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Covid-19 Diary - 17th June - Hump Day

Covid-19 Diary – 17th June – Hump Day

One of the characteristics of the pandemic has been that the days have tended to blur into each other. I was convinced for most of the day that it was a Thursday, but apparently it was Wednesday, although I’m now writing this on Thursday morning, just to confuse me further. One of the good things about writing a diary has been that at least it helps me keep track of what day and date it is.

Pre-p…

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Covid-19 Diary - 15th June - When is a lockdown not a lockdown?

Covid-19 Diary – 15th June – When is a lockdown not a lockdown?

I still find myself habitually referring to the current situation as a lockdown, or the lockdown, but I’m not sure if that is still what it is. I can go out, I can see friends and family, (even go round their housesin the occasional instance). Many of us can go to work, and as of today we can go to non-essential shops. The current situation is a lot of things, but apart from those people who are…

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Covid-19 Diary - 14th June - In Law

Covid-19 Diary – 14th June – In Law

Popping round to my wife’s mums’ house would not normally be an especially notable event, but this marked the first time we had been in anyone else’s house for over 3 months. She lives alone, so could now be part of our ‘support bubble’. She had already been round to sit out with us in the garden a couple of times in recent weeks, but this felt different, better, more normal.

The kids seemed…

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Covid-19 Diary - 12th June - Rain

Covid-19 Diary – 12th June – Rain

One bit of luck we’ve had during the pandemic is that the weather has remained mainly dry, so that those of us fortunate enough to have access to outdoor spaces have been able to use them pretty much whenever we liked. So it comes as a bit of a shock when we have a day where we cannot.

The day started with walking my daughter to school in rain that I thought was relatively light, but soon became…

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Covid-19 Diary - 1st June - Black Lives Matter

Covid-19 Diary – 1st June – Black Lives Matter

Well, after Donald Trumps’s speech today, I no longer think that coronavirus is the scariest thing about 2020. I have seen various people suggest over the last few years that if Trump loses the election in 2020 he will simply refuse to leave, and I’ve always been sceptical of the idea, but I’m getting less and less sure. The most commonly used comparison is Germany in the 1930s under Hitler, but…

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Covid-19 Diary - 31st May - Socialising

Covid-19 Diary – 31st May – Socialising

Today was the first time I’d arranged to see one of my friends, in person, for over 3 months. As I wrote a little while back, I don’t actually see my friends that much even in normal times due to small children and geographical distance, but even I usually manage to see one or two of them in that amount of time.

It has been a couple of weeks since the rules changed, allowing us to meet a friend…

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COVID-19 Diary - 24th May - Comoros

COVID-19 Diary – 24th May – Comoros

A tough day today, when I felt like I’d finally reached my limit with the lockdown. The ongoing Dominic Cummings sagawas a background annoyance, but really it was the relentlessness of work, childcare and very little else that started to get to me. Also, the lack of anything to look forward. Even in normal times work and childcare make up a pretty high proportion of my time, but usual there is a…

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COVID-19 Diary - 5th May - No Aloha

COVID-19 Diary – 5th May – No Aloha

Woke up in a bit of a funk after a tough day yesterday, but the day soon improved, thanks to the kids. My daughter decided she wanted to have a party whilst I made breakfast, and asked to put a record on. To my delight, she chose ‘Last Splash’ by The Breeders (because it was the most colourful record in our collection apparently), and we had a bop around the front room to Cannonball, an excellent…

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COVID-19 Diary - 18th April - Money

COVID-19 Diary – 18th April – Money

18/4/20

An excellent start to the day when I got in the car to head off for our weekly supermarket shop, turned the key, and got an awful noise instead of the purr of the engine (I inadvertently made the woman I spoke to on the phone at the RAC laugh by attempting to do an impression of this noise). One call out later, a replacement battery, and £139 gone, just like that.

Our finances as a family…

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COVID-19 Diary - 15th April - Exit Strategy

COVID-19 Diary – 15th April – Exit Strategy

15/4/20

The day started with Keir Starmer demanding the government release an exit strategy. For once, I agree with the Conservatives, that this is being a little premature. At least another week or two to see if we are actually through the peak before we start talking about the exit. In, any case, the goverment had no clear entrance strategy, or any sort of workable strategy during the worst of…

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COVID-19 Diary - 10th April - Sleep

COVID-19 Diary – 10th April – Sleep

10/4/20

I expected the children to sleep badly during this lockdown. They wouldn’t be using up all their energy charging around with their friends at school at nursery, and they wouldn’t be doing swimming, dance or any of their other tiring activities. When combined with the longer days, and potential coronavirus worries (at least for the elder one), it seemed the situation would lend itself to…

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COVID-19 Diary - 2nd April - Food

COVID-19 Diary – 2nd April – Food

2/4/20

A larger proportion of my day involved Asda than I would have expected. I will spare you the boring details, but suffice to say it involved me getting irate with someone in a call centre. This behaviour is both bad and pointless, but something about stress related to food seems to bring out the worst in me. My wife has noted that I get especially tense in restaurants, if we have to wait…

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COVID-19 Diary - 31st March - Potty Training

COVID-19 Diary – 31st March – Potty Training

31/3/20

As if trying to educate a 5 year old whilst simultaneously trying to entertain a 2 year old wasn’t enough, we thought we’d throw a bit of potty training into the mix. To be fair, we’ll never have a better opportunity than this. The hardest part of potty training is always when you’re out and about, I seem to remember from the first time round, including one memorable incident where my…

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COVID-19 Diary - 27th March - Friday Feeling

COVID-19 Diary – 27th March – Friday Feeling

27/3/20

The end of the first week of our new way of life. All things considered it went pretty well. Some frustrations with home working, although not as much as my wife who experienced more of the technical difficulties of an entire organisation converting to working from home. I was probably equally productive as I would have been in the office, even if I found it easier to lose concentration…

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COVID-19 Diary - 21st March - Every Day Is Like Sunday

COVID-19 Diary – 21st March – Every Day Is Like Sunday

21/3/20

Saturday would normally mean a flustered start to the day, getting my son ready and out the door for his swimming lesson. Saturday morning has typically been a time for activities for our kids, swimming, dance, gymnastics and such like. It’s always suited me, as I have tended to feel more at ease taking the children to do things, whether structured activities, or just tiring themselves…

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COVID-19 Diary - 19th March

COVID-19 Diary – 19th March

19/3/20

Test day working from home today, in advance of moving to fully working from home next week. I say working from home, but today was mostly trying to sort out technical problems rather than actual work. The University I work for has been somewhat slow to respond to this crisis, which has left it in a real rush this week to set up the vast majority of its’ workforce for working from home…

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All Nerve - 25 Years In Love with The Breeders

All Nerve – 25 Years In Love with The Breeders

Even back then,  a quarter of a century ago, when my taste in music was barely starting to form and everything seemed exciting and new, I knew ‘Cannonball’ was something extraordinary. With its’ stop-start rhythms, distorted vocals and mysterious sounds, it was an alien form of the indie-rock music I was falling in love with.  It was the single of the year in the NME, (they also named Bjork’s…