Month: March 2021

Tomorrow 29th March, or probably when you’re reading this, today UK will begin the slow process of easing lockdown. This will take place in the open air so we are all praying for good weather. Six people or two households will be able to be together in an outside location but social distancing will need to be maintained. The guidelines also say that we should stay local but no further details so how long is a piece of string? I think in some cases it might be more a matter of a piece of elastic. Sadly the weather forecast will be great for just two or three days this week but then we can look forward to another cold spell which might make Easter gatherings rather uncomfortable. No doubt patio heaters will be in big demand this week.

Thirty million of us have received at least the first Covid jab and this includes the over forties. Not bad. I’m waiting for a phone call about my second jab and hopefully the phone will ring this week with a date. Not that it will give me any more freedom than the person who hasn’t had any. But, I will know I’ve had it and that will make me feel better. As far as I know I haven’t been positive in spite of the fact that I’ve been shopping, met up with friends – one at a time – and bubbled with family. I wonder if some people are just naturally immune?

The Suez Canal is blocked, again. I don’t know why but this story is keeping me entertained more than TV at the moment. The Ever Given (whoever gave it that name?) with up to 20,000 containers on board has got itself well and truly stuck in the shipping lane. This means that no other ship can pass through either, there are 300 in the queue. That’s some constipation. I keep wondering what might be in the containers. It was heading towards its first port of call Rotterdam and three days later was due in Felixstowe. I’ve read there could be a shortage of anything you see in your local supermarket such as coffee and toilet paper – what again? So far dredging under the ship has been happening and there is a hope that that together with a rise in the tide might free it. If not they are considering removing some of the containers to lighten the load. Whoever was in charge of that ship might be looking for a new job.

Following Brexit Brits living in Spain might find they have to head home after 31st March. Non residents will only be allowed to stay for 90 days at a time unless they have a job with a contract or have an income of 2000 euros a month for one person. I was an illegal in Spain for 10 years, same rules way back then, 90 days then out. A bit scary especially with the fascist government but nobody bothered me until I wanted to leave. Then I paid a fine. Hey people, let’s be careful out there.  💤 😴 💤 😴 💤

In reality I should be writing Day 365 but I’ve obviously missed 100 days. Made me think of that book One Hundred Years of Solitude written by the Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez which I read many years ago in Spanish. Both unbelievable. Who would have thought that we would all still be in lockdown a whole year later, not me that’s for sure. It’s probably a good thing that we didn’t know, would have made isolation much harder. Well done everyone for learning how to survive. The vaccine is the thing that will help us get back to normality and a trial finds that the Astra Zeneca is 79% effective at preventing Covid and 100% effective against severe Covid.

We’ve all filled in our Census form by now (except maybe a few criminal individuals). I did mine online and noticed that there were several links to sites that were obviously not the official one. Also I felt a little uncomfortable giving so many personal details. National Insurance number, passport number, maiden name, mother’s maiden name etc. etc. Enough info for a criminal to steal your identity. I’ve never trusted government web sites as being safe and cannot believe that absolutely everyone that has access to it wouldn’t be tempted to sell some of the data.

The following day news headlines said that we should beware of scammers trying to collect money from people for supposedly not filling in the form correctly. They pretend to be official and try to collect a fine. Warnings were also issued about scammers phoning to say your NI number has been compromised. Again they ask for money to fix it. If anyone tries it on me I shall simply say ‘Sorry, I’m an illegal, no papers, no numbers’.

It seems that 200,000 households have boycotted the BBC and cancelled their license fee with BBC bosses stating it is causing a funding crisis. Now, seeing as there are 27 million households in the UK I can’t see how 200k is going to cause a crisis. They should just start by cutting a few of the hefty salaries paid to presenters and bosses. And I wonder how many additional fees are being paid by the over 75s? Honestly do these people think we can’t do simple maths?

Prince Harry has been given a job with a Californian company called BetterUp. His job description is ‘Chief Impact Officer having input into product strategy, decisions and charitable contributions. He will also speak publicly about topics related to public health.’ He left Eton with two A levels. One in Art the other in Geography. Should be helpful. He’s certainly learnt a lot of motivating statements from the Google School of Medicine and I’ve no doubt he’ll be an asset to the people of LaLaLand.

Am I the only person who doesn’t like Line of Duty? What an unappealing bunch of characters and useless storyline, if you can find one amongst all the abbreviations they are so fond of. Not for me. Now people, let’s be careful out there.

 

 

A new lockdown is to be introduced in France with Paris and several other regions being targeted. The French Prime Minister has said that the new restrictions will last for one month with only essential services opening. Having said that, it seems that schools will stay open and outdoor activities will be allowed. So, not lockdown as we know it. Let’s hope our much more severe restrictions have a positive effect on the pandemic in the UK, making the effort shown by the majority worthwhile. I’m beginning to see that many people have had just about enough and are seriously tiring of being trapped at home. New cases in France are about seven times those in the UK.

Meanwhile, Gibraltar has become the first country to vaccinate all of its residents. That’s just 33,700 people which is not exactly a large population – Bournemouth has 187,500 but I’ve no idea what percentage have been vaccinated. Neither could I find out how many cases of Covid there are currently on The Rock and I can’t help wondering if they had to vaccinate the monkeys as well.

Did you know Ringo Starr was already 80 years old? Neither did I, but then why would I? It seems that people keep asking him how he manages to still look so good. His answer – late nights and a healthy diet. He doesn’t go to bed before midnight and he’s a vegetarian eating lots of berries. How things change when midnight is a late night. Got to be a sign of age. Personally I’ve also been told I look younger than I am. My answer could be the same although I usually don’t find my way to bed until 1 am and my diet includes chicken and fish. I don’t always believe what people tell me either.

