Blank Holiday Monday

I didn't realise until it was mentioned on BBC Breakfast this morning that today was a Bank Holiday Monday. As the lockdown has continued, as I've mentioned before in these blog posts, each day seems to merge into one another and it's virtually impossible to know even which day of the week it is, let alone whether it's a public holiday. But, as I write, it's bright and sunny. Ironic, come to think of it, because of the fact we're supposed to stay at home and go nowhere. Under 'normal' circumstances it would probably be pouring with rain and we'd be sitting at home! As it is, I don't see this continuing much longer. I just feel really sorry for those businesses which rely on the weather to be pleasant so that the get customers, for example, beauty spots, National Trust and English Heritage properties which rely on visitors to survive.

Later. Really hot and sticky in the flat, even with the windows open.
Labour are real hypocrites regarding the Dominic Cummings affair because at least four of their MPs have disregarded the social distancing regulations, but we don't hear anything about that on the BBC or other mainstream media. Neither does the newly installed leader, Keir Starmer, make any comment about that or at least sack these shadow ministers. They include: Tahir Ali, MP for Birmingham Green who attended a funeral;  Vaughan Gething, MP and shadow Health Minister; Stephen Kinnock, MP for County Durham and Kevan Jones, MP who attended a birthday party.  Disgraceful. Dominic Cummings clearly  made a mistake, but he is now being hounded mercilessly and they want his head on a block. So what's the difference? There is none. Now leave it alone and lets get on with getting through the pandemic and returning life as near as possible to normal.

Later. I am currently reading 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson. I may have mentioned that we were developing a piece of theatre based on this book as part of the drama workshop at Camphill. (which is where I would be today if it wasn't for the pandemic lockdown.) It's a terrific, old-fashioned boys adventure, but knowing about diversity and political correctness, I don't expect you're allowed to say that these days. As part of the development of the Camphill project, we first watched a rather ancient film version with Orson Welles at Long John Silver, and the idea was that we didn't create a direct adaptation of the novel, but the group would come up with their own ideas for the play (and including support staff, myself included.) and from that a script would be created. I have since watched the National Theatre production which was shown a few weeks ago as part of the 'The Show Must Go On' project, where this production was free to view on YouTube. I loved the set, which was spectacular and utilised the drum revolve which is in the stage of the Olivier Theatre. The over-all atmosphere created by the design of the set, costumes, music and the way it was presented was brilliant, but I'm not so over enthusiastic about the adaptation which seemed to take out any sense of conflict or danger. But they did manage to avoid all the cliches, such as Long John Silver, probably inspired by the 1950's Disney version which had Robert Newton in the iconic central role. It casts a long shadow over any later adaptation. The original novel is feisty and full of danger and has to be one of the best 'boy's adventure' novels ever written and has to be the blueprint for later novels, such as 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' and many other stories.

Wednesday. I've been intrigued to know what the silver, canister-style objects are which have been thrown all over the ground in the carpark right next to Oldbrook Green as I have been walking Alfie around during our daily outings. I put a message on Next-door and immediately got an answer. They are containers for nitrous oxide and actually used in catering equipment, such as cream charges, but the contents used by people who get a 'buzz' out of inhaling this substance, much the same as glue-sniffers, as they get a 'high' from it, a light-headedness. Empty, the containers are not dangerous, but it's the littering that's unnecessary. As I've said in earlier posts, the litter around the estate is getting worse and worse. I can't all be down to the effects on the lockdown. People are just lazy when there are adequate rubbish bins dotted around Oldbrook Green. Later I noticed that these silver objects (canisters for want of a better word) had disappeared so it would appear someone has taken notice of my mentioning them on Next-door.

The Excitement Is Too much!

(Sunday) It's mild, windy but clammy. There has been a blustery wind in force. How would Winnie The Pooh manage? Or Mary Poppins? Would she be able to manage with her flying with her umbrella if there was a high wind? Would she be a danger to aircraft? How does she manage to hold on to the handle and still manage to travel so far? Does she ever get cramp in the arm she uses to hold on, her hand never loosing it's grip? What happens to her? Does she fall to earth? Why does she not have a parachute? Doe she have insurance? Can she fly at night? Doe she have lights? Has she ever been hit by aircraft, or other forms of propelled flight? Has she done any sort of risk-assessment? How does health and safety come into things?  When I was at school, about the time the first film was released in the 1960's, one of my teachers made the rather obvious observation that, did she never worry about people seeing up her skirt? It does occur when you think about it. Not that I ever did. Like, later, when I was at college a good deal later, when Evita, the Lloyd-Webber/Tim Rice musical about Eva Peron came out, why would anyone want to see a musical about the wife of a fascistt  dictator? I suppose he had a point, but it didn't put me off buying the original concept album. 

I'm continuing with my writing. It's going gradually, having now found a way to move forward. It's taking a while to write but I'm getting there. As the day progressed I managed to get quite a considerable amount written. I will leave it until tomorrow and hopefully get this particular section completed, but I'm not rushing it.

Dominic Cummings is in trouble. His name is just about right as he's been coming and going and as a result some people, including members of the government, think he's getting away with breaking the lockdown regulations by going all the way to County Durham, but I'm not entirely sure why, to care for a child and his wife has been infected by the coronavirus apparently and so has he. He's a naughty boy. Who is he? Boris Johnson's political advisor or something. What does that mean and is he actually a Member of Parliament? Is he part of the Cabinet? What is his function? From the pictures I've seen in the Sunday Times today as well as on line on the Sunday Telegraph website, he just looks plain odd. Creepy, even. Why does he always wear that stupid wooly hat and go around in a thick jacket when it's so sunny and warm? No, he's not an M.P., but described on his Wikipedia profile as a 'Political Strategist,' whatever that means. It would be better if Boris Johnson go rid of him because if he doesn't watch out it will get out of control, as some sort of damage limitation. The left wing press, which I have to include the BBC as it seems full of lefties, is the biggest culprit, infact I would include most of the British media, who are doing more harm than good to the Conservative government, mostly the Remainers who are still not happy with the results of the 2016 EU referendum and the fact that we've left the failing EU. They keep picking away at it, rather like someone with a scab. As my mother used to say 'I'll never get better if you picket,' which someone should have said to Arthur Scargill duding the Miners Strike. Sorry about the dreadful pun, but it just came to me as I was writing this.

