Tiring times in Tasmania

 6:14 PM 1/06/2020

Much discussion in the weekend press about the effects of the Coronavirus lockdown.  Stress, depression, insomnia, etc.  Recent discussions with a friend suggest that old-school science fiction fans might not be feeling the effects as much as other people.  Remember these were people who went through a phase where their main social outlet was reading fanzines and writing letters.  In those days, fans went through long spells between having anybody to talk to about their interests.  And if a fan is  stuck at home for days or weeks, he can always entertain himself by cataloguing his collection or re-shelving the books in his library in a different order.  
He or she might even emerge from lockdown with a vaguely disappointed "Over already?  I thought I would have got more done in my time at home."

2:12 PM 3/06/2020

Muldoon has never shown much interest in American politics so I should have been wary when he raised the subject.  "Even back in the Nixon era", he said, "an unpopular president had the benefit of an experienced foreign policy adviser like Henry Kissinger.  I've been trying to work out who the modern equivalent would be..."  (About there I realized where he was going, but it was too late to stop him.)
"... I wonder who's Kissinger now?"

1:17 PM 8/06/2020

Things that made me do a double take last week - seriously.
On the air, the TV newsman covering Vatican City who said "The Pope went into the chapel to pray to a higher power."  The customer at the coffee shop who wanted a cappucino with no froth. People who still can't pronounce the word "nuclear."  

9:58 PM 11/06/2020

This week we saw the lifting of some restrictions - it's almost three weeks since we had a new case of the virus in Tasmania.  I was able to go out and play croquet on a fine winter afternoon, though maybe I should have turned down the invitation to play a third game.  I was even able to stop at my favorite coffee shop on the way home.
But the winter is starting to bite.  Thursday I woke up and wondered why my fingers felt swollen.  It took me a few minutes to recognize the symptoms of chill-blains  --  haven't had a bad case for years.  I usually rely on the Gingko Biloba tablets to keep my circulation up.
And the evening was ominous.  I came home from the shops and checked the temperature -- it was 5 degrees at the Weather Bureau, but the "feels like" was only 1 degree.  My breath looked like a volcanic cloud as I went back and forth bringing in the groceries (we were right down to the last of the cat food, so staying home wasn't an option!).  
Listened to some episodes of THE ARCHERS podcast.   I am nearly to the end of the stories from the pre-Covid19 era, the next batch will be the "new look" episodes where both the actors and the characters will be facing lockdown.  :(
 
4:02 PM 23/06/2020
Monday was a really strange day.
 I was woken up at 3 a.m. when the smoke alarm had a tantrum and I had to get up and take the battery out.  Cast a wary eye around the house then went back to bed.
When I did get up later it was raining outside and I dug out my heavy boots for the first time since last winter.  Walking out into the back yard to feed the chickens, I had to detour around a four-foot long pool of water that wasn't there last night.
Then when I walked into the house, a fuse blew when I switched on the lights in the back of the house.
There was a meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. today down at Dynnyrne.  I don't enjoy driving in the rain, but I felt I had to make an effort -- I ended up steering with my right hand while I tried to clear condensation of the windscreen with a cloth in my left hand.   (Furthest I've been from home for a couple of months!)
Driving home wasn't too bad, until I pulled over to  let an ambulance pass me in Macquaie Street.  I sat there for a while before I decided there was no way I could get back into rush-hour traffic at twilight in the rain.  I wound up walking to the nearest restaurant and enjoying a hot bowl of soup before I managed to drive home, arriving at 7 p.m.
I fed the poultry but the goose didn't like the muddy conditions in the yard.  He got out and I found him comfortably curled up on the front lawn the next morning.
And it wasn't even Friday the 13th !!

11:34 PM 24/06/2020
Wednesday I went out to a meeting after lunch.  Then drove from Sandy Bay to Derwent Park for dinner with some friends.  Keith phoned and we talked about Saturday.  Message came in regarding the re-launch of the quiz team next week.  E-mails from Bocce Club and Croquet Club about their activities.
I'm beginning to miss the lockdown already.

5:27 PM 30/06/2020
One thing about last week's wet weather, it kept us from shivering.  One rainy day, the temperature hovered around 12C all day.  Even when it cleared up,  Sunday and Monday it was mild enough for me to let the cat out into the backyard in the middle of the day.  (He's not so keen about going out at night since he discovered the goose is sleeping under the table in the carport.)    Monday I stayed in, so a good time to pay some bills on-line;  during lockdown it was easy to push these things to the bottom of the "to do" list since every day felt like a long weekend.  But comes the time of reckoning.

Tuesday I went out for a couple of games of croquet.  I hadn't played for two weeks because of the weather, but strangely it seemed to help rather than hamper the standard of my play.  And it was nice to see a few familiar faces that hadn't been around for a while.  Speaking of which, tonight sees the resumption of the weekly quiz night, which has been in suspension for the last few months.  Let's see how rusty (or not) everyone is when the questions start flying.

Keith phoned.  Apparently he has a crisis. (Crisis On Infinite Earths that is!)

And so to bed...