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. 💤 😴 😴 💤