There have been people at Dexter House who shouldn't have been here at all, totally flouting the lockdown regulations. I had a sleep this evening, and woke up to hear voices. I imagined it was outside the confines of Dexter House, the sound of children, shouting and general noise. I went into the kitchen to do some washing up and could see in the garden below through the window people, mostly children, I don't know who they were, family members of others who live here, but clearly not observing the two-metre social distancing rules. I don't know what they were thinking, the parents just being irresponsible. We can apparently meet people outside, but only on a one-to-one basis, not in groups like this. Just making a nonsense and very likely to spread this wretched virus by their behaviour. If nothing else, putting themselves and others at risk of catching the coronavirus which has been causing all the problems over the last few months.

What Next?

(Thursday)I'm determined to keep this blog going. It's not always possible to write something and post it every day, but I do try. Just waffle on and hope for the best. If you follow my meanderings then you will know that a lot of what I talk about on here is mundane, but most of life is mundane. Someone said of drama that's it's life with the dull bits taken out. But on here, it's the boring bits, sort of, warts and all. It was Alfred Hitchcock who said that, and he should know as he was such a brilliant film director and made some really awesome films.

It's another warm and sunny morning. Alfie was insistent that I take him out, staring at me as he sat on the sofa next to me.

Someone thinks it's necessary to make a lovely screeching noise, a drill, grinder or whatever, right outside my window. It's really horrible. People that do D.I.Y. can be so focussed on what they're doing that they never seem to realise that it can be an irritation to others. Usually this sort of noise, or hammering endlessly, sawing, such as the individual was was constructing a garden shed.

(Friday) I had another letter from Television Licensing informing me that if I didn't set up my Direct Debit I was likely to get prosecuted for not having a television licence. This is really crazy, because I was paying the thing by Direct Debit and all was going smoothly. I made sure that this was in place well before I moved into Dexter House. I certainly didn't want to be illegal. Well, who would be? Then they wrote to me to tell me I didn't need to have a full television licence, as this is a sheltered housing project. I was never told this when I moved in. I was told by Barbara, the S.H.O (Sheltered Housing Officer.) that I only needed to pay £7.50 a year for the licence (I presume because it is sheltered housing and there is one television ariel or something. I'm not sure exactly, but I assumed on moving in that my flat was a single household and thus requiring a separate television licence.) So, they cancelled my Direct Debit and refunded the money I had already paid from the point I moved in. I was told a few weeks ago by Barbara that I could pay the thing by postal order. Now, who on earth uses postal orders to pay for anything in this day and age? I haven't had one since I was probably 15 years old, well before I had my own bank account. I could also pay it with a cheque, which is another form of payment I haven't used for probably a year at least and then there was the chance of actually finding my cheque book. So, having read the latest missive from Television Licensing, I attempted to ring their callcentre and possibly pay the £7.50 via their website or even pay by giving my card details over the phone. Due to the coronavirus situation they were only operating a skeleton operation (sounds like something from a horror film, giving a sort of vaguely humorous impression to someone of my creative abilities, but let's go no further down that avenue at the moment.) I couldn't even get to speak to someone, so I mentioned this to Barbara, and she contacted someone in Milton Keynes Council and I have now written out a cheque because I managed by some sort of fluke to find my chequebook and have payed the £7.50, so mission accomplished, thank goodness.

The pigeon which sits outside the flat and makes that monotonous sound is making it's relentlessly boring sound as I write this. Pigeons in my opinion have to be the most boring birds known to man. Not just their idiotic, repetitive noise, not so much a song, but sounding, unlike anything remotely intelligent. Also, when they move around, sitting, or at least, standing on the ground and moving their head in a sort of nodding fashion, senseless and as exciting as a dull weekend in Bognor Regis. Why Bognor Regis I can't think. Just the way my mind operates. I don't think a pigeon has anything in it's head because it keeps on nodding it. I don't actually think it's ONE pigeon which comes and makes it's stupid noise outside my window, but several. It must be. One pigeon is very much the same as the next one. They don't have what you might call individual features. They all blend in one to another. I just wish at times that they would just go away and not come back.

Later. I've done my washing this morning.  Yes, I know, the excitement is far too much. I had it all ready and put in the machine to go at around 7.45, but I had forgotten to actually turn on the confounded machine, so when I went to check at around 8.30 the thing was not running so I had to turn the machine on and wait another 45 minutes or so to wait for everything to be washed.

(Saturday) Another day. It's 5.45a.m. I'm sitting here in the lounge, waiting to take Alfie out for his walk. That confounded pigeon is making it's pointless noise outside. The window is open as it has been infernally stuffy in the flat. It has been windy, and the window in the bathroom had to be closed because the draft which comes through makes the doors rattle. You really can't win. I have a shopping list made and it's ready to take with me when I go to Sainsbury's, hopefully before 6 o'clock.

Later. I've been to Sainsbury's this morning. I got there around 7.45.  Oh goodness gracious, some awful faces on other shoppers as we waited in the queue. Just lighten up a bit PLEASE! So gloomy and glum. The British people are a stoic nation. Just think how we got though two World Wars. I'm thinking of the comedy which came out of adversity. 'The Goons,' written  by the brilliant Spike Milligan, was a sort of reaction to his time in the army, blown up, probably accounts for his state of mind, some of the characters created as his way of getting back at authority, stupid, pompous officer class, this seen in another piece of comedy magic, 'Dad's Army,' with the self-important George Mainwaring, played by Arthur Lowe. This show based on Jimmy Perry's experiences in the Home Guard. It just makes me wonder what will be produced as a result of this pandemic. Shakespeare is supposed to have written some of his plays in the midst of the plague which was raging through Tudor London at the time, the Globe no doubt in lockdown, very much similar to today's situation.

