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Feliz cumpleanos

Pic of the week 29/3/20

Yesterday was my birthday, I turned 51. I had a lovely day – a 9K run in the morning and the presents and toast for breakfast. I got a lot of chocolate and soap (ideal for surviving lockdown), a Spanish book & map, yoga mat, compression socks (and “normal” socks), just what I wanted.  A lovely day at home with Becky, Sophie & Sam (and I even snuck in a delicious snooze in the afternoon.)  The pic shows my chocolate brownie cake which was (is – there’s still some left) yummy.

So a fairly normal birthday in abnormal times.

We are now in lock-down.

Having begun the week teaching remotely, but from my classroom, on Monday, from Tuesday we’ve been in lock-down with only essential travel allowed, and one outdoor exercise slot a day allowed. So I continued teaching from home for the rest of the week – it went well, but I was glad to reach the holiday that begun at the end of the week. I don’t think we’ll be back at school before September, so for next term, at least, this will be the new normal.

Its all very strange, but I’m beginning to come to terms with it. As a key-worker, Becky is still working (like a trojan) at Sainsbury’s. I think that society is finally coming to realise the importance and impact of Covid 19, but there are still those that are not following the rules and guidance. This is frustrating as so many are having their lives massively impacted and the rules are so draconian because not everyone follows them (and will become more draconian if people continue to flaunt them.)

Anyway, some things remain the same – after a week or so of lovely weather, the holiday’s arrive and its gone blummin’ cold, with a particularly biting wind. There is a lot I want to do outside (yet within the curtilage of our house, so within “the rules”, but I will wait for the weather to warm a little.)

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Not all heroes wear capes

Pic of the week 22/3/20

The Corona virus has been declared a pandemic, and things are different now from where we were a week ago.

Schools have shut (I will be teaching remotely next week) and summer exams (GCSEs and A levels) have been cancelled. This has created considerable turmoil and confusion. Sam won’t now be sitting summer exams, but what grades will he get? Who knows. His mocks and predicated grades from earlier in the year were not good, but of late he had upped his game and was beginning to look on course for some half decent results. Effectively his gap year has now started, but he can’t travel anywhere and there are no jobs around as companies start laying off their workforce as the economy grinds to halt.

There is one sector, though, that is booming and that is the supermarkets. They have been mad, with panic buying and empty shells. Being the true hero that she is, Becky has more than stepped up to the plate, doing extra shifts as necessary, and having to put up with some pretty crappy customers. Without her, and her colleagues, the country would be on its knees. Too often derided as “shelf-stackers” , the nation owes them a debt of gratitude and she should sport her purple and orange Sainsbury’s fleece as a badge of honour. Not all heroes wear capes.

I am proud of her.

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Corvid 19 – I

Pic of the week 15/3/20

The end of days!

At least, that’s what it feels like at the moment.

We are in the first phases of an epidemic, and there is very strange feel to life at the moment.

Thursday saw a “Cobra” meeting and the PM, flanked by two grown ups (Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer) announced plans for the nation. For now, schools are not closing. In fact, the government hasn’t introduced many mandatory measures, taking the line that these will need to come, but keep them in the pocket for when we really need them – i.e. at the peak of the crisis, rather than now – as people will only tolerate draconian restrictions for so long.

I think it is a sensible approach, but we are the outlier amongst western European nations, most of whom have gone into lock down already.

Anyway, we are where we are. School remains open, but pupils are leaving for foreign shores at an alarming rate. By yesterday, I think circa 160 had already left; I suspect that number will increase over coming days. I understand the desire of parents to get children home, and of students to go home, but I do think it a big risk for Year 11 & 13 students who have GCSE and A level exams this summer (assuming they are still on.)

It will lead to challenges as to how we (I) teach – but whilst I’ve still got students in my classroom I reckon I’ll teach pretty much as normal, but provide electronic access to worksheets etc.

Strange times indeed – it is starting to dominate our lives, certainly our newsfeed. On a personal level, I’m not too worried about contracting the virus – I think we should all pretty much expect to at some point, and it’ll “just” be a cold for a few days. Who knows, we may have it now, or have had it. What worries me is the extended disruption to our lives and the impact on the economy. I do worry for Sam and his exams – I hope they are still on this summer.

