Month: July 2020

So, lockdown is unlocking, in some areas at least and re-locking in others. Belgium has put Leicester on its red list which means that its citizens are advised not to travel there. If they do happen to return from there they will need to quarantine for two weeks. This is not the only city on the list and it joins others in Spain and Portugal. Airlines have also been relaxing travel restrictions with people flying around the world once again. The Indonesian airline Garuda like many other companies had obliged their staff to wear masks. However it seems that customers didn’t like to see their flight attendants with their faces covered and so from now on they will not be used (the masks that is, not the flight attendants). It seems the customers like to see a smile when they’re served their drinks and dodgy airline food.

Republican voters have taken out an advert on Fox News stating why they will not be voting in favour of the Trump getting re-elected. The reasons were varied: being ashamed of ever having voted for him having now seen the results, the fact that he continuously lies, his handling of the pandemic and a few more. We will have to wait and see.

In Spain a British man has fallen to his death from a 7th floor balcony and sadly killed a local man who was sitting on the terrace below. The tragedy took place at 1.45 am in the Hotel Melia Don Pepe in Marbella which is one of the best hotels along that coast. I’ve never stayed there but have driven past it on several occasions. The tourist was around 50 years old and holidaying with his family, it’s not clear if he fell or jumped. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those people enjoying a quiet drink below.

Back to the US, in a New Jersey restaurant a diner and regular customer left a $1,000 tip after spending just $43 on breakfast. The staff couldn’t believe their eyes when  they saw it and were moved to tears when they read the accompanying note. The restaurant is called the Starving Artist and thanks to the coronavirus closure it seems they were close to just that, starving or at least closing down permanently. The customer wanted to show his appreciation for their good food, warm smiles and great atmosphere. The owner split the tip between the seven members of staff, not including himself. Let’s hope they find a way to stay open.

In London swimmers have returned to Hampstead Heath ponds for a sixty minute swim. They said it was a wonderful privilege and the few people who managed to get tickets for the first trial run were delighted to be back in the water. They had to swim in one direction only and keep to social distancing. I must admit that swimming around in a murky pond in a park wondering what might be in there with me is not my idea of privilege. Good night everyone.

My grandson Jack made me promise to mention him in the first sentence of my blog today so, here you go Jack, consider yourself duly mentioned. We’ve all been celebrating my daughter Elena’s birthday in their new home. She cooked paella, Andrew did bbq chicken and sausages and lovely Alice had got up at six this morning to make a surprise birthday cake for her mum. She made a delicious chocolate malteser cake and  is certainly turning into a great baker. I took a large size tub of homemade Italian Gigi ice cream (made daily in Bournemouth), very special. Big surprise of the evening was when Jack told his cousin Elizabeth that he would be going to the same Uni as her. I’ll mention that Sam and Paul were there and Tom also joined us for food, wouldn’t want anyone feeling left out with the mentions.

New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, helped a crowd paint “Black Lives Matter” in big yellow letters on the street outside Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Trump has said that the slogan would denigrate this luxury avenue and further antagonise New York’s finest, referring to the police department. In California a similar slogan was covered in black paint by a woman in a patriotic shirt. California’s finest are looking for her.

There’s always someone eager to make a quick buck from other people’s misery. A man from Chichester has been charged and sentenced for making and selling face coronavirus test kits. He advertised them over the internet and sold them around the world. Some kits were intercepted by US customs who considered them to be an unapproved drug and alerted the UK. The packages contained a mixture of chemicals including peroxide, potassium thiocyanate and other substances. I’ve no idea how the product was meant to be used. the entrepreneur received a ten month suspended sentence and 170 hours of unpaid work.

BoJo is considering making the wearing of masks in shops mandatory. He also said that the ‘stay at home if you can’ recommendation should now become ‘go back to work if you can’. I’m guessing this does not mean the vulnerable people who have been shielding. He is of course very keen on getting the economy going and is following the example of other countries that have opened businesses but are making much more use of face masks than we are here in the UK. He said we should be managing the virus with local lockdowns and more use of  face coverings especially in confined spaces.