Warm and Sunny Weather

(Wednesday)The weather is continuing to be warm and sunny. But lets enjoy it and not find any negatives. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, when you have the window open, you have to endure all manner of annoying sounds, people running the engines of their cars immediately below my window, children screaming, chatting people (actually quite good for someone who writes as there's dialogue and story ideas from this, so in some respects i'm not complaining. Alan Bennett has said that he used a few of his parents choice saying in his plays, so who knows what's going to come out of an over-heard conversation. I must learn to take my notebook and pencil out when I'm walking Alfie. I was following a couple down Strudwick Avenue and they were having quite a heated conversation, which, unfortunately, I didn't quite catch and then a couple, he dragging along one of those wheeled suitcases that people take with them on holiday and which you see on television when they show footage of airports, people about to board their planes or railway station concourses. It looked to me as if she' just thrown him out of the house, she walking ahead and him walking along behind. Another bit of over-heard conversation, again, quite heated. So, what was the reason? What storyline could I get out of it? What had he done wrong? Were they splitting up? Had she thrown him out of the house? Where was he/they going? To another house? To the station to catch a train? All these ideas stirring up my imagination. Could lead to a story somewhere along the line. You can't make these things up.)

Later. I had wondered what had happened to the appointment I was supposed to have had at Milton Keynes Hospital. I have mentioned this in a previous post. I had a blood test done when I moved from the hopeless Ashfield Medical Centre to Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre in Bradville Common. The doctor suggested I have a blood test, just to check my normal functions, which included cholesterol. It turned out that I needed to have a hospital appointment to have a test to check my liver, as the blood test had shown something not quite right (don't ask me what) which would have been caused by one of the medications I take for my heart condition. Typical that you get side effects caused by the medication. I have to take one tablet which protects my stomach because one of them can hard the lining or something. Anyway, I hadn't heard anything and it was some time ago, I this morning I decided to ring the surgery. I couldn't remember the telephone number, so I went to their website to discover you can leave messages on the website, giving your basic details such as date of birth. I gave a brief description of what I wanted to know, making sure it was clear that it wasn't urgent. I didn't expect to get a response for a couple of day, but this afternoon I had an email and it connected to a reply, saying that the original appointment had been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, which is what I had imagined had happened, but I was never informed of this. Regardless of the pandemic, I still need to have this test and they will attempt to arrange a new appointment.

Later still. I have picked up the writing, having got somewhat stuck with where things were going. I had a vague idea where it was going, but not how. I find that, when I go out with Alfie for our walks around Oldbrook Green that I suddenly get ideas for plots and story arcs. The actual writing itself isn't always too difficult, but unless you have what I suppose you could call tent poles, which, if you like, hold up the 'canvas' of the story. Apparently Charles Dickens is supposed to have gone on long walks, sometime going for 20 miles around London, and he got ideas for his novels during these walks, so I can say I am just following his technique for writing. I think it's probably because your mind is allowed to run free when I'm in the open air. I don't know wether the current lockdown situation is actually increasing my creativity but it would seem that might be the case. I suppose another way to describe story creation is to describe the basics as a bit like scaffolding. When builders start work on a house or other construction, they put up scaffolding and work on that as the bricks go up which is perhaps the best description. Without the basic scaffolding in place you can't 'build' your story. Or perhaps it's similar to a journey. You have to know where you going when you start, following a map of a satnav does help.

What's Going On?

So, they (meaning the government) expects schools to start re-opening at the beginning of June. The unions are opposed, as you would expect. I can't ever imagine unions agreeing with anything a Conservative government wanted to do. But is it safe for them to do so? Well, if other countries are gradually easing their lockdown restrictions, why not here? The number of cases of infection from the coronavirus are decreasing, even the total of deaths is going down, although even then it's a dreadfully high number. But we can't remain in lockdown forever, not necessarily because of the economic consequences, but for the effect it's having on people's mental health and children in particular should be able to be back at school with their friends and getting on with their educations. there will be safety issues to sort out, and getting children of primary school age to adhere to social distancing is not going to be easy, or. for that matter, expecting teaching staff to adhere to the regulations is going to be just as difficult, but it can be done, probably by having smaller class sizes and staggering such things as meal times as well as when they go out to play during their breaks.

(Tuesday) Another pleasant, sunny day. But I'm still stuck in the flat in lockdown. I'm really missing my Camphill drama workshop guys.  As it's Tuesday, I would have been there at around 8.45, ready for things to start at nine with everyone checking in. I'm wondering how they are managing. For some it will be quite difficult, particularly those with some form of autism, because their routines will be totally changed.

I haven't done any writing for a while. Now I have all my bits of writing sorted into plastic wallets, which is all handwritten in pencil, which is how I prefer to write as it means I can soon erase anything with a rubber. If it's in ink, I find it's far too 'fixed.' I will  have to sort it all into it's correct order and then do more transcribing into word processing. The opening of the 'core' story was going well until I decided it should go in a different direction, which I think I have no solved and I just need to give it a bit more thought before I commit pencil to paper. These things often happen, you start a bit of writing and then you can decide it's not going as you anticipated and have to sort of unpick what you'd already written and start off in a different direction. I often think it's a bit like knitting. Not that I've ever done any knitting, but my mother was a great knitter and would often undo what she'd done and start over again, probably changing the pattern as she did so. Interesting that so many words to do with writing and printing are connected with fabric; tie up the loose ends, to weave a story etc. In fact the work text is related to textile. Then there's spin a tale or story. I suppose a line of handwritten or printed text does resemble fabric that's been woven.

