As this situation drags on, it even seems to be geting to the local dogs. I was awakened early by dogs barking in nearby gardens, and that set off some ‘yappy dogs’ on the street outside. Very soon, there was some kind of ‘Canine Concerto’ happening, and getting back to sleep was impossible.
During the current lockdown, even allowing for the recent ‘easing of restrictions’, waking up early is not advised. With nowhere much to go, it makes a long day feel a whole lot longer. We can of course drive to the coast if we wish, but there are still no cafes or public toilets open, so maybe not a good idea. Not much point going into town to look around the shops, as only the food shops and chemists are open at the moment.
Uncertain weather doesn’t help either. Depending which forecast you look at, we are due to have either a dry humid day up to 24 C, or a 60% chance of thundery showers in the same temperatures. The obvious conclusion is that it is going to feel uncomfortably humid, whatever happens.
Next week, ‘non-essential’ shops are allowed to open. I predict there will be a rush on for hairdressers and barbers, as well as people browsing in gift shops, charity shops, and card shops, just because they can. Not because they actually want to buy anything. The local supermarkets are retaining the same distancing measures and queueing system, and I think that’s a good idea. When Macdonalds reopened last week, the queue for the drive-through brought local traffic to a standstill. Imagine if the restaurant had opened too.
People are craving what they were used to, and will not hesitate to have it once they can. All this talk of the world ‘changing’ becuase of the Coronavirus is just fantasy, I’m afraid. They will jump in their cars, head to the shoppping malls, book holidays abroad on jet planes, pack out any public venues that actually open, and get back to ‘normal’ in a heartbeat, as if nothing had happened.
Don’t believe me? Wait and see.
Did your prediction become true, Pete? Here honestly isnt any difference to the lockdown. But its a special village too.Much of the earnings of citizens working outside come from the so-called reimbursement of travel expenses. Here one save by – perhaps not quite legally 😉 – carpooling, but by settled your own trip quite regularly. 😉
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There were large crowds for the shop openings in all big cities, Michael. In London, they didn’t follow the social distancing in some shops, and elsewhere too, people were going ‘buying-crazy’.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Are the barbers and hairdressers open in Beetley? I thought they had to be closed until 4 July.
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No, I was wrong about that. I don’t use them of course, so thought they were also opening this week. Oops! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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True words, Pete!
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I would love to be wrong of course.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I would, too, but don’t hold your breath. Best to you, Pete.
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Today the Chiswick roundabout was mental again, like days of old. People were beeping their horns like they do in Cairo.
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It’s even geting busier around here, after just the ‘first day’.
Cheers, Pete.
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Here the hairdressers where one of the first places to open, but had to be prebooked, only one person at a time, wearing a mask… They organised it by phases depending on the number of cases in each region, so here, in Barcelona, we’re still lagging behind, but the actual state of emergency will officially end next Monday. Shops had to implement distancing measures and only allow in a limited number of people depending on the size of the shop, and shopping malls only opened in the second phase, and with restrictions again. Beaches are proving tricky, as they only opened to the public (before it was only for sports professionals and training) last week, and they are checking the numbers with sensors, created a web one could check, and had to close several of them because people kept coming.
Everybody is tired of restrictions, but it’s a risk for everybody, not only those who don’t follow instructions.
Take care, Pete.
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Beaches and leisure facilities do seem to be the places where correct social distancing is ignored the most. With tourism opening up in Europe again soon, I fear that the virus might well get out of control once more.
Best wishes, Pete.
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The dogs round here are getting walked off their feet!
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We have people here sitting around the river as if they are on a beach in California. It’s crazy!
Cheers, Pete.
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Ha ha…..same here…..perhaps we’ll see Stoke opening up beaches on the Trent to rival Nice….🙄🤣
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Yes, they will ignore all the risks and do their thing and die and never be concerned until they feel the ventilator being strapped to their face. It is the same here in the USA! Reckless, irresponsible uninformed unfortunates taking their lives in their own hands for the sake of a little instant self gratification.
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Ture, John. And risking the lives of the rest of us in the process.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I fear your final paragraph summation of people’s response to the easing of restrictions, ‘going forward’, is correct: we seem, as a nation [whatever that actually means], to be immune from learning from our adversities & misfortunes, preferring to be ruled by self-interest. Whether the virus will return to bite us again, figuratively speaking, after this lemming-like rush back to ‘normality’ remains to be seen. Cheers, Jon.
