Life in Time of Coronavirus 12

June has been really wet and stormy - some spectacular lightning shows. One night we went out in the back yard to watch the sheet lightning lighting up the neighbourhood! Until it started raining heavily!
Walks have been curtailed quite a lot - so feeling sluggish and more tired - weirdly.
Slowly working our way through or new Marvel jigsaw.
Yesterday (21st June) was Father's Day - so all 3 of us went for a very pleasant drive to Endon to visit my dad. We had to stay in the back garden and my dad chatted to us from the conservatory at the back of Marjorie's bungalow. Tried to chat - although M did interrupt a lot to tell us how marvellous her family are and to utter racist threats against Chine - as they have obviously trying to take over the world by making this coronavirus in a lab and unleashing it on the world. Didn't really explain how it works when their own population were the first badly affected. She still wants to nuke the whole country though.

I had bought my dad some Eat Your Drink novelty jellies. They are made from whisky - which he likes - and are proper strong. "Eat 5 and you can't drive!" Also came with socks with CHEERS on them!

I also had got a variety cocktail pack for us to try - and they are really nice! You can tell they have a good amount of alcohol in them. I had read about them in The Metro - and ordered them from their website.

This week is predicted to be another heatwave - at last! I have a new fence panel in the back yard waiting to be cut to size and installed and thee is some more fence along the bottom to paint in my cool green colour.

Hopefully it will get done!

Last Friday I had a Zoom get-together with the box office team from the theatre. Mandy (manager) didn't turn up until the last 5 minutes - and Linds seem to try at the very end but failed. Talked to Taz, Lou, Emily and Pete though - and Kay (who is marking person and Pete's sister) Taz says she's been doing nothing during lockdown - apart from all our quizzes! Lou has got herself an extra job at Tesco - she works 2 days  week 5am-10am putting together online orders for delivery. She was very rpoud to have met her deadlines everyday. She has also designed and built a wardrobe from scratch - which looked really good.

Pete seems to have a grown a beard and Emily had to spend the money she had saved to buy a pole (for her pole dancing practice) on a Shark hoover as her old hoover packed up. She has also become addicted to crossword puzzle books.

I asked for people's Netflix suggestions - and Pete's wife, Lisa piped up from somewhere in his room about a load of true crime ones. Not sue fi they are my cup of tea though. Taz had watched Afterlife - and loved it though it was so sad. it must have been a hard watch for her as she lost her dad just at the start of this pandemic. (Not Covid though) I really rate Ricky Gervais now - fantastic series. He is writing series 3 right now.

Laura and I finished Dead to me - which was brilliant, funny, sad and surprising all the way though. Now waiting for series 3 of that too. Loved both characters and their complicated friendship!

Emily did say that all was well with the theatre and its cashflow (not sure how - what cashflow?) Today (Monday) they are starting to rip all the old seats out and the builders have set up a "wellness tent" on the car park for their workers welfare. Not sure how they are working - hardly anyone is allowed in the building. So the theatre will look fabulous soon - but who knows when it will reopen>

Bojo is meant to be making another announcement today about the 2m distancing rule - which businesses are clamouring to be reduced so they can open and make money. However, it is only meant to be safe if we have a track and trace system in place. The government have abandoned the "world-beating app" they were testing in the Isle of Wight - as it doesn't work with the Apple system. Not sure if they are going to use the one that does work - made by Google and Apple - that the rest of the world is using.

Most non-essential shops are now open - although we haven't been tempted to go out at all. No news on pubs and restaurants yet - although they are hoping the proposed date of July 6th could happen. It will depend on the 2m rule though. it had been suggested for that date if they had tables outside and people ordered via an app rather than crowding around a busy indoor bar/counter.

We shall see...

Life in the time of Coronavirus 13

Well, on Monday Laura had a phone call asking her to go back into her office on Wednesday 1st July. She has been staying here with us for exactly 3 months. We packed up her stuff and food and went back to her flat on Tuesday - I helped her clean the bathroom which gets black mould in it . Spoke to her after her first day - via Duo video calling. She'd managed to get back into her work jeans! She was the only one from her team in the office - and when she got there she had a computer there with her name on so she knew where to sit. There are 2 other guys from the other team in there with her and they are spaced out. There are anti-bac cleaning stations thee too. They all had to do some retraining via video links again - then were given simple tasks to start them off. It is hard to get straight back into something when you haven't done it for over 3 months.

