Lockdown Diary - Friday 12th February 2021

Fridays have lost their edge a bit these days.  On the plus side, no work tomorrow, on on the negative side, food shopping to do, and not much else other than not-work.

I won't bother to say what today's all about, because it's the same as the previous three days. 

Made an early trip to the Post Office at 9 a.m. to get some things off in time to be delivered tomorrow, fingers crossed. Cause not necessarily leading to effect.

We're planning to have slow-cooked leg of lamb tonight and son #2 decides to put it on first thing, which I agree to though I tell him I can't help as I have calls to attend.  

As promised he gets the dinner on - smells great and is making me feel hungry - though he doesn't have time to clear up the debris.  When I take a break from the screen and headset I survey the battlefield.  I can't leave it as it is and clear everything up, washing things and putting the some things in the dishwasher. After 10 or 15 minutes I have the kitchen looking acceptable again.  Time for another coffee, I think.

Our planned holiday in March has been cancelled by the destination, which is just as well as I'm not sure I could have found somewhere safe for my wife to go whilst we were away.  They've offered dates later in the year, next year or our deposit back.  As there is a particular property I want to stay in, I'm tempted to go for next year as the earliest availability this year is November. Need to discuss with the boys.

I've also arranged to have our cooker replaced on Monday afternoon and opted for an upgrade to a Neff model, for an extra payment.  May have to see if I can get another replacement next time it needs cleaning 😉

The doctor that did my ultrasound scan at the hospital on Tuesday said I should call my GP today, if I've heard nothing, so I do that just before lunch.  I am now expecting a call back this afternoon.  I've got two hours back to back knowledge transfer, so knowing my luck, that's when he'll call.

Despite all the calls I manage to grab 20 minutes for meditation before I join sons 2 and 3 in making lunch.  I have to wolf it down as I have two hours of calls starting shortly, having consumed the main part of lunch (fruit to follow), I briefly muse on the fact that I'm not looking after myself properly by eating so fast and vow to do better next week. Despite working from home for something close to a year now, I still haven't got some things properly sorted, which is bad. Epic fail, I believe.

Late afternoon the GP calls and tells me what I already knew, but officially.  He said something like 'I guess you want to know what happens next', and I said 'yes, because I can't live with the restrictions I'm under - even walking for much more than 30 minutes is painful.' This is where the conversation took an odd turn: he said I don't know if the GP you first saw told you this, but the NHS doesn't normally fund hernia operations.  I was somewhat taken aback. Apparently many people have to either live with the pain and discomfort or pay for private healthcare, if they can't get NHS funding. He went on to say 'given what you've already told me, I'm happy to apply for funding on your behalf', and then went on to ask various questions about my job and whether I smoked or walked a tightrope in my spare time.  In the meantime I need to investigate alternative options, in case my application fails.

Back to you-know-what.  I have a couple of things I need to wrap up before I finish today, but then that's it. 

The smell of tonight's dinner wafting from the kitchen is very appetising, and as it required red wine as part of the sauce it cooks in, there is something like 2/3 of a bottle of Merlot to be redirected to the sea, eventually. I decide to have a sip or two before finalising the email I must send.  Good job I did! Spotted a dodgy typo which had 'the right hoe for this' instead of 'the right home for this', which I hastily corrected. I'm sure the recipient would seen the funny side, though she is far more senior than me, so not necessarily the best typing mistake to make late on a Friday evening. Spell checker was quite happy with the word, so I'm glad I read it through first.

Despite being a slow-cooked meal, the dinner required potatoes and green veg as an accompaniment. Sons 2 and 3 were making it initially, though son #2 was on a video call with a young woman, and so wanted to be left to his own devices while he 'cheffed'/chirpsed, and thus we retired to a safe distance, blue touch paper already lit.

Dinner and 'Mr. Robot', followed by the usual winding down routine.

Another outtake: this time Janelle Monae from the album 'The ArchAndroid' and 'Tightrope'

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