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As with any of my ‘predictions of doom’, Jon, I really hope to be proved wrong.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hair as a cost of dying….me? I will stay away and live a few days longer. chuq
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I would sooner end up looking like Santa Claus than risk dying of the virus. 🙂
Best wishes, Pet.
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LOL
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I think the fatalities need to go up quite a bit more in the second wave to make more people sit up and take it seriously. Then of course the vaccine will be delayed!
I dont think it will go back to normal anytime soon as the impacts on the economy take a long time to filter through, but when they do sociality will either breakdown or have to come up with something different. Forever the optimist 🙂
There was a rumour in our nearest town that someone has Covid, the shops emptied, the schools shutdown again and the tattered masks came out of everyone’s pockets.
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The economic impact has yet to really hit. That will likely last for the lifetime of your kids, and force changes in work practices and society that we can only imagine right now.
Best wishes, Pete.
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you called it right. That is the attitude here in the states and we have dramatic increases of cases. i am only socialising with my immediate family members as we are all isolating still. Ordering groceries etc. I am in awe that people are bored with the conditons so much as to risk their health . . .and the health of others. stay safe and well, your fan michele
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Thanks very much, Michele. I am very pleased to hear that you are still keeping a low profile.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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No, I don’t think we have changed. But I think it will take a year to get there.
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A vaccine is the only definite answer, and that is still a long way off.
Stay safe, dear Cindy.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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You, too.
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I did finally get the hair cut tool you recommended to me months ago. It had been on back order for quite a while. I watched the video “easy hair cut” three times and then did my husband’s hair. It is pretty good for a first try. I still have to get a little better around the ears. Right now one is higher than the other!
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Glad to hear it worked. I never try for a ‘neat finish’. If it’s all roughly the same length, that works for me. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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HI Pete. Our Republican governor has Florida opening and cases have begun to spike dramatically here. No one in state government here really gives a rat’s ass so long as hospitals have available beds and are not overwhelmed. Which means that older folks like us are on our own.
What it comes down to is that we are all responsible for our own health and safety. I currently only go out for groceries or doctor’s appointments. I wear a mask and will continue to do so. Without a vaccine I can take there is no going back. So I won’t be eating out, going to the mall or crowded places or sporting events anytime soon. We will simply have to get used to it. Best from Florida. Stay well.
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Thanks, Frank. I know you are a sensible man, and will be cautious.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Like everyone else, I wish we could go back to the time before the coronavirus. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be possible, at least not until there is a reliable vaccine that can be mass produced and distributed. In other words, not for a while. The only unknown factor is how many more lives will be lost before the nay-sayers understand that.
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I fear that everyone will rush to do ‘too much too soon’ immediately they are allowed to do so. I am carrying on as if restrictions have not been relaxed.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Here lockdown started to brake down a few weeks before the govt gave the green light, the final straw as far as the general well behaving population was concerned was when the PM basically endorsed the mass marches while small – medium business’s were closing or laying off staff. but a happy smiling face saying ‘be kind” works wonders as far as the rest of the world is concerned.
A live, open to public rugby game was played here last night and it does appear that we are returning to a pre lockdown way of life, oh yes I went to the game. No new normal just the same old same old.
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I can only imagine that a mass-attendance sportng event (or musig gig) is just asking for trouble.
Take care, Bobby.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I get frustrated with human behavior; it is so predictable at times. First, there was the feeling of invincibility as in “this could never happen to me.” Next, there was the predictable “we better take this seriously.” Finally, when people tired of sheltering in place, there is “I’m doing what I want. The government can’t tell me what to do.” Can I please scream? I understand that we can’t stay in a bubble forever, but there is little to suggest this is reaching its end.
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You sum up my own attitude succinctly, Pete.
Best wishes, Pete.
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The riots and protests could not have happened at a worse time. COVID-19 cases are up in quite a few states, and indications are that the crowded streets are largely responsible.
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I think ours were already increasing after people started to crowd onto beaches and other leisure areas during the hot spell in May.
Thanks, david.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, the state of California has been one of the most aggressive in shutting down, and the easing of restrictions are just now beginning – and yet we had our worst day for new cases since this crisis began – no end in sight, but here in the US we have a number of people who consider it “an acceptable loss”…
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I saw that phrase used today about the situation in Brazil. Where deaths are considered ‘acceptable’ to get the economy up and running again.