She seemed quite happy though - so hopefully she'll be okay. The call centre is in another room - with around 60 people in there - but there are still 100 of them at home.

One good thing is now that she is back on full wages she can re-apply for her mortgage. The estate agent said they are ready to go with the flat as soon as she has that back in place. I think a visit to the flat might be in order before she buys it as it is over a year since she viewed it! Hopefully it is still in good order as it has ben empty all this time.

So, we managed to finish our Marvel jigsaw before she went. The box had said it was impossible - but we did it!

Also while we were in lockdown together we managed to grow some plants! M&S gave me some seeds once when I shopped there - so I grew the peppers and L grew the violas. Then Dom brought over some rhubarb plants from my dad's garden in Cheadle.

They are all doing really well and have now been transferred outside. I don't have a garden here - just a yard - but they are doing okay in pots!

So, L went home to her flat on Tuesday - and tomorrow (Friday) we are having another visitor! My neice Zoe is hoping to do an intensive training course down at Stafford Uni -so that she will be able to be a relief ambulances driver for the NHS. She has been in St John's Ambulance for years and she really wants to do this. As she lives in York she needs somewhere to stay. The first day will be an assessment to see if she is suitable - and if she passes that then it could be the next 3 weekends. As she has been at home with her mum and dad - after Bournemouth Uni closed, where she was studying forensic science - and both Damian and Jan are working from home I think she should be safe in our bubble.

The latest from the government is that despite daily deaths being 170-180 they are opening all the pubs and restaurants on July 4th - a Saturday. Boris is telling people to be careful and not go crazy - but I can see carnage happening! Checked our local The Wulstan - and it is also opening. You have to book a table - whether you are eating or just going for a drink. They need a contact number in case you have to be traced later if someone had it. They say that the inside of the pub is very different - with tables being spaced out. No-one is allowed to congregate around a fruit machine or in a smoking area. You are also encouraged to order food from the app instead of going to the bar. And pay remotely.

I can't see many people keeping to those guidelines for long - especially when they've had a few drinks. Seems like a recipe for disaster - so we are not going any time soon. Even before all this happens they have already had a massive spike in Covid infections in Leicester - so that whole city is on lockdown again.

Life in Time of Coronavirus 11

Every day seems the same now.

Every day at 5pm there is a Corona briefing - rarely given by the PM usually some poor government minister who has to try to defend their record and the chaos since Dominic Cummings broke the rules. It was actually Boris today - no-one sees him from one week to the next - he only comes out because he has to attend PMQs and get his weekly grilling from Sir Keir Starmer. No-one knows what he does for the rest of the week. he is never prepared for the questions or briefing he does do. Seems to make it up as he goes along.
The most damning nws recently was today when one of his scientific advisors said the it the lockdown had happened just 1 week early the death toll - currently over 50000 would have been HALVED.  
BBC News

"The number of coronavirus deaths in the UK would have been halved if lockdown had been introduced a week earlier, a former government adviser has said.

Prof Neil Ferguson, whose advice was crucial to the decision to go into lockdown, said the outbreak had been doubling in size every three or four days before measures had been taken."

It is true that we are one of the worst affected countries in the world.

In other news - now that my windowsill peppers are growing so well, Nathan bought me an avocado growing kit. Just need to take the stone out of an avocado and peel off its skin - and put it in this avocado boat and float it in some water. In 1-3 months it will sprout and start to grow into a tree. I'll let you know how that goes!

Have finished another 1000 piece jigsaw - this one with shelves of Christmas books. It was fun to do - might do it again nearer Christmas!

Laura has now ordered a Marvel 1000 one - so we are making a start on that one. It says it is "impossible" - but there are so many faces and outfits it shouldn't be too difficult to get it done.

