while the weather allows. I just love these omelette's that he makes full of cinnamon, nutmeg, dash of cream and yummy extra dark chocolate and relatively healthy too!

The afternoon was rounded out with the Disney Dream Girls podcast Sunday Disney quiz via Zoom. This was, as it is always, great fun and lovely to be able to chat with people from all over the world about what we are all up to as well as attempt to answer some Disney questions...some easier than others. This week Simon had come up with some number based questions and only one of them involved Star Wars!

And I think that's where I'm going to leave it for today as I'm sure there is going to be much COVID talk over the next few days as our government are set to announce a new 'tier' system along with rumours of possible short 'circuit breaker' lockdowns and all the while we still haven't got an effect test and trace system...or as I was calling it track and trace! Just goes to show that there is so much information out there that we can't even get the name of the systems that are supposedly in place right!

So as always look after yourselves and do what you can to keep yourself safe. Wash your hands, keep your distance and wear a mask.

xx

Welcome to the Weekend

Day 206...

A slightly later than planned emerging from my slumber this morning but once up and about it was on with the day.

One of our furniture sales was collected first thing so another satisfied customer. And then the focus of my morning was recording this weeks podcast with my fellow Disney Dream Girl Michelle.

We were both snowed under with work and full of colds last week so this was our first show in a couple of weeks. It was great just to catch up with Michelle and a bonus that we got to chat Disney as well.

We then decided to dodge the rain showers and go out for a walk, which ultimately ended up with visiting my Dad. I haven't been able to see him for a few weeks so it was lovely to spend a little time catching up and to see that he is well and getting on with life the best he can.

On the walk home we managed to stay dry and despite encountering rain it seemed to stop as soon as it had started. The afternoon has then been spent with both Simon and I sat at computers. Simon has been programming the sounds for his mouse droid project. He has been able to find a set of fantastic, authentic sound effects so all I have heard from the opposite end of the room all afternoon is clicks, beeps and boops...oh and the odd swear word when things haven't gone quite right. As I understand it there is programming and Arduinos and accelerometers involved!!

I on the other hand have been placing more items up for sale on various selling platforms. We also had another piece of sold furniture get collected and I managed to sell the buyer another piece to go with the item she was picking up!

Seeing a Facebook memory from four years ago I was prompted to update my car antenna topper! I have a fair few of these and do try to change them to match the time of year or just because I can! So we went from a Mike Wazowski...

...to a more seasonal Stitch as a Vampire..

Nice to have a little bit of Disney with me wherever I may go!

And to round out the day we decided on take-out from our local kebab shop...so while not strictly low carb they are very tasty and packed with lots of meat and salad...we just don't bother with the pitta bread and hey presto we have a low carb version!

Saturday is done, Autumn is well and truly with us so whatever you do take care, keep your distance, wash your hands and wear a mask.

xx

Back to Work

Day 205...

So after the events of yesterday it was back to pre-school and open as normal today...and everything was fine.

We are aware of other children in other schools awaiting test results and I think we are just going to have to accept that this is going to become part of the normal run of things.

I have had to let my county council know, our regulatory body know as well as keeping committee, staff and parents all up to date. I was expecting to be contacted by the UK's 'Track & Trace' program but we heard nothing; I can only presume that as the child was not at pre-school in the couple of days prior to symptoms appearing that there is no need to involve us in the process.

More changes though as we were advised of two children leaving us over the next few months, moving to other settings closer to where they live or where older siblings attend school. It is always sad to find out children are leaving us when not expected as we really do get attached to these children and it stings when our time with them gets cut short.

The rest of my day was spent dealing with the usual administration tasks; updating children records and staff files along with some book-keeping and filing.

I will admit to not feeling quite with it today, just feeling a bit disconnected from everything and I'm not really sure why. There are times when I feel a change is needed, and that has nothing to do with the current virus situation, perhaps I'm just at that time in my life when I need a new direction, a new challenge...I don't know...I guess only time will tell.