I had forgotten that on 18th May it was the 14th anniversary of my first heart attack. I think lockdown and all that's attached to the coronavirus pandemic had totally wiped the memory from my mind. I'm feeling fine, but I am still waiting to have an appointment at Milton Keynes hospital after I had a blood test at my doctor's surgery and the fact that it showed something connected to my liver which needed checking. I realise that the pandemic has swamped the N.H.S. and what the conditions are at the hospital, for example, social distancing and the staffing, but this test still needs arranging.

Wednesday. I've already  been out twice with Alfie. I was up early as usual. Alfie keep staring at me, so I decided that it was no use taking him out at gone 7.30, so I sorted myself out and we were out of the door by around 6.35. It's such a warm morning that I walked around Oldbrook Green. Quite a few people jogging or exercising in some other manner. Then, having had something to eat for breakfast, a bowl of fruit and fibre, Sainsbury's own-brand instead of Kellogg's, which is in where near as good, plus a mug of tea (who on earth has cups and saucers these days?) and after some time it seemed he really needed a second walk at around 8.30. It's no use with him staring at me like he does. It's hot at the moment, and even with the flat windows open, far too much for Alfie and he keeps on finding it hard to keep cool, laying on the floor in front of the sofa and, as I write this, I couldn't immediately find him and he's laying on the floor the other end of the sofa, just out of my sight. 

The 'New Normal'

(Saturday)What exactly are they talking about when people talk about 'The New Normal'? It's in connection with the coronavirus pandemic and how our lives have been altered since the lockdown was bought in as an attempt to stem the infection rate of the virus. Is it referring to the changes that we have to make for such things as social distancing? Not being able to meet in groups? Not being able to meet our families who don't live with us? Those things aren't what you'd call 'normal' particularly. So if they are the 'new' normal, what was the old 'normal' and what exactly IS normal in the first place? Life pre-pandemic? Before lockdown? Quite a lot to ponder on there.

Whatever measures the government brings in it's all very new territory. It's the bleating and moaning from a certain section of the country which annoys me, lead by the media and in particular the BBC. They seem to love negative news and seem to side step anything that might be positive.

(Sunday) It's 9.55 and it's still strange not going to church and meeting up with everyone. Having some sort of worship on-line, via either YouTube or Facebook is becoming the 'Norm.' But it still seems odd without others around to sing worship songs with, but I suppose you might say it's ;better than nothing.'

I watched the film 'Darkest Hour'  this morning which was originally shown on BBC1 last weekend during the VE Day 75th Anniversary celebrations. I watched it on BBC iPlayer. It was a film I had wanted to see for some time so it was an opportunity to watch it without paying as it would be through the Television Licence. It's about Winston Churchill and his rise to becoming Prime Minister after the removal of Neville Chamberlain as PM after the 'Piece of Paper' incident and the appeasement of Adolf Hitler. Gary Oldman convinces completely as Churchill, not just the voice of the great man, but with the aid of incredible makeup, which must have taken hours to create each day before filming took place. Today I watched the first part of a three-part documentary series on 'History Hit,' which I subscribe to and presented by David Starkey and originally shown on Channel 4, covering the story of Marlborough, Churchill's great ancestor who built Blenheim Palace, and comparing the background to the Battle of Blenheim and the build-up to the Second World War and the rise of Hitler and the Nazis.

Things were going really well at the moment (apart, of course, from the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown) but this afternoon my bed decided to cave in beneath me as I lay on it. It's an IKEA bed. a king-size, and we bought it when we lived in Crownhill and was dismantled and moved with us when we moved to the house in Eaglestone. Like a lot of IKEA furniture, it's one you construct yourself and, unfortunately, they don't like being dismantled and then reassembled. This happened again when I moved to Dexter House, although it did survive being reassembled, which was done by the removal company. But there is a problem in that it has slats which support the mattesss and it's supposed to have metal cross pieces which keep the bed in shape, otherwise it can get out of the correct, square angles and in that case it can collapse. The wooden slats come connected with webbing and you lay these slats across the frame and they sit on the wooden frame, right inside the outer edge. But unfortunately on the side I used to lie on the metal cross-members got broken and as a result the slats keep falling out and you have to lift the mattress to replace the slats in the sides of the bed. Whenever I moved to get out of bed, usually when I sit up and then swing my legs over the side of he bed, the slats move and some fall out. So I started sleeping on the other side of the bed, which has been fine for the past few months, until this afternoon, when even the slats on that side of the bed collapsed. There seems absolutely no way I can continue to sleep in the bed in it's current condition. The slats will not stay where they are supposed to go, so it now looks as if I will need to replace the bed completely. This isn't exactly made easy with the pandemic continuing and not being able to visit IKEA or any other furniture shop, so I may have to simply dismantle the bed and take the mattress off and put it on the floor of the bedroom and make it up with sheets and duvet and sleep on it on the floor until such time as I can entirely replace the bed, which isn't likely for some while with the lockdown continuing. Watch this space for further developments in the saga of the IKEA bed.

(Monday) I managed to sleep really well with the mattress on the floor of the bedroom. I think Alfie was a bit mystified by the fact that I was lying more or less on the floor. He came to have a look during the night, lay down with me but didn't stay long and went back to sleep on the sofa in the lounge. I'm quite happy with the new sleeping arrangements and I will need to take out the bits of the bed whenever it's possible to get the Council to come and collect it all. I'm not bothered about replacing the bed and may just leave things as they are until I can get a new replacement.

It's 6.25a.m. and it seems it's going to be another pleasant morning on the weather front. Washed, shaved and ready to take his nibs out at around 7.15.

Later. I've taken Alfie out again and it's odd seeing Oldbrook Green so free of people. Yesterday evening when we went out it was crowded and had the atmosphere of a Bank Holiday, with children with their parents, some sitting in groups on the grass, some playing football, others walking their dogs, like me, whilst others just strolling around. I'm still not completely certain how much of the social distancing is going on, but a definite more relaxed atmosphere generally.