We are going to have a massive collection of jigsaws by the time we are allowed out and things get back to normal - if they ever do!

The last Zoom meeting at the theatre was a bit dispiriting - as now most staff have been put on furlough "for a period of pause and reflection" The Board Meeting last week sounds like it didn't go so well. Fiona said they could see a few "cons" with her plan of opening again in September. However the refurb is actually going ahead this week - we have been sent plans and an artist's impression of the new auditorium with its new purple seats. At least there will be SOME activity at the theatre over the summer. Not sure when I will be called back in again. Still no news from the government when theatres can reopen.

Boris is considering reducing the 2m distancing rule to 1m - under pressure from businesses - but our Covid R rate is still too high to consider that safe just yet.


Still streaming 3 quizzes a week on Mixer - as well as hosting a Community Games Night online on Saturday nights for people from Interference and the quizzes to play some silly Jackbox games - which you can join in via your phones. I enjoy that - although it was better when Rubbafish was doing it (he started it) but he is struggling right now and not feeing up to it. So, Nathan has to set it up and take control. It is still fun though.

Life in the Time of Coronavirus 10

 On Monday - with the lockdown regulations being relaxed - we were allowed to see up to 6 people in your garden as long as we still stay 2 metres away from each other. So, I got to see Dominic and Sharon! I let them come in through the back gate into the yard - and they sat on our swinging seat.

They had just been over to Endon to drop some medication off for my dad. They'd chatted to him through the door - he didn't come out to them.

It was lovely to see them both and have a proper conversation. Much nicer than a phone call. They both looked really well - they are walking over 10000 steps everyday. They have discovered a lake behind JCB full of ducks and another at Hales Hall. They stayed less than an hour - maybe I might go over to Cheadle soon and visit their garden.

The next day we had a special delivery - arranged by Nathan's dad. It was a Survival Pack - from Lymestone breweries! It was delivered by Brad who said that he was doing okay. He has 2 pubs - one in Stone and ne in Newcastle which are both closed at the moment. He said that they had always meant to set up an online shop for their brewery - and had never got round to it. Now they have had to in order to survive. He said it was going pretty well - in fact sometimes better than when he was selling to places like Wetherspoons and had to wait 48 days for payment - this way he gets paid within a couple of days!

The pack contained bottles of Lymestone beer, Stray Cat cider and crisps! he'd even included two glasses, beer mats and some puzzles. it was great!

The weather has been gorgeous - but it changed today (Wednesday) L and I made a chocolate chip banana loaf which was yummy. We didn't go for a walk as it was rainy. We are almost finished with our latest 1000 piece jigsaw - which is of shelves of Christmas books! We are running out of jigsaws!

 

Life in the Time of Coronavirus 9

Apparently the Health Secretary (or Death Secretary as he's being called on Twitter) Matt Hancock has said we can start to loosen the lockdown and see up to 6 people outside . Boris said we can have bbqs - but Chris Whitty stood awkwardly next to him in that Daily briefing looked very uncomfortable and added that we had to still observe 2m social distancing and bring our own food plates condiments - and if you have to go in the house to the loo - wash everywhere down afterwards! Doesn't sound much fun.

The problem is the R rate - which is how many people get infected from each infected person is supposed to be below 1 before you do this. It is only just under that - but we are still getting way over 300 deaths per day. I am not sure if I trust this instruction.

As Dominic Cumming is still in the newspapers every day - with criticism of his actions mounting - Boris is trying to give people something to distract them. He knows how much we are missing friends and family - and he is trying to just deflect attention from all the calls for him to sack his SPAD DC.

In other words it is a political decision - not one guided by the science. He'd rather have extra people die than lose his special advisor - and that is disturbing.

So, our instincts are to continue to stay home as much as possible I can't see that I will be called into work for a while yet - as who would want to be in a theatre full of other people in an enclosed space yet? Or ever? So I will stay home as long as I can.

Laura has had emails from her work that say they are putting in distancing and safety measures in place and bringing a few people at a time. She doesn't know when she will go back though. She has been refused a mortgage extension though - while she is on furlough - so if her flat purchase does get ready for completion - she no longer has a mortgage! It has already taken over 12 months - it seems like it is never meant to be!