A warning to my son and his family and all people of Kent. A small herd of wild bison will be released in the county and allowed to roam free for the fist time in 6,000 years. The project will start with one male and three females (I know which one is going to be kept busy) and they will expect a calf to be born to each female every year. The bison will create the perfect environment for insects to thrive which will in turn provide food for birds. Insects are indispensable to maintain the balance of nature. Goodnight nature lovers everywhere.😴💤😴

Do you remember I wrote about the BBC starting to charge again for the tv license for over 75s, the government say it is wrong as do Age UK. BBC delayed imposing the charge for two months due to coronavirus and now say that this delay has cost them 35 million pounds – just from the pensioners. As in all nationalised companies, money must be filtering through some very large cracks. The BBC license costs £157 a year and that is from every household that has a tv or wants to watch via iplayer. Netflix charges as little as £72 (less than half of the BBC price) and viewers choose if they wish to use the service or not and like BBC there are no ads. What’s more, with all those so called ‘reality’ shows on the beeb, the viewers end up being the performers.

More retail closures as Boots announces 4,000 job losses many of which will be at head office or throughout its in-store opticians. John Lewis will close eight stores with 1,300 jobs at risk. It’s a scary outlook for our new job seekers who have just finished their education as well as all the families who relied on the retail economy for their income. The cruise ship industry could also be affected as the UK government is advising people against taking holidays at sea.

The Prince of Wales was at an Asda centre in Bristol today with his wife Camilla, I’m not sure if they just popped by to do a quick shop, maybe something for the bbq this weekend, or if they had been invited. The prince stopped to chat to a member of staff outside the centre and the poor man was so overcome to find himself speaking to royalty that he fainted. He was helped by colleagues and later the prince did manage to catch up with him again and check that he was ok. The royal couple thanked everyone they spoke to for stepping up to the mark during the pandemic. Jolly good show your majesty.

Many European countries have said they don’t want unrestricted tourists from Britain this summer due to the coronavirus. I actually think it’s because of the way the men insist on walking around topless with their white torsos flashing in the sun, not a pretty sight, who wants to look at that while they’re enjoying their tapas or meze?

The saddest and bravest of stories this week was of the mother who threw her three year old son off a third floor balcony because her apartment was on fire. She was  screaming for help and onlookers told her to throw the child.  As the boy fell a neighbour ran across barefoot and caught him in his arms and rolled with him onto the ground. The mother who was burning rushed back inside to save her daughter. Both children are being treated in hospital but the mother tragically died. The man who saved the little boy said the mother was the real hero. I wholeheartedly agree. Good night everyone 😴💤😴

The Chancellor announced his mini summer budget, also referred to as a summer statement today. Did we wait in eager anticipation for a surprise? I think not, we’ve been disappointed too many times but then again, he’s not father xmas is he? Bosses who bring their employees back from furlough and put them to work and keep them there until January will get £1000. I wonder if that includes the bosses who collected the furlough dosh and still made their employees work through lockdown. The food sector gets help with a reduction in VAT on eating out, from 20% to 5% and the customer gets help with up to £10 off a meal in certain restaurants during the month of August but only from Monday to Wednesday. Restaurants will have to sign up to the scheme. Who was it who said there’s no such thing as a free lunch. And you just wait till we have to start paying for this, there really is no pot at the end of the rainbow.

In Poole the statue of the scout movement founder Robert Baden-Powell was boarded up when the BLM protests were taking place around the country. The statue has now been uncovered and the original scout leader is once again looking out towards Brownsea Island.

I had a busy day today with load of phone calls, funny how they all seem to come on the same day and a trip back to HomeSense in Branksome. I bought some new cushions last week and then dithered whether I liked them or not but ended up keeping three and taking another couple back. Bought two more, plus one in Debenhams and two in John Lewis. Why, do I think I need so many cushions on two, two seater sofas. I’m sure it’s got something to do with lockdown. Last week I purchased a battery operated table crumb hoover, who am I kidding? I eat off a tray in front of the tele.

Windsor Castle will reopen on 23rd July to tourists and paying visitors. Reports state that the queen needs to recoup millions of pounds lost during lockdown. Am I once again the only one who feels that millions of pounds in three months of lockdown is too much?