Another Sunny Day

(Thursday) So, we're allowed to meet up with family and friends outside, since some of the pandemic lockdown restrictions have been lifted. Thank goodness. It's like being locked up in solitary confinement. Well, let's be perfectly honest, it is solitary confinement in some ways. I took Alfie out for his last walk around Oldbrook Green and there were far more people around than there have been in ages. Youths playing football and others in what appears to be family groups but some not adhering to the 2 metre social distancing regulations. Several of the notices which had been attached to various  bits of exercise equipment were laying on the ground and people sitting in the covered shelter  but it would appear that things are gradually going to return to some sort of normal.

(Friday) It's 7.10a.m. I'm waiting to take Alfie out, but I'm trying to avoid him making a noise because a certain person who lives in Dexter House again complained about his barking (Alfie, not this idiot. Although, thinking about it, Alfie behaves better.) It's sunny and warm and I don't want to have BBC Breakfast on when all they go on about is the pandemic, which seems to have totally engulfed their news broadcasts. There must surely be more to report on in the news. This 'person' (for want of a better description.) leaning out of his flat window when I came back with Alfie yesterday afternoon, and hurling abuse at me. Just not acceptable and almost like something out of a Shakespeare play or even Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

I have had a delivery from Staples of a paper rack and a couple of pads of paper which came yesterday lunchtime. Ordered on Wednesday and surprised that the parcel was delivered barely 24 hours after the order was made, on line. I'm still waiting for the Apple pencil, which was ordered via Very almost a week ago. No notification from Very to let me know where the item is in the system, not even that it's not in stock. The iPad came within two days of ordering, so I don't see what the problem is. I realise that these businesses are working within social distancing guidelines, so some deliveries are likely to be a lot longer in arriving, but not being kept informed is not very good customer care in my opinion, The order from Weird Fish, of the shorts I ordered through their website was supposed to have arrived yesterday before 6 o'clock, but still nothing, so I assume that is on it's way.

The paper rack is now put together, but causing problems because the screws that hold it together won't tighten sufficiently so I have had to improvise making cardboard washers and putting them on the screws and tightening the screws with a Phillips screwdriver and it seems to have done the trick. It now means I can organise the handwritten pages of my writing which need putting into order so I can transcribe it all onto my MacBook and in the process make some amendments.

Later. I have 'Good Morning Britain' on, ITV's answer to the BBC's breakfast programme. I'm not sure which is better, but I think their set is a bit more imaginative. It make me laugh that it comes to the former BBC's Television Centre, which they rent from the new owners and then re-rent to ITV. It seems bonkers.

Walking with Alfie around Oldbrook Green, there was a ride-on mower cutting the grass. It seems they cut the grass several times in succession. The only problem is that they leave the cut grass and it has a tendency to get on your shoes and then walk it into the flat and there's piles of cuttings all over the floor. Nothing much you can do about it except sweep it up or pick up with the vacuum cleaner.

I have begun to sort out the handwritten pages of my written material. It's got really muddled and I will need to get some plastic wallets to put these collated pages in otherwise they will get muddled up again. Some were numbered but other are not which makes it far more difficult to sort out. I have begun to transcribe more of these hand-written pages into word processing.

(Saturday) 6.15a.m. It's another reasonably bright and sunny morning. The flat window is open and I can hear the birdies singing merrily. Alfie is expecting to be taken out, but I must wait because it will only upset someone who shall remain nameless. Just doesn't need winding up, but it's so easy. I have managed to get Alfie out by carrying him until we get round the corner into Strudwick Drive. It's preventing him making a noise and if you carry him (which he doesn't like) he can't, or simply won't, bark. It's restricting his natural tendency because that's what makes his character and I don't like stopping him. I have written a shopping list which sits on the coffee table and I intend going to Sainsbury's after 8 o'clock as there's no point going earlier because of the queuing system and I know that NHS frontline staff get preference between 7a.m and 8a.m.

Later. I was at Sainsbury's at around 8.15 this morning. The queue didn't stretch as far as when I first went when the lockdown restrictions were first put in place, when the queue was right back to the lower level of the carpark. This morning things moved reasonably quickly and I was inside the store and finished within about 30 minutes. I think it may actually have been less. I'm getting far better at using the self-service checkouts and I have a feeling that since the pandemic they are keeping them in better order so you don't get so many glitches, none of that 'unknown item in bagging area.' I'm definitely more confident and can scan each item faster. The trick I find is being able to discover where the bar code is on each item so it's easier to scan.  I have  now got the wallets so that I can sort out the different stories I have written which are in handwritten form, some of which need collating into their correct order, which, hopefully, these wallets should help with.

I got back to the flat and put all groceries away, most importantly the frozen things which needed putting in the freezer section of the fridge/freezer. I took Alfie out for a walk around Oldbrook Green and then started watching the video of 'Cats' which is being shown for 24 hours via YouTube as part of the 'Show Must Go On' project. I didn't watch the entire show but paused it and completed watching an hour or so later when I was eating my lunch. I saw the original London production at the New Theatre probably only weeks after it opened in 1981. I saw the touring production which came to the Derngate in Northampton a couple of years ago.

Lockdown Changes

(Monday)The government is changing the slogan regarding coronavirus advice from 'stay at home' to 'stay alert,' and now people are saying that the public will be 'puzzled' by the change? How? Is it just more nanny state? Do we really take notice of slogans, almost what you get for brands, sound bites, for example, for Sainsbury's it's  'making life taste better'  and with Tesco it's 'every little helps' or for KFC, 'Finger licking' good.' Are we sucked in to this sort of stuff? I don't honestly think so. It's politicising this pandemic just to score points. We know that the government has made mistakes, but it's understandable, and whatever they do is going to be criticised and the BBC is the worst offender. Just listen to the questions thrown at by the BBC reporters during the daily press conferences to the politicians and science advisers. Always attempting to make trouble just to make a story, to stir up trouble. Never anything positive, almost always negative. Which ever party was in government, there would always be some sort of mistake, we haven't been down this road before in living memory, when did we have a lockdown because of a pandemic like this? It's totally new territory.