I don't like the idea that once she does go back to work - she will have to move back to her rented flat. It would be risky for us if she stays here and is working with loads of other people. We'll have to see.

Little Easter Bunnies

Posh Fox for Sharon

Lemon Biscuits

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dom and Sharon have asked if they can come round one day next week. They have to go over to Endon to take my dad his latest batch of medication. So I aid thy could come into the back garden and we can distance and have a chat. I am actually really excited to think we can see them again. They have been isolating really well - and so I trust them to be okay. They still have Nathan's birthday gifts - and I have their Easter Eggs here. Well, kind of. I got them little Easter bunnies crocheted by Tracy - and each with a Cadbury Crème Egg inside. I did eat the eggs though - so I have ordered some more from Amazon!

I still have the fox head that I knitted for Sharon too. Would be lovely to see them.

Me and L have been baking again - this week two types of cookies - lemon drizzle ones that I made and choc chip pnut ones from Lol.We are gong to emerge from lockdown much fatter than when we went in!

Life in the Time of Coronavirus 8

Getting a bit fed up of lockdown now.

All this week there has been nothing on the news except how the (special advisor to the) PM Dominic Cummings has been breaking lockdown and driving to Durham with his sick wife and child. Then had a day out to Barnard Castle for his wife's birthday. Quite extraordinary - given that he was the guy who made the rules and the slogan STAY HOME SAVE LIVES. Needless to say everyone is livid - but BoJo will not sack him. He really doesn't have a clue what to do without him I guess.

I think Marina Hyde explained it best in The Guardian

Here I have had a second staff meeting via Zoom with the New Vic. Still not a lot of concrete information - given that the general consensus is that theatres will be one of the last places that will be allowed to reopen - and who knows what restrictions will still be in place.

The Plan A - is to commence productions from September. They have put together a new schedule some of the plays we were going to put on and a few one night events they have managed to reschedule. They are not selling tickets or letting the public know yet - as there is no guarantee that it will happen.

They know they may need a Plan B ( and possible Plan C) - but haven't come up with that yet.

One good bit of news is that the refurb may still go ahead over the summer. The company that is making our new seating has reopened its factory - and the colour has been chosen - a deep purple! The tenders for the new toilets have been received and some are now coming in for the new stage. So, the theatre will be all ready for the next 30 years. 

The furlough scheme is still being used - and we may have that extended after June - or some of us may be asked to come back part-time. I am already employed part-time - so I am not sure when I will be back. Unless we get the go ahead for our new September Programme I guess there's not a lot for the Box Office to do. Will have to see what transpires!

Me and Laura have been doing lots more baking - and we are also running out of jigsaws. Just ordered another 100 piece one - with lots of books on it. We started that one today! 

Here are photos of our lemon drizzle biscuits and chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. Both were delicious. 

The weather has turned gorgeous again - so we had a barbecue on Bank Holiday Monday (was like every other day - except N didn't have to work from home!) We have a new swinging seat which was delivered by Amazon. 
The other photo is Grumbles enjoying snoozing in the sunshine by the window.

Life in time of Coronavirus 7

Laura and I went for our daily walk today - decided to do a longer one than usual so we walked to the theatre and back. I quite often walked to work - it takes 28 minutes there - so we were out an hour. It was quite sad to walk past my theatre and see that the posters outside were still advertising the shows that were on the day we had to close. It was 39 Steps and I had bought loads of tickets - as I as going to see it with Janet, Jane and Gill on the Wednesday and Nathan, Laura and N's parents Dilys and Colin at the weekend. It was going to be a treat for Dilys for Mother's Day - but of course it never happened.



We also had tickets for the Birmingham Hippodrome to see The Book of Mormon - for Nathan's birthday treat - but of course that was cancelled too. In fact I am wondering if we will ever see it now. After three months of lockdown many theatres are warning that they are going out of business as they have no income - from  ticket sales, café and bar takings or donations. Among these is Shakespeare's Globe - so if they are struggling I can only imagine what our own New Vic is going through. The problem is that even if theatres do open later in the year - if we still have social distancing rules then that is not financially viable for us to put on shows. In an auditorium that can fit on 500+ people - we would only be allowed 70!