I watched the first two episodes of Mrs America both shown this evening on BBC2. I didn’t know anything about the main character Phyllis Schlafly and I was left feeling more than a little uncomfortable. The story is about the protagonist’s belief in marriage and family to the extent that she wages war against the feminist movement. She believed that the best deal for women was to get married and be looked after. On the other hand if the feminists got their way, women would lose their alimony and young women would be drafted into the military. Her arguments came across as weak and pointless in this day and age and made me want to go back in time to fight for the feminist movement. I have always wanted to be a suffragette. Time for bed.  😴💤😴

While I know that most people out there are under 75 years old just a few do come into this age bracket.  Free tv licensing was introduced by Gordon Brown in the year 2000 and was due to be removed this Spring by the BBC. It was temporarily reinstated due to the coronavirus. All eligible pensioners received a letter informing them that their tv license was now free but it seems that from the 1st August they will have to pay. Several things come to mind on this subject. First of all, how many meetings and how many people did it take to come to these decisions and therefore how much did it cost. Also how much did it cost to generate and post all the letter to around 3 million people. The next point is that unlike Sky tv, Netflix etc etc, there is no choice with bbc tv, if you have a tv in your home you have to pay the license at £153 per year. Now I haven’t even started on my rant about the quality of programs and the appalling tv during lockdown. I’ll leave that for another day.

In Amsterdam lockdown has, like in most cities around the world, closed businesses and stopped welcoming tourists. One of the largest industries in Amsterdam has been for many years that surrounding sex and brothels. In coffee shops you can smoke marijuana and drugs are freely available and prostitution is offered from shop windows. Residents who are not involved in any part of this trade have realised during lockdown that their district is really rather nice without all the tourists  attracted by what was on offer. They can see how poorly their own needs were met with no regular family bars and restaurants and they have decided they do not want to go back to how it was before. They have started a petition and have collected 30,000 signatures and are hoping to restrict new permits to a more diverse selection of businesses. The locals are also hoping that plenty of the sex industry businesses go bust and new ones not allowed in.

If you’re looking for your next book to read the Trump’s niece is about to have her book published on 14th July in which she promises to tell all about Uncle Lone Ranger Trump. It’s title ‘Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.’ Much of her information came from Auntie Maryanne Trump the POTUS’s sister, a retired federal judge. The niece, Mary accuses him of academic cheating and  shocking behaviour around women on multiple occasions.Nothing new here then. If this isn’t your type of bedtime read the Princess Meghan is also working on her new book to be released in November – just in time for Christmas, whoopee. It will be titled Misunderstood and is described as a pioneering biography. Already sounds like a fairy story. Her previous grim fairy tale Finding Freedom is reduced on Amazon but doesn’t yet have any reviews. I’ll have to start work on my memoirs. Time for my bedtime read. Good night. 😴💤😴

Some nearly good news, post Brexit. The oil company Shell, currently based in Holland, could move its headquarters to London. Not decided yet but apparently it is being discussed  as a way to simplify its complex capital structures. Although its headquarters are in Holland it is already incorporated in England and Wales. I used to work for Shell soon after I left school in their compute department. It was based in Houndsditch. Something I seem to have missed last month is that the Anglo Dutch company Unilever have already decided that it will move its legal base to London. I’m sure you will be pleased to know that especially as Unilever is the maker of both Marmite and Ben & Jerry’s. You either love it or hate it.

We don’t want to leave the Trump out of the blog, you know how he sulks. Anyway the Trump (aka bunker boy, aka lone ranger) has said that based on last week’s jobs report there is proof that the economy is “roaring back”. I think he means back to the great depression as another report says that only just over half of working age Americans have jobs (the lowest in 70 years). The POTUS based his remark on earlier reports when he made the decision to reopen lockdown and more people were in work. Now though the expert said that what is roaring back is Covid-19. There’s definitely going to be a sulk if he reads this and he’s already fallen out with Fox News. Oh dear.

Lovely photo in Vietnam news of a newborn baby boy (why do we say newborn baby, if it’s newborn it’s got to be a baby hasn’t it). The baby in question was gripping something tightly when he emerged. When the doctor looked closer he saw that it was the mother’s contraceptive coil which obviously hadn’t done the job it was meant to do. This little boy very nearly didn’t get conceived let alone born, but no doubt the parents are happy now that he has made it. I wonder if you can sue doctors in Vietnam?

Sky news reported that our PM went for a pint and a trim at the weekend. I have to say that BoJo needs to get a new barber because if he’s waited three months for that job he honestly could have got anyone in Downing Street to do it at any time. Even the bobby standing on guard at the door. All he would have needed was a pudding basin and a pair of scissors. Just saying.