I am attempting to encourage Alfie to go out a good deal later and we have done up until now, so we went out at gone 7.30 this morning and he didn't seem to object, thankfully, so I get a bit longer in bed.

The weather was bright and sunny this morning, but as the day progressed it became windy and wet. Fortunately I went on a further photography expedition early enough to avoid the rain which swept in around lunchtime. I have watched a further episode of 'The A Word' via BBC iPlayer and have done some more work on my writing. Research rather than actual pen-to-paper and uploaded some more photographs onto Facebook. I kept an eye of the weather and we went out for another walk but no sooner had Alfie realised that it was wet and not to his liking, he turned tail and took me home. He just doesn't appreciate rain at any price.

(Tuesday) A good deal brighter and warmer this morning.

I've been looking around on the internet for shorts. I wanted another pair and went on the Weird Fish website as a result of reading one of their emails. I have ordered cargo shorts in a light beige colour. The extra pockets will be useful for change, spare batteries or small items when I'm out and about with the camera.

I haven't been out to give the car a run for the past couple of days so I've driven down Chaffron Way as if I was going to Camphill (I wish I was because it's Tuesday and I would have been going there under different circumstances.) I went past Waitrose and was about to turn into the entrance but then decided that there was likely to be a 40-minute wait because of the queuing arrangements. By the time I turned off at the roundabout near Oakgrove school, I decided to have a look near the carpark and I found nobody queueing so I parked the car and went in as I needed more fruit and some sweets. Just can't resist a Rownstree's fruit pastille. I drove off along Brickhill Street and then onto Childs Way and then back onto Chaffron Way and up towards Morrison's at Westcroft and then round the roundabout and back to Oldbrook and home. At least its keeping the car battery charged up and preventing it from needing a jump start which is what I'm attempting to avoid.

(Wednesday) I'm writing this at 6.60a.m. I've been reading The Age of Decadence by Simon Heffer. I think I've mentioned this book and the earlier book by the same historian/suthor before in earlier blog posts. I'm reading the chapter on Edwardian literature, covering such authors as Conan-Doyle, H.G.Wells, Rudyard Kipling and Arnold Bennett. I've read Conan-Doyle, as I love Sherlock Holmes, and the Granada Television adaptations which starred Jeremy Brett as Holmes. I actually worked as a supporting artiste on one of those episodes, 'The Man With The Twisted Lip.' I did see the Benedict Cumberbatch modernised version, which was cleverly done, but it did become somewhat self indulgent in the later episodes. In that respect I'm a bit of a purist and prefer the stories set in the era they were originally set. I have read most of Well's novels, 'The Time Machine,' 'The Invisible Man' and 'The First Men In The Moon,' but none of what are described as 'romantic,' 'Kipps,' (The basis for the musical 'Half A Sixpence.') 'Ann Veronica,' and  'The History of Mr Polly.' Perhaps I should buy them in paperback and give them a go. Also, the 'Clayhanger' novels by Bennett. I think perhaps it's time that television did adaptations of them, that is, if we are to get fresh interperetatons of period novels, not the somewhat over warmed adaptations of Jane Austen which have now been done to death.

Nothing Changes. Or Does It?

(Thursday)This is getting somewhat boring, monotonous, call it what you will. I'm awake at 5.40a.m. I have been up earlier, reading and on the internet. I now have some idea why I'm feeling so awake when I should be asleep. Something in The Telegraph about this, how your body clock gets thrown into confusion when we are indoors without proper daylight. It makes you feel groggy, almost the feeling you have when you are hung over from drinking alcohol, you can't think straight and most certainly shouldn't be driving a car or operating machinery.  I think it's similar to how I used to feel when I worked in care and had to to night shifts. I would go home afterwards and wouldn't be able to sleep for more than a few hours and my body clock was thrown into totally confusion. I used to hate those shifts.

(Friday) Today is the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. The BBC is making the best of a difficult situation because of the pandemic lockdown. I don't think using Zoom to make television programmes makes for very good television as you just have people facing forward to the camera all the time and it's a bit like having talking portraits in an art gallery. I know it's difficult because of social distancing, but it's not going to add anything. BBC Breakfast seems to be stuffed full of this sort of material, mostly doctors talking. Frankly, dreary and unimaginative.

Yesterday afternoon I took Alfie out around  Oldbrook Green and it was quite busy, people exercising, sitting on the grass and a lot of them ignoring the social distancing. There were children playing on the equipment in the fenced-off children's playground who wouldn't have been there and also in the skateboard park, totally in defiance of the notices which are put on the various items intended for the public to use for exercise. The white-and-blue tape which was wound round the seated, covered shelter has been totally removed and there were people sitting inside. It makes me wonder whether these people don't read English, whether they are able to read and understand the notices which tell us that these places are banned from use. If so, why are the notices not written in different languages, because this area is home to a wide range of different ethnic groups who obviously have English as their first language.

I've been out to give the car a bit of a run so that the battery remains charged and that I don't find the car won't start. I went to Waitrose and there was a longer queue to get in. It took around 20 minutes to reach the door inside. I wanted so sweets, chocolate and 'afters' for my evening meal, and there was a tannoy message which I couldn't hear properly and then there was a 2-minute silence at 11a.m., but I was unaware that it was because today is the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Nobody told me. I had no idea. Anyway, from Waitrose I did a round trip of Milton Keynes, going towards Camphill and then round through the centre of Milton Keynes and along Chaffron Way up towards Morrisons at Westcroft and around the roundabout and back to Oldbrook.

