Any Day Soon?

 (Tuesday) Seems like we'll be out of lockdown any day soon. Watch this space!

Not so cold this morning, but rather wet underfoot as I took Alfie out at 7.15. 

10.50a.m. I've been to Aldi to get milk and other items. Just resisting going to Sainsbury's as it's so much cheaper. You have to remember to take a £1 coin to be able to use a trolley. It wasn't too busy. I go as far as saying it wasn't busy at all. I find having someone outside begging somewhat intimidating. I'm afraid I didn't have any change. A lady who was coming out of the store warned me of his presence. I don't know what to make of this 'begging' as he looked well enough dressed and quite well spoken (sorry if that makes a difference.) But there must be an underlying reason why someone does this. Milton Keynes has plenty of jobs at the moment, so there's no excuse, even more mundane jobs such as working in a warehouse or working on a production line (I've done it myself, so I do have an idea what's entailed.) Or if he needs food, there is a food bank he can use, even if it for a short while. I'm not criticising or judging, but he may even have a mental health problem which means he can't work, or is homeless. In that case the Council can help. But does he know about these services? I think it's the intimidation that gets to me. Someone sitting or standing outside a supermarket or, as in the case when I lived in Bedford, at a narrow place, an alleyway I had to go through to get to the Post Office, making you feel guilty, which is unfair, as you walk past.

I came back home with my shopping which I unloaded and put away. I took Alfie out, as he was doing his staring act. Which tells me that he really needs to go out. The merry sound of chainsaws coming from a distant, somewhere near Oldbrook Boulevard. It's Council workmen hacking bits off trees. Perhaps hacking is the wrong word as I don't think they exactly hack, more like 'trim.' But it's a distinctive sound.

'Cautious but irreversable' is how Boris Johnson has described any 'roadmap' out of lockdown. I think he's just been bounced into making some sort of route we take to get back to some sort of normal by the 60 plus Backbenchers who more or less demand something is done to get the county to some sort of normality. 'Lockdown 4' is a no-go, thank goodness. Please, Boris, just get us out of this! I realise we have to be careful so that there are few infections and deaths, but being in lockdown is like stagnation. Turn into very ripe cheese at this rate, or wine with an extremely high alcohol content.

I read this morning that those in the 80-plus age group are showing that they have antibodies to defeat the coronavirus, as a result of having the vaccine. This shown by giving them blood tests, so this is great news and shows that we are at last on track to end lockdown. Who would have believed this would be possible a year ago? Amazing that there are several effective vaccines which we didn't have at the beginning of this pandemic. Even news this morning on BBC Breakfast, that venues, such as concert halls and theatres could reopen if there was the use of rapid testing before audiences could be allowed, as well as all performers, musicians, actors and other staff. As theatres have been closed for almost a year, it would be great to have them open and performances to be restarted. A devastating blow to the theatre industry to have to close theatre doors and have so many being dark. It will take a long time to recover from this awful crisis.

1.55p.m. I've done a good deal more writing. I'm doing it a little bit at a time, which is a good way to go with this. A couple of lines at a time, even less sometimes. Better I reckon than struggling and in between it give me time to think what I will write next. Around fourteen pages at the last count, which is really amazing considering. I realise it will need to to be edited heavily, but that's better than not having enough written and it's a bit like when you're making a film or television programme, better to have plenty to play with in the edit, meaning you have more choices with how you want the piece to go. Once it's done I shall put it away for a while and come back to it. Reading it immediately will not help. Time is good to allow you to take a different view on what you've created.

The electronic Oxford Dictionary I have and which proves to be extremely useful when I'm writing showed on the digital screen which I used when I'm writing, told me that the battery was about to fail, so I had to put a new one in and fortunately I had some spare AAA batteries available, so things were not held up. Easy enough to replace. I've had that gadget several years and it's the first time I've had to replace the battery. I remember going into W.H.Smith's in the main shopping centre with Carol to buy it. I think it might have been a birthday present, but it saves a lot of time, rather than using a paper dictionary.

(Wednesday) Quite wet when we went out at 7.10a.m. I wasn't sure whether it was raining, having looked out of the kitchen window, and it was, which Alfie didn't like, so we soon went back inside in the dry. We'll have to go out a little later. Never mind, it's only water after all. But, saying that, it's surprisingly mild.

Later. It was sunny when we went out at 10.20, which made a change from what it was earlier. Workmen cutting hedges and generally tidying up around  Oldbrook Green. I suppose it's important to keep on top of that sort of work otherwise hedges particularly get overgrown and then impossible to manage.