Lockdown Diary - Monday 29th March 2021

The hours of the day were consumed in a variety of ways, though the biggest chunk was taken up with a call to a friend in Berlin. 

Sons 1 and 3 were both out meeting their girlfriends outdoors, one in Oxford the other in Guildford, leaving son #2, my wife and I in the house most of the day.  I will need to keep a little distance from sons 1 and 3 when they return, though son #3's girlfriend had a negative Covid test yesterday.

The morning over, son #2 and I made lunch for ourselves. At 2 p.m. I began what turned out to be a marathon call with Berlin.  We are both fairly accomplished talkers and ended up chatting for over two hours: the conversation took in Covid, vaccine distribution, anti-vaxxers, Brexit, and music.  We are both big music fans though I think I probably take it up a level or three, both in terms of the number of albums I have and also the breadth of music that I listen to.  Nevertheless he and his wife's rediscovery of vinyl and high-resolution streamed music (CD quality and beyond) led to a deep discussion of sources, platforms and most importantly how I discover new music.  I wont bore you with the details but we certainly gave the subject a good airing, with a few Bowie and Youth anecdotes thrown in.  We also agreed we must both go to Hansa studios in Berlin next time I'm over.

After lunch the weather turned sunny and so having been cooped up in doors for the morning, son #2 and I went for a walk in the sun and fresh air.  This walk was also an excuse to take some photos that would I will be using as part of a project I and fellow Mental Health Champions are contributing to.

After our walk, which took in a different route to normal, via the museum, I got a few things done.  During the final carer visit of the day the hot tap on the kitchen mixer gave up the ghost and so I'll be seeking a plumber to replace the entire tap which is now absolutely fucked and, despite the repair efforts of another plumber, is still leaking.  Standard fitting? What's a standard fitting.

I started making dinner at some point, though only son #2 and I are here still and we don't know exactly when the others will return. We will keep theirs warm until they re-appear.

Son #1 returned just as we were serving with son #3 letting us know he's 30 minutes away. Staggered dinner with a brief bit of TV before I retired for sleep.  Hospital tomorrow, then find a plumber on my return.

A.A.Williams / 'CREEP' / 'Songs from Isolation'

[['Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want' (The Smiths)]]

[[]]