It's really warm. The flat is stuffy, even with the windows open. The kitchen is far too hot. For some reason, which I can't fathom, the heating is on all the year round. It's excessively hot and it can't be turned down. I can understand if it was mid winter with snow and ice on the ground, but it's early May, the sun is shining and it's actually pleasant out. The heating pipes run through my kitchen and are under the sink and the kitchen is more like one of the sweat rooms we used to inhabit at the gyms we used to be members of. It means I have to have the kitchen window open permanently otherwise the fridge/freezer will not function properly and probably break down. But for some reason I have to just put up with this craziness. A waste of resources and not exactly environmentally friendly. Goodness knows how much carbon this project produces, but I imagine quite a large amount. Under other circumstances I would merely turn the heating off, but that isn't possible. Then, with the windows open I have to endure noises from outside.

(Monday) It's not warm and stuffy this morning. A real change in the weather. It might be sunny, but it's windy and chilly. I have the BBC Breakfast weather forecast on as I write this and I'm being told that there's frost likely but warming up later in the week.

I've been watching a really fascinating documentary series that's been running for a few series on BBC television, called 'Inside The Factory.' It's presented by Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey. They visit the factories to discover how various products are produced, going through the processes which go into the making of such products as biscuits, soup, breakfast cereals, cooking pots and the recent one was about the making of cereal bars. There was a sequence which explained the background and invention of these bars presented by the historian Ruth Goodman and I had imagined that they were quite an old product, probably going back a hundred years or so, but that's not the case. She visited the Bedfordshire base of Jordan's mill near Biggleswade and it turned out that they invented the idea of cereal bars when Bill Jordan used to go to music festivals and he trialled a new product called Crunchy G and this in turn was used to make the first cereal bars. My father was a farmer and we lived in Cardington, outside Bedford, and grain from our farm was sent to Jordan's mill, which would have been used to make Jordan's flour. My dad had an interest in cars and most things mechanical and at that time (the 1960's) John Jordan, who set up Jordan's mill several decades before the 1960's was motoring fanatic and my dad knew him personally. We even were allowed to swim in jordan's private swimming pool at their home near Biggleswade and next door to the famous mill, which is now a visitor attraction. You can visit and buy Jordan's products in their factory shop and see the workings of the mill.

I've been searching around for home contents insurance. I've been on the Compare The Market website and decided to go with Sainsbury's. I went on their website and got a good quote but when I got to the point where I went ahead and made the transaction, the next page wouldn't load after I clicked. I attempted this around half-a-dozen times and eventually gave up. I tried to get through to their call centre but it appeared to not be operational due to the coronavirus pandemic. Not good, since I want to be covered. I have items in my flat which I don't want stolen or otherwise damaged, such as the television, iPad or MacBook or the fridge/freezer. I have this morning got through and it's now set up and I'm covered from today and I will get double Nectar points when I shop in Sainsbury's.

Unacceptable

(Sunday)I can't believe that people can behave so recklessly. I'm not sure if it's because of the pandemic lockdown, but I see no end of discarded masks and rubber gloves as I walk around Oldbrook Green with Alfie. It's not just that, but some dog owners think it's unacceptable to not clear up after their dogs. This afternoon I took Alfie out, after he kept staring at me, which is usually his way of asking to be let out, and walking along the right-hand side of Oldbrook Green (that is, facing the city centre and away from The Cricketer's, I saw two piles of flytipped rubbish. I don't see why people have to behave in such a reckless manner. I think Milton Keynes Council has enough to contend with at the moment without this sort of thing and I hope they get caught and fined, because it must cost a considerable amount of Council Tax to pay for it's removal and disposal and, with the coronavirus pandemic it's putting people's lives at risk having to deal with it. Also, there is the environmental aspect to consider. It attracts rats and other vermin and that in itself is going to have a health risk.

(Monday) I took photographs of the fly-tipped rubbish with my Canon digital camera and uploaded them onto Nextdoor, the social media site. I wrote a brief description of where it was and very quickly I got a response and someone contacted Campbell Park Parish council, who administer this area. This morning, as I walked past with Alfie, I saw it had been removed and close by, the workers clearing up other rubbish and litter. No doubt it was them who removed it and put it in their vehicle which was parked close by. There were hi-vis clad workmen elsewhere picking up litter. It's a real disgrace that people have to behave in such a thoughtless fashion, but it's good that this has been resolved and speedily so as to avoid any vermin getting into it or before it starts deteriorating which would make it more difficult to clear up.

I have this morning given Alfie a bath, basically because he is getting really mucky and a bit smelly. It's to be expected with a dog with a longish coat, which really needs grooming, but this isn't possible under the current pandemic lockdown restrictions. Also, being little and closer to the ground, he does tend to pick up mud and grime as well as getting bits of twig and leaves stuck in his coat. He doesn't like water particularly, but I think he enjoys the drying process because he gets a lot of attention. I had him on my knee in the bathroom and rubbed him dry with a towel and the he started running around the lounge, bouncing on and off the sofa and is now curled up in his pile of blankets on the sofa. His coat has gone all curly as a result of being wet.

I've now heard that a letter with an address was found in the pile of fly-tipped rubbish which means the perpetrator of this disgraceful incident will not be found and hopefully receive their just reward, probably a fairly hefty fine. It should be quite hight and then given some sort of media mention as a deterrent to others who might think it's acceptable.

(Wednesday) It's sunny but quite chilly this morning. Up and out with Alfie early and we walked round Oldbrook Green.

It looks as if the lockdown restrictions are going to be relaxed. Not a complete return to 'normal,' meaning how life was before the pandemic. I can't see how it can be, but from what I saw on the press conference on BBC1 last evening, it would appear that the number of recorded incidents of people with the virus as well as those who have died is beginning to flatten out. Mind you, there is far too much coverage of the pandemic and it's becoming to the point of saturation coverage.

I had intended going shopping in Sainsbury's this morning and I'd made a very detailed list to take with me and to speed up the actual shopping process and hopefully avoid the time actually in the store, but when I went to start the car I found it wouldn't start. It is most likely because the car has been sitting on the parking space and not being driven as it would normally, but because of the pandemic lockdown I haven't driven to church or to Camphill for a few weeks. I gave it a couple more attempts but nothing, so I rang Bleakhall Motors and they said they'd ring back in around an hour, and, as good as their word, someone came out and got the car started. I don't know how, but he had some sort of gadget, I don't know what it was, but it did the trick and was told I would need to drive around for about half an hour to boost up the battery's charge, which is what I did and drove part-way to Buckingham, going round one of the roundabouts and headed back into Milton Keynes. I will probably have to take the car out each day to keep it in running order, because I really don't want this to happen again in the near future. A lesson learnt.

