Corona - Restrictions & Liberation

As with most things in life people can look at this Pandemic positively or negatively. It can be an opportunity or a limitation. It all depends on your mindset & your circumstances.

I'm not ignoring the traumatic & heart rending suffering that Covid 19 has caused. People are suffering serious illness, hugely difficult working conditions & feelings of hopelessness & fear.

I am trying to see a little light in the darkness. The majority of people are  experiencing a way of life that few anticipated. We have to adapt & cope with that, helping eachother where we can. But we have the chance, given the limitations we are experiencing, to grasp things we had lost -

• Time - to think, to be,to do things we never had time for before.
• Opportunity - to get rid of things we thought were important, but we now realise aren't. To simplify our lives back to the things which really matter.
• Possibilities - we didn't have time to recognise or act on previously.
• People - we had lost touch with.
• Ourselves - lost in the daily routine of home, family, work, social life...
• Perspective - of our world, our place in it & what we are doing to it.

I could go on, but I'm sure you see the pattern of my thinking. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-assess so much. To change things that really need to be changed. To work collaboratively with others wherever they are. To make better decisions for people & the planet. To share resources & information. To make peoples lives fairer & more equitable.

This is a real chance, which if we ignore it, will send us continuing along the old path leading to loss. Loss of human dignity, species loss, habitat loss, resources loss & ultimately possibly the loss of life as we knew it.

We can triumph over a Pandemic. But more than that we can triumph over ourselves & our destructive behaviours. It might be the existential tipping point of actual survival.

Corona - Who keeps the lights on?

I wonder if Covid 19 will permanently change the "pecking order" of society?

Suddenly we realise how important many workers on euphemistic "contracts" are - Zero Hours, Fixed Term, Agency Staff, the Self Employed. Also people on the "National Living Wage" (£8.72 for 25's & over). All of these people provide important services to society. All of them live on the knife edge of no work. All of them are counted as employed. Unemployment was supposedly running at 3.6% in May 2019.

Now all of these people are potentially devastated by Covid 19. Their rights are not the same as people in full time employment. They will be the "collateral damage", another euphemism, of this Pandemic.

Brexit & Covid 19 have tested everyone to the limit. Ironically the first divided us into armed camps & now the latter is bringing us together again. Sadly it has taken a Pandemic plague to do that.

Some good has to come out of all this. If that benefit is that we finally understand that everyone, workers & volunteers, is important to the running of our very complex society, then I for one will be delighted.

The wealthy, the capitalists, the entrepreneurs & even the aristocracy cannot function without us. Hopefully now they actually realise that. Those with inestimable wealth achieved that through the work of others, or an accident of birth. We need everyone to realise that huge wealth, salaries, bonuses & perks are going to be seen in a new light post Covid 19. The workers, those on the "front lines" understand, in a way that others didn't, that they are what keeps consumerism & capitalism going.

Covid 19 kills indiscriminaltely. It will seriously affect the lives of many people - rich & poor. But probably mostly poor. However the rich will know, too late, that they can't take their wealth with them. It would have been better to share it more equitably as Bill & Miranda Gates have been doing for years.

https://www.biopharma-reporter.com/Article/2020/03/26/Gates-Foundation-partners-with-industry-on-coronavirus

Corona - Dying to Live

Italy now has more than double the total deaths notified than China. 6077 as opposed to 3270 - That is supposing that the figures are accurate, which of course they probably aren't. The UK has moved up to 7th position in the daily death chart.

 

We are at a stage when, if we do what we have been instructed, we can possibly change the course of the disease in the UK. But we aren't doing what we have been told - yet. 

Italy, which has been devastated by this disease, does not seem to have had the same huge problems with non compliance by their population. That despite the fact they have a Maditerranian, very social culture. They have not been food stockpiling in the way self serving people in the UK have. They shop differently - mostly daily & local. I have friends in Lake Como & they haven't had any problems at all, but they don't go into the city to big supermarkets. However the Italians have a much bigger police force than we do. Italy has 456 police per 100,000 people, England & Wales have 208.

Compliance may come down to whether the new measures are enforcable by our police & maybe armed forces. The Army are already in place on the outskirts of London and across the country. We are used to policing by consent. This will be a completely different ball game - Fines of £30 to £1,000 if you don't comply with the emergency measures. We may be asked for identification.

This is not life as we know it. But we don't want people to die unnecessarily. We need to be individually responsible for our actions. If we allow fear & greed to win people will die so that selfish people can live.