Once home it was time for a coffee, a few more emails, responding to some Ebay questions and just generally catching up on things. Molly has had her first Etsy sale today, how exciting!! But as she is currently staying with her boyfriend 190 miles away she had to enlist my help to organise the dispatch of the bought item. Thankfully she is very organised and it was very easy to get all the necessary bits together and get everything sorted for dropping in the post tomorrow.

So there we have the end of another working week and I'm really not sure where that leaves us all as a country. We have possible new restrictions coming into force next week...but it may be different depending on where you live...there's a new job support scheme coming in and all the while we are told cases are rising and hospitals maybe approaching critical levels again.

The longer this goes on I fear there is a danger that we all just lose interest, but I think the blame for this can lie with those in charge who quite frankly do not seem to know what they are doing. We had a long lockdown and numbers went down, we re-opened the country and numbers stayed steady but now they are rising again - so why? Is this just a side-effect of the time of year or something more? But will we ever find out the honest answers?

The further we get into this pandemic the more skeptical I find myself getting. I will always do as I am told and will listen to those in power and try and do my bit to help the 'greater cause' but with forever changing messages, with one rule for us and one rule for them, I find myself questioning more and more. I don't have the answers and the problem is now I don't know who actually does have the answers. Esteemed science people can't even seem to agree so what chance do the rest of us have at understanding or believing what we are told.

I have said for a while now that in a year or so's time there will be a documentary made about this pandemic, how it started and how it was handled around the world and I worry about what we may find out!

But until then I suppose all we can do is look after ourselves, keep our distance, wash our hands and wear a mask.
xx

Closed for the Day

Day 204...

Well...where to start with today?

So last night I received word that one of the pupils who attends our pre-school had tested positive for the dreaded virus. I had to make the decision late last night to close pre-school today as it was too late to contact the necessary powers that be.

So once up this morning it was on the phone to our Department of Education helpline and while I did have a little wait to get through once I was through the whole process was handled so well and clearly and with care.

Thankfully the outcome was that because the child hasn't attended pre-school in the couple of days before the COVID symptoms appeared we were given the green light to re-open, which we will be doing tomorrow. And hopefully I should be contacted by the UK's 'track and trace' system, which will be interesting to see what their advice is!

We find ourselves on the edge of an area that has seen a drastic increase in cases over the last week and there is talk of much stricter restrictions coming into play over the next few days. As a result we seem to have become aware of more cases locally that are causing various school year groups to be sent into self isolation. Unfortunately this affects the daughter of one of my staff, for the second time, and means she will be in self isolation for her 18th birthday as well which is so sad.

So as I spent my day at home today I still managed to get work done...maybe not the work I would ordinarily have done as most of the day was spent issuing and responding to emails and keeping parents, staff and committee informed of the days developments. I also managed to complete the online part of my first aid course that we are all completing at the moment; a requisite of childcare is that we have to take a first aid qualification every 3 years.

In between the emails and the first aid course I was able to get a few odd jobs done around the house, find time to have a coffee outside with Simon in between rain showers, we had a lovely chat with one of our neighbours and then later on when my dairy delivery arrived I was able to catch up with one of my older neighbours and have a good old moan about the current state of things!

So we enter another period of uncertainty. We have possible new restrictions and a new alert system coming in...possibly...maybe...sometime next week. Why do we have to wait for a seemingly random date for these restrictions to come into place. If we need to do something surely we need to do it now, and not wait for a future date?

I think this is where the problem is at the moment, and as it has been throughout this virus, the messaging and guidelines that we are issued with not only keep changing but are never straight forward or simple to understand. We seem to be in a perpetual state of questioning what we should be doing, where can we go, who can we see, how many people can we see at once and does this apply to everywhere or just where I live? The more questions we have over what we 'should' be doing the more problems we are going to have. How can the public expect to do the right thing if we are struggling to understand what that right thing may be?!

All I can say is please take care, think carefully about what you are doing; keep your distance, wash your hands and wear a mask.
xx