I considered ordering via the Sainsbury's website, and did an order, but then discovered that I couldn't get a delivery slot because almost every one was taken for several weeks into the future. They have given preferential treatment to those who are 'vulnerable,' and I don't fit into this category, unfortunately. I'm wondering how they class someone as vulnerable, to the Covid-19 virus, as I would have thought I would have fitted this category as I have had two heart attacks, but apparently I don't come under this umbrella so I can't order food on-line, but it's fine for me to put myself at risk of the infection if I visit a supermarket.

(Saturday) I'm continuing with the photography project. I had a good excuse to take the car out and went along Chaffron Way and saw some poppies on the verge and decided they would be a good subject for said project, so I parked in Fishermead and walked back but, strangely, couldn't find the aforementioned poppies as it's quite a difficult matter to find a route through the trees and nettles, but in the process found quite a wide range of plants and flowers to photograph. Once I'd managed to take as many shots as possible I went back to the car and drove down Chaffron Way as if I was going to Camphill and eventually came back through the centre of Milton Keynes. It's so strangely free of traffic, except for the occasional vehicle, making it seem more like a Bank Holiday or even a Sunday, all due to the lockdown.

Alfie was expecting to have another outing so we went out along Strudwick Drive. On crossing Oldbrook Boulevard and onto the Green, I was shocked by the sight of a man, dressed in red football strip, having a wee behind a hedge, well, not even BEHIND it, standing on the road-side and making no attempt to hide. I have seen most things, but the sight of someone relieving themselves in this blatant fashion is quite unbelievable and actually quite unacceptable and I think if he was seen doing so by a passing police officer it is likely he would have been prosecuted for unacceptable behaviour. Not something one would wish to see in 'polite society' as they say.

Yet Another Week of Lockdown

(Thursday) I've been to Waitrose this morning. There's things I can't get elsewhere, such as soap and I like their bath foam. Good value, considering it's  a Waitrose Essentials product. There was the obligatory queue system to get in, similar to that at Sainsbury's. I was in and out quickly and I used a manned checkout as I'm not sure about the self-service machines. It was a clear run down Chaffron Way and it was odd that there was virtually no traffic, as Marlborough Street, where it crosses Chaffron Way, is usually chocker-block at around 8.30a.m, which is around the time I'm driving to Camphill on a Tuesday morning. None of the nose-to-tail along the road, people obviously going to work. At the moment they will do doubt be on lockdown.

(Friday) Seems amazing to think it's 1st May. How did we get here so quickly? It doesn't seem that long ago that we were celebrating Christmas.

I'm having a bit of a Shakespeare festival currently. I know it was The Bard's birthday last week (how old would he have been? I think around 456 or something like that.) and I watched the National Theatre's production of Twelfth Night with Tamsin Greig as Malvolia, The Globe's version of Romeo and Juliet and, on BBC iPlayer, 'Hamlet.' As for other productions, available, free, on YouTube, I saw the National Theatre's 'Frankenstein' with Benedict Cumberbatch as 'The Monster.' It was a good production (I say 'was' because it's no longer in the National's repertoire. I'm not entirely sure how long ago it was on. I believe Twelfth Night was around five years ago.) but the only problem I have with watching via YouTube is that it doesn't work too well. I suppose I shouldn't look the proverbial gift-horse in the mouth, but generally speaking you don't get the full 'live' theatre experience seeing these plays on television. Well, you can't expect too, but it's great that they are recording these performance because once a live show finishes, there's usually no record of it for future viewing or for future generations to enjoy or for those who wouldn't normally go to the theatre.

(Saturday) It doesn't feel like the weekend. It doesn't feel like any particular day of the week. It's probably due to the lockdown, when each day seems to melt into one another. There's no focus to the week, such as going to Camphill on a Tuesday or church on Sunday.

I have been watching 'The A Word' and today watched two more episodes of the first season. I know there's a new, third, season due to start in a week or two so I want to have watched the second run before getting to the new season. Having worked almost exclusively with people with autism, I can identify with the problems of the family it's about. The little lad who plays Joe is amazing. I can't think how they get such a brilliant performance out of a child of around 5 or 6. They must have a great deal of patience.

(Sunday) I was out with Alfie before 6 o'clock this morning. He kept looking at me, which is usually his way of telling me he needs to go out. It was quite mild, thankfully. I usually do washing up from the night before, so I did that and the kitchen is again sparkling clean.

I have now seen the final episode of the first run of 'The A Word,' and I will start on season 2, probably this afternoon. I don't watch episodes back-to-back, but iPlayer almost insists that you with the next episode as soon as the previous episode is finished.

Having the windows open has it's disadvantages. Some delightful person drive up in their car and parked right below my window and had thumping pop music playing on their radio (it might have been a CD or from a mobile, but never mind.) This sort of thing is annoying. Please don't do this at such an hour of the morning. But Noel Coward was right when he said 'strange how potent cheap music is,' which is a line from his comedy 'Private Lives.' Just awful thumping news. People never play something calm, a bit of Beethoven or other classical music, and why play it so loud that it interferes with out people's lives, and in my case, concentration?

Having had a scan of what's on iPlayer, there is no excuse to say 'there's nothing much to watch.' Just overwhelming by the stuff you can watch.

Alfie insisted on another outing, as he was staring in his usual way so I felt obliged to take him out as soon as I'd finished watching 'The A Word.' I have to say, having worked with people with autism, it seems a very accurate portrait of someone with the disability. I'd be interested to know whether the writer had first hand experience of life with an autistic.