 

Corona - Society Unravelling

My lovely husband was a "glass half empty" person. He insisted we had a conversation about what we would do if society as we knew it, fell apart, over 11 years ago. None of the scenarios he considered likely related to a Pandemic. Currently I truly miss the support he would have given me more than ever, but I'm glad he isn't here to see this.

People are not just selfishly stockpiling & panic buying, apparently they are forcing their way into supermarkets & queue jumping at times designated for the elderly , the infirm & key workers.

Supermarket websites are going down because of the volume of traffic. I'm unable to get onto Sainsburys website to register for home delivery despite being "at risk". In fact we are in danger of the internet going down completely as servers can't cope.

People are ignoring safety precautions, not keeping to safe distances.

One by one everything is closing down - pubs, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, the National Trust... Public transport is operating on emergency timetables & rail networks have been taken over by the state. The Government is likely to impliment Emergency Legislation very soon, including imposing fines on non compliance & changes to death & funeral arrangements. The army is on standby.

We have new words in our vocabulary - social distancing, self isolating
https://www.dictionary.com/e/coronavirus-words/

We have new behaviours - handwashing singing "Happy Birthday to you twice"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51914645

We have become information junkies
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51235105

This is life changing for everyone & even life ending for many. It seems to me that the important thing is how we each deal with this. What lessons we learn individually & collectively. Do we succumb to greed, self interest & panic? Or do we discover our innate social & personal humanity?

"To be (good) or not to be, that is the question"

Corona - Isolation

It's the weekend - My home has become my world for 3 months.

The Government response to Covid 19 shows what a dangerous situation we are in. This is a war against an unseen enemy, which will probably change not just my life, but the world we live in - hopefully for the better. I believe the way we have been living was completely unsustainable, so this is an opportunity.

We have, what is possibly a one off chance, to re-evaluate both individually & collectively. Each one of us must use the time this war against the virus gives us, to really think about what we do, how we do it & what harm we are doing with our daily habits.

I simply can't envisage how my life will play out, on my own every day, until the tail end of June. I'm optimistic I will be self sufficient, with a little help from people who can still be outside to shop for me. Obviously I will miss direct contact - We humans are social animals. But I won't be completely cut off because of technology.

I have tried to log on to delivery websites. They are all unavailable & not taking new customers. Obviously I can't go to a big supermarket even if they are opening first thing for people like me. I know of comunity help groups in my area who may shop for me. I have a daughter who lives locally who will shop, providing they don't get the virus.

I'm nowhere near panic, but I am concerned. This is not something I anticipated, although I think I should have. My main concern is what this will do to social cohesion, such as it is. I fear that people will panic. Fear will win. There will be civil unrest.

I am basically an optimist. I believe in the triumph of good over evil. This will be a real test of that optimism, of world governments & big business.

 

Corona - Socialising

Last night I had two good friends round for what will probably be my last social event - Champagne & M&S finger food. It was so enjoyable & very funny at times. The conversation, as always, was wide ranging, although there was a lot about Covid 19 obviously.

We were agreed about the political response to the pandemic. None of us are fans of Boris, but we thought that if you had to be somewhere in circumstances like this, probably the UK is one of the best places.

I can't understand why the Government has been so slow to do anything about the people who are panic buying & worse, those who are profiting from the shortages. They should let the big supermarkets co-ordinate their response. I know why they can't normally do that, but these are not normal times. They should also not allow anyone to buy more than what would be necessary for a family of 4 for a week at the most. That should encompass most of the people in the UK. Average household size in the UK is 2.4 / 1 in 6 people live alone. If the Government don't get a grip on this there will be civil unrest. People are fed up with seeing aisles of empty shelves - It just increases anxiety.

Today I went for what may be my last Osteopath appointment. I'm not concerned about a 5 minute walk there seeing very few people. The virus would have to be very virulent to catch me. The clinic & my lovely Osteopath were completely prepared to minimise risk. I'm not sure what will happen to my pain levels now I can't go again for 3 months or swim. Both these things keep me mobile with a reasonable range of movement. My osteopath is self employed, as is her husband. So unless the Government do something to help people in her position she will face quite a lot of financial hardship. She has two children.

