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Thursday, 2 April 2020

COPING DIARY BY FIONA CUMMINGS


Good day Bloggets. I hope to have an early night tonight but as it is past eleven p m now, that is looking doubtful.

I’m not feeling too well. I’m hoping it’s because I over did the gym or because I didn’t eat until 6 pm rather than it be this evil virus that’s falling on us like a blanket of suffocation.

 

I’m coughing, I have the most awful headache and chest pains and a temperature.

But it could be asthma or stress.

 

I can’t remember what day of lockdown we are on in Great Britain, may be twelve? But I am suffering from cabin Fever. I’m missing my friends and my BW and Shamrock.

 

Yesterday Shamrock dropped off a few food items for us and she spoke to me from half way down our drive. I felt so awful not being able to let her in. I hated that so much and as she left to get into her car, I had a lump in my throat. I’m furious now as this virus or, whatever it is, is hurting people, it’s keeping families apart and killing loved ones.

 

 The air quality is so much better though, and it’s so lovely to hear birds in our garden. I live in a city so nice sounding birds just don’t visit. But this week they are. And because the cars on the road have halved, I can actually hear nature.

 

Some people are panicking thinking there isn’t going to be an ending to this. Well I pray there will be and sooner rather than later.

 

There are scientists all over the world trying to find a cure for it. Or at least some vaccination to treat the virus.

 

Our Prince Charles and Prime Minister who both have it, are thankfully on the mend.

 

A couple of very elderly people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 are now on the mend too. But younger people are dying the last young person in the UK, to die was only 13 and they say he was healthy. That is scary for all of us.

 

I must say our Son and Sham have been so good over this as has the young girl in our avenue of all sorts. It seems to be people in later years who are being very irresponsible.

 

Poor Spain and Italy, have lost so many people I just wonder how it seems to be affecting some countries more than others?

 

So, on a personal level, what has this virus meant to me and my Husband.

 

Well we are almost at midnight and my Husband is still working. From home. He starts every morning at 7.50 has a ten-minute break during the day and half an hour for evening meal then works for a few hours, has an hour break then another three or four hours again.

 

So, though it’s great, he’s not working away overnight from home like normal, he is working a few more hours during each day. My Son is working from his own house as is Shamrock. But because my Boy Wonder has nowhere to go apart from a local walk around where he lives, he is working more overtime than ever. I do worry about his eyes as he is doing too much screen work.

 

We are the lucky ones, so, far, we seem to be OK, though I’m really not feeling too well. And we all have jobs. There are a lot of people who just don’t have an income right now and no savings. They still have children to feed, bills to pay and a future to plan. But with no wages coming in and no outlook of a positive future getting a job, I expect they are terrified right now.

 

We can not get a grocery slot. We are lucky as we have our family who can drop the odd thing off. But I hate asking for help. Normally I hate the word vulnerable. Because we are blind, we are considered to be that. I know a load of sighted people who are miles more vulnerable than us. Haha. But anyway, vulnerable people, or as they dreadfully call us. “The vulnerable”” The. How bad is that?

Are entitled to get priority grocery slots. All on line shopping apps are down but their main websites are up and running. Slow. But when it comes to booking a slot, even though I have the title with my Husband that V word, we still can’t get on line to shop. We have to firstly go onto Gov.co.uk and fill in a form to say we are vulnerable.

 

We looked at the check list and believe it or not, we are not entitled to get priority slots for groceries to be delivered.

 

So, we are always given the V title until it comes to being fed. Perhaps they have seen the mass of the Fifi? Hhehehehehe

 

And imagine this,

ice rinks are to be used as mortuaries.

So sad, but when, this is over with, please God, who would fancy skating again on them?

There is talk that the 40,000 elephants in Thailand, are going to starve because tourists are not visiting and the people who normally feed them are ill. Well set them free instead of chaining them up for tourists to pay to put money into humans’ pockets? Let those people paint beautiful pictures of them photograph them and make elephant statues for houses and gardens? Drive trucks with tourists to see them as free as they were born to be, I know that maybe they wouldn’t survive because they have been in capture too long and this is the tragedy. Pay people to protect them rather than remove them from their natural world. It’s like the days I used to visit the amazing Gorky park in Moscow. Back then it was a truly magical place, before horrid Perestroika spoiled it. The only sad thing I saw was tiny bears with chains tying them to chairs, for tourists to photograph. Horrid and now I learn that China are back with their evil markets full of poor innocent animals like cats and dogs for the horrid people to eat. The poor animals are still alive in cages. they certainly have not learned from this virus.

 

As for shopping for groceries on line again, it’s almost impossible to get a slot for delivery or pick up. Not that we can pick up but if there was a slot, we would probably get a taxi driver to collect our groceries, not the best thing, but such is life. again, we are lucky our kids could do that for us. We can’t visit shops the few that are open, as A, we wouldn’t get assistance. B, we couldn’t stand where the markers are on the ground, and a simple thing like making them tactile seems to have been out of the designers of the markers imagination. And C, can you think of the challenge, when we got to the till how we would manage to find the food on the counter pack it and pay using contactless but remember you can only spend on contactless I think it’s up to £45 now. where is the machine? Haha, we would be able to do all of that as long as we got a semi intelligent person or at least one with common sense  on the till who would know her or his left from their right so they can direct us to know where the machine is to wave our payment card.

 

Try calling local butchers, fruit and veg even bakeries are now delivering to your house and milk men are up 70% in sales. They can not only deliver your milk but yogurts and other produce. Thank God for the internet. China so far have not been able to take over our internet providers. Not, yet!

 

To all those who are working to keep our country going, a huge thank you and I pray you will be all safe. From Police to medics to fire fighters, to shop staff and all those who are on the other side of phones. To all those kind souls who are checking neighbours to see if they are OK to the amazing staff at our Guide Dogs team who are again, at the end of a phone as I imagine there are so many people who are blind who are in a really bad way right now. please if your neighbour is blind or with poor sight, please make sure they are OK by knocking on their door, shouting through the closed door or stepping back when they answer. And for those who are blind, please be careful who you give money to. For all of you who are making lives easier, God bless you!

 

 

 

 

 

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