Also, even when rules are relaxed many older people will still not want to risk going out. I would say a large percentage of our regular customers are retired - so I think the revenue would still not be enough to keep the theatre going. I am not sure I will ever work there again! Once the government stop the furlough scheme - will they have the money to pay my wages again?

Theatres in Trouble

In other lockdown news - we have finished the Gothic jigsaw at last! Took 3 of us weeks to do it! There were 1000 pieces - but so many looked the same!
We have another 1000 one - but it is all about the 80s and have lots of words, logos and faces on it. Should be done much quicker!

Life in the Time of Coronavirus 6

Had a staff meeting via Zoom the other day. It was the first time I had used that kind of software - I had no idea what I looked like on camera - or even if my whole head was on there. I did se one or two others from Box Office - glimpsed Lou and Lyndsay. Looked like Lou was in the theatre and Lynds was at home. Random staff just popped up on my screen before we started - not sure why!

When it started I saw Hayley from HR and she handed over to Fiona at home. She was having rouble with her internet connection - so kept disappearing - in the end she did audio only. Her house looked lovely and light though. All white with lots of bookshelves. Maybe it was one of those Zoom faux backgrounds that you can download. I wanted to get a gallery view so I could see who else was listening in - but I couldn't see what to press and didn't want me to pop up on everyone's screen.

 The gist of the meeting was that they have got a new schedule of plays and concerts that could start from September - but they can't go ahead and make it public until the government say that they are allowed to open. No-one knows when that will be. Fiona did say that those of us that are on furlough will be asked to use some of our holidays while we are off as they don't want people coming back and being owed loads of holiday or lieu time.  

That was all they could say really. Pete had said a couple of weeks ago that some theatres he knows have decided to abandon everything until their Christmas shows.  

After that meeting there was an article in The Stage by Cameron Macintosh saying that West End Theatres won't open before 2021 - unless the social distancing rules are relaxed soon.

Tasty Lemon Drizzle Cake

Pale green fences - much brighter!

One resident in the Insect Hotel!

Still keeping busy painting the fences in the yard and baking. cooking loads. All three of us are in for all three meals a day. I've never spent so much time in the kitchen! 

Life in the Time of Coronavirus 5

Yesterday I had a Zoom meeting at work! I had never used Zoom before - and it looked like not many other staff had either! I downloaded the app and logged in with the Meeting ID that our HR department at the theatre had sent me. I managed to get in - and saw various other staff - some from Box Office I aw Lou and Lynds - waiting for it to start. No idea who could see me! Fiona - one of the Directors kicked off the meeting with an update - although she had terrible internet connection so she kept dropping out. Eventually she had to go to audio only. It was nice to see her though - and her house looked lovely!

The gist was that they still have no idea when theatres will be allowed to open again. A very few staff are in the building - including some BO who are not furloughed. They are getting through refunds and have raised £11000 for the theatre asking customers to donate their ticket money rather than having a refund - to help keep the theatre going.

Us staff who are on furlough were told that we may be asked to take some holiday during this time - and TOIL time - as they don't want us to be owed loads of time off when we get back to work. They are also looking at training for us while we are off.

Tracy - head of HR said they would be holding coffee mornings online for people to pop in and have a chat with colleagues. So we don't forget who our colleagues are! No-one can go into the building for any reason unless they call ahead as strict H&S rules are being followed

They have a tentative schedule for shows from September - but can't release that to the public until we definitely know we can open by then. Everything is up in the air.

After the meeting I saw a news article from The Stage which said that theatres probably would open until social distancing was o longer needed - probably next year!

Today (Tuesday) I had to drive to Hanley to deliver some documents to my dad's solicitor. They are his original deeds which couldn't be trusted to the post! I had arranged with his solicitor Natalie - that I could just put them through the door of their Hanley Office. Laura and I parked at Tesco - expecting to see a queue in the car park - but it was really quiet. I think the panic buying had subsided now. it was scary in the first week of lockdown to see empty shelves at our local Sainsbury - something we don't even see at the busiest Christmas time.

