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| Now that Daylight Saving has finished, the poultry expect to be fed earlier. As you can see, they often gather around the door, waiting for me to remember it's dinner time. |
Friday, 3 April 2020
#Start every morning the same way -- after breakfast, listen to the live broadcast by the State Premier on ABC radio, followed by their airing of that day's Corona Podcast. The Premier's message today was "Be kind to each other." (Following that is the Conversations show, which at least is usually a bit more cheerful.)
#This morning I dealt with some messages and phone calls. Messaged one of the local newsagents that I would try to pick up my magazines somehow. This brought a response from the girl who works at the front counter, offering to bring them to me. It turns out she lives just near me, but she didn't know that when she made the offer. An example of community co-operation.
#Downloaded some more of that big batch of the radio show COUPLE NEXT DOOR that I bought from the Classic Radio Store. I begin to see what the fellow at the computer store meant when he advised me to do one thing at a time on my laptop -- if you try to do too much at once, the machine slows to a full stop.
#And, of all things, I was in contact with a neighbor who told me one of my hens had got into his back yard. I went round and had a look, but it's a big garden and the chicken was in no mood to be rounded up. I shall have to think on this.
Saturday 4 April 2020
A follow-up to my mention of the straying hen and the back fence. To my surprise, my neighbour tuned up with his children who had successfully captured the renegade chicken and brought her home. Unexpectedly they had also brought her young chick with them. What I am thinking is that the chick got through a crack in the fence, and its mother had fluttered over the fence in search of her errant offspring. No wonder she didn't want to be caught.
Sunday 5 April 2020
Went to church on-line after breakfast. A little strange, but better than nothing. Surprising that the figures show we had enough people tuned in to fill the church twice over!
Listened to today's update from the State Government on the radio, then switched on the television to see SONGS OF PRAISE for the first time in years. (I used to tape it on my VCR back in the days of analog television, but I have no idea how to do this with digital television.)
Wednesday 8 April 2020
~Into the third week of semi-isolation. Wednesday morning I got up at sunrise so I could take advantage of the supermarket's special early-morning shopping hour for "the vulnerable" -- the aged, the disabled, and those in need of assistance. Two out of three ain't bad.
~This evening I took part in a virtual Bible-study group via Zoom. It was a bit odd, with many of the participants distracted by the little screen images of themselves on their computers. Since they had not seen me for about a month, there were several good-natured comments about the length of my beard.
~Made out my menu selections for home-delivered meals for the month. Food without human contact. At least I won't starve. (The cover for last week's NEW YORKER depicted a delivery person dropping off a meal on a dark street - very atmospheric.)
Thursday, 9 April 2020
A disturbed night's sleep, so I didn't get up early because -- well, I had nowhere I had to be and nobody I had to see. I listened to ABC radio's THE WORLD TODAY then had a late lunch in the garden. I selected a new book on my Kindle for afternoon reading, THE RED THUMB MARK. I've read a few of the Dr Thorndyke series by R. Austin Freeman, but I thought I'd go back to the beginning and read the first story, published in 1907. Thorndyke is a doctor and a scientist and this first novel brings him into conflict with the then-new study of fingerprints as a forensic science. (Even if I keep reading all through the lockdown, I don't think I would get through the whole series!)
Friday, 10 April 2020
Good Friday and it felt strange not to be in church. I tuned in for the You Tube live stream from St John's with Alistair and Rachel, then I had coffee and a hot cross bun. You can't share buns over the Internet, so I made sure I had some in the house.
Oddly my back felt worse after watching the service from home in my own chair than it does when I spend the same amount of time in a hard wooden pew. People are complex things.
Lunch in the garden and read a couple more chapters of Dr Thorndyke. Couldn't decide whether to take a nap or a walk, so ended up doing neither. Sat around downloading some old radio shows till it was time to feed the poultry and have dinner.
The cat was a puzzle today; all the rest of the month, he's been eating like a horse and putting on weight. Today... nothing. I had to give him some dry food I had left over from a previous cat; that, he ate.
