Heart attack

Monday, April 13, 2020

More Social Distancing

I needed to go on line early this morning to check my bank account. For some reason, best know to myself, I was under the impression that my pension would be in the account this Wednesday, but I was more than surprised and pleased to see it was already there, having gone in last Wednesday. I am also pleased with myself that I manage to have a balance from the previous month, which is really a result of very careful management of my finances. So, as a result of all this I hurriedly put together a shopping list, which is part of my financial management. I try to never to shopping unless I have sat down and written a list, which is to help prevent me buying unnecessary items. I then took Alfie out for his usual stroll long Strudwick Drive to Oldbrook Green and when we got back to the flat I got ready to leave to drive to Sainsbury's, because I know they open at 7a.m. 

I had absolutely no difficulty in finding a parking space that that early hour. There was one lady waiting for the store to open and we stood at the required 2 metre distance. I was expectantly waiting for the door to be opened, but the time went by. A good 30 minutes elapsed and the staff opened the doors, but we still weren't allowed in. It's one person at a time, no other person with you in the store, and only a few allowed in at a time, in an attempt to keep contact between people to the barest minimum. The people started going through, and I was thinking, wit a minute, I've been waiting 40 minutes or more, and then it turned out that they were N.H.S. employees and they were given preferential treatment because of the pandemic. I know it was a bit of a pain having to wait, but I think considering the current situation, they should be given preference. I eventually go into the store and began to follow my list. It means I don't just grab stuff and throw it into my trolley, although I wish Sainsbury would make some effort to make sure their trolley run properly. The one I was using had something wrong with one of the wheels and it was difficult to push. as it wanted to steer at an angle. This seems to be a problem with a lot of supermarket trolleys. I was pleased I was able to buy liquid hand soap, so I bought two. I haven't been able to buy this sort of item for weeks, due to the panic buying which has left almost all supermarkets having shelves totally empty. Why toilet rolls? Who needs that many? I wouldn't have space for more than a few packets.

I have bought myself an iPad. I have been looking at them and was surprised by how many different versions there are. Mine is a silver, 128gb. model. I purchased it through Very, and will pay for it in installments. It is a very early birthday present to myself. I wasn't expecting it to arrive until at least next Wednesday, so it was a complete surprise when, having spent near enough 2 hours at Sainsbury's, and, arriving home and unpacking all my shopping and putting it away tidily, and then, taking Alfie for a walk which he really needed, I got a knock at my front door, to be confronted by the postman, who had the parcel in his hand. He put it down on the doorstep and I didn't have to sign anything, due, no doubt to the social distancing we have to employ because of he coronavirus pandemic. It was easy enough to set the iPad up. I have an iCloud account which meant most of my apps which are already on my iPhone as well as photographs and other documents, soon appeared on the iPad. It wasn't difficult to get my wifi to connect and the thing was soon up-and-running. I have ordered a case for it on Amazon, which should arrive in a day or two. I always try to keep my gadgets protected by putting them in cases, because it doesn't take much for them to get damaged if they get accidentally dropped or just scratched.

I went with Alfie a lot later for a walk. I can't avoid Alfie staring at me and virtually pleading with me to take him out. Well, I can't blame him because he doesn't particularly like being cooped up indoors for too long. This mostly because of the pandemic and having to avoid social interaction and keep separated from other people. We did the by now routine walk along Strudwick Drive and one the way here was the sound of a vehicle approaching along Oldbrook Boulevard, and I could see it, a largish pick-up truck. It hurtled along the road and came round the roundabout and into Strudwick Drive, going at speed that it could have easily turned over and caused an accident and it sped along the road and didn't seem to slow down. As I say, there could have been a rather nasty accident as it could have come off the road and even collided with myself and Alfie.

It's hot in the flat. The weather is fine, meaning I have opened the windows in the flat. The kitchen is hot, for some reason there are hot pipes running under the sink. The whole of Dexter House is heated by a system which doesn't take into account individual preferences of those who live in the flats, which to me is crazy. Why does it need to be this warm all the time? I have turned down the heating in my flat, using the thermostat, but to have the kitchen so over-heated is not only a waste of energy, but isn't environmentally a good thing for the planet. We're constantly being told to either not waste resources, such as fuel, but to help prevent global warming, but the fact that I have to open the windows to let out the heat is crazy. I can't leave milk out for long periods, such as over-night, because it will go off. This has happened before.

Because the windows are open, it has another effect; insects come in, such as bees, although I don't wind that, but then you get the constant noise of traffic outside and there's been someone somewhere who is using a hammer and hitting something (probably, if it goes on long enough, it won't just be the wood or nail that will get hit . . .) then sawing. What is going on? I soon discover, because when I eventually go out with Alfie I see someone outside one of the ground floor flats, which has it's own rather pleasant bit of garden, that they're building what looks to me like a lean-to greenhouse. Partially constructed as I go past, but presumably it just needs finishing off and then to have glass put into the windows. I hope it's not going to take too long because the constant sawing and hammering is beginning to become something of a nuisance.

(Sunday) No church, but not in the traditional sense. I watched on-line, a church in Manchester, apparently. There are a lot of churches streaming their services through either Facebook and YouTube. I found that a service was going to be streamed from Audacious Church in Manchester. It was also on Facebook.

Alfie and I have only just got back from another walk. I think he was getting as much cabin fever as I was. Walking along Dexter Avenue, past the front of Dexter House, I noticed that what I assumed was going to be a greenhouse looks more likely to be a garden shed, because it has one relatively small window and just doesn't now look as if it could be a greenhouse somehow. There's been more sawing, which put paid to my further attempts to do some writing. Carpentry (if you can actually call it that.) has a habit of causing a certain amount of disturbance and I can't really concentrate with that sort of noise going on. I think those who have to do it (and, yes, it's usually a Bank Holiday, but probably made more annoying and stressful due to the lockdown and people being somewhat restricted.) are somewhat self-centred and don't seem to realise it causes annoyances to others.

I have done some more writing this afternoon. I wouldn't say I produced a vast amount, but it's quality I'm after rather than quantity. Having now set up the iPad I am able to write using that and I have even found I can dictate without having to use the keyboard and, because of having iCloud, files from the MacBook automatically appear 'as if by magic,' on the iPad. What might take perhaps half an hour takes around 10 minutes, although you have to check for punctuation and spelling, because the software can't differentiate between certain words, particularly those that sound similar, such as write and wright, or reed and read, but that isn't a problem. Anyway, I'm thinking to myself, if I've got the technology I might as well make the best use of it, certainly if it removes what to me is the most time-consuming aspect of writing, transferring what I have written with a pencil on paper into word processing.

As I write this, at 9.45 on Easter Sunday, the wind has got up and cooled things down considerably, thankfully, meaning I have to close some of the windows, otherwise the wind comes in and blows things around, making some of the doors in the flat slam and bang somewhat.

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