Shelves in Sainsbury 18th March 2020

It was like walking through a ghost town, as Hanley itself was also deserted - very strange for such a usually busy town. No shops open - except for Wikinsons - where there was a socially distanced queue outside - most people wearing masks. Life is pretty much like being in some zombie apocalypse film now - it all seems so unreal!

Life in the Time of Coronavirus 3

Yipee!
I went to the hospital yesterday and saw Mr Hughes - I think it was him - he was togged up like an astronaut with all his PPE. I had quite a wait in SubWait 1 - the small waiting room outside his clinic at the Royal Stoke Hospital. We are no longer allowed to take someone with us - they want as few peope as possible in the waiting areas - and we have to sit at least 2m away from each other. Some patients wear masks - but I haven't bought any yet. As there is such a shortage over the country where the NHS and care workers cannot get them - we were told not to buy them as the were needed for medical staff. It may become compulsory in public once they start to loosen the lockdown - but it is still being discussed. Don't have much faith in the government since they ignored their own social distancing advice and Boris - his health minister and chief medical advisor all caught it.

It was quite dramatic when Boris was taken into hospital and ended up in intensive care. He survive and has been recovering at Chequers before returning to work this week.

Anyway - I eventually got called through by a nurse and told to gel my hands to sanitise them before being shown into Mr Hughes's empty office. He is usually just sat there in his good suit looking at his computer but this time he popped his head into the room - and through his masks and goggles told me that my scans were alright. He was just going to get more PPE on before actually examining me It always involves putting a camera up my nose an down my throat to check for signs of cancer. He only usually wears gloves - but he returned in full gear and said "I'm sorry for treating you like a plague victim" - but that is what is required now. He told me he is meant to be dealing with patients via the phone now even new patients! he says it is impossible to diagnose them. "It's alright for me and you as we know each other - but not for anyone" One of the thing he has been told by the Head and Neck council was that they now have to give patients a third rate service - as resources are all going to corona virus. He couldn't believe it!

I felt very lucky to be given a appointment. He elaborated on the scans - the patch on my lungs had been see by the chest team too and had decided there was no cause for concern after all. They will repeat the scans in 6 months time to make sure. ut he feels that I am fine - and I certainly feel fine.

That was quite a weight off my shoulders anyway. I can just concentrate on not catching coronavirus now!

On Saturday we all - me Laura and Nathan went for a walk in the local area and discovered a park we never knew about! We walked down Porthill Bank - but took a right turn near the top and found ourselves in a small park - with a small pond in it - with a small waterfall and ducks. Including one with a cute crest!

There were one or two dog walkers in there - but it must be popular as there was bread floating in the pond which the ducks had a nibble of now and then. Along the bank of the pond there were some rodents - not sure if they were mice or water rats. They seemed to be enjoying the bread too - and kept disappearing down there holes with some.


 It was a bit dull and chilly but we enjoyed the fresh air.Everyone is still being good and keeping their distamce. We are often crossing the road to avoid walking too close past someone.

On Saturday nights we join a Jackbox Party online - hosted by a guy who is always in our quizzes - Rubbafish. We have actually met him when we went to EGX last time at the Excel Centre (now the Nightingale Hospital - having been turned into an emergency field hospital by the army - to deal with Coronavirus patients if the hospitals become overwhelmed)

It is nice for us to be able to play games online that we haven't had to create or host! So, we grab a beer and play things like Fibbage or Lie Swatter with various others from our quizzes. The funniest game is the one where we have to make up rhyming raps and they are read out by robots - and voted on by the other players. It is a good laugh. I always look forward to Saturday nights. It is the nearest we can come to going to the pub and playing games with friends.

It is very strange to us when we walk down our road and see The Wulstan (where we used to go once or twice a week) all closed up and dark with no- cars in the carpark. It is usually buzzing - with kids in the playground and smokers (and vapers) standing outside with their pints. It is all eerily quiet when we pass now.