Now we have had BLM demonstrations in cities here, some ministers are blaming the protestors for any ‘second wave’ that appears. It all seems to be falling apart.
Best wishes, Pete.
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oh i totally agree with you, Pete. non-essential stores are now open here and it is shocking to see the number of cars in the parking lot. i saw people wearing masks so that is good but didn’t go in any store. i hope social distancing is enforced. 🥰
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So many of the people wearing masks here don’t have them covering their noses. They might as well not bother.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yet, here, at least, the pandemic rages on–open or not open. And all the things you predict are happening as is the spread in places that thought they were immune. Warmest regards, Theo
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I think we should be bracing for that ‘second wave’, Theo.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Over here, the first wave isn’t done except in places like NY and NJ. We have no national strategy as twitler wants to reopen the economy as he thinks it is the key to his re-election–death to all who oppose twitter (his actions suggest that is his motto). Warmest regards, Theo
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Yep. That’s what’s happening here and cases, hospitalizations and deaths are increasing.
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Those people are just making it much harder for the rest of us. The ‘sensible ones’ now have to be twice as careful.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I totally agree with you. I wish that folks will pause to think and reflect. We certainly have all the time in the world to do that…
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Even in the small place where I live, I have seen peope jump at the chance to do anything, once they are allowed to. Whether playing sports in groups, or crowding into cars to go to Macdonalds. I can only imagine what that will be like once the populous cities open up fully.
Thanks, Margie.
Best wishes, Pete.
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We took the bikes up to High Lodge, Thetford this morning. It was lovely cycling along the bike trails in the sunshine with no cars! People were happy to be out.
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Glad to hear you had a good time in the forest, Stevie. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Unfortunately, I think you are right, Pete. There may not be a return to the same level of pre-Covid holiday flights just yet but it’ll come – though some European countries are making it clear they don’t the British stag night groups to return!
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I am sure there will be many changes, Mary. But I am equally sure that the all-inclusive family holidays to sunny European countries (and Florida) are not that far off returning.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’m not so sure about that, Pete. The economic effect of this three month shutdown has only just started to be felt. People are not going to have as much money to throw around as they have in the past. I agree that the change for many people will not be a willing one. The recent changes to the business world may not disappear either, also do to financial constraints. I am not convinced that business travel will ever return to pre-covid levels.
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You are probably right about businesses, Robbie. But I feel sure that most people will still rush to the shops, and go on holiday. Many have actually saved quite a lot during lockdown, unable to spend on leisure pursuits, in pubs or restaurants, or in clothes shops.
But I would be very happy if I am proved wrong.
Best wishes, Pete.
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The only thing that might deter potential vacationers heading abroad is the cost of airline tickets. That’s still very much up in the air – pun intentional.
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Yes, and having to wear a mask during the flight. Like they will take any notice of that once they are airborne! 🙂
Cheers, Pete.
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I do believe you, Pete….sadly
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I would love to be wrong, Sue.
Best wishes, Pete.
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That’s two of us
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Got my hair lady booked for July 9th, won’t be going shopping anytime soon though, sod the tax evasion Amazon dot com is my friend. And I agree, back to stupid normal fast as F.
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The rubbish from Macdonalds was chucked out of cars all around here on day one. The virus hasn’t gone away, and neither has ‘stupid and inconsiderate’. Sadly.
Best wishes, Pete.
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🙄 no surprise really.
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I think hairdressers are closed until July! *mops long fringe away from eyes in order to type*
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You could be dead right. I don’t have enough hair left to know about such things. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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In Australia, the hairdressers and barbers stayed open, they are an ‘essential service’ apparently. I’m not unhappy about that, but a bit bemused.
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They wouldn’t be essential for me, as I have cut (clippered) my own hair for a very long time now. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I was thinking about possibly trimming my own hair back in March, I think it was, but then I realised that would be a terrible idea. I know how to clip a schnauzer, but that doesn’t help at all with my won hair! And I’m not sure if my clippers still work, I haven’t had a schnauzer for a few years now.
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I agree with you 100% – I’ve been saying that too from the beginning – No New Normal – just a slide back to the old one at a rapid rate.
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Thanks, Lucinda. I would like to be wrong, but…
Best wishes, Pete.
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