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!

An Evening with Brian Blessed

More musings about my fab new job at the theatre. This was from back in September...

It was a pleasure having the cast of Handbagged around over the last few weeks of September. In the final week of the production and it was been getting great reviews – not only from people who’ve been in to see it and told us – but also from the press. I’ve had customers on the phone who say that they’ve rung up for tickets because The Guardian review was so great. Plus, another who came in to get more tickets – so he could see it again himself and bring his mother-in-law this time!

 It will be sad to see the massive gold crown over the stage disappear. – but No Man’s Land by Harold Pinter starts on October 1^st.

Things are really hotting up in the box office as more and more schools are calling trying to get their pupils and staff into The Prince and the Pauper – our Christmas production. It’s a great deal and for every 10 kids they get to bring a teacher for free! I know just from reading previous blogs on the theatre website that so many people working in our theatre were inspired to do so by being brought to a theatre production when they were at school. It is such a magical place to bring them.

I was so lucky to be able to see An Evening with Brian Blessed  -as it was completely sold out. I managed to get a ticket when a few more were released. He was only doing 10 live shows this year. Kudos to our producer Martin, who managed to get him to come here! 

He absolutely loved our theatre in the round! When he first came on stage, he prowled around it, in his pyjama bottoms and tweed jacket, marvelling at how it was like “Greek theatre” and saying how much his friend Kenneth Branagh would love it. He had a chair in the middle of the stage and he was constantly moving it around so that he could address the whole audience. 

What stories he had to tell! He veered between tales of classic actors such as Katharine Hepburn and Sir John Gielgud, to current ones such as Kenneth Branagh. He says that he and Ken have a father/son relationship – except that he’s the son and Ken is the father! His hilarious first ever voiceover – who remembers Cyril Lord Carpets - and how they went bust the week after!

He also told us of his expeditions to Mount Everest and the North Pole and was proud of the fact that at 83 years old he’s just qualified as an astronaut after training in Russia and with NASA. His memory was amazing as he recited whole scenes from some of his films, the moving poem he read to a dying Patrick Moore and even treated us to a rerun of his turn on Stars in their Eyes as Pavarotti.

Oh yes – and guess what music he came on to? Of course – the theme from Flash Gordon! What a legend.

New Job

I thought it was time I revived my blog - I miss writing about the daily goings on - it is easy to forget details and a blog is a god way to remind yourself what you've done and where you've been!

I guess my biggest news recently is my change of job. I am no longer a librarian (well, I am really inside - it never leaves you!) However, I now work in the theatre, darlings!

It’s always a little nerve-wracking starting a new job – especially in an environment you haven’t worked in before – so coming from libraries to a theatre has held some surprises! It is such a busy place where thee is always something happening!

The box office staff have been wonderful welcoming me into their fold and very patient while showing me the ropes. There has been quite a lot to learn – who knew the Box Office did so much?

The first thing that struck me was how important it is to try to get customers who come in or phone for tickets, the cheapest possible deal they can get. Whether it is a 3 or 6 play package, an under 26-year-old getting a free ticket or a concession for disabled customers and a free ticket for their carer. Also, matinees and first nights are cheaper too in many cases - there are so many permutations to choose from to make a visit to the theatre more affordable for all. Let's face it - these days we all need an escape from reality - and the theatre is the perfect immersive experience. 

The Box Office is also the custodian of all parcels and mail coming into the theatre. Whether it is a china tea set – ordered for the upcoming comedy Handbagged -which features the Queen and Mrs Thatcher’s imagining meetings at Buck House, a clinking delivery for the Gin Bar upstairs or someone dropping off some old tweed suits for the costume department.

People come in for lots of reasons, to meet friends for lunch in the café, or drop kids off for the Summer School (which is where the children in the Christmas show are chosen from) or even, one evening last week, someone asking us to dogsit their assistance dog while they enjoyed A Comedy of Eric’s. He was adorable and very well behaved in the care of the Front-of-House staff and volunteers.

The job has its funny moments too – this week a gentleman arrived, all dressed up with his wife to pick up his tickets – when we discovered he had come a week too early! My colleague said – don’t worry – we have seats for tonight if you want to swap? So, a marital crisis was averted! Looks like this is going to be a very fun job – watch this space…

A Villa in Tuscany - Appendix

Knobs and Knockers of Firenze

I just had to include my collection of photos of the doors of Florence - enjoy!