Who knows when they will be allowed to open again - or if they will survive as businesses after all this time.

Life in the Time of Coronavirus 4

I think it's Sunday - but everyday seems like Sunday anyway!
Laura made us banana pancakes for breakfast - a vegan recipe that tasted pretty nice.

We all did relaxing things that we like - I am trying to read all three books in the Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall series. I also realised that the series made by the BBC in 2015 is still available on iPlayer - so have been watching those too as I get through the books.

After a lunch of left-over pizza from last night's delivery Laura needed to go back to her flat to check for post and get more clothes. I went with her - just to get out of the house. There is no-one else in her flat. We decided to do our daily walk from there - just to get a change of scenery.
It was really quiet in town - the only place we saw a lot of people was in a big queue outside KFC - who have recently opened to allow drive-through orders Seems like a lot of people have missed that. I'm not sure if it is safe enough yet - I don't think we'll be trying it any time soon.

We strolled through the Queen's Gardens - there were one or two other people about but everyone was observing the social distancing so we kept away from anyone else.

People are being really good and will cross the road to avoid each other. The gardens were looking beautiful - and this weekend is usually the one when we have the Limelight Festival - with live music outdoors all over town - including the Queen's Gardens

Obviously with the pandemic - it has been cancelled.

Got back and checked my questions for the quiz - tonight we have the normal quiz with 5 rounds on different topics. I think our friends and family and players of Interference are still enjoying them - they keep all turning up! It's nice to see them in the chat and be able to ask how they are coping and if they are still well. MightyMo (N's friends from school) who is an optometrist has actually had Covid9 - and is still recovering weeks later. He is so lucky to be okay.

Life in the Time of Coronavirus 2

Every day is pretty much the same at the moment. Get up at 9am and have breakfast with N and L - then into the office (on our second floor) to work on our extra quizzes that we are streaming to try and keep friends, family and our Interference players busy and distracted while stuck inside.

Our Lockdown Schedule

We have lunch together at 1pm and then L and I go for our daily government sanctioned walk outdoors. We can only set off from the house - you are not allowed to drive somewhere for a nice country walk. We are exploring the streets of Wolstanton, the deserted golf course and the marshes where dog-walkers and small families play.

One nice thing that kids are being asked to do (to keep them occupied) is to paint or draw a rainbow - add a positive message and display them in their windows. It is something nice for everyone to see when they go for their walks. Another scheme is for people to put bears in their windows so that kids can go on a bear hunt like the book by Michael Rosen. It is sad to hear that MR himself is in intensive care with Covid19 himself and very poorly. Hope he pulls through.


The three kids next door to us have made us 3 rainbow pictures to put in our window - above our Paddington bear. Natasha next door asked us if they could do some for us as it would keep them busy! I said it would be fine - we could pt them up and then wash our hands afterwards like we do after handling post. They say the coronavirus can live on various surfaces - so it is the safest way.

The afternoon is sometimes watching box sets or doing jigsaws with L. We have dinner together with N in the evenings then watch films or play board games together in the evenings. We even played Pandemic (ironically) and managed to save the world. We took heart from that! It is nice that TV companies are putting lots of new stuff onto keep people occupied and willing to heed the governments instructions to stay at home. We have started watching the films of Studio Ghibli which Netflix have put on. I am enjoying The Split with Nicola Walker (BBC) and Sex Education with Gilliam Anderson (Netflix)

N is often up in the office all day as he is working from home and has all his company's equipment up there for that too. He's quite enjoying that as he can keep in touch with his team via Skype and get on with work without phones ringing or people coming by asking him stuff. I think it works quite well.

I get official emails once a week from the theatre - at the moment they are putting together a new schedule starting in September and may bring out a new brochure - but there is no guarantee that they will be allowed to open by then. Government are saying when we can ease the lockdown it will be very gradual. Can't imagine gatherings of over 300 people will be allowed right away. Everything is very uncertain!.

I get phone calls from Pete my line manager - to check up how I am.