I think the best analogy is waiting for a big dumping of snow – you know its going to happen and cause disruption, but there is that element of uncertainty of when, and how much, but with snow at least you know you can have some fun with it, and it a couple of days it’ll all be over. Alas, we can’t say that for the virus.

Anyway, on Saturday, Becky & Sam went to Bristol (apparently the shops were deserted – unlike Becky’s reports of Sainsbury’s today), hence the snap of Sam in the snazzy shirt (he didn’t buy it!)

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Lawn, swimming and Corvid-19

Pic of the week 8/3/20

We live in unsettling times.

But the weather is trying to improve and we’ve had a couple of spring like days this week, days to lift the soul and lighten one’s load, although they have been the juicy filling between the limp, stale white bread that is the sandwich of the current weather. Still too much rain, still to chilly (not crisp cold, just a cold dampness that permeates to ones bones.)  But today, there where bright spells and I even managed to give the lawn a mow, the first of the season.

It was needed. The lawn is not currently in a healthy state, it seems to be as much moss as grass. And (I think) nesting blackbirds are busy plucking the moss to make their nests, leaving, well, just mud. Anyway, having mowed and raked, hopefully the grass can begin to out-compete the moss and we’ll be rewarded with a beautiful sward come those long summer days …

This morning was a first for me, my first swim in the school pool. I was taking part in a sponsored swim organised by the Lions and my team of 4 had 25 minutes in the pool to swim as much as possible. I must confess I was a little disappointed to find that the pool was split in half – we would be swimming 25m lengths rather than the full 50m, but I’m pleased with the 50 lengths (= 1.25 Km) I managed in the allotted 25 mins.

Becky went to see Sophie in Reading yesterday (hence the pic), Sam continues with his new found work ethic. I head off to Milton Keynes tomorrow to watch the 1st XI in the ISFA Final.

But we live under the question mark of Corvid 19, or the Corona virus. At the moment, nothing tangible has happened – these are teh figures as I write (8 March 20) from the Government’s website:

As of 9am on 8 March 2020, 23,513 people have been tested in the UK, of which 23,240 were confirmed negative and 273 were confirmed as positive. Two patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.

So, not sure where and how this is going to end. Will we end up in lock down – or even just more “minor” restrictions such as school closures, or will this all just be yesterday’s news in a few weeks time? I don’t know. I suspect we (the UK) will ride it out for a few weeks and then life will continue as normal.

But I’ve been known to be wrong before …

 

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Farewell February

Pic of the week 1/3/20

So farewell February and “Hola” March.

Its been a wet and windy month, and the storms seemed to have been concentrated at the weekends. Today has actually not been too bad – nice to see some sunshine, although it has been cold and windy, and with everywhere still wet, certainly not usable weather.

My game today was cancelled, which was a shame as I was due to be observed today, so I went for another 10K run instead. Starting to get the miles in – Glastonbury 10K is about two months away, in fact 9 weeks today. Cruising around the 10K was not too difficult, although the time of 48 min 27 secs was quite a way of last year’s top times, and my legs ache a bit now.

Have been appointed Assistant Ref for the Somerset FA Legends Cup Final, which is a nice recognition of my refereeing this season.

So what does March hold? Well hopefully better weather! To be fair, the garden is starting to show definite signs of life, with some daffodils in full bloom, others set to flower, the allium bed showing great promise and the peonies I planted as bare roots last autumn have all burst forth and showing good growth. Not sure how/if the Corona virus will impact us. Over the last few days it has seeped into my conscience and is no longer just a news item from a remote part of the globe – it may now impact us. I’m not worried from a medical point of view, but I could see restrictions having an impact and a hit to the world economy. I hope the hype is worse than the reality.  At work, the pension problem refuses to go away, it now looks like we might be headed for a strike – the prep. school tail wagging the senior school dog, most (50%+) at the Senior School are happy to accept the offer (19% + leave in Sept ’21) but the prep school aren’t. Troubled times ahead. But maybe the weather will be better.