Saturday, 11 April 2020
A cool and cloudy morning and the cat had gone back to bed after breakfast, so I took the opportunity to go out and get some feed for the poultry. On the way home, I called in at the supermarket for a loaf of bread and found there were a good number of people around for an Easter Saturday.
It was then that I realized the effect that the fortnight of seclusion was having on me. Even though I did everything to follow the rules for social distancing, I felt anxious at being among so many people. More than once, I went to scratch my head and stopped with my hand in mid-air, like a robot who was about to violate one of Isaac Asimov's Three Laws. I was relieved to get home and settle myself with lunch and a good book.
Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Woke at sunrise and made my way before breakfast to the supermarket's early-morning shopping hour. Returned home an hour later with what I hope is a week of groceries, feeling a bit knackered. I rested up in the afternoon so I'd be ready for this evening's Zoom teleconference with some people from church. At least it gave me the incentive to trim my beard and put on a clean shirt.
Meanwhile in Burnie the army has been called in to help disinfect the hospital that seems to be the focal point of a virus outbreak in north-west Tasmania. The Premier is on the radio every morning, warning us to stay home if possible for at least another four weeks.
Thursday, 16 April 2020
For a change, I wouldn't have had any phone calls on Thursday if it hadn't been for Federal Parliament. A staffer for Brian Mitchell MHR rang to ask how I was getting on. Apparently he's phoning a lot of voters in Hobart to check on them. Nice idea but I told him I was doing all right, thank you.
Aside, that is, from that periodic buzzing noise I kept hearing this evening. Insistent, but sort of far away. The sort of sound you'd get if you locked your mobile phone in your suitcase. It's not my phone, or the laptop, or the smoke alarm, or the microwave. Maybe isolation is sending me cuckoo faster than I expected.
Meanwhile the media are suffering along with the rest of us. TV stations like Sky News may be doing well in the ratings, but your local newspaper is probably flagging. My local paper is getting thinner every month, and seems to be subsisting on full-page ads from the government. The editor appeared in her own paper yesterday appealing for support from the community. Who would have thought it could come to this?
BANDIDAS - Mike's movie moment:
Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek decide to rob banks to get justice in old Mexico. This 2006 romp is the most fun I've had watching a western since the days of CAT BALLOU and VIVA MARIA. And written by Luc Besson of all people.
Friday, 17 April 2020
The Yale University School of Public Health found that reading tends to involve brain functions that help you live longer. If I read all the books in my house, I could potentially be immortal.
Friday morning started with a long phone call, then after breakfast listened to the morning briefing from the Premier on ABC radio followed by the national "Coronacast". A bit of a chilly wind for lunch outside but went for a walk in the afternoon sun. The streets are so quiet nowadays but the crisp Autumn air was refreshing and I enjoyed being outside for a while. One neighbor had put out a box of apples and pears at their front gate and I took a few -- another neighbor has a Little Library of free books but in this health-conscious era I was not game to inspect them, alas.
MONSTER - Mike's movie moment:
This was made by the Asylum studio, who specialize in imitations of blockbuster movies. This one was released the same week as CLOVERFIELD in 2008. The trouble with "found footage" movies is they are actually supposed to have inaudible dialogue and jumbled images! One star, at most.
A radio research group has compiled a collection of the 1940s radio show THE WEIRD CIRCLE and I took the opportunity to download a few samples of the show. To start with it, I listened to "What was it?" based on an 1859 short story by Fitz-James O'Brien. I well remember reading this story as a teenager in Damon Knight's notable anthology A CENTURY OF SCIENCE FICTION. Since the story is about (SPOILERS) an invisible monster it was a natural for radio and this recording is a good quality one.
Saturday, 18 April 2020
A few months ago, I spent every Saturday fossicking through the Thrift Stores and Op Shops. A blur of book titles, DVD covers and all sorts of stuff. Mental overload at times. Now Saturday is pretty much like every other day of the week -- breakfast, feed poultry Facebook, lunch, walk, maybe a nap, dinner, TV and/or book, bed.
Still working my way through that big list of downloads I bought from the Radio Classics Store. I've done the COUPLE NEXT DOOR comedies and half the SHERLOCK HOLMES shows. After that I just have HOPALONG CASSIDY to go.
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