Rather inconveniently I have had a bit of a health scare just as all this was starting. I had an MRI scan on my shoulder due to some pain in my left arm. This showed up something on my left lung so my GP decided that should be investigated with a CT Scan. I had that about 3 weeks ago and was waiting for the results to come through - I was rung by the hospital and asked to go for a PET scan. I asked why - and they said that Mr Hughes had asked for it to be done. I have no idea what the CT scan showed. I had that last week and this week I was told I have an appointment with Mr Hughes next Monday. (27th) so I may get to the bottom of all these scans and everything.

I have been being extra cautious during this lockdown in case I have some lung condition that may make catching Covid-19 even more hazardous. So, N has been doing our once-a-week shop and I only interact with L and N. Fingers crossed that all is well - I feel fine but given my history of CUP (Cancer of Unknown Primary) anything could be happening in there!

Watch this space!

Life in the Time of Coronavirus

TIMELINE

Prime Minister Boris Johnson started lockdown on the evening of 23rd of March 2020

On the 5th April he was admitted to hospital after 10 days self isolating with the Corona Virus

On the 6th April he is in intensive care with deteriorating symptoms

The Queen addressed the nation at 8pm on 5th April

Excel now known as NHS Nightingale and will be a hospital for up to 4,000 patients, most of whom are on ventilators. Similar venues being used in cities across the country. Opened by Prince Charles at 11am on 3rd April🏥

Community support groups established, to support the vulnerable, elderly, immunocompromised and people in enforced isolation due to exposure, in their community

Petrol price close to home was £1.02

Schools closed on Friday 20 March. Remote learning in place - home-schooling!

Self-distancing measures required

Tape on the floors at supermarkets and others to help distance shoppers  (2 mtrs) from each other

Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, queues outside the store doors

Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed  People who can work from home

Parks trails, entire cities closed or restricted to locals only in their bubble

Entire sports seasons cancelled

Olympics postponed to 2021.🔵🟡⚫🟢🔴

Concerts, tours, festivals and entertainment events cancelled

Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings, even funerals cancelled

No masses, churches are closed

No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, then 10 or more. Now, Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home bubble

Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and all other TV networks are on in every home daily now

Children's outdoor play parks are closed

We are to distance from each other. Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers

Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill in many parts of the world

Refrigerated trucks for the dead outside hospitals in the USA, Italy, Spain, China  and more

Panic buying sets in and we have limits on toilet paper, disinfecting supplies, paper towels, staple foods, hand sanitizer. Flour is hard to get because the packaging comes from China  and borders are closed

Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE

Fines are established for breaking lockdown rules

Stadiums and recreation facilities overseas open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients

Public Park areas turned into caravan parks for stranded tourists to self isolate

Press conferences daily from the PM and other government officials. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths. Government incentives to stay home. Barely anyone on the roads

People wearing masks and gloves outside

Essential service workers are terrified to go to work 

Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families

82,195 deaths globally so far

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, WHO declared March 11th, 2020.

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Well - this is something I never expected to be living through - a global pandemic!

So much has happened since it started. - I am no longer going to work - in fact I have been furloughed. Who even knew what that word meant 3 months ago?

I am still part of the New Vic staff - but am being paid 80% of my wages paid by the government - and 20% by the theatre which means I cannot do any work at all for the theatre. Taz has also been furloughed - as neither of us has ever been given a work email or a login for our work systems. Lyndsay, Mandy and Lou are working from home. Mainly ringing customers to tell them that the shows they have booked tickets for - are no longer going ahead. 

The theatre is completely closed and no-one knows when it can open again.

Laura is also furloughed from her job at Advantis Credit - after initially being told they had to carry on  working in an open=plan office with hundreds of others - or the business wouldn't survive. They were told by bosses and HR via the internet as they were working from home! After that meeting - where many of the staff were distressed  and worried they received an email telling them to stay at home.Thank goodness!

After self-isolating at home to make sure she had no symptoms L moved in with me and Nathan at the beginning of April. I couldn't bear the thought of her being in her flat all alone for weeks on end. It gave us a good opportunity to clear out the back spare room and turn it into a bedroom for her. Unfortunately all the council tips closed soon after - so our shed is full of rubbish currently!Got a nice new bedroom though!