Slowly the things we took for granted in our lives are being eroded away. We are being conditioned to accept radical change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=K0JYFTIo68k

 

Corona - Getting my meds & shopping

My Chemist had started locking the doors & only allowing 2 people in at the same time when I went yesterday to collect my meds. They told me to return today, which I did. About 45 minutes later I finally walked out with everything. I had to queue outside in the cold & rain for ages, everyone standing about a metre apart. Inside there was 1 pharmacist & 1 counter assistant on duty - unsurprisingly they have problems with staff being off sick. They were both working flat out. The phone rang continuously & the pharmacist had to keep ringing out to check & order drugs. The assistant had to serve & keep locking & unlocking the door, plus she had to deal with a big delivery of stock. Apparently every item has to be scanned in as well as unpacked. I felt hugely sorry for them both. Add to that they are risking getting infected themselves. No masks or special equipment. Amazing💖

The big supermarkets are offering an hour at the beginning of the day to people over 70 & those with a disability, so we have some chance of getting what we need before the vultures descend - and in my case before I am isolated at home. My big Sainsburys in Kidlington opens at 7am. So that means they are expecting me & those like me, to get there for 6am. They have no idea! I am not good first thing in the morning & certainly couldn't get up at 5.30 to go food shopping. Those on a limited budget who don't have a car wouldn't be able to use their bus pass. How are they proposing to "police" this? Are they going to ask for proof of age - a bus pass or something? Would we risk making the effort only to find the shelves hadn't been re-stocked?

Also limiting people to 3-5 of the same item just isn't good enough. The stockpiling has been going on for days. Not only shelves of loo rolls, cleaning materials, tins & packets are empty - meat, fruit & veg aisles are also empty. Apparently people are operating a black market for profit too. It's completely unacceptable. The supermarkets & government need to do much better. There is a lot of anxiety & fear.

There are two sides to every coin - a situation like this brings out the very best in some people & the very worst in others. I do hope the positive trumps the negative.

Corona - Pre "Lock Down"

Covid 19 / Corona moves on apace. It is now affecting everyone everywhere.

It seems ironic that having come through the deepest Financial meltdown starting in 2007 & lasting 10 years, then surviving Brexit, we now have to face a worldwide serious Pandemic.

In my little world this is how it's affecting me:-

• I had to withdraw from being a volunteer usher at the Oxford Playhouse last week, because I'm in the "at risk" group - The theatre has now closed down sadly.
• I've done my last stint as a volunteer receptionist at our local Community Centre - They too are closing now anyway.
• The school where I swim 4/5 times a week has stopped us from swimming, although they are still open for the moment.
• I've been in semi, self isolation for a week - Just going out occasionally to shop for food, (but the shelves are bare).
• I've ordered a months worth of all my medication so I don't have to go out for it once it's in.
• I've created a Covid 19 / Corona file on my computer for all the information that is bombarding us.
• I've got contact details for several local groups who are offering help for people like me who are going to be in self isolation for 3 months.
• I've registered for the "Out of hours" membership of the library so I can go in when no one is there.
• Despite the fact that the local Sainsburys supermarket has been visited by plagues of locusts since last week & even the shops round the corner are denuded of almost everything I want, I have a reasonably full freezer & larder cupboard. I am appalled at the totally unnecessary, utter selfishness, of panic buying.

I'm trying to think positively. I'm looking on this as an opportunity to have the tidiest cupboards, get rid of excess stuff & paperwork, read all my books, listen to radio 4 more & do something more creative. I intend to keep fit by learning how to line dance using YouTube.

I will miss proper physical contact with people, but I am fairly good on a computer so can keep in touch. I will miss swimming hugely, but can maybe slip out in the depths of the night & walk. I will really miss seeing my daughter & Grandsons. Living alone is already bad enough.

Corona & Me

"A rarefied gaseous envelope of the sun and other stars / a part of the body resembling a crown". Somehow this seems an inappropriate name for the Corona virus, unless you think of it as an envelope of illness around the world.

Anyway, hitherto I have been very laid back about it. I know that I am in the highly vulnerable group - 75, with several co-morbid chronic conditions & a Pacemaker. But I looked at all the other things I could die from & decided that it wan't a huge risk.

WHO top 10 causes of death 2019

• Heart disease: 647,457.
• Cancer: 599,108.
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936.
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201.
• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383.
• Alzheimer's disease: 121,404.
• Diabetes: 83,564.
• Influenza and pneumonia: 55,672.

I have changed my mind this week. I have also changed the way I intend to live. As the news has got worse about this virus I think it is sensible for me to take the liklihood of catching it seriously. Then I do have to consider the distict possibility that it might kill me.

That is no real problem in fact. Something is going to kill me sooner or later. I would rather it wasn't a virus which could make me very ill indeed though.