And while we are on the subject of age, a woman of 65 returned from a holiday to find that her job had been given to a younger woman. She had been working at the Indian embassy in London and was told she needed to apply for an extension but it had been rejected while she was away. She had to wait seven years for her case to come to trial but the judge awarded her £109,000 for unfair dismissal based on ageism. That’ll teach ’em. There’s life in us oldies yet.

Last but not least I have to tell you that BCP (Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole) council decided to go gender neutral. Mr & Mrs will become obsolete and replaced with Mx. I’m not sure if this is purely plural (try saying that when you’ve had a drink) but it is how the 395,000 residents will be addressed so I think it’s everyone. Miss and Ms will also disappear. I have a couple of questions. If I write to a married couple, do I put Dear Mx & Mx…. Also, how do I pronounce it if I’m not writing or maybe we will only be allowed to communicate in writing, we are nearly there anyway. I’m still learning to pronounce Ms. Hey let’s be careful out there. 💤 😴 😴 💤

 

I’ve been trolling through the news to find something inspiring for International Women’s Day. Not much there I’m afraid. Nazanin, the British Iranian woman who has been under arrest in Iran has had her ankle tag removed and therefore is ‘free’. Nothing to do with Women’s Day, her sentence has come to an end. Can she leave the country and come home? No, she can’t, men in charge there have come up with another supposed crime and she will go before their cout again on Sunday.

Duchess Meghan sat with the queen of tv interviews Oprah Winfrey and neither of them did anything for women anywhere. I’m sure that life for the new duchess was not easy. All young women (and probably young men too) meeting their new in-laws for the first time will have a hard time. Any bride preparing for her big day suffers from nerves and anxiety. Add to all this that the new family is the British royal one I can only imagine how nerve wracking that might be. I also believe that some members of that family are probably racists. But, there she was saying that she was a strong independent woman who had earned money since she was 13 years old and in the next breath saying how her new life affected her mental health and she considered suicide. I do wish she had stood up to them and refused to hand over her passport, had gone out to meet her friends and bloody well told the Firm and the press that she did have black blood and was proud of it. Instead she said her prince had to cradle her and kiss her better. And how did she get those watery eyes and not have her mascara running down her blushed cheeks? Just asking.

My friend Anna however posted a lovely tribute about the foster mother Helen Holgate who cared for her third and premature baby when she herself couldn’t. They are still friends today and had a long zoom catch up to celebrate International Women’s Day. Two strong independent women among the many that I am fortunate to know.

We know that Banksy owned up to the painting on the wall of a Victorian prison in Reading which showed a prisoner escaping while holding a typewriter. He has now said that his previous art work which showed up in the entrance to Southampton General Hospital entitled Game Changer will be put up for auction with proceeds going to the NHS. He will sell the original canvas and a copy will grace the walls of the hospital. Banksy is hoping to raise £3 million. A note accompanied the painting when it first  appeared saying ‘Thanks for all you are doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even though it’s only black and white.’  I’m sort of hoping that some one will buy it and donate it back to the hospital, now that would be really cool.

 

We already heard that Bournemouth have been busy preparing to host the Air Festival this year. Now the news is that BCP Council are planning Festival Coast Live for as early as May. The event will be made up of a series of outdoor activities showcasing professional and community artists, musicians and dance groups who will be performing at pop up experiences. There will also be a celebration of food, culture, heritage, health & fitness, wellbeing and lifestyle. Nice to have something to look forward to in the not too distant future. Bring it on, I say.

In the meantime Boscombe will receive £21.7 million grant, announced in this week’s budget, to refurbish and regenerate the area. There have long been plans to bring the area back to life and the newish Sovereign Centre will disappear but the lovely old Royal Arcade and Royal ballroom will feature at the centre of the project. Let’s hope the money ends up in the right pockets. Bournemouth does not have a good reputation on this score. The government, of course, has been accused of choosing mainly conservative run councils as recipients of these town grants.

In West Sussex thieves have been busy overnight. Residents and workers were surprised to see that about 50 expensive Yorkshire stone slabs were stolen from a library car park. In fact a whole pavement was left bare and the local police were left scratching their heads wondering where they might have gone. Someone is going to have a nice new patio area for their summer barbecue.

The budget also granted nurses a 1% pay rise. I googled to see how much a nurse earns on average and found it to be about £33,000. This means that the pay rise would be £330 a year. Take into account potential increases in things like fuel, car parking and food and take off tax to be paid back to the government. There isn’t much left. Just saying.

A Spanish woman aged 64 gave birth to twins following ‘assisted reproduction’ in the US. Supposedly the treatment was not available in her own country. One has to wonder why it would be allowed anywhere but could it be about money? Once back in Spain where she gave birth the babies were removed from her care by social services as they were considered vulnerable. She has an 11 year old daughter already who was also taken into care and is living happily with relatives in Canada. The Spanish courts will allow her to appeal every two years but they don’t predict a different outcome. What a sad situation.

I’ve just finished reading an excellent novel called The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. A story about an American family who moved into a beautiful house that had been built and originally owned by a Dutch family in Philadelphia. The characters are so believable and wonderfully characterised. There’s no real mystery, just what happens when people are faced with life and life’s happenings. I hate it when I finish a good book, I now have to find another,  Hey, let’s be careful out there.  💤😴 😴💤