Even More Things Getting Slightly More Undecidedly Sticky, But Only, Possibly, A Little Bit, But Even More Undecidedly Unpleasant. Possibly, Maybe, or There again, maybe not

The world has gone mad. A Prime Minister has to deny whether he was at a drinks party at 10 Downing Street during lockdown (whether it was illegal under the rules and regulations is neither here nor there.) Meanwhile, the Russian President, Putin, has sent troops to the border with Ukraine and is threatening to invade. There is an American President who doesn't seem entirely with it, looking for all the world as if he's in the early stage of dementia. If you thought Regan was unfit to hold office as President of the most powerful country in the known world,  Joe Biden seems not to be exactly 100% with it, mentally and physically. No wonder Putin thought he could get away with invading Ukraine when the West was looking in the opposite direction. It all seems like the plot of some sort of comedy, but actually, it's not particularly funny when we now learn that Putin is possibly intending to use chemical weapons and even nuclear weapons. Possibly in an attempt to draw the West into a war that will have consequences which it's difficult to comprehend. Jim Hacker, the Prime Minister in the BBC sitcom 'Yes Prime Minister', might have had problems with our current situation and Sir Humphrey Appleby would have delighted in explaining the situation in his long, convoluted diatribes, tying  everyone, including himself, 

Is the pandemic over? It's difficult to say. The crazy rules and regulations have been removed. We don't need to social distance or wear face coverings. There are still people who wear masks, usually when I'm outside. I want to ask why? If you're out in the fresh air and there's no one else around, why bother with a face mask? Nasty things. There's no proof they actually work. Having one on for any length of time makes me ill. Breathing in your own breath isn't good for you. There is now virtually nothing about the virus on television news. The BBC hasn't had a report on anything to do with the pandemic in weeks, or so it seems. They are more concerned about the Ukrainian war. Peddling fear and anxiety. The pandemic seems to have melted into the background. 

Why didn't The West realize earlier what Putin was planning to do? Would our intelligence services have picked up some hint of things going on in Russia? Don't we have some sort of system which monitors the goings-on in Russia and other countries which can be thought of a threat to democracy? Were we too focussed on the pandemic? I think only time will tell and probably when more comes to light as the years pass. 

Then, on top of the pandemic to make us feel frightened, we have climate change. The scientists are making us feel guilty if we eat meat, drive a car, light our log burner and generally produce carbon and let it into the atmosphere. This thing about cattle and other herbivores we may eat producing gasses that are supposed to deplete the ozone layer is rather lazy. They aren't the only animals that create these gasses. How about the herds of animals that roam the African savannah? Antelopes? Elephants? What about HUMANS? Don't we create these gasses? It's all a bit dumb if you ask me? (but please don't.)

Then there's the hypocrisy of these scientists, politicians and others who went to the  COP 26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow last October and travelled there by plane, car and other forms of transport which give off large amounts of carbon. 

Friday. 8.45 a.m. It's exactly two years since the WHO (World Health Organisation.) announced that we were in a pandemic, due to the coronavirus. Seems like we've lost two years of our lives, hiding away, being ordered about by people who had no real authority (ie; unelected scientists.), making people frightened, destroying businesses, causing disruption to children's eduction, cancelling NHS appointments, people going without their cancer treatment, mental health going through the room, relationships being destroyed. I could go on, but I won't. Was it really worth it? It 'save the NHS from being overwhelmed,'? Probably not.

A New US President and Flooding

(Thursday) Quite chilly when we went out at 7.30 this morning, but it wasn't raining. A cold wind blowing.

On BBC Breakfast, reports on the flooding, particularly in Didsbury, near the River Mersey. Water levels quite dramatically high and people's homes completely submerged. The situation is made more difficult when people have to be evacuated and issues regarding the pandemic, especially with social distancing and the fact that there was heavy snow falling which is really hampering any sort of work.

Joe Biden, the new President of the U.S.A., reversing a lot of Donald Trump's legislation and orders, particularly those involving climate change and no doubt at some stage, that connected with what's called 'Obama Care.' The big question everyone is asking is, will Trump be impeached for a second time? The American Senate has agreed he should be, after the awful storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6th, being motivated by Donald Trump. He will be the only President of the United States to be impeached twice, but it seems a bit odd if this second impeachment goes ahead now he has left the White House.

I've taken Alfie out again, around 2.30. We crossed over Oldbrook Boulevard and no sooner had I begun walking around the Green than an idiot on a bicycle almost collided with me. More interested in his mobile than the safety of others walking along. It's crazy that anyone would even consider fiddling with their mobile phone as they were cycling along. Just dangerous. For all that, it's been quite windy but the sun has been out.

On BBC News this evening, Boris Johnson has said that lockdown is likely to continue until the summer. I realise that it's necessary to control the spread of coronavirus, but we do need some sort of plan put in place or at least considered, how we will get out of this situation. If things aren't to return to as near normal as possible, I foresee more mental health issues as a result of uncertainty, what with not knowing what is going to happen, how jobs can be protected, particularly in the hospitality industry. I know I'm biased in this respect, but what about theatre? We hear a lot (in my opinion, far too much) about football and how it has been effected by lockdown, but theatre as well as other related industries, such as film and television production, is a vital part of this country's economy. Currently we have a large number of Hollywood films being made in British film studios, such as Pinewood, Shepperton and Elstree. Not only are actors out of work, many are self employed. Then there are the ancillary jobs which are connected to these industries, make-up, wardrobe, set construction, props, box office and so on. Then, consider all the restaurants and bars which are in the vicinity of a theatre which would be visited by theatre audiences. Add to that, companies who supply hospitality outlets, breweries, food, fruit and vegetable, meat and fish. The list goes on and on.

There's another variant of the coronavirus which is said to be more dangerous, although the R-number has fallen. They are now saying the epidemic is slowing down. Let's hope it just fizzles out and we can all get back to some sort of normal.

I've managed to complete the coffee table by building the drawer. One of the side panels was the wrong way round and I have now dismantled it and it's now the right way round. I then found that the handle for the drawer has a missing bolt which holds the thing together. I managed to email the manufacturer, through their website. I wasn't expecting such a quick response. They will post me a bolt and it should arrive within three days. Just means with  that in place  the coffee table will be complete.