The thing that changed my mind was one of my volunteering jobs, working on the reception at NOA community centre. When I arrived for this weeks shift they had a really well thought out set of actions for everyone. So I decided to withdraw from being a volunteer usher at the Oxford Playhouse theatre. I hate letting them down, but I feel that being with a mass audience, even though they will have sensible protocols in place, is too high a risk for me personally.

For the moment I am going to keep going out almost daily for exercise & fresh air. I am going to socialise in small groups, e.g.family. I will avoid unnecessary travel on public transport. I have ordered high alcohol hand sanitizer & will take hygiene very seriously. I haven't rushed to bulk buy anything, but I have already got my normal fairly well stocked freezer & larder. I have plenty of books to read & I have joined the out of hours membership of the library. I can keep in touch through the internet. I have created a group of swimming friends who will hopefully help eachother should the need arise.

I do feel a subtle change. I feel that this virus is a living threat hanging over me & waiting to pounce. I can't see it of feel it, but it is there somewhere. I'm literally dancing with it trying to avoid it if I can.

We all need to be careful & care for others. Maybe, just maybe, this epidemic will make us all look at how we are living our lives. Maybe it will change us & our habits for the better. I hope it will bring out the best in us, the kindness, the altruistism.

There is an opportunity in all of this. Hopefully we will take it.

Worship & Values

"Reverence offered to a divine being or supernatural power - an act of expressing reverence - a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual - extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem e.g. money".

What do I worship? Actually I don't think I worship anything at all. I know what matters to me & what doesn't, but there is truly nothing that I worship.

So I'm wondering what it is that makes so many people feel the need to worship a God. A God that requires belief without any proof of his / her existance.

In 2018 84% of the global population identified with a religious group. In 2015 Christians were the biggest religious group with 2.3 billion adherents or 31.2% of the total world population - Muslims 1.8 billion or 24.1%.

Can we transpose the word Values for Worship? What do we, in the developed world value most? Is it money, posessions, technology, a house or car, clothes.....? Are they the 21st century Gods we worship? Material things?

Have we valued the world we live in enough? - No. Have we valued the huge diversity of flora & fauna we have been given to populate this world? - No. Have we valued the minerals, the fossil fuels that have sustained us for years? - No. Have we acually squandered these valuable & finite resources? - Definitely.

We need to get back to a simpler way of living for all sorts of reasons, mostly because those "things" are not sustainable. We have become obsessed with things. We have lost a sense of wonder in the natural world. We compete with other people to have bigger, better, more up to date things. Consumerism has become the God we worship.

Consumerism relies on destruction & constant replacement. The things we use on a daily basis have built in obsolescence. We require more of everything. More food, more gadgets & gizmos, more fashion changes of clothes & shoes, more coffee houses & restaurants...More, More, More.

It can't go on. The God of the 21st century requires us to worship the ephemeral & in doing so we are destroying our planet. There isn't a Planet B.

The Neediness of Inert Objects - Tech & Robotics

I have just gone through the annoyingly time consuming process of renewing my house insurance. Having done all the checking on switching sites, you then have to negotiate with your current provider to get them to give you a similar deal to the one offered by the websites. You certainly can't take for granted that the price they have quoted is a reasonable one. To be fair, my current provider isn't bad at all.

However I will soon have to do exactly the same thing with my car insurance. Then there is banking too.

It all seems to much of a burden, which I would like to be rid of. Both my car & my house seem to be overly needy of my time & attention.

Society has become infinitely more complex in my lifetime. But so have our individual lives simultaneously. Thank goodness we have interconnectivity I thought. Then I also thought, that very interconnectivity is responsible for leeching away our time & effort.

Mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops are all miracles of technology, but we have allowed them to become our masters not our servants. We all spend far too much time in front of a screen of some sort. Answering & sending emails, researching, using social media, keeping up with news in a way completely unheard of just a few years ago.

Computers in all their forms are the neediest inert objects. They sap our lives, demand our attention like difficult children. We have allowed this stealthy stealing of our time to happen to a point where we are addicted to constant information & stimulation.

Mothers push children in pushchairs on their phones, not talking to the children. People in restaurants will interact with phones whilst having a supposedly social meal with others.

We are experiencing the frightening rise of robots - humanoid, animal & industrial, to name a few.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_robotics
The whole point of some of these robots is to replace living relationships.

That is the extreme form of the "neediness of inert objects" & I think it is truly frightening.