A burst water main in London has caused the North Circular Road to be flooded on both carriageways with cars left submerged.Hope everyone is safe. Just what you need when you are on your way home from work. If it doesn’t rain it pours. Good night my lovelies. 😴💤😴

While most of the US celebrated independence day yesterday in Baltimore protestors took offence at the statue of Christopher Columbus and it became the latest of several statues of the ancient mariner to be removed. I have been feeling a little mystified as to why the sea captain who discovered America should be the focus for the BLM protest. Columbus whose name in his own language was Cristobal Colon was a sailor and traveller who set out in 1492 to find a westward route to the orient. He found the Bahamas first and quite by accident as no one in Europe knew they existed. He thought that he had found what he was looking for, The Indies and therefore called the natives Indians. He returned a couple of times and his dealings with the local population was mostly friendly. It was subsequent Europeans that caused such carnage amongst the native population and what the protestors are quite rightly upset about. I can’t help siding with the Trump on this one and say that this is history. If Columbus hadn’t made the discovery, someone sooner or later would have done.

Nothing much changes when it comes to treating people badly, there is always someone who feels they are more entitled to privilege than others less fortunate than themselves. In Leicester it has come to light that workers in a clothing factory are being paid less than half of the official minimum wage. A reporter from The Times took a job there in order to investigate, he was paid £3.50 an hour when the minimum is £8.72. A foreman at the same company who has been there fore five years is still only on £5 per hour. The boss was in line to collect a bonus of £50,000. The factory is a subsidiary of BooHoo who said they would take the allegations very seriously. The same factory had employees working during lockdown and were also allegedly committing furlough fraud. An investigation is underway as it seems there are several cases in Leicester of this type of practice. Lock ’em up I say. Not the workers, the bosses.

An Australian mum became the first person there to give birth naturally to quintuplets three or four years ago. She already had three children and decided along with her partner that another would be nice. Quite a shock when five turned up together. This year the couple decided to separate and the mum has spent lockdown caring for eight kids under the age of twelve. She said she was still finding her feet as a solo mum and it was tough. I can imagine it might be.

Loads of Brits rushed to Spain as soon as they could but those going to the coast might find they can’t get on the beaches there. The police have turned away many visitors once the beaches became too full to maintain social distancing. Quite right too, we should have done that in Bournemouth. Nighty night, sleep tight. 😴💤😴

I haven’t been to the hairdresser’s or the pub today but no doubt many people have. Those who were out hoping to have a pint with friends would have had a cold evening as it’s been blowing a hoolie out there. Typical England really, organise a bbq, village fete, open air concert or anything else and the weather always goes against you. The new ruling also allows for people to stay away from home overnight and the police reported that there were queues of traffic travelling westward and the road were gridlocked with a high volume of caravans. People have also been asked to place a light in their window to celebrate 72 years of the NHS, Downing Street and other public buildings were illuminated with a blue light. Tomorrow there will be a fly past of WW2 Spifires over hospitals in the east of England and a nationwide clap for carers at 5pm.

The Trump seems to have gone to Mount Rushmore in spite of being uninvited the Great Sioux Nation. He gave a speech there today which according to American news resembled more of a political campaign rally than a Presidential address. Referring to the recent protest demonstrations that have taken place across the US he said that the mobs were demanding total submission from anyone who disagreed. He then added that this was the very definition of totalitarianism except that he couldn’t pronounce it. A professor of political studies at Stamford University said that the people who wrote the speech and those who cleared it should be ashamed. It was perhaps the most un-American speech ever delivered by an American President on July 4th

Nigel Farage was in the headlines today as Lib Dem MPs accused him of breaking quarantine rules by going for a pint today.  According to them he won’t be out of quarantine following his trip to be at the Trump rally in Tulsa until tomorrow. Honestly, I don’t like Nige’s face staring at me from my morning paper at the best of times but the same face smiling around a pint I can just do without.

Many couples had weddings planned but were unable to go ahead due to the three months lockdown. Today some of these couples have jumped right in and tied the knot on the first day that restrictions have been lifted. One couple even married directly after midnight, in case BoJo changed his mind no doubt and reinstated closures. The brides could have their dads walk them down the aisle and a little get together afterwards was allowed, as long as there were no more than thirty guests. Really you would think people might be grateful for this restriction, think of the money they would be saving. But no, some couples married but put off their reception until October or later. Well let’s hope that there isn’t a second wave of the virus because leave it much longer and the dress won’t fit. They’ll all be in bed by now though and time for me too. Good night everyone.😴💤😴

Tomorrow is the big day, restaurants, pubs, cinemas, hotels and others will be able to open to the public and more people who are not from the same household will be able to meet up. Some public places like libraries will be open as well as community centres. outdoor playgrounds and gyms will also be ok. It will however be against the law for groups of more than 30 people to gather. Funny that, if I gathered together all my children, stepchildren, grandchildren and great grandchildren there would be more than 30 so the next family reunion will have to wait. I wonder if there will be any additions by the next time we meet.

Someone else who will have to wait is the lone ranger aka the POTUS. He planned to go to watch some fireworks at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota  tonight but the Oglala Sioux leaders voted against the visit and the display. The Oglala President Julian Bear Runner (great name) wrote to the Trump to explain that the land had been signed over to the the Great Sioux nation in two different treaties in 1851 and 1868. Furthermore the sovereign owners have to give permission for anyone to enter the territory and they didn’t give said permission to the lone ranger aka Trump. Well there’s a right todo. National Parks had banned fireworks for the last few years due to the risk of wild fires. Trump cancelled the ban and said ‘what can burn, it’s all rock?’. Apart from all the above, the Trump seems to have once again forgotten that there is a pandemic raging in his country.

Like many others I have found it difficult to find anything to watch on tv during lockdown, apart from repeats and the excruciatingly boring people at home doing so called shows or even more boring ‘how they spend their time during lockdown’. I’ve recently taken to watching Schitts Creek on Netflix. The original review that I read said it needed to be watched through a few episodes before realising what a little gem it is. I have become addicted, the episodes are short so I always want to watch more, the characters are great and the acting brilliant. It is also often very funny. The mother who thought her daughter was pregnant just told her family in a very emotional voice ‘I have to say that financially and psychologically I find this situation absolutely intolerable’. And so say all of us mums. (Not really, kids).

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I can’t believe it’s gone on this long and I can’t believe I’m still writing and still counting. One hundred long days. We’ve survived this far and we will survive a little longer and maybe now I can get out and once again become a lady that lunches. In the meantime, nighty night.

Well, well, well Ghislaine Maxwell has finally been caught and quite a few people will not sleep well tonight. What was this ex girlfriend or co conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein  doing in a small New Hampshire town, didn’t she have enough money to make her escape? Maybe her passport had been cancelled but, I’m sure she knew people who could help her overcome that little problem. A lot of phone calls will be placed around the world tonight by all those people who felt they were privileged enough to be able to avoid reprisal no matter what their behaviour. Surrounded by security and lawyers and cushioned by money they flew in private jets from private party to private party in mansions, clubs and even private islands. The Trump once referred to Maxwell’s partner Epstein as his good friend and that they shared a taste for younger women. Prince Andrew was photographed with a very young looking woman with Maxwell in the background. Was she just a pimp?

The Trump has back pedalled on the wearing of a face mask. He now says it is a good thing to do and he’s all for it and as an extra bonus it makes him look like the lone ranger. Judging by reports a rather depressed lone ranger as the POTUS is upset by his approval ratings which are slipping. Experts say he opened everything up too early and the number of people with covid-19 is rising and this is partly being blamed on this lone ranger originally saying that the face mask wasn’t necessary and then holding a rally in Tulsa with no social distancing. The economy which seemed to be recovering slightly is faltering again and the lone ranger is playing golf. Still it’s not yet November and as we have seen a lot can happen in four months.

The airports are open, planes are flying, although not quite as many as before, and it’s time to think about booking a holiday. After all these months and weeks of lockdown you need something special and I’ve been busy sussing out what’s on offer for you. Well maybe I just managed to spot something scrolling through my phone. The world’s first gold plated hotel has just opened it’s gold plated doors in Vietnam. You will be checked in in the gold plated lobby, swim in the gold plated infinity pool, bath in a gold plated tub and yes, even have a wee or something else in the gold plated lavatory (I couldn’t possibly refer to it as a loo or a toilet). Rooms will cost you from £250 per night and apartments are available from £5,200 per square metre, it didn’t say how long the rental will be on this. We can’t please all the people all the time, someone has said that money can’t buy taste but if someone treated me…  Time to dream